Random Review- Installment 1, Snapshots
The only problem is that ordinary does not always beget creative writing, which could explain why things have been pretty quiet around here!
I was excited when I announced in this post that the third Tuesday of each month would be a random review, but today I felt a bit at loose ends with it all. I taught school, folded laundry, got the ironing done, pulled frozen spaghetti sauce out of the freezer and popped it into my slow-cooker for supper, washed a high chair tray three times, read stories to the children (repeating the same book several times), and worked at expanding Elasa's wardrobe by cutting out two dresses.
Where, in all of that, lay inspiration for a fascinating review?
After supper, knowing that the time had come to do something, I was inspired to make this a random review in the truest sense of the word by taking my camera around the house and capturing a variety of things that are adding spice to our lives inspite of the prevailing winter weather and a great deal of, well... the ordinary!
A personal dream of mine is coming true with two needles and ball of yarn... I am learning to knit!!! This is something I have wanted to do for quite some time, and when a lady from church offered lessons, I jumped at the chance! The fun thing is that my Mom is the other student and we're having a lot of fun doing this together! I am still at the stage where I am all thumbs, and tonight when I picked up the needles to practice a bit, I was confused all over again, but I intend to persevere. After all, I already have my dreams set on knitting the cutest little tea cosy found in the Anyone Can Knit book that I picked up from the library to dream over! The cosy is called Earl Grey, so I am pretty sure that's reason enough to try it!!!
Fixing a 1,000-piece puzzle may not be a new skill, but neither is it one that I've honed since I was married (unless you count the little board puzzles I've fixed by the scores with the children!) This popcorn puzzle caught my eye at a thrift store and once we had procured a small table that was just the right size for working around, I was able to continue a tradition of puzzle-fixing that my family has long enjoyed! We started the puzzle two weeks ago and as you can see, the progress has been slow! All the same, we're getting better the further into it we get! Elasa likes to work on it, especially if she has company, and now we have Wesley hooked! Last night we fixed for awhile after the children were in bed and I decided it was a pretty good way to spend time together while enhancing one's brain cells. It's not very often that you get such a satisfying two-for-one as that!!!
The children received a belated Christmas present yesterday in the form of a magnetic building set that didn't get here in time for the big day. Maybe it's just as well, for now they have something new in the middle of January when you really need it!!! The magnets are very entertaining to play with, and the children keep bringing me a new structure or design to admire. They made houses, tents, jungle gyms, numbers...there's so much you can do with these fascinating little magnets! (Since this is a review, I'll go on to say that while the windows are plastic and may not last so long, the magnetic sticks and balls are extremely durable and sturdy. Probably the biggest risk is losing them, since they are small, but otherwise they seem like a very nice, creative toy with a lot of potential.)
New books from the library are always the perfect remedy for beating the winter doldrums and as far as adding spice to life, they have never left me down!!! Wesley took the children out this evening to give them a change of scenery and they were delighted- as always! Once home, they sat down with the entire library bag and proceed to peruse the plunder.
It is so very satisfying to see Elasa sit down and READ her very own books (and to have that tangible reward of the time I spent teaching her.)
I've been trying my hand at brewing tea from loose leaf instead of relying only on tea bags and it makes me feel like a real tea-drinker! My concoctions aren't always as tasty as a good cup of Bigelow, but the fun of mixing and sipping my own brews makes up for that! I am pretty sure I have more fun with my tea balls and pretty cups (these yellow ones are a recent find at a thrift store and I love the color!) and whistling tea kettle and various tea flavors than any coffee drinker, but I could stand corrected!!!
As you can see, life may be ordinary, but it's not boring, and I expect it will stay that way as long as there are new things to learn and new teas to brew.
What is adding spice to your life these days? I can always use a new idea or two for keeping Winter's bleakness at bay...
A personal dream of mine is coming true with two needles and ball of yarn... I am learning to knit!!! This is something I have wanted to do for quite some time, and when a lady from church offered lessons, I jumped at the chance! The fun thing is that my Mom is the other student and we're having a lot of fun doing this together! I am still at the stage where I am all thumbs, and tonight when I picked up the needles to practice a bit, I was confused all over again, but I intend to persevere. After all, I already have my dreams set on knitting the cutest little tea cosy found in the Anyone Can Knit book that I picked up from the library to dream over! The cosy is called Earl Grey, so I am pretty sure that's reason enough to try it!!!
Fixing a 1,000-piece puzzle may not be a new skill, but neither is it one that I've honed since I was married (unless you count the little board puzzles I've fixed by the scores with the children!) This popcorn puzzle caught my eye at a thrift store and once we had procured a small table that was just the right size for working around, I was able to continue a tradition of puzzle-fixing that my family has long enjoyed! We started the puzzle two weeks ago and as you can see, the progress has been slow! All the same, we're getting better the further into it we get! Elasa likes to work on it, especially if she has company, and now we have Wesley hooked! Last night we fixed for awhile after the children were in bed and I decided it was a pretty good way to spend time together while enhancing one's brain cells. It's not very often that you get such a satisfying two-for-one as that!!!
The children received a belated Christmas present yesterday in the form of a magnetic building set that didn't get here in time for the big day. Maybe it's just as well, for now they have something new in the middle of January when you really need it!!! The magnets are very entertaining to play with, and the children keep bringing me a new structure or design to admire. They made houses, tents, jungle gyms, numbers...there's so much you can do with these fascinating little magnets! (Since this is a review, I'll go on to say that while the windows are plastic and may not last so long, the magnetic sticks and balls are extremely durable and sturdy. Probably the biggest risk is losing them, since they are small, but otherwise they seem like a very nice, creative toy with a lot of potential.)
New books from the library are always the perfect remedy for beating the winter doldrums and as far as adding spice to life, they have never left me down!!! Wesley took the children out this evening to give them a change of scenery and they were delighted- as always! Once home, they sat down with the entire library bag and proceed to peruse the plunder.
It is so very satisfying to see Elasa sit down and READ her very own books (and to have that tangible reward of the time I spent teaching her.)
I've been trying my hand at brewing tea from loose leaf instead of relying only on tea bags and it makes me feel like a real tea-drinker! My concoctions aren't always as tasty as a good cup of Bigelow, but the fun of mixing and sipping my own brews makes up for that! I am pretty sure I have more fun with my tea balls and pretty cups (these yellow ones are a recent find at a thrift store and I love the color!) and whistling tea kettle and various tea flavors than any coffee drinker, but I could stand corrected!!!
What is adding spice to your life these days? I can always use a new idea or two for keeping Winter's bleakness at bay...
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