This Vintage Chica

raindrops on roses

and whiskers on kittens, white copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages, la-de-da-da...you know how it goes.  When I was eight, I was in the Stagecoach Community Theater production of The Sound of Music and played the part of the smallest Von Trapp, Gretl.  My lines included a scream and "but my finger hurts" when Uncle Max (played by my friend Jill's father) asked me why I wasn't singing.  But that song has stuck with ever since.  I sang it as I struggled to finish my last semester of college.  I sang it from dinner time to bath time when Ian and Zane were babies.  And I sing it now when rough patches appear.

Thank you so much for the amazingly supportive comments from the last post.  I have gone back through and read them over and over (and over) again.  With all that is in me, thank you friends. 

Papa is at his destination and settling in as nicely from the emails I have received so far.  Although I think he is missing his boys terribly.  His only real comment about the environment has been that the desert is strangely colorless and feels very lifeless.  The boys and I have spent the better part of a week (or longer), dancing to music, drawing, taking photos, making paper airplanes (lots and lots of paper airplanes), and talking, talking, and talking some more.  No computer, no t.v. for the most part.  We did meet up with some friends to see the new Veggie Tales movie and laughed our behinds off.  We have done the deployment routine so many times now that I know how important it is to wipe the calendar clean for that first week after he leaves...just to be available for whatever might come my way.  And there have been things that have come...in the form of a note sent home from the teacher saying Zane had an altercation with (read that punched) another classmate, Wyatt's meltdown at church on Sunday and Ian's unusual quietness.  They are good kids, the best kids. Ever.  Period.  But as they are learning to handle the stresses of life I continue to learn how to help them through it all in their own ways, not my ways.  "...when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad..."

So here are of a few of my favorite things. :10 things: that are making me smile right now.

• Thinking about a new project.  And feeling very lucky, and a bit apprehensive, to be included in this talented group of women.
• Amanda's 30 days. 
• Camillias here in Virginia are in bloom a bit earlier than normal.
• I can't get enough of Ian's drawings. 
• And this book that arrived with the most perfect timing.  Every afternoon after school we dive right in and draw for several hours.

• Mail arrived including packages of saved seeds from the O'Melay family.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Karl.  Seeing all of these heirloom seeds prompted me get out my drawing paper and start to plan out our Spring garden and I can not wait!
• I am loving everything that Meg puts up on her blog these days.  Especially her little butterfly metamorphosis adaptation of the wee wonderfuls pattern.  So great!
• Good friends who put their kids to bed and show up on my doorstep with a bottle of wine.
• Loving Alicia's new collaborative project.

• new rain boots ... I've traded my winter snow boots from WI for winter rain boots more suitable for Virginia
• and an excuse for me, a very grey person to think in black + white for a week

***********************

Ooopps!  I just realized that my list has eleven things.  A happy accident that just goes to show that in the midst of trials, there are plenty of beautiful things to be seen if you just open your eyes to them.

Have a great weekend all!

thankfulness

The concept of being thankful is one that I want my boys to really "get", but a difficult one to teach to wee ones.  I have said this before, but I want thankfulness to ooze from every part of our family.  Spilling out into the world around us.  A few weeks ago, I was tagged by Selena to post five things for which I am thankful. 

And by the way, I am barely resisting the strong urge to type "to post the five things I am thankful for". Which would be bad grammar, but completely correct in Texas where I grew up. But in Texas we also say we're "fixing to go for a dip in the tank".

Oh, thankfulness...yes, thankfulness. Thankfulness for me seems to fall into two categories. Big, overarching ideas of thankfulness like my close friends, my family, our great house, my faith and my children. But there are also many small, almost insignificant things. Things that might go unnoticed if not given their proper time in the spotlight.

Things like homemade cinnamon rolls from Alicia's recipe, still warm from the oven. Finding the sun pouring onto our bed at 4:15 p.m. every afternoon and stealing my youngest from his sword fight to share it. Like listening to the older two sound out each letter of every letter every word of their Little Bear book. And being so excited about it I want to jump out of my skin.  Thankful that S will be home for the Thanksgiving holiday in a few days. Watching the leaves turn yellow on the maple tree we planted four years ago. Reconnecting with old friends after 20+ years. A glass of wine after a crazy day. Meteor showers. Listening to Robert Earl Keen and Kasey Chambers on Pandora. A thank you note sent by someone for something you didn't even remember doing.

One of the ways our family tries to make thankfulness more tangible is by keeping a seasonal thankfulness journal.  A place where each year our thoughts, drawings and inspirations about thankfulness are recorded.  Here is a link to last year's post about it.   This year, I wanted it to look a bit different on the outside. So, I made a journal cover out of soft brown felt leftover from the leaf garland and used Ian's handwriting from a school project for the lettering. I am still in love with the way they make their S's and N's and use every opportunity to capture their penmanship just where it is. And there are five trees for the five of us. Zane's tree is yellow because his favorite color is yellow and I think always will be. Wyatt's tree is the circle tree because he is so into drawing those shapes lately. S's tree has branches because he continues to push me out on a limb *pun intended* and get me out of my comfort zone. I spent a few moments last night reading over the journal entries from the past few years. And being thankful all over again for those things that were important to us then and recording these new not-so-insignificant small items of thankfulness as well.

So, if you feel so inclined. Please share a few of the little things you are thankful for these days. Perfect timing to do so don't you think?

P.S.  And yes, I am most certainly thankful for the people who lived in this house before us who installed the wonderful oven so many of you commented on.  And believe me, it will be used to its fullest this week.  We are expecting twenty two thus far for the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.  But who knows, we may find a few more people between now and then who might need a table to sit around and a place to share the things in their life for which they are thankful.

nesting

nest, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

Thank you all again for your words of encouragement over the past few days. Some of your kind words have honestly brought on the tears...not that it really takes much these days. But thank you friends.  I have read every word and am taking some time to think about it all. 

The ::10 things:: continue to come to me throughout the day. Not that I have been counting them each evening, but this project has focused me on being more mindful of the everyday little things to be thankful of. Like the sweet mama duck who decided to make her nest in an overgrown flowerbed on the side of our house. I was going to hack the bushes down to almost nothing, but froze when I saw these nine little eggs hiding underneath. I guess I will wait a few weeks (or however long the mama duck needs). How long is the gestation period of ducks? Anyone?

Tomorrow morning the big moving truck comes with all of our furniture and boxes. If all goes well we will all be sleeping in cozy " real" beds again, not the floor, and eating at a "real" table, not a camping table on loan from the neighbor and some boxes as chairs. I guess as the unpacking and the arranging of it all begins tomorrow we will be doing a little nesting of our own. And I will be truly thankful for it all.

{Oh, and I almost forgot...our good friend and "Uncle Terry" returned from Iraq tonight.  We come back Terry!  I know your family is glad to have you back in your own comfy nest tonight.}

:10 things:

blackberries, originally uploaded by thisvintagechica.

We are in a bit of an adjustment phase around here. S won't be joining us "officially" until December. (speaking of...I need to find another nickname for him instead of just S, its kind of boring don't you think?) So, I am adjusting to being on my own again but have not gotten into my groove as easily as I had thought I might. We do not have our furniture yet and it will not be delivered until Friday. Gotta love those Navy moves! *Please God let it get here Friday!* Luckily the boys are used to camping out on the floor in their sleeping bags, but my back is not. It is adjusting.

I have been thinking a lot about this little blog I have here and what it has become up to this point. I feel like sometimes over the past two years, we have just been pretending to be in the military. S has been home most nights...almost like a real regular job. It has allowed me more time to myself and for my own little projects than I could have ever imagined. But now that I am back on my own, will I have time to sew? Will putting so much thought and effort into what I write take time away from how much the boys are needing these days? Will all of the decorating and home projects really fit with where the blog was headed? And does it really matter?

The whole politics/military thing will be taking up more of my brain as my husband and our family will be more and more directly impacted. And do I write about that here? Or do I start another blog? Do I really want all of you to read what I think about all of that? Will you care? Will you still like me if you know how I really feel about it all? And will I get him in trouble for writing about it? I don't know.

But until I get it all figured out, I will be staying positive and trying not to get to bogged down with my own thoughts. For the next, oh, I don't really know how long, I will be joining :10 things: This is a great new group, I found via Amy. I always find wonderful things in her photos and blog posts that make me think differently about my world, wherever I happen to be. And this is right up my alley indeed. Oh, and Amy will be continuing A Year of Color with year two, Color+Color! Woohoo! Join now! All the cool kids are doing it.

:10 things:

1.  The beach and how small it makes you feel.
2.  Blackberries in our front yard! Yes, our front yard. No, we did not plant them there.
3.  Finding a real message in a bottle during our first family night at the beach
4.  Watching my boys truly care for each other in all of the craziness of the move
5.  Dreaming about energy efficient washing machines and clotheslines and new gardens
6.  The children's book RIBSY, by Beverly Cleary. we've been reading it ever night before bed
7.  Air conditioning, we have been here for almost a week now and just got ac today, whew!
8.  The memories we made with my Dad this summer.  They are truly a gift as he is battling Parkinson's.
9.  The new creative summer project
10.  Watching how excited the boys have been to see the beach and feeling greatful that they will be growing up in such a place.