The Diagnosis is Not Good

That's right. It has been confirmed, I have it...the crafting bug. It lasts from early October till just after the New Year. Symptoms include raiding your embroidery stash in the middle of the afternoon because you are sure you could start a project now with out having to leave the house, dreaming of endless isles of darling fabric after darling fabric, and being completely distracted by thoughts of these:

or these:

How 'bout this!

and the companions...

There is something about the crisp fall air and earlier sunsets that cozy me up to the idea of evenings creating a textiled smorgasborg of items to give away, scatter through the house spreading festive cheer, or merely because it is just too hard to pass up in cuteness!

All I know is I am going to need more felt at my house and possibly these:

and these,

Oh my it is hopeless!

It doesn't help that I just finished my knitting projects for the fall either...



idle hands...all kinds of mischief! ;)

Bewitchingly Bootiful

What is there to do, you ask, on a wet fall afternoon with children bouncing off the walls? Make Halloween decorations, of course!

The kids and I decided it was about time to festoon our house in honors of autumn and Halloween. Now we aren't really into the gory or demonic creatures but I did have to put in this cute witch from Family Fun.

She kind of reminded me of Nanny McPhee.

So with scissors, templates, and paper in hand we all got busy cutting, gluing and eating a bit of candy corn.

("Mom you must tell them that I am 'snippety-snipping', here.")

(Oh those cheeks! They are mommy cryptonite.)

(You wouldn't be able to shake this kind of concentration with an earthquake.)

I love how each jack 'o lantern shows off their personalities.

(left to right, Bananas, Darling Boy, Rapunzel, Jellybeans.)

The jack 'o lantern trend at our house would be freckles, compliments of Bananas.

Then we made candy corn and bats flying in a midnight sky.

I particularly like the bats. If you look carefully the paper has silver flecks in it.

Ribbon please!

Ta-da!

Well... not really.

It took me a while to hang it so that I didn't feel like the house was tilting and then without making a bazillion holes in the wall. (Landlords kind of frown on that kind of thing, I guess.) But over all our house now feels festive and ready for some spooktacular fun.

Friday is Good for my Heart.

Friday fills my evening with freshly baked pizza aromas, giggles from little ones hiding under the table eating their olive victories, flour covered noses, and finally the warmth of snuggling up together with full tummies and a good movie viewed from under comfy blankets, just enjoying being a family.

Friday is so good for my heart.

Like Christmas

I love getting mail, especially boxes! Who doesn't? To me it feels like a mini spontaneous Christmas.

Homeschooling provides ample opportunities to hopelessly purchase and purchase materials, sometimes because you can't resist, sometimes because the item just wasn't what it was cracked up to be. Today, though, was one of those of the anticipated kind that thrilled me to the toes.

Behold...




our new science book, Apologia Zoology 1, that is age difference friendly, in other words we can all work from the same book, at the same time, thank goodness! (That makes for less like-a-headless-chicken running for me.)

And a hopeful purchase, that with a bit of luck, just might be what helps Girly get self motivated in the arithmetic department. I always loved math as a kid, even yes, the dreaded Geometry and Calculus, but Girly takes after her father and lumps it with things like liver, broccoli, and onions. Life of Fred is my last ditch effort at math growing on her educational taste buds.

Plus tomorrow I run. I love that part. I am starting to need running like I used to need chocolate. That is saying a lot.

Relocated

Life is still moving forward, for the better I hope, in a new locale.

I hate the boxes and packing, then unpacking and the boxes of moving but I do love the thrill of getting to know a new place.

I am in love with living in the greater North Wet, as Mister likes to call it. It feels like home. Which is saying a lot for me. I love looking out the window every morning drinking in the beautiful landscape with all its adventure and excursion possibilities. Oh, the places I will run. My shoes won't know what hit them!

I am extremely, incurably, directionally challenged, but I can find a few of my favorite places so far, like my sister's house, The Dollar Tree (invaluable for the chore store basket...aka bribery for the kids and inexpensive school supplies) and the library.

Ahhhh, the library...

...

...

Sorry, lost in my own readers paradise for a moment there.

And one must not forget the most amazing parks and hiking trails.

Heaven!

Now if I could only pin down that blasted Post Office. I feel like it is stationed on Platform 9 3/4.