Here is Natasha, sewing her cousin Brooke’s birthday present. She was so pleased to put the whole thing together herself.

It’s called a “warmy” in our home, and the kids each got one for Christmas (a fun surprise, since they knew their cousins were getting one each, and I made a second set after they went to bed Christmas Eve).

These next two are a couple of the pictures I wanted to include in this post.  They were the chosen ambiance for each room.

That’s the Elephant Thread-Holder you see to the left of the large quilt has a fun family story behind it.

My mom has a giraffe-shaped piece of wood full of finish-nails that holds her spools of thread in relative tidiness.

Early in my marriage I was very busy with quilting and sewing, and building up a healthy spool stash of my own.  I was the second child to leave the nest, and my parents began the long project of streamlining their household.

Behind the kitchen sink, all my growing-up years, as long as I could remember, there was an elephant-shaped cutting board.  My dad had made it of the bit of bathroom counter top he’d cut out years ago to put the sink in.

I knew it was old, and probably unsanitary and all that, but it was still hard to watch it disappear. Well, our second Christmas (I think it was) Jay hung out at my parents’ place more than usual, and surprised me with this thread board (with pretty matching dowels rather than nails) still slightly sticky with my favorite wood stain.

He had taken the blocky, familiar shape and recreated it as a memory-keeper that served a real and needed purpose.

And it was a total surprise.

This is my kitchen wall (three weeks ago. Now the picture at the top has been changed, and the slogan,

Ut tensio sic vis

has been added below the two bottom pieces.

It doesn’t have a clean/literal translation, but the meaning of the saying is “Strength in proportion to stretch.”  That is, think of a spring, or a bowstring.  The tighter it’s stretched the more force in contains.

I like how the words look, and use it as a reminder to let the tightness I feel focus my strength, rather than snap me.

And here is Natasha’s birthday party on the 14th. We had another -30 party and a handful of dear friends who joined us to make the celebration complete.

Yeah, that’s a doll in the middle of those candles.

We used a dress-form pan and filled it only part way so it would be a little-girl cake. (I looked through a few stores before I found just the right little girl doll to use for the centerpiece.)

So there you are: the highlights of January. Oops.  Sans rabbits.  But Jay’s on the editing computer now, so I’ll have to do it some other time.

We spent the morning at the Ewigs, and the kids had a ball, playing in the sand, riding in the canoe and generally enjoying being outside– without sunscreen.

I’m surprised Elisha shows as much color as he does, since he was the only id who brought a hat (his sister’s sunbonnet) and wore it much of the time.

This trip was also the first time he didn’t race to my side every five minutes, coming on the heels of his second sunday in a row of going to his own “class” for sunday school.

This has been a long time coming.

In other news, Natasha is loving her bike with training wheels.  Last year she tried really hard but it was still too big for her.  I think she’s ready for a real ride now.  Haven’t gotten my bike down yet though, so we haven’t tried yet.

Jay bought two air purifiers in the last, hmmm, 3 or 4 months.  He was preparing for alergy season which is in full bloom.

I got my first taste of his sorry condition this spring, with my eyes becoming irritated and the skin around them itchy and swollen.  Not. cool.

The up-side, though, is that when I went to the eye doctor to verify allergies he gave me a sample of an eye-drop antihistamine.  It’s been sooo nice.  Not only does it directly target the problem area (eyes), there are none of the tiredness side-effects that come with systemic (oral) meds.

Jay’s used them too, and while they don’t eliminate his issues (as they mostly do for me) they have been a help.

I have to use a cortisone cream, too, on the skin around my eye.  It fights the itchy feeling.  I actually couldn’t use it at first because that tender skin was so raw.  I used ointment on it for a few days until the skin healed and now between the drops and the cream I feel entirely human again.

My latest big project is making costumes for each of the kids for a “Renaissance fair” coming up.  It’s taking place on Melody’s birthday, so she is thrilled about the big “birthday party” she’ll get to go to.

I’m hoping (especially if it goes annual– this is its first time) to mae this a dressing-up alternative to Halloween.  I’ve been growing more uncomfortable with that over the last several years, and have been praying for an alternative since October.

When I saw the article in the paper and the coordinator’s comment encouraging costumes, “It’s like Halloween in the middle of summer,” I felt I’d found my answer.  We’ll see how it goes, but I’ve trying to be very enthusiastic and creative here to mae this a more special/fun time.

Natasha picked out a princess-dress with bell sleeves, and an indigo fabric, Melody chose a fairy costume and bright pink.  Elisha, of course, is oblivious, but I found a simple costume I described to the girls as a jester and they are pleased with the idea.

The article was asking for more era-correct entertainment on a volunteer basis, so I put a call in to the number to offer storytelling.  I have several adult-length tales that I believe would be quite appropriate for the era.

The only drawback I can think of to the whole costume-thing is the all-or-nothing weather of summer.

Natasha’s dress is dark and long-sleeved, Melody’s light and sleeveless.  Odds are somebody’s going to be uncomfortable.  I just hope they have enough fun being out and about in their dress-ups that they don’t melt into complaining.

There is good hope for that.  They’re already pretty excited.  Piles of frilly, colorful stuff will do that for a girl, I suppose.  😉