Project :: Wedding Gift Pillowcases

Mr. Wiedz and I attended a wedding last September of some dear friends. I brainstormed quite a few options for gifts...can't even remember them now but I do think I was thinking KitchenAide mixer at one point.

Mr. Wiedz suggested our traveling to Alabama for the wedding was gift enough. But I couldn't really go to a wedding empty handed.

I thought a compromise would be a hand-made gift. Some of my most favorite wedding gifts are the embroidered pillowcases we received so I decided to go that route and started brainstorming designs.

The groom was from Colorado and the bride was from Alabama so I decided to draw the two state flowers intertwined. Columbine and peonies. 

It took longer than I thought it would to embroider the design so we did attend the wedding empty-handed. And it took a really long time for me to decided what kind of body fabric I wanted and to actually purchase it. Then it took even longer to sew the pillowcases together (the sewing took a couple sessions one day but the fabric sat in a pile on my desk for awhile then washed but hanging for a few more months). Finally almost a year after the wedding I was able to get these hand-made beauties in the mail for the happy couple.

I love how they turned out and intend this to be my go-to wedding gift in the future.

Someone is 13!!!!

My sweet #1 is 13 today. Everyday with her has been a gift. I am so blessed to be on this journey with her.

She wanted a float down the river with her dad this morning. So we (I'm the shuttle driver) were up before sunrise so they could float and see the sunrise on her 13th birthday.

Later this afternoon we will pick up her friends, the set from her old school meeting the set from her new school, head to the mall for good old fashioned mall trolling and a movie. Then we'll come home for pulled pork dinner and cake. (#6 helped with cake decorating this morning.)

Happy Birthday to the gift that made me a mother.

:: Yarn Along ::

Joining Ginny at Small Things for Yarn Along again today...

Sorry I didn't take a cuter pic this morning...treadmill time beat out "stage a cuter yarn along picture" time. You understand.

On the needles :: That above my friends, is the back of Mr. Wiedz's sweater! All bound off and waiting for the front and sleeves to be done. It was a complicated bind off (what part of this sweater isn't complicated) but I finally stole the last few minutes I needed yesterday afternoon and got it done. I cast on for the front last night. Ribbing. 110 stitches of 2x2 ribbing...but ribbing isn't complicated so I'll take it :).

On the nightstand :: Still reading The Maze Runner . It's good and I think I'm finally to the start of major action. My book club picked Don't Waste Your Life so I've got to try to get that downloaded and started soon.

:: Yarn Along ::

Joining Ginny at Small Things...

Mr. Wiedz went to the Vogue Knitting Live show in Seattle a few weeks ago for work and amongst the mounds of yarn he brought home for me was a swift!!! I had been wanting one for quite awhile and LOVE the one he got. It's the Super Swift II (ball winder too!)from Paradise Fibers...it's dreamy.

The downside of a swift is now that I have the ability to ball my own yarn so easily I find myself balling and then starting new projects...

On the needles :: right now there is too much on my needles. I've picked Mr. Wiedz's sweater back up. I took a new knitting friend to the yarn store the other day and while there picked up all the yarn needed to finish Mr. Wiedz's sweater so I won't have dye lot issues again. I'm working on my first Milo for #6. I wanted it a little big so it would fit her next fall so cast on for the 3T size. My yarn must be not worsted like the label said because the vest will fit her sometime between 4-5...maybe she'll wear it the first time she goes to kindergarten! Found yarn I know will be the right weight and will be casting on another one...they are great to knit! I started a hat for #4 yesterday...all mama-made beanies were too small for him the other day and he's desperate for a soccer practice hat. #3 will be after that. I also gathered all supplies necessary to make a mason jar cozy for a birthday coming up. Hmmmm, I must have cast-on-itis!

On the nightstand :: Got The Maze Runner (affiliate link :)) on my kindle after seeing the trailer for the movie coming soon. So far great book but I don't allow a lot of time in my day for reading so it's going slow.

Happy Birthday #5 & #6!!!

 

 #5 and #6 both have March birthdays. They are about two weeks apart but for now a joint party is the easiest and neither of them care...so joint party it is!!!

#5 got to choose the theme since #6 doesn't know about such things or care yet, and he picked Batman! Worked for me...some yellow, some pink, some black...we're in business!

We had a great day celebrating our two sweet blessings. And a nice turn out of neighbors and friends and family.

Happy Birthday sweet monkeys!

We are in full swing Spring Break here. Cuddling and reading to dollies, building raised garden beds and rebuilding the chicken coop, playing with neighbors and visiting grandparents, volunteering at camp, dinner and a movie for mama and Mr. Wiedz, and mama's throwing in some reading time for #3 and #4.

All in all we are having a great week.

No More Classical School of Wiedz

Right before Christmas break Mr. Wiedz brought up a sensitive topic...what if we sent the boys to public school.

It was time. And I could feel it. If I'm honest I could feel it all last year too. But once Mr. Wiedz brought it up and brought it into the open it was time to deal with it.

So we talked. And we asked the kids. And I took some hard looks at where I think my identity comes from.

I had wrapped a lot of my identity in being a "homeschool mom". But that's not all I am. And that is not where God was leading us right now.

The boys were ready. They were making friends in our neighborhood and playing on teams in our community and making friends. They were ready for this step out into the world. #2 has thrived in public school these last couple of months...so ready was he to go out and be with people.

The little kids needed their turn. #5 and #6 had never had their turn with just mama. Oh, I took them out on dates. And snuggled them to bed. But during the day, I just got them busy so they could be out of the way. Now they have hours of mommy time. We do preschool stuff (watch for more adorableness about that) and play games and read books and sing songs. All the things that I was shoving to the side because of the pressing grammar and reading and projects of the big kids.

Lastly, I was sinking. I was losing myself to it all. And Mr. Wiedz saw that. He offered me a branch and helped me see a way out. I admit I have had a fair share of tears over making the decision and also with living with it. Interestingly I was reading Christ in the Chaos (affiliate link) about the time we were deciding all of this. Her whole point is we are not the "homeschool mom", or the "sports mom", or the "all-natural mom"...we are HIS. We belong to Christ and our identity is in the gift He gave us on the cross. That's the life line. 

So, the week before Christmas break I filled out paperwork, met with teachers, bought backpacks and enrolled the boys in school.

And the beginning of January, they went.

They love it. There have been some tears, some struggles, a lot of working hard, a lot of giving and compromising to fit in "the system" but it is working. We are all happy.

And we have made it to spring break! I have been looking forward to that all along!

Photo curtesy of #1 (follow her on instagram at sw_snapshots)

Best laid plans…that's what they say.

I'd gotten into a great groove these last few days.

Kids to the bus. A little break. Tidy up the bedrooms (open curtains, make beds, toss laundry down the chute). Treadmill for 20 minutes. Check out some blogs. Dishes. Snack. Preschool activities with the littles….you get the idea. 

A good day.

Today. Mr. Wiedz forgot a charging cable for his computer. His dead computer. Conference calls keep him from coming back himself (cause he totally would if he could), but make it necessary to go into town this morning instead of all that other stuff.

So here we go.

I'm kind of in the mood to blog again...I wonder if that feeling will stick?

We've made quite a few changes here in the World of Wiedz. I'll figure out how to share what's happening without writing a book...

I'll be back.