During the last snow storm, the kids hands were cold even in the house so we made mittens together.

This week has been a total turn around! The birds have all returned, every single day there is a flock of geese over head.  All week it has been over 60 degrees!  Little buds are coming up everywhere.

I hope all of you have had beautiful sunny weather as well and have found time to get out and enjoy it!!

I was thinking about the Fall and what felt like a long winter and was wondering when was the last time I had the doors and windows open.  I did not know then that  it would be the last day they would be open until months later.  Today when I opened the door and could hear the kids laughing outside while I cooked dinner, and hung clothes on the line and saw my curtains waving in fresh air, it all came back to me how long it has been and how much I have missed it! 

I did find the history online of the weather in our area and there were some days in November that were above average and in the 60's so I may have had the doors opened even as late as November.  But 60 degrees feels cold on the heels on Summer and so, so warm at the same time when it follows cold, dark Winter.  Everything is waking from hibernation and stretching in the sun.

Putting up a post on mittens seems ridiculously outdated now, but I wanted to still post because the mittens were so charming to the kids. They really made them so happy!

They were super easy and the kids did a lot of it. I jotted down some brief instructions so maybe in the fall when we are all shutting our doors again we can cozy up with our kids and make some more!

1) Find some cardboard like an old manila folder or cereal box.

2) Trace the shape of the child's hand on to the cardboard.

3) Cut out the shape to use as a stencil.

4) Trace the outline using the stencil onto the wrong side of fabric.

5) Sew mittens wrong side out.

For chloe's mittens I let her draw whatever she wanted to on the fabric using a pen and then I embroidered the design using embroidery thread.

I wanted to use only what was in the house and not have to buy anything.  All I had that was soft for their little hands was dull gray fleece.  I sewed a pink ribbon on the edge of Chloe's since she is such a girly girl and "needed" some pink!

For Eti's, I was inspired by These mittens.

His were much more difficult for me and quite humbling.  Steve was at a meeting so I was home alone trying to figure out what hand to sew on the "H" and what hand to sew on the "I"  it was one of those things that Steve would know right away but I had such a mental block.  I put the gloves on and stood in front of the mirror to make sure it would be in the right order. No matter what I did it felt backwards!  I  appliqued the letters which took 2 HOURS, and when I was all done this is how they looked:

They said "IH".

After I took the letters off and sewed them back on a second time I realized that one letter was on the top and the other one was on the palm.

So I took the letters off again.

I sewed those letters on THREE times!!!

Finally, FINALLY I spelled and sewed my two-letter word on correctly and was rewarded by Eti's great love for them.

He woke up and found them at breakfast and wore them all day long.  Even after dinner I found him sitting at the kitchen table in his pjs still wearing them.

Eti and Steve were having a discussion about Palindromes --hence the word "race car" that Eti is writing. 

This year I want to read everything Edith Schaeffer wrote.  Each year I try to choose an author and study their writings.  Right now I am reading  A Way of Seeing.  Each chapter can be read in 12 minutes but each one gives  so much to think about.  In this quote below I took out the word "father" and put in the word "mother" because I believe it can be applied to us mothers as well. 

"The word Mother should bring thoughts of one who is full of marvelous plans for the joy of her children- little joys day by day: the lunch together, the walk in the woods together, the game together, the book enjoyed together..."

It is a wonderful quote because it really stirred up in me the thought "What little joy can I plan for my children today?"