A Piece of the Peace

Contention levels have been on the rise recently.  Maybe it's being cooped up in close quarters for the winter or maybe it is just our humanness.  In most cases it is the boys vs. the girls (even mommy and daddy having at it at times), sometimes it is as innocent as an inconsolable baby at dinner-making-time that robs us of our peace,  or something as silly as one person merely looking at another that sparks rage.

Just like a "good mom" I intervene.  But honestly, I often get drawn in with my own emotions and in those cases the the tension only escalates.  

Yelling at child to say they're sorry or to be nice to another sibling is kind of like forcing a child to smile, sure they can physically move their muscles but there is no smile when there is no emotion behind it.  Just like William in our Christmas card photo below - after 20 some tries he just did not have it in him, he was done with the photo shoot and you can see it clearly on his face.  Just so, there is no real resolution between two parties unless heart is involved.  For that reason I decided sometimes it was better to back off a little and then realized it was better for a child not to say "I'm sorry" unless they really felt it.  And in the end when they finally felt it, sometimes taking hours to surface, I discovered the feelings to be tearfully sincere (even in older boys).

Backing off and observing (even just observing myself) is powerful.  It is the catalyst to change because then we can recognize what it is we need to change.  In our case at this time we recognized the need for greater unity, for working as a whole.  That just as there is not one person at fault for all the contention, there is not one person capable of holding all the peace.  We each are a piece of the peace.  

We assembled our picture puzzle, read some scriptures on peace and discussed how it related to similar themes and interests in their lives.  

Often as we thumb through world news the children throw out their "why"s relating to the confusion of war and hostility.  On this family home evening I threw the "why"'s back at them....."why do we have to be at war amongst ourselves"? and then asked  "how can we ever expect or hope for world peace unless we can first find in our home"?   

We also gave examples from the football field and explained how teams are designed to work together.  One powerful comparison for the boys was: "criticizing your sister's singing is just like knocking down your own teammate just yards from a touchdown".  That was an "ah-ha" moment.  We huddled together as a team and ended up in a giant group hug (except for George who took that as an unsupervised opportunity to quickly crawl away and make a noisy mess).

Is our family now perfect?  No way! just tonight there was an episode of someone throwing a few cantaloupe rinds across the kitchen.  But we are taking this "season" of discomfort and contention as an opportunity for growth and learning.  

So I have since found it within myself to respond as peacefully as I can to quarrelling.  Instead of frantically yelling out "stop fighting" or  "why isn't anyone listening to me"! I can calmly say "be a peace maker", or "please be a piece of the peace".  When I feel my blood start to boil just whispering "peace" to myself has been effective.

We saw success on Sunday.  We got home from church late in the afternoon during a time when Henry is usually napping.  He fell asleep on the short ride home and was so mad to be woken up and unbuckled by not his mother but his brother.  He kicked and screamed all over the front hall with his down puffy coat still buttoned.  He was so mad at me for not getting him out myself that I was unable to console him.  Paul joked out, "quick we need some peace"!  Peter's fast little legs came trotting to the rescue with a sippy cup of milk and a funny little Thomas the Tank Engine tune to his lips, Henry was soon contented and Peter was praised as a peace maker.  

I may not be able to change the world but I can certainly change my heart, and any heart at peace is an important piece to the peace.  That is the lesson I wish to instill and practice in our home.  It is my hope not just to be a patriot of peace myself but raise a houseful of them along side me - for now, that is my contribution to world peace.     

Stenciled Mug

We had a mug exchange party with our local homeschool group last weekend so I took that as a chance to do a craft.  After a few failed attempts I came up with a stenciled mug.

The mug is from a whole crate of commercial grade mugs (among other things) that Paul picked up at the U of M disposition center in December, there really is more to that story so hopefully I'll get to blogging it.  

The idea to embellish the mug came from Design Mom awhile back.  Using a similar technique William successfully drew a picture of walking the dog on a mug for Poppy (Paul's dad) for Christmas, it turned out great but unfortunately I was too busy to photograph it.  Now a month later the original  black porcelain pen we used gave me too much trouble.  I frustrated myself through two attempts at a simple line drawing (even just a simple heart filled in) but the pen did not co-operate and it was too streaky.   So back I went to Micheals and bought a small jar of porcelain paint instead.  Luckily the paint is easy to wash off and will not be permanent until it dries 24 hours and then baked.

I stopped at the PTO thrift store just before and found a book on silhouettes so I thought to incorporate the two ideas.  I could tell you the process but perhaps the photo below is enough of an explanation.

I am pleased with the end result as is the recipient, just hope the paint sticks with the test of time.  And I would be happy to write out written instructions to anyone interested .

How to Celebrate 7

Here is the now 7 year old Peter!

When celebrating 7 it is fun to wear a felt crown, this one was made quickly the night before.  It is also a good idea to open presents in the morning because 7 year old boys get anxious.

Any cake will do, this one (Peter's choosing) is actually made out of soaked steel cut oats, raisins and a little bit of cinnamon and maple syrup, it is really tasty topped with whip cream.  Be sure to cover younger children's mouths when blowing out candles, this photo was take II so Peter could get at it himself.

Little girls love parties, making their own party hats (out of poster board, tissue paper, modge podge, netting and pipe cleaners) is a good way to keep them busy and involved.

Don't forget a free birthday meal at Northside Grill, it was just Mommy and Peter this time, he brought along his new set of blank Russian nesting dolls so he could plan how to paint them.  There are 6 of them and it didn't take long for Peter to decide they will be painted as football players, in order of his favorite teams largest to smallest, Michigan, Alabama, Boise State, Nebraska, USC, Utah.

No need to go to the toy store for birthdays, ebay and thrift stores have really cool stuff for 7 year olds.  Does anyone know what this is?

This is what Poppy played before the age of video games, this is what the boys (including Paul) played all day.

Other favorite gifts included:  an old pinewood derby car, wooden archery set, old US map puzzle, modeling clay, and a watch.  Here is the clay in action, he sculpted his Opa below.

Here is the US puzzle map in action, I thought it would be good geography practice but really the kids just argued about regional college football conferences as they assembled it.

You may break down and stop by a toy store if the 7 year old boy questions why he didn't get anything "new" like Legos or Playmobil.  Because it is hard to not to give into to such requests after sharing lunch with a 7 year old wearing a felt crown and holding a set of Russian nesting dolls (after all his lunch was free and the other gifts, most thrifted, didn't add up to much).  

And because it is fun to share birthdays with the cousins, invite them to a night at Pinball Pete's.  405 tickets!  That's enough for a 7 year old to come home with a set of handcuffs!  What a day to remember.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Peter!  How blessed we are to share not just a day but many fun (and funny) filled moments with you in our life.

New Year, New Jammies part IV

Finally got to the last set of jammies for George.

His is a two piece set with footed pull on pants.  Again the fabric is from the Fabric Fairy and pattern from a Japanese pattern book.  I used the same pattern as I did here, just a size larger.  What I love about this pattern is it accommodating for a big puffy cloth diaper but what I didn't like was the exposed feet, so I worked with the pattern and added some footies.  It still needs some working though because the footies are kind of baggy for his long thin feet.

Poor lighting and a wiggly baby make for fuzzy photos, but you get the idea.

And here's the picture I would have taken Christmas eve had I got them done then, but taking a bedtime picture many sleeps from next Christmas is not as fun.

And happy in the morning in his new jammies (who would have guessed he was up 3x last night!) 

New Year, New Jammies part III

And now for the older boys, I'm pleased they are still requesting and wearing my handmade jammies.

Not much more to add from the last post because I used the same pattern and fabric sources, the Fabric Fairy and an old stash bin.  Marie' asked about my pattern frustration so I'll go ahead and clarify here.

The pattern was too long in the crotch length but too short in the legs.  Also the sleeve length and hem were too long but all of those were easy fixes.  'i just wouldn't have known to fix them unless I tried them on them first.  One thing I usually do when making something for my children (instead of measuring them in their sleep - because that is when I sew) is grab a piece of clothing that I know fits them well and adjust accordingly.

Here is a picture of the jammies in motion:

And a take down.  Sure hope these jammies stand the test of time (and someone gets to vacuuming that dog hair under the couch).

New Year, New Jammies part II

Next up - boy jammies. Here are Henry and Peter's:

Again these great knits were purchased from the Fabric Fairy well before Christmas.  As part of my New Year's resolutions I also dug deep into my fabric stash and added old stuff where I could.

It was fun to match the fabrics to the personalities.  Peter got the Kung-Fu monkeys and since I only had a yard on hand I cut the little figures out and sewed them to the top to make it a set.  

The top is an army green cotton fleece accented with red cotton fleece, at the neckline and also elbow patches (just for fun, and sometimes he actually does wear holes in his elbows).

Because I was working on all the jammies at once, I didn't worry about matching thread on the hemlines and ended up liking the white contrast from the coverpro.

Henry got the lobster print.  He's a funny guy and it was a chance for him to diversify his interests from Thomas and trains.  He kept saying .... "Mommy, I like lobster just like Opa".

The pattern for these are from the Japanese children's lockstitch book.  I don't love the fit of them so I ordered Kwik Sew 3234 for the future.

As for the boys' preferred wind down activity - unlike the girls' fairy flying practice, it is always football, wrestling and Kung-fu.

I can certainly sew but I'm not that good at getting my kids to bed.

New Year, New Jammies part I

These nightgowns were suppose to be for Christmas but I didn't get to them until last week, since they are knit they were a lot quicker to sew up than last year's.

The cute mushroom print is from the Fabric Fairy but there was no pattern used.  Instead a basic T-shirt was traced as the base for the neckline and sleeves then I added gathers. 

Just recently Maryanna declared her independence in not matching her sister.  Matchy-match is cute for little girls but that is not why I do it, it is just a lot easier to make two of the same thing.  I had to get creative in convincing Maryanna that these nightgowns were indeed different.

Clara's has a high yoke, more gathers, pink bow and hemmed at the knee.

Maryanna's has just a few gathers at the neckline that extend down to where it is secured at a high waist with a small rectangular piece of knit.  There is a yellow bow, no gathers in the back and longer in length (it was hard to get them to stand still for the details).

But I'm happy to report that they love these nightgowns and it took no bribing to get them to wear them.  In fact, neither of them wanted to let them go to the laundry pile last week.

The new jammies were so much fun that is was hard to go to sleep.

This is what bedtime looked like:

Just glad there are no rips in the new nightgowns.....yet.