Wow! Being a SAHM is quite an adventure. There are so many things to occupy my time, and even though most days are the same format, no two are quite alike. Every day I get to spend with my two children is the best day of my life. God has blessed me with a daughter and a son, and I thank Him for them, their health, and that He chose me to be their mother.
I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education: Multi-Disciplinary, and a Master of Arts in Education in Library Science: K-12. I have yet to teach a day as a full-time employee of any school district. I have been a substitute teacher, student teacher, practicum student, nursery and kindergarten assistant teacher at a Methodist daycare, Head Start office and teaching assistant, as well as (very briefly) a deli-counter worker. Currently I am a contract worker for an online tutoring company. This allows me to keep my teaching skills sharp, make my own hours, and best of all, I get to raise my own kids. I always knew I wanted to be an SAHM, but working in a daycare where two people were in charge of upwards of 12 infants, and kindergartners (whose parents were teachers) were left until 5:30pm confirmed my decision to put off a career so I could have a family and provide for my children in the best way I knew how.
Being a mother is not the only thing I do. I am not a Suzy Homemaker. I can't keep my house clean to save my life, and I hate doing laundry and dishes. I am very thankful that I have dirty clothes and dishes, because it means we have clothes to keep us warm and food to keep my family fed. I would rather spend my time reading to my children; building towering block buildings; making roads from cardboard boxes for Hotwheels; teaching them how to read, write, draw, and cook; taking them on adventures to different places as well as in their minds and our own backyard.
This year we plowed up a significant portion of our backyard and planted a garden. I have not gardened since my fourth thru sixth grade years, when my granny was doing most of the work. Those were 4-H gardens, and the soil (and her green thumb) grew state fair worthy green beans and the biggest bell peppers you've ever seen. It just so happens that my backyard is where those gardens were planted, so I knew we had good soil. That is a very important step to gardening. We planted fernleaf dill, Italian parsley (which died), oregano, rosemary, thyme, and basil. There were crookneck and straightneck squash, cucumbers, banana peppers, jalapenos, bell peppers, corn, heirloom variety tomatoes, cantaloupe, honeydew, and a failed attempt at a giant pumpkin. I learned to make hot pepper jelly, salsa, dill and sweet pickles, pickled squash, and herbed bread. My daughter learned about pollination from watching the bees on the squash flowers. At this point in her life, she wants to be a farmer. I wanted the same thing when I was her age.
My husband and I recently took over the preschool thru second grade Sunday School class at our church. We are having a lot of fun sharing Jesus through short stories and meaningful crafts. That is part of what I will be including here: my craft ideas with detailed instructions and photos along with the correlating scripture and approximate time for completion.
I have many hobbies, and one that I have taken a renewed interest in is working with yarn. My attempt at knitting began and ended with an orange scarf nearly 10 years ago. I never made it past the first 6 or 8 inches. Instead, I took up crochetting when my daughter was about 6 months old. Most of my projects are wearable - hats and scarves. I started an afghan three years ago, but have not completed it yet, and I wrote a simple hat pattern that fit my daughter at 8 months and still fits her now at 3 years. Recently I have gotten back into hats and scarves (must be something about cold weather approaching), and have written an elegantly ribbed hat pattern and two butterfly scarf patterns. That is another part of my intention for this blog space: sharing my crochet patterns and projects.
Another hobby I enjoy is sewing! My first sewing project was 5 authentic-to-the-Renaissance pirate costumes. I sewed two men's, two women's, and one child's costume in 5 weeks. I have also sewn a shirt and a dress using a vintage 1947 pattern. That was my Easter dress, and I chose to go all out and do my hair in Victory Rolls and makeup in the 1940's way as well. I have never received more compliments on my appearance in one day as when I was vintage for a day. I will include photos of this as well.
One of my biggest hobbies is baking and cooking in general. I love to make people happy through a satisfied palate. My desire was to become a trained chef, but my parents encouraged me to go to college as a back-up plan. My dream is to own a bakery, and I hope that one day I will. I am working my way through Southern Cakes, and I take pictures of all my adventures in cooking. I'm thankful that both my children show an interest in this hobby. I think it is very important for boys as well as girls to know how to cook and maintain a household, because they should not have to rely on anyone to take care of them beyond their parents.
That is a snapshot of me!
