An Old Year , A New Year

I really like end of the year recaps. I read them and think " I had completely forgotten about that happening". That is why I like having lots of pictures and videos of what we do as a family. A little bit of the past saved on paper and plastic can brighten a day or settle an argument.

This time of year is kind of hard for me because it is an undefined area. It feels like a week of flux. The control freak in me wants it to have a concrete purpose. I know I need to learn to relax and not try to fit everything into the compartment it belongs. I learned that in 2010. I am going to refine that learning in 2011. It is what it is. Let God handle it. These are two of my mottos for the new year.

What does God have in store for me this year. I am glad I cannot look ahead and see the pain or loss that waits because each year has a little of that. I am also glad I cannot see the good things in store. That would ruin the surprise and I hate waiting. I am glad that God knows and has it under His control. Sometimes I wish I could erase things from my memory that I don't want to have to think about anymore but you never know when you are going to need a memory. God will use the past to lead you in your future. Now that I have fully entered middle age I have quite a bit to look back on. Some days I take out those memories . I look at what happened and think about the past from the knowledge and the little wisdom I have accumulated . It sometimes looks different in the rear view mirror. I love to look at the videos we have of our grown children when they were little ones. And sometimes I wish I could go back and relive those days...but that is what Grandchildren are for....

Christmas

I have always loved the holidays. They are exciting. Something different is bound to happen that is new and can be remembered for years to come. Memories that can be opened up all year long to brighten a day that is not so special or comfort a heart that is hurting.

Holidays have been very different since we brought our three little boys into our family. These days are difficult for them. When we are looking forward to fun as in the past they are sometimes looking back to pain at the holidays or people they miss. We put up the decortations and celebrate the birth of our Savior and hope that the love we have will seep through the cracks in the walls of pain they live behind.

Money is always a worry around Christmas. Yesterday ,while hanging some holly leaves Zachary had colored and cut out, I was beginning to worry about the mighty little dollar and God told me that if I worried about what I don't have I will certainly miss the parts of Christmas that aren't presents under the tree. Of course He is right. So much of what I love about the Season is not for sale. Watching Christmas movies with the family, baking cookies, helping the little ones to make decorations or gifts, driving out to look at the light displays, decorating the house and watching videos of past Christmas celebrations don't require much if any money and are all part of the fabric of the holidays. The trick is to not let what I don't have or can't do get me down but to enjoy the everyday of Christmas. Maybe someone else reading this will be able to add to my list of what there is to enjoy in this season of His birth. I would love hear how others celebrate.

Dianna Momma in the Handbasket

Some Projects Done

These are one of the two sets I knitted for KayLynn and Vivi at Easter time. Hoping to make some more of these. They were fast and fun to do. I loved the way the colors looked together. Here is a fabric rug crocheted in an oval shape..well, duh. I tore fabric (old sheets mostly) into strips and connected them as I crocheted. I love the rugs. I hate that the dust almost always gives me an allergy attack.

These are knitted wash cloths. They were done on size 10 needles with cotton yarn purchased at my local Wal-Mart. Nothing is too good for my family. lol

I don't spend much time doing this craft but i really like what I have when I finish a project. This is the embroidery that decorates a blanket I made for the Potter children. It was fun matching the characters to the people they represent. I think that littlest girl looks so much like Vivi.

Ezra's birth gave me an excellent reason to try the knitting pattern for these pants and sweater. I made them out of Lion Brand Recycled cotton yarn.

Knitting and crochet are great stress reliever and give me something to look forward to in my free time. And as a shirt I saw recently said " I knit so I don't kill people"

Dianna

Summer 2010

I spend a lot more time posting to Face Book than to this blog, but the Handbasket is more for the lengthy thoughts I don't have as much time to compile. In other words I seem to think in short bursts lately. Some of you will not be surprised by this. You are the ones who ask me difficult questions and watch as my eyes glaze over and my brow furrows. God bless you for waiting out an answer.


Some of you know that our little boyz have behavioral problems that make their progress through life difficult for them and all of us who love them. So, they are spending the summer overcoming some of the worst issues. We all have issues ...Right...I mean can I get an Amen. Sometimes when I am wrestling with a problem one of them is having God gently reminds me how far I have to go as a human being Child of God. He lays His hand on my shoulder and whispers in my ear..."Remember when you did that very same thing last week...I saw you ...and I love you...love them like I love you...that is ALL I ask of you.." So, I eat a little Humble Pie and try to look at the 'difficulty' in a different light.
What God is showing me now for them and me is that what He wants from me most of all is to Love these children and keep them safe with boundaries. Don't get me wrong . This is the hardest job I have ever had to do. It takes more thought and prayer than anything else in my life including my marriage and we all know how hard those can be. But He has told me this is what he wants right now. And there is peace in believing that and holding on to the One Who knows it all.
If you are struggling right now I urge you to read a Bible and pray. He really does have an answer for you and it is always right.
Dianna the Momma of the Handbasket

Spring 2010

Spring is in full motion here in Missouri. This time of the year I love to take walks, plant seeds, and knit outside. I also really like to travel this time of year. I love to drive with the windows down and the radio up. Spring feels new. Everything feels possible in the spring. Later in the summer I will grouse about weeds in the garden and watering plants, but now it is brown dirt ready to yield nothing but veggies and flower galore. It is so much fun to watch little boys putting seeds in the ground and then showing them the baby plants peep up from the earth. God is good and faithful like the seasons.

Who doesn't remember jumping from a moving swing. I was lucky to capture this pic of Zach in flight. We tried a couple of times before getting tired.

My Ride

After a year of being car less, I am the owner of a 1996 Roadmaster Wagon!!
I am so thankful for this car. I am thankful for my husband who knew how much I needed transportation. It is a perk of the job of wife and mother. I could live without it but my job is so much easier with a vehicle. I needed something to haul kids, dogs and groceries comfortably . This car is just the ticket...oh maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.
My first trip in the Wagon was to Iowa to see the Potter family. Driving is so much fun in this car ...like driving from a recliner.. God is good and absolutely dependable in meeting our needs...sometimes even our wants...

Pictures in my camera make me happy !!

Yarn , Needles, and Hooks ...Oh, My

These pictures are of some of the knitting and crochet that I have gotten done lately. The first is a knitted afghan. The second is the same afghan that was still a work in progress. This soft blanket is done in Lion Brand Homespun.

This last blanket is what I call a scrape blanket. I use my leftover yarn to make this for my kids. I have made four of them so far..no five the first one I kept. The one in this photo belongs to Ethan. This blanket is crocheted and takes many months as I accumulate the scrap yarn. I enjoy watching the colors come together.

I need to find a better way to photograph these. Any suggestions?

Dianna

Valleys and Broken Hearts

I feel compelled this morning to express how great my God is. I am calling Him Almighty today. Because I am little and weak and He is strong. For a couple of years I have been walking in this valley..well, sometimes it wasn't walking. Sometimes it was a crawl. Sometimes it was a roll in the fetal position. Sometimes it was a screaming , stomp with fist raised against the One Who loves me. Many times I have forgotten He was here.
The valley mostly consisted of me learning to live above circumstance. Because really it doesn't matter what is in the valley or how you get there. It is just about living in His joy while you are there. I belong to Him and this is where I am. He is here too and He sees all I do and has experienced the pain of being human. I am done raging against the circumstance and ready to be open to what He has in each day. I fully understand this valley may go on for several more miles and that I won't "feel" so surrounded by Him each day because I will forget I am not alone. It won't be because Almighty has gone but because I took my eyes away from Him to look at circumstance.
Almighty broke my heart in this valley so that He could make me who I need to be for Him. I had to see that there is no me without Him and that what He wants me to be is better than anything I could create.
Probably most of this sounds esoteric to anyone who has not yet been in the valley with Him but I needed to say it. For Almighty. As a praise for Who He is. And I don't think rocks would sound as good saying it as I do. Love You Almighty ...You really are everything.

Long Time No See

Now that the holidays are over and life is returning to the day to day grind, I feel the need to update this sadly neglected blog. For the two of you who follow the happenings in the Handbasket I am sorry to have been so neglegent. Sometimes I just can't seem to put it in words. Sometimes I think I just can't tell people that. Sometimes it just seems so much everyday happenings that I wonder why would you want to read about it. The first picture is a hat I knitted for Brittney and Kelly's new baby due in May. I am kind of crazy about cables since recently learning how simple they were.

The pictures are representative of what I have been busy with. Janna and Morgan like the fingerless gloves. They are nearly as difficult as they first appeared.

I like doing things like this for these girls because they do more for me than I can ever thank them for.