Cattails

Remember this post? Well, my Mama warned me when I brought those cattails into the house... warned me that one day, they'd go to seed all over my house, and there'd be nary a warning. She told me I should seal them, or spray them, or maybe just not have them in the house at all. Well, I didn't listen, now, did I? And for more than 5 months, those things held up and proved her wrong... until last Thursday, when for some reason, all 16 of them decided to go to seed at the same time. On my dining room table. With no warning... just like Mama said. *sigh*

It's amazing how fast those seeds explode from the stalk, and how many of them there are. Ahem.

Anyway, so lesson learned, and most of the seeds are now cleaned up from most of the house, and the remaining cattails are now exiled to the backyard where they can no longer surprise and complicate... much to this girl's delight...

She just loves to go outside, find a cattail that's not completely gone, make "bubbles" in the seeds, and watch them fly away on the breeze. Fine with me, as long as those bubbles stay outside from now on! Oh, those cattails.....................

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

 

...growing container potatoes!

...more regular visits to the swing set

...signs that spring really is here

...really messy sandbox mornings

...the way the feeling of a day changes when most of it is spent outside digging, splashing, yelling, watching things grow, and just being. This weekend, we found a store actually selling tomato plants (already!), and yes, I bought eight. Never mind that the weather enabling us to be outside so much is probably the weather that will turn on us by late April and force us back inside... we're taking full advantage of it now with nary a thought of it! May your Monday be spent not in stress, dread, or worry, but in seeing the advantages that the moment may also be offering. Happy Monday!

Seeing Is Believing

Around here, we believe spring has a sound, a texture, a feel, and an unmistakeable smell.

 The calendar may say it's still winter, the weather anchors may say it's still winter, and maybe, at times, the sky and the wind try to argue that winter is still around, but our senses are telling us it's springtime, and who are we to argue?

 

Seeing is believing.

Not Just Marker

Every six months, we mark Sister's growth on the kitchen pantry door. It's a tradition we started when she was two, and it's become something much talked about and anticipated. Today was another six-month mark, so we pulled out the pink Sharpie, opened the door wide, and made another dash, just a little higher up from the last one.

There are one hundred and one cutesie charts and graphs out there to aid in marking your little sprout's growth through the months and years, but for some reason, the pantry door was the right fit for us. There's something about opening up that door, wheels turning about what to make for dinner, or thoughts on finishing packing that lunch or getting that snack or grabbing a drink... and out of the corner of your eye, you catch those colored dashes, one stacked on top of the other, some farther apart than others, all sketched to simply make tangible the slow and steady upward progress of the smallest among you. Having those marks in a place so frequently visited really serves to slow us down and make us really appreciate these times we have with our Littles (it also seems apt to mark growth on the door that leads to so much of our food).

I remember renovating our first house, which was over 100 years old, and coming across another family's childrens' growth chart, and wondering about them... who they were, where they were now, how big they'd grown to be and if they did the same for their kids... and for a moment, that family from so long ago came back alive within those old walls... it makes me smile to think of someone else finding this relic from our babies' early years and bringing us back into this space with similarly wondered thoughts. (I also can't help but wonder how many of these lines our Big Bubba will have passed by the time he is standing by himself and joins in the tradition!)

These recordings on our pantry door are not just Sharpie marker, dashes, numbers, or letters. No, they are history, they are tradition, they are love and accomplishment and pride and amazingness, and they are just getting started!

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

...lots and lots...and lots... and lots of hats

Cheese and Grits Souffles, recipe here

...what Bubba grabs when no one's looking

...the wildlife that visits on rainy days

...being home. Home is a place we can easily take for granted, isn't it? But isn't it wonderful when we can look around and see all the things that make where you are a home... no matter where you are? Wishing everyone a sweet sense of home, no matter the place. Happy Monday.

Pillowcase Dress #2

The most recent trip to our favorite thrift store yielded a super-soft vintage cotton pillowcase (did I mention it was 49 cents?), and a really sweet light green sweater (99 cents... yes!) that, while piled on top of each other in our shopping cart, looked like they belonged together. How does one pair a pillowcase with a toddler sweater? Why, make a second attempt at a pillowcase dress, of course! So I did.

 

 

I took a few tips from this site, but after the first few cuts, went off on my own tangent, and then ended up sewing skinny elastic into the neckline and eliminating buttons and ribbons and the like all together. Then I started feeling saucy, and made my very first attempt at pockets, too!

Finally, with the leftovers, a little dress for her AbbeyBaby, and voila! Pillowcase dress #2, plus thrifted sweater = Audrey's new outfit for $1.50!

Maybe some day I'll try making her something from real, plain fabric and a pattern... what a novel, intimidating thought... but at least until then I have thrifted pillowcases! *sigh*

Heart Day

 

Hoping everyone found something loved to celebrate today, and that the celebrations linger for you through your days. Happy St. Valentine's Feast Day (to figure out exactly where our romantic traditions for this seemingly arbitrary holiday come from, check out this web site, or do your own search for the history of why we do what we do!).