Tuesday, October 11, 2011

This and that

I LOVE those two photos. Not that they're great photos, but do you see what she's doing?
Reading. Voluntarily. Page after page. Chapter after chapter. Book after book. I've been hearing 'please may I just finish this paragraph first', and 'yes, I'll play with you, Aaron, after I've finished this chapter' and it's music to my ears! For nearly seven years all her 'reading' time has been forced, so to speak (we have daily quiet reading time after bathtime and Hannah has generally managed to wriggle and chat and procrastinate her way through that time of the day with little more than a quick flick through the pages of the nearest book). More books were requested so yesterday was spent raiding the opshops (an outing which all the kids thoroughly enjoyed and which mummy would have enjoyed much more without all the kids).

With school holidays here there hasn't been as much quiltmaking as I would have liked. The younger two children have been particularly demanding, and between them and various holiday activities, I'm feeling rather exhausted. There's a little bit of quilt progress every day, but I have to push myself to keep at it...
... although the size of the pieces of this quilt may have something to do with it too. I think I may have crossed the thin line between 'enjoyable challenge' and 'crazily impossible' with this quilt, but I'll persist for now and see how far I get with it.

I realise you probably don't come here to read about the quiltmaking that isn't happening right now, but I figure it's also good to make it clear that things don't always (hardly ever?) run as smoothly at our house as they might appear on this blog. By God's grace, I am healthy enough to be able to manage the various aspects of my life (kids, housework, quiltmaking, other commitments) and it usually goes OK, but it also doesn't take much to upset the balance so that everything falls in a heap, or at least goes out of kilter. This week I'm tired and the housework and quiltmaking are suffering (and if I'm really honest, the kids are too), but I have also learnt (am learning) not to get down about this, but to accept a bad week, put it behind me and tackle the new week with new resolve and enthusiasm. So I'm looking forward to a better week next week, God willing!

2 comments:

Phil said...

Beautiful photos! And thinking of you all. Love always.
"This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him." Ps 91:2

kris said...

That photo of Hannah with her book at the sewing machine is gorgeous. I can't quite tell if she is sitting at the sewing machine, or if it just in the background, but it reminds me of myself. Sitting at the machine with a book in my hands trying to decide which love has the strongest pull!
All the best with the impossible quilt! I hope it works out for you. I really love the weeyaww quilt.
~Kristy G