tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28578494183882755292024-03-05T01:39:25.515-05:00Wee WarrensOur family's adventures in cooking,
crafting, and enjoying each other.warrenfamilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04984115382963929491noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-55017243201376160512013-10-29T16:48:00.002-04:002013-10-29T16:48:54.760-04:00Remembering My Grandma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last night, the world lost one of its best people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandma, Christina Richards, was...well...it's hard to find
words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lived by the words of two
books, The Bible and The Power of Positive Thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that's the magic combination that
allowed her to live, against all odds, until she was almost 97.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I looked through the pictures of I have of her, I was disappointed
to find they're all from the last few years (since I've had a digital camera),
and do not show the woman I remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Grandma didn't always sit in a wheelchair, oxygen tank and old-lady
sweater ever present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma didn't
always look like she was about to blow away.</span></div>
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<em>Grandma with Hannah and Lydia</em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Looking back, the Grandma I think about is the one who used make
the best after school snacks: strawberries dipped in powdered sugar,
marshmallows melted in the toaster oven, and ice cream bon bons.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Grandma, Dad, and me at Grandma's 80th birthday in 1996</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think of the 82 year old who willing took me into her
house when I was a teenager, making pancakes for supper, driving me to football
games, and patiently sitting by while I spent hours on the phone trying to
negotiate school dances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Can you
believe she never said a word?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That must
have taken some restraint.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Richards family reunion in the early 90s</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think of the woman who, every time we went out to eat in
our small hometown, had someone come over to our table and remind her that she
was their seventh grade teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or that
they used to work for her at the family-owned Dairy Queen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma knew everyone in town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She knew my friends' grandparents, and called
my teachers by their maiden names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Grandma and her BFF, Jean at Grandma's 90th birthday</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think of her telling me I could be excused from washing
the dinner dishes if I would practice the piano while she washed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Worked every time, by the way.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I was small, and we'd go to Grandma's house for Sunday
supper, she would always make a pan of Pillsbury rolls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'd eat as many as my mom would let me get
away with - three or more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandma would
pat her tummy and say, "Look at all these rolls."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'd think if I ate enough rolls, I'd have a
wonderful soft tummy just like she did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(That worked too.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>More Richards, at Jonathan's and my wedding</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think about when Jonathan were in need, she opened her
home to me again, this time with husband and 6 month old Hannah in tow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>Grandma and Hannah, the first time they met</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>And by now, she was in her 90's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what a wonderful person to share the
first months of our baby's life with...Grandma was there the first time Hannah
rolled over, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Some of Hannah's first steps</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">for the first tentative steps across the living room, and for
those precious first words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hannah
thought Grandma's walker was there for her amusement, and knew that Grandma
would give her sips from her own cup, always filled with ice water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My grandma taught me the power of daily prayer and Bible
study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quietly and unassumingly, she
showed me the important roll faith plays in one's life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>Jonathan's and my graduation from seminary</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She showed me the importance of being
surrounded by church community; that you can't do it alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>Grandma's pastor and the two of us at my ordination as a minister</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More than anyone else, Grandma planted in me
the seeds of faith that have flowered into a vocation of ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a gift to give, and I thank her for it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You fought the good fight, Grandma. You finished your
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You kept the faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now you're home.</span></div>
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-54393595890491889872013-09-05T20:58:00.000-04:002013-09-05T20:58:01.735-04:00Summer Camping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We love to camp. The first Christmas Jonathan and I were married, our wish lists were full of camping gear, and our family outfitted us generously. Although <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2010/09/camping-with-toddler-another-lesson-in.html">camping with toddlers</a> is not the idyllic forest getaway we each remember from our teenage years, our entire family still enjoys the wonder of the outdoors.</div>
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For Jonathan, the best part is making a tending a fire. For me, it's the s'mores...hands down. We are both happy to have a campfire (and s'mores) in the evening, and then do it all again after breakfast. </div>
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For the kids, it's the hot chocolate. With marshmallows. (See a sugar-high theme going on here?)</div>
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But what we really love about camping is spending some time together, with a guarantee of none of our regular interruptions. <br />
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See all that lovely green around our tent? Poison ivy - every bit of it. Hannah is old enough to understand that she needs to keep out, but Lydia has no idea. I only have it in me to run around after a two year old in Poison Ivy Land for about 16 hours, so we're strictly one-night campers...at least until the kids are older.<br />
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This trip was in the Smoky Mountains. We found this lovely stream just off the road and spent a nice morning in the water.<br />
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Of course, kids can't play in the water without someone falling in and losing their pants, right?<br />
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The next time we planned a trip, Lydia was a little sick...just enough that we didn't want her to sleep outside. So we pitched the tent in the yard. Lydia slept inside, and the rest of us (plus baby monitor) stayed outside. <br />
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You'll notice that we still had all the essential elements: fire and s'mores.<br />
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And more s'mores.<br />
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Two weeks ago, we camped near Cumberland Gap in Virginia.<br />
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And look at all that grass! I was thrilled by the absence of poison ivy. And wouldn't you know it, I came home with it all over my arm. Oh well....<br />
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Since Jonathan and I both grew up camping, we hope that we can teach our girls to love it as much as we did - and still do.<br />
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So far, I think we're starting out on the right foot.<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-10482414806406172952013-08-14T14:20:00.000-04:002013-08-14T14:20:30.130-04:00July Fourth Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After Hannah's spring dance recital, I decided I needed to start posting pictures on the blog again. So that night, I diligently sat down and put up the pictures of the recital. That night, our hard drive crashed, and all of our pictures from January to the end of June are gone. It makes me so sad! I've learned two things: BACK UP EVERYTHING!!!! And to spend less time taking pictures and more time making memories. I rely on my pictures to be my memories, and I need to imprint our lives more on my mind than in pixels.<br />
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All that said, as part of my obsessive back up plan (along with our new computer, we got one of those external hard drives that automatically backs up every time a new file is added), I've rededicated myself to posting pictures on the blog. It took me a few weeks to be able to take new pictures, and then a few more weeks to download them from my camera. <br />
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And now, at last, here are some for you to see. These are from July 4th, when we went to the Chicago suburbs to visit Jonathan's family. Hannah and Lydia were very excited to spend the holiday with their cousin Brady. We might be a little girly for him, but I think he had fun too.<br />
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After the parade, we went back to Jonathan's parents' house, where the kids spent a happy afternoon playing with a bubble gun. Have you seen those? It's like a water gun, but it sprays out bubbles, powered by a motor. Even Lydia could produce amazing amounts of bubbles. Serious fun!<br />
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I tried to get the kids to pose. After about 30 shots with variations of this...<br />
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...I finally got one where they looked like this.<br />
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And then, this one. Aren't they the cutest ever?</div>
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That night, we saw the fireworks...the first time for both girls. I'm not sure that they <em>loved</em> the whole thing, but it was definitely memorable.<br />
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Also over the holiday, after a night of camping in the yard with Opa and Grandma, everyone had a blast in the kiddie pool.<br />
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I gave the kids ice cream and told them to sit still for (yet another) picture. Guess who said he doesn't like ice cream, but I convinced him to hold one anyway? "You don't have to eat it, Brady, just hold it for a minute while I take your picture." Turns out, he's the only one not stuffing his face...oh well!<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-19333433523814208012013-06-17T09:19:00.000-04:002013-06-17T09:19:11.039-04:00Dance Recital Time <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well... Hello, there! It's been awhile, hasn't it? We've been doing so much (and I've been taking so many pictures!), and I feel completely overwhelmed about catching up. So I decided to start with the most recent, and hope to work my way back. <br />
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In any case, here are pictures of Hannah's dance recital. These are for you, Grandma.<br />
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The recital was on Saturday. Hannah has been very excited about it for weeks to come.<br />
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The ballet was a story of two little girls who fell asleep in a candy shop, and awoke in the magical land of sweets. Each class portrayed a different kind of candy. There was cotton candy, lemon drops, red hots, and Hannah's class were lollipops.<br />
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Their tap dance was to Shirley Temple's "On the Good Ship Lollipop." <br />
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Hannah's favorite part? That they danced with actual lollipops!<br />
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I mean, look at that thing! I'd be excited too, wouldn't you?<br />
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The recital was at the Clarence Brown Theater at the University of Tennessee. It all felt very grown-up to be in a "real" theater. <br />
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On the car ride home, Jonathan and I told Hannah that she had done a good job. She said, "I am very proud of myself." <br />
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And not to be forgotten is the prima ballerina in training, Miss Lydia. I think she's just about ready for the stage, don't you?<br />
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<br />Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-29950495202305432672013-02-05T16:05:00.003-05:002013-02-05T16:05:59.655-05:00Getting Ready for Valentine's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Not much to say, except we're excited about Valentine's Day coming up (in spite of the fact that I vowed <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2011/02/un-valentines-day.html">never to celebrate it</a>!). <br />
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At the fabric store last week, I spotted this hearts-and-cupcakes fabric in the remnants bin. There was a little less than a yard, and I just knew that it was destined to become some quick little skirts. So I literally whipped these up in about an hour, and here they are! Mostly I just wanted so share these cute little girls with you.<br />
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Can you tell Lydia is saying "cheese?" Hannah has already taught her the art of the phony picture taking smile.<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-28028030392939072242013-01-18T20:17:00.002-05:002013-01-18T20:17:54.175-05:00Snow Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Imagine the wonder of seeing snow for the first time. (Technically, Lydia was out in the snow for about three minutes last winter, but I'm sure it made very little lasting impression.) I snapped this picture just as she came out the front door and saw that everything was covered in white stuff.<br />
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It didn't take Lydia long to learn that you're supposed to run around, gathering bits of it in your hands.<br />
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Or maybe trying to catch a flake or two on your tongue.<br />
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Of course, if you're big like Daddy, you can make a really BIG snowball.<br />
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Everyone can help with this one!<br />
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I wonder what it's going to be?<br />
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In any case, this snow business is pretty fun.<br />
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Would you look at that? It's taller than both of us. And Hannah says this carrot is it's nose.<br />
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This snowman may be very nice, but I'm getting cold. Enough pictures, Mama. Time to go inside.<br />
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Hannah? She's never cold. She could just stay out here all day long.<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-58296953698671501882013-01-14T13:42:00.001-05:002013-01-14T13:42:14.157-05:00Decking the Halls (literally)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's a flurry of organizing and rearranging going on in our house, typical of January's new year frenzy. Among other, more ambitious projects, we (and by we, I mostly mean Jonathan) have been moving around our artwork and photos.<br />
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For a long time, we've been wanting to make a place to display the kids' drawings and scribbles. After scouring Pinterest, we agreed that we liked the idea of over sized clothespins to hang the drawings. And then, as if by fate, I found these <i>glitter</i> over sized clothespins at Hobby Lobby on clearance! So Jonathan screwed them into a piece of wood, and mounted the whole thing on the wall. Above it, we hung the canvases the girls made at <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2012/10/hannahs-birthdaya-beautiful-mess.html">Hannah's birthday party</a>. <br />
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This hangs in our dining room, and we all enjoy looking at this during mealtime. Mama also enjoys a significant reduction of clutter on the fridge.<br />
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This morning, we tackled another project that's been on our wish list for some time. We gathered up our favorite photos, some graphics, and made a new canvas to add to the mix. Source<a href="http://www.beautifullyrooted.com/2012/03/fruits-of-spirit-free-printable.html"> here</a> and<a href="http://taylorandsarahbrooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/giant-feet-c-word.html"> here</a>.<br />
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These are Hannah's hands and Lydia's feet. I added the text using vinyl cut with my Silhouette, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. (Just a hint if you try something like this: canvas and vinyl aren't really best friends, so I added a layer of Mod Podge over the whole thing when it was finished, just to keep everything really stuck together.)<br />
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This is in the hallway, directly across from our front door. <br />
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Want to know what else is in the works? Stay tuned...I've got the organizing bug, and I definitely want to take pictures of everything while it's neat - just to prove that once upon a time things were put away!Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-25782144182409241672012-12-22T14:32:00.001-05:002012-12-22T14:33:10.527-05:00It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're getting pretty excited for Christmas around here. All the regular Christmastime preparations are going on. We've been to visit Santa. I was ready for the typical toddler "don't-leave-me-that-hairy-stranger" reaction from Lydia (we certainly saw that with Hannah - for two years), but Hannah taught her to say "ho ho ho," took Lydia by the hand, and the two of them marched right up to Santa and climbed up on his lap. </div>
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We trimmed our trees. Yes, trees. I have too many ornaments to fit on one tree. It was fun to show the girls some of our favorites. The ball is from a trip Jonathan and I took to Disneyland after we finished school and before we started our first jobs. </div>
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This is the ornament my mom gave us the year we got married.</div>
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And what would Christmas be with cookies, and lots of them? Hannah and I took nearly a whole day to tackle the project of baking and decorating gingerbread men. I was impressed by how seriously she took the whole endeavor.</div>
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Check out those shoes!</div>
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Hannah thought my Santa cookie looked like a guy with a huge mouth. I thought her stripy one looked like a mummy.</div>
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The original plan was for Hannah to take the cookies to her class party at school. But she got sick, and couldn't go. So we had a party at home instead. We discussed what was necessary for a party, and settled on Cheetos and balloons. (Why have I been making all those birthday cakes? I could have just bought a bag of Cheetos!)</div>
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Lydia shared her cookie with her baby. I actually <em>love</em> this picture. She's looking at the baby with such a look of affection. I hope that's what Lydia sees on my face when I look at her.</div>
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Yesterday we had some friends over to make gingerbread houses. Well, graham cracker houses, but still... <br />
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I saw this clever idea in Family Fun, where you use crackers and dried fruit instead of candy. They're stuck on with peanut butter. I glued the graham crackers together with royal icing, because peanut butter just didn't seem to be strong enough. Surprisingly, it held the goodies on really well. <br />
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I don't think the kids missed the candy at all. They ate their fair share of toppings. In fact, I had to cut Hannah off after her fifth prune. </div>
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Last night, the girls donned their matching pajamas and danced around the living room.<br />
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Hannah got a new ornament in the mail from grandma that plays "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," which is the recital song from her ballet class. <br />
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This is Hannah doing the ballet dance. See that look of concentration? She's so serious, that all I can do is laugh!</div>
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Last but not least, here is our sweet Lydia, playing peek-a-boo behind the tree. </div>
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Unlike last year's Christmas panic, this year, everything is finished, gifts are wrapped, food is cooked, and we are looking forward to a quiet and cozy holiday. I hope that your Christmas is as blessed as ours.</div>
Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-80097377310779817932012-10-20T15:33:00.001-04:002012-10-20T15:33:28.705-04:00Halloween Costumes! Brave's Merida (and Baby Bear) Costume using free patterns<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
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I have to admit, when I learned there was a new Disney movie featuring a Scottish princess with red curly hair, I started a not-so-subtle campaign for this year's Halloween costume. Even before we saw <em>Brave</em>, I'd started planting seeds. And after we saw it (even though it was pretty scary for a three year old!), Hannah and I sealed the deal: she would be Merida for Halloween. It was actually Hannah's idea that Lydia be a bear, just like Merida's little brothers. That sounded cute as could be, so I searched to the ends of Pinterest, and this is what I found.</div>
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So here, for you, are several free online patterns and tutorials needed to create a Merida costume, complete with a red hair garland, and a coordinating little sis/(bro) bear.</div>
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I started off with the dress, using the pattern found <a href="http://www.rostitchery.com/magistrate-dress.html">here</a> (rostitchery.com's Magistrate Dress pattern), via ikatbat.com, <a href="http://www.ikatbag.com/2010/10/rapunzel-dresses-tresses.html?m=1">here</a>. I added some gold trim, including an inset of gathered gold fabric at the neckline.</div>
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Next came outerwear. Not only does Merida wear a cape in the movie, but I distinctly remember <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween.html">last year</a>, pinning Hannah's butterfly wings to the back of her winter coat because it was so cold. Although practical, it was not as lovely as I intended when I sewed the costume. So this year, I wised up and made something warm for her to wear. I used the free Red Riding Hood Cape pattern found <a href="http://www.fleecefun.com/red-riding-hood-cape-pattern.html">here</a>, at fleecefun.com. There are instructions for lining the hood, but I lined the entire fleece cape with flannel, both for added warmth and to add a little color.</div>
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Finally, what would a Merida costume be without red hair, and lots of it? I looked at tutorials for full wigs, and even found one that explained how to curl the yarn by heating it in the oven. I finally decided to make a red version of mmmcrafts.blogspot.com's Rapunzel hair recipe, found <a href="http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/11/rapunzel-hair-recipe.html">here</a>. Hannah said, "This isn't like Merida's hair...it's not big enough." However, she can put it on and off by herself, which I think will be handy when this becomes part of the dress-up box after Halloween.</div>
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And because Grandma's are cool like this, Hannah's Grandma got her the official Merida bow and arrows from the Disney Store. Very cool. Hannah spent a good fifteen minutes trying to string the bow before she gave up and started throwing them across the yard.</div>
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For Lydia's bear costume, I decided to keep it simple - mostly because I wasn't sure whether she would wear it or not. She wasn't going to until she saw Hannah had a cape too, and then she was ready to go! The cape is made from the same pattern at fleecefun.com, although I printed the pattern at 75% to make it toddler-sized. Hers is also fleece, lined with matching flannel. </div>
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The ears are from another pattern at fleecefun.com, and are a part of their Halloween Bear Hat, found <a href="http://www.fleecefun.com/halloween-hat-pack.html">here</a>. I cut slits in the top of the hood, and stitched the ears in before I added the lining. </div>
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So here they are...Princess Merida and her bear sis.</div>
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Ready for some serious archery.<br />
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And doing a happy little Halloween dance.<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-5921514281181304122012-10-16T21:32:00.002-04:002012-10-16T21:33:24.647-04:00Hannah's Birthday...A Beautiful Mess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hannah turned 4 recently. It was the birthday that just kept happening...in ways good and bad! After all, when it comes to celebrating birthdays, the more parties the merrier, right? But there comes a point, when the first party has been canceled because of the stomach flu, and two cakes have been baked, and the edible favors have all been gobbled by someone (I couldn't possibly have eaten a whole pan of chocolate-covered Rice Krispy treats, could I?), when it's just time to have the party already.</div>
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So for your entertainment, here are all the lovely details of (both) of Hannah's birthdays.</div>
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My mom came for the week of Hannah's birthday, and she and Hannah made the super cute crayon cake that you see above. She found something called sugar paper and edible markers, and she and Hannah actually drew the picture on the top of the cake! </div>
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I suppose this is a good time to mention that Hannah wanted a "painting party." I tried to sway her toward Mermaids and Pirates, but she thought of this wonderful theme on her own, and it stuck. So we did all things painting. My little arts and crafts apprentice was in seventh heaven!</div>
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Hannah, my mom, and I did a test run of all the art projects before the party. This was one of the finger paintings. We made this by applying vinyl letters on a canvas, and after the paint dried, peeling them off. (And yes, that's the second batch of Rice Krispy treats.)</div>
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Here are all the kids, finger painting their hearts out. Each kid's canvas had their name on it. I made little paint aprons for each guest from old jeans, following <a href="http://happyhooligans.ca/2011/12/18/repurposed-demin-aprons/">this pattern</a>.<br />
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These are ice cube paintings. Almost as fun as actually doing the painting was hanging the papers out of the clothesline to dry!</div>
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And our final art project was bubble painting. This was really fun, and the photos don't do justice to how cool they looked. (If you do this, it took a lot more food coloring the bubbles than I expected!)<br />
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Here's the cake (reprise). And after the candles were blown out, all the kids - so excited about the cake - just couldn't keep their hands away. Check out Hannah: she's like, "Get your hands off my birthday cake!!"<br />
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And last but not least, what's a painting party without paint invitations? I printed these on paint chips, and couldn't be happier with how they came out. <br />
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The best part? Every morning for about a week after her birthday, Hannah woke up and said, "I'm FOUR!!!"</div>
Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-27921362088907032432012-09-05T13:30:00.000-04:002012-09-05T13:30:04.982-04:00Hannah's First Day of School<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0y_ZZgOrE_De24hneABHNlowyNkVJxWReKhhUivPAnAZavg5QV8y2DgQ40fGkd5dFBrlW-1Cpb2YAGLhG0nBlbfO0uz_AC84mRYAkhz8BSS3MsPKyzq1Nn9f3QVkmau1ayEuEI75gA0/s1600/IMG_2925+text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0y_ZZgOrE_De24hneABHNlowyNkVJxWReKhhUivPAnAZavg5QV8y2DgQ40fGkd5dFBrlW-1Cpb2YAGLhG0nBlbfO0uz_AC84mRYAkhz8BSS3MsPKyzq1Nn9f3QVkmau1ayEuEI75gA0/s640/IMG_2925+text.jpg" width="403" /></a></div>
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Yes, it was a big day at the Warren house. Today was Hannah's first day of preschool. Apart from a couple of months when she was first born and I was still working, Hannah's childcare has been limited to some stay-alone play dates, and a few random church nursery visits. So the prospect of her being in someone else's care is a huge adjustment for pretty much all the members of our household.</div>
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She was so excited this morning, she was literally jumping. </div>
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Hannah was delighted with this new backpack. Her favorite part? It has a little detachable purse that dangles on the side. Pretty neato!</div>
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Of course, Lydia got in on the action, too.</div>
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As a side note, Jonathan painted our front door on Saturday. After months of saying we were going to paint the door red, I saw a chartreuse door on Pinterest Saturday morning. We both knew immediately that this was the color for us, and in less than 12 hours, the project was done.<br />
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Ahhh...bittersweet to have my little girl growing older. And what did Mama and sister do with their free morning? Lydia played with Hannah's toys while I fussed with the morning's photo shoot. (And not a single tear was shed.)<br />
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Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-26152100394972564192012-08-18T14:06:00.000-04:002012-08-18T14:06:00.498-04:00Family Photo Mishaps at Niagara Falls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Did you think I ran away, ever to return to the blogosphere? Not quite...I've just been enjoying my summer vacation. Among other things, we recently took a looooong road trip, which included a stop at Niagara Falls. We were there for about two hours, which was not quite long enough to really do much except to ride the Maid of the Mist, and snap lots of quick pictures. You know, the kind you to take to prove that you've actually been there. The problem is, none of the pictures turned out the way I had visualized them in my internal scrapbook layout. </div>
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First of all, the girls hated the boat. It was crowded with tourists, many of whom were international (read: have different ideas of personal space than the folks we are used to riding boats with). Second, it was wet. "Mist" is a bit of an understatement. They give you these cute blue rain ponchos, which basically keep your shirt dry, but do very little to help your head, legs, or shoes. </div>
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I negotiated with a Norwegian family for this place by the railing for Hannah, hoping that she would be able to see something. This is the view over the top of her head, so presumably, she could have watched as we sailed by the falls. But when I questioned her later, asking what she saw, she simply said, "Water." </div>
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"You mean the waterfalls?" I asked.</div>
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"No. The water under the boat."</div>
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"Oh. Well...what was your favorite part, then?"</div>
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"When we got off the boat."</div>
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In spite of all this, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I thought the view was magnificent. And in spite of getting wet and having a freaked-out toddler clinging to me for dear life, I did snap one picture of the scenery that I'm quite happy about. <br />
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And the Norwegian family offered to take a group picture, so here we are!</div>
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Back on land, I decided we needed another family shot, this one drier - for the scrapbook page I was formulating in my mind.</div>
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We started out like this:</div>
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Then was the whole "let's find someone to take our picture" conversation. You know: what about him? No...he doesn't look like he could take a picture to save his life. Well, that woman has a camera, do you think she'd do it? No...she just answered a phone call. Aha! There's a guy with a big camera. I'll bet he knows what he's doing.</div>
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So I handed over my camera to yet another international traveler. But before we knew it, the guy was taking pictures, not of our family, but of us WITH his traveling companions!</div>
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This is Jonathan trying to tell the guy to get out of our shot. </div>
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This is Lydia and Hannah trying to figure out who these random guys are. Notice that the falls are framed (relatively nicely) in the background.</div>
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Finally, the man took a picture of just us. But he did not get the falls in the picture. We might as well have been standing by the railing at the upstairs of the mall.</div>
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So we took back our camera, said thank you, and asked an American for a retake. Jonathan explained that we wanted a family shot with both sides of the falls visible behind us. </div>
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Well, as you can see, we struck out again. The kids were frazzled, our parking meter was about to run out, and we just decided to call it a day. It's times like these when I have to remind myself that I don't need a perfect picture to create a good memory. </div>
Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-70519135123395113772012-07-04T10:08:00.000-04:002012-07-04T10:08:39.925-04:00Happy 4th of July!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy 4th! We got a little crafty and made some ribbon and ric-rac shirts for the girls, and fun paper garland for our mantle. Then we had an impromptu photo shoot. I love how Hannah hammed it up!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rhkToPaRiHl8P0rtYrajzNHu3yJOA2j95b_jBJsaobW-CZXvt2N48S9RZLeCInji-nzbFjlvn7DXc9HUBcfEGCCQvBv5mvY4hZnvSLchgKtYbiAuAwcp-e_dSZIgQ5_dg6Iuia6lG90/s1600/July4_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rhkToPaRiHl8P0rtYrajzNHu3yJOA2j95b_jBJsaobW-CZXvt2N48S9RZLeCInji-nzbFjlvn7DXc9HUBcfEGCCQvBv5mvY4hZnvSLchgKtYbiAuAwcp-e_dSZIgQ5_dg6Iuia6lG90/s640/July4_3.jpg" width="435" /></a></div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-45384019985064575422012-05-25T10:31:00.002-04:002012-05-25T10:31:16.470-04:00Lydia's First Birthday!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I cannot believe it, but Lydia's first birthday is on Sunday. Where has the last year gone? We celebrated yesterday with a few friends, some pinwheels, and all things rainbow.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg3a8mRiwmxU5cvLvMKRY8gtzJxxmOUnTvKaQoXQVeDWHxKvfkvfrvlhhMQS4PmUUuPLxbpvgg_pBD2EMXeKNkMtOHxtwKc0uvxelTVKtG96RMyVQgkfRAcxrLbGOWO-EvxSiKhplLWfB/s1600/Rainbow+Birthday+Party+food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" qba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlg3a8mRiwmxU5cvLvMKRY8gtzJxxmOUnTvKaQoXQVeDWHxKvfkvfrvlhhMQS4PmUUuPLxbpvgg_pBD2EMXeKNkMtOHxtwKc0uvxelTVKtG96RMyVQgkfRAcxrLbGOWO-EvxSiKhplLWfB/s640/Rainbow+Birthday+Party+food.jpg" width="414" /></a></div>
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After watching countless moms eat countless cupcakes from which the icing has been licked off by tiny tongues, I decided to make mini cupcakes. This way, the kids could have their lick of icing and one bite of cake. Then, the moms could leave them on the plate guilt-free, and have their own cupcake too. I busted out my Silhouette and made some rainbow cupcake toppers. There were chocolate covered Oreos for the party guests to take home, and some rainbow fruit skewers to round out the afternoon's snack.</div>
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Hannah and I decorated the driveway with sidewalk chalk. (See Aurora Bear in the back there? Hannah got really excited, straightened Aurora's crown, and announced, "I think Lydia should have an Aurora party, just like me!")</div>
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When it came time for the cake, Lydia was just as cute as could be. She sportingly wore the hat, and scarfed her cupcake by the fistful. She also devoured several pieces of watermelon and a number of blueberries. Honestly, I think the kids liked the fruit as much or more than the cake. Go figure...</div>
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A friend brought her super fun parachute, which made for a great game. </div>
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And everyone got a rainbow pinwheel. See Lydia with her hands over her ears? That's what she does when she's excited. I'm not sure where she learned that, but it sure is funny!</div>
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Happy birthday, sweet Lydia! It's been a fantastic year with you in our family!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithoymJ-FX4WK66c3HlC0_ti_Zs0nVqnyM5XxLLshkOJd2tVAEz5x8p-iuYMdlNlGJZrXf_9LYsnZLWF5VeL4NxHW1xv8oa8wS9zG5R3xl_avEoVc81rQXBmRP_6Tkdj0e0syuhTDtyA3C/s1600/IMG_1852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" qba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithoymJ-FX4WK66c3HlC0_ti_Zs0nVqnyM5XxLLshkOJd2tVAEz5x8p-iuYMdlNlGJZrXf_9LYsnZLWF5VeL4NxHW1xv8oa8wS9zG5R3xl_avEoVc81rQXBmRP_6Tkdj0e0syuhTDtyA3C/s400/IMG_1852.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>warrenfamilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04984115382963929491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-68053664152988277152012-04-28T20:45:00.000-04:002012-04-28T20:45:06.241-04:00A Little Hopping Going On<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLslxwtimEqSzjQ5cFdrdRGDNYJghAXQS3K37nc9UKIh224ht56ghNBIo_wP_q2VyIjNTccqGZZ0yUI86W4WDyRFXB0TRowbsgzA571UVWc3pZgCZke7cq-Cum7IweqwaOYBF-HSL2lT4/s1600/IMG_1365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLslxwtimEqSzjQ5cFdrdRGDNYJghAXQS3K37nc9UKIh224ht56ghNBIo_wP_q2VyIjNTccqGZZ0yUI86W4WDyRFXB0TRowbsgzA571UVWc3pZgCZke7cq-Cum7IweqwaOYBF-HSL2lT4/s400/IMG_1365.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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It's beautiful in East Tennessee this week. We enjoyed dinner outside in the backyard, and then just couldn't bring ourselves to go back inside again. So after the regular yard toys had run their course, we moved to the driveway for some sidewalk chalk.</div>
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I drew this hopscotch thingy (what are they really called?), after which Jonathan informed me is not really the way it's supposed to be made. But Hannah was thrilled, and immediately started jumping from box to box, doing first position then second position, first position then second position - just like in ballet class.</div>
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Then she studied my drawing with great intensity...</div>
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...and proceeded to draw her own grid.</div>
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Hers was made with circles. They each had a letter in the center. </div>
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They were all first position.</div>
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Of course, Lydia had to get in on the action. She played along by rolling the egg-shaped chalk down the driveway. </div>
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Ahhh...nothing like a little lesson in inclined planes on a warm spring evening.Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-9909912750836887262012-04-08T21:20:00.001-04:002012-04-08T21:20:58.708-04:00An Easter Baptism<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I guess it's one of the perks of being the pastor...Jonathan and I were talking about how it was about time to baptize Lydia. I asked when he wanted to do it; really it could be any time at all. He said, "How about Easter? That would be cool." </div>
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And it was!</div>
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Remember those <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2012/03/matching-easter-dresses.html">matching Easter dresses</a> I sewed? Lydia didn't wear hers to church. Instead, she wore the family baptismal gown. </div>
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(By the way, we didn't leave Hannah out of the pictures. She's there (above), behind the baptismal font. You can just see her elbow below the flowers.)</div>
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This is the gown that Hannah wore when she was baptized. And I wore it too, although not when I was a baby. It was my wedding dress. I cut it up (gasp!) and in the ultimate refashion, made it into a wee heirloom. </div>
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I know that some people are horrified that I would dissect my wedding dress, but when I got the dress, I intended to make it into a quilt. I still want to, and while the best parts of the bead work went into this gown, there is still a sizable amount of fabric waiting to be stitched into a lovely quilt. As a matter of fact, instead of a guest book at the wedding, I had everyone sign pre-cut cotton squares with a fabric pen. Those also sit, pressed and waiting to be the quilt's back. One day, it's going to be a really neat remembrance of our wedding. Maybe a ten-year-anniversary project?</div>
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The dress is sewn from a purchased pattern, which apparently I don't have any more. When Hannah was baptized, it was very hot, so she didn't wear the jacket. I tried to make it as unisex as a wedding dress can be, and in a large-ish size, so it would be suitable for girls and boys of a variety of ages (and sizes). I don't know whether or not any future grandchildren will wear this, but I wanted to make sure that all of my kids would fit.</div>
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The actual baptism was a very nice event. The real perk of being the pastor is not choosing the coolest day, but being able to baptize your own child. I was able to baptize Hannah, and so today was Jonathan's turn. We told Hannah she had a very big job of being the Big Sister, but she wasn't fooled. Thrilled by the chance to get up in front of the whole church and show off a little, she stood on tip-toes and peered at the water, did loop-the-loops around the font, and finally settled in the front row next to a friend.</div>
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Not to be outdone, Lydia almost toppled a flower arrangement before she pulled off Jonathan's lapel mic right in the middle of the prayer. But not a tear was shed, and she even seemed to enjoy the water.</div>
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Well, on to Easter. We did all wear our matching dresses to the church Easter egg hunt.</div>
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Hannah was thrilled by the amount of candy that was strewn about, just waiting for someone to pick it up - like manna in the desert.</div>
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Lydia took the first opportunity to snitch Hannah's basket and see what all the fuss was about.</div>
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All in all, a very good day!Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-24656130705630349112012-04-01T10:38:00.001-04:002012-04-01T10:38:24.347-04:00You Can't Take It With You<div>
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Even as a baby, Hannah had boxes of books to unpack after a move. </div>
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You should see the rest of our bookshelves...</div>
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<em> A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” </em></div>
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<em><span class="woj">“Why do you call me good?”</span> Jesus answered. <span class="woj">“No one is good—except God alone.</span> <span class="woj">You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”</span> </em></div>
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<em>“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. </em></div>
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<em>When Jesus heard this, he said to him, <span class="woj">“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”</span> </em></div>
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<em>When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.</em></div>
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<em>Luke 18:18-23 (NIV)</em></div>
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I've been thinking a lot about stuff. My lots and lots of stuff, to be exact. I really love my stuff. Do you love yours?<br />
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Remember the story of the rich ruler? This rich man asks Jesus how to gain eternal life. He's been a good person, and followed all the commandments, he says. Jesus tells him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The guy is sad because he's so rich, and he goes away. He can't do it. His stuff counts for too much.</div>
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Shortly after we were married, Jonathan was studying this, and he called me at work to say, "I think this is a really important verse. What if Jesus said that to us? That we should sell all we have and give the money away?"<br />
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As you know, I'm practically Mother Teressa, so I said, "Of course, dear. When's the yard sale?" <br />
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Yeah right.<br />
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I said, "We just got a queen sized mattress. Are you nuts? I'm not giving away my stuff. Besides, by some standards, <em>we</em> are poor. Maybe someone will give money to us!"<br />
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Well, it's some years later. I still very much appreciate our larger bed. But Jonathan's question has stayed with me all these years. (He, on the other hand, doesn't remember the conversation.) I often wonder what it would be like if we had less, if we lived more simply, if less of my life was dedicated to the acquisition of and care for THINGS. <br />
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I knew a woman who was called to overseas mission work, and she sold or gave away almost everything she owned. She reduced her entire household to a trunk filled with only the most important mementos: some things that had belonged to her parents, and a few precious keepsakes from her children's growing-up. Could I do that? <br />
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On the other hand, these things that are so important to us may not be treasure to anyone else. I recently watched the TV show <em>Hoarders</em> for the first time, and was amazed by the real, emotional attachment people had with their stuff. I'm not a hoarder - you can even see the floors in my closets - but I really do have a deep attachment to many of my things.<br />
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As I was pondering all of this, I remembered someone we knew whose husband had a really impressive library. The kind of library I dream about, with floor-to-ceiling shelves full of books. A whole room of books. Just think about all that knowledge! It makes me excited just thinking about it! <br />
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The man died, and his wife was left with the task of doing something with all those books. She called the public library, and they came and took many volumes for their shelves. The she called us and offered any books we wanted. She thought we'd be interested because he had a large selection of books on religion. And she was right. We left her house with boxes of books. And she was disappointed because it looked like we had hardly made a dent. What was she going to do with all those books?<br />
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(Jonathan reminds me that in a few years, my dream of a home library will be obsolete, and our kids will think I'm nuts because I collected <em>paper</em> books. I would hit him over the head with a Kindle, but then I remember how expensive it is to move...27 boxes of books during our last transition.)<br />
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The point is, this man spent a lifetime accumulating books, which he read and enjoyed, but the library was important only to him. No one else wanted it in its entirety.<br />
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What about all the things I love so much? A porcelain piano figurine I bought in Spain, but is now broken and in box in the attic? A piece of needlework my grandmother painstakingly stitched, but looks too 1970's to display? A shelf of music books that I used to love to play, but now sit collecting dust in the bedroom (the only use our piano gets these days is from the Disney Movie Songbook)? No one wants that stuff. I'm not even sure if I want that stuff. But it's my stuff. I've moved it eleven times. I need it, right?<br />
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No, I don't need it. But, I want it. I recently discovered this wonderful advice from William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." My mementos are beautiful to me (even if <em>only</em> to me). The man's library was useful to him...and in small doses, to others as well. <br />
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I think that this matter, like so many others, is about balance. I want my house to be full of useful and beautiful things, so that doesn't mean narrow it down to a steamer trunk. It simply means to eliminate the fluff. <br />
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I think I would be happier with less fluff. <br />
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Now excuse me, while I go rearrange my bookshelf...Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-49760196963759963992012-03-24T14:32:00.001-04:002012-03-24T14:35:18.447-04:00Matching Easter Dresses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5UhRUesHxtsbM7zri0PIpJxMK9NjxZH17nbsTBKClgUq4Dgkd-fkEBxSPVGmYG_uAIj8sl_iQU0UhQrAomn-2WmW2kv1aERvM3gkp_WFcAEHU3VMs2gztti4r2KSyamdEqtT2x0FWsc/s1600/IMG_0737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5UhRUesHxtsbM7zri0PIpJxMK9NjxZH17nbsTBKClgUq4Dgkd-fkEBxSPVGmYG_uAIj8sl_iQU0UhQrAomn-2WmW2kv1aERvM3gkp_WFcAEHU3VMs2gztti4r2KSyamdEqtT2x0FWsc/s400/IMG_0737.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Remember how I've been telling you about the Big Sewing Project I've been working (and reworking) on? Well, it's finished! In January, after my Christmas gift debacle (and I still haven't finished Jonathan's present yet...), I decided that the first thing I was going to do this year was make Easter dresses. Then I could work on other stuff. </div>
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So, here they are. I choose coordinating fabric and some of my favorite dress patterns. The next door neighbor has taken down his fence, which made for some nice pictures.</div>
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Hannah's dress is from the book <em>Sewing Clothes Kids Love</em>, by Langdon and Pollehn. I've made it before, and it looks so much cuter on a kid than on the clothes line. </div>
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Lydia's dress is the <a href="http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2011/01/party-dress-printable-pattern-and.html">Party Dress from The Cottage Home</a>. Isn't it sweet? It was a dream to sew, except for the part where I re-sized the bodice <em>much</em> too small, and had to pick out the whole thing and do it over again.</div>
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And this is a smocked skirt for me, from <a href="http://makeitandloveitshop.bigcartel.com/product/the-lily-skirt-pdf-sewing-pattern">Make It and Love It</a>. <br />
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Aren't we going to be cute?! After these were all sewn, Jonathan reminded me that we're going to baptize Lydia on Easter, so she'll wear the family baptismal gown to church. Oh well. We'll look good in our pictures, right?Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-30980458420732781002012-03-11T20:53:00.000-04:002012-03-11T20:53:08.686-04:00On My Nightstand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It looks from my recent posts like I haven't been sewing or crafting for months, doesn't it? Well, I have, but nothing's quite ready to be revealed yet. Let's just say that one should try the dress on along the way, instead of waiting until one has finished it only to realize that the blasted thing is so small it won't button in the back.</div>
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But I have been reading lately. Jonathan and I love to have long discussions, which we would like to think are intellectual. Are they? I don't really know, but we feel smart while we're having them. As far as gathering information, we are polar opposites, so we always have interesting tidbits to pass to one another that the other has never heard of. Jonathan loves the news media, especially anything to do with national politics. (As a rule, he doesn't usually discuss politics with people other than me, but <em>I </em>get to hear a lot of hypothesizing about whichever election is upcoming.) He is also an avid magazine reader. I, on the other hand, have a life-long love affair with books. Being around books makes me happy. When meeting in someone's office (think the typical pastor's study), it is almost impossible for me to engage in conversation because I'm covertly reading the titles of their books. The last time we moved, we had 27 boxes of books.</div>
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So my latest book obsession has been about real food. This is partly because all of our "intellectualizing" leads me and Jonathan to make change very slowly, with lots of discussion, planning, and information-gathering along the way. The idea that we will change our entire diet and shopping habits is a hard pill to swallow, no matter how good an idea it seems. </div>
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So on my night table right now is the neighborhood library's real/whole foods section. It's not as much as it seems, since most of these are cookbooks. Did I mention that I <em>love</em> to read cookbooks? This is something that continuously baffles Jonathan. ("What are you reading? The ingredients? The directions? Is that even interesting?")</div>
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I'm also reading the Bible...yes all of it. Our church is reading the entire book over the course of a year. Now, we're in the middle of the Psalms. I have to admit, I'm glad that we're through Kings and Chronicles. I'd much rather read cookbooks than the history of war.<br />
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And to round out the pile, two books I've just begun because I acquired them yesterday. Next time we move, there will be 29 boxes of books because we picked up two more yesterday at a pastors' book giveaway. So I've been trying, in between washing diapers and trying to cook more vegetables and dealing with a little girl with a cold, to read this Marva Dawn book. She is an author I admire. You might have to be a little bit of a church nerd to love her, but if you are, I think you'd love her. This book, <em>Unfettered Hope</em>, looks so interesting. I'd like to tell you about it, but so far, I've read the introduction and am now on page two. So I don't think I'm qualified to say anything at all!</div>
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And just for laughs - because not much is simple in my life right now - <em>Six Weeks to a Simpler Lifestyle</em>. Now that's exactly what I need! Maybe things will get simple enough that I can read it...</div>
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Oh yeah, and there's a little book of fingerplays in there. Because even if I think I'm a nutritionist/chef/theologian/idealist, the truth is that right now, I'm mostly a mom. Which encompasses all those other things, but you've got to have a nice new song to sing every now and then.</div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-49512111329779059632012-02-28T13:29:00.003-05:002012-02-28T13:30:17.322-05:00Real Food...Really?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As the first two months of 2012 have flown by, I've been slowly trying to work on the items from my <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-new-to-do-list.html">New Year's To-Do List</a>. Some things have been accomplished. For example, we haven't used any paper towels in about a month. (Well, Jonathan used some to wipe the grout from a tiling project, but none has been employed in the kitchen at all!) Some are in progress, like organizing the house. (Notice, "organizing the closets" turned into the whole house. And I wonder why things don't get done.)</div>
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But one item on my list is shaping up to be quite the project. It is focusing our family's diet more on "real foods." Although I've read a couple of books, many of my ideas about this have come from some helpful websites, like <a href="http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/">this one</a> and <a href="http://www.eatingrules.com/">this one</a>. A basic definition of real food, as I see it, is to limit processed foods and eat more natural stuff. One way to think about it is, if your great-grandma would have eaten it, then it's a real food. Great-grandma didn't have all those ingredients that you can't pronounce and sound like they were created by scientists. (Although I was searching through my own grandma's spice cabinet about a year ago and found an honest-to-goodness jar of MSG in there. It said on the label "makes everything taste better!")</div>
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After much discussion - like the last two months - Jonathan and I decided to take the plunge into more healthful eating. We already eat most of our meals at home. We pack our own lunches, and eat out for supper twice a week: once at church , and once at a restaurant. Our fast food intake is limited to three or four times a year, when we are making a road trip. So the biggest changes we are faced with making are simply choosing different ingredients from the grocery store. We decided that to keep our budget in mind, we wouldn't do an all-out purge of all the "not-real" food, but replace things like crackers and chips as we ran out. We made a commitment to eat more vegetables, and decided that eating organic meat and dairy would be a good idea. Since great-grandma used white sugar, but for mostly special, home-baked treats, we decided to still have a small amount of sweets, like our regular ration of chocolate chip cookies. (With the exception of the very occasional Oreo, we haven't had store-bought cookies in probably two years.)</div>
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Today I went to the grocery store, ready to come home with my reusable grocery bags full of wholesome goodness. But our grocery budget is quite limited. For our family of four (and would you believe it, but Lydia is eating table food now!), we spend between $75 and $100 a week on groceries. So I breezed through the first part of the grocery store, carefully read labels to find a kind of sausage without high fructose corn syrup in it, and purchased some wild caught shrimp. </div>
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Then I got to the meat case. There were the whole roasting chickens, sitting in a row. The "regular" chickens, the kind I usually get, were $.99 a pound. The organic chickens were $1.98 a pound. I picked up an organic chicken. I admired the nice green color of its label. I put it in the cart. </div>
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My eyes strayed to the conventional chicken. Its label was red and blue. The entire chicken cost $4.11. I looked back to the organic chicken in my cart, which was over $9.00. I put the new chicken in the cart, and replaced the organic chicken in the meat case. I just couldn't do it. </div>
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The same thing happened in the dairy aisle, when I deliberated, and then put a gallon of regular milk and a dozen non-organic eggs in my cart. I just couldn't pay double. </div>
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And the bread? I have a hard time paying $3 for a loaf of bread in the first place, so the organic, whole wheat bread in the "health" section of the store just about gave me an anxiety attack. I decided that I would bake my own bread this week.</div>
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To make up for all of this, I went back to the produce section and bought twice as many veggies and five extra pounds of apples. At least we can be healthier by having less of our conventional meat and an extra serving of greens on the side.</div>
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I guess the bottom line is this: I am just not convinced that the organic food is worth the price. Anyone care to convince me? I'm open to persuasion (and maybe some grocery store scholarships), but for now, I guess I'm going to have to do some more research and start reworking the family budget a little...Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-72866510489603431762012-02-24T16:50:00.000-05:002012-02-24T16:50:25.805-05:00A Wee Shopping Trip<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There was a little bit of grocery shopping going on at the Warren house this afternoon...<br />
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An experienced shopper always makes a list so she doesn't forget anything important.</div>
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She is discerning about her ingredients...</div>
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...always choosing the freshest and best.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFO_Gzlem7MmgGDpS0xp6g9mKPXympxgSfcvkPXUQ9i8ZazSk_YXCsG5G5DDA04FIFfYRzeJHVvEytFvgmFX0RPE-n1St3FJygu_fZY7wS-rW7bJJFyGHz4qxUg3s5KPhWOX7M_J8bhA/s1600/IMG_0628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFO_Gzlem7MmgGDpS0xp6g9mKPXympxgSfcvkPXUQ9i8ZazSk_YXCsG5G5DDA04FIFfYRzeJHVvEytFvgmFX0RPE-n1St3FJygu_fZY7wS-rW7bJJFyGHz4qxUg3s5KPhWOX7M_J8bhA/s400/IMG_0628.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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One always enjoys shopping at a store where the staff is friendly and helpful.</div>
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Accuracy in the check out pricing is a hallmark of a good grocery store.<br />
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And the customer who leaves with a few pennies in her pocket is a happy one.</div>
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An eco-conscious shopper brings her own, reusable shopping bags.</div>
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What do a couple of girls do with a cart full of goodies?<br />
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Go home and make a cake, of course. (To be precise, a chicken cake and cherry pie for dessert.)</div>
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</div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-26244987081823471012012-02-15T14:32:00.001-05:002012-02-15T14:33:17.154-05:00Story Bible Moms: Esther the Beauty Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em>Yes...that's a picture of 18-year-old me in a tiara. </em></div>
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<em>There's a little bit of an explanatory note at the bottom of the post, in case you're curious.</em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">***</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had a lot of fun last year writing the “Story Bible Moms” series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was conceived of as a series of devotions for moms, especially of young children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a lot of really encouraging feedback about these devotions – from women of all ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when Lydia was born, something had to give, and this (among other things, like dusting and putting away shoes) fell to the wayside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the last several weeks, I’ve found myself thinking of what I should write about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, this is a sure sign that it’s time to dust off my keyboard and get back into the habit of writing something down!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To clinch the deal, on the say day that I was seriously considering this, a friend told me that she just found Wee Warrens, and read through many of the posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She especially appreciated the devotionals, she told me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here I am, making a best effort to write some more devotionals – with some degree of regularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">***</span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.</i></div>
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Esther 2:15-17 (NIV)</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our church has been reading through the Bible over the course of a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started in September, and have just finished reading the book of Esther.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t read the story of Esther lately, you should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a fairly short book, only 10 chapters, so you could get through it in a sitting or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here’s a five sentence synopsis: The fickle king gets rid of his queen and needs a replacement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This turns out to be Esther (a Jew, but she doesn’t tell the king this), who basically wins a grand, kingdom-wide beauty contest, aided by shameless working of the system, being clever, and quite a bit of gumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A plot is revealed, where the king’s right-hand man is going to kill all the Jews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Esther puts on her best dress and summons that trademark gumption, and at the risk of her life, asks the king to save her people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few months ago, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html">I read an article</a> that a friend posted on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It talked about how we, as a society, talk to little girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our automatic response to girls is to comment on their appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, don’t you look pretty?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That’s such a lovely dress you’re wearing.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What a beautiful little girl you are.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I read the article, I’ve been hyper-aware of this kind of talk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s not only directed at my daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find myself using the same kind of script with other little girls that I converse with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s deeply ingrained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And besides, they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> look pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> have lovely dresses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The author of the article argued that we should emphasize other parts of a girl’s character, and not only their physical appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She suggested asking little girls which book they’ve recently enjoyed reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But old habits die hard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I read Esther, this article came to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Esther isn’t just the queen, she’s Miss Universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had the right look, the right evening gown, and said the right things during the king’s…um…interview (read: test-run in the royal night chamber).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To most folks, including the king, Esther was for the most part, a pretty face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was the poster child for “Oooohh…don’t you look pretty today in that frilly dress, Esther.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And then she needed to stand up for something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Majorly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enough so that there is an entire book in the Bible devoted to her story, and a holiday (complete with its own special cookies) to celebrate the amazing save of her people that Esther pulled off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So this gives me a little hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because truth be told, Hannah beams when someone gives her a compliment – whether it’s on her dancing, her vocabulary, or her hair bows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And another truth is that this mama outfits her with the fancy hair bows because I want her to look pretty and girly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the story of Esther tells us that you can be pretty and smart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can be Miss Universe and negotiate major political deals with heads of state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are not mutually exclusive character traits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And good thing too, because even though I’ve tried and tried to remember to ask little girls what book they’ve been reading, the first thing out my mouth is still “Gosh, I like your pink sparkle shoes!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">(And just in case you were wondering, I am in no way knocking pageants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except maybe the “Toddlers in Tiaras” kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think that the real kind, where young women use their skills – including their poise and beauty – to win scholarship and participate in philanthropic endeavors, are a good experience for girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I participated in this kind of pageant as a teenager, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my high school and college years.)</span></div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-88098684091824932502012-02-11T15:40:00.000-05:002012-02-11T15:40:09.150-05:00Mixing It Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have a secret love. Well, maybe not so secret. Wanna know who? It's my stand mixer. </div>
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We go way back. It was a wedding present. I've used it probably twice a week - or more - since I first opened the box. It turns out lovely cakes and every more lovely icings. It mixes up regular batches of chocolate chip cookies, and less regular loaves of bread. It mashes potatoes, whips cream, and even shreds cheese. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ3z9Z3pZsBg9xESzOuj4fvyEt3YhdEnUsIitrzPEHZEc1uFS1_nZ0V5CAAntKAyOPos7NDKBNP17-xQLKJQmKpX6gg5NTfIxx-Nzm4skmODKFcBnRZMpdCWjbckzpyS2dcSnrK4173A/s1600/Silhouette+Mixer+Decal+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ3z9Z3pZsBg9xESzOuj4fvyEt3YhdEnUsIitrzPEHZEc1uFS1_nZ0V5CAAntKAyOPos7NDKBNP17-xQLKJQmKpX6gg5NTfIxx-Nzm4skmODKFcBnRZMpdCWjbckzpyS2dcSnrK4173A/s400/Silhouette+Mixer+Decal+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Funny story: when Jonathan and I got married and this beauty went on our registry, we had a long discussion about what color it should be. Jonathan imagined that I would want a pink one. (I was thinking red, but we were in love and trying to work hard at compromising, so I didn't say so at the time.) He thought stainless steel would look nice in any kitchen - and match the toaster over, besides.</div>
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But I've always kind of wished for red. So even before I bought my Silhouette cutter last fall, I knew that this was going to be one of my first projects: to add a splash of color to my mixer. </div>
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The hardest part was choosing a design. Inspired by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/84104697/utensil-pattern-kitchen-mixer-decal">this</a>, I chose a kitchen utensil theme. </div>
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It's cute. It's red. (It's cleaner than it has been since I took it out of the box that first time.) It's dying to mix up some chocolate chip cookie dough, so I'd better start measuring some ingredients...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdzWPW9eMUCG1QrHUngK-o3AywuB6hh9LtNHRHuN5dOR85ESgdTPSTZCo8eTXAGQBWKV6QS_ht_R8xOZv8JLh3Oayyhxr0wE0jC9g0Vpw_YgwMIlkL-ZqXgAabR7yyFUDv__y4z3fHir8/s1600/Silhouette+Mixer+Decal+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdzWPW9eMUCG1QrHUngK-o3AywuB6hh9LtNHRHuN5dOR85ESgdTPSTZCo8eTXAGQBWKV6QS_ht_R8xOZv8JLh3Oayyhxr0wE0jC9g0Vpw_YgwMIlkL-ZqXgAabR7yyFUDv__y4z3fHir8/s400/Silhouette+Mixer+Decal+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-25588187392502957712012-01-31T21:43:00.002-05:002012-01-31T21:43:51.067-05:00Diagonal Drawer Divider Tutorial<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM5hB-gAOCS17Eugxky03d5TDeBWwhmWoObXAqq_qsvHw_Pu3qWehonAsW8Ezu46Z-PLr41ymMbGJCvqBCAXx7CTFG3f4a3G75SxTebUD_JSLT5Q1WILOQ4FHWzY8LP24jxm4odYthkw/s1600/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+title1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM5hB-gAOCS17Eugxky03d5TDeBWwhmWoObXAqq_qsvHw_Pu3qWehonAsW8Ezu46Z-PLr41ymMbGJCvqBCAXx7CTFG3f4a3G75SxTebUD_JSLT5Q1WILOQ4FHWzY8LP24jxm4odYthkw/s400/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+title1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Remember that list of <a href="http://weewarrens.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-new-to-do-list.html">New Year's resolutions</a> I shared? The impossible one with too much for one person to do? Well, I've been working on a few of them. Actually "organizing the closets" turned into a lot more when a friend of mine inspired me to join in on the <a href="http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html">52 Weeks to an Organized Home Challenge</a>. This is an encouraging site that gives a manageable task to complete each week, helping you to tackle the whole house in the course of a year. A couple of weeks ago, the task was to organize the cabinets and drawers. I immediately remembered this cool utensil divider I saw on Pinterest.</div>
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This comes recommended by This Old House, and is made by MasterBrand. I was ready to buy the thing...until I found out it costs a whopping $75! So instead, I showed the picture to Jonathan, who said he would make one for me. </div>
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It cost him less than $5 and took him one evening to make. (That is, one child free evening while the rest of us were in Arizona.)</div>
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I had recently moved all my spoons and other large utensils from a container on the counter to this drawer. It was a huge mess. While my drawer still doesn't look quite as magazine-worthy as the one in the showroom, it is improved by about a million.</div>
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Here we go!</div>
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Materials needed:</div>
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- Miter saw (You might not have one of these just hanging around, but it's what makes the angled cuts of wood, so it's pretty important.)</div>
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- Wood. Our drawer is 4" deep, so Jonathan used 1x4's (which are actually 3 1/4" high). You need enough to make a box on the inside of the drawer, and then the diagonal slats. For ours, 2 8 foot boards was more than enough. There are different qualties of boards. Jonathan went with the least expensive, but made sure to seach for boards that were straight.</div>
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- Hammer and finishing nails</div>
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- Wood glue</div>
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- Tape measure</div>
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- Clamp (or an extra pair of hands, if your wife is not out of town)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvcIKOPBeeLXL1ktv2KIzUo2r5LgMzNu3pfCVuZGb9uWRj6IAxapVdB6H0zqk09-kCu6io3cxYe-45ODNErfxb0QMEkCjzBV8rhHUsWJx81S9XqBQHRiuLcpno_OgdiOdrDL0PUb8iIc/s1600/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvcIKOPBeeLXL1ktv2KIzUo2r5LgMzNu3pfCVuZGb9uWRj6IAxapVdB6H0zqk09-kCu6io3cxYe-45ODNErfxb0QMEkCjzBV8rhHUsWJx81S9XqBQHRiuLcpno_OgdiOdrDL0PUb8iIc/s400/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<strong>Step One: Make a box.</strong><br />
Measure the inside of the drawer. You want the box to fits snugly inside of it. Here's how to do this using minimal math. To make sure the sides of the box are exactly the same length, cut one board, then use it to mark the cutting line for the second board <em>(picture one)</em>. Then place both boards inside the length of the drawer and measure the width <em>(picture two)</em>. This is the length needed for the second set of boards.<br />
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<strong>Step Two: Assemble the box.</strong><br />
Use wood glue to bond the corners together, making sure that the long pieces of wood are on the lenght of the box, and the short pieces form the width. Finish the corners with nails for added sturdiness <em>(picture three)</em>.<br />
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Make sure the finished box <em>(picture four)</em> fits inside the drawer before proceeding <em>(picture five.)</em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9nHHJAhpl_huaasbIEbHqXE-vYLCmcHIQmDz_n39LJ-IZ-LY3jwpfDcLLjCGtJ9f97yaaKJuErqypiqNj5jtm864xhZW1mWHWBJ5nWFJn6kpeu4jeTn7edMCRLXaRa5lRk8rtuGFycQ/s1600/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+4+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9nHHJAhpl_huaasbIEbHqXE-vYLCmcHIQmDz_n39LJ-IZ-LY3jwpfDcLLjCGtJ9f97yaaKJuErqypiqNj5jtm864xhZW1mWHWBJ5nWFJn6kpeu4jeTn7edMCRLXaRa5lRk8rtuGFycQ/s400/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+4+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<strong>Step Three: Cut the diagonal inserts.</strong><br />
Decide where the inserts will be placed in the box. Mark the lengths on the board <em>(picture six)</em>. Using a miter saw, cut the board at a 45 degree angle. Make sure that the cuts form a trapezoid <em>(picture seven)</em>.<br />
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Again, if your board are the same length, you can measure second board against the first <em>(picture eight) </em><br />
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In our drawer insert, Jonathan made one section larger than the other to accommodate my unwieldy wooden spoon collection. In this case, not all of the insets are the same length <em>(picture nine)</em>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaYG06c-kBvDVdYCbXXskggBpCJ9W41d-9flWm6510fjyqjK5M4kEJq1B7JVOGq-fyzd0t5JtapBiYd4ykp2j_Em0NROW2bW6pn1QNBGY7E-qFBMCQ0wo9nAryOgUE0qOeMWXUm4XAg8/s1600/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+5+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaYG06c-kBvDVdYCbXXskggBpCJ9W41d-9flWm6510fjyqjK5M4kEJq1B7JVOGq-fyzd0t5JtapBiYd4ykp2j_Em0NROW2bW6pn1QNBGY7E-qFBMCQ0wo9nAryOgUE0qOeMWXUm4XAg8/s400/diagonal+drawer+divider+tutorial+5+copy.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
<strong>Step Four: Attach the diagonal inserts to the box.</strong><br />
Using a clamp (or a friend), hold the inserts in place while you attach them to the box using finishing nails <em>(picture ten)</em>. Especially if your box fits flush with the edge of the drawer, drive the nails as deeply into the wood as possible, because they will add to the overall width of the box <em>(picture eleven)</em>. This will also keep the inside of the drawer from being scratched.<br />
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And there you have it! The perfect home for large utensils at the perfect price. I asked Jonathan if he was going to finish the wood. He said I could take apart the newly installed childproof drawer lock and do it myself. Unfinished it is...Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857849418388275529.post-7995677052524959742012-01-18T13:23:00.000-05:002012-01-18T13:23:09.519-05:00Ice Cream For Breakfast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My grandpa died yesterday morning. I wanted to write something about him, but I just didn't know what to say. I figured that this is one of those times where a picture is worth a thousand words, and so here are as many pictures as I could dig up in the archives of my digital photographs.<br />
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My grandpa used to give us kids ice cream for breakfast. I remember him hiding my bowl behind a propped-up book, and blatantly lying to my mom, telling her that I was eating cereal. What boldness!<br />
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He always made me feel special and grown-up, especially when I was an insecure teenager, and desperate to be taken seriously. It's probably for the best that my mom has the photos from those years.<br />
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But I do have lots of pictures from our wedding...<br />
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We had an inside joke. He'd always say, "I'll meet you with bells on." When he came to visit, he'd bring a bell, and ring it loudly. When I was little, I thought this was really cool. When I was older, I thought it was really uncool. When he gave me a bell on my wedding day, I cried.<br />
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And I cried again when he asked my grandma from the other side of the family to dance with him.<br />
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He was a man of many stories - all of them funny. I once tried to get him to tell me about his experience in World War II. He told me about five funny stories. Nothing serious at all. <br />
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He has many grandchildren, and all of us adore him.<br />
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He loved baseball. He tried to get some of the rest of us to love baseball too, but I'm not sure if he ever succeeded.<br />
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He also has an impressive coin collection. I remember him buying me albums to put pennies in. I collected a very large jar of pennies, but I don't think any of them ever went into the album. (Hannah seems much more fascinated when money that I was. Maybe that's a good thing!)<br />
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He loved babies, and just wanted to hold and hold them. <br />
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My grandpa was an amazing man with an amazingly generous heart. I can't even begin to say how I miss him.</div>Siobhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16064161237003238246noreply@blogger.com0