What Great Hair Tells Me....

Today I fear I'm going to greatly embarrass my mom. She recently gave me a bunch of pictures to scan in the computer and hopefully scrapbook. This picture of her is one of my all time favorites! Pictured with her is my oldest sister and my brother (who greatly favors my son in this picture).

But what I most wanted to point out was my mom's great hair!

Isn't it the coolest? She worked as a hair stylist full time when she graduated from high school and then cosmetology school.  I think it's evident in how incredibly perfect her hair is in this picture.  I wish it were in full color so you could see the great highlights as well, but the black and white also lends to the nostalgic quality of this photo.  Every time I look at this picture I swell up with pride.  That's MY mom!  At the time a single mother of two small children, & she took the time to do her hair and look her best.  (And not just for the picture! She looked like this all the time... amazing!)  She inspires me to do better and to do more.
  It makes me reflect not just on my own hairdo (90% of the time, a ponytail.) but also what my kids will think when they look back on "old" photos of me  The song Legacy comes to my mind and it reminds me that this job I have is so much bigger than me; so much bigger than the here and now. When I look into the eyes of my oldest child I see myself reflected back in a mirror image that is 26 years younger, 26 years more innocent, 26 years more child like, and I wonder what will she be thinking as she approaches her 32nd birthday? Sometimes I marvel at how my biggest accomplishment so far in this life has happened so completely outside of me!!! He is so faithful.  No matter what my hair looks like, or how not put together I feel sometimes,

 if I leave a legacy in this world it will not be because of me; it will be in spite of me!

~Bringing Back The Apron~

A while back I wrote a post about aprons for my "Throwback Thursdays".  It seems that in some ways wearing an apron has gone out of style.  It used to be that no woman would step into her kitchen in her June Cleaver dress, pearls and high heels without an apron on.  Maybe our clothes are a bit more washable, maybe our kitchen time is a little more limited, or maybe we've just stepped away from the need for aprons.  Whatever the case may be, I'm ready to bring back the apron!

Pictured above are some of my aprons, each has a tale to tell.  The first, a brown print with large pockets is one that I made as a young girl when I was first learning to sew.  The second is my first listing on Etsy, and is ready to be purchased by a homemaker in training like myself! The third was my apron as a child. (I plan to pattern it and offer Mother/Daughter aprons like this in my store!)  The fourth was Grandma Colleen's.  Countless hours were spent in this apron preparing meals for her loving husband and three growing kids in her tiny house there in Tehachapi California. Every time I tie it on, I can picture her covered in flour and grease making biscuits and gravy for Christmas morning...  The fifth apron was an impulse!  I was anxious to get started making aprons for my Etsy store (simple stitching) but I didn't have any real fabric to speak of, so I made it out of a bed skirt! And the final half apron was my prototype with my signature "peek-a-boo bow"!

As you can tell I'm very excited about this new venture and it may take some of my time away from blogging, but in this The Year of No, I pray it will aid us in being free of our burden!

Throwback Thursday

It occurred to me the other day as I was strapping my son into his car seat how different life used to be for mothers of preschoolers in the 1950's. To think that most people didn't use seat belts themselves much less strap their children in the car is amazing. The family would all just pile into the car, mother holding baby on her lap if they weren't old enough to sit by themselves! (How nice that would have been for a nursing mom!) And though it may have been easier, I'm grateful for the safety standards of today. Thankful that I can put my children in their seats, buckled in properly and whisper a prayer of safety over our journey no matter how long or short it may be.

Today I will keep my reflections short and to the point:

Before:

After:

Throwback Thursday

"This Changes Everything..."

This is their tag line and I don't know if it could be more appropriate. Can you imagine what my Grandma will say when she comes to my house and my 6 year old daughter picks up my phone to video call her daddy who is miles away at camp?

Years ago, the technology we take for granted today was just a dream. In fact, it was an attraction. I can remember spending a long hot day at Disneyland and taking the time to cool off in either the Hall of Presidents (Mom's idea) or the Tomorrowland ride (my idea). Mobile mannequins showed us what could be in the future...I remember seeing a futuristic scene as the air conditioned ride slowly turned. I saw a mother and her children chatting joyfully with daddy while he was at work some distance away, and as the next scene approached it was the same scenario from the father's perspective. We soaked it all it thinking it to be a distant idea. Yet here we are... with "face time" as a reality. And not just on large screens or laptop computers, but on a device that fits in the palm of your hand.

Dear friends, the future is here and this changes everything...

Throwback Thursday~ Entertaining

Today we had friends over for a "luncheon". At least that's what I would have called it 60 years ago! 60 years ago I would have had the house sparkling clean, 'horderves planned for when they walked in the door and light sandwiches to be served 20 minutes later. Fruit salad served from a crystal bowl, and maybe potato chips would accompany the lunch as well fresh squeezed lemonade. With of course a cake made from scratch for dessert.


But since we live in 2010, I picked up Papa Murphy's take & bake pizza, used paper plates, served a nice green salad (with lettuce from my garden), and had serve yourself drinks available...

And you know what? We had a splendid time!

Throwback Thursday

Do you ever take the time to ponder the world of digital photography?

It's pretty amazing. Tonight I uploaded to our external hard-drive the pictures and video clips from our camera. (I even put some of them on Facebook for friends and family to see). The world of computers that we live in truly is a marvel. To know how far the technology in photography has come in just the past 60 years makes you wonder where it will go in the next 60.

Growing up my dad had two really old cameras. Every once in a while he would get them out and let us look at them. He would oh so carefully open the case and with his pen as a pointer, show us the intricate details of how the cameras once took pictures. The brown leather case was old and worn. I used to think how fun it would be to have copies of all the pictures that camera had taken. I wonder who first owned it. How did they come by it? Did they save for ages to buy it? Was it a gift?

To have a camera in your possession, to take pictures at home was a big deal in the 1920's. And though it became more common to own a camera as the 1950's and 60's arrived, to look at the quality of the photographs makes you again curious about the technology. I remember as a child posing for a "photo shoot" in my living room holding a pink carnation in my teeth, dressed to the nines with my hair and make up graciously done by my older sister. I was a star. Snap, click, whirr, slowly the camera would spit out the photo, and we would carefully hold the edges and set it on the stereo to dry and develop. Just like that, I was a star.

Today, I snap a picture and my 21 month old baby mimics his sisters by saying "see it". Click , "hang on, just a second, let me hit the playback button" says photographer. Giggles. They are stars.

Will they ever see the photo printed? Maybe not, but I think it holds the same fascination for them as it did for me.

Today I'm grateful for the advancement in photography. (And for people who use it well! Like her, her and her!Oh, and her and her too!)

I'm grateful that I can take a picture in my memory as well as on a nice little pocket sized rectangle!

Throwback Thursday

Today I'm running behind.  It's bath time, my kids are in the tub and I sit on the toilet blogging while they play.  It's been one of those "spinning your wheels" kind of days.  No matter how much I had hoped to get done, or how many tasks I began nothing seemed to be working the way I wanted it to.
However when I got home from picking Grace up from school and began to fix a "quick lunch", a thought ran through my mind.

 Thank God for microwaves.

Really, I know that maybe they are not the best for you health wise, but man they are so convenient! 

I'll never forget the first time I saw a microwave and was fascinated by the speed in which the food was heated. And I will also never forget our first microwave at home... it was HUGE compared to the micro microwaves that are available now.  Not to mention how much it weighed.  We were always so careful about setting the wattage, and the time, and we were not allowed to "watch" the food in the microwave (though really could you see through that black mesh screen on the window anyway?).  Mom was faithful about covering each plate with a sheet of wax paper to prevent unnecessary clean ups.  And I will forever remember the first time I microwaved a marshmallow!!!!

  I was thankful today for the blessing that is "fast" cooking.  Thankful for the technology that allows me to have lunch on the table in 5 minutes so the kids can still take their naps at the normal scheduled time.  Thankful this Thursday for the throwback that reminds me of the age we live in and the blessings we have!

(originally written on Thursday May 20th 2010)

Throwback Thursday

So today I transition from the laundry room into the kitchen!

Do you remember when mothers wore aprons?  I know some still do, but not many.  An apron used to be a household staple not just a gag gift for the dad who barbecues every now and then.  In fact, I love how this McCall's pattern for a wrap around apron reminds me just how needed these beauties were.  The dresses worn underneath needed to be pristine and kept nice, thus facilitating the need for an apron. (Not to mention the fact that women were cooking bacon on a regular basis and full three course meals requiring a lot of time in the kitchen!)

I've recently taken to wearing an apron belonging to Aaron's grandmother.  It's sweet.  I take the girls pictures in it on their birthdays.  It serves to remind me of why I do what I do.  I intend to leave a legacy.  I make muffins, lovingly spread peanut butter and cook healthy dinners so that my children will think back with heartfelt gratitude upon the time I was able to spend with them.  Teaching, training and loving these precious souls is what I was made for. 

In looking in the archives of my dear friend's blog I noticed her daughter wearing an apron.  The pattern of the fabric stirred a recognition in me instantly and foggy memories of helping my mother with floured hands on bright orange counter tops came springing forward.  I asked her how she had come across it, curious to see if she too had the same apron I had as a child.  Her mother had passed it on to her, from a box of hand me downs from their neighbors (my mother!).  Being a gracious soul, she washed and folded the precious memory maker and mailed it across many miles to grace my home.  Her daughter whom I'm sure has also made many memories in the apron colored a picture for my sweet Noraa. 
Thank you Eliana and thank you Elise.

May the memories of aprons not be lost forever...

Throw Back Thursday

Seems like with each and every generation we are looking for something to make life a bit easier!  And why not?  This adorable advertisement from Old Dutch Cleanser just makes me smile.  I wish I had some to try.  Does it work better than my current cleanser?  Who knows, it might!  I personally thought the best cleanser was a little bit of elbow grease!                                                                          However for this Throw Back Thursday I thought it would be fun to share a tip from my Don Aslet book entitled "Is There Life After Housework?"  He has a chapter on working smarter not harder.  It's called "Relax and Work Less".  I thought his tip could shed some light on the cleansers of our day!

He says that any thing that needs to be cleaned can be done so easily when you use the E.S.D.R. method. Eliminate, Saturate, Disolve, Remove.
He claims that anything can be cleaned by letting the cleaner do the work for you!  Mr. Aslet says to eliminate the dust, crumbs, debris from the surface.  Then saturate the surface with the cleaner.  Let the cleaner do the work and as it disoves the dirt and grime you can do something else with your time!  Then simply remove the cleaner/water and enjoy the clean surface below!
It seems almost too simple to be true!  Maybe this was the answer we've been looking for all these years!

Throw Back Thursday

As I've written before, I just adore the era of the 1950's and 60's.  I know it's overglorified in my mind, but it seems a much simpler time... Until I see pictures like the one here, and read the thoughts of sweet ladies like this, who's reflections make me grateful.
The process of washing clothes has always been a tiresome chore. Think back to even prairie days when they had to go to the creek (full of dirty water) and wash clothing by hand with soap they made themselves!  When compared to that, I feel blessed that my soap making process takes me all of 20 minutes and lasts me for almost a year!! (For my post on what I call the laundry quandry click here!)
So today for Throw Back Thursday I challenge you to time how long it takes you do the the WORK of a load of laundry. (Loading the matchine, transfering clothes, folding clothes, and putting them away)  Then say a prayer of gratitude for the beautiful technology that allows us the "time" to do more for Him and for our families!
Oh, and watch your fingers on the ringer!

Throwback Thursday

As I ponder how to best bless through this blog dishes clank in the sink below.  Hot water washes over as I rinse, stack and load the modern convenience to my right.  I'm so blessed.  I know and have so much due to the age and country and the wealth I live in. (Not by America's standards my friends, but God's)  My mind is frequently drawn back in imagination of a time I don't know, but dream of.  What was it like? What were the challenges, the differences, the blessings of a time before my own?  I came across this article at this website, stating it's from Housekeeping Monthly in May, 1955.  I thought you might enjoy reading it!
(I did edit by taking off the last six tips.  They did not seem appropriate for this setting...)

I hope this "throwback" blesses.  Sometimes it's good to look back and learn from another generation.  Tonight when your husband gets home from work and the house is decluttered, the children are "dressed and pressed", and you are wearing your pearls and high heals, take a mental picture of his face! (then let me know about it okay?)