The Rhythm of My Day

Every morning one of the first things I do is grind my coffee beans to brew a fresh pot of coffee. The sound of the grinder grinding and the smell of the coffee brewing has become a ritualistic part of mine and the kid's mornings. Sometimes they even like to push the button on the grinder. I like to drink my coffee in the same thrifted ceramic mug and love to add the milk and sugar from the same thrifted mushroom sugar bowl and creamer. I rarely get to sit & relax and drink my coffee hot but that in a way has also become part of the natural rhythm of my mothering day.

I want to start blogging about and sharing my everyday rituals, the things that I do with or without noticing that are a very important and special part of my life. The things that make up the rhythm of my life and my family's life.  Sometimes its important to stop our busy lives and take notice of the small things. To live in the moment. Rituals are important on a personal level to nurture our inner selves. And they are important for families and children to develop a sense of belonging and tradition.

Mothering Magazine published a great article in their May/June 08 issue titled, "Mommy Rituals" about how simple, focused actions can bring energy and calm to daily parenting life. Here are some ideas:

• greet the day & end the day by watching the sun rise or set and  bid the day a thankful  hello or farewell
• Drink a full glass of water and imagine it cleansing your body, mind & soul
  
• Be thankful & show gratitude
  
• Notice nature
  
• Stop sometimes, actually pause and take notice of the moment
  
• Read for pleasure
• Be silly everyday, laugh and break out of your adult mind
•  Coddle and nurture yourself
  

I invite my readers to share some of their everyday rituals and leave them as a comment (remember to leave your name or initials in the text). They can be as simple or elaborate as you want them to be. They can be your own personal rituals or ones that you have with your children. They can be abstract or concrete. And they actually don't have to be something that you do everyday, its the ritualistic part that's important. 

Sharing is so much fun.

Needle Felted Wizard

Over the last 2 weeks a good friend and I took a needle felting class and had a lot of laughs making our "Wooly Wizards".

Basically needle felting is sculpting wool by poking it repeatedly with a special felting needle.

Wool fiber + mechanical agitation (with the felting needle) = felt

This is a picture of the wool roving I used to sculpt. One is dyed blue and the other in its natural colour. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the actual process but its actually really easy.


This is my 'Wooly Wizard' I tried to make him look more like a Father Winter but I think I will have to give it another try. I prefer the waldorf faceless needle felted figures. Here is a great post about this. I have more wool roving and needles to make some figures for our nature table.

My favourite needle felt artist is Beneath the Rowan Tree. She is unbelievably talented and Canadian too. Have a look at some of her amazing work and you will see why I was inspired to learn.

Pink Play Silk, Teddy & the Vacuum

Madison is loving . . .

Her brothers (sometimes a little bit too much)

Anything to do with school

Her new pink play silk

Carter is loving . . .

Teddy (I mean he loves Teddy and says, "He's special")

Going for a ride in my craft bag (Not very safe I know, but fun)

Picking out his own clothes (finally some independence)

Gabriel is loving . . .

Walking and trying to keep up with his brother & sister

Napping in the stroller with Carts in the cold & not inside in his warm bed

His love affair with the vacuum continues 

Knitting Update

My scarf is now 17 inches long! 

Knitting Update #1

I've been pretty busy knitting since yesterday. First I rolled the "hank" (I love the new knitting lingo) of purple wool into a ball which is the size of a basketball, I think maybe I should have made 2 balls, oh well. I just keep it hidden away in my craft bag while I knit in public. 

Next I taught myself to cast on and I think once I got going I got a bit carried away since I ended up with 50 stitches. The scarf is going to be huge and almost more blanket-like.

As for the actual knitting it's going really well, the tension seems to be fairly consistent and I haven't dropped any stitches yet. Right now its 6 inches long and my goal is 60, so I figure at this rate I should be done in about 10 days which will be just in time for the next Crafty Mammas meeting. I already want to learn more stitches and how to read a pattern, this straight knitting thing is kinda boring.

Loving Baby Wearing

I have got to spread the word about the ERGO Baby Carrier. I didn't discover it until my third baby was 6 months old and I wish I knew about it 5 years ago. So worth the investment (it retails for about $115). I've tried pocket slings, ring slings, mei tai and others but the Ergo is by the far the best over all. Included in the many benefits of baby wearing, and there are many, is the elimination of the need for a stroller. Gabriel did not sit is a stroller until about age 1! The best is the back carry which means you are hands free but it also works well for the front carry too. Even Carter at 3 years old loves to be carried in mommy's back pack. Its very comfortable and easy to use for multiple wearers. 

(Oh, and did I mention that its available at 3 Little Monkeys!)

Crafty Mammas

I had my first meeting with my Crafty Mamma group last night, very exciting. We are a small group of like-minded mothers (all with 3 children) who like to craft. We are going to meet every 2 weeks and alternate hosting. Our main craft will be knitting but will also include felting and sewing and maybe a little bit of wine drinking.

Above is the purple wool and bamboo needles I purchased to knit my first scarf, with the Crafty Mammas help of course. I'll keep you posted on how its going.

Aprony Goodness

Call me old fashioned but I love aprons, there is something so domestic and almost nurturing about tying those apron strings around my waist. Not only are they functional but they are beautiful too, especially the vintage ones. Even my children love to put them on, they run to the drawer where they are kept and get excited about choosing the one they want to wear, especially if its one of mommy's.

The following are some of the aprons that I've thrifted that I wanted to share. And now that I have my new china cabinet with drawers I have a place to store them and room for more.

I love the pink pockets on this one and the vintage floral fabric is fabulous.
I think this is my favourite one, with a dish cloth sewn on and a pocket, the best! Sorry the picture is sideways, I still haven't found that little camera instruction book.
Gotta love the paisley fabric and pocket, very cute.

The embroidery on this apron is unbelievable, so much stitching and I love the gingham.