the feeling

how are you feeling these days?

does it feel like Christmas is coming?

are you caught up in the festivities?

or just floating along?

i was on board for halloween and thanksgiving,

but somehow it just doesn't FEEL like Christmas yet.

you know?

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

the wreath is hung (thanks dad!)...

tree coming this weekend.

what is the feeling exactly?
and why does it matter if i have it?

maybe it's not about the feeling?

ah well, we will keep doing Christmasy things

and eventually i'm sure the feeling will take route as well.

merry, merry!

pj pants

so i was reading lately about chemicals in kids pajamas.

you know, the ones that make them flame-resistant?

the ones that have been linked to cancer, 

nervous and reproductive system damage 

and impaired thyroid function?

yeah, those ones.

and although i had read about them before,

i had that moment.

you know the moment i mean, right?

when all of a sudden the true significance

of what i was reading hit me.

somehow i had the misunderstanding

that if i bought the clothes second hand

and/or washed them a whole bunch,

the chemicals would dissipate.

not necessarily.

all synthetic fiber sleepwear contain flame retardants.

either they are added (those MAY be washed away)

or the chemicals are bonded to the fiber

(those will NOT wash away).

i immediately began to go through my kids pajamas

and was dismayed to find the vast 

(and i mean VAST) majority of their pajamas

were indeed flame resistant.

so out they went.

i scoured consignment and second hand stores

for non-flame-resistant pjs,

but came up kind of short.

the girls have just enough jammies,

but the boy-boy ended up 

with only two pairs of pj pants!

thank goodness i sew! 

using some flannel i already had on hand
(purchased on sale last spring and
"not intended for sleepwear"),
i whipped up some

cute flannel pj bottoms for the boy!

pretty cute, eh?

i have some more in the works...

thanksgiving runner

halloween is over,

november is here.

and that calls for a new table runner!

this one is for thanksgiving 

and i found the most adorable 

vintage thanksgiving card fabric!

it's accented with sparkly fall leaves,

and i love the way it turned out!

and, of course, it's reversible!

side one:

side two:

there's something about homemade decorations 

that make the season feel so much more festive!

beautiful

the other morning

my sweet little moo surprised me

by making my bed.

now is that beautiful or what?

it melts my heart to see generosity

 and thoughtfulness developing

 in my sweet baby girl.

color me blessed.

artsy

here is my attempt at artsy sewing...

it is not as easy as it looks.

i made this very colorful wheel from scraps

of fabric that i had left over from other projects.

the question is: what do i do with it now?

suggestions?

household blessings

it is the season of thanksgiving.

i try to live every day with an attitude of gratitude,

but find that i am especially mindful 

of how much i have to be thankful for.

lately we have been experiencing 

generosity and unexpected gifts.

i already mentioned the pressure cooker.

and the free sewing table.

be we were also able to finally make use of a 

giant solid wood frame that was given to us many years ago.

hubs was given some high-quality self-healing cork.

and he turned it into something beautiful!

i finally got around to unpacking some items from the basement

(packed up last spring when we thought we were moving),

and now these photos and mementos have a new lease on life!

and my favorite new item:

a big dining room table!

a generous new friend let us have 

this beautiful set of a table (with two leaves)

and six big chairs!

our old table was so tiny that the five of us barely fit at it.

this table has room to spare!

we had nine people eating here comfortably.  

nine!

i feel like this new table allows me to 

extend hospitality with a little more ease.

thankfulness is the language of a joyful heart.

applesauce

some of you have heard the saga 

of the apples already.

in september, my father-in-law generously

allowed me to pick about a million apples

and other various fruits from his yard.

they were lovely apples 

and i had every intention of 

turning them into applesauce and 

canning them right away.

then life happened.

fast forward to november 1st.

i had managed to peel, core, and cut the apples,

but ended up sticking the lot in my freezer

due to lack of time and 

a large enough pot to can them in.

then, much to my surprise and delight,

my father-in-law came to the rescue in that respect too!

a lovely pressure cooker/canner arrived in the mail.

and i FINALLY managed to turn all those beautiful apples 

into jars of canned applesauce.

ready for sharing and 

consuming through the winter months!

aren't they beautiful?
i feel SO much better now that it's done!

fall runner

as promised, more projects!

earlier this month moo-moo and i 

picked up some tiny pumpkins.

they were so cute that i was inspired

 to make a table runner!

we stopped by the fabric store on a whim

and i made this that afternoon.

my favorite part?

the cute little pom-poms!

fall with friends

our best friends came for a visit!

with five small kiddos in our tiny house

we needed to burn some energy;

so we grabbed the scooters,

strapped on helmets

and hit the trail!

it was a beautiful, crisp (dry!) fall day

and we found this beautiful gazebo.

perfect for pictures, right?

so, how hard is it to get a good picture of five kids?

almost... 

not bad... 

um... 

we said "happy", not scary... 

eyes closed... 

hysterical!

how about four kids?

okaaaaay... 

at least they're happy!

refueling...

  

now that's cute!