mini Captain America

This is probably the last Halloween that I can officially choose Joshie's costume without any input from him, so I made it a good one: Captain America!

The forecast for October looked chilly this year, and the trick-or-treating night proved cool and damp, indeed. I planned his costume to be cozy, using his snow boots and warm fleece pants. I put him in a thermal shirt and cozy socks, and used his navy blue fleece zip-up hoodie to complete the cozy. He absolutely loved holding "Daddy's" hand and running up to each door with his best buddy, JoJo. He quickly learned how to say "Trick-or-treat" and "Happy Halloween" and did a great job.

I ransacked our drawers for the right t-shirt material colors to make the stripey portions and the essential Captain America shield. Luckily, one of Brad's old undershirts, one of my red tank tops, and a royal blue onesie from the too-small, too-old-to-wear pile were just the right colors to use for the project. 

I made a "pinny" of sorts out of the undershirt, first, so that I could pull it on over Joshie's coat. I then used strips of red to make the stripes, sewing right onto the pinny.

The star was made of more undershirt material, but I first attached interfacing to make it stiffer. I then sewed around the shape of the star, cut it out, and cut it in half. I attached it to either side of the zipper on the fleece hoodie, using large stitches to make it easy to remove later. The letter "A" on the hood was made using the same process.

For the shield, I used a frisbee and traced a circle onto the red tank top fabric that was about 3" larger all around. I then made a channel to thread elastic through, and set that circle aside. I added two white circles and a blue one, with a final star in the center to complete the look. I threaded the elastic through the red fabric and stretched it over the frisbee. Hooray, a shield! I added two pieces of elastic to the back of the shield so that Joshie could wear it on his arm or his back.

Here's the whole look:

The red snow plow is an essential part of getting out the door. We always bring a tractor, truck, or ball when we go out!

"app-eee ah-ween!" "tick uh teet!!" says Joshua. :)

little boy wall art

I have been meaning to do this for a very long time. Thank you to an artistic and musical acquaintance at church whose word art and writing have been so inspirational! This woman does some amazing chalkboard art, not to mention crafting some incredibly moving and transparent blog posts. Her book is going to be a must-read. My attempt at word art is far from as polished and professional as hers, but, alas, here it is.

When Joshua was born, I wanted to be sure that I chose some meaningful scriptures for him to internalize as he grew. Some that stood out were Joshua 1:9 and Hebrews 13:5-6. I have been repeating parts of the Hebrews verse to him each night as I put him down to sleep; it seems soothing to him to hear again and again that God is always with him, that we can trust Him, that we don't need to be afraid.

Ever since I knew I was pregnant with Joshua, I had been praying that my baby might be a leader, a difference-maker in this world, someone who would bring glory to God and do it with humility. The name "Joshua" is perfect for my little guy - someone that God will certainly use to lead others. And boy, is that leadership potential apparent in toddlerhood. AmIright, parents? I have a little Director on my hands who is learning and being disciplined each day to become a self-sufficient, example-setting, people-loving leader. This is a messy process, friends.

His room is loosely decorated in a nautical theme, with a pretty Monet poster, navy grommet top curtains, a vintage U. S. navy towel in light blue and white, a blue and silver banner that I made, and some Nautica kids bedding - all with white walls and a wood floor - so that I can change his room theme easily, later.  This word art completes the theme, I think, adding just the right amount of red. Someday soon, I hope to make him an oversized letter "J" pillow to toss on his soon-to-be-a-toddler-bed.

Without further ado:

Valentine's Day - just a peek!

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! I hope yours was full of beautiful blessings and reminders of how much you are loved.

heart shaped pizza - yes!

I made a couple of things for my dear husband to celebrate our love:

Ten romantic date night coupons – I cut 3”x3” squares of paperboard (thinner than cardboard, heavier than cardstock or cereal boxes) and covered them on both sides with one of four kinds of scrapbook paper. There had to be music notes, of course, since we’re both musicians. I then cut hearts out of a sheet of handmade art paper given to me by a friend, and glued those onto five of the squares. In my scrapbooking and card-making stash, I have quite a few scrap papers, and the copper metallic paper was just begging to be added in the form of hearts.

I added handwritten verses from Song of Songs to finish off the romantic front of the cards.

Something else was needed, though, so I got out my kraft paper and made envelopes for them, numbering them 1-10 with stickers.

 

Inspiration struck again, and I penned lines from our first dance song onto the front of the envelopes.

 

Finally, I tied them all up with ribbon.

 

He was thrilled, by the way!

Our weekend was filled with togetherness…

 

…snuggling…

 

…more snuggling…

 

…and pizza, of course!

Add caption

creativity and sunshine

I'm absolutely loving this sunny fall weather! Blue skies, perfectly colorful leaves, and the warmth - but with that crisp, autumn scent. Bliss.

I had some fun today packaging up a gift for my husband's cousin, who will have a baby girl in December. I made some cute pink booties for her, and bought a 1963 vintage copy of a Little Golden Book to use for the "card." But the book should have a bookmark, so I made one. Then I got a little more inspired, and wrote a poem about learning to read. And then it had to be on a scrapbook page... you know how this goes!

First, the booties. Pink acrylic yarn, Mary Jane strap, pink flower button. Cute!
And the book, with the bookmark:
Inspiration - there must be a poem! Enter the scrapbook page, ready for a photo of the new baby princess when she arrives.
Here's the text of the poem that I wrote on her scrapbook page:
---
As you learn and grow and play
finding wonder in each day,
may letters and words unlock for you
stories, dreams and questions new,
leading you at last to find
that you're a treasure in God's mind.

In the Bible, words for you,
words of love, strong and true:
Jesus died to make you free;
lives again, your Friend to be.

--- Linnea L. Burr, 2011

first graduate final exam week

Lots of contradictions in that title, eh?

This is the end of my first semester as a graduate student, and I finished my last exam. Whew! It has been a whirlwind - 3 papers, 3 presentations, 2 juries to accompany, 0 juries for me to sing(!), and 1 exam. I have actually had time to clean my house and make cookies. Crazy. I have also had friends over three times this week!

In the middle of all of this, I have been struggling with depression. It's a side effect of the medicine I'm taking, and it's exacerbated near the end of the regimen. I've felt intensely lonely, cried over stupid things, and done ridiculous things to keep myself busy (read: shoveling my whole driveway, thus giving me a large blister on my hand).

It's also the time where I become intensely maternal - even though I know that a baby right now would be a bad idea. It's difficult for me to see friends having their first and even second child right now. There have been two births in the past week! My best friend's daughter is almost 6 months old...it's hard for me to stay motivated to finish school, when I know that my heart longs to be a mommy so much more than to be just a music teacher.

But I will finish. I will earn this degree, because this is likely my only opportunity to study, at least, for a very long time. And it's a great privilege, I do have some talent, and I'm learning a lot of things that would have been difficult to learn on my own time. It has been an adjustment, but I'm doing alright.

And in better news, I just found out that I made an A and an A- on my last two papers of the semester! The first of those two papers was a rather practical assignment, which required me to design a choral conducting recital program, research it in depth, gathering a long list of sources, and then to present my findings in a paper. I decided to focus on settings of the Latin Mass, and especially on the Agnus Dei movement. I chose masses of composers from the 16th-20th centuries, including Lassus, Hassler, Charpentier, Mozart, and Stravinsky. The Stravinsky setting is quite unique - it calls for a double wind quintet for the accompaniment, and the entire Mass takes only 17 minutes to perform.

The second paper was a research project on BWV 147 "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben", a sacred cantata by J. S. Bach. I had chosen this piece for a few reasons, but primarily because I could use my research in a couple of my other classes and thereby save myself some time. I ended up loving the piece, but getting very tired of research! It's definitely not my cup of tea to pull a stack of books off the shelf and to dig through them for the words of other people. Once the paper writing actually began, things came together rather quickly. I enjoy writing - it's the research I don't care for!

Both of these papers were for my Research and Bibliography class, a course that's required of all entering graduate students. I'm pretty sure this is a similar case at most graduate schools. It was a grueling class, though I'm thankful for the information I now have at my fingertips. I was truly expecting to only get a B or a B- on my research, so these grades were a welcome surprise!

I had planned to have tea today with one of my good friends at school after I finished my exam today. Sadly, I realized that I had overbooked myself, and that if I went to tea, I would miss out on precious hours with my husband before he left town for the afternoon to visit my brother. I was disappointed to cancel with my friend, but glad to be able to snuggle with my hubby in daylight hours! This lovely friend also mentioned that she has a gift for me - what a nice surprise! This did leave me in a conundrum, though - I had to find a gift to give her! Why didn't I think of this before? Am I such a bad friend?

So I knit a snug mug sleeve! It's made of sport-weight acrylic yarn and a wooden button.

The idea of making a button tab was a new development for me. I've made these before, but I had always just squeezed the button in the middle and let the fabric squish under the handle. I think this is a better solution, but it still needs a bit of work. Maybe a loop instead?

Other lovely projects this week included putting some snowy glitter on pinecones and making glittery star ornaments for part of my mom's Christmas gift. (shhh!)


These ornaments are awaiting gold thread to hang them from...hoping to get to a craft store this weekend!

I also had time to make Ginger Cookies - this recipe came from my great grandmother, Isabel's mother...my Great Great Grandmother. My family is Swedish, and these are a traditional favorite for us. My dad requests these every year, and my father-in-law has begun to request them as well! It's a very stiff dough, made with molasses and ginger and other delicious spices. First, you roll the dough into little balls and coat them with sugar. (Favorite part!)



The cookies are baked for about 18 minutes, and the come out with perfectly cracked tops and crusted with sugar:



I multi-tasked big time last night to keep myself busy. I made oven-barbecued chicken, corn muffins, and these cookies all at the same time. Here's a picture of the corn muffins (with raisins! delicious).



And this busy little bee also studied for an exam. I'm pretty sure I did well! The transcript will tell...


Just 9 days until Christmas! Hooray!

today, I made...

...an apron! Out of vintage bedsheets, new grommets, and cute blue grosgrain ribbon. I used another apron that I have as a pattern and sewed it all together on my Grandfather's old Singer sewing machine. I think I'll add pockets...what do you think?