When I do discover a role that is clearly mine, it can clear my head of fuzzy list of questions about my significance. Too often, Bob and I wonder who is supposed to be doing which jobs with our family and home. I enjoy learning more about my niche each year.
This week I decided that I am clearly the "resource manager" of our home. My spending habits in every area determine whether we stay within our budget and how well we live on what we have. I no longer cook all the meals but I determine what we buy, where we buy it and what we make with it. Organic, hormone free, raw dairy, and gluten free for ten is expensive! I do decide what we plant to eat and how we protect it. I don't even have to give each person his or her vitaimins everyday but I do order them and help determine who should take what and when. Supplementing is expensive! I am still the primary clothing shopper. I used to spend hours or days searching for clearance rack treasure at the mall (we walked there from our old house). That was a decade ago. It became too immodest, expensive and time consuming. Now I buy new shirts on Lands' End clearance and all the rest is found at a thrift store, sewn at home, or a hand me down from another family. I don't even keep my old clothing anymore if it makes me feel old and ugly. Any chance I am given to freshen up for a couple of dollars, I receive with joy! But we do not accumulate debt.
We have been saving all of children's clothes since Kendal and Kelsey were about six and eight. Some of it has been useful, and some I've had to give away recently. By "saving" I mean, removing stains, repairing lost buttons and tears, and packing things away with labels by size, gender and season. I do not mean that I treasure the clothing in any manner. I am too practical for that!
Likewise, I had been saving most of Daniel and Isaac's baby clothes for eight years when Noah arrived. Thankfully I had shared many of them as other families needed them. Otherwise it would've seemed like hoarding or wasting. Ultimately we bought many new things for Noah to fill in the gaps. We enjoy the older items that had been Daniel's and the new items equally. I have been diligently visiting the attic from season to season, labelling and repacking all the boy clothes he's wearing. And today, I added my newborn thrift store treasures to Noah's hand-me-downs and put them under my bed for our new son. I adore newborn clothing! I am excited about seeing our baby in them. As usual there are stains that couldn't been seen when the clothes were put away, so Oxyclean is taking care of them as I write.
These were all found at thrift stores for less than two dollars each, no stains. The photo does not show how cute and teeny they really are! />
Bob told me this week not to save Daniel's clothes for Noah anymore. I think it is because he has also seen God's provision in our life and the burden of storing earthly "treasure" in the attic. What a relief to make the spring change over for the boys this weekend and not have to find a place for those items that Daniel has outgrown! I love giving stuff away!
Anna is old enough to wear the beautiful church dresses that her Grandmother Butler purchased for Kendal and Kelsey years ago. Finally, we don't need to scour the stores for modest and reasonable dress items. But honestly it has been a huge challenge to storge such large items for so long. No matter how many times I revisit and reorganize the boxes I still don't seem to know where everything is. And shoes, oh my! I'm going to keep trying to recycle some gently used dress shoes butI must be more diligent about those labelling bags of shoes.
I have been making nearly all of the three little girls' everyday clothes since they were atleast two. They tend to be made of knit so they get stained or even worn out. I use clearance shirts and fabric, so I am spending two to ten dollars per each play dress. I enjoy making new t-shirt dresses and skirts. Now that there are three "little girls" the time required to keep it all in order is great, but well worth it. I love how they look. We add leggings or shorts underneath to accommodate the cold and outdoor playtimes. I rarely ever find anything in a thrift store that I would put on one of my little girls, except for knit shirts that can be sewn onto skirts. I love that our children nearly always look well dressed. I think it is a testimony of God's provision since most people think or say that they can't afford more children. I believe a faithful husband as the provider and a diligent wife as the manager of her home is God's way of making children "affordable".
The five girls share a bedroom, a tiny closet and two dressers. We're using more of the underbed space each year. I have to be very driven and careful. I give away everything that is not our favorite, doesn't fit well, approaches the line of immodesty or even just an unfavorable color for that child. I try to limit each child to a week's worth of clothing per season. Extreme weather items like turtlenecks, sweaters, jeans (for vacation or yardwork) are stored separately and kept to a minimum. If and when we have another daughter...well, I cannot even think about how that will work. But God knows and that'll do for me.
I've finished my first knitting project. I am pleased with it. Actually I am mostly pleased to be done since it was challenging. I hope it will be useful for our baby. I'm not saving or wasting any of our money by knitting but I do believe it is a practical skill and I wanted to master it. It's simply a labor of love for me at this time.
The finished blanket is below. Yes, those are two shades of green. That would be the consequence of not buying both sage skeins at the same time from the same lot. I was very non-comittal at the start. I hope after washing the minor color difference won't be so noticeable. Don't tell anyone but I changed the needle size and the number of rows on the border once the top border was complete.
I am quite fond of the basketweave stitching.
I started a second blanket and am now enjoying knitting. Yes, I am too busy to knit. But I make time to sit down in the evening a couple days each week to do it. Bob often talks with me or reads. I've been taking my knitting bag to various appointments so that I won't be tempted to read those horrible magazines or watch the tv that predominates most waiting rooms. I'm sure that I am quite the scene with a large belly and a knitting project in my lap. Old fashioned-looking I suppose. Oh well. Compared with what goes on "out there" I am old fashioned. : )
Jeremiah 6:16 says, "This is what the LORD says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'"
That is one of my favorite verses. Based upon it, I don't think that "old fashioned" is bad in God's eyes. I do hope to be culturally relevant enough that people will want to know about the God I serve.
The new blanket just looks like a napkin for now. The pattern is simple and amazing. So if anyone is interested in it, I can share the online link for instructions.
Due to illness Bob took only the girls to church on Easter. Kendal and Kelsey made their dresses. I made Joy's. Before our Mother/Daughter Tea I hope to make the matching ones for Anna and Mary.
Happy Springtime!
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