Wordless Wednesday: Mommy's Little Helper

Sentimental Sheets

So, I got this strange urge to take photos of my sheets after I'd hung them on the line to dry this past weekend. They just looked so pretty, hanging in the sun, billowing occasionally with a gentle breeze. This warmer weather we've had lately inspired me to hang them out in the spring air (maybe a bad idea for my husband and kid with allergies, though...) rather than throwing them in the dryer as we usually do. We don't use the dryer much other than for sheets, towels, some underwear/t-shirts, and rags. Everything else gets hung on the line in warmer weather or on drying racks in the sunroom when it is cold or rainy (or too late in the day to put them on the line, which happens often with my time management issues!).

The sunlight hitting them was just very appealing to me. I decided to sit outside to make my grocery list so I could see them. The girls played in the sandbox (that means that Cecilia ate the sand, of course) while I dragged a comfy pseudo-wicker chair out from the sunroom and sat sipping some earl greyer tea and making my list. Of course, the girls wanted to "help" me after a few minutes, so I sent Caroline in to get some paper and her crayons, and she made her own list while Cecilia scribbled (oh, and ate the crayons). The moment still retained some of its peacefulness nevertheless.

Here is why I titled this post "Sentimental Sheets." As I watched the sunlght hit them, my mind wandered to the origins of these bedsheets... I don't get rid of sheets unless the elastic is so shot that they won't stay on the bed. So, I think I have only thrown out one or two sets of sheets in my life. Caroline has one nice, new set of sheets that match her room. Since she slept in our room for a long time, I didn't want to get any new sheets for her until she was in her own room and could help decide on the room decor. So, we put our old, comfy sheets from college on her twin mattress. Funny that Chris and I each had a dark green set - his was checked and mine was solid green. So, hanging those sheets on the line brought back memories of college and sleeping in my loft bed. Our dorm rooms had heaters hanging up near the ceilings, and I would just turn the heat up and climb up into the loft, which was at the same level as the heater, and I'd just burrow down as the heat blasted - so cozy.

The Snoopy sheet closest to the camera is quite the antique. It was my brother Stephen's when he was a kid - a very young kid, maybe four. He's 27 now, ha ha. These sheets were so 80s... modeled after the Atari or an 80s video arcade, huh? I had some feminine Snoopy sheets when I was a kid - they were pink. Not sure what happened to them, but these survived and have been passed down to the next generation. Well, one of them has. This is the top, flat sheet. The fitted sheet is gone because it had holes in it, according to my mom. I also don't know where the pillow case is. But no matter, we have two or three random unmtched pillowcases that I aquired here and there. One is Winnie-the-Pooh, another is The Lion King, which belonged to my youngest brother (now 19). I went out and bought two plain white fitted sheets, so the Snoopy sheet is used on top of a plain fitted sheet.

And, laugh if you may at the tackiness of this 80s sheet, but keep in mind: 1. it was free, 2. it is a bedsheet on a kid's bed, not a wall hanging in the living room, and 3. you will not find a softer sheet. Anywhere. Ever. Being washed 78,371 times produces this pleasant result of softness. I wish this sheet fit my bed!

My bed has four sets of sheets that we have owned since I got our queen size bed a few months before we were married. Twenty more years and those things are going to feel GREAT! ;)

Ahh, one last shot of the sheets billowing in the breeze... and this was a week after the snow. I think there is a hard freeze in the forecast for next week, too. My sheets and I have enjoyed the glimpse of spring!

I love this idea...

...so I'm going to copy it. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right? I have noticed on some other blogs that people have their weekly dinner menu listed. I love that idea, and since I already write down my weekly menu plan on paper, why not add it here? It will appear on the right side sometime soon. I can't guarantee it will be kept up to date...

Domestic Contributions

I am learning to love domesticity. Preparing healthy meals from scratch in my kitchen with a baby on my hip... this is the life. This is where I am meant to be, serving God by serving my family. I forget who said it, but there's a quote something along the lines of a woman finding herself only by giving of herself. I am trying to focus more on thanking God for the simple household moments... Baking cookies. Hanging laundry out in the sun. Washing the dishes. Reading to Caroline while nursing the baby.

My mom asked me if I'd help out in preparing for my brother's wedding by baking some breads for a family brunch to be held the morning of the wedding. Since baking is one of my favorite domestic ways of serving others, I was quite happy to do this. And what a great time of year... I chose cranberry bread, pumpkin bread, and apple bread (recipes to be added eventually). By simply baking healthy, homemade breads, I can personally contribute to a special celebration... and I can include Caroline as well.

She helped me out as she desired... measuring the flour for both the cranberry and pumpkin breads. I am slowly growing in patience here; I am really working at it. I am past being concerned about the flour she spills on the floor or the fact that she always wants to taste the Sucanat or the honey... this morning, I was a bit stressed with preparing the last loaf while also packing so we could leave for the wedding rehearsal right after lunch (we were only 15 minutes late - whoohoo!). I failed in my attempts at patience with a three year old who inhaled cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in an attempt to smell them, resulting in stinging and crying which disturbed the falling-asleep baby on my back. I apologized for getting angry and we moved on. I want to make the domestic chores we do together to be pleasant times for enjoying simple tasks together. Mother gathering ingredients, daughter measuring and stirring, baby looking on alertly. The spilled flour and other imperfections are just minor bumps adding interest... just a part of the beauty of life. In the actual moment, I resolve to try to remember this.

You might be a hippie...

...if you have a tie-dye laundry load.

(apologies to Jeff Foxworthy)