Gratitude and Growing...

Have you ever noticed how much JOY you get from doing something for someone who is grateful for your effort? 

How much MORE you want to do for that person who appreciates you...

Appreciates the things you do for them... little or large... easy or hard... just for them...

Gratitude grows your love for doing things for them...  fertilizes it... brings forth blossoms... and fruit.

Roo is one of my favorite peeps to do little hats for... because he loves them, uses them and ALWAYS says, "Tanks, Noni."

I wonder if our own blessings grow or shrink in proportion to our gratitude versus our feeling slighted or overlooked... or begrudging that we should have more?  God is always so much bigger than I am. That said, I find many of His lessons strewn in the ordinary business of living... so, I'm going to take away a desire to grow my own gratitude from this one.  ;)

The Crochet Love is still growing... neither of these photos has good color (inside, bad wintry light)...

I had it outside in the afternoon light the other day and the beauty of these colors almost took my breath away!   I think I need to do about two more feet before calling it quits and starting a border... Onward!

My Roo photos are compliments of Amanda. THANK YOU, Amanda. 

"Gratitude is a word that I cherish.  Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being."
~  Elie Wiesel

May you find joy in the simple... and express gratitude for its magnificence. 

blessings ~ tanna

Happy Accident and Happy Moments

The last knitting project of 2013 was a Happy Accident (Details are here).  I'm tickled pink over how my Roo Vest turned out. 

When my daughter and grandsons are in town for their annual December visit, I will not lie… I go through withdrawals from my LYS. However, we make NUMEROUS trips to Hobby Lobby for Christmas projects, etc. In my desperation, I fondled this yarn and LOVED the way it felt. I surmised it might enlarge the Baby Sophisticate enough to make Roo a larger version than his first.
Almost as soon as I started it, I recognized it was going to be MUCH larger than Roo could wear… and I had a secret hope it might be large enough for me. ;)

After they headed home, I picked it back up… did a little math and decided it would work perfectly… and, I decided to make it with cap-like sleeves, more like a vest (which I love to wear… way more than sweaters).  It was indeed a Happy Accident!

Just a few Christmas memories...

If one is good, two must be even better!! 

I'll hold these precious moments in my heart until I can hold these sweet angels in my arms again...

I miss them...

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
1 Peter 5:7

blessings ~ tanna

Elves, Rockettes, Loveless Cafe... and The Real Reason...

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I flew to Nashville for a perfectly timed pick-up at the airport by these two cute elves, a.k.a The Little Men and their Little Momma.  They were winding down the first leg of their long trip home to Texas for the holidays.  I was meeting up as back-up for the second leg.  ;)

Little Momma had a fun rest day scheduled for Saturday... and a Christmas wish of her own to see the Rockettes' Christmas Show.  I did forewarn that the other three of this party (myself included) have the attention span of gnats and it might not be as enjoyable for her as desired. 

All in all, we had a WONDERFUL time!  We ate popcorn.  Sang along.  And, tried to be as good as we could... Roo took himself a nice long nap, woke up and exclaimed, "This was so FUN!"  You just have to love that!  Alex may have asked 99 times, if he asked once, " Are they almost done?"  They both really did enjoy the Toy Soldier routine and the finale of The Living Nativity was AMAZING!!  I'm very happy I was able to share this treat with them thanks to their Momma.

 

Probably my favorite part of the day (other than the precious hugs from my Little Men) was biscuits at the Loveless Café!  FABULOUS!!  If you are ever in Nashville, you deserve the treat of a visit here!

 

 

At the end of the day, we braved the traffic lines to see the Nativity at the Nashville Gaylord.  It was very beautiful with its all white figures... lit in the cold evening air... a reminder of the real reason for the season.

 

After our fun Saturday, we hit the road for a long 12 1/2 hours of travel.  We were soooo glad to see the lights of home!  Things have been a whirlwind since.  I'll be hoping to carve in some moments to visit, but in case I get sidetracked with my Little Men and the rest of the family, I wish for each of you a season filled with The Gift we each are offered through Jesus Christ. 

 

May the Light of His Love shine on you and yours...

 

blessings ~ tanna

Little Men Love

I'm just home from a week with the Little Men & Co..  Oh, these two are just the bee's knees!  They delight their Noni's soul.  I miss them so very much.

And, I cherish each moment I have with my Little Men...

Even when I am exhausted from dragon making, I wouldn't trade a single millisecond.  ;)

I found this collection of quotes on one of our adventures; there are ninety of them. I think I am going to put them in a big ironstone bowl.  But for now, I'm enjoying them as a stack on my desk.  I do love a good quote.  Words hold the power to hurt or heal, inspire or defeat... May we always use them with care.

As a belated report on the fresh apple cake, it was good... just not as good as I had hoped.  I think I like a bit more spice in my fall-ish treats.  The praline icing was WONDERFUL though! 

I hope each of you have moments you will cherish this week...

blessings ~ tanna

Echo Beach and Dragon's Breath...

After finishing Love Train on the way to the beach, I started this Echo Beach by Kieran Foley at the beach.  I'm using Noro Sekku in colorway 3. 

Ended up ripping it all out on the plane coming home and starting over... now, I'm looking forward to finding some time to get back to it!!  Not yet... but, soon.

A few beach echoes of my own... the Little Men working away... oh, I'm missin' these little guys.

And, can't you just feel the breath of that Dragon?! 

"Make voyages!  Attempt them!  There's nothing else." 
~ Tennessee Williams

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.  Make your voyages...

blessings ~ tanna

Beach Time with The Little Men

Oh, the week was so SHORT!  I loved every. single. minute. of time with The Little Men & Co..  We enjoyed the Y-azy Y-iver (Lazy River) lots and lots and lots of times!!  Alex, who no longer wants to be referred to as Little Man because he is "big", jumped in and raced Roo and I around... passing us every time.

There were also lots of sand castles built... and torn down.  Roo enjoyed eating the sand off his squid's legs in spite of his Momma's and my admonishments NOT to eat it. 

There were miles of beach walks and shell seeking.

And, oh, the miles of "HAAS-soc BAWL" (soccer ball to the rest of you) with Little Roo.  That little-two-year-old-running-machine chased his ball TIRELESSLY up and down, back and forth, all around the beach... he took turns wearing the rest of us down.  His Noni LOVED her time trying to keep up!!  Zachary told me I finally had my Runner.  ;)  I believe I do. 

There were sugars and shells, waves and wonder, magic and merriment... all passing much too quickly... Now, to get settled back into life without the Little Men & Co....

{{sigh}}

"It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes life worth living."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes


I hope everyone has had a wonderful week... I'll be catching up as soon as I can.

blessings ~ tanna

Be Back Soon...

Yep... I'm in my own personal heaven... time with The Little Men & Co....

Savoring every. single. moment...

Be back all too soon...

Blessings ~ tanna

Our Eagle

My Beloved, a.k.a. Pop Pop, was one of five nominees in his company for the Eagle Award.   It was a great honor to be nominated out of 1500 others; and, while Pop Pop was not named Eagle out of those last five, he is and always will be our Eagle. 

At a point in life where many of his peers are growing complacent and resisting change, he embraces it and continues to stretch himself.   I am always amazed and impressed by his willingness and optimism in the face of difficult situations.  Times are hard.   Change is tough.  He continues to soar.  I love that.

I love that our family honors the qualities of hard work, integrity and perseverance.  I love that my Little Men are learning about that from their parents... and are learning the value of encouragement and affirmation and love.   I think the look on his face when this poster arrived in the mail was way better than any look he could have had had they announced him winner.

I hope he will always know, deep in his heart, that he is The Eagle:  The Winner to us. 

The Entrelac shawl is coming along in spite of almost two whole tiers having to be taken out after an unfortunate and faulty turn.  Seems I lost myself between boarding and resuming knitting on the plane.  Bummer.  But, the entrelac is kind of like eating potato chips; it's hard to do just one, so starting back wasn't hard.

Travel to Evan's meeting last week was wicked:  getting up at 1:30 A.M. for one flight and then two days later getting up at 3:15 A.M. for the return flight.  I had myself some serious issues with TIRED.  Glad to be starting on a more normal week and glad to have The Unloved sitting in time out.  ;)  Thanks for all the wonderful advice.  I think just considering that I can freely rip it all out has been liberating!   We'll see what happens down the line. 

"Anyone who has gumption knows what it is, and anyone who hasn't can never know what it is."
~ L. M. Montgomery

Hope you are all off to a wonderful week.

blessings ~ tanna

Class or Cop Out: Analysis of The Unloved

Ugh.  I'd still been forcing myself along on The Unloved.  Why is it The Unloved?  I've tried really hard to figure that one out (so as to avoid this situation in the future!).  I'm all for learning from your mistakes so you don't have to keep repeating them.

The yarn?  Nope, it is a beautiful silk.  Slips through my fingers like butter.  Now, the color... not the one I really wanted.  But, let's face it, pale yellow does NOT look all that great on fair folk.

The lace (even on the purl side)?  Nope, I love knitting lace.  Keeps my focus WAY better than simple knits, which I continually have to "fix" because I've strayed off path.

So, what gives?  I've had advice from putting it aside to just plain frogging (for you non-knitters, that's just unraveling the whole thing).  But, I HATE starting things and not finishing them.  And, really, it's looking pretty good.  Still, it is like W.O.R.K. for me to get anything done on this one.

Enter:  Entrelac Class at our LYS. 

Perfect excuse for putting The Unloved aside for awhile.  After all, the class started on Friday; I had to START mine then, too.  Right?  It is a class, not a cop out.  Right?

Well,  you might fall for that if you didn't know:

1)  I've done entrelac before.
2)  I'm not using the class pattern.
3)  How STUCK I've been on The Unloved.

All I'll say is that the frustrations and disappointments of my busy past two weeks began to f.a.l.l. a.w.a.y. Friday afternoon as the little squares of Noro emerged from my knitting needles.  Each stitch soothed my soul and the world righted itself in the simple repetitive motion.

I think I understand why I have had issues with The Unloved.   You see the pattern for the entrelac?  It is a shawl.  Next, you'll see the beautiful silk is trying to become a bolero. 

Apparently, it is not just the knitting process that I love; it is the object I am creating.  The deal seems to be:  I JUST LIKE DOING SHAWLS.  I have hardly ever worn a sweater I've made.  I just don't.  But, my shawls... they are part of my everyday life.  They wrap me in beautiful color and texture and make me smile...

And, they soothe that part of my heart that misses... The Little Man.

He turns four today.  It hardly seems anytime since I drove 16 hours... just to welcome him into our lives... and hold him in my arms.  Oh, I love this child.   Happy Birthday, Little Man.  Your Noni loves you and your Little Brother to the moon and back... bigger than the sky and all the stars...

"Between grief and nothing I will take grief."  William Faulkner, 1949

Hoping you solve a little mystery in your own life today... blessings ~ tanna

Little Folk Love...

There is no greater joy than seeing happiness on the face of your loved ones... (check out those two little teeth!)

And, it is the simplest of things that can bring that happiness...

Through the eyes of a child... all is new again...

Velvet, our little assassin cat who is getting on in age, enjoyed the attention of a babe, too... well... maybe not so much... but she was a super good sport letting Little Lady get in her loves...

Stolen from Amanda

The other side of the joy in seeing the happiness on their faces is the sorrow of missing out on special times... Our Little Roo had his big 2nd birthday  and here... far, far away...

Stolen from Amanda

And, our precious Little Man had his end of year programs... This one from the Cubbies class of Awana... far, far away...  Noni misses you so much.

Children... and Grandchildren... bring your greatest joys and your greatest sorrows... In some ways, life would definitely be easier without them; but, I would have never reached the zeniths... nor the nadirs... Thank you, God, for the blessings You have given.

"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises." 
~ Leo Buscaglia

blessings ~ tanna

Marathoners, Melanoma, iPhone photos and Super Heroes

I saw this license plate three times over the course of one week... Every. single. time. my heart lurched just a bit.  Some of you know I've struggled to get past not being able to run anymore (knee).  When I would see this, I would think about how some people run and how some people are runners.  Letting go of the "I am a runner" part of my life has been hard... very hard.  Ultimately, seeing this X RUNR tag gave me an odd little sense of comfort... I am an ex-runner. 

The tragedy at the Boston Marathon this week is devastating.  I cannot begin to fathom the thinking that makes someone desire to hurt others like that.

I was asked if I thought people would run the Boston Marathon again.  My answer is a resounding, "Yes!"   While most marathons don't, Boston Marathon requires that you qualify by running a certain time for your age; I never ran that fast.  You can be sure that the people who do qualify are runners... to their very core.  They don't give in; they don't give up; they don't listen to the voice that says it would be easier to quit.  They are used to overcoming pain; to pushing past the wall; to thriving; to diving deep in their souls for the will to push on to the finish.  Those who can will be back.  They will not succumb to the darkness, to the evil.  They will carry the torch for those who can't.  I will carry it for them in my heart.

On the next subject, one year ago this week, I was about to have surgery on my leg for this melanoma.  If there is anything the combination of this memory and the events in Boston says, it is to enjoy each day.  We NEVER know how many days we have.  I was so very lucky that they could remove this entire thing and that it had not spread.  One of my favorite blog friends was not so fortunate; she passed away earlier this year.  Get your check-up.  The warning signs:

A: asymmetry.  One half unlike the other half.
B: border.  Irregular, scalloped or poorly defined border.
C: color.  varied from one area to another.  shades of tan and brown, black: sometimes white, red or blue
D: diameter.  while melanomas are usually greater than 6mm (the size of a pencil eraser) when diagnosed, they can be smaller.
E: evolving.  a mole or skin lesion that looks different from the rest or is changing in size, shape or color.

Now, this... well, it just makes me smile... a texted photo of My Little Roo, usually in such a good humor; he dances along through life hearing his own sweet music.  But, he can throw himself down in a pure little hissy-fit when he feels it is required... with real, crocodile-size tears.  If you don't believe me, just deny him some M&Ms.  His Little Momma is so good... she doesn't give in to the tantrums.  Noni... well, I offer the M&Ms before he has to ask.  ;)

And, on another smiling note... we all need our Super  Heroes... these two caped crusaders just make my days.  I'm so thankful for the invention of texting photos! 

Enjoy every. single. breath... every. single. moment. with your loved ones... every. single. chance. you have to give thanks... These moments are precious.

blessings ~ tanna