I had my first sewing lesson today during Charis’s naptime. I did not even have to leave my home, which was super since it was pouring the rain (side note: “pouring the rain” is a term used in the south quite often for a heavy rain Brad tells me this is not grammatically correct etc. but alas I will always have a bit of the south in me so it truly was pouring the rain side note over). J There is a wonderful lady in our church who has offered to teach me the real way to sew instead of making up things as I go. Brad and I were actually friends with her daughters in high school so that makes it that much more fun to have that connection. We reconnected with her as she was working the nursery when Charis was just a few months old. It turns out that she lives just a few houses up from ours so it is quite convenient. I have already leaned so much in just a short little time. I am so excited for our next lesson soon I may be able to actually sew by following a pattern and not just making things up as I go. I am often half hearted when it comes to doing projects but I think that leaning the correct way to sew may change that as things just tend to come out a little closer to perfect. Concept, I know! I will keep you updated on things created and all that I learn. Today I learned a way to make fabric straight without scissors, the importance of a cutting mat, how to properly cut out fabric, what notches mean on a pattern and so much more. The next lesson will include sewing in a zipper and so much more I am sure. How fun!

Yes gone are the days or just a little face plant on the carpet we have moved to the days of face sledding on concrete. Poor Charis! We were playing in the front yard and she was getting closer to the street than I would prefer so I asked her to stop which generally this works and she will come back to where I am. This day she chose to disobey though and started running for the street via the driveway. I took off after her, which made her run faster since she found a game in it. She tripped on her way down and went sledding on her face. It was in such slow motion to my mommy eyes from the trip to the skidding. Oh there was an intense silence and then and equally intense scream. There was blood and tears. I carried her inside and got her all cleaned up and settled down but it did take a good bit. Most of the damage was on her nose but there is a bit on her forehead and right under her nose as well. It does look worse today (the day after) with the scab and all. I think that she might obey about stopping now. When we go out everyone looks at her and then at me I have the bad mommy syndrome but you do have to learn that you cannot take of running into the street and you must learn to obey as well. It is just so hard on the parents and the kiddo!

Charis has just started to play pretend. It was so exciting when we realized what she was doing and made my mommy heart leap remembering hours of fun playing pretend. There is a little stuffed monkey that Charis just truly adores that she will carry around anytime that we are upstairs. Recently she has started going to get the shampoo that we use to wash her hair and the monkey then she will plop down in the floor and give the monkey a bath. It is the sweetest thing. She turns the shampoo upside down pretending to shake it out on the monkey. You have just got to love a little pretend!

There is a dear older woman in our church who started a book club almost a year ago now. She invited me and other younger women who she knew to just join her to read one book a month then gathering to chat a bit about the book of the month. I so look forward to these once a month Thursday nights. I do love my dear friend who leads our discussion and gives us such wonderful insight; insight that one can only have after living for over 70 years. This sweet time is such a true joy to me. We have read many different kinds of books from Christian to non-Christian and fiction to non-fiction as well. Anyways, this month we decided to read the first two books from The Chronicles of Narnia. I had never read through them so I was very excited about this. I was honestly a little concerned that C.S. Lewis might be a bit much for me even in his children’s books but everyone does so love these books and I do so love book club so I jumped in. We all agreed to just read The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but after I had read those two I decided that now is a wonderful time to just read through all of the books as they are an easy read. I have fallen in love with them and even though they were written for children they are so rich and even we as adults can learn so much from them. So far my favorite book in the Chronicles has been The Horse And His Boy. I became easily wrapped up in the story and placed myself right along with Shasta and Aravis on their journeys. I also love the weaving of the Lion throughout the story ever so subtly. My favorite lines come towards the end of the book as Shasta is finally speaking with the Lion only he does not know yet that it is the Lion. Shasta feels that he has been so unlucky in his life and tells the Lion of all the hard and awful things that have happened to him then the Lion and Shasta have this incredible conversation… (If you have not read the book yet but wish to and like surprises do not read this…fair warning!)

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion,” said the Voice
“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and-”
“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continues. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”
“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”
“It was I.”
“But what for?”
“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
“Who are you? asked Shasta.
“Myself,” said the voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again, “Myself” loud and clear and gay: and then the third time “Myself”, whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.

-Quote taken from: The Horse And His Boy by: C.S. Lewis

I love the picture of the lion with Shasta it reminds me of how God is with me being my encourager, comforter, protector and giving me strength. God knows all my days and the things that will happen in them. He leads and guides me through each and every one of them. How incredible! What a sweet reminder of His love for me. I also love that Shasta asks about his friend Aravis and why the Lion wounded her but the Lion assures him that it is not part of his story and that he only needs to know his story. How I often want to know so much more than I need to know. Shasta might of missed part of his story because he was so caught up and worried about another story that was not his own. Oh the sweetness of God in our lives working so many things together and for our good even growing us and teaching us it is not always an easy journey but He is always with us. Amazingly sweet!

This is quite the yummy salsa! It shows up at many of our Sunday School gatherings sometimes twice as the actual Parker Family will bring it and then as the recipe is getting passed around others will show up with it as well! Quite humorous! I thought that I would pass it along, as it is so super duper salsa yummy!

Parker Family Salsa

1 can 20-ounce tomatoes
1 green jalapeno (leave out the seeds trust me on this one)
¼ bunch or more cilantro
1-2 cloves of garlic
½ of a lime (juice only)
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 onion yellow or green (optional)

You can mix all of this together in a food processor or for those of you with not so much counter space you can get the same results from a blender. Enjoy!

Tonight as I was sewing I finished my first whole spool of thread. This may sounds silly to report but I was quite excited about the grand achievement. Brad surprised me with a new sewing machine this past Christmas and since then I have just been sewing away as I find time. I have made two dresses for Charis not to lovely to look at on the inside but passable on the outside, a few tote bags and purses plus some beach towels for Charis and her friends. I have really enjoyed making a lot of baby gifts as well such as quilts, diaper bags, burp cloths etc. It is a fun thing to create a little something special that is a one of a kind. Nothing that I make is perfect and I and I have a long way to go but it is a very rewarding thing to be able to make a few things for friends and family. There is a wonderful lady in our neighborhood that is willing to teach me a few more things about sewing and reading patterns so I am really looking forward to that. As you see my one little finished spool represents a lot of excitement and little finished projects.

Yes, that is Charis’s first sentence you are reading…Sit down! At Gpa and Gma’s house Gma is often refereeing between Charis and Ellie (Brad’s parents dog) and she will have to tell Ellie quite often to sit down. Well, Miss Charis has picked up this little phrase and clamed it. She loves to tell Ellie to sit down and everyone else for that matter. Those were the first words out of her mouth this morning as I got her out of bed. She is a funny little girl and is really starting to get the hang of picking up words and putting them together. How amazing!

That was the question and the answer came pretty quickly! We had an appointment this morning to have Charis’s pictures taken. She has never loved this activity but she will generally tolerate it with a little encouragement but today she put her foot down. She was pretty happy this morning and I was feeling good knowing that a happy girl makes for some great pictures. She was happy in the car on the way to the place, she was happy getting out of the car and walking in and she was even happy sitting in the waiting area. Then they called us for pictures and as soon as I sat Charis down on the mat it was pretty much over. The screaming and crying began for no real apparent reason. None of my tricks worked and I even had two grandmothers in tow. Nothing! We could calm her down a little bit but as soon as I as she would sit back down she would go through the whole screaming and crying thing. The poor photographer just kept encouraging us to reschedule for another day but my strong will was kicking in and I was so determined to have these pictures taken. Charis looked too cute to leave empty handed. Alas even I gave in though and Charis won we did leave empty handed. We will reschedule for another day and hopefully we will not leave empty handed again.