SouleMama

Postcard(s) No. 3

Planning, Gathering, and Making for today's feast!

Wishing you and yours the loveliest of days! Whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving today or not, I hope your day is full of moments of gratitude, peace with yourself, and joy with those you love.

Postcard no. 2

Oh! I hadn't realized - in my attempt to be silly and suspenseful - that I would lead you to believe we'd found our farm. I'm so sorry! I do hope that day will come soon, and I assure you that when it happens, my excitement will leave no room for doubt.

So no, this is not ours, but it is in our hands for a short little while. I guess you could say we're six excited farmers-in-training at the moment.

And what's a proper barn without a few kitties?

Postcard no. 1

We've embarked on a little adventure!

Watch your mailbox (okay, the blog) for postcards!

one

My little boy turned one yesterday. One year old - one trip around the sun. He's a sweet, sweet, happy, funny, gentle, snuggly, jolly little one.  I love him so. 

And so does the rest of the gang. If a Mama were ever to worry (as all Mama's do from time to time) about the life of a fourth baby in comparison to say, the oldest...well, I need only look around me these past few weeks to be reminded of just how very loved, doted on, and attended to he is - by so many soul(e)s. 

{Some details for those interested: Calvin used maple for the block, sanded them meticulously, and "finished' them with beeswax polish. The balls I knit and felted are from a pattern in Knitting for Baby - more details on Ravelry. And Ezra drew on paper, I scanned it onto  fabric, which he then stitched onto the shirt with a bit of heat-n-bond for help.}

For weeks now, there have been surprises in the works. Children squirreled away with duct tape and saws and paper and pen and much excitement. Each with their own projects, their own ideas of who Harper is and what he loves. And each of them so very accurate - as different as they may be.

So when there are squabbles, and when it feels as though our family is running in four distinctly different directions with each child, and when it feels like no one is getting their needs met....and I begin to worry about this fourth baby's lack of baby book or other such silly thing...well, I hope in those moments I can remember things like this: A boy traipsing through the woods for the perfect maple with which to make his little brother blocks; another with pen and paper refining the perfect "troll that looks like Harper" to draw and sew onto a shirt; and a third dreaming up a recipe with her brothers' favorite ingredients together in one cake (carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin, oh my!). Oh - and all the poems and the songs and the special  knowing sibling smiles and silliness, too. They way they look at him, and the way he shines back at them. It's something so special.

He is so very loved.

And I am quite certain he knows that.

Happy first birthday, Harper Jude! We are all so glad you're here.

weekending

SouleMama Sponsor ~ UNRAVELLING E-COURSE~

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Today's featured sponsor is Unravelling. Unravelling is an e-course led by artist Susannah Conway. In her words:

"The Unravelling e-courses are designed to help you heal the way you see your self and your world, using photography and journaling to access hidden thoughts and dreams, encouraging personal realizations and ultimately acceptance. Susannah is your guide through this process, sharing her insights and wisdom gleaned from a four-year voyage through grief and healing. To date we’ve had participants from 30 countries around the world – when Unravellers come together online a tribe is formed, and the encouragement and fellowship found in these dynamic groups supports each person in their own journey."

"Enrollments for the January Unravelling class open on Monday December 1st - the last class sold out in 83 minutes but if people sign up to my mailing list they'll get an email the minute registration opens on my site."

You can find testimonials from past Unravellers here!

 

For today's giveaway, Unravelling is offering two prizes:

• One person will receive a spot in the January session of the Unravelling: Ways of Seeing Myself e-course (starts Monday January 4 and runs for 8 weeks)

• One person will receive an 8x8 inch fine art photograph of winner's choice from my Etsy store. They will also receive a set of Cupcake postcards.

To enter, simply leave a comment in today's post (one entry per person, please!). I'll close comments and announce the winners by 8am EST on Sunday.

You can visit Susannah at the following spots:

Unravelling E-Course

Susannah's Website

Fine Art Photography in her Etsy shop

and at her blog Ink On My Fingers

Thank you, Susannah & Good luck, everyone!

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Comments closed! The winners are...

For the photograph & postcards:

I would love to win!
Posted by One Hook Wonder

For the unravelling course:

what a perfect way to start off the new year. i love it! thanks!
Posted by Healing Hillary

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Friday, From the Archives :: This Week in 2008

It's Friday - time for our weekly trip down blog memory lane!

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standing  s t i l l
{Originally posted November 18, 2008}

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A Note Today:

One year ago - almost to the day - I took this photograph. Nearly each evening for weeks, I had been waking in the night with contractions too strong to sleep through. So many times, we believed our baby was coming soon, and we'd start to get things in motion - filling the birth tub, even calling in our birth team a few times. I would labor through the evenings and then, as the sun came up, everything would  slow and settle down (and we  had missed another night of sleep!). There was a lot of waiting that month, a lot of daytime napping, a lot of frustration, and a lot of searching for s t i l l. By the end, and in retrospect, we were able to see that time as a beautiful tunnel we were in together as a family as we waited to meet our baby.

On this night, I had some henna ready for a gathering with friends that was to be the next day. But before the little ones went to bed, I decided to let them do a bit of henna on my belly. They did, and then slowly - one by one - the four of them drifted upstairs to bed. I sat in the quiet, in front of the wood stove and continued like this for hours. Once again, searching for the still and quiet in the time of waiting and wondering.

Two mornings later, I would wake with a start in the early hours of a day - November 22nd - and with all the previous months 'work of labor' behind me, we met Harper in just a matter of minutes. (I wrote about his birthday here.)

They all have their own circumstances of pregnancy, labor and birth. Each as true and special as they are. This weekend, we'll celebrate all that happened in November of 2008, and even more importantly, the strong spirit and sweet soul of the little boy we've come to know in the year since - our dear  little Harper Jude.

right now

 

 

One thing I have always loved - and will someday remember and miss - about this house, is the way the light shines right through from one side to the other at certain times of day. Old, worn wood and golden sunshine meet, and everything feels warm and good and so alive. It's always most present in the afternoon, and strongest in the late days of autumn. Right now.

Right now, I am enjoying it. Sitting in it, loving it, and soaking it in.

food bits

I think about food a lot anyway (how can I not, when most of my waking hours are spent in the planning/making/eating/cleaning of it?). But in the events of recent weeks and months, I've found myself thinking about it even more, if that's possible - the comfort of food; the blessing of what we have available to us; the power of food to heal.

Today, a few little food gratitudes, if you will:

:: The temporary, but very welcome introduction of boxed cereal into my kitchen. Necessary and helpful. (and the source of a wonderful little lesson in letting go by this Mama!)

:: WHO Bread & my bread machine (a while back, my girlfriends all replaced my old and tired bread machine with a shiny new one. I love it almost as much as i love them. Well, almost.)

:: A pantry and freezer stocked full of goodness from months past and needed/loved now more than I ever could have predicted.

::Wholesome, good and simple foods. We're spending a lot of time in the car these days, so my meal preparing time is so much shorter. Right now I'm loving (as always, but especially now) The Art of Simple Food. Also kind of digging the newest issue of Real Simple's Easy Delicious Meals (five of the past seven evening meals have come from it's pages!).

:: Friends who feed. Yes, yes, yes.

:: Our evening family meal. Though they have always been special to me, I may have taken them just a bit for granted. These days, I'm realizing they are our daily anchor, in oh so many ways.

Where is your food inspiration coming from these days?
Blessings on the meal, my friends!

making plans for Harper

He Who Sports The World's Most Awesome Cowlick (we do declare) is about to turn ONE. I know. Crazy. Crazy and true.

The planning has begun - by a whole lot of people. Five very motivated and excited family members of his, to be precise. Everyone's working on something - songs are being written, poems penned, gifts crafted, cake recipes perfected. Yarn, fabric, wood, duct tape - you name it, and it's in use for this baby. There is much to do in the days to come.

Amidst the flurry, and especially in the presence of our 'new normal,' this Mama is both reminded and reminding of the two words I keep in mind with the birthdays of my little ones: Simple and Special.

And so this will be both of those. Simple and very, very Special.

We love him so!