Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you to SillyMeDesigns for working with me to create our Christmas card!

Remembering the reason for the season!

Three Pairs of Moccasins

Three of the many things Mr. Rogers and myself have to be thankful for today.

Happy Thanksgiving

and a special

Thank you to SLOVLY for sharing your wonderful talent with us!

Maggie's Acorn Skirt

This is Maggie's Thanksgiving Day skirt!  Usually, I hem and ha over purchasing fabric because of the cost but I bought that acorn fabric on the spot!  It is paired with a LizzyHouse fabric that I love but after I finished the skirt I had a "McFly!?!?!?" moment because I meant to pair it with a tan corduroy to make it feel more fall like...uhhh!  Part of me really wants to make another one, the way I originally intended it, but that rational side is trying to convince me to just let it go!

The Woodlands - Acorns in Teal and LizzyHouse -1001 Peeps Illusion in Orange from The Intrepid Thread

Thanksgiving Corn Pudding

Or more...

It's good, promise!

Rain.

When it rains my go-to activity is reading a book on the sofa wrapped in a blanket like a caterpillar in a cocoon!  I want to be alone, with a warm beverage of some sort in one hand and my book in the other hand.  Then I want to fall asleep on the sofa for three hours or so of uninterrupted sleep.  It rained yesterday.  Did this happen?  No.  What did happen?  Lots of jumping in rain puddles.

Lincoln is pretending to be a dead shark...they thought that was hilarious!

Turkey Finger Puppets

Really, what is Thanksgiving without turkey finger puppets?  Printed templates from Martha Stewart served as the kids blank palette to color up some turkey fun.  Not to mention the 30 minutes of mental health time while they strategically selected their colors and colored their templates.  When Mr. Rogers got home, I raided my felt scraps and whipped up a turkey to order - one each for Maggie, Lincoln, and Jack.

Turkey finger puppets give kisses!

And they get sung to in gobble gobble intonations!

Gobble gobble fun for kids and turkey finger puppets alike!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This summer I once again found myself strolling the rolling hills of Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  We spent a particularly long time at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, watching the changing of the guard.  What captivated me was a group of veterans off to my side, mostly sitting in wheel chairs.  These were veterans mostly from World War II and some from the Korean War.  American troops served in WWII from 1941-1945 and in Korea from 1950-1953, so these guys have seen their fair share of life.  They were part of a program called, Honor Flight, their mission is to sponsor veterans to come visit their particular war memorials in Washington, D.C. at no expense to the veterans.  Words cannot capture what was going on in the minds of those veterans at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  One can only imagine the closure that a trip like this would mean, especially for soldiers involved in wars post-WWII where things have not been so cut and dry.  

Taken by me at General Robert E. Lee's former plantation in Arlington, VA now known as Arlington National Cemetery

If I could've taken the kids to Arlington today I would have, to walk through the WWII, Korean and Vietnam monuments in D.C. and to walk around the Iwo Jima monument and show the kids how it looks like the soldiers are raising and lowering the flag.  Instead we hit our local parade to put faces to the meaning behind this holiday.  We found a pleasant grassy hill to view the parade from, had some peanut brittle and the kids (seven total) sat and watched the parade for over an hour.  It wasn't a fancy parade, far from the Rose Parade or Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it was a parade of heroes and the kids were captivated.

Being Thankful for Veterans

It's been a long time friend....ship bracelet [egads!]

Oh no, the boys are all about friendship bracelets right now.  It took me a good half hour of youtube tutorials to jog my memory and stretch my fingers back into their former years of elementary school friendship making glory.  The first bracelet bracelet took me about an hour to make, with Jack "checking in on me" every couple of minutes wondering why it was taking so long.

I've been busting out these basic breaded ones to calm the masses in between the more tedious patterned ones.  In the meantime it's possible that early onset arthritis might be around the corner for me if I can't shake the kids from this crazy friendship bracelet mania!

Fig Season is almost over...

Mmmm, I love fig season especially since I discovered fresh figs!  California is a fig haven and you can pluck figs from the trees and pop them right into your mouth.  Often I look longingly into my backyard envisioning just a place for a fig tree but alas there is none.  Therefor, I must rely on the kindness and generosity of my fellow Californians to hook me up with fresh figs.  My niece, also a lover of figs, was telling me about this amazing goat cheese and fig jelly she made this season.  Consequently, my mouth was watering for weeks on end!  Obviously, she enjoys the torturing of my taste buds because although she told me all about this wonderful jelly she failed to deliver any to my doorstep tied with a bow and card that said, "World's Best Aunt!"  Much to my relief I found some Fig Butter at Trader Joe's, minus the goat cheese.

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are always up to no good..

While being held for a candy ransom by Hook and Mr. Smee this afternoon, I spied Peter Pan and Tink mischievously investigating the innards of this abandoned building by way of the mail slot.

They were also discussing how kind their "mom" Wendy was who slaved away in her sewing room all week for them to have some new handmade duds for today....wow, she must be a REALLY nice mom! Mr. Smee's outfit also seemed freshly stitched and although a portly pirate ripe in age, he drew a striking resemblance to my eldest son.   Mmmm, very odd day indeed!  

Hope you all had a fabulous All Hallows' Eve!