Meet the Secker Kids

Artistic First Child, otherwise known as Backwood Canadian Girl, started High School this year, and went with a group of Students on a pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

Cadet Second Child wants to fly.  The chance to fly has him learning  to iron, polish boots, and spend weeks away from home in the summers.

Hands-on Third Child loves to knit, paint, sculpt, and bake.  Her painting reminds me of her--a sunshine!

Dramatic Fourth Child keeps us entertained with her joyful exuberance.

Affectionate Fifth Child is also very athletic and adventurous.  She is a world-champion hugger! 

Thoughtful Sixth Child is always concerned about others.

Sweet Seventh had her Third Birthday and can you tell she loves Dora?

Baby Eighth Child is snuggly soft and pure delight!

Yarn Along Wednesday

Okay friends, this is my first foray into the Yarn Along adventure over at Small Things. 

I have been working on this silk baby balaclava from Ninny Noodle Noo for weeks.  Now you see how often I get to it (smile).

I am reading "These Are Your Children, a text and guide on child development".  It is a very old book from 1953.  A blast from the past.  It is fascinating to read ideas about raising children from that era...and the pictures are amusing too.

 What impresses me most though, is how little has really changed. 

Kids have always been kids.

Resolution

A couple weeks ago we enjoyed a visit with Deacon Daniel, a jolly Franciscan.  As we sat around with coffee, he asked if we had made any resolutions.  I hadn't given it any thought.

He got me thinking.  After all, resolutions are kind of fun to make, even if they do get broken.  So now I have one.  My resolution for 2013 is to look at a day from a different perspective.  Lately I've been looking at a day as going from 6am to midnight.  Not anymore.

Everyone would benefit from learning more about the importance of sleep. 

Of course, there are times when it may be of spiritual benefit to temporarily lack sleep such is practised at St. Patrick's Purgatory.  Any mother knows that love sometimes demands that sleep be temporarily disrupted.  However, most often I sacrifice sleep for the sheer pleasure of silently doing whatever I choose. 

I resolve to believe that 10 pm is late, very late, and time for bed.  If 10 is late for me, it is way too late for children.  8:30 is late enough for them.  Because 10 pm is late, and the kids need to be in bed by 8:30, supper must be earlier. No more late night suppers.

Of course, bad habits don't die so easily.  It's the mindset I am changing with the hopes my actions will follow.  I resolve to believe that God designed us with a need for sleep...the purposes of sleep known fully only by Him.  I surrender my belief that sleep deprivation is a virtue (not that I ever confessed that belief, but hey, actions speak louder than words).

Now, knowing that I won't always succeed in surrendering the day at 10 pm, I have a back-up plan.  Years ago a mother told me that she knew she required 8 hours of sleep to be her best self.  She had a newborn and was unable to get 8 hours sleep in a row.  So, she resolved to stay in her pyjamas and sleep every opportunity she could get until she logged in 8 hours...even if it took until 2pm or whatever.  She did not accomplish much in a day, and it was humiliating if someone came to the door in the middle of the day and she was still in pyjamas. 

That's my resolution:  Plenty of proper sleep. 

With this change of perspective, the day is now much smaller than it was, and my dream bubble of all the things I might accomplish is burst.  The day is short...will I spend it in a fury to accomplish all the things I am "supposed" to?  Or will I focus on being more present to the people, big and little, around me?  Hmmm, there's another resolution!

A Day in the Life...

I thought I'd try an experiment.  First, take a well-fed, dry and happy baby, and place her on a clean blanket on the floor with a pillow behind for protection.  See that smile?  Now, take that very same well-fed, dry and happy baby AND...

 put her in the playpen with the happy images and bright colors and a happy assortment of toys.  Look at her face!!!  Now, please tell me what is the great difference between the floor and the playpen?  Needless to say, I scooped her up and carted her on my back for some time.  I'm grateful for my Ergo baby carrier.

Now it's time for lunch!!!

 The paper-crafting continues in the Secker home, framing the winter-white with splashes of colour.

Crafty Cans

Christmas gifts need not be expensive.  One of the favorite gifts was one of the least expensive.

Add some of this, a little more expensive:

We didn't even bother wrapping these: (Yes, we use this stuff-- but that's another story.)

Go over to our friends at Wabi Sabi Wanderings for a tutorial on decoupage,

and the possibilities are endless.

How useful, entertaining, creative, and pretty is that?   Practically perfect in every way!

Eldest daughter painted this after learning about the art of the Haida at school.  Do you think she has some connection with the bear?

I just had to find out what the bear means to Native Americans.  To them, the bear refers to protection, motherhood, discernment, childbearing, freedom, courage, power, and unpredictability.  Hmm, yes, makes perfect sense now.

Soapstone carving of a polar bear by my eldest daughter.   She gave it to me for Christmas.