14 hours ago
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
My grandma on my dad’s side died when I was around nine years old. I remember crying at her funeral, but I don’t think I fully realized at the time what I lost.
My grandma was a really neat lady by all accounts. I remember her pulling out the toys for us to play when we went over to visit, and going over with my mom one day to make a fall wreath craft together. In my mind's eye, I see her funny magnets on the fridge, and her glasses, and her big welcoming smile. I wish I would have had a chance to know her as an adult, but I will know her when I meet her in Heaven.
In my living room, I have two blankets she crocheted. The stitches are intricate, and the colors are bright. Even though she passed away before I was old enough to really know her, every time I see her blankets in the corner, I remember.
There is something valuable about a hobby that allows you to create something tangible, something to pass down. Something your descendants can point to and say “My great-grandmother made that.“
I have other things around the house that have been made for me, hand towels and table runners and baby blankets that were crocheted for me by dear ladies in the church where I grew up. I have quilts my mom helped me make as a kid, the baby book she covered in fabric and decorated for me. And there are wooden bowls, a gorgeous cutting board, and the quilt rack that holds my grandmother’s blankets - all made by my grandpa.
For years now I’ve been searching for a hobby that creates something that my kids can see and hold. Scripture tells us we can know things about God by the things which He made, and I think there is a sense in which that is true for us humans too. I never got to know my grandma as an adult, but even now I can know some things about her by the gorgeous blankets she made.
Material things aren’t as important as people, but they can remind us of people we love, and they can remind us where we come from. Holding something in our hands isn’t the same as knowing the person who created it, but we can know something about the person by the things they made. Tangible things aren’t everything, but they aren’t nothing. There is value in creating something you can touch.
(An afghan my grandma made.)
When I was 12, my mom decided we kids should learn how to sew. She broke out the fabric scrap box, and she helped each one of us stitch together a quilt. That was the first quilt I made, full of cotton scraps and denim. It was backed with flannel, and it had a nice weight to it. I still have it on my blanket shelf, and that was the quilt that taught me it’s actually not that difficult to put together a quilt. It’s tough to do intricate designs and have every seam perfect, but to piece together a snugly couch blanket didn’t have to be complicated or intimidating.
When I was 14 or 15, the sweet old ladies in our little white church decided to teach all the church kids how to quilt. They brought their own fabric stashes, and we each picked through them for our lap-quilts, the perfect size for covering your legs outside or taking a nap in the car.
When I was pregnant with my first, crib bedding was popular. We all understood you couldn’t actually put that crib blanket on your newborn - at best it would drape over the side of the crib when visitors wanted to peek at the nursery, a merely decorative touch. But I still wanted one, and I couldn’t find a blanket in colors I liked, so I made one myself. I understood at the time that I was obligating myself to make a blanket for each one of my kids - little did I know that four more baby quilts would follow that first one.
I learned from those baby quilts that certain fabrics are more difficult to work with than others, sherpa backing would unfortunately get matted in the wash, long-arm quilters like all the seams to be pressed as perfectly as possible, and I could machine-quilt my blankets at home if I just did straight lines.
After all those years of quilts (I had five kids in seven years), I tucked my sewing machine into a cupboard and forgot about it, until I saw flag quilts popping up online this May. Inspiration struck. I knew I could piece together a flag quilt no problem, and it seemed like a lovely way to commemorate the 250th birthday of America.
So last month I set up my sewing table, dug out my rotary cutter, and got to work. One quilt accidentally turned into two when I couldn’t decide if I wanted a dark or light color scheme.
I learned from these quilts that a blanket from Amazon works just fine as a quilt backing, a walking foot really does make the quilting process easier, there will be a point in every quilt where you want to pull your hair out, my eyes are getting older, and my kids are mesmerized by the whole process. My children are already negotiating who gets to use the quilt when, and I know I need to (slowly) make at least a couple more.
All this talk about making something that can be held reminds me not to get too caught up in this digital world. My grandkids may not ever look up my Instagram account or blog, but they will flip through albums of pictures I took, or read words I wrote on a page. And maybe if I take the time, they can do those things while snuggled under a blanket I made too - snuggled under these very quilts. When I am gone, they can touch something my own hands created, piece by piece.
Do you have anything that was passed down to you? Or have you made anything you can pass down to those who come after you?
Note: If the beginning of this post feels familiar, it's because it is a re-write of something I shared on this topic years ago.
Birds are squawking from a pine tree above my head right now. I hear more than see hummingbirds whizzing around my back porch, and I spotted a robin shaking the branches of a bush before alighting on a rock and peering toward me, the mountains behind, blue in the distance.
Every morning that I can I try to start my day with reading my Bible and various other books on my porch. The sun doesn’t hit it directly in the morning, thanks to a leaning ponderosa pine, and so it stays comfortable and cool for several hours. Still, I enjoy it a little later in the morning when the porch becomes too hot to walk on with bare feet. It doesn’t feel like summer until I’ve spent at least some time doing absolutely nothing while soaking up the warmth of the sun.
Here’s what I’ve been doing in the real world so far this summer.
Visiting friends in Idaho. Our friends live on a lake, so they took us kayaking and tubing while we were there! It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip over a long weekend. I also read this book on the way there, and this book on the way back, and both were delightful.
Going to our first airshow in Washington. Our friends suggested we go, and I’m so glad they did, because the whole family loved it. We got to walk inside a cargo plane, we saw several historic planes fly, including one WW2 plane that is the last of it’s kind that still flies in the world (I think maybe it was a P-38?). We watched a daredevil hanging out of a prop plane before skydiving to the ground, we watched a trick plane do loops that seemed impossible. And it was all topped off by flyovers by F-16s that made the ground vibrate.
Attended a homeschool conference. Every year I wonder if I should go to the homeschool conference or not, since at this point I feel like I’ve heard everything there is to say about homeschooling. But every year I go and I’m glad I did. This year I heard this speaker who was new to me, and I so appreciated his perspective on apologetics since he voiced some issues I’ve had with some approaches. Maybe I’ll write more about that sometime.
Our Kentucky friends came into town. We spent almost every day hanging out with our friends while they were here! We went to the pool, went to parks, hung around our house, and just enjoyed spending time together. I’m so thankful for friendships that are solid enough to thrive even long-distance.
Finished up biology dissections. My oldest took biology last school year (this curriculum), and we ended up with some formaldehyde-soaked critters for free because of a shipping error. So we had some friends over to do dissections and just hang out.
Celebrated 4th of July at a baseball game. We were racking our brains for something special to do for America’s 250th birthday. We toyed with the idea of taking a trip somewhere, but we also knew we’d be exhausted after such a busy June, so we opted for a baseball game. It was the right choice - not only was it one of the only places around to see real fireworks this year (because of a high fire risk in the mountains), it was also so fun and patriotic. The crowd was dressed in red, white, and blue garb, we got to sing the national anthem (obviously) and also “God Bless America” at the 7th inning stretch. Then we listened to patriotic music while watching the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen, with a hyped-up crowd cheering all around. 10 out of 10, highly recommend.
Movie nights on the porch. In the summer, every chance we get, we drag out kitchen bench out to the porch, set up our tv on top of it, and settle in with sleeping bags and blankets to enjoy a movie night outside. So far we have watched The Great Awakening - I was skeptical at first but ended up loving it - and the classic, The Sandlot.
Got my hair highlighted and colored. Summer is always the season for a hair refresh for me.
Visiting my grandma for a weekend. I feel so lucky that the kids get to know their great-grandparents - I never got to know mine, and it’s a special thing.
Went to see several movies. We saw The Breadwinner (funny), Toy Story 5 (I enjoyed it), and Young Washington(spectacular). Next on the list is The Brink Of War in August - I love all these historical movies that are coming out lately!
Started a flag quilt. I have not sewn anything in years, but I got it in my head to make a flag quilt like this in honor of the 250th. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to finish it before Independence Day, but the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by most of the delegates on August 2nd, so that’s my new target date.
Rescued a hummingbird that got trapped in our house. Our house is on a very bird-friendly piece of property, so we get quite a lot of hummingbirds each year, and occasionally one will accidentally fly through an open door and get trapped in our house. I cannot tell you how stressful this is, because I have an abiding love of hummingbirds, and I would hate to see one die. This bird exhausted itself trying to get out our skylight, and then eventually landed on our floor, where my husband was able to grab it and take it outside. We gave him a round of applause for saving the bird!
What is not happening right now: any homeschool planning whatsoever. By the end of each homeschool year I am usually thoroughly exhausted, but unfortunately each summer starts with more homeschool stuff because of the conference. Then my mind runs in circles trying to make decisions about curriculum and thinking through my co-op class for the upcoming year, and if I’m not careful I never actually get a break from homeschooling. So I’ve banned myself from doing any planning or buying any curriculum until the beginning of August. July is about doing all the things I never have time for, taking care of my house, going to the pool, and generally just remembering how to be a normal person apart from the “homeschool mom” label. Some homeschool articles may be coming as we approach fall, but not until then.
Upcoming summer fun:
Lots of pool days
Hiking and fishing
Backyard camping in our tent
A bubble festival
Dragon boat races
More movie nights
Lots of reading on the porch
Editing and sorting through photos that have been sitting in my phone
Canning project- probably blueberry jam and apple butter
Baking sourdough again
Painting mugs, and other crafts
Finishing a quilt or two
I’m terrible at ending these chatty posts, so I’ll just ask - what is something that you do in the summer that is just for you? I hope you are hitting just the right balance of summer fun and slowness, as I am trying to!
These are all the things I’m saving…quotes I’ve highlighted, books on my reading list, websites and articles I’m saving, photos I’m taking, and things I don’t want to forget. If I had a notebook that held everything in one place, it would look something like this!
Commonplace Quotes
“Trust God in the dark. We are safer with Him in the dark that without Him in the sunshine.”
- Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light On Dark Clouds
“There is only one practical remedy for this deadly sin of anxiety, and that is to take short views. Faith is content to live ‘from hand to mouth’, enjoying each blessing from God as it comes.”
- Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light On Dark Clouds
“If he saw the responsibility as too great for his ability, it was because he had a realistic idea of how immense that responsibility would be. For such a trust, to lead an undisciplined, poorly armed volunteer force of farmers and tradesmen against the best-trained, best-equipped, most formidable military force on earth - and with so much riding on the outcome - was, in reality, more than any man was qualified for.”
- David McCullough, 1776
Recommendations
The Everyday Reading Summer Reading Guide - Summer reading is a different animal, and I love stretching my genres and trying new authors in the summer. This is my favorite summer reading guide! I exercise a little caution on the romance titles especially, since I like my books clean, but I have found so many great books from this guide over the years! If you used to enjoy the guide from Modern Mrs. Darcy back in the day, you need to try the one from Everyday Reading - I like it even better! Hint: She also has a really fun summer reading chart here.
Kyle Hates Hiking Youtube Channel - I have a weird interest in National Parks, mountaineering, and survival or true crime stories, and this channel brings those three things together! I’ll often play one of these videos while folding laundry.
Ask Dr. Jo Youtube Channel - My nearly middle-aged self often rolls out of bed with a crick in my neck or a sore shoulder, and I am so grateful to have found this physical therapy channel! Every time I have a knot in any of my muscles, I just search on this channel for stretches, and it fixes it within a couple days. I even used these videos when I had a pretty bad case of costochondritas, which is inflammation of the muscles between your ribs that make it feel like you are having a mini heart attack every time you breath. Her videos were the only thing that helped!
A Fun Way To Add More Classic Literature - This article about creating literary book boxes for kids has my wheels turning for the summer.
Books I’m Reading Right Now
The Music Of The Hemispheres by Michael Clay Thompson (Teacher’s Manual) - I am reading this book aloud to my middle schoolers as we finish up the school year this week - I think I am learning just as much as they are! I have always liked certain poems that have a clear rhythm and rhyme scheme, but had a harder time with other types of poems. This book explains the structure of poetry and some of the poetic elements to notice in even non-rhyming poems, and I feel like I understand poetry so much better now.
God’s Light On Dark Clouds by Theodore Cuyler - This book is a beautiful exploration of God’s purposes in suffering, written by a mom that just lost his daughter. I think the encouragement in here is so applicable to any kind of hardship or suffering, and I’ve been finding passages to highlight almost every day as I work through it after my Bible reading. I recommend reading it even if you are not currently going through any trials.
2084 And The AI Revolution by John Lennox - One of my personal study projects this year is to learn more about AI and technology. This book is a thorough treatment of the history and philosophies associated with AI, from a Christian perspective. I am learning so much! I know things with AI move so fast that some of the information in this book is probably already out of date, but I think the author’s analysis is timeless.
Bits Of Nature
We have been going from winter, to summer, then back to winter over the last week or so. My kids were literally playing at a splashed in 80-degree weather last week, and then woke up to fog and snow on Monday morning. That’s May in the mountains. These are photos I’ve snapped outside over the last few days.
Moments Of Happiness
-Wrapping up all of our school year read-alouds, including The Wind In The Willows, pictured above. It feels so satisfying to close the last page.
-Going through boxes of old notes from family and friends, and piles of artwork from my kids’ little years. So many memories were revived, and everything is filed away nicely now.
- Starting The Wingfeather Saga as a read-aloud with my kids - the first book is more light, and the silly footnotes are making us all laugh! I’m already anticipating the tears that will spill when we get to the ending of the series, but they will be good tears.
-Watching my girls in their ballet class. We haven’t done any ballet since the crazy covid times, and we are at a stage where they all three can be in the same class. I love seeing how graceful they are becoming.
-Having friends reach out to me for a get-together, not just vice versa.
-Noticing that the pools are opening a little early this year, with Memorial Day and our especially warm weather. I’m keeping an eye on the weather to determine our first pool day of the summer.
-Making summer plans, especially for the 4th of July!
Currently I am…
Watching… my kids swing at the park. The weather has been unseasonably warm, and they convinced me we needed a park day. I would be enjoying the weather if it weren’t for the increased threat of wildfires. Everyone in my state is pretty anxious about the summer months because of a general lack of snow this winter. Usually I hate having a cooler, rainier spring, but I would gladly take one this year. (Also, as I sit finishing this post later at the library, I hear the librarian discussing her hope that it will be like that one year when it started out dry and then closer to summer it started raining every other day. So I’m not the only one worried about it.)
Drinking… a Tazo iced chai latte.
Reading… still, a year later, Anna Karenina. The thing is, I’m actually loving it, but it’s so long. I’ve realized I’m in a season with only snatches of reading time, and when I do read I often want something light and quick-paced. It might not be the time in my life for doorstops. I am enjoying two other fiction books. The first is called Hearts Overboard by Becky Dean, and it’s a YA about a teenage girl that is stuck in her routine and her arch nemesis and sort-of friend convinces her to try something new every day. It’s cute. The other book is Wander Lost by Laura Martin, and it’s about twin boys whose mother will not allow them to play board games - ever. Then suddenly she disappears, and I think we might be able to guess where she went. It’s intriguing so far!
Planning for… the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence! We will take the last month of the school year to do a crash course in early American history (for my little girls especially), and we will probably continue the patriotic education over the summer with books, music, movies, and some instruction in flag etiquette. I may put together a post with resources I plan on using soon, but I’d love recommendations if you are similarly planning much ado about America’s birthday!
Working on… several Substack articles. Despite my lack of posting lately, I am brimming with ideas. I decided for the next few weeks I am going to take a couple hours each afternoon to head to the library and just work until I get all my half-written posts finished. In the queue are:
How To Grocery Shop Once A Month
Should I Join A Homeschool Co-op?
Reading Goals For 2026 (is it too late in the year for this one?)
Books For Kids Who Love Horses
A Defense Of The Checklist
Wishing… people I love wouldn’t move away. I’m pretty good at long-distance friendships, but every friend that goes leaves a hole that no other friend is going to fill in exactly the same way. I’m thankful when my dear friends put the effort in to be good at long-distance friendship back.
Considering… digging the kids’ summer clothes out of storage, and if I do it will be the earliest I have ever switched the clothes. It has to be considered when the weather has been so warm! It’s forecasted to be 68 degrees tomorrow up in the mountains, and up to 91 degrees this weekend in town. Those kinds of temperatures are unheard of in March! The trees are even starting to bud and flower. I’m torn between wanting to lean into the sun while praying for precipitation. I read somewhere that early Christians would pray that God would not listen to the prayers of a traveler regarding the weather, because the local people know what is really needed. I think about that whenever I pray for rain.
Excited… that the end of the school year is in sight, distant though it sometimes feels! We are at the point in the homeschool year where I start considering powering through the last 20% of the book so we can drop a few subjects off our plates. We will see.
Enjoying… chocolate turtle cookies from King Soopers (or Kroger, if you are out east). If you see them, don’t think, just buy them.
Buying… new spring clothes. The trickiest season for dressing is spring, with its finicky weather and winter nipping at our heels with summer right around the corner. I was griping to my husband about my wardrobe - how everything felt wrong for the season and ill-fitting - and he told me to just take a set amount of money and go shopping! So I did, and it did indeed make me feel better about the weirdness of spring fashion. I got this dress, another dress, this jacket, that shirt, and this cardigan, and I don’t regret any of it.
Researching… reading lists for my kids. I have a range of book problems to solve - kids that read faster than I can screen books, picky readers, readers who need to stretch their skills slowly. I am drowning in book lists and reviews, and it’s a book lover’s dream, honestly! I have so much fun trying to find good books for all my kids’ reading wishes. I typically use Honey For A Child’s Heart, Honey For A Teen’s Heart, Living Heritage independent reading recommendations, Redeemed Reader lists, Reshelving Alexandria booklists, Read Aloud Revival booklists, and a smattering of bookish Instagram accounts for ideas.
Loving… a little quiet time for myself, but not too much. Right now our routine is for my husband to take the kids to Awana each week, and I take the evening to read the history text that I’m teaching for our co-op. It’s not a curriculum I picked, but I think it’s worked pretty well in a co-op setting. I love when the house is quiet, and I can put things back in order, then sit down with my dinner and this massive textbook to prepare for my class. I usually finish in about an hour, and then I read my own book or watch some silly show until everyone comes bursting back through the door. I enjoy the quiet, but nothing is right again until everyone is back home.
This week my little family is still firmly ensconced in what I like to call “the Christmas bubble”.
Every year on Christmas Eve, I intentionally disconnect myself from the world. The rest of the year I consider it my civic duty to stay somewhat informed of the news, but not the week between Christmas and New Year’s. The rest of the year I fight the never-ending battle with dust and dirty laundry, but not this week. The rest of the year the to-do list hang’s over my head, but during this one week I shove it aside and do only things I really want to do. It’s the Christmas bubble, and I have a day or two left until it naturally pops.
So as you can imagine, I have never been one to rush into taking the Christmas tree down. The tree has always stayed up until at least January 1st in our house. I like to ring in the New Year snuggled on the couch with some sparkling cider and the tree winking in the background.
Over the last couple years I feel even less of a pressure to make a plan for packing away Christmas. I know many people keep their tree until Epiphany, when the wise men are traditionally said to have visited Baby Jesus. In my western state, there is a “tradition” of leaving up the lights until after the big stock show, in order to warmly welcome out-of-state visitors.
I could use either of those excuses, but the real reason I am find myself delaying the inevitable is more simple. The wind whistles outside, and the dark is still coming early, and why wouldn’t I want to keep the sparkle for a little while longer? Sunlight improves your mood, but I believe the same could probably be said of twinkle lights.
Eventually the tree will start to feel like a chore hanging over my head, but for now I’m pushing it out of my Christmas bubble and sitting next to the tree while I type. I don’t regret it.
Other things I don’t regret from the year:
Spending our vacation budget visiting friends.
Staying home more than usual.
Sending out birthday cards every month.
Thrifting more, buying new less.
Being more picky about when to click my shutter button, and less picky when looking at the back of the camera.
Occasionally visiting another church to get a fresh perspective.
Committing time to our home church.
Thinking and strategizing to be more faithful in prayer, which must be the first step to improvement, even if the execution still left much to be desired.
Eating too many Christmas cookies.
Things I do regret:
Letting an emotional rough patch derail me from my Bible-reading plan.
Not reading the quality books I had planned on.
Forgetting to cover my porch furniture for the winter.
Not being as consistent as I wish in reading to my kids individually.
Watching too many dumb videos and not enough audiobooks and sermons.
Letters not written.
Listening to Taylor Swift’s new album out of curiosity (I like it and hate it).
Getting myself too wound up over things.
Eating too many Christmas cookies.
I’ve always been a person of two minds when it comes to resolutions - I don’t like making them because I know that I won’t complete most of them. But every time January peeks around the corner, I feel the need to envision what I hope for the New Year anyway. This last year I made more solid resolutions, and as they say, “God laughed”. Our 2025 looked nothing like I hoped it would when we lit those sparklers at 12:01AM. I am closing this year wishing I had handled all the unexpected things a little better, been a little more faithful, a little more gentle and kind.
As I look ahead to 2026, my mind goes back to a recent, much-needed sermon. The text was Ephesians 5:13-17, used as the basis for planning for the New Year:
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
That’s my hope for the New Year - to look more carefully in how I walk, particularly in the areas of eternal importance, which may also mean letting go of some of the things that are not important. To make the best use of the time, as some translations say, “redeeming the time” - and so to hopefully waste less of it. To not be foolish, to pray and seek the Holy Spirit to empower me to put away foolish things. To understand what the will of the Lord is by reading it in His revealed word - the Bible - and in understanding His will, to do it.
Happy New Year to you, friends! And my prayer for you is the same as my prayer for myself - may you each awake anew to the light of Christ shining on you.
Posts coming up in January:
Book Catchup posts (I’m still so behind in sharing reviews!)
How To Do Once-A-Month Grocery Shopping
Why Lighting Matters
Reading Goals For The New Year
(Note: I’d welcome any questions, or insights on what posts you want to read first!)
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