behind

so, i am behind on posting and reading this week. my mom was in town this week and we had a great time. i have negelected the blog this week, though. and i missed that i was tagged by beki for eight random things about me. i am going to have to think about that one.
i finished some of my christmas gifts this week. above are the potholders i made from amy butler's book. they were quite fun to make. and here is a close up...

here is a shot of the scarves i made for my niece. i explored the 16 directional sewing on my sewing machine for the first one. my machine has a ridiculous amount of functions, and i need to use them!


ok, that is all for now. larkin is asking me to play with him. at let's face it....that is important.

all about christmas

i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. i know we did. it was so great to be with family. i have always been one to give thanksgiving the time it deserves, but as soon as friday comes, i am all about christmas. so, before we came home, we stopped at the christmas tree farm and got a tree for my grandparents and set it up for them. that was the highlight of my week. i used to help my grandma and grandpa decorate their tree when i was a little girl. so, in honor of "the way we used to do it," i stopped by the store and bought a bag of hershey's kisses, or silver bells as my grandpa calls them, to hang on the tree. while michael, the kids and i put the other ornaments on the tree, my grandma was busy putting hooks in the kisses and passing them to us. all the while, my grandpa was talking about how it was the prettiest tree they had ever had. i love that about him.
since i am all about christmas right now, and i have a lot of gifts to make, i jumped right in yesterday. i spent time deciding what to make everyone and organized my thoughts. i finally got started last night and the picture above shows three of my projects in progress. i am so excited and feel like i have some momentum. i hope it lasts!
ok, so this picture has nothing to do with this post, but i think it is hilarious. we went to my uncle's house for thanksgiving and they have this riding toy for their grandson, well of course lucy had to get on it. it order to make it go, she had to remain standing to push the pedal. but, she actually managed to ride it. and how about minnie in the back? she was mine when i was a little girl and i found her this weekend and now lucy is attached.

thankful

we are leaving this afternoon to visit family. we decided that we would do a family craft before we left. we took paper leaves and wrote and drew things for which we are thankful (notice the grammar, eren). we had some of the usuals like family, house, etc. but, i really enjoyed larkin being thankful for race cars passing the finish line and lucy being thankful for dvds. on larkin's first leaf he drew a picture of a person, told us that is was me, and said "because i am thankful for you." he then drew michael on a leaf and said the same of him.
recently, larkin has been talking in depth about some serious concepts...like love, kindness, faith, and mercy. i am so thankful for those moments we spend in devotion and prayer each day. and that even on days that he may seem like he is not listening, he is. and even if i think he may not understand, he does. i also know that lucy will understand one day, too. and that is something for which to be thankful.

crafty goodness

this year i decided to participate in handmade holidays. i am going to make gifts for those on our list, which means i need to clean up my space a little. in the spirit of handmade goodness, i visited a craft show this weekend sponsored by ice atlanta . i did find a couple of things for gifts, but i must admit, i bought a bit for myself as well. i even won the raffle and chose the subscription to craft.
i have admired sarah for a couple of years now, so i was honored to get to meet her at the show. i couldn't resist this little guy...

i also had to get this needle case from her (i tried to take a picture of it, but hers are much better).

i am also now a huge fan of emily and i purchased this print from her...

i also have my eye on a few others in her shop.
after being surrounded by fellow craftsters, i am feeling inspired, which is a good thing since i have so many things to make in the next month. i did make a few of these this weekend. rings or pony tail holders? you decide.

my kitchen

so, my friend katie tagged me with eight things about my kitchen. so here it goes...

1. my kitchen is green with red accents. it kinda makes me feel like christmas all year. i even left one strand of pom pom garland in the window above the sink last year, and i don't plan on ever taking it down.

2. my favorite part of my kitchen is my red kitchen aid mixer. it is a baker's best friend.

3. my least favorite part of my kitchen is that an entire half of it does not have lighting in the ceiling. that side of the kitchen also has no furniture other than a small table for the kids. but that will change come december when this will arrive.

4. i love the smell of pumpkin pie coming from the oven. my kitchen sees a lot of those.

5. i love that i am supposed to wear an apron in the kitchen. although, i have been known to wear one all over the house. i just love how they make me feel like a vintage mom.

6. i love that larkin likes to help cook in the kitchen. i hope that lucy will one day, too.

7. i despise unloading the dishwasher. yet, i find great pleasure in loading it. michael says that i have been gifted with diswasher loading talent.

8. i love that i have kitchen "stuff" from both of my grandmothers. using those items just makes me feel warm.

ok, karin, you're tagged.

let me count the ways

...that i can pass time on the couch. yesterday, just before lunch, i was outside playing with the kids. i took lucy out of her swing, and as i was placing her on the porch, my back popped and i was down. i spent the rest of the day on the couch. as much as i think it would be nice to just veg out for a day on the couch, it really isn't all that fun. i did manage to knit a little, watch a little television, oh, and comb angel cake's hair. lucy got her for her birthday. i had forgottom how tangled that hair can get. i have gotten obsessed with combing it. i want it to be tangle-free at all times. and you know that is not possible.
well, that is about all i can manage to type right now. and katie, i know you tagged me, and i will post your tag tomorrow. but, let me leave you with a beautiful photo from the weekend. my parents live on a farm and they lease the land to other farmers. this summer the crop was cotton. it was beautiful!

now where is that doll and brush...

lucy is two

happy birthday my sweet girl! we had a great time for lucy's birthday. i didn't get to post a picture of the finished dress before i left because i decided to tackle a matching dress for her doll. i really need practice on small items, and this dress proved to be good practice. i feel so awkward with tiny seams, like i have giant hands. and what is with the fabric fraying constantly? but, i must say that i am very happy with how they both turned out. and lucy has done quite a bit of prancing in her new dress.

the bakery in my hometown, holt's bakery, makes the best cookies that i have ever tasted. they are called tea fills. my mom took the birthday invitation into the bakery and they matched the cookies to it. these little sweeties just melt in your mouth.

i am so excited about this doll bed that my dad made for lucy. he is so talented. just gave him some dimensions and an idea of what i wanted and in what i feel like was less than five minutes, he had returned from his shop in the backyard with this...

i am going to paint it and make a mattress for it. and i have decided to make a quilt for it. thank you daddy!

almost two

i cannot believe that my baby is almost two. i guess that means that she really is not a baby anymore. but, i am going to have her be one for a few more days. her party is on saturday at my parents' house, and as i am prone to do, i am making her a birthday dress that sort of matches the theme.

i need to finish it today because i am heading to my parents' tomorrow with the kids and will not have all of my "stuff" to finish it. i will try to post the completed photo before i leave for the weekend.
i bought these shoes for lucy today. i just had to post photos of the shoebox. it is great!

mixed bag

i love tiny things. i went to an estate sale this weekend at the home of a miniaturist. there was an entire basement full of miniatures. it was quite overwhelming. but, just as i was leaving, i spied a box labeled birds. i love birds. and the thought of tiny birds had me very excited. well, there were no birds. just cages and such. then i saw these two bird nests. they are actually acorn tops. i love them! i tried for quite a while to get a decent photo, and this is the best i could do. (one day maybe i'll have a fancy schmancy camera with a macro lens)

what else do i love? buttons. and i found this treat at a yard sale a few weeks back. the tin actually still has the original buttons, with a few extras. thanks to my friend janelle for spotting it.

and last but not least, this is a baby blanket for a friend. nothing to fancy, but i did want you to know that i have made something recently.

the pirate and his bird

another halloween has passed and another costume made. i must admit, i enjoy making costumes for the kids. lucy wore this bird costume last year, and larkin wore it for his first halloween. so, i guess next year will involve making two costumes. i'll need to get started a little earlier and not the day before. the first thing larkin did this morning was get out of bed and put on his pirate costume. he has decided he wants to be a pirate both day and night. as long as he doesn't start pillaging...
and while we are on the subject of pillaging...i have seen several discussions about parents raiding the halloween candy. i have refrained thus far, but i do have my eye on the goetze caramel cream (i had to look up the name). those things are delicious.