Reflections in the Dishwater

"Christian women must reject any distorted view of the modern housewife- whether it be the miserable household drudge; the fanatical, sock-matching wonder-woman; the child-centered, worn out soccer mom; or the deceptive, apron wearing vixen.  When we consistently renew our minds by absorbing Scripture and by passionately embracing the sacred calling God has truly given us as women, we will refute the perverted image of the desperate housewife by believing His promises and showing the world there is something better for which we can truly be passionate!"
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God  

This book came in the mail yesterday afternoon, and I've already read it all.  It was a breath of fresh air and encouragement.  I was blessed with some rare quiet time this morning, since I got up around 5, and was able to finish it and then turn to the dishes and watch the sunrise while thinking over what I'd been reading.





"If the world can convince us to acquire a taste for the futile blandness found in a self centered marriage, to be content with recreational motherhood, and to prefer a sterile, disposable version of home "economics," then we will miss the beauty and poetry that is ours in the heavenly magnum opus of a God-glorifying, well-ordered home."
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (bold added)

Today I'm thankful for the beauty of clean dishes, of sunlight coming through windows, of my dishsoap in a pretty recycled vinegar bottle, and watching the sunrise as I wash away, wearing my beloved gloves... 

 "What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God.  

We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred 

and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, 

but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow."              

- Martin Luther

Celebrating the beauty of biscuits...

yummy flaky biscuits... 

 

and leftover biscuits so I can have them with breakfast 

 

...and for the peace to take pictures of the reflections in my dishwater, and  to share my reflections with you. :)

Learning Together

We mixed up some home made  "Bisquick" yesterday... perfect for quick biscuits and more. :)

 

Stirring things is hard work.

 

But working with mama is fun.

 

Especially when it's messy.

 

And we don't worry too much about flour flying, or dropped spoons.

 

We just enjoy the time together and the big picture, 

loving every minute of the soul work we have today.

(Love that phrase!) 

He learns to help.  

I learn to let go of efficiency and let him help.

I'm not sure which of us is learning more here... but it is good all around.

___________________________________________

Bonus cute...

Someone is walking! :)

New Header :)

If you're reading via RSS feed, you should hop over... I've got a cute new header!  :)

 

Butter, Cont'd

In my email this morning...

 

Not sure how Amazon figured out that butter is a theme around here, but they are right that we need a replacement butter dish. 

They suggested this snazzy little number:

 

While it migh match my beloved (and yes, despite my misadventures, still alive!) Kitchenaid (although from the pictures it looks like they might just clash catastrophically), my dishes are actually white... so I was leaning towards replacing my white butter dish with another white one.  You know, when I actually dare to replace it and risk repeating the whole scenario.  As it is, the bottom, dish part technically is fine, it was the lid part that broke into the neighborhood of five pieces, so we can just keep using it for a while.

As an aside, I love how that last sentence makes it look like we have a tough, possibly mafia involved butter dish going around breaking into entire neighborhoods. No small timer here.  On that note, beware, y'all, we're not a family to be messed with... apparently even our butter dish has a criminal record!

With that bit of silliness, I'll close... hope your Monday is off to a good start... :)

Podaegi!

I made my first podaegi recently. What is a podaegi, or podeagi  (or "pod" for short)? It is a traditional Asian carrier that is similar to a mei tai. Pictured podaegi, below, is from Etsy, here.

Sew She Sews has a very cute one pattern to make a podaegi here, and Jan Andrea has one here. Mine was pretty close to that first pattern, but I chose not to use multiple fabrics for the outside.  I used a pretty decorator fabric for the exterior of the body, and lighter fabric for the inside.  I used duck cloth for the straps.  After it was finished, I was excited to play around with it, as I'd never tried one before.  At first I had trouble getting it right... the decorator fabric seemed too stiff, and the blanket seemed too narrow.  Once I got the hang of it, it worked well, though. It seemed even easier than a mei tai!  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures before I loaned it out, but I have another one in the works... this one will have a wider body.  Not a really really wide one like the Jan Andrea pod, but definitely wider than the one from Etsy pictured.  I think the narrow body design was harder to wear correctly... I am very comfortable doing a back carry with my mei tai, but it was a hassle getting the pod spread out when the body was so small.  Also, my understanding is that the blanket part of a podaegi isn't weight bearing, so it can be blanket type fabric, so I'll use lighter weight fabric which I think will be easier to manage.  Plus I'll be able to use fabric from my stash, instead of having to wait to buy some! ;)

Here is a YouTube video of a back carry with one...



And here is a front carry, although I have to note that she ties the straps in a bow, I would much prefer a square knot for safety.



(Related posts from Babywearing it Up!: pod sew along on TBW
and Wrap pod tutorial.)

Valentine's Hearts

I am not very good at crafts, but I did a very simple one recently, and it turned out, so I'm excited to share it with you all! :)

I basically did this, but punched two holes instead.  The salt dough is easy- just 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup warm water, 1 cup flour, then mix (I added red food coloring!) and bake at 250 for around two hours (until hard.)

Here is the proof are the pictures...

 

The baked hearts...

 

My beloved ball of twine... perfect for so many things, and cheap, to boot!

That funky looking heart there was what I did with the leftover dough. :)

 

I threaded the twine through the holes of the hearts... 

I made those with a straw, and it was easy since the dough stuck in the straw and it punched it out nicely.

 

Then pull it through the other side, and take a picture of your feet.  This step is essential. ;)

 

Decide how long you want your hanging loop to be.  Then tie it, trim your ends...

... and hang it somewhere fun!

 

Or quirky... ;)

Happy Valentine's Day (a little early...)!

Squeaky Clean!

My hands were getting dry, 

and I had a painful crack on my finger... 

so I decided I needed some

rubber gloves for dish washing!

I told my husband to look for something 

besides the normal, boring yellow gloves... 

and this is what he brought me! :)

Aren't they just so perfect for right before Valentine's Day? 

Now, I just need to get into the habit of putting on some hand lotion 

and my pretty new gloves before washing dishes.  :) 

 I love this cookie cutter... and I'm planning a post about something I did with it, so stay tuned for that later in the week! :)

Lets Talk About Cloth Diapers! :)

Recently I've talked to several different people about cloth diapers, so I thought I'd turn those thoughts and explanations about how I cloth diaper into a post. :)

Now, here is a disclaimer to start off with- I'm not a diehard.  I don't cloth diaper at night, because I *hate* waking up snuggled next to my baby... in a puddle.  I also generally don't cloth diaper on Sundays because we're away from home for most of the day, and because that makes it more of a day of rest for me.

However, I do usually cloth diaper at home, and this is how I do it...

My Fuzzi Bunz are what I grab first out of the diaper drawer.  I have 6 smalls (which Nathan outgrew before 6 months, but Miriam is still fitting into at 9 months), 12 sage mediums (which fit both my 9 month old and my 22 month old), and 6-10 large sized Fuzzi Bunz.

I think this is a pretty nice stash, but I only had to purchase the mediums, and we got a pretty good deal on Ebay.  The others were handmedowns from another mom (a huge blessing! Thanks Mrs. B!) and had already been through several kiddos.  I do not think that some of the larges will make it through another little one without having new elastic put in, but I may decide that is worth the investment as that would be less expensive than purchasing new.  On the other hand, Fuzzi Bunz now come in one size that has adjustable elastic so it can grow with the baby.  That would be nice so I may try out a few of those when these large ones finally kick the bucket.

Sometimes I run out of Fuzzi Bunz that fit Miriam before the dirty diapers are washed and dry again.  When that happens, I use prefolds with a Snappi , which I love.  So much easier than pins, and faster, too.   I started out using pins and plastic pants, and honestly I don't like either.  I much prefer the Snappi and my two Thirsties covers.  Thirsties are much easier when you have a dirty diaper, since plastic pants have to be pulled off, and Thirsties are really adjustable, which I like. Also, they have leg gussets, which REALLY cuts down on leaks! I have the medium size, and I think it will last Miriam for several more months.  They are a lot cheaper than Fuzzi Bunz, for sure, and if I had known how easy to use they were, especially with the Snappi, I might have just purchased them instead.  Plus, they're cute! :)  I have the sky blue pictured here, and a lovely aqua as well (decided against girly colors so whenever #3 comes along I won't need to purchase more, either way)...

As far as washing, it is really simple.  I'll shake dirty toddler diapers out into the toilet, but baby diapers and wet diapers just go straight into a dry pail.  When I'm ready to wash, I shake the liners out of the diapers, and fold the velcro over on the Thirsties.  Then I run a cold rinse, and a warm or hot wash with either soap nuts (not the best deal on them, but if you want to try them out the little starter pack is a low investment way to do it) or laundry detergent (usually this or this) if I'm out of soap nuts, as I am right now.  Sometimes if some of the diapers have been sitting a little too long, or were especially dirty, I'll run two cold rinses and then a warm wash, or a cold rinse/cold wash/warm wash.  Then I hang the outside part of the Fuzzi Bunz, and the Thirsties covers, either outside on the clothesline, or inside on a line I strung across our utility room.  I throw the prefolds and the inserts in the dryer, usually, unless it is a very sunshiny day in which case they do dry fairly quickly on the line.

Nathan, being adorable in the medium sage Fuzzibunz, last summer :)

So... any questions?  If you cloth diaper, what are your favorite diapers?  Did you start out using them or did you change to them?