Category: Family

A very special day; my daughter’s birthday…

Aynaria 10 Comments

In a few days, my daughter will turn nine-years old.

Where has the time gone? At times, it seems as though I had just brought her home from the birthing center where she was delivered by my favorite midwife. That night, at home, I remember staying most of that night just watching her sleep.

For the most part, I’m keeping her birthday simple. She wants me to design brand-new outfits for her Monster High dolls. While she’s been sketching the designs, I’ve “pretended” only to be half interested. But I’m paying attention. She started sewing when she was six. She’s done an amazing job with the outfits she’s made, but at times she want’s a “professional sewer”, as she calls it. Sure, I can help out. I’ve designed clothing.

She’s also requested a few crocheted sleeping bags for her dolls. I guess I can do that too.

Of course I’m tricking her too…

I’m pretending not to work on her crocheted Coraline, to keep her in the dark… I want her to think Coraline will be unfinished for a long time. As fast as I crochet, I’m sure she knows something is wrong with that statement. But then, I’ve thrown her off with the numerous projects I’m crocheting.  I’m such a bad mommy, eh? 😉 In reality I’ve been working on Coraline while she’s been away at school. At the latest Coraline should be complete by Saturday.

Canon Elura MiniDV Camcorder

The ultimate gift for her

But, I do believe the best gift will be the Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camcorder. It used to be mine, but it’s something I haven’t used in about three years. It still looks like new. I take good care of my items. Whatever interests my daughter, I encourage. Besides drawing, sewing, and reading, another of her activities is stop motion animation.

For the past year,  she’s been recording her stop motion animation on her Nintendo DSi. Sewing, acting out stories she’s created, and stop motion animation are the only reason my daughter plays with her dolls. I enjoy watching her creativity, and encourage her to do more.

More importantly, I know she’s at the age where she won’t damage this gift.

Monster High doll Frankie Stein Crocheted Hat

 Crocheted beanie hat for Monster High Doll; Frankie Stein

What is Stop motion animation?

Stop motion animation brings still objects to life by physically animating them. The main source of the stop motion animation is her Monster High dolls.

By the way that crocheted beanie hat was one of the first items I crocheted, no pattern, just playing around with crochet stitches.

I think it’s time to give her a upgrade to a real video camera. This is a great camera, it’s something I spent my time researching before I settled upon it in 2006, and it will work perfectly for her all her video needs for quite some time.

Video Editing

I guess this means that my daughter will be using my video editing software; Final Cut Pro X. She’s looked over my shoulder numerous times, while I’ve done video editing, so she already gets it; but I know I’ll still have to walk her through some of the video edition process. I must say; I’m looking forward to whatever she comes up with.

Her own domain

I’m also thinking about giving her an url when she’s out of school.

I’ll host it under my personal hosting service. She had a blog when she was six years old. Not too many people knew about it outside of family, and a few friends. But at her new site, she’ll be able to post her videos, observations, and perhaps share some of her stories too? I still have her old site content saved, so most likely I’ll just move that information to the new site.

Giving thanks

I usually don’t spend too much on gifts. It’s something I learned from my parents, and it’s a habit I practice to this day. As I’ve told her, just be thankful that someone has thought enough of you to give you something.

In reality, this birthday her “gifts” won’t cost that much… I already had a like new video camera. Also, I have plenty of yarn and fabric. The main thing required is time. Hmm… that can be challenging. Time is precious, and it can be difficult making time to do various things.

But I determined, before she was born, that the expression my mother would say about some people…

“Long on promises, short on time,”…

Wouldn’t apply to my daughter. I’ll make the time; she’s worth it!

Scheduling fail; where did I put my supermom outfit?

Aynaria 4 Comments

Ever had that nagging feeling at the back of your mind that you’re forgetting something important? 

Well, I had that feeling yesterday after picking up my daughter, and in continued throughout the evening. She didn’t have any homework yesterday, so I didn’t even bother checking her books. We had so much fun playing outside. I even was able to crochet a few granny squares while hanging out on our porch. It was a perfect evening. 

We tumbled into the house around 8:00. After taking a shower and fixing my daughter a snack I logged onto my Macbook Pro and discovered that…

I had a leadership meeting to attend last evening…

Whoops!

And my daughter’s Spring Concert for school was last evening.

Ruh Roh!

You know the one I’d only heard about a gazillion times? The one that she’s been practicing for a few weeks. Sure it was on my calendar, but it was marked for Thursday, the 17th. Totally my fault! 

My daughter has two music teachers; the one that’s part of her school program where she plays the recorder. The other is her piano teacher, where she takes lessons after school.

And now, I have to write a note explaining why she didn’t attend. It being a required activity by the school…

Oh this should be fun; Is what thought this morning, once I received an email from her third-grade teacher. I felt like such the bad mommy who has to be punished.

I’ve already sent my note, explaining that I simply forgot, and I offered my apologies. Not much I can do about that. Even with the obvious screw up on my part, we had a great evening!

Happy Mother’s Day

Aynaria 4 Comments

Throughout my life I’ve interacted with the traditional mothers, those who’ve had their own or adopted children. I’ve also met plenty of women who didn’t have children of their own, but they surely nurtured and acted motherly to those they’ve interacted with.

In honor of Mother’s Day, there will be a special service at out Lutheran church. Several children’s choirs, including the one that my daughter’s is in, will be singing.

I received my Mother’s Day present a day early…

Yesterday my daughter handed me the gifts she’d made, and told me, “Mommy, I couldn’t wait until Mother’s Day!” Which was fine by me, I don’t get into the holidays too much but I still will do things for others because I know some do recognize them. My daughter made me two gifts; one of her drawings, she’s such a talented artist. A few of her pictures have been featured locally, and she gave me a coupon “chore book.” How thoughtful!

It will be a relaxing day for us. Yesterday, I completed a lot of yard work including mowing down an area that was wooded.  I thought it would make a nice spot to sit when the fireflies finally make an appearance. Today it will feel great to relax, while hanging with my daughter. Perhaps… I’ll even get to work on my crocheted Coraline.

Father’s Day will be here soon… I’m tempted to stop by the local yarn store and see whether they have a specific yarn available. I know they have a special sale for this day. Naturally, I don’t have the yarn in my little yarn stash, to use for my dad’s Father’s day project, so my daughter, and I will most likely stop by the store on our way home from church.

I was able to complete all my Mother’s Day gifts, on time; they were all handmade, even the cards. The recipients actually love hand crafted items, and I know what they like, so these gifts won’t be wasted.

Hopefully I’ll be able to share some of the photos this coming week. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Just whistle while you work…

Aynaria 3 Comments

It’s a little after 9:00 am, but I’ve still accomplished a lot around the house. All the inside work has been completed, and now my daughter and I are moving outside to complete a few projects.

Naturally, my daughter is looking forward to this, since it means more outdoor playtime for her. I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty in our garden, and walking around barefoot. Something I typically do when it’s nice outside.

Last evening, we watched the movie; Coraline again, and one day soon, I’m hoping I get a chance to write my thoughts about the movie. In some ways it was similar to the book Coraline by Neil Gamon, but a lot had been changed. Regardless, I still liked the movie, and will be purchasing it for our collection.

This evening, I’ll be putting aside my crocheted Coraline, while I work on last minute items for Mother’s Day. My daughter’s children’s choir will be singing in the Contemporary church service, at our Lutheran church, and I’ve decided to make another crocheted necklace. And I think I’ll make a few more hand-made Mother’s Day cards.

If I have time, perhaps I’ll make something for myself too.

Question: Are you doing something special for Mother’s Day?

Mother’s Day is not this Sunday…

Aynaria 4 Comments

It’s such a relief to learn that Mother’s Day is not this Sunday.

Early yesterday, I was “hooking my fingers to the bone” since I thought it was.

That all came to a halt, when I chatted with my mother…

“Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May!” Naturally, I felt a bit silly, rushing Mother’s Day, but also I was relieved. Since, it means that my crochet hooks aren’t top priority in my downtime.

At church this Sunday, my daughter children’s choir, is performing a few songs; for mothers. Which made me think, “Oh, Mother’s Day!”

These children have come a long way this school year, and are starting to sound like a children’s choir. The majority of that credit goes to their choir director, who just happens to be my daughter’s piano teacher, and she’s also the director of Traditional music, at our church. This amazing lady has a lot of responsibilities, but makes it look easy.

 Since, I was making it top priority to complete the gifts by this weekend, my Mother’s Day gifts are almost complete.

For my mother, I’m making jewelry. When it’s complete, perhaps I’ll post a few photos on Celebrate Life. I’ll make a card to accompany the gift.

Also on the list is my daughter’s third grade schoolteacher. She’s not your “traditional mother” since she doesn’t have children of her own, but she does an excellent job mothering her third grade class. She’s amazing with them, and so I want to make her something also. Beaded bookmarks, facial scrubbies, and perhaps a few more items are on the list for my daughter’s teacher. I know she’ll love them, she loves to read, but the bookmarks she has are bits of paper, time to upgrade her to something proper, right? 

Then, there’s a lady I used to work with, Mrs. L. She’s the other type of mother too. No… not the Neil Gamon type found in Coraline. She’s 73, which is a year younger than my dad, and she has filled the role of mother throughout her adult life. I’m working on a crocheted/beaded bracelet. It looks lovely, and in some of her favorite colors.  Crocheting amigurumi mice are also on the list. She has two cats, and I don’t want her babies to be left out.

One thing all these ladies has in common is an appreciation of handmade gifts. Of course, I’ve spent hours working on various crafts; crochet, jewelry making, and card making, to ensure the gifts I’ve made are nice.  Since I know what they like, I know these gifts will be appreciated.

Planting and grass cutting on hold; too much rain

Aynaria 1 Comment

Rose 1 05 03 12

Up until this week, they main thing keeping me from doing any serious garden planting was the weather.

It was too cold for many of the plants to survive the mid 30F temperatures we were experiencing throughout most of April; parts of Maryland also received snow, last month.

The weather is becoming warmer, this week. It reached 80F a few days ago, but… we’ve also been receiving a lot of rain.  I guess I could plant in the rain, right? But, I think I’ll pass on the grass cutting.

The plants that are in the garden, are appreciating the rain we’ve been receiving.

But it’s all good, there’s still plenty of work, inside, that will keep me busy.

Let’s see…

My daughters room looks like a hurricane has hit it (again) and my recent yarn purchases has my temporary yarn bags overflowing, and so I need to put them in a suitable spot.

My daughter has been begging for chapati, and so I do believe I’ll make some type of Indian dish to accompany that. Later today, I’ll be volunteering at the food closet. Regardless of how much I’d love to be outdoors, there’s plenty of work inside to keep me occupied.

Here’s hoping my part of Maryland, receives some dry days… soon!

The above photo was taken earlier this morning.

The jokes on me; failed plan

Aynaria 1 Comment

It was a big day for my daughter’s class; they were visiting the Baltimore Zoo.

My daughter has talked about the trip for weeks, and as the day drew closer, so did her anticipation. The night prior to the big day, she informed me she was too excited to sleep. She talked about how she was going to spend the remaining hours before the trip. I nixed those plans, and told her she was going to bed at the regular time. She wasn’t too happy with that.

Daughter friends 1

My daughter (teal jacket) strolling along with her best friend; Best friend’s mom is ahead of them.

While hanging out with the other parents that were attending, I stated that my goal was to wear out my daughter so she’d be knocked out by evening time, a few commented that they were hoping for this too.

Somewhere along the way as we trekked through the Baltimore Zoo, that plan failed, well at least for our little group, and judging by the wiped out expression on many of the adult faces as we boarded the bus that took us back to school; it failed for others too.

A friend, who’s the mom of my daughters best friend, joined my daughter, and me. We power-walked for about three hours around the Baltimore Zoo; flat surface, hills, whatever the obstacle we did them… it was a great workout but we paid for that.

I wore the wrong shoes. They were tennis shoes, but those shoes obviously weren’t made for long treks. My feet would have been happier in the hiking shoes I’d initially planned on wearing, before I opted for my tennis shoes. At least I wasn’t the only one who made that mistake. My friend faced the same aches and pains.

Isaiah 11:6

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.

Baltimore Zoo Lion

In the zoo, the Baltimore zoo, the lion’s alert today…

A few seconds before I took this picture… The male lion strolled over to the lioness and started grooming her. I thought it was sweet, moments later she walked away, and posed on this rock. I took the picture.

On our way home, my daughter said…

“Mommy, I feel sad for the animals, they should be out in the wild roaming around. They don’t have a lot of space to run around at the zoo, so they can’t do all the things they’ve been designed to do.

For the most part, I agree with her, although I never shared those thoughts with her; sometimes I want her to observe and hear what she has to say, without my input. We talked about this topic for a bit, I told her some of the animals brought here are damaged, and this is a way that some of them are ‘saved’, since they wouldn’t survive in the wild.

While at the zoo, we met a gorgeous American kestrel that fit in this category. It had a damaged wing, and could no longer fly. If it were free, I told her it wouldn’t last long in the wild. But in captivity, it was given a second chance, and the fact that she couldn’t fly, didn’t stop her from trying.

At the zoo, a bird trainer, was given a brief introduction to kestrels, their amazing speed, along with additional traits. She had that bird with her. Kestrels have always fascinated me, and I’ve read a lot about them throughout the years. Tiny compared to some of the larger birds, but swift, and deadly; they eat other birds.

Regardless of the failed attempt to wear out the children, I think it’s safe to say that the adults had as much fun as the children. 

My daughter did have a good laugh when I told her about my failed plan. “I ache so much it hurts to crochet!”, I said, but I still picked up my crochet hook and made a few more crochet bookmarks for my daughter’s third-grade class.