Reading time

Princess is getting to be quite the reader, she is even willing to read to her brother and sister.

Fall at the botanical garden

We decided to go hiking, and this week that just happened to be a walk at the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful fall afternoon with fantastic warm weather.  The roses were in bloom, and the kids loved smelling all the different varieties.

 The leaves were all beautiful colors.

 The kids and daddy got to climb trees that had fallen,

 This is Daddy and Nathan on the fallen tree from the other direction.  Jungle climbing.

 I wish they would let you take cuttings because all the holly and other berry bushes were beautiful and I would love some of these to decorate my house.

I love this picture of Daddy, he looks great with his binoculars looking at me.

Change of plans

What happens when you plan to take a day and go to Williamsburg and a little boy gets sick in the morning. 

We spend the day playing with Lego's on the living room floor.   I think they try and see how far they can spread the mess.

Teacher gifts

I am working on teacher Christmas gifts and thought I would make little fabric boxes and fill them with a bunch of little stuff.  First the box, I decided to make a sample first. It is a good thing, because I sewed it together wrong and this is not the dimensions I was planning, but I learned.  I don't know what I will use this for, but I like it.

 The fabric is cute, this is the outside... CAVEMEN

 This is the inside, it is the inside, kind of a retro masculine fabric. 

 This is the final project.. I think they turned out cute... I have a bunch of stuff to fill them.  That will be in the next few posts.

Burp clothes

I finally finished up using all the cloth diapers I had in my fabric stash.  I made lots of burp cloths for all of my friends that are pregnant.  It was nice to use up some of my flannel for these.   I have a friend who wants some to give away, so I may actually sell some of these.  That means more cash for fabric... I know it is a problem.

Back in the sewing room

I have been back in my sewing room and working on a bunch of projects.  Most of them short and simple.  It is nice to get a bunch of projects done in one day.  This is a coffee cozy, to replace the cardboard ones that you get at the coffee shop.  My mom brought me the fabric and I love it.  I know it is not on a coffee cup, but at the time I was drinking water and if fit around the cup. 

Halloween Candy

Ring Pops turn your tongue Blue... and your fingers sticky.

Wood

I love our wood stove, it is great, and keeps the house if we just keep it lit.  It may not be very pretty, but we love it.

 However, in order for us to have wood, Daddy loves to spend his time doing this.  Splitting wood.  He comes home from work and goes out there to get rid of some stress.  It is a good thing. 

 Of course, usually he has his crowd of admirers.  We don't know why, but they love to watch dad work.

Then there is this one.... she was inside working on her homework and complaining about it.

Zoo

We had a good time hanging out with Grandma and even took time to take the family to the zoo. It was a great day, even if it was a little bit cold.  

They like the groundhog tunnels.

The train ride was fun and we got to see the new construction and where the new tigers and other animals will be housed.

 It was cold and the lions were all in a pile taking a nap, it was cool to watch them stick up their heads and look around.

 We need a cage like this in our backyard.

 The bear loved climbing the walls.

 

BEAR!!

While Grandma was here we went to a craft fair, we actually didn't buy much, but couldn't pass up this.

New toy

I have been playing with my new camera lately.  It has settings for lots of things I am learning about.  My favorite is black and white.  I just love this picture of Buddy.   

My biggest issue is that we changed the format so that they would be possible to email and not be huge files, but we changed it too much, and the resolution is not the best, but I have changed it again, but the next few posts all have low resolution and look like they were taken with a camera phone. 

Ribbon blanket for my sister

 

My sister wanted to know how I made the Tag/ribbon blanket and what it looked like, so here it is.  This is minkee fabric on one side and cotton on the other.  It has ribbon all around and has velcro instead of ribbon at 3 locations, so you can attach it to a stoller, or car seat strap.  You can also attach a toy to one or more of the straps. 

New Camera

THANK YOU GRANDPA... some of your grandchildren loved posing for pictures with the new camera.  Other victims just ignored me and let me take pictures anyway.

We also love having Grandma come and visit.  The kids and I have had a great day.

Teeth?

I don't have any pictures, but my children make me laugh, and sometimes I just can't help but share.
Both Princess and Buddy are taking violin lessons and for the most part they love them.  Their teacher is wonderful and she is always using her creativity to teach the kids. 

This week Buddy is playing a song about a monkey.  "I'm a little monkey, climbing up a ladder, climbing to the top to, get a pink banana, I'm a little monkey, climbing down the ladder, climbing to the bottom, eat a pink banana"   Well, she drew a picture of a banana tree and asked Buddy to figure out what she was drawing.  He wasn't getting it and kept guessing random things,  a zoo, a flower, a car.... finally, she gave him a hint.  "They are yellow" 

Buddy's response... "Is it teeth?"   - I guess he thinks all teeth are yellow and grow on trees. 

Where does he come up with these things?

A while

OK it has been a while since I have updated here, but I claim to have a good reason.  We have had a few things happen lately.  The van got broken into while we were out hiking.  We came back to find glass all over the van and my purse (mostly empty) the diaper bag, and the camera gone.  So now we are temporarily without a camera and I don't have a lot of pictures to post.  So this space has been pretty empty, but we have been busy. I will give you the bulleted version of what we have been doing.

• Princess had another birthday and so now she is 7.   She is very proud to be bigger and the same age of most of her classmates.
• My sister came to visit with her kids, so we had a great time hanging out with the cousins. We went shopping in Williamsburg and spent too much money on kids.
• We went to the pumpkin patch and petting zoo and the kids loved the hayride even thought munchkin was scared of all the chickens and turkeys running around loose. Princess and Buddy managed to catch and pick up a few chickens, and feed the goats.
• We have had lots of play dates and lots ot time spent outside now that the weather is cooler.
• A friend gave us 3 new bigger bikes.  One is the right size for Princess and she likes her new one.  Buddy's is way too big, but he manages to ride it anyway and says his old one is too small.
• I bought an art easel for $2 at a yard sale and the kids love it.  Munchkin now has permanent marker stains on her fingers, but loves to show me all her artwork.

I guess that is most of it for now... Hopefully I will manage to get out and buy a new camera this week so that I can get some more pictures up here soon.   I miss being able to take pictures.