This Sewing Thing

Is a fantastic way to bond with my little princess! I wish I had memories like this with my mom. Well, I wish I had positive memories or domestic memories, but that's another day.

Since I set up the sewing machine last night after she went to bed, Auds was all excited to see it when she woke up this morning. She even begged me to sew her something before cooking breakfast.

So, we pulled up some chairs and made a dress together. It was adorable. And she put it on and modeled it while I made breakfast.

It also inspired her that we needed to take a trip to the zoo because...

It was zebra print. :) She's such a little diva. And we also made a Fourth of July one tonight when we got back because she needs an outfit for the holiday. I love that I'll be able to teach her this stuff since I never learned when I was younger. Bonding and impartation, can't beat it!

Look at Me!

I can sew!

Er, um... or at least sorta. I have had the week from HADES, I tell you.

Monday, we over sleep and my husband is nearly late for an evidence inspection across state. Tony poops EVERYWHERE. And I mean EVERYWHERE. On me, on him, on the Boppy pillow, on the bedding, on my husband, in my husband's MOUTH. It was madness, I tell you. I was trying to work on stuff for a new project at church. Every time I would try to do it, Tony would scream, my phone would stop working, Auds would pee on something. Auds rarely ever has accidents, and if she does it's when she's either too tired to function, she's jealous and it's a revenge thing (and I don't really call that an "accident" more as a "child, you know better!") or we're out and can't make it in time. But on Monday we had not a one success on the potty the.entire.day. GAH! And I was stressed out as all get out when we taught Monday School that night.

Tuesday, my husband got held up at work which left me to make dinner, bathe, dress, feed and get three people out of the door to make it to church. Couple that with the fact that I didn't have a chance to print out necessary documents for our after-church meeting (see Monday) and it was fun. My husband arrived about 10 minutes -- if that -- before church was over. Praise God he had those documents!

Today, oh man. Today was a battle of the wills. Tony was fighting sleep, as soon as I'd get him down Auds would start screaming and wake him up and I'd have two little ones screaming at the top of their lungs. And my kids are loud. Not like normal kid loud. But exceptionally, can project, will either be Broadway stars or preachers kinda LOUD.

So, I told my husband I wanted that sewing machine that I had been talking about for a while and I was going to use it to try and sew my frustrations away. He said "okay." And on the way home I got a flat tire. But I made a dress. And it may not be the most technically perfect or beautiful thing out there. But, for someone who has no domestic training whatsoever and didn't know how to even turn a sewing machine on, I'd say it's a huge leap.

One small step for womankind; one giant leap for this woman right here.

Tony's Dedication

Things have been quiet over here lately because I was busy preparing for Tony's dedication this weekend.

We had about 25 people over - some driving in from Texas, food to get for BBQ, a Scripture to find, and a million other things that some got done and some didn't.

We didn't get to finish mowing the grass in the oppressive Southern heat on Saturday, so the hubs was up at 6 am yesterday finishing it. We had to wake Auds up and get her ready to go spend the morning with my mothers in their hotel as we had sound check at 8:30. We had just had new microphones installed and needed to make sure they were working before service. So we got her ready, got us ready got Tony brother ready and headed out to church.

Then I drove back and forth between the church and our house to let people bring the cake inside, show people to get to the church, etc., etc.

The day was so crazy that I forgot to get pictures of just Tony, Tony and us, Tony and his nanny and parrain, and Tony and the rest of the family that came in. Yes, mother of the year award goes to me. But, at least, everyone was fed, everyone had fresh squeezed lemonades and limeades, and everyone got to love on the little man.

So, without further ado, here's some pictures from TB's dedication:

Walking up front. I kid you not, Pastor's word's were: "If only y'all could see this baby's legs!"

Talking sweet about Auds who just gave him a kiss.

Running across everyone to go see Granny.

Pastor reading Tony's Scripture. God impressed upon me in prayer that it was to be Jeremiah 1:5, so that's what it was. Auds has Psalm 17:8. It's crazy how different the Scriptures are for our two babies, but yet so entirely fitting.

Tony's nanny and parrain looking on.

Auds watching.

Pastor holding TB.

Look at that handsome little man.

How cute is he?

Pastor praying over TB.

Little man looking around.

TB: "Excuse me, Pastor. I'm just gonna slobber all over you and chew on your jacket. "

Pastor: "I think he's leaving me a present there."

Handing TB back to his proud papa.

Praying for us.

More prayer.

It was a hectic day, but a great one. Hopefully we can have some normalcy now. :)

The Cutest Thing I Never Got a Picture of

Today for Father's Day we went over to our adopted family's house for a crawfish boil. And I saw the cutest thing EVER. Tony brother had just woken up from a nap as the crawfish were poured onto the newspaper and my husband was bouncing him trying to calm him down. With little man in his lap, he sat down and tried to eat something. And Tony fell asleep. There were my two men with a mound of crawfish in front of them and the little one was snoring. It was ADORABLE. I, however, didn't have my camera or phone and was covered in crawfish boil so I wasn't about to dig in my bag to find it. The same went for everyone else there. But just picture it. Cute, huh?

Self-Sufficiency = Anti-Feminism?

*Soap box alert* Soap box alert*

I've been thinking a lot lately as to what are deemed typical skills of homemakers and characteristics of feminists. It is commonly viewed that these two groups fall on opposite sides of a vast spectrum - one is bound and one is liberated. I find that idea to be hogwash.

How is self-sufficiency anti-feminist? Homemakers of past made healthy meals for their families from scratch. They made their family's clothes and mended them to ensure their long-standing durability. They grew gardens. They ensured healthy and clean environments. They educated their children at the same time.

They were self sufficient. Regular Proverbs 31 women. They did not depend on others to do their work for them. They worked hard for what was in their households. They did not just run down to the mall and spend money frivolously. They didn't dine out on the town just for the sake of not having to cook for themselves frequently. They didn't flit from man to man and hobby to hobby for the sake of "enlightenment."

These women learned classic and time-tested abilities that were useful and contributed to their households and communities. "Communities? Really?" Yes, really. These women passed their skills on to those younger who then used those skills to help their families, their neighbors, their friends. They bought their materials, their tools, their seed and plants and groceries locally. It wasn't always easy, but they did it. And if something wasn't in season or money didn't warrant having a new dress, they did with out and made do with what they had.

But we view these women as chained. Oppressed. Pushed down by the man to do his bidding.

Alternately, they took pride in what they did and who they did it for. They weren't reliant upon others.

Today, if I wanted to be a liberated cosmopolitan woman I would need to eat food out on the town that I did not prepare on dishes that I did not wash. I would need to buy over-priced and cheaply-made clothing that I did not make (but rather support an industry that thrives on sweatshops and real oppression). I would buy my groceries at a mass merchandiser who buys pesticide-ridden products because they are cheap. If I wanted something I would just jump out and pay someone else to produce a sub-standard item just for the sake of convenience. If I were to be independent by society's standards, I would be completely dependent upon others. I wouldn't have a skill to bear to my name to get me the actual things that I needed to live by.

How is being self-sufficient not being a feminist? How are creating, crafting and cultivating goods by means of acquired skills demeaning and shameful? It seems that the lens through which these two groups are viewed is highly and unfavorably skewed, doesn't it?

TV Free

Call me one of those moms. Call me crazy. Call my kids sheltered. But we are now a TV free home. That's right, if it ain't a VHS or a DVD, it ain't playing in this house.

We've never had cable because we've never really been home enough to watch it and really don't want half of the stuff that is on to play in our homes. But we did have a converter box and would watch PBS during the day. However, after much thought and prayer, we decided that we would get rid of that, too.

See, you can't control what happens and what enters your house through the TV. You can't screen it beforehand - unless you play only from a DVR, and we didn't have one of those either.

I guess the clincher was while watching Arthur one day this past week. I was nursing Tony and didn't have the remote and wasn't really paying attention to what was on until it was too late. The show was talking about fears, and while it may have had a good moral in the end, it was a little too much for my two year old. The show actually mentioned evil spirits attaching themselves to one of the characters and following her home from her various vacations with her parents.

And while I know that yes, in spiritual warfare that is possible, my two year old doesn't. And she also doesn't need to see a depiction of said evil on the TV designed to incite fear in the first place. Since I was nursing and didn't have the remote, I couldn't stop her from watching that small snippet with a glazed-over look in her eye. As soon as I could though, I got up and turned it off.

Who's to say that the wrong programming might not be played or a censor didn't really censor a program properly? Who's to say a Janet Jackson-esque occurrence might not happen and I'd be powerless to stop my innocent children from being exposed to it?

Yes, I may be off my rocker. But my children are innocent (aside from that original sin business) and I intend to do my best to keep them that way. I don't need my two year old wanting to show skin or sing lyrics to a scandalous song or watching questionable material. She thinks she's a princess - and I plan on letting her for as long as I can.

Is it just me, or are they pushing these things more and more and starting earlier and earlier?