Eckenrode Family

30 Days of Happiness: Day 21

This was a weekend full of our first mild temperatures for months and lots and lots of sunshine. We did all we could to soak it up. Here are a few pictures from our sunny weekend:
::  We celebrated my nephew's first birthday and I made him a crown.
::  Best buds lounging.
::  Knitting in our newly opened sunroom. Everything is so much better in the sunshine.
::  Sunday morning I baked bread. I made cheese bread for the first time and it is delicious!
:: While the bread was baking I made these linen bread bags. The loaves are too big to fit into gallon zip locks and I don't like storing them in plastic anyway. Also, when giving a loaf as a gift it looks so much nicer this way. I made them by cutting one piece of linen 17 inches by 21 inches.

::  Miles rediscovered his shadow after it's long absence. He named it Sunny and had so much fun with it.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 20

Cutting soap today I thought of the stories my dad told me last night of my great-grandmother. How she kept chickens and one day went to the coop to find that a black snake was swallowing several chicks whole. She grabbed the snake, cut it open and saved several of the chicks. And how on wash day she’d hike up the hill to get water, build a fire, heat the water and wash the clothes. I feel lucky that I can choose the things I want to do the way she used to like baking bread, hanging laundry, and making the things we use. I feel lucky that I don’t have to do them if I don’t want to. But mostly these stories of a relative I’ve never met make me feel strong and capable.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 19

Just a few things bringing happiness into my life this weekend:

::  Drawings by Miles depicting very detailed scenarios which he love to explain to me.

::  A few freshened up corners in my house

A little trick I read about is to buy a bunch of flowers and then to separate them out by type and put them in several vases all over your house.
This has become one of my favorite spots - very cozy and just perfect for reading.
::  Dinner tonight with my family by candlelight. Every time we light a candle Ben sings “Happy Birthday.” Never fails.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 18

(via Everything Fabulous)

30 Days of Happiness: Day 17

All In Good Time

This morning I went about setting up the paper mache bowls craft I’ve been planning for awhile. I cut strips of newspaper about a week ago. I went to the craft store and after realizing how expensive paper mache is, I made my own with water, flour and salt. So, this morning I went about wrapping the bowls in foil and setting up the craft.

By the time I had it all set up the boys had a game of “delivery man” already in process, complete with face paint and hats. I called them to the table and after about 2 minutes of sitting and gluing strips on the bowls, they were done and wanted to get back to their game.

I guess timing is everything. I think I need to try this again but do the set-up before they get out of bed and into something else. I should also celebrate the fact that they are playing so well together. I’ve noticed a lot less fighting lately and a lot more shared imaginative play. In fact, yesterday they played outside together despite the 20 degree weather, for so long that I started and completed a sewing project. I checked on them every few minutes throughout the project and never once had to intervene between them. I got to replace the cushion on our rocking chair that has been bothering me.
I love the log cabin quilting and so I gave that a try and failed. But, once again it’s ok. I like the end result.

So, I know I have to let go of my expectations and just enjoy the process and planning involved. I think I will try again for that paper mache craft and the log cabin design. In time it will come. In the meantime, I’m letting go and enjoying what is.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 16

It’s amazing how rearranging some furniture can give you a new perspective. A friend came over that has a good eye for design and before long we were rearranging three rooms. It felt so good that I’m inspired to make more changes. I’ve been wanting to recover a rocking chair cushion with the leftover Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks scraps I have and so I think this is just the push I needed.
If I have anything left I’m thinking of doing a runner for a table. I can't get enough of these fabrics.

With March just around the corner Tim and I have been talking a lot about the garden and chickens we’re planning for the spring.

So, a lot of dreaming and planning are beginning to take place around here. This is just the thing we need to get us through these last sunless days of winter.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 15

::  Getting together with some new friends to knit and feeling like with every new person we have into this house, the more it feels like our home. ::  Preparing to finally do the paper mache bowls from Handmade Home and thinking I’ll surprise the boys with it one morning, sitting on the table for them to find. ::  Feeling that spring is really in the air and opening the sunroom door. ::  Loving that the boys can spend a good amount of time playing together in the tub. ::  Loving Miles and Ben’s new characters – dogs. Miles is Spot and Ben is Dot. These two dogs love to take commands and are anxious to please their owner. They also scratch itches with their toes.


::  Laughing out loud today remembering this scene last night:  I’m in bed reading and I can hear Tim out in the living room cheering the U.S. on in their hockey game against Canada. Moments later I see the American flag burst through the door in front of a beaming Tim. Then I hear him opening the front door and know he is hanging the flag outside. Gotta love his passion.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 14

Welcome Back Sunshine

30 Days of Happiness: Day 13

"Don't You Want to take a Picture of Me?"

Today while sitting under a blanket knitting, Ben fell asleep next to me. He looked so sweet that I grabbed the camera.

Miles, sitting next to us wonders allowed, "Don't you want to take a picture of me?" "Sure," I say.

Our Family as Stick Figures

30 Days of Happiness: Day 12

I can’t remember the last time I looked outside and saw it not snowing. I love it. I commiserate with my neighbors and exclaim that it’s “enough already” but secretly I love it. With nowhere to be and no responsibilities outside of the house, the boys and I have been hunkering down and just doing what we please. I find myself always finding an excuse to be in the kitchen next to the wood burning stove – dreaming of food, reading recipes, measuring, baking, cooking, wiping up, washing, putting away, knitting, folding laundry…
The boys have been amusing themselves in new and fabulous ways: Standing in the bathroom, just barely able to see the top of his head in the mirror, Ben uses the round brush to style his do.

Playing at the sink, Miles plays with his Playmobile pirates while Ben repeatedly dunks his head. Awesome.
Miles goes into the other room to draw and is the first one in history to illustrate our family of four. It feels so monumental. He even took the time to draw all of the neighbors in their houses and one of their dogs.  We put it in a gallon ziplock to protect it from the falling snow and stopped by a few of our snowbound neighbors houses to show them. He was so proud and so was I.