Happy Thanksgiving!

WIP Wednesday

After boasting last week about how much I've been able to accomplish on my stars, I have not been able to get much done lately. Things just keep coming up which derail my best efforts. Oh, well. I'm still on track to get this project done by Christmas which is what really counts, isn't it? I do need to get it done early enough to crochet Sarah Beth some socks as a gift, too.

To see more works in progress, or to add your own, head over to the Place of H.

Thanksgiving Plans

What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year? When my mother and I talked at the beginning of the month, we decided that we would have Thanksgiving at my house instead of hers. You see, when we celebrate at her house, she does too much and runs around like crazy taking care of everything. At my house, she can relax. Of course, it puts a lot of work on me, but that's okay. It's just family, right?

Well, I heard wrong. When we talked again last week, we decided that we need to have Thanksgiving at her house. That decision lifted a load off my back, and I just hope my mom doesn't try to do too much.

While I thought we were hosting Thanksgiving dinner, John offered to fry the turkey. He has wanted to fry a turkey for a few years now and just hasn't had the chance. He was also being very sweet and considerate since frying the turkey frees up the oven for all of the other cooking. Since he had already bought the stuff to fry the turkey, that part of the plan won't change. What I'm preparing doesn't change, either. In case you're interested, I plan to prepare a sweet potato casserole, a cornbread pudding, a key lime pie, and a chocolate pecan pie. I made a couple of those recipes last year, but the other two are new, so we will see how they turn out.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving dinner? Are you hosting, or are you visiting? If you are hosting, are you only having family over, or have you invited friends, too?

What a fun time of year this is!

Is Your Husband Happy with his Wife?

Yesterday morning, we sang the hymn "Blest the Man That Fears Jehovah," and the second verse spoke to me. Here it is:

In thy wife thou shalt have gladness,

She shall fill thy home with good,

Happy in her loving service

And the joys of motherhood.

It reminds me of Proverbs 18:22, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord." I started wondering how I am doing: do I fill John's house with good? Do I make him happy? Am I happy with my daily chores? Do I find motherhood joyful? I will have to ask him.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you. You can read the rest of words to the hymn here.

Love and My Children

Sarah Beth and I had this conversation yesterday, and it's pretty typical.

SB: I love animal crackers.

Me: Do you love Daniel?

SB: Yes.

Me: Do you love Daddy?

SB: Yes.

Me: Do you love pink?

SB: Yes.

Me: Do you love Grammy?

SB: Yes.

Me: Do you love Mommy?

SB: No.

Sarah Beth always says, "No," when she is asked if she loves me. I know that she does love me, so it doesn't hurt my feelings. I do think it's funny, although I don't let her see that. It bothers John, though, so he is working with her.

Last night, I decided to give Daniel the same "test." He doesn't say "yes" or "no" in response to questions; he nods or shakes his head and says "uh huh" (yes) or "uh uh" (no). We don't think he really understands yet, but he answers appropriately most of the time. Anyway, here is the conversation.

Me: Do you love Mommy?

D: uh huh

Me: Do you love Daddy?

D: loooooong pause

Me: Do you love Daddy?

D: uh huh (very quietly, almost like he didn't want to admit it)

Have you had a similar "problem" with any of your children? Sarah Beth obviously favors her Daddy, and Daniel obviously favors his Mommy. We have decided that, as soon as Baby Sister is born, we are going to family counseling to try to correct her "problem" before it starts.

I'm just kidding. I think it's fairly common for there to be a special bond between a daddy and his daughter and between a mommy and her son. That's why the two phrases "daddy's girl" and "momma's boy" exist.

Do any of your children prefer you or your spouse? What do you do about it? Or did it just go away by itself? I figure that one day Sarah Beth will discover that she does in fact love me, and one day (in the distant future) she will even come to appreciate me.

The Motivation of Discipline

I've been thinking about discipline lately, the discipline of getting things done in a timely manner, not the discipline of my children. Mrs. Darling had a good post last week about it at the same time I was thinking of writing one. However, I have just now gotten around to the actual writing of the post. I guess that's a lack of discipline, or maybe I can blame it on the fact that I'm too disciplined in getting other things done. I think I'll let you choose.

When I've read books about becoming more organized, the authors always point out that you have to have a reason behind getting organized. You don't want to get more organized just to be more organized; you will probably fail because your motivation is not good enough to encourage you. Anyway, I've realized that discipline is similar: there needs to be a good, underlying reason behind increasing discipline. Do you want to arrive places five minutes before the activities start instead of being late? Do you want to have your husband's work clothes clean for him before he needs them? Do you want to make only one trip to the grocery store a week, saving time and money? These are just a few of my motivators. But I've come up with a new one lately: my Christmas stars.

The pattern for my Christmas stars is fairly simple, but it is complicated enough that I cannot work on it when my children are around. It takes about ten minutes to make each motif, and the red one I'm working on now has 151 motifs plus a border, so you can see there is a lot of work involved. And I have a deadline; it's no good getting these things done on December 26.

About a month ago, I started making some changes to free up more time for me to crochet. I started setting my alarm clock a little earlier, so I can get my shower and have my quiet time before the children get up instead of during nap time. I was unable to do this earlier, I confess, because I felt so poorly during my first trimester that I just couldn't get out of bed without the extra motivation of a child awake. I used to wait to fold clothes during nap time, but now I try to get them done when my children are otherwise occupied, or as soon as they come out of the dryer. I also limit my time on the computer. I was doing this already when my children were around, but now I keep an eye on the time during nap time, too, so I don't "waste" too much time surfing. Little changes like these give me so much more time in the afternoon and at night after Daniel and Sarah Beth are in bed that I am able to get a lot of crocheting done.

Because it is taking so long to get these stars done, I think I will have formed a couple of new, good habits. (Don't they say it takes 30 days or six weeks to form a new habit?) I'm excited about this because I am not nearly as disciplined (or organized) as I would like to be. I've decided, though, that it is a work in progress; it is not something to be accomplished all at once.

I'm curious: what motivates you to increase your level of organization and/or discipline?

WIP Wednesday

I finally finished the white star last week. I'm sorry I don't have a picture, but you'll have to wait until the whole project is finished. Here is what I have accomplished so far on the red star. When it is finished, it will have 151 motifs; right now, it has 51, so I'm about a third of the way done. Of course, when I do complete it, I still have the green star that needs to be done. It's a good thing that I enjoy working on this project, isn't it?