The Sad

   The first day of July marked 6 months from the day my twins were born. The tears finally flowed last night. It still hurts and it always will. I miss him. The strangest things and visions come to your mind. I don't mean that in a supernatural way, just your own imaginings. How quiet the delivery room must have been when neither baby cried. Meerkat’s confusion that his brother was not up against him. It was amazing how much they cuddled in my womb.
   I know Listener is better off in Heaven with God. But, I miss him. His Daddy misses him. His sister misses him. His brother misses him. He is not an angel. Angels, the Biblical creatures, cannot attain salvation as people can. They are different created beings and human babies don't change into another creature becoming angels when they die. That is a very good thing indeed. There isn't much in the Bible about whether babies have grown up bodies in heaven (which is the general belief) or if they grow in their new bodies like an earth-bound child does. Either way, my sweet Listener will never know sin. He will never know heartache, sadness, betrayal. Only joy, peace, the presence of God Himself! That's the ultimate comfort.
   God, the God of the Bible, is loving beyond anything we can comprehend. He is love. He is holy too and we should never forget that truth either. In fact He is so very different from us that it will probably take all of eternity to begin to truly understand.
   Oh, that's another comforting gift from God, the length of eternity versus the length of a lifespan on earth. I know that as a human my lifespan is so very short here on earth. Thus my missing him will be short comparatively. I have a job to do here on earth. Several in fact and I will continue to do the best that I can until that sweet day when God calls me home. What a reunion that will be! Until then I'll go on missing Listener while I teach his sister and his twin God's word. I'll teach them about salvation and I'll pray that they choose to follow Christ while they are young. I'll also tell them stories about when Simon was with us on Earth. 
   Do you share God's truth, His word, with your children?

Home Sweet Home

   We are opening a new chapter in the book of our life. We'll soon be moving! We're as busy as bees with all the things we need to accomplish before the big day. Finding boxes, making decisions about what will come with us and what can bless someone else and what needs to go to the landfill. Packing, labeling, organizing, etc.  We have several weeks to accomplish it all in a (hopefully) organized manner.
   We are labeling our boxes with a number/letter/room system that may seem tedious but it really will help. Husband and I have lost many precious things through the years when trying to move to fast. This time we are determined to keep everything we intend to move with us! Each box is numbered and the corresponding number is listed in a notebook with a list of the box's contents. The letters on the boxes represent the priority. 'A' boxes are to be unpacked first; curtains,dishes... 'B' boxes are things that are not urgent but also not to be stored too long. Such things as books and pictures fill these boxes. Third are the 'C' boxes. 'C' boxes are things that can be stored long term or will remain in storage for quite a while. Baby clothes, Christmas decorations and even craft supplies will fall into this category. Don't worry for me I've already packed a bag of embroidery supplies to keep my fingers busy in those precious idle moments.
   Husband has not lived so far north and our little nestling will not remember having seen snow before. I myself have not seen a real snow in four or so years. We will all adapt. God has blessed humankind that way, He gives us the grace we need to change and acclimate to new environments very quickly.

  Another project that I'm attempting to fit in is completing a baby blanket for my dearest girlfriend. She has been blessed by God and is now carrying her 3rd little darling. We wont know before we move if this child is a little Princess or a tiny Prince so I went with woodsey neutral colors. I'll show it to you when I'm finished!

May your new year be blessed.

Homemade Popcorn

I hope to encourage you to make some homemade classic snacks. They really aren't as difficult and mysterious as they seem.
Popcorn first…
You will need popcorn (raw) it’s usually in bags or jars near the microwave popcorn at any grocery store or stuff-mart.

It’s inexpensive. Generally costing under $2 for a 1 lb bag. From one bag of popcorn you can get probably 10 or more large microwave popcorn bag servings. That’s a guesstimate  I've never actually counted. You can see how much of a money saver it is though, considering that one box of 3 microwave packages costs a dollar at the least expensive place.
You probably already have the rest of what you need. Cooking oil, a 2 quart saucepan and whatever flavoring you like such as salt, butter, Parmesan cheese, etc.


So here’s the instructions: Over Medium heat add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and 3 kernels of popcorn into the pot. Cover the pot with a lid (a clear lid is really handy but not necessary) and wait until those 3 kernels pop. When they do you know that the oil is hot enough to add 1/3 cup of popcorn and replace the lid. Slide the pot back and forth over the burner constantly so that the corn doesn't stick and burn. When you don’t hear popping for 2-3 seconds you know it’s all popped. Have a bowl (or several) ready to pour your popcorn into the lid will have probably lifted off some from all that fresh popcorn so the bottom kernels are at risk of burning if you leave it in the pot.

Toss it with your salt, butter (melt the butter first), cheese whatever you like. There are toppings made specifically for popcorn that you can find in your popcorn aisle.

I think it has so much more flavor than microwave popcorn, and it's a lot more fun to make!

Big Change

   I've changed a lot around this place. I hope you like it! After a lot of consideration I even changed the name. This will be my place to invite you to sit a while and talk. It will never be as good as a sit down conversation but I do hope you enjoy your stay. There are many sides to me (as I'm sure there are to you too) so I will likely change the 'furnishings' again someday.
   Thanks for stopping by!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm sorry for the mess. I'm changing the look of my blog so it's a bit messy at the moment. I hope to have it looking cozy soon.

Autumn Blessings

Fall is here and in full swing!

 

     Every other year my family gathers at the old homestead place to enjoy each other and make applebutter. We have wonderful old traditions and some new ones.

   Family is what it's all about though, they are our greatest earthly treasure.

   Another fall tradition at our house is carving a pumpkin. It's so representative of what God does for us! Did your mind make a sound like screeching tires just then? It's true. You see, like a pumpkin we are full of yucky stuff. Sin. God can remove it, carve a smile on our faces, and fill us with his light to shine in the darkness. We didn't do a smiley face, but the lesson remains the same.

   So often I have more ideas than I can put into practice. Especially when it comes to embroidery design and project completion. I think I have ten or so that are in different stages of execution. This is one that I thought you might enjoy because I'm using a different kind of thread. It's Adelaide's birth announcement.

   I had a difficult time deciding on a color scheme until I spied cotton perle. I chose DMC cotton perle #12 in ecru. Let me break that down for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about. Perle is a kind of thread like floss or yarn. It comes in different sizes represented by numbers. The higher the number the thinner the thread. #12 was the thinnest that I could find. I think it may come in more varied colors in other countries but in America we most often see neutrals, white and ecru. DMC is the company name, it's probably the most well known cotton floss brand here in the states (Anchor is another). Unlike cotton floss perle is not divisible. You don't separate the stands when you use it. You simply unwind a length and use it. It's shiny but not silky if that makes sense. I haven't used it before and I didn't realize that. When I stitched an inch or so and realized how shiny it was I felt like I'd come upon a clearance sale at the craft store if you know what I mean!

1) full thread of cotton floss 2) one strand pulled from a length of cotton floss 3) size 5 perle cotton  4) size 12 perle cotton 5) full skein of cotton floss  6&7)  balls of perle cotton

     

This picture doesn't do it justice but to give you some perspective... Most cross stitch patterns and indeed most embroidery are done in 2-3 strands of cotton floss. The cotton perle that I'm using is just slightly thicker but it's more dense and almost stiff.
   I hope you enjoy you fall as much as we are! Off I go to sew a few stitches.
God bless you.

It's THAT time of year again!

In my family it's THAT time of year. Time to make gifts for all of our fall birthday's and Christmas too!

I confess that we purchased many of our gifts for this year at after-Christmas sales LAST YEAR! So I don't have as many to do as I normally would. However the dollhouse we bought for our daughter isn't even started!

This year is an extra special treat because it's an even year! on even years my extended family gathers at the old family homestead and we make applebutter! It's about so much more than that a shiny 50 gallon copper kettle that magically appears from it's super secret hiding place and all the things that go in it! It's about family and seeing loved ones that you haven't seen in 2 years. Reflect on that a little and then think about what your heavenly homecoming will be like if you've chosen the God of the Bible as your God. What a reunion!

I'm also working on my next needle painting project "burgundy rose bud".

It will take a few days. I really like it though. I was hoping to finish it in time to enter it in the state fair but I think the entries have to be in on September 10th and that is too soon, I think. I'm thinking on trying to get it in though.



 I have a  HUGE mass of baby clothes that I'm going through. I have all of Sparrow’s clothes. Because she has reflux they are stained but I've found a way to clean them. It's a lot of work on a lot of clothes. I think it may be months worth of work and all of it being out in my parlor at the same time makes me feel cluttered and uncomfortable but it will be worth it.

I tried to dye a skirt today. Suffice it to say that I will not be wearing it, and if I ever post that I want to dye something with Rit dye - please flood me with posts not to attempt it!

Needle Painting Progress

Welcome back to Arpinotes! I've been working on my needle painting and wanted to share my progress with you.

This is the semi-complete sampler to learn the technique.I chose not to complete the little bird that you can just barely see in the bottom right hand corner. I want to do him closer to the time when I do an animal project. (which may be sooner rather than later, more on that in a minute)

This little flower is the Cerise Anemone. It takes me about an hour for each petal or leaf. It takes another hour or so for set up and about 30 minutes to frame and finish it.  Just as a technique side note. I use a larger than necessary piece of background material and I use a liquid no-fray glue so that I don't have to sew it. It gets cut off at frame -up time, I don't think it would be healthy for the piece to have glue of any kind left on the fibers (can material have health?).

Here is the little Dog Rose. In the book it is called Sunset Alpine Rose. If you have this book you will think I've done something terribly wrong. You see I loved the colors in this little flower but most of the color was toward the center. Now a real Dog Rose is pretty much all a bubblegum pink color so it's just an artistic fancy as far as the color is concerned. Well at any rate I inverted the colors because I loved them so much.

I don't know if colors in pictures ever do the subject justice. Certainly that is the case here. There are 12 colors in this flower. The leaves are almost hinted with olive tones. The petals range from a deep peachy coral to buttery yellow. I really loved doing this flower. It's going to a family member who needs a hug just now. I won't say who because they might read this post!

The finished Anemone went to a dear friend and sister in Christ. I promise not to frame all the projects the same way but I really thought the eyelet lace made them sweet and homey feeling.

  I have several ideas floating around in my head for next projects and I have several that are started but not finished. One of them is a birth sampler. I'm not quite brave enough to attempt it yet but the design is finished and I'm contemplating color schemes now. I'm also thinking of one or more Bible covers and jumping ahead in my needle painting book. May God bless you with more knowledge of Himself today!

Giving more

I want to give more. Do you ever feel that way? I want to give more of my time and full attention to my family. I want to give more of my time and effort to serving God. I want to give my crafts more time. I want to give my house the cleaning attention it needs. I want to give so much more attention to making my body healthy so that I can give more of all these things that I want to give more of! ; One thing at a time, yet all at the same time. So that means I need to prioritize my everything better, and that seems so overwhelming and so I just sit and pretend it all away or daydream about it while I tread water, right? I want to encourage you today - fight back! I love that you took the time to visit but get off of here and make your house smell wonderfully clean by doing a load of laundry. then polish your dishes. Those dishes that have stuff stuck on them because you made food to nourish your family. Clean, polish, scrub, sparkle and shine! Nope it doesn't have to be perfect but then nothing but Christ is perfect. Let me also encourage you to pray as you go about doing things. Pray for the one who ate off the dish you are rinsing, slept in the bed that you are making, will wear the jeans you are folding... I have one more trick for the day - learn a new way of doing something and try it out. (why not origami fold a towel for your bathroom) or do the same thing you always do but in a different order. In other words; change things up for yourself. In fact if you can, inspire yourself with a new batch of cleaning supplies! Since it's so close to Christmas may I also add that a new batch of cleaning supplies is one of my sister's favorite gifts to receive! I'm guessing she is not the only one so if you have a lady (or gentleman) on your list that you are unsure of what to get them, why not fill up a new scrub bucket or supply organizer with some wonderful encouraging cleaning supplies! you are giving more! Giving more time to serving my family, giving more time to creativity, giving more time to homemaking, and most of all giving more time to serving God who is so worthy!<

hustle and bustle

As the Christmas season draws closer and closer I find that all I want to do is be quiet.
I want to enjoy all the Christ honoring movies and plays that I can watch or attend. I want that visual reminder. I want to stay all day in His word. But I have gifts to finish making and wrapping and sending. I find that I really love praying for the person that is to receive the gift that I'm creating at any particular moment. I like to think about them and their future, our relationship. I haven't bought a Christmas present in a mall for, well I don't know how long since. I like it that way. I like hand made things in a Christmas tree. I like house decorations that remind us to reflect on the birth of Christ. These are the things that I love, how about you?What touches you at Christmas time? How do you get away from the hustle and bustle?

Serenity

   Our little family went to my cousin's house for the weekend. We enjoyed and treasured the serenity that surrounds her. Bird song, the whir of wind through drying leaves. Her house has that homey feel that a person isn't able to describe in words. Some of this can be attributed to her decorating style within and outside of her walls but, not all of it. There is something more that refuses to be explained in mere words. Our Lord blessed us with strikingly beautiful weather! Sunny, with puffy white clouds decorating the sky. Cool enough to enjoy the out of doors without being so chilly that you were chased indoors to warm up. Perfect for a cup of hot apple cider.

    Everywhere you look there are things that catch your attention and delight your eye.

 She has a way of tucking things around her park er, yard so that you don't notice them until you are surprised at such a cozy nook being there. For instance you might walk up to a bush to look at the leaves and then notice that there are chairs and a table waiting for you behind the bush and it's friends. Things made by man don't bully their way into your view distracting you from what God put there first. Also there is the splash of the whimsical to keep your smiles coming. Do you see the pink flamingos in the next picture?

She is blessed with the gift of hospitality and we are thankful to her. More than that we are thankful for her. It's the lady herself who makes the surroundings feel that way. Joy and enthusiasm for life are hers, and she shares them freely with us. She makes us feel welcome.  She herself is what comes through all the beauty that surrounds her.  It's her beauty blended with God's that makes such a pleasant ambiance.

   Thank you T, for having us. We love you.

Did you ruin your stainless steel pot?

   That is one scorched on mess! But not to worry. It can be easily cleaned up - with the help of a dryer sheet (of all things!) Even if you don't use dryer sheets in the dryer it's handy to keep a cheap box of them to rescue pots and pans. They are inexpensive (you can get them for $1 at the dollar store or sometimes cheaper at the grocers if they are on sale or if you have a coupon - or bonus, on sale and a coupon!)
     
  Here's what you do... 

Put a dryer sheet in the pot and add some water. If it's really thick burned on muck, use two. Add a few inches of water. Enough to cover anything burnt on the sides. the dryer sheet will float for a while and that is okay, normal even.

 Then just set it out of the way for a while...

 You can watch the rain fall because (ahem) you have nothing better to do, right? *wink*

  ...or star gaze because you're leaving it overnight. 

After a few hours (at least) you can rinse the pot and amazingly most of the yuck simply comes off with the water. Use a dish cloth for any remaining bits - they wont be bad - really! Then as Sparrow is fond of saying "all done"!

Peace vs Clutter or Too Much Stuff!

As I try to make our home a peaceful, serene, joyful place one thing keeps getting in the way... Clutter. We folded 5 garbage bags of clothes, and household items this weekend. It's not that I wait to do laundry all at once, I do some everyday. So, clearly something is wrong. We just have too much of it. No one needs as many clothes as we have. We've decided to pack up all except 3 work outfits. 2 comfortable outfits and 1 dress outfit. (the baby is the exception to this) I have found that I am much more comfortable in skirts than pants. I actually only have 2 at this time so I'd like to have one more. If that isn't enough, I'll make our clothing pile even smaller.

   There are 3 of us, so we should only need 3 towels, 3 wash cloths and 1 hand towel for each bathroom. With the exception of the day that the dog and cat get baths. We really need only one set of sheets. In the kitchen, I haven't yet thought of a way to eliminate linen in there. We use cloth napkins, cloth "paper"towels, dish cloths and tea towels. The kitchen is a busy place!
   We have huge plans for re-arranging things very soon. the clothes we aren't going to use currently will be packed in plastic bins to be used as our current clothes wear out. Mike and I will share a dresser. Adelaide will have what is now my dresser and the plastic drawers that Adelaide used for a dresser since she was born will be used to organize crafts and office things.

   Books are another area in our home that we are trying to thin. Last spring our library system had a huge book sale. We went overboard! It was without a doubt a blessing. As we take the time to read them we are finding that they don't all capture our attention or, entertain or, teach us. So we are weeding them out. Last night I sold 10 books for $5 on Craigslist.
Ultimately, this is not just a lesson in organization but also frugality, stewardship, and self discipline.
   The peace of not being overwhelmed with things is worth seeking.