Friday, June 25, 2010

Friday Finds: Adventure

Adventure has reigned at our rustic abode this week. We acquired new neighbors who brought with them 2 sons very close in age to my own sons and since their arrival the boys have played non-stop. Climbing trees, defending the fort (a tree house with a porch on it), marching down our long gravel drive in french colonial costumes and helmets, brandishing weapons of every sort.
It is exactly what I had hoped for. Boys playing hard, climbing trees, defending forts. When they finally come in at night they are dirty, sweaty and full of boy energy and I love it.

So today's Friday finds is dedicated to all manner of pretend play.

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(I love pretty much everything in this shop so I had to put two of the items up)

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There are other sites that have wonderful resources for boys pretend play. Whether you agree with their theological perspective or not Vision Forum has a large array of wonderful costumes and props for boys to play whatever their imagination conjures up. This past year my sons' Oma and Grandaddy gave all the boys in the family real WWII helmets they purchased from Vision Forum and the boys love them.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Bliss

One thing I love about being a seller on Etsy is the personal interaction I am able to have with my customers. It is the next best thing to owning a store and seeing the familiar faces coming through my door. I find myself always up for a challenge. Always trying to think of how I can fine tune my product to fit exactly what each customer likes, appreciates, or delights in.
I was recently asked by a bride-to-be if I could assemble some soap and washcloths to be Bridesmaids gifts. I jumped on the opportunity and created a label specifically for the occasion. I remember what it was like myself planning for and looking forward to that special day. It was another wonderful opportunity to do something to customize these gifts specifically for her very special day.
I look forward to more times like this one where I can create not only soap but labels that exclaim the joy of each moment.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Friday Finds: Ode To All things Campish

So I'm a day behind once more. I had this all ready to go but the last day of Cousins camp was yesterday and on top of that we decided to combine Peter and Christopher's birthday parties and have all the cousins over to celebrate. With 21 children and 10 adults at the party I was very much overwhelmed with preparation and clean up. Needless to say, the blog got pushed aside.

Well, obviously I've been thinking and working with camp a lot this week. On top of that my husband and two oldest boys took a real camping trip a few weekends ago with some other men and their sons.

It only seems appropriate to dedicate this Friday Finds to Camp, whether it be summer camp or camping (with a tent and all that).

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Cousin's Camp

I don't know about you but I grew up going to camp every summer. I must admit, the camp experience was not one of the highlights of my childhood.
To sum up my camping experience I would use the word "pressure". The camps I went to were mostly church camps. They started out with the pressure of sports. Of course you had to keep the children busy and what better way than organized sports? These activities are a blessing and even exciting for those who were the trim, athletic, coordinated children, but for me (a very chubby, not so coordinated pre-adolescent) they were a nightmare. Then there were the countless meetings, meals in a sweat filled cafeteria and the all around pressure to be popular among a group of peers that you will most likely never see again (even if you make lifelong promises to faithfully write each other).

Cousins Camp, on the other hand, is a completely different experience. It all started when my husbands older siblings had 3 children each. My husband's mother decided that it would be good for the parents to have a little down time and for the cousins to get a chance to play together and learn some new things. I think the oldest at the time was 6. So the first cousins camp boasted 3 6-year-olds and 3 4-year-olds. I'm sure my mother-in-law had suspicions that this could possibly grow to enormous proportions but at the time she dove in. (Oddly enough her children married spouses who shared their dreams of having larger families, nowhere near the Duggers but more than the average household. Since the first cousins camp the grandchild tally has reached 21 children all under the age of 10. The admittance age for Cousins camp is 4 years old so this year there are 19 children attending camp).

Cousin Camp 2010's theme is "The Pioneer Days". Thus far they started off with a day at the lake ands since then have spent their time painting, molding clay pots and toys, hiking and playing in the small woods behind my sister-in-law's house, and learning the history of the pioneers. Today they will be learning more about the Ingalls through a lesson and a movie and then coming here fully dressed in pioneer garb to hike the woods at my house down to the creek and back again. Upon their return they will gather around the fire pit to enjoy a meal of beans, bacon and Johnny cakes in true pioneer fashion.

It is hard to tell what they will remember years later as they look back on these experiences but I must say, my boys look forward to these time immensely. It far surpasses my experiences with camp and I am so very thankful they can share this time with their cousins and their Oma.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday Finds: The Reader

Reading is very much on my mind this morning. We had our monthly book club meeting last night and it inspired me for today's post.

I wasn't always considered to be a reader. In fact during much of my high school years I was branded as a non-reader. Most of this was due to the fact that I turned away from fiction, not having found any that truly inspired and challenged me. I mostly found myself interested in research and let's just face it, even if you are really interested in non-fiction it is not the type of thing that grips you so much you find yourself captivated into the wee hours of the morning.

Most of my college education was permeated by theology and non-fiction so even as the world of classic literature was gradually being opened to me I didn't have the time to dedicate to its discovery. When I met and married my English major husband, I decided that I would make it one of my goals to travel into the world of fiction (mostly by way of the classics).

Now I am finding that as much as my desire to have a book in hand has grown immensely my time is much more dominated by other things (such as my family). I have to grab tiny snippets here and there. Book club has helped motivate me to stick with a book long enough to complete it. I can comfort myself with the knowledge that I will be finishing at least one book a month. Unfortunately my bedside table and many of my bookshelves are filled with books that have my bookmark in them waiting patiently to be picked up again.

Therefore this Friday Finds is dedicated to the reader.

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Monday, June 7, 2010

The bugs say hello


I am finding myself in the midst of an internal struggle. Up until this point my vision for settling down has been of a home with character and history located very centrally in the downtown area where I can walk pretty much anywhere I could possibly desire to go. This vision is shared by my husband who longs to be in a location where students can walk to our home for Bible studies or just some down time.
I mentioned before that our previous landlord was extremely inflexible, leaving us no hope or opportunity to find a house to call our own. With the daunting prospect of committing another year of our lives to a somewhat cramped environment and dominating landlord we took one last grasp at a post we saw on craigslist for a month to month rental. Although it seemed too good to be true we loaded up our family on one final hunting expedition. What we came upon was a haven in the country. A rental on the owner's horse ranch. A place surrounded by breathtaking views. An open floor plan which works wonderfully for hosting parties (and for boys "vrooming" dump trucks). A deck right outside our bedroom door which we have already taken advantage of (last night we walked out only to be overwhelmed by the endless brilliant stars and the peaceful sounds of the world at night). It didn't take very long to sign on the dotted line and claim all this as ours (at least temporarily).
And now I find I am struggling with the temporary part of the whole arrangement. I begin envisioning us still residing here when #4 comes along (and #4 doesn't exist yet). I am already captivated at the thoughts of fall. If I think the views are amazing now I can't even begin to imagine what this place is like in the fall. Then there's Christmas, New Years, and so many other wonderful things I would like to enjoy in this Walden Pond of mine.
This morning I went for my morning jog greeted by the magnificent blue ridge mountains and an incredibly blue sky. Soon after breakfast I took the boys for a hike on the property and was again overtaken by the awe-inspiring stillness and granduer of the forest. The boys drank it in as well and only the promise for returning again soon (it's pretty much in our front yard) got them to drag themselves back home for lunch.
It will be hard to leave all of this beauty. I keep reminding myself that this is only temporary. That soon we will need to settle into a house of our own. That we can't sequester ourselves in the middle of nowhere and still hope to make an impact on our community, but until then I plan on drinking deeply in the creation that surrounds me.