Selectively Fruitful

         This past week I've actually been cutting down on projects. My body has been giving me some hints that I need to slow down, and I've finally decided to take them. That means putting off some projects in order to take a nap, so that I can be healthy and take care of my sweet husband and son.

        The trouble (or the good thing?) about slowing down is that it is really another kick in the pants for my selfishness. When I stop doing as many projects, it's the not the dishes or the laundry or the baby-watching that get to scale back. Those are the things that have to go on! And those are the things that I would happily procrastinate for a good nap. ;)

       The things that I have to give up are instead the fun extras, the knitting and drawing (and blog-surfing...). Those are the things I have to put off till another day. And those are the things that I would happily procrastinate a good nap for! But at this point in time, it's become pretty selfish for me to put of those naps in order to work on the things that *I* want to work on.

     Of course, there is balance in everything, and you can bet that as soon as I'm feeling better I will switch out a few of those naps for some nice knitting. ;) But during this (hopefully short!) season of my life, I need to be selectively fruitful and concentrate on the must-do's, instead of the want-to-do's.

     More of my posts here will have to be yummy recipes for now! ;)


Have you gone through seasons in your life where you had to slow waaaay down and just concentrate on those "must-do's"?

Love,
Courtney

Saturday Clickables (Mostly)

Good morning gentle-persons, I hope your Saturday has been peaceful so far! Today I've got a collection of crafts/recipes/tasks that I'd *love* to try to make/accomplish (sometime soon! eh heh).

1. Fabric Owls! I love owls (especially cute ones) and I think it would be fun to make one or two for Babygirl to play with. (Although maybe without the beaded eyes...) Something like this would be fun too!
Cloudy/rainy weather makes me feel craftish.

2. A Christmas Carol Banner! I think this is an awesome idea (and I have a great little hallway/entry way to decorate this year), and I want to use the words from Joy To The World. (Also, Noel thinks it might be a good idea for us to get our decorating done *before* the baby arrives just in case I want to decorate afterwards and make him do it. :-P So, be forewarned, I might be hauling out the Christmas stuff a wee bit on the early side this year.)

3. A Salted Caramel Mocha. Being from Washington and all, I love coffee. A lot. So does Noel actually, and we usually just make a faux-mocha by mixing a little hot chocolate mix (I <3 Costco) into our morning mug, but this seems more sophisticated.

4. A bunch of random projects around the house; organize my laundry room cupboards, clean out from under the kitchen sink (I'm *pretty* sure those are just coffee grounds...), wipe down all of Babygirl's stuffed animals (I can't help myself), clean the refrigerator, iron the front door's window curtains (thank you, mom, for pointing out the wrinkles, now they're all I see :-P), etc...

5. Re-listen to "A Pleasant Home" (by Nancy Wilson), slowly. I listened to the whole thing in about in about a day and a half this week (it was SO good) but now I'd like to listen to it more carefully and take it one bit at a time so that I can really think about it.

As Thanksgiving and Christmas get closer and closer do you try to focus * solely* on holiday themed projects and put your regulars aside for after the rush? Does the weather affect your craftiness? What are some holiday ideas you'd like to try this year? (Does anyone else have the urge to clean their entire house or is that just my pregnancy brain at work?)

~Noble

Jack of All Trades

"She should have not one trade but twenty hobbies; she, unlike the man, may develop all her second bests. This is what has been really aimed at from the first in what is called the seclusion, or even the oppression, of women. Women were not kept at home in order to keep them narrow; on the contrary, they were kept at home in order to keep them broad." ~ G. K. Chesterton, What's Wrong With World


(In case anyone needed justification for the 20 unfinished projects she has going at any one time.)

Shall I tell you mine to sooth your guilty conscience (using the phrase "at least I don't have as many as Candis")?

A cross-stitch sampler I started when my oldest was 2 years old (truly my oldest unfinished project)

A summer dress for my youngest daughter (all that is left to do is the pesky zipper)

A crocheted lap quilt

A knitted baby blanket

An awesome wooden lazy susan that I hope to repaint and freshen up

A photo collage (need to collect and print out the photos, of course)

A recycled sweater blanket (who has taken my large acrylic ruler?!)

I love that I can be at home learning to be cook, nurse, counselor, housekeeper, seamstress, knitter, and teacher, etc. And I thank God and my husband for the opportunity to do so.

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up

Have you heard this song yet? I love it. :) I've been listening to Josh Ritter this week!


Josh Ritter – Long Shadows from "So Runs the World Away"

And here is the youtube link, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tji_DQv1IU

 What are you listening to this week?

--Courtney

Nesting!

I have been nesting today! Kaitie came over last night to stay with me (Noel is out of town visiting his brother) and today she's been my totally awesome helper; rearranging furniture, doing dishes... at this moment she's making me food! And while that sounds like *she* has been nesting I promise that I was doing stuff too. It was really nice that Noel got to go to visit his brother over night  last night one last time before Babygirl gets here, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to devote an entire day to cleaning and reorganizing without feeling like I was abandoning Noel. (Although I do miss him terribly!)

I've been stalking craigslist recently looking for a) a changing table or b) bookcases to stash baby stuff on, and on Saturday night I found a changing table in Cosi for $30! Whoo! (The next nearest nice one was in Olympia or some such nonsense and not as cheap.) So on Sunday I went and picked it up and this is what it looks like empty.

Pay no attention to the dresser... it's waiting for its turn to be taken care of.

Now I plan on papering the shelves at some point so they're not quite so blah, but it is a very sturdy little table! (I watched the gal's five or six year old daughter clamber all over it while I was waiting to take it away with me, and it didn't even wobble.) And since I am a very impatient person and couldn't wait till I had paper to put down, I went ahead and gathered my baskets for organizing baby stuff and this is what it looks like (mostly) done!

I did wipe it down with a some Simple Green first and then water, just as a peace of mind factor so that I could put stuff on it on not feel like I needed to wash everything again.

We also reorganized *both* closets in the bedroom and moved the other baby furniture around to make room for the table (Babygirl has her own wall in the living room for her things, and I'm trying to keep it all contained it *her* space). We even went to the thrift shop and found a nice flannel sheet ($1.50) to cut up and use for wipes! I'm so excited to have gotten all this done (couldn't have done it without you, Kaitie!) and to have it off my mind.

 Do y'all like to tackle projects on the weekends, or on the weekdays when spouses are away at work? Do you love (or love to hate) craigslist? What projects do you have piled up to tackle?

5 Things That Whacked Me in the Head

My mom has a list for us this Saturday, but she has been so busy bearing fruit in real life, co-hosting a baby shower, etc., that she hasn't had time to post. Her list is of ideas that have struck her from My Life for Yours (by Douglas Wilson), the book she is going through in the women's book study she is part of. The chapter they went over recently is "Sleep in the Bedroom."   Here is what she says, and her list of five things she's been inspired to do by the chapter: 

Some chapters [of My Life for Yours] are encouraging and good to remember

and some chapters whack me in the head. Sleep in the Bedroom did that for me this week. 

[5 Things to Whack You in the Head]

1.       Honor the Lord by rising early

2.       Be thankful for the blessing of work – work hard

3.       Recognize God cares for us and He is tender with His people

4.       Recognize that the peace that makes no sense is a BLESSING from God…not something we drum up

5.       Learn and sing psalms of gratitude

 She would have given us some other good words as well, but she was so busy! We will have to look forward to next time. 

We'll see you back here on Monday!
Courtney

Food-for-Thought on Friday :)

"We can find a book bad only by reading it as if it might, after all, be very good." 

C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism. 

(Don't you think that might be true of people, too?)

Happy Friday!
Courtney

P.S. Check back tomorrow for a new Saturday List!