TWENTY-FOUR

Preserving 2016. I've done whole tomatoes,  and then a bunch of jam: spiced peach, spiced nectarine, cherry apricot almond, cherry almond, blueberry, blueberry peach ginger, strawberry. Still to come: wild grape jelly and dilly beans (and hopefully more tomatoes). 

 2016 week twenty-four

This week seemed never ending busy. I couldn't turn around without remembering four things I had to get done. It was hotter than blazes, but I still tried to get us outside as much as possible. Theodore wishes that he could dive head first into any and all water, so playing in our baby pool is still a bit dangerous. As a compromise, I set up a large tarp on our grass and let the hose trickle onto it giving him just enough water to splash and roll in without fear of him inhaling it. He still got bored eventually and beelined for Vera in the bigger pool and tried to climb in face first. He completely figured out crawling now and is zipping everywhere. Often busy weeks frazzle me. My desire to be "unflappable" is severely challenged and I go to bed every night wondering where my day went and why I was so busy and how I can possibly have so much to do and GAH I went to the store but didnt realize we were out of detergent, and why do I feel exhausted but my children dont want to sleep, and oh dear I forgot there's still a load of laundry in the dryer. I have to fight to not get overwhelmed and then feel sad about all the friends we haven't had over in such a long time. And the clock ticks quicker and quicker to bedtime and I would just like 30 minutes to unwind and then at least an hour to just read. But every morning at 635 sharp when I hear little padding feet and a softly creaking door I can only smile because my heart is so full of happiness for another day of practicing simplifying our lives. Another day of practicing patience, practicing teaching Vera how to be kind and responsible and resourceful, practicing compassion and practicing soaking up the wonders and pointing them out to Vera. We pick veggies from our garden, hunt for berries in the bushes, find bugs in the grass, watch the yeast bubble and foam while we make bread, we color and tell stories and read books. And each day I go to bed and I feel like I haven't accomplished much in the way of what I had hoped to, but at the end of the week when I read our happy moments family journal, I see that until I learn how to manage slow days filled with fewer needs to do and more loves to do, our weeks are balanced and full of all the right things we did together.

Though I do not know hot to take a proper photo of clothing I am wearing, here is a skirt I made this week. It's the best one yet. It helps that I didn't take the easy way out with an elastic waistband and put in a proper zipper, but I think the hardest part of the whole process is finding a fabric in a color and weight that you like with the selection at JoAnns (great for quilting, not so much for apparel). So this was a lucky find and it all came together rather quickly. I love sewing. I love the instant gratification of seeing something you like and not having to search hoping you can find a replication somewhere but just being able to make it yourself. Thank you to my mom for signing me up for sewing classes when I was really young that gave me the confidence around a sewing machine to experiment and try. 

Vera drew this photo of a Hello Kitty balloon. I love it so much and I'm so impressed with it. 

Vera and Matt sweeping up after Matt mowed the lawn. I love to see her help and find the joy that comes from usefulness. 

Some cousins came to stay with us for a couple nights (much to Vera's extreme pleasure) because her birthday twin (but one year older) is her favorite person of all time. We took them all to the Fort Worth Kimbell Art Museum France festival. Here they got to stare mesmerized at a ballerina while she sweetly tried to engage them in conversation. I may have wiped away a few tears at their sweet rapture.

Making hot air balloons. I loved seeing all the performers on stilts walking around juggling. 

Vera tried to climb the balloon arch. 

Theo and cousin Ollie at other cousin Lily's baptism on Saturday. He happily gulped down a bottle during the ordinance and then happily threw it up on Grandpa's suit. Charming little one. 

I didn't write down a single funny quote from Vera all week. That ought to prove how busy I felt. Haha. The only silly thing I remember her saying was,

"I just love donuts."

She said this about 5 times a day at random times when the conversation had nothing to do with food, donuts, or loving things.