Gingras Family Update Spring 2011

David and I used to write quarterly newsletters and mail them out. It was quite costly in time and money and with our family growing, we haven't done one in quite some time. Since I know some of our friends are keeping touch through this little blog-o-mine, I thought that it might be time for a proper family update. So, without further ado:

Our little man has been such a great addition to our family. He is adored by each member of our little family. During one of my maternity ultrasounds we discovered that Malachi's right kidney was enlarged and thus began a bunch of tests and doctors appointments. In his first 5 months since he was born, Malachi has had an ultrasound, a VCUG test and a MAG3 scan. All these tests and a urologist to tell us that Malachi's kidney is still functioning, but has a slow drain time. The time it takes his kidney to drain is in okay parameters and so there is no talk of surgery at this time. He will be sent for another ultrasound in August and possibly another MAG3 scan in eight months, but the urologist is happy for now. Malachi isn't in any pain and for that we are very grateful.

I could fill this little blog with Malachi's accolades and accomplishments, but it would be through a mother's eye and therefore a little biased. He is a typical newborn baby boy and a delight! His smiles are ready to light up the room and bring me out of my tired grumpies in a wink. He adores his big sister and she, in turn, adores him. I cannot imagine our little family without my little man.

Our creative gem. Abby continues to delight us and challenge us. Abby loves her little brother almost to the point of injury and he is one of her favourite playmates. Abigail recently moved from her playpen into a tent (we wanted to train her to sleep in another form of portable bed so she would sleep at friend's houses) and even more recently into her 'big girl' bed - a great toddler bed! Abigail has a great imagination and even better, a great faith in God. Malachi was having a fussy cranky day and at one point Abby came over, put her little hand on his head, closed her eyes, bowed her head and prayed 

"Dear Lord. Help, Jesus. Malachi crying. Amen." 

Abigail has such a tender and compassionate heart and notices if someone is sad and tries to help.

Abigail's, two year old, hormones have brought challenges as she attempts to communicate with us. One minute she is happy and playful and the next angry or frustrated to the point of screaming. With God's guidance we are trying to train her how to control her temper, but we don't always handle it very well. I am so grateful that Abigail is almost as quick to change back to her happy, playful self once her 'issue' is resolved. The funny thing is that often, we're not sure how it was resolved.

Abigail loves to go 'out'. Her favourite outing is to the park and would quite happily spend every day, all day there. She also, almost daily, asks to go to church. Once, when I took her to the mall, she cried when we got there because she thought we were going to church. 

There are many cute stories I could tell you, but I'll leave you with her latest insistence, that we call her by both of her special nicknames when we kiss her goodnight. If we forget, she'll remind us by saying "goodnight, Pookie" or "goodnight, Dolly". Melt my heart!

The man I respect and admire so much, has been so challenged in his walk of faith this year that I've seen his faith rise above his experiences. He has led our family with such strength and endurance and I am so proud of him. This past year has been full of challenges for us as David's department in Best Buy was laid off last May. David, who is incredibly gifted and extremely hire-able, hasn't found a replacement position since then. We've joined the school of hard knocks, as we learn how to fully trust Jehovah Jirah (the Lord, Provider). We have good days and we have hard days, but it's been an extremely valuable year for us as we've seen time and again, how faithful God has been. This past April, we started to journal how God has been providing for us and we're constantly amazed at His generosity. David has been faced with the challenge of being "wired up" to work and provide for his family and yet blocked at every turn. He has been faithful to follow what the Lord's been directing him to do, even in the face of criticism. I am so proud of him. 

David has been invaluable to me at home during this past year. Last summer in the crazy heat and emotional swings of pregnancy, he took such great care of me and Abigail. Since Malachi's birth, David has faithfully woken up with Abigail in the mornings so that I can sneak in a little bit of extra sleep after the long nights with Malachi. David has taken it upon himself to prepare our meals for us (a chore, I don't enjoy at all) and he is gracious to drive me and the children wherever we need to go, including our weekly mom's group. I will really miss having him home, when he is blessed with employment.

Did you enjoy David's blog about our Winnipeg adventure? Well, he is full of great ideas and we get to join him as he finds new places to explore. We'll be sharing more reviews from our home city.

David brought my mud mask along on our weekend getaway. We "invited" Malachi to join in on the fun. I love that David thought of this, what fun memories!

I've had my own faith walk and growth this year that has been a challenge. I am learning more and more each day about my role as a wife and a mother. I've been learning to lay down my desires and selfishness to serve my family better. I don't always get this right and find myself frustrated when I can't get to what I want to and get it done. I am trying to take a breath and remember that it's my privilege to serve my family and I am so blessed to be at home with them.

Many people have asked me when/if I will be selling my sewn goods. This has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and aside from a few small commissions here and there, I feel that this little dream of mine will wait until my children are school aged and not so dependent on me. I don't ever want to feel the pull to choose between paying attention to my family and filling orders. Perhaps when the children are in school, I will take the time and effort to give it a go. In the meantime, I'm always flattered when approached to take on a custom job and if you're willing to be patient for the finished product, I'll probably be able to accommodate.

Inspiration

I often hear myself tell people that I "saw it on a blog that I read". You have no idea how inspiring it is to follow other people's blogs. There are soooo many great ideas that my bookmarks are constantly full of tutorials, ideas or just plain pretty things. I thought I'd share some inspiration with you today. Mostly because I don't have the physical energy to do anything creative right now, so I'll show you someone else's creativity.

(source - what inspired me to try my hand at my own)

• Design Mom, has great posts that she titles "A Few Things". These posts are links to some great things she's found throughout the week.
• It's no secret how much I love red doors!
• Browsing here has almost become an obsession with me... we're definately making one for our children for Christmas this year!
• One of MANY children's sewing projects that I've been itching to do and have actually even started (stay tuned for the finished product).
• I did make some of these and haven't taken the time to take pictures to show you yet. I used them at my birthday party and still use one for jewelry.
• I might have to get over my fear of sewing clothing to make one of these in black jersey. Check out how many ways you can wear one!
• I'm pretty sure that I'll make one of these for Malachi's first birthday party - one decoration with a huge effect.
• I don't even like cake, but am itching to make one of these!
• Drooling over these amazing custom bunks. Makes me want to have a bunch of children to justify have one or two rooms setup like this.
• Why doesn't my small space ever look this cute and functional?
• Would love to go on a getaway with my David and stay here - so cool!

Hope you enjoyed dreaming with me. *sigh*

DIY Draft Stopper

Because I don't have much else to show you right now (I will take pictures of my failed/semi-failed clothes attempts and show you, hopefully soon-ish), I thought I'd show you my draft stopper. David's been asking me to make one of these for some time. It was so quick, I'm not sure why it took me so long to get to it, but it's finally done. Now, we need to have something at the door crack all the time. If it's not to keep out the bad burnt food smells or cigarette smoke from other people's apartments, then it's to keep our "bought" air (air conditioned air) inside our apartment and not cooling the entire hallway outside our door. We were using our kitchen mat, bunched up at the door crack, but this was a pain for a few reasons.

1. I have a kitchen mat to be used in the kitchen not jammed under my door.
2. When we left our apartment, we had no way of jamming it back under the door and so our "bought" air would escape.
3. Every time we needed to open the door (think: check the mail, do laundry, take out the garbage etc), we'd have to move the silly mat. This was especially a pain if you had your hands full. The matt stuck to the carpet just enough to make it too difficult to just kick out of the way.

All of this was in consideration when "designing" a draft stopper. I use 'design' lightly, as I'm fully aware that there's not much design to it. In any case. This is what I came up with.

I surged a tube of semi-slippery fabric. The idea being that it could glide along the top of the carpet without too much trouble.

(you can see how much of a crack there is between the floor and the door)

I sewed three ribbon tabs spread across the length of the tube then pulled them under the door and stapled them in place.

(my, what an ugly door!)

This keeps the draft stopper attached to the door. It just hangs around and does it's job whenever the door is closed.

So far, so good. I never have to touch it, it functions well and hey, it's one more project out of my brain and off my sewing desk. Onward!

In Progress

Hello Everyone!
I know that's it's been awhile since my last update. I have quite a few projects that are incomplete and I don't usually like sharing until it's all done and pretty (assuming it turns out pretty). I've spent some of my sewing time on projects that haven't worked out. I haven't decided whether or not I will show you those projects. Let's just say that purses and accessories are much easier to me than clothes.

As for projects in progress, I am re-working my sewing corner... again. Originally the plan was to curtain off this section since it's in my dining area, but the more I add to it and the more I use it, the more I am loving this space and don't want to hide what is such a part of me. My husband is so amazing about this, too. He's encouraging me to show this part of me, mess and all. I haven't fully decided on the curtain or not, but here's some in progress pictures.

First, here's a Mother's Day gift that had to go into my sewing corner. I stumbled across Kelly Rae Roberts's artwork at our local Carlton Cards and immediately was drawn to it. I often stop in the store just to look at the four foot section of her products on display. I love the colors, the mixed media, the quaint sayings (one reminds me to wear more skirts - I like it!) and the general "feel" of it all. I had such a hard time choosing, but I chose this one because the color mix kept drawing me.

Kelly Rae just launched her new online store, but doesn't ship internationally. Pout. Pout. I am hoping that Carlton Cards will carry more of her products over time.

Next show 'n' tell item: my new cabinet. I received this lovely piece for FREE! It needed shelves, but the cabinet itself was FREE! This was such a great find and it's working out great so far. Again, the initial plan was to hang a curtain on the front (and I still might), but the color stacks are making me quite happy right now.

Bins, bins and more bins. I was looking for fabric drawers for the cubbies, but haven't found a really great deal as of yet. Well, after my birthday spa party, I had all these basins stacked in storage and with a little trim (thanks to my David for cutting the lip of seven bins!) they work great.

I have labels ready and waiting to be attached. I am thinking clear packing tape, which I don't have right now.

And finally, here's a sneak peak at my progress on my picnic blanket. I am loving how this is turning out and would love to have an entire day to sew and sew and sew. In the meantime, it's coming along and may not be finished as soon as I like, but will be worth the wait!

I Lied in Pre-Marital Counseling!

One of the first things I 'warned' David about myself in pre-marital counseling was that I was not domestic. I truly believed that I was telling him the truth and that I was doing him a favour by warning him so far in advance. A keep-your-expectations-low kind of warning. Well, guess what... I am domestic! This was such a huge revelation to me. I'll tell you how I found this out and why I've changed my story.

My dear friend, Jenni, bought me a GREAT book for my birthday. The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket is a delightful book that I was sad to finish reading.

As I was reading this book, I felt like someone finally understood what I hadn't been able to put into words about how I feel about the domestic arts. I didn't even know that that's what they were called. Here, let Jane explain it to you:

There is a world of difference between domesticity and domestication. this book is about domesticity and the pleasures and joys of the gentle domestic arts of knitting, crochet, baking stitching, quilting, gardening and homemaking. It is emphatically not about the repetitive, endless rounds of cleaning, washing, ironing, shopping and house maintenance that come with domestication. Domesticity rises above the bossiness of cleaning products and media exhortations to keep our houses pristine and hygienic, and focuses instead on creativity within the domestic space.

Domesticity gives us the opportunity to express ourselves, and the gentle arts are the most satisfying and achievable means of doing so.

(practicing the domestic art of crochet)

Jane also shares that it took her years to discover that she was "thoroughly domestic, and only grudgingly domesticated". I found her insights liberating and exciting. I suddenly felt the freedom to quit apologizing for not putting top priority on housework and admit that I find other things more satisfying and important. Yes, housework, to some degree, must be done. No, I don't obsess over unswept floors, dusty furniture and fingerprinted windows and mirrors. These endless, repetitive tasks take so much valuable time away from living. I am blessed to have a husband who encourages my creativity and gives me the freedom to explore homemaking outside of the society measurements. If I spend an afternoon sewing instead of cleaning, David lovingly compliments my accomplishments and overlooks what didn't get done. How blessed am I?!?!

I don't think we ever put it into a philosophy or anything, but Jane Brocket explains how I feel about it:

Domesticity is not synonymous with housework. In fact, I think there is too much media bossiness about cleanliness and tidiness these days, and nowhere near enough celebration of the joys of homemaking.

... I would argue that many of us are far happier in a more fluid state of domesticity with a certain degree of mess and disorder, and a more realistic and welcoming environment that reflects the busyness and creativity of its occupants. We may aspire to magazine-perfect interior, but, deep down, we know that the price to be paid in mental anguish and impossible effort, not to mention the deterioration of relations within the household, is far too high.

(Thanks, Patty~Jean! I love working with this yarn!)

There is so much I could share from her book, but I could get charged with breech of copyright, so I'll just suggest that you read it yourself. The local library is a great place to check it out if you're not ready to commit. I must warn you, you might want to buy several copies of this book by the time you're done. Just ask my friend, Jenni. Thanks for knowing me so well that you knew I would love this book!

 You can also get a regular dose of domesticity on Jane's blog, Yarnstorm.

The Beginning Two

One of my birthday presents, from my David, was the first two rings in my stacking family ring set. I have been so excited about these rings ever since I first saw them at Olive Bungalow. I wanted a family ring that I could have now, but isn't limited to the size of family that we currently have. If we have more children, I don't want to have to replace my whole ring. These custom stacking rings are the perfect solution!

The first two rings represent myself (the one with the birthstone) and Jesus (He is the vine). I will be adding another single gemstone ring to represent David and finally a double gemstone ring to represent Abigail and Malachi. That's four rings for now. They're nice and compact, so I'm not concerned about adding additional ones later.

 The packaging was so cute that I had to share that, too!

Michele has been quite busy with orders, but my rings were finished and shipped quite quickly. I won't say much for the US Postal Service, but they're finally here and I love them!

We Have A WINNER!

Thank you for all the lovely comments and birthday wishes. I am pleased to announce the winner of my giveaway. Our random number generator result:

Congratulations, Jenny! I'll bring you your prize this week. By the way, I did keep a journal for myself and I love to share, so I hope you enjoy it!