What Heidi's Taught Me

I've been thinking lately about several things I do that my friend Heidi has taught me. After being roommates in college, we lived in separate states for several years; now that we're much closer geographically, I'm enjoying even more the richness of our friendship.

Isn't it fun to see others parenting their children? I love getting new ideas from other moms. Heidi's given me several that, as I said, I've been thinking about lately. So to give myself an outlet for these thoughts, I'd like to share them with you.

1. Heidi taught me to use seasonal napkins and placemats. It's so fun for kids to choose a froggy or valentine placemat, and eat snowflake crackers spread with cream cheese "snow" on snowman napkins. I love making things fun--thanks, Heidi, for these ideas! I already have my valentine doilies bought and ready.

2. Heidi shared with me her pattern for a toddler pillow. Kardelen didn't use a pillow in her crib, of course, but now that she's in a toddler bed, she really needed one. (Actually, she just got bunk beds yesterday--more on that later!) Heidi tipped me off to a pillow sold at Jo-Ann that's just the right size for toddlers (roughly 14 by 10 inches), and sketched out her pattern for a snazzy fabric pillowcase with two coordinating accents. I'll give you a picture to better illustrate it:


This was one of Kardelen's Christmas presents from us this year. All the fabrics came from my stash. I was so happy to find a print of gingerbread men with little candy canes, since she's been on a gingerbread man kick this fall! She looks so sweet with her head resting under the pillow each night, all tucked in under her piggie quilt from "Auntie" Laura! It was sad that Sofia didn't have one, though, so a few days later I made hers.



These fabrics were from my stash, too. I love the soft chenille accent piece; it was quite thick, but my sewing machine handled it well. I'm planning on making the girls seasonal pillowcases throughout the year. The valentine pillowcase fabrics are already cut out.

3. Every time my friends and I are with Heidi, she magically gets our children to eat strange new things. Okay, not so strange. But I was trying to get the girls to eat more raw veggies--unsucessfully--when Heidi and Freddie came over for a playdate. When it came time for lunch, they contributed a plate of veggies with hummus. Voila! Kardelen's eating cherry tomatoes, and Bia is licking the hummus off her baby carrots. But this wasn't the only nutrition magic she's worked.

A few months later, we had our baby-sitting coop at my house, and ended up having an impromptu lunch together. My friend's little boy has never eaten watermelon, even though his mom re-introduces it to him periodically. Imagine our surprise when we look over at him and he's happily chomping away on a slice of watermelon!

You don't even try to do this, Heidi, I know--but you seem to have an uncanny skill at getting our children to eat new foods! Can I borrow you for dinner sometime?

God brings friends in our lives to enrich who we are, and Heidi is one of many women who have greatly enriched mine. I'm not sure if I'll make a series of posts on other godly women who have blessed and inspired me--for now I simply want to give Heidi credit for the blessing she's been to my life.

How have your friends contributed to who you are?