"Indeed We Can"

One day last year when we were driving somewhere, Kirby asked about if he could do something in the car, and if he could do that at home as well. I can't remember what we were talking about, but my response was, "When we get home, too, indeed we can!"

He thought that was hilarious, and when I asked why he was laughing, he responded, "You named our house 'Indeed We Can?' That's wacky!"

I hadn't even realized what I'd said so I had to think back over the conversation to figure it out. Since then, we have referred to our house as the Indeed We Can.

I like houses with names, like in Anne of Green Gables, and one of our family favorites, 121 Pudding Street by Jean Fritz, about a house the kids in the neighborhood call "The Raisin." I guess we just like naming objects in general, because we have a vacuum named Mr. Gordan and our Kitchen Aid stand mixer is Camille.

Anyway, I think that "INDEED, WE CAN!" is a great motto. Over the past few years, my horizons have expanded exponentially and I am finding things I not only can do but things I love to do and I realize I don't have to be great at something to find a lot of joy in doing it. How I have limited myself in the past! But NO MORE!

Very recently I have decided I want to learn to sew. Since I got my machine for Mother's Day, I have been itching to sew something. With three young children and a household I already can't keep up on, time doesn't magically appear for sewing, so all I have squeezed in is re-purposing an old child's skirt into an apron, which was fun, but I have been wanting to sew a project from start to finish.

I guess I wanted to prove to myself

I can finish a sewing project

because despite innumerable attempts, I have NEVER seen a sewing project through from beginning to end.

I found this tutorial on how to make a drawstring bag, which I want to make bigger and make into a rag bag to hold all my scraps of fabric. I thought I'd do a trial run first in the size of the bag in the tutorial, so here it is, my FIRST FINISHED SEWING PROJECT!




Yes, it is reversible. And there's patchwork, which actually lined up decently. And I made it myself!! I threaded the machine, cut the fabric, sewed, ironed seams, fixed the problem when the thread bunched up and got stuck in the machine, and I even put in the drawstring by myself! Silly, but I have never done that. I always have someone else pull drawstrings through sweaters or bags or whatever if they come out. (I am fairly new to the Indeed We Can Plan.)

What is something you never thought you could do until you did it? Don't you love that sense of empowerment and energy that comes with it? I am ready for more!

Be Your Own Best Friend

Sam was trekking down the driveway just now with a wadded-up, scribbled-on paper in his cute little hands. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I need to mail this!" I asked what it was and he told me, "It says, 'Come to my costume party!' " I asked who he was mailing it to and the response was, "ME!" Then he came inside and put on his Winnie The Pooh costume. He has worn it continually (night and day, only off for washings - his and its) for the past few days. When he first put it on I asked if he was Winnie the Pooh and he said, so practically, "No. I am Sam. This is a costume, Mommy."


I love this innocent, serious yet lighthearted soul. My mom has been teaching him fun songs and poems that he LOVES to memorize and share. His most recent is "Are You Sleeping" in both English and French. (But he thinks the French is Spanish and can't be convinced otherwise.) Once when we were at my in-laws he found two stuffed dogs that sing "I Got You Babe" to each other when you push their paws. He pushed the button over and over again, mouthing the words as he caught on to the lyrics, until he could sing the whole thing. My mom was playing with him recently and said, "I got you!" and that seemed to be his cue because he sang her the rest of the song! This little boy is here to make the world a better place.

Simple Pleasures

I wrote this last week but forgot to post it.

One of my favorite sentiments is that


Tonight we found just one of those "simple things" in the form of paper whirly birds, like these.


NOT my image. The picture and the pattern are found at this link. I love the paper she used. It reminded me of a stack of origami paper I had stashed somewhere from my adventures in Japan almost 10 years ago. Miraculously I found it and we enjoyed about 2 hours of fun making these and dropping them off our beds, the porch,


the pull-up bar - which Kirby hung onto with one hand while dropping the "twirly whirlies" with the other.


When Kirby first saw one in action, he practically squealed, "It's like a propeller!!" Great news for a boy obsessed with airplanes and helicopters.

I highly recommend making some of these!

Paper you have lying around: Free.
Time: Free.
Sharing smiles and making memories with your children: Priceless.

Organization, the endless quest...

And sometimes we succeed! Just came across THIS and thought I'd share... I like organization tips and seeing other people's ideas at overcoming obstacles many of us encounter in running our households.

Pictures (Please See Previous Post)

Just some snapshots, not great photography, but these mark some happy moments in our life lately. Random, I know.

Jiorji loves to climb and she is the smilingest Jensen you ever saw.

Lilli's Swedish Strawberry Cake, for Greg's Graduation party. My first time making it. I was rather pleased with how it turned out and appreciated Sam (Shrope)'s help to make it "Authentic."

At the Hogle Zoo. Sometimes ya just gotta Be the Turtle!