winter projects

a lot has changed around the house over the past few months.  first, aaron repainted our bedroom from peach to a lovely light blueish grey.  then he finished the baseboards and crown molding.  it's so serene now!  i really love it.

then he repainted the living room from dark blue to cream.  it really lightened up the room!

then he wallpapered-up the giant world map that his family got him for his birthday.  it's so awesome!

spreading the wallpaper glue

smoothing out the bubbles

on the wall!

after painting and putting up the map aaron got to work on putting up trim in that room.  he also added some beautiful wainscotting and a cool frame for the map.

noah putting together the wainscotting puzzle

wainscotting done

working on the map frame

framed map, wainscotting, crown molding and baseboards.  so pretty!

next up for the living room will be an arts-and-crafts style feature framing off the living room from the rest of the house.  aaron has some giant recycled timbers that will be installed with traditional timber-frame methods.  there will also be small pony walls/shelves on the bottom.  can you tell from the tape how it might look?

and just for fun, here is isla utilizing the tape situation to create a block sculpture.

preparations

a very simple seasonal table for holy week

i guess i've taken a little blogging hiatus this lenten season.  it wasn't really intentional.  things have just slowed down around here quite a bit since christmas.  we've spent lots of time inside, waiting for the rain to stop and the sun to warm things up.  we've been reading a lot, resting a lot, organizing a little, crafting a little, resting some more, and trying to ready our home and ourselves for a new baby.  that new baby's due date is tomorrow!   i wouldn't say we necessarily feel ready at this point, but i think we all feel calm.

it's hard to know quite how to prepare for easter this year.  i think whether we have a baby or not by then our festivities will be really simple.  i haven't had the energy for much crafting but i think the kids are happy enough with the small things.  i recently brought down a basket from the attic of little nests, eggs and chicks of various sorts for isla, and she's been carrying it all around the house making interesting set-ups and telling stories.  we made candles last night with a friend, including a red one for holy week and a white one we'll use for easter.  the kids are excited to color eggs and read our easter stories.

i haven't really had an intentional lenten discipline this season, but i think it's been useful just quietly preparing my heart for this new little life.  noah was born right after easter as well, and i remember it being a very powerful time to celebrate new life.  sometimes i feel anxiety about mothering three children, about having enough patience and kindness and creativity, about being able to lead them toward the good and the beautiful and the righteous.  but this is a good season to dwell in hope, and to embrace the power of the story of christ's triumph of life over death.

early spring garden: daffodils up, tulips just beginning to poke up, hellebore in the middle
and white bleeding heart in the background.

christmas crafty

i've been meaning to post about the couple new advent/christmas decorations i made this year.  i know it's a bit belated, but here are a few pictures.

i couldn't get this carol out of my head all during advent, so i was inspired to make this banner.  i enjoyed doing a little bit of embroidery again, which i hadn't done for a long time.  i used regular stamp ink on white fabric for the letters, and it worked pretty well.
 

the kids and i had a go with salt dough ornaments, which i'd been reading about all over the blogosphere.  it was fairly easy and fun for everyone.  i enjoyed the stamping on them, but maybe next year we'll try painting, sticking beads in them or something else.  it was fun to do words and names with the tiny letter stamps, but i think it looks cool with really big stamps too, which we didn't really have.

i found this awesome (to me!) nativity matryoshka fabric at joann's, and i knew it would be perfect for a tree skirt.  aren't the little people so cute??!?!  but it was definitely a bit of a challenge working in a circle, and with so much fabric.  i was so proud of myself that i figured out how to do the slit with ribbon ties... until everything was right-side-in and i realized the slit was right in the front of the tree instead of the back.  and since the people are oriented one way, it's pretty noticeable.  oh well!

lastly, here is a not-great photo of the star atop our christmas tree.  it's a star-shaped piece of foam onto which i needle-felted some blue and white wool.  very easy--and pretty!

quiet christmastide

we had such a nice calm and quiet christmastide.  aaron took off the week after christmas, and we had lots of good relaxing family time.  we were all sick off and on for most of the vacation, but in a way that was a blessing.  there was no pressure to schedule play-dates or other activities, or to accomplish much around the house.  there was lots of lying around, eating, reading, enjoying new christmas gifts, etc.  what a life!

we did enjoy a fun few days at grandma and grandpa's house, celebrating christmas with the ever-growing bandstra clan.  aaron got away for two days to do an overnight snowshoe adventure near whistler with his friend mike.  we went ice skating with the bates's on new year's eve, and we went to mount baker on new year's day to play in the snow!

now we're back to normal, which isn't really all that crazy but feels crazy in contrast to the last few weeks.  i'm trying to maintain a feeling of calm even in the midst of a schedule and responsibilities.  deep breaths.  just sitting doing nothing.  hugging the kids.  hugging my husband.  keeping the house tidy.  saying no to things that add stress.  not spending too much time on the computer.  not shopping...
any more ideas?

i guess these are all really new year's resolutions too.  if i had to sum up what i'm striving for in one word it would be calm.

and with more chaos coming soon: lord, have mercy.

merry christmas!

a quote for you tonight: 

Part of being human and being an adult means we have the ability to strive, to rise up, to not let our circumstances define us but to allow us to define our circumstances.As we come also to a close of another year, I can only leave you with this parting thought:  do not be the reaction to circumstances this coming year; be the visionary and shape your world.  What you cannot shape, call on your faith, remain strong, do the right things even when no one else is, and be someone who is proactive.  Be the goodness, and carry that Christmas mood in your heart for your children.

--From The Parenting Passageway 

simple advent

i can't believe there are only a few days left of advent.  it's such a nice quiet and calm time of year.  such a wonderful excuse to say no to things, to stay inside the cozy warm house, to drink tea and read piles and piles of books snuggled on the couch.

but with only a few days left until christmas, i suddenly feel like this advent has been so simple that we haven't done anything at all!  our seasonal table is a bit spare--partly due to mary's absence.  we can't find her at all!  the poor donkey has been journeying all alone this season.  the kids don't seem to mind, though, and noah faithfully moves the donkey forward one star every day.  he moves the previous day's star up to the wall and has had a lot of fun designing constellations.

we have really enjoyed our new advent calendar, a lovely gift from grandma.  you can see it in the above picture.  each day has a little booklet that pops out, with a tiny excerpt of a very well-written account of the nativity story.  the kids both love reading the little books (especially isla, for whom tiny-ness has great appeal).  we made our own advent candles this year from rolled beeswax, and i really enjoy them more than the church-issued set.  they smell great.

the lovely luminary in the middle of the wreath was made by isla with help from christina, inspired by an idea in this magazine.  it was very simple and easy and is so pretty lit up with a tealight!

back where i started

this is where isla spends most of her day.

i'm coming back to this blogger blog, and the plan is to stay here for the long term.  i really liked iweb, but apple is changing things and it will no longer host my lovely iweb-designed blog.  sigh.  i try not to think about all the hours i have spent fiddling with blog design on the computer.  hopefully it can count toward overall learning experience and not just mindless screen time.  right?

anyway.  i'm still trying to reconnect with this old blog and make it the way i want it.  i'm getting there.  (anyone have tips on how to make the my header fill the space?  and how to get my "pages" list to show?)  i'm also trying to slowly re-post all my iweb posts over here, so someday it will be a complete record of my blogging history over the past few years.  but i haven't finished that yet, so if you scroll down we'll skip back in time a bit.  just don't mind that.

apple is also doing away with the gallery where our pictures have been so artfully hosted.  sigh again.  so i'm trying out picasa for posting our photos.  should be fairly straightforward as well.  let me know if it doesn't work right!

thanks for following me around the web, everyone!

favorite autumn books

there are so many good books for autumn!  i’ve been remembering a bunch of our favorites from past years, and we’ve found a few new ones too.  (if you click on the pictures, you’ll go to our bookshop, where you can read more about the books.  most of these are in our library, so we haven’t had to buy them.  we just check them out over and over!)

what are your favorite autumn books?  we’d love some new recommendations!

our four-year-old boy

uncle kevin!

my brother kevin has moved to bellingham! he’s been here for a few weeks now, and already it’s hard to imagine life without him.  

he lives half a block away from us and eats dinner with us every night.  he works with aaron at seaview, he does yard work in our yard, he makes fancy pizza, he watches war movies with aaron, he is teaching me about texting and facebook, he plays with the kids, he does dishes...  what more can i say?  it’s awesome.

and now my kids say, “word.”

babies movie

watch this amazing trailer!  i am really excited to see this movie.  it is so interesting to see how different these babies’ environments are, and yet they all seem so similar.  i think that isla might do really well in namibia.  she loves getting dirty, she loves being barefoot, she loves banging rocks and she loves animals.  noah, on the other hand... not so much!

one more

i just remembered this book--another wordless children’s book, not a graphic novel, but similar idea.  it is a really beautiful story of giving and of saying goodbye.

graphic novels

i stayed up late last night reading this book.  it was a really powerful story of one family’s experience of the dust bowl.  mostly, it was about an eleven-year-old boy dealing with fear, rejection and purposelessness.  it’s a little bit scary (though i did let noah flip through it) but the resolution is really wonderful.

i love graphic novels.  particularly at this stage in my life, where i don’t get a lot of time to read and don’t have a ton of focus when i do, graphic novels are a perfect middle ground.  often they are a way to learn a lot about something, quite vividly, in a short time.  here are some of my other favorites.

aaron and i both love this one by craig thompson.  it’s sort of a coming of age story of a boy growing up in a conservative christian home.  it’s really honest and beautiful.

i also love this one by raymond briggs about his parents.  it’s a fairly straightforward story about their lives together, and how much the world changes as they age.

i suppose this is a children’s book more than a graphic novel, but it’s also a really great story of friendship.  the author also has a longer graphic novel that is about loss--very sad!  but also really lovely.

this guy has written a few graphic novels about his international travel experiences, but this is the most interesting.  i learned a lot about burma, but i also really enjoyed this guy’s daily struggles being the caretaker for his little son while his wife works for doctors without borders.

does anyone out there have recommendations of other great graphic novels?

our church

on sunday a photographer from the bellingham herald was taking pictures during the easter service at our church.  it’s neat to see the service from this perspective.  above is our dear friend bonnie, lighting the candles on the altar.

you can see more pictures here if you’re interested.

easter

today we rejoice in new life!

last night, our little godson julian was baptized. he bears the name of st. julian, patron saint of hospitality, whose name graces the community into which he was born.  even though we couldn’t be present for his baptism, we will, with god’s help, “by our prayers and witness, help this child to grow into the full stature of christ.”

also last night, our dear friends the wassells were received into the catholic church.  what another big celebration!  if we had been able to be present there, when the congregation was asked, “will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in christ?” we would have said, with gusto, “we will!” 

easter is a mystery.  how exactly we can help others grow in christ is also sometimes a mystery, and a big responsibility.  but i think i know a few small ways i can do this, and i will.  with god’s help.

why i love bellingham

bellingham is one of many, many cities applying to get google to test their ultra-high speed broadband network here.  the community is overwhelmingly in support of this effort; check out this blog to see some of the creative attempts folks have come up with in the effort to woo google.

my very favorite is the above video.  the little girl is the daughter of a local musician, and they live in our neighborhood.  it’s neat because i recognize almost all the landscapes in the video, and i actually really believe the cheesy message is true.  i love this town!

(while i’m sure having google’s super fast service would be useful to many of bellingham’s industries, my experience of this video and the whole campaign is more basic.  it’s just really cool to see everyone come together to tell the world why we all love this town!)

also, for those of you who really are interested in a little video peek into some of the places we visit regularly, check out this episode of inside bellingham to see our new and improved franklin park and our new whatcom museum!

we've moved!

check over here.

happy spring, everyone!

spring

spring fever is hitting hard around here. new computer, new blog, new garden beds, new organizational methodologies... new perspective!

i am really trying to abide by the william morris quote above. i have been ruthlessly parting with things that i find neither useful nor beautiful. i am selectively adding things that are one or the other of the above. (or both!) i feel like i’m on the way to feeling at home in our home, which has been a long time coming. and oddly, doesn’t involve normal amenities like window trim or kitchen drawers!

what i am most excited about is my lovely new craft space. after many frustrations at having to hunt around for craft supplies, set everything up, and then have no energy left to actually create anything before it was necessary to put it all away again.... we have come up with a new semi-permanent crafting corner for me (and a little bit for the kids too) in our home.

(i would complain to aaron, “but you have a whole shop in the back. i don’t have any space!” and he would reply, “you can build a shop in the front yard...” sure.)

so we came to a compromise that involved some found cabinets and doors, a new laminate countertop, some old bookshelves and lots of paint. now i just have to figure out how to organize things the best way!

(aaron teases me that he’s going to call it my mini-storage, given its current state of disarray.)

i’ll post more pictures as things get organized around here.

and good luck to you all with your spring cleaning too!

recently

it's been a while since my last post. here are some things that are happening around here:

• spring is here! forsythia and cherry trees are in full bloom. daffodils, tulips and crocuses are beginning to unfurl. the smell of compost is in the air. people are walking around in tshirts, students are playing football in the streets. i had a sunburn the other day!

• isla is no longer a baby. i just realized this. she repeats nearly everything i say. she has very strong ideas about what she does and doesn't want. she LOVES babies (real and not). she has temper tantrums. she climbs up everything. she is very particular about her clothing. she can walk for blocks and blocks. she can eat and eat and eat. she rarely drinks mama's milk. (so sad!)

• lent has arrived. we have been talking about how to use this time to learn how to love one another better. noah is going to work on not yelling at people. (he has become very bossy lately.) i am trying to work on spending more time with aaron, particularly waking up early to have coffee with him before he leaves for work. we are all thinking about sacrifice. (thanks to christina for spurring some really meaningful thought and discussion around here!)

• the seasonal table is now an official table, and has a beautifully simple lenten garden. christina also made some easter animals for us (who will appear later), and sort of tried to show me how to needle felt. i made a circle.

• aaron's been working on the doors of the shop. they're going to be cool: double-long sliders. and he just had his final inspection with the city, and passed! so it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

• noah has a new big-boy bunk bed. he is still very excited about puzzles, mazes, writing letters and drawing trucks. he can pretty much ride his big boy bike. he digs and hoes a lot in the dirt under the holly tree. he narrates the funniest stories involving trains and trucks while he's playing by himself. all his vehicles have names and personalities, and at times have been know to need snacks. he aspires to be a bandstra mover.

• christina came to visit!! it was way too brief but very good for my soul. her visit was aaron's gift to me for christmas. such a great idea! and christina was so brave to leave all five of her boys behind and venture so far from new england. it was so much fun.

• and lastly, we got a new computer! it is SO SO much faster and cooler and overall better than our nearly six-year old clunky ibook. we got it the day before christina came, so she was here to show me how to do all the secret awesome mac tricks. i feel like a whole new world has opened up to me now...

• which leads to my last point, which is that i'm in the process of making a new blog/website for our family. iweb is SO SO much easier to use than blogspot! and we can have a few pages in addition to the main page, so i'm planning to make a portfolio page for aaron too. stay tuned for the great unveiling!

happy spring to you all! (or mid-winter, if you live in a normal part of the country.)

rumble rumble (a movie)

Click to Play

overheard: a funny conversation between noah and kate. (thanks to irene for the movie!)

candlemas

today is candlemas, the last day of the season of epiphany, and the day we remember the presentation of jesus at the temple forty days after his birth. here he meets simeon, whose beautiful song we repeat in compline. simeon prophesies that jesus will be "a light to enlighten the nations," so on this night it is custom to celebrate light.

some friends came over tonight and we made simple candles together. we added bits of leftover candles to the mix of new wax, including the stubs from our advent wreath. we experimented with drops of essential oils: orange and lemon in some, and lavender in others.

God our Father,
Source of all light,
today you revealed to Simeon
Your light of revelation to the nations.
Bless + these candles and make them holy.
May we who use them to praise your glory
walk in the path of goodness
and come to the light that shines forever
Grant this through Christ our Lord.

biking boy (a movie)

Click to Play

in which noah rides a big boy bike!!! (for a very short time.)