onebluestocking: bjds, designs, crafts and assorted nonsense

my swap partner has received her “secret santa” swap now so i can post some of the stuff i sent here.

ananda was the closest in size to my partners boy, so she got to be the model this time. here she is wearing the hat and scarf while snuggling under the quilt.

fuzzy mohair/silk elf slippers

and here’s a picture of all the goodies

including a christmas dog, tray of gingerbread cookies, santa mug, penguin book, and angry birds concentration game for whiling away the winter hours. 🙂

since we are mostly over our colds, we opened amber’s alice in wonderland swap today. i foolishly left the girls alone with the parcel while i went to get my camera, thinking we could open it and take pictures of each item before looking at the next. silly me! when i got back i found paper shreds everywhere. amber had already changed into her pretty new dress and was wearing her chessy cat ears, looking pleased as punch! crystal was holding up a new skirt and asking amber if she could try it on. noni, who is still fighting her cold and thus inclined to be a bit whiny was saying in despair “but there’s no pink for me! how come i gots no pink?”

i gently explained that since this was amber’s swap, the gifts were all designed for her, and amber’s favorite color is purple. and besides there was a lovely fleecy blanket for each of them

amber switched into her new purple sweater, and graciously let crystal model her skirt. noni took ALL the blankets and snuggled them with the cute purple puppy. i promised them hot chocolate in amber’s new teapot and mug, and said we would read the new books at bedtime.
then amber and crystal ran off to play leaving noni to take a much needed nap with the blankies.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
she chortled in her joy

i got two my swap parcels (this and another one) in the mail. my little ones are hiding from sick kids in the house, but i hope to be able to get them to come out for pictures in the next day or two. in the meantime, smidge, beezie and amberglas are busy gloating over all the lovely little parcels

experience is a dim lamp, which only lights the one who bears it.
louis-ferdinand celine

becca is feeling sad today. she went to the optometrist on friday and found out she has to wear glasses. i told her it’s not so bad, that i’ve worn them since i was small and she’ll get used to them, but she said “none of the other little girls wear glasses” and refused to be comforted.

(actually i think she looks cute in them)

There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach
And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say always seemed to stay
Just out of reach
Well I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
‘Cause the more we learn the more we know
We don’t know anything
But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quiet ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

There are times I can’t forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see what could not be seen
I still believed
I guess I shouldn’t think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us tells us
There’s more to come
So when we taste of the divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven’s gates are reached

We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

I believe that’s what heaven is for
There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach

carolyn arends
reaching