T's Garden

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Sunbreak

Flowering Quince

This has been a rainy Saturday. It rained all morning and half of the afternoon, long enough to cancel baseball practices and keep us inside. Which was a blessing, really. No pesky secondary commitments to tempt us away from General Conference. But we were a bit jealous of the blue sky over Salt Lake City.

And then the sun came out. I went outside to bask in its warmth, to admire the blossoms as they shook off the raindrops. I watched puffy white clouds hurrying along in the wake of their gray counterparts. It was glorious.

The world can be a gray place, with difficulties and bad news raining down around us. But, just as the sun is always on the other side of the clouds, divine truth and love are always ready to shine down upon us. We just have to break through the gloom and look up. Going to church is a great opportunity to look up, Conference doubly so. And why wait? Personal prayer and scripture study can brighten any day. Let's open our windows to the light of Christ!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Little Writer

D2's kindergarten teacher has been providing the class with writing prompts, and D2 is rising to the occasion. Earlier, she challenged him to fill every line on the paper, so he'd put one word of his brief sentence on each line. Now he is waxing more eloquent.

In this one, a girl wants a sandwich, but has no bread. The class discussed her options before writing. Most of the children would go to the store; a few would decide to eat something else. Here is D2's solution:

"She could make home made bread in the breadmaker and waited for the bread to get ready."

Well, that's what we would do, if we planned ahead. It's a long wait, but worthwhile.

As telling as that composition was, I think this one is even more telling. D2 brought home a library book called Marley Goes to School, by John Grogan, in which a loyal dog gets through many obstacles (literally) to follow his little girl to class. One scene stayed on D2's mind, and some time later, I found this:

"So Marley dug up Daddy's daffodils and Mommy's violets" (sticking to the story, so far)

"and Baby Louie's mandrakes.

Baby Louie said, 'Mom, give me my milk plug.'"

(the mandrakes say "skreem")

What does that reveal about our family culture? "Milk plug" is the name Rollo invented for a pacifier when D2 was a baby. Seems rather obvious, once you think about it. And what would be more comforting for a budding herbologist?

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Once, there was a snowman

It was small, small, small to begin with.

And it melted without benefit of direct sunlight.

But after waiting patiently through a snowless winter,

D2 finally made a snowman.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sweets for the Sweet

We've been making . . .

Dragons for the Draconian

(and Rollo's friends)

Trains for the Well-Trained

(and D2's friends)

Characters for some real Characters

(like Scoot's friends)

and Sweetie Pies for my Sweetie Pies.

What fits you? Take your pick,

and have a happy Valentine's Day!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Winter Wonderland

Winter finally came to Western Washington. Real winter, with snow and power outages and school cancellations. This week of winter didn't faze us, though. We were busy . . .

enjoying a bit of summer at Walt Disney World. The natives might have thought it was January, but it felt like summer to us.

We rode carpets and monorails,

boats and space ships.

We explored jungles, tree houses, forts . . .

and a haunted house. Well, some of us did.

D2 went to sleep instead.

D2 dug DinoLand on the only rainy afternoon of the week.

We met a Blue Man,

an Army Man,

Miss Piggy,

and a troll.

Rollo took D2 on a speeder ride.

The way the Caterpillar drove, Scoot could barely hang on.

We hung out with Dandelionslayer's parents,

his brother, and his sister's family.

It was a magical,

technological,

beautiful week.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Crafty Christmas

I always enjoy creating gifts for loved ones, and this Christmas I was not alone. Dandelionslayer was reminiscing about a soap-carving project of his childhood, and suddenly all the boys wanted to try it. Here are the results: a bear, a whale, an ornament, a tree, and a Viking longboat, ready to be sent to unsuspecting cousins. I scooped up the shavings to sculpt some snowmen for the grandparents. It was fun!

I wanted to add some cute washcloths to go with the carvings, but I couldn't find anything suitable at a Popular Retailer. So I bought some plain ones and added cute initials myself.

These pajamas have a similar story. I wanted to make the Caterpillar some pajamas that were cute, but not cutesy. He likes owls, which are popular now. But I could not find any owl-print flannel in manly colors. So I used red, and made my own owl to add. Which suits our ~~little~~ night owl just fine.

I crocheted these hats using the Charleston Cloche pattern. I'm sorry you can't see the texture. It was a bit tricky at first, but fun once I'd figured it out.

My inspiration for these silhouette ornaments came from this tutorial, though I went about things a little differently. I entrusted the silhouette drawing to a professional, Kaya, who did a wonderful job. Don't they look just like the boys?

With such lovely silhouette files at my disposal, I had to create something else. I used them to design matching sweatshirts for the boys. When Dandelionslayer brought the older three to the hospital to meet D2 for the first time, he helped them compose a welcoming song. The end of that particular tear-jerker was "Four wonder-brothers we shall be." They may call themselves, or each other, different names, but I still think they're a wonder. The shirts are, mostly, too large, so they may never wear them together again, but this band of brothers will stick together. What a great gift they are!