“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

On the day I read this article – knowing we had big plans to bake and decorate sugar cookies with friends; on the day I was already feeling slightly guilt-stricken over the excessive sugar I was letting the kids have; on the day I was trying to let it go and make memories and give up worry – two little people locked themselves in the bathroom with a little boy’s remaining Halloween candy and scarfed it.

And I laughed.

I laughed because worry isn’t something I go for. Oh, it happens, trust me. But I try really really hard to let go and I try really really hard to trust. Because I am not running the ship here.

And after a day of feeling bad that my kids eat sugar and even sometimes food colouring, a day of feeling bad that I put aside my better judgement in the name of fun and celebration; I thought this made a good joke. A shout-out from the guy who’s got my back, the one I’m trusting on this journey.

(And in case, as a practical minded person, you are wondering why they still have Halloween candy and why they could get at it…well, they get a piece so rarely that it lasts a long while, and we’ve never had a problem with them sneaking before – now we know.)

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

Joining Amanda at Soulemama for this moment.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Happy Spring Weekend, friends!

I got busy a couple of weeks ago and knit up a two sweet little vests. I knit the first one in pink, undecided whether it would be gifted or kept. I wasn’t sure how the size would work out but after trying it on the little miss I decided two things: Mira is lovely in pink and I needed to knit a second.

Because as a sister reminded me, “it is better to give than to keep things”.

The second knit up even faster than the first one – I was on a mission. It didn’t hurt that I was looking for an excuse out of the more annoying projects I’ve left unfinished. Neither did it hurt that there were no sleeves to slow me down.

The second was knit in purple for a special little friend of ours. It is so darling on her. As if these girls weren’t sweet enough already – I can hardly resist squeezing them in these chunky knits.

The pattern is plain vest by pickles. It’s a wonderful and simple pattern. I love the garter stitch yoke and border. And as the lovely Pickles sisters always provide – one size of the vest is provided for free on their blog. This is the first Pickles pattern I’ve worked on but I have a whole host of their patterns in my ravelry favourites. How can I resist knits like this, this, and this.

The pink vest is: Fleece Artist, Afrika (sadly discontinued) knit in size 1.

The purple vest is: Punta Yarns, Merisoft Handpainted Aran knit in size 2.

Ravelry notes here.

I love both of these wools so much. I’m very sad I will not be finding anymore Afrika from Fleece Artist, these were just a couple of skeins I grabbed on a whim last year. I’m hoping I might be able to knit another wee gnomey hat with my little leftovers. While not quite as chunky as the Fleece Artist, the Merisoft is also a favourite yarn. I adore the hand-painted quality and the single ply knits up so beautifully. The variations in colour are lovely. I’ve used this wool before in this knit and I will be looking for more projects for it – I have one skein left so I’m not breaking any stash rules…

I had originally bought the Fleece Artist for a larger version of the plain vest. A certain big sister is very pleased with this new vest just like hers. In fact all the siblings were quite excited that the two little sisters have matching vests.

Anything that encourages these little people to don their handknits makes me happy.

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Have you discovered any new yarns you can’t resist? Do you have a knit designer whose patterns you can’t get enough of? Do share – you know I’m always looking for distraction from unfinished sleeves!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. See my original post here.

I don’t know what to say about this other than I’m a klutz. I rush, I’m careless, I multi-task like a 15 armed robot who doesn’t have six children. I do things like put my new recipe journal on the breadmaker while it’s kneading my first batch of dough so it can jump down into my second batch of dough. (I also do things like break a toe while rushing to fold laundry – but that’s another story.)

Although I let out a great moan after this happened, causing my family concern, I recovered. And I’m left feeling thankful for my mama who was visiting at the time. She did one of those great mom things – rushed in with concern (no doubt thinking I’d lost a finger based on the mournful noise I made), commiserated with me, and then cleaned up my mess so I could finish with my baking extravaganza. She handed back my journal nearly as good as new and freshly christened in the kitchen.

I am so thankful for my mom. Thankful that she can still makes things better and fix my messes, along with a whole host of other reasons she’s great. (She’s also amazing at untangling yarn – she’s a wonder, that woman!)

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If you’d like to join in with a reality check of your own, please add a link or note in the comments!

This weekend was a lot of good things.

It was homemade pizza, hot and gooey;

roasted chicken and simmering stock;

a skiff of snow, sledding over nearly bare ground, a quick melt, and muddy everything;

friends for laughs, and tears for friends;

a huge mess of chili and cornbread to share;

siblings sharing and siblings bickering;

the power of good music to stir up a soul;

a big bowl of coleslaw and a bowl of brownies and ice cream;

aches for name calling and fair-weather friends, bullies and growing pains – and trying our best to comfort these little ones with big emotions;

remembering stories of love, teaching stories of love;

sorting through a slew of treasures searching for just the right finishing touches (and a friend who can enjoy a jar of buttons as much as I can);

the Amazing Backward-Crawling, Circle Spinning, Smiley-Faced Baby paired with the mind-numbing excitement of tax preparation;

and a fresh start for a new week.

Isn’t it incredible the wonders a weekend can hold?

How was yours?

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joining the lovely Amanda for weekending