A time for everything

We have been hit so hard the past three weeks with sickness. Like a vicious circle, each getting sick after one after another. I think the hardest thing I've ever done in my life has been to take care of a toddler, while sick, while pregnant.  Oh my.  I don't want to dwell on the hard though.  This isn't what I want for this space.  I want this space to reflect the joy and the love and the blessings.

And oh there were blessings amongst it all.  Like the fact that Liam was such a trooper while we stayed holed up in the house during my battle with this cold bug.  Like the fact that his smile is so readily given.  Or the fact that his type of play is changing before my eyes.  The way that he imitates. The way that he imagines.  This little boy of mine is loosing the baby in him... and then when sickness hits him, a glimmer of that baby returns in the need for snuggles.  In the need to be close. And I take every advantage of it... as I rock him, and hold him close to my heart.  Those moments are fleeting, every kick of this new baby growing in my tummy reminds me.  Change is in the air and it is coming fast.

I want to stop and relish these moments.  These moments of quiet. These moments where it is just him and I with his ear near my heart as I hold him close and listen. Listen to his rhythm.  Listen to him just be.  

The changes in my body though constantly remind me that there will be another little person that will expand my heart.  That things still need to be made ready.  I've put the to do list away and have stopped trying to cross things off.  Instead, I listen to my body and my heart, letting me know want I to work on - and working on it slowly as time and energy allow.  Slow.  Slow hand stitching and detailing seem to be what I want.  That is how this little squirrel came to be stitched. Booties are in the works from this book.  And the process is coming together slowly.  Cutting here while Liam naps.  Pinning there while he eats his snack.  Eventually they will come together.  I'm not worried.  Instead I'm taking more time to get in as many cuddles as I possibly can.  Because there is a time for everything I am constantly reminded.  A time for everything indeed.

Imperfect Love

Stitch by stitch. Breath by breath.  That is how this little play quilt for our second child was finished.  My second trimester brought about more energy than my first, but it also brought about those wakeful hours in the night.  That is how this quilt, the first of the sewing done for this new baby, found its beginning... early in the morning when the whole house was asleep.  When the meals and the chores were complete and a happy husband and sleeping toddler were found resting in this sleeping house.  That is when I would steal away and work on this project.  First the top was sewn.  Then a quilt sandwich made.  And then that moment - you know, when a project really speaks to you and tells you exactly what it wants.  Well, this little quilt wanted to be hand quilted.  It wanted a slow process.  It wanted time.  So hand quilt it I did.  And giving in and listening to that quiet voice was the best decision ever.

It was those moments, when the house was quiet and my tired feet were up, that I would sit and quilt this blanket.  When I would sit and dream about what my family would be like when our three finally became four.  What this new baby would be like.  Whether it would be a girl or a boy.  And this little baby would answer with kicks and flutters of its own.  Bonding.  That is what hand quilting this quilt has given me.  The time to sit and bond when otherwise I wouldn't think as much about this child with the constant demands of the day competing with baby for attention.

This quilt represents so much of what I want to teach this child.  Of what I have learned in taking this journey into motherhood.  How life is so much like a quilt.  Stitched together from patches of experiences and hopes.  Quilted together with imperfect hand stitches.  Very much like love.  How it is imperfect, how mistakes are sometimes made, but oh how it covers.  Oh how it warms and shelters and completely surrounds you.

So many blessings - in this craft that we do with our hands.

Linking up to Finish it Friday

Aloha.

Why Hello Again!

Hello again! Are you still there?  Well, we are still here! I didn't realize that this break would have been so long! It was unintended to say the least and I must admit that I did miss writing here in this space ever so much.

The reason for the several month break was because we are expecting! Yes that's right.  Little opihi number two is snug and growing as I write.  My first trimester was pretty rough and I didn't feel like doing anything - so therefore nothing worthy to post so therefore no post. And so on and so on and so on.  But second trimester is here and I am enjoying the wonderful energy that goes with it.

It has been really dry on the crafting front, but I did manage to finish my scarf that I was making for my dad.  It was gifted to him during his two week stay along with a bit of art that Liam created for him.  P for Papa.  Oh my heart! My dad was thrilled with it.

Liam and I were very much reclusive during my first trimester, so now I am happy to announce that we are back into our weekly beach routines.  It is so wonderful to be able to give your children exactly what they need... and an outing to the beach to play with water, and sticks, and sand, is so wonderful.  He is napping right now and his sleep is so deep and clean and well earned.  So taking advantage of that deep sleep, I am sitting here and writing and hopefully reconnecting.

So much has changed within the past few months.  Not just externally but internally as well.  I have been reading a lot... on children's art, and child development and I am so full of so much wonderful goodness that I have a feeling that the next few post will be less centered on my crafting endeavors, and more focused on the creativity that blossoms from parenting.  There is a change in the air for this space, because in a sense, I am changing... so therefore I hope you follow along on this journey if creative parenting is your kind of thing.  ::insert smily face::

Aloha!
Karisma

Finding Center

Sometimes when everything feels like it's out of my reach, there are a few things that help me find my center.

::setting the table::

::spending a moment to think of someone else and to say a prayer for them::

::baking something special to celebrate a hard day completed and learned from::

::a breath::

One moment, one breath, one life.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" ~ Mary Oliver 

A Good Day

There is a new little sou chef in the kitchen! Keeping with the momentum of having Liam in the kitchen, we made graham crackers together yesterday.  Monday is usually baking day for this little mama, but yesterday a baking project was chosen with the intention of inviting this little guy in to help me.

Liam's first picture, taken with my little Cannon PowerShot while we rolled out the dough. Future blogger perhaps? 

Catherine McCord's book Weelicious had the perfect graham cracker recipe for us to do together.  There is no egg in this cracker, which was really good because I saw Liam eating the dough several times. But oh it was so much work  fun helping him to use the rolling pin, cut out the cookies and place them on the sheet.

I love that picture above! He is checking out his pictures on my old camera all the while sporting a flour mustache!

While they were baking I set up a play dough station for him so that he could practice what we had just learned.  His little rolling pin is new to his little basket of kitchen things,  a yard sale find for a dollar.  Don't you just love those?

I don't know what made me do it, but I was so inspired from this experience with him... watching him touch the dough with his hands, watching him concentrate on a task with such amazing focus, it didn't feel complete to set up a quilt on the floor and have our regular floor picnic.  So I loaded a tray with snacks and we headed outside to the lanai, or porch.  And sitting there, watching him eat the fruits of his labor with the birds singing and the wind blowing our hair around us just made sense. It felt really really right. Eating outside, is a really big thing for this mama that tends to cower inside in fear of those dreadful tropical mosquitoes! But they stayed away so that we could enjoy ourselves.  We looked for geckos but they were being shy.  The birds came for a visit on the trees outside and Liam laughed as he watched them glide. We counted four trucks and three cars during our little alfresco snack time, in of course Hawaiian and English.  And we enjoyed the sun and the wind and the discovery of a broom.  This mama was inspired to put some love into this unused little corner of our home and went inside dreaming of a container garden space to grow flowers, a table and chairs for when Liam is older and we can really have lunch or perhaps afternoon tea.  

Afterwards Liam helped me with the Monday chores, (well Tuesday actually, but all that baking and flour play really messed up the floors) of vacuuming and mopping. We vacuumed the house together and then he rode in the sling while I mopped.  Doing things with Liam seemed to take three times as long, but the experience that he got out of it was so worth it.  Not only did he fully engage in an activity, but he helped me take care of our home, and I think that lesson has so many layers of meanings that we can explore.

The nap that he had in the afternoon was wonderful.  It was one of those tired but happy naps.  A nap that felt earned by this mama.  Isn't it wonderful when our children are tired because of all the experiencing that they have just had?  Nothing makes me happier.

And his little sleep was so deep that I got some prepping in to continue a WIP that has long needed attention.

Looking back it was a good day.  A very good day if I must say so myself.

Thoughts on play

Is it November already? Oh my how October seems to have come and went! Can you imagine that there are only two more months to the year? Lately my thoughts have been turning to activities that Liam and I can do together.  Especially in the kitchen.  Not only to help him learn, but to also control the type of mess work he has going on in the kitchen while I am cooking or baking.  One morning, I was making these muffins again (I think I've made them every week since I discovered them!) and this time I was going to add mashed banana.  So I had Liam mash the bananas for me.  We had a blast, him and I - mashing bananas. Who knew that mashing fruit into a pulp could be so therapeutic! It's a stress reliever I tell you.  

After we finished mashing, I washed off the masher and gave it to him so that I could get the muffins mixed and into the oven. When I looked up from my work, you know what I found him doing?  You guessed it... 

Mashing his little crochet fruit in a mixing bowl in his play area.  He had just applied what we had done in the kitchen to his play.  I have read that children imitate real life in their play in books, but to see it in real life - amazing! I think I stared at him a bit awestruck for a moment before snapping to my senses and running to get my camera like a good little blogger to shoot pictures of this occurrence.  Please excuse the picture of his back, once I started snapping pictures of his face he got distracted.

You know how he applied a skill from real life to imitate in play? Well, the same went vise versa.  Liam here is spooning one crochet apple from one bowl to the other.  We had never introduced a spoon during meal times, but lately he has been reaching for one.  This morning I gave it to him and was blown away as he used his spoon to pick up food and put it into his mouth.  Food. Spoon. Mouth.  All in that order. Mind blowing! He taught himself how to use a spoon by playing with small objects and a spoon.  Looking back, I do recall him spooning those little crochet apples into his mouth and later chasing him to pry it out, but it never really amazed me until he did it with real food during breakfast.

A child's play... so much learning about the world and their part in it takes place through play.  That realization really has me contemplating the meaningful work that I can give him and the play stations that I create for him.

I know this stuff must be old news to veteran parents like yourself but to a newbie like me, I am learning so much.  And it is so amazing to see and such a blessing to be a part of it all with him.

I added a dish rag to his kitchen toys.  I've been thinking about teaching him how to dry his own dish lately.  I thought I would start off with play drying. Or perhaps real life drying.  Apparently it doesn't matter because there is such a wonderful overlap!

Cheers everyone!

My spot

I asked Ross to shoot this picture of me last week so that I could remember.  My spot.  Where you can find me doing most anything that requires sitting.  Sewing, reading, eating.  All of my handwork is done here.  It is the perfect space.  The right grants me a view of the ocean. Straight ahead is the futon where Liam takes his naps.  I love those moments when he sits up while blinking the sleep from his eyes, and then they focus on me, sitting here.  Always here.  Usually stitching with a cup of something that use to be warm.

He likes to play where I am. Lately he sits on the ground next to me where we keep our can goods and stack them.  This is what I found this morning.  Oh my sweet little boy - no longer just a destroyer but a builder too.   There really is a time for everything is there not?

It's these little moments that are so precious to the heart, don't you think?  These moments that we want to hold close and remember.  A stitch here, a sip there. One can on top of the next.  Oh these small things that make up a moment, a day, a year, a life.  

So much sweetness.  My heart is so full. 

Blessings on this Thursday. 

The colors of fall

Yesterday, all of my tricks came out of the bag in attempt to try and distract this little guy from the fact that razor sharp teeth are trying to cut through his tender and swollen gums.  Popsicles and ice cubes wrapped in dishcloths were eaten frequently, lavender oil foot massages, spending time cuddled in the sling, and playing with the art trunk.  I haven't brought this trunk down for him before, so it was fun to watch him discover all of its contents. 

Since Liam was born, I started collecting art supplies that we could use when he got a little bit older.  Surplus markers from when I taught at the school,  Prang watercolors from the thrift store (fifty cents a piece! Whoo hoo!) large color stamp pads gifted to us from my sister, a pack of moleskin journals, and then a few bottles of kitchen things that had gotten old to make art with: beans, pasta, lentils... thing like that.  

Liam was drawn to first the large ink pads, so I chose the colors that traditionally indicate fall, which to be honest has been a bit hard to teach him about considering that we don't have any deciduous trees with changing leaves around us, no apple orchards to visit, not a lot of the clear signs that the season is changing here.  I still haven't figured it out yet - how to teach him about fall here in the islands.  I have a few ideas about teaching him about the world and their different seasons, but I still draw a blank when it comes closer to home.  But I still have time! Which I am very grateful for!

Inspired by the pumpkin patch outing over the weekend, I did want to do a bit of traditional autumn colored art with him.  So we took all of the warm colors and made hand prints.  Liam really enjoyed discovering this new medium.  He had fun pushing down into the ink pad and looking at how the ink saturated his hands.  When I tried to encourage him to put his hands on the paper he protested a bit, so I stopped and let him be to discover.  This process is about him, I had to remind myself. Not necessarily about a finished product.

But the few handprints that we managed made me smile and this little piece went directly onto the fridge to sit for a while before eventually getting filed away.  On the back went the date, the medium, and a few notes about what it is and how he seemed to interact with the materials.  I have it in my mind to create him a yearly art book with samples of the best of his art.  I thought he would love to be able to look back when he was older to see how his art has evolved. Or to just see how much fun we had.

It is getting to that point now where he is really starting to understand.  I don't have to guide him as much.  He understands that when there is paper set with markers, or crayons, or paints, or ink pads now, that we put color to paper - and oh how he smiles as those few marks are made on that white white space.  Creating is starting to become so much fun with him.

What shall we make next I wonder....

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Aloha.