Little Bits

Oh, hey!

2012-02-07T20:52:00.002-05:00

Oh, hey there, you poor little neglected blog, you. Only six posts in January. Wow. Record low for me. You'll have to forgive me. My priorities have presently shifted away from this little space. I'm hoping to be back at some point more regularly, but for now, I just can't. There are other things that need my time and attention.

That being said, there are some fun little tidbits that have been going on around here that I'd like to share with you, so I shall try and take a few minutes over the next fews days and weeks to get back here and show you.

For Perry

2012-02-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

Dear sweet Perry-cat,

We didn't adopt you. You adopted us. I remember when you first started coming around. We would see you walk by behind the house. The dogs would bark at you. "There's that white cat, again," we said to each other.

Then, you would come in to the yard when we were outside playing. You would rub up against, purr, like you had known us all along. Sierra, then just 2-years-old, would chase you around the yard. You would trot away, but did you scurry off and hide? Nope! You let that little girl pick you up and drag you around. And when we told her to put you down, you would stand where she dropped you and turn and just look up at her.

You started hanging out in the chairs on our front porch. Every time we came home, there you would be, just like you belonged there.

You would stretch and yawn and look up at us, like, "Oh, hey. There you are! I've been waiting for you. Would you mind scratching my ears?" And that's just what we did. We weren't feeding you, or doing anything to encourage you stay, other than the occasional rub, but stay you did. After seeing you on our porch almost constantly for five days, Jason remarked, "How long has been since that cat's eaten?"

"Well," I replied, "It's been on our front porch for five days. So, we started feeding you. And then you weren't going anywhere. You were clearly someone's well-loved pet. You were friendly and affectionate, and we tried to find your home. We called the local animal shelters, and the local vets. We posted notes in the community folders here at Woodberry. We even took you into our vet to see if you had a micro-chip. We learned that you did not have a micro-chip, but you were a neutered male. We wanted to make sure you found your way home. But, it seems, you already had.

When the nights started to get really cold, we finally realized what you already knew: you were a part of our family, so we opened our door and let you in. You snuggled right in and made yourself at home. Not only were the girls thrilled to have you, the dogs and the other cats seemed to accept you from the first day as well. We were amazed, as a new cat typically takes some time to transition. I guess since you had been hanging around so long, everyone already knew you.

You were the most unique kitty cat I have ever known. Not only were loving and tolerant toward our small children, more than any other cat I've ever seen, you actually went for walks with our family! As we got out the leashes, and got the dogs ready to go, you would get ready, too. Along you would come, walking with us, scooting from one tree to the next, coming back to make sure we were still heading in the same direction. When we walked along the golf course, golfers would laugh and comment on taking the cat for a walk.

You were an outdoor kitty, and we couldn't change that. It's how you came to us. You were an adventurer, a wander, "a jungle cat," we called you.

Yet, you always seemed to be close. If the girls and I went outside to play, it seemed just moments before you would show up to see what we were up to. You would follow us on strolls down to the pond or over to the stadium to play. If we didn't see you, all we had to do was call you, and you would come running. What cat comes when called?!

On nice days, if we were lounging on the grass in the yard, you would lounge right along with us. We laughed as we arrived home in the car, because you heard us or saw us coming and you would come running over and then stand on top of the split rail fence, waiting for us to unload so you could greet us.

Nice nights, you would spend outside, doing your kitty thing. In the evening after dinner, you would stand the sliding door and look up at me. "Mmrow?" you asked me to open the door. "See you in the morning," I would say. And then the next morning, first thing, there you would be at the sliding door, ready for someone to open it up and let you in for breakfast.

If the night was rainy, though, or particularly cold, you were more than happy to spend the evening indoors with us. You would find place on the couch and snuggle in. If I were working on the laptop in the living room after the girls were in bed, you would nestle in next to me and purr while I worked. Many days, you also liked to spend inside. After being out carousing all night, you loved to spend your days relaxing around the house.

I'm so happy that you chose us to be your family, Perry, and I'm so very, very sad that you are gone.

We'll miss you, sweet Kitty-friend. Rest in peace, Perry.

Love,
Mama

The last time we saw Perry was Tuesday, January 31st. Jason said he let him out late that evening when he took the dogs for their last out of the day. "Have fun tonight, Buddy," he said as Perry scooted off into the trees behind our house. Wednesday morning, before he left for work, Jason told me Perry hadn't been at the door that morning, and hadn't eaten breakfast yet. He never showed up. That afternoon, the girls and I went for a walk in the area around our house, looking for Perry and calling out for him. He wasn't on his blanket in the basement, where he liked to nap during the day if there wasn't someone around to let him the house. When he didn't show up for dinner either, I started to get worried. This morning, after he missed another breakfast, Jason sent out a quick note in the faculty folder here at Woodberry.

Sadly, he received this response: "Jason, sorry to bring bad news, but I saw him laying by the side of the road the other night in front of the Barbee Tuesday night aroudn 10:30 p.m. It had looked like he had been hit by a car and crawled off to the side of the road. I checked and saw he was not breathing. I couldn't find a collar, and it slipped my mind to write and email. He was not there the next morning."

Jason told me that the maintenance staff apparently picked him up and buried him, but I don't know that. For all I know, he could have just been thrown in a dumpster and it just makes my heart sick to think about it. I'm taking this a lot harder than I thought I would, or think I should. I've been crying off an on all afternoon. I'm sad to lose our sweet cat and I'm angry at whomever did it. Not necessarily at the act, as I'm sure it was an accident, but at the fact, that they didn't have the courtesy to mention that the cat had been hit. I hope he died quickly and as painlessly as possible. I'll miss him.

Snow Day

2012-01-23T23:26:00.000-05:00

We don't get much snow here in Virginia. So, when we got about an inch of accumulation a couple of weeks ago, Jason jumped out the chance to take his little girls out for a romp in the snow.

I think it took him longer to get them ready to go outside than they actually spent outside. This was the first time Kaia was really able to experience the snow as a moving, playing kiddo. It was pretty fun to see her out there; she had a great time.

I went out to take a few pictures and then came back inside. A little while later, Sierra came in and asked me for a carrot. "A carrot? Why do you need a carrot?" "For the snowman's nose!" she exclaimed. I was a little shocked that Jason managed to get a snowman out of that little bit of snow, but sure enough: he did! A pretty good one too; it was taller than Kaia.

Sadly, the snow only lasted a day, and the remains of the snowman, another day beyond that. But we enjoyed it while it lasted!

Steel trap

2012-01-20T23:29:00.002-05:00

We were driving through town. Several months ago, while running errands on that street, we saw one of Sierra's preschool classmates, Billy, out with his mom.

As we drove down the same road, Sierra said, "Where does Billy live?"

Me: "I'm not sure."

Sierra: "I wish we could see Billy get in his car."

Me: "Oh. You remember when we saw Billy out with his mama."

Sierra: "Yeah. Billy got in his car with his mama."

(pause)

Me: "How do you remember everything?"

Sierra: "Weeeelll ... (long pause) ... I'm very intelligent. And! I love my friends."

Sweet and smily and seventeen (months)

2012-01-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

Happy 17 month birthday, Kaia-bear.

She's getting the true second child treatment here as I didn't post an update at the 15 or 16 month mark. I'm sorry, Kaia, I love you more than you can ever know, but girl, you keep me busy!!

I get these little email updates from Baby Center that tell me about the usual milestone for a child of similar age to mine. The one I got today said this:

"By now your toddler may be able to climb up stairs, turn around and sit at the top, then scoot her way back down. Some more cautious toddlers may climb the stairs but call for help to get back down."

I laughed. Actually laughed. Climb the stairs? Yes, she can do that. Scurry up, is more like it. And what is this "sit" word of which you speak? I don't think I understand. Kaia will go up, turn around, and walk back down, forward, holding on to the railing "like a big girl." She runs around and around the house saying "GO!" or pushing the doll stroller round and round. She loves for me to chase her, growling and yelling "TICKLE MONSTER!"

She doesn't speak many words, but she does manage to get her point across, and even within the last week, I'm noticing more attempts. She has, of course, been saying "mama" and "dada" for ages. Sierra come out kind of like "Ya-ya" but *almost* 3 syllables as it should be, so it's more like "Ya-ee-ya." I find this interesting as "ya-ya" is how Sierra's buddy Sophia said her name a couple years ago when they were Kaia-sized. And speaking of "ya-ee-ya," oh how Kaia adores that big sister. Much to Sierra's chagrin, Kaia always (always!) wants to be doing what she's doing, to have what she has, to play her games and follow her around. For the most part, Sierra does really great as a big sister and she really tries to include Kaia as much as a 3-year-old can. It's been really wonderful to actually see my two girls playing together sometimes. I truly wish for them to be friends as much as they are sisters.

Other words include "kitty," "nana" (which means Grandma or banana, depending on the context), "uh-oh," "woo! woo!" (that's the sound a dog makes), "Ta-key" (that's the dog, Casey). And recently, "FO!", which is throw, and which she says as she throws her fork or her cup on the floor or a stuffed animal across the room. And then she laughs. Har har. Hi-larious. Tonight, I put her in her crib, and she lay down, then stood up again, and reached across the room making that "unh! unh!" noise that indicated she wanted something. I asked her what she wanted and she said, "Bo." I wasn't sure what that was, so I handed her a book, she took it, and lay back down. Then I said good-night and left. And she didn't cry and cry. For the first time ever I left the room while she was still awake and she didn't throw a big stink. Yay!

Sleeping continues to be a struggle, but we deal with it, and I survive as best I can on a lot of coffee. Kaia's typical night means going to sleep around 8:30, waking up about midnight, I usually try to put her back down in her crib, waking up somewhere between 2-4am, at which point, I will bring her back to our bed for the night. If it was a 2am night, there's usually also a 4am wake-up, if it was a 4am night, she'll wake up for the 3rd time between 5:30 and 6, at which point I nurse her so I can eke out another hour before she's up for good at 7am. Blah. That makes me tired just writing it. Last night, however, Kaia's first wake-up wasn't until 3:30am. Yay again! Perhaps we are turning a corner? I'm hopeful but doubtful.

Speaking of turning a corner, it looks like we may finally be coming out of the "cling-on" stage, thank goodness!! For a (long) while, Kaia was just so sad when we left her with someone else. She was fine with Jason (or my mom, when we were there) but that was it. Which was really terrible because I left her in the day care at my MOPS meeting and I heard her crying all the way out in the meeting room and missed 45 minutes of my first meeting. Or I would leave her with a friend when I had to work at Sierra's preschool and I would get a report that she cried on and off for the entire three hours. Awful. However, I worked at preschool last week, and came back to the report that she was smiles for nearly the entire time I was gone. Ah! That's more like it. That's the Kaia-bear I know and love.

She really is such a happy, love-y baby (barely a baby, actually, as we see more and more "girl" in her every day). Sometimes, when you pick her up, she will snuggle into your neck and pat you on the back. She's funny and it's crazy to see a sense of humor in a 1-year-old, but this one's got it (see the "FO!" comment above).

There is much more that I could say, but it's getting late, so for now I'll sign off with this: Kaia has a great big personality, usually happy, and sometimes a little sneaky, and I can't wait to see her continue to grow.

OCP Christmas program

2012-01-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

The evening before we left for our Christmas in the Midwest Extravaganza, Sierra's preschool had a Christmas program. There are two classes, Sierra's class, the younger kiddos are 2.5-3 years old. The other class is a bit older, 3-4, they will be going into kindergarten next year.

Oh my goodness! If cuteness could you, I would not have survived this evening. They were just darling!

First up, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." All the preschoolers had red noses and ears. Sierra was very deliberate in her preparation for this number and she nailed it! She had "Rudolph" down!

Sierra getting ready with Xander and Tommy

Putting on reindeer antlers

All the preschoolers, reindeer noses and antlers, ready to go!

Next up, was "Jingle Bells." The prop this time was a bell. I think Sierra used up all her energy on "Rudolph" because she looked a little stunned for this sung. She did great, though, and do did her little buddies.

The kids did a little skip about Christmas trees looking for a home. Sierra got to play the part of a member of a family (with Sophia, Sara, and Xander) looking for a Christmas tree to bring home. During the poem, the families would go find a tree, chop it down and then the child who was the tree would crawl off to the side. Funny.

They ended with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and a great big bow.

After the program was over (11 minutes later), there was a secret santa gift exchange. Each child had picked a classmate and we brought them a $5 gift to give. Sierra had picked Lydia.

And she received a crayon roll from Sophia, which served us very well on our long, long, long car ride, which we began the next day.

The Woodberry OCP crew

Tommy was too busy to stick around for a second photo, but here are the girls: Sierra, Lydia and Sophia

{this moment}

2012-01-06T08:09:00.000-05:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soule Mama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

First of January

2012-01-03T19:10:00.001-05:00

When I remember, and get around to it, I've been posting pictures of my daughters near the beginning of each month. What fun to have a place to look back and see how they've grown and changed month to month and year to year.

See other First of the Month posts here.

{this moment}: the long drive home starts early

2011-12-30T19:25:00.001-05:00

Go, go, go

2011-12-19T13:53:00.002-05:00

"GO!" is Kaia's favorite phrase, and that's just what we've been doing since Friday morning.

We left Virginia at 6am and drove all day, stopping in Indianapolis for the evening. We got up at 4:30 Saturday morning and finished our trip to northern Illinois. Luckily, we got there early enough in the day that Jason and I were able to pass Sierra off to her grandparents so we could take a nap when Kaia did.

When I got up, I whipped up some candy for the party later. That evening, my parents hosted a pre-Christmas party with my dad's side of the family. Our family tradition is chili on Christmas eve. My parents are the usual hosts, but since we will be in St. Louis this year for Christmas, they moved the party up to the Saturday before.

Sunday morning, we were up too early to go to my sister's church an hour away because my niece was singing in the children's service. Afterward, it was on to brunch with my sister's future in-laws.

Home again, we had an uneventful afternoon before heading out to have dinner at Will and Kate's. Kate and I ran cross country together in high school, and they have three little girls. Sierra had an awesome time with the older two, who are 5 and almost-3-years-old, and Kaia tried her best to keep up with the big girls. The baby of the group is just 3 weeks old, so she mostly slept, and made squeaky baby noises. They were quite the pile of girls!!

(I'll have to post some pictures of that outing later.)

I managed to get a run in this morning, and then Jason and I had an hour without the girls to explore some of the shop in down town Galena. We're soon to head out to see my niece's school Christmas program and then we're looking forward to an evening with nothing on the horizon.

Last minute clutch

2011-12-16T20:32:00.000-05:00

The small group I'm a part of within MOPS decided that we would have a little gift exchange during our December play date. I knew I wanted to make a little clutch, but I didn't start it until the evening before the gift exchange. I stayed up way too late to get it finished, but I love the way it turned out. I love it so much, in fact, that I'm planning to make myself a duplicate.

It's based on Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial, but this one is a bit larger. I bought this fabric awhile ago because I loved it, and I think this is the perfect project.

I added a removable wrist strap.

The back showcases the birds on the print.

I kept it simple with the lining since this was a last minute project. No pockets this time, just some of the fabric I had left over from Adam and Erin's mei tai.

Tutorial: Ruffle stocking

2011-12-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

I was reading FabricWorm's blog a week ago, when they mentioned there was still time to enter a contest for which they were a guest judge. The deadline for the Prudent Baby "Put a Serger in my Stocking" contest had been extended from that day (December 7th) to Sunday December 11th. Hmm, four days to come up with a fun, original idea for a Christmas stocking using knits in some capacity.

While I was happy for the deadline extension (since I just heard about the contest on the original deadline day), four days was still not enough time to go out and purchase any new supplies. I would have to use something that I had on hand. The contest stipulated that knits had to be used in some capacity and when I thought of knits, the first thing that popped into my mind was ruffles!

I decided to use this opportunity to make a tutorial and you can make your very own ruffle stocking. It took me two days of my late night post bedtime sewing time, so you've still got time to make one before Christmas!

I started out by drawing a stocking shape on a large piece of paper. I think this paper came as packing material, but you can fit your stocking shape on an 11x17 sheet of paper. Or use wrapping paper or newspaper or a couple sheets of printer paper taped together. The shape doesn't have to be perfect, just sort of stocking-y.

I used a woven fabric for the base of my stocking, and the cuff, and various coordinating knits for the ruffles. The fabric I used for the cuff of the stocking was actually my inspiration. I have several yards of it that I bought many years ago with the intention of making seasonal curtains that never happened. It has presents and candies and lots of bright colors, but is not super "Christmas-y" in the traditional sense.

But do what you want! I think the next one I make is going to be different shade of green and red.

You'll need to cut out two stocking shapes for the outside of your stocking and two for the lining. Add some length to the top of the outside stocking where it will fold down. I added 3.5 inches to make a 3 inch cuff + 1/2 inch seam allowance. Cut 2 rectangles of fabric for the cuff 4.5 inches x width of the stocking (mine was 7 inches) and attach to the top of the lining pieces).

(note: make sure if your lining fabric is one that you can't tell front from back that the toes of the stocking are facing different direction. Otherwise, you will have two lining pieces with stocking toes facing the same way and no way to sew them together and have the cuff facing the same direction all the way around. You will have some quality time with your seam ripper and try again. Want to take a guess how I know this?)

Decide how many ruffles you want. I wanted mine to cover the straight part of the stocking but not the toe and overlap one another. I cut 7 strips of knit fabric that were 2 inches wide by about 16-18 inches long.

Mark the outside of your stocking where the cuff will end and where you want the ruffles. I made mine 1-inch apart. (Next time, I will be sure to sew the first ruffle 1-inch up under where the cuff will end.) You can use a disappearing ink pen if you want, but you won't see the lines on the finished stocking, so I just used a regular ol' ink pen.

Ruffle your knit strips. Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length and turn up the tension. The strip will start to ruffle on its own, but you might still need to ruffle it up some more. Leave plenty of thread length, grab the bobbin thread, and then push and slide the fabric until the desired width is reached. I left mine a bit wider than the width of the stocking.

Start with the bottom ruffle. Place is along the the line you marked so that it is facing upward. Sew it down with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Flip it so that it is facing downward and topstitch in place so that it will stay down.

Continue sewing your ruffles in this manner from bottom to top until all your ruffles are in place.

Place your outside stocking pieces right sides together and sew all the way around, leaving the top open (obviously). Trim off the excess ruffles.

Clip around the curved parts and fold the top 1/2 inch toward the wrong side and press.

Sew the two lining with cuff pieces together, leaving them open at the top. Fold the top down 1/2 inch toward the wrong side and press. Oh wait!! We totally forgot to add a hang tab. Go back and unpick that seam where the cuff meets the top of the stocking. Actually, maybe you could save yourself some trouble and make the hang tap and insert it before you sew the 2 lining pieces together!

To make the hang tab: Cut a piece of fabric 2 inches x 6 inches. Fold in half and press. Now open it up, fold each side to the center, and press. Now fold it in half so that the raw edges are fully enclosed. Top stitch close to the open edge. I also topstitched along the edge with the fold so it would look more symmetrical.

Fold your tab in half and place it at the point of the cuff where the cuff meets the lining. Angle it slightly downward and when you fold the cuff over, it will be angled out and up.

Turn the outside of the stocking right side out. Shove the lining inside and line up the top edges. Top stitch the lining and outside pieces together all around the top. Fold the cuff down.

I love, love how this turned out. All those bright colored ruffles remind me of a Mexican party. Feliz Navidad!!

As I mentioned, I made this stocking for the Prudent Baby contest. Entries were to be judged with 25% of the score going to each of the following categories: originality, style, workmanship, and presentation. The winner hasn't been announced yet (and wow, wouldn't I just love to win!), but there is some stiff competition. Yikes! As it turns out, my idea wasn't as original as I had thought. When all the entries were posted, there are several other variations on the ruffle stocking. However, I do have some original use of color, and I must thank Sarah for providing awesome presentation. When I learned that was one of the categories, I sent her note: Can I borrow your mantle? (Seriously, what kind of a strange question is that?) Sure, she said, It's a little decorated, if that's okay. Perfect, I responded.

Baby Eric rides in style

2011-12-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ping and Scott's second child, Eric, was born in September. To welcome him, I offered to make them a mei tai so that he would have a nice ride. Ping picked the fabric; Scott said she wanted something "hip and modern." This is called Mod Swirls by Michael Miller Fabrics.

The reverse side is a little more subtle (for Scott's benefit) with a solid green body and a black hood to match the straps. I added a few appliques from the print to tie the colors together.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving, when Zach was here to help, Jason and Zach put up the Christmas lights on the outside of our house.

That day, we also put up our Christmas tree, and then decorated several days later, with Sierra actually big enough to help this year.

We told her to put the ornaments as high as she could reach because Kaia likes to pull them off the tree. When she couldn't reach, she was very good at directing Jason or me where a particular ornament should be placed.

Sierra had a choice of a star or Santa as the tree topper. She picked the star, and I had the honor of perching it on the highest branch.

Don't you just love all the ornaments on the upper 2/3 of the tree? Ha!

And there's our tree in the dining room window, adding a little extra to the glow on the outside of the house.

We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler: Half-way there update

2011-12-08T21:14:00.000-05:00

I am half way finished with my year long quilt block sew along, the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler at Sewn. I haven't been keeping up with posting about the blocks, so I have a few to share that I've completed since the last time I posted about this project (back in October! wow!).

This one is the Green Mountain Star. It wasn't one of the official "assigned" blocks in the sampler, but it was a bonus block that Leila linked to on one of the "catch-up" weeks. Since I stumbled across the pattern for this block and suggested it, I thought I should complete it. I love it and I'm happy to have it as part of my quilt.

The skill we were learning with this next block was improvisational piecing with a fabric foundation. Basically, you have a large piece of scrap fabric, just slightly larger than your block and then you randomly sew scraps on to it. I don't love it as much as the others. It's called a "crazy" block, but I think it's just too crazy for my tastes.

I did enjoy the opportunity to try out some of the decorative stitches on my machine, though.

The next month was all paper piecing. Paper piecing uses a shape on a piece of paper. You sew your fabric and then tear of the paper along the dotted line created by your machine. When Leila posted this first paper pieced block, she said, "it's simple enough that you actually wouldn't have to paper piece it.

So I didn't. But I wish I had. I ended up cutting off the points of all my diamonds, which is quite silly since the name of the block is "Diamond Dash." That's what I get for not following directions. I considered either taking it apart and redoing it or just doing another one correctly, but I don't hate it enough to go through all that extra work. It will just be a reminder of what I've learned.

The next block is called "Minnesota." It was at this point that I decided that this quilt, when it's finished was too "girly" to use as the eventual quilt in my and Jason's bedroom. When all the blocks are finished, they will be divided into 2 quilts for the girls. So I started using pink, which I had mostly avoided before.

This paper pieced block is called Starry Night. Leila linked to it from Fresh Lemons Quilts. It is done in 4 quarters, and then the quarters are sewn together. At first, I thought I had messed up because I pieced the second portion in mirror image of the first, but as it turns out, that's what I was supposed to do, I had just missed that direction. This time, my mistake wasn't really a mistake (until the Diamond Dash).

The final paper pieced block, and the one that marked the half way point was Circle of Geese. Those little triangles are often found in quilts in a line and they are called "flying geese." This time, they are turned in a circle. I decided to use the dark background on this one, and I am loving how it turned out. I'll have to remember to use more of this dark purple color in future blocks.

I really love seeing how all the blocks of the quilt are coming together. We've had 18 "assigned" blocks, plus a few bonus blocks, and I redid my log cabin block, and made a couple extra improv houses because I thought they were so cute, so at the half way point, I have 24 blocks completed. Seeing all the blocks together, the project as a whole is much less purple than the original concept in my mind, just because of the fabrics I was choosing for the individual blocks. I think they look awesome together, though, and I can't wait to see this project continue to grow!

And here's some exciting news!! Leila had a drawing for a fabric prize open to everyone who had completed all the blocks at the half way point and I won! So, I should have some fabric coming to me in the mail for my effort. Thank you, Leila.

Dance observation day

2011-12-07T21:22:00.000-05:00

On the last day of Sierra's dance class for the fall semester, parents were invited in to the studio for "Observation Day." We got to watch and see what our tiny dancers had been up to for the past 12 weeks. Sierra found a spot by her buddy, Sophia.

Kaia came to watch what big sis had been up to and hung out with Daddy during class.

Tommy and Peyton had been hanging out with us that day, and Tommy went to play with a friend, but Peyton came along and she just gave us all sort of trouble during class. Just kidding!! She spent most of class like this:

See all those little dancers sitting nicely in a circle, hand folded in their laps? See that one little dancer rolling around with her feet up in the air? Can you guess which one is my daughter?

Okay. And we are ready to begin! The dancers started with tap and did some shuffling and swinging. They each got to show us how they skipped around the circle.

Then they switched to ballet. We got to see a tiny bit of the performance piece that they will be working on for the spring recital.

One more sunset squared block off my "to do" list

2011-12-06T22:30:00.001-05:00

I designed that quilt block for the 4x5 Quilt Bee, but I had only completed my block for one of my fellow hive members. Now, it's 2 down, 2 to go. Jen wants red, pink, and aqua with a gray background. I had a couple fabrics already on hand, ordered a couple new ones for this project, and 2 others came from my mother (thanks mom!). I love how it turned out; such a fun combination of colors. I can't wait to see Jen's blocks all together.

Trying a dresden plate

2011-12-06T21:12:00.001-05:00

Recently, the Flickr group for Old Red Barn Company had a dresden plate sew along. When I first saw dresden plate quilts, I decided they weren't really my taste. As it turns out, while I don't prefer the more traditional dresden plate designs, I'm all for the more modern versions. I wanted to try one out myself and add another block to the quilt that will one day be my bedroom quilt.

First step is to cut out all the dresden pieces and sew the tops together. These will be folded down to make the points. I went for a scrappy look, using a different fabric for each piece.

The pieces are sewn together in a circle and then appliqued to the background fabric. The center is added and sewn down on top of that.

This is one of my favorite sections of my dresden plate. Love those fabrics!

And here are the fabrics I have for my someday future bedroom quilt. I've purchased them a little at a time, starting with a few I loved, then realizing I needed a bit more gray, a bit more yellow, a few more in some lighter tones. I have enough now to complete the quilt, though I anticipate that it will be a project over the next couple years. I'm certain to add a few more in that amount of time. We'll see where we end up. A king size quilt is going to be about 64 12-inch blocks. I have completed 2.

First of December

2011-12-03T22:22:00.000-05:00

Kaia wants me to open the shed so she can get out the toy car

Sierra joins her to try and help

Sierra want to climb the tree; a difficult task with no low branches

I attempted to "pose" the girls by the Christmas train. Ha! I should know better. There is no posing when it comes to these girls.

Perhaps I can get a cute shot of them on the stump together?

... And that's how long that lasted!

See other First of the Month posts here.

{this moment}

2011-12-02T07:43:00.001-05:00

Yellow and brown day

2011-11-30T22:17:00.000-05:00

Each month at preschool, there is a special "color day" where the kids are all suggested to wear a specific color to celebrate the month. In September, we celebrated an Apple Day by wearing red, in October there was Orange and Black Day for Halloween. At the end of this month, for the fading fall colors, we had Yellow and Brown Day.

The day before Yellow and Brown Day, Sierra was digging through a hand-me-down box and she found this little faux fur shrug vest and exclaimed, "I want to wear this!" Okay, sure. It's go some brown it. As it turns out, we had plenty of other options she could have worn for brown, but her wardrobe is distinctly lacking in the yellow department.

The only thing to do: make something! I had this fabric that my Mom had given me when we visited at the beginning of the month that worked out perfectly for a simple skirt (thanks, Mom!). I could have left as just a simple, gathered yellow skirt, but I decided add a little detail and trimmed the skirt with a brown and white pin dot (again, thank you, Grandma Ginger) and added a matching curved-bottom patch pocket. I'm actually quite pleased with how this little skirt came together, and I think Sierra is, too!

Thanksgiving week was family fun

2011-11-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

Our Thanksgiving week was lovely, with a touch of "not so good" thrown in. I'll start with the bad. Sierra was sick for all of Tuesday and Wednesday. Not physical, throwing up sick, just feeling really down and under the weather. She didn't eat much Monday night and then woke up Tuesday morning saying "I'm sick," but couldn't explain exactly what was wrong. I asked her if she wanted to go back to bed and she said yes! (shocking, I know, but that's how I know she really was ill!!) I tucked her back in at 8am and she slept for 3 hours! Sheesh! That's unheard of. She had to miss her preschool party and brunch, so that was unfortunate, but she was well by Thanksgiving. And then she gave whatever she had to me and I spent all of Friday and Saturday apologizing to my in-laws for being a poor hostess.

We kept our Thanksgiving feast pretty simple. We had the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce, butternut squash, and a green bean casserole that I made from scratch without the cream of mushroom soup. I saw the recipe here and it looked awesome; it was. Dessert was pumpkin pie made with an actual pumpkin and fresh whipped cream (my favorite) and apple pie with a crumb topping and vanilla ice cream (Jason's favorite). Had my family joined us, my dad's presence would have required pecan pie as well, but we skipped it this year.

Kaia provided dinner entertainment with her huge personality and playing peek-a-boo with everyone as we finished eating.

I just cannot get over the number and varied expression this child has!!

Sierra was feeling much better and was mostly back to her happy self.

After our feast, we headed outside to enjoy the day and play with Grandma and Grandpa. Zach and Jason put up our outside Christmas lights.

Grandma and Grandpa left Saturday evening and were heading back west early Sunday morning, so we said our good-byes. Uncle Zach was staying with us, though, so we got to enjoy one more day with him before he had to return to school in New York.

I designed a quilt block

2011-11-27T10:10:00.001-05:00

Since I decided I was going to learn how to quilt, I have been doing little projects to help me figure things out.

I made a table runner.

I joined the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler and have been trying out different quilt blocks each week as directed by Leila at Sewn.

I made a simple baby quilt.

And most recently, I joined an online 4x5 Quilt Bee. The "4" is for the quarterly time period. You sign up for the bee and blocks are started and completed over the course of 3 months. The "5" is four the number of quilt blocks completed and received in that amount of time. I am assigned a "hive" with 5 other women (or men, but it seems most quilters tend to be women). We each choose a color scheme for ourselves. We each choose one block that we make five times, according to the color choices of the others in our hive. So, at the end of the quarter, I have made 5 blocks in five different color schemes that I will send out to my other hive members, and I will receive 5 different block in my chosen color scheme.

While I could have picked a modern block that has already been done, I chose to design my own block for this project. I started out with a really rough sketch, and then a to scale drawing of the block. I've named it Sunset Squared because the top portion reminds me of sun rays and the bottom is a just line of little squares.

Finally, I drew the block out to size. The top portion is done by paper piecing, so I made six copies. The bottom is just measure, cut and sew. I first did the block in my own color scheme to see if I liked it in fabric form.

I liked it, and so I forged onward with my first hive member, whose color choices were pink, orange, and yellow with a white background.

Race report: Earlysville Turkey Trot

2011-11-26T21:48:00.000-05:00

We were thrilled to have Jason's whole family in town for Thanksgiving this year. His parents and sister arrived Tuesday evening and Wednesday, Jason and his dad went to a hockey game in DC and then picked up Zach after the game. They got back late, but we were up early on Thursday morning to go to the Earlysville Turkey Trot. I've done this race the past couple years by myself, and I was thrilled to have some company this year. Diane and Zach ran the race as well, and Jason and Butch spectated with the girls.

Since Butch was there with his camera, we have documented evidence of me running! It's so rare to have photos because I often head to races by myself and I'm so happy that my family was able to come.

Here we are before the race, trying not to squint into the sun to much. It was a perfect late fall day, crisp and cool.

Jason played "super dad" with double the little girl fun!

Here's my cheering section! Kaia's cheering too, as you can tell by her little foot!

Even though there are race photos to show you, perhaps I should not put them out there for public consumption. Here's why. Diane looks happily tired at the end of the race.

Zach looks confident and determined.

I look like I just. might. die. On the plus side, my leg muscle looks huge. So I've got that going for me. Also, I finished as the 4th female overall (missed 3rd by 9 seconds) and first in my age group. I ran the 5K in 20:56, a respectable 6:45min/mile pace. I'll take it. (But I do wonder if I could ever break 20:00 again.)

{this moment}

2011-11-25T11:16:00.001-05:00

Harvest table

2011-11-22T22:50:00.001-05:00

When I actually manage to clean everything up after a meal, remove the dirty dished from the table, wipe off greasy handprints, and avoid using the dining room table as a catch-all for paper items, it looks like this! I love it and it makes me happy to walk in the dining room and see this. That, alone, is motivation to move the dirty dishes into the sink.

The table runner was made by my mother with fabrics that we picked together at a quilt shop in Bozeman, MT (cannot WAIT to go back there. Bozeman. Not the quilt shop. Okay, the quilt shop, too.) The crystal bowl was a wedding gift from my friend, Brad. The vase is stained glass, made by me, one upon a time. Candles are pumpkin spice scent from Target (mmmmmm ... ). The pumpkin and the gourds came from our pumpkin patch trips this fall, and the silk fall flowers are from ... I don't know ... a craft store (Michael's? JoAnn? Can't remember ... )

Do you like it?? I don't know what I'm going to do here when it's officially winter. I bought fabric to make a Christmas/winter table runner, but I don't know if I will get that finished. Maybe I will just pretend it's fall until my summer table runner is in season again. I could do fall for most of the year. (but the pumpkin won't last that long!)

Good reads

2011-11-21T23:48:00.001-05:00

So many, many things that I haven't posted about here. I guess I'm on an unintentional hiatus. I'm feeling unmotivated to update this space right now, so if you've seen my motivation, please send it home.

Jason took this picture of the girls and me as we sat on the couch together this weekend. We sure love books around here! Okay, technically, I'm reading Runner's World, and Sierra is reading a coloring book, but we do love to read. I hope we can continue to encourage the love of books and reading and learning with our girls.

Four under four for four

2011-11-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

Are you confused? What in the world does that post title mean? That would be Four children under four-years-old for four days. I just liked the phonetic fun I could have with all those fours (and one for). Anyway.

My friend Shannon had to go away for work for a few days, and her kiddos stayed behind with Daddy. While he was at work during the day, Tommy and Peyton came to hang with me. I dropped the big ones off at preschool, juggled lunches and snack and bottles and diaper changed, picked the preschoolers up, juggled more diapers and snacks and bottled, settled various small persons down for naps and quiet times, and did my best to maintain my sanity while assuring everyone was well cared for and having a pretty good time. There were definitely some issues with poop and vomit and sharing and whatnot, but all in all, I'd say we all enjoyed our time together.

Here's everyone in the playroom. Despite my yelling and jumping up and down and carrying on, I couldn't get more than one child to look at me at a time.

We had some really beautiful weather, so we went for a walk. I was impressed with how far Tommy and Sierra walked on their own, but I guess they were just having such a good time, they forgot to be tired.

Peyton and Kaia had a good time, too, but they had their travel taken care of for them.

One afternoon, we made pumpkin seeds. Sierra and Tommy took turns stirring in the ingredients, and the babies played nearby.

We're looking forward to next time!

The rest of our Galena trip

2011-11-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

Our trip to Illinois was really very nice. I got to visit with almost everyone I wanted to see while I was back in town and we had plenty of down time and family time as well. It's tough, sometimes, when I go back to my parents' house because there are so many people I want to see, and so little time, and too many times, I end up feeling like I'm rushing around and I still leave someone out of my schedule.

The girls enjoyed some fall weather and playing in the leaves. And Grandpa encouraged them to jump in the giant leaf pile that the neighbor had just raked all up. Ha! (My dad also takes our dogs over specifically to crap in the neighbor's yard when we're home with them. My parents and their neighbors are actually friends, this is just my dad's idea of hilarious.)

It's good to hand with Grandpa Bob. Not only does he take you out to dinner, he also can get you in to the fire house after hours!

We were sure to set up some play time with Sierra's buddy Colton while we were in town as well. I've mentioned Colton and his mom, Casey on here before. Casey and I have been friends since we were Sierra and Colton's age (really!) and it's so fun to see our kiddos now playing together. I wish we lived closer. Casey told me later that week, after we had gone back to Virginia, Colton asked if Sierra could come over again the next weekend! We'll see you soon!

Neglect

2011-11-14T22:51:00.001-05:00

My little blog has been neglected more than usual lately. I hope to fix that soon. There is the trip to Illinois to tell you about, including the half marathon, which resulted in a 3rd place finish on my part. There's some sew-y stuff I want to show you as well. In the mean time, if you really need some fresh content of my two little ones, go visit Carrie.

Race Report: Inaugural Galena Lead Rush Half Marahon

2011-11-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

I have been anticipating the first half marathon in the town where I grew up for over a year. One of the organizers of the race is a childhood friend of mine and he and I corresponded a bit about his desire to make this race happen in the early stages. Because I felt like I had helped in the teensiest way, and because this was the first half marathon in my home town, and because a friend was instrumental in planning and executing the race, and because my parents still live there, there were really so many reasons for me to head back to Illinois to run this race.

Even better: I asked my friend Brian, who I have known for almost my entire life, and who is a runner himself, if he could come back for the race as well. (and he did)

The girls and I arrived on Tuesday and had plenty of time to hang with family and see friends. Of course, there was Chaos, as there always is when I get together with my childhood friends. As a result, I probably consumed far too much sugar, mostly in the form of jellybeans, than I should have, and definitely more than I would have had it been a different race in a different place.

The race began at 9AM Saturday morning and it was cool and sunny. A lovely day for a distance race, really. Brian and I had chatted beforehand and our pace goals were different, so we didn't plan to run together.

However, just moments after the race began, there was Brian beside me. I was so happy to have my friend running with me. At that point there were 3 women ahead of me. The one in front had taken off fast, and I knew I wasn't catching her. I told Brian that my plan was to catch the girl in blue, who was going about the same pace as me, within the next mile or mile and a half; and then to catch the girl in purple on that first really big hill between mile 6-7.

Unfortunately, I had a side stitch by about the first mile. By mile two, it was pretty bad, and I spent the next two mile massaging it hard trying to get rid of it. It was uncomfortable, but I managed to keep a pretty good pace. I spent the majority of the race with an annoying, painful but bearable stitch in one side or the other. Still, I managed to catch the other women like I told Brian I planned to. I'm actually a little surprised because though it's good to have a plan, you just don't know what's in the head of your competitors. Brian and I went around the first woman ahead of me together, and then I pulled ahead of him as he settled into his pace around 4 miles. At The Big Hill, the woman in purple walked up the steepest part, and I kept my pace to pass her (I did several long runs up a big hill near where we live to train for this).

I managed to keep ahead of her for the almost rest of the race, but she was right on my shoulder until the end. The end of the race is a flat stretch along the river and The Woman in Purple was right behind me. I saw the clock at the finish line from down the road, and I was pushing hard to stay in front of her. I approached the finish line and one of the volunteers said, "Just one more little out and back! Almost there!" AAAUUUUGH! I thought I was finished!! Well, I had used up my kick, and when I found out I still had another 1/2 mile to go, I completely lost my mental edge, and The Woman in Purple was able to pass me. I pulled her back in but wasn't able to catch her before the finish line, and she finished just seconds in front of me.

Still, I'm thrilled with my first place finish. The hills were challenging, for sure, and I wonder how much faster I could have run if not for the side cramps I had for most of the race. Perhaps I shall have to try again next year?

Brian finished 5 minutes behind me and we got to ride the chairlift back to the top of the mountain (big hill). Final results can be found here. The finishers' medals weren't handed out at the finished, but when Brian and I went to the tent to pick ours up, we learned we had both placed (me, 3rd overall female; him, second in his age group) so we had to wait for the award ceremony if we wanted our medals. If I'm being honest, the awards ceremony was scheduled for later than it should have been (2PM) but we had lunch, so we decided to wait around and spend some time on the playground. Brian, ultra-runner that he is, figured that 13.1 miles wasn't enough of a workout, so he decided to add in some squats.

And some pull-ups.

But then he made my 3-year-old push him on the merry-go-round.

It was finally time for the awards ceremony, and Brian and I collected our prized before heading back to our respective parents' homes for the rest of our time in Galena.

To Grandmother's house we go

2011-11-09T23:21:00.000-05:00

When I travelled back to Illinois, by airplane, with both girls by myself, I was totally bracing myself for the worst. As with every other flight I've taken with a baby, I was completely paranoid before the trip that everything would go wrong. I was way more concerned than I should have been about being "that woman." (the one with the incessantly screaming infant or the toddler having a meltdown.) I shouldn't have been concerned. The girls did great. In the future, I will ~~not worry~~continue to be paranoid, most likely. It's okay though, if I expect the very worst, then I can be pleasantly surprised when things go smoothly. That's a healthy outlook, right?

It was a long day of travel because first Jason had to drive us to Dulles then we flew into Chicago Midway where my parents picked us up to take us back to their house. (note to self: do NOT fly to those airports again. Midway is just way to much of a pain to get to.) We arrived in plenty of time and the girls amused themselves in the waiting area by playing around the poles for lining up for boarding and looking out the window at trucks carrying suitcases and airplanes driving by.

When we landed in Chicago, Sierra was so excited to see the other planes on the runway next to us. She kept shouting, "Look! An airplane! AN AIRPLANE! LOOK!! ANOTHER AIRPLANE!! THERE'S ANOTHER AIRPLANE!!" As we were getting ready to deplane, the flight attendant looked at Sierra and said, "No more Halloween candy for you." Ha!

We got back to my parents' place pretty late, so there was just enough time to say "hi" to Harmony before she went to the bed, but there would be plenty more fun with the cousin that week!

Bonus! Harmony likes books as much as we do and she can read! Sierra was thrilled to have another person available to read to her.

Grandma and Grandpa live right across the street from a big playground, and we made sure to visit a few times while we were in town. Kaia wants desperately to keep up with "the big girls" but she's not quite there yet. She sure tries, hard, though!

Kaia warmed right up to Grandma, and snuggled up to her as soon as we saw her in the airport. I think we have Skype to thank for this because my girls get to see Grandma Ginger fairly regularly via video chat. They see Grandpa Bob, too, but he usually just pops in to say "hi" and then pops out again. Thus, Kaia took a bit to come around to Grandpa, but he knew just how to encourage her: PIE!

Halloween in the Forest

2011-11-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

If you thought one Halloween celebration was enough merriment to celebrate that particular holiday, oh! How wrong you were! There was, of course, the preschool Halloween party. Then, after we came home from the pumpkin patch, we had a mini family celebration, which involved caving a jack-o-lantern and roasting pumpkin seeds. They must have been good, because they were gone by the next day!

The next day, it was time for the Woodberry children's Halloween bash! The girls and I walked the short distance up the hill to the party because it was a lovely afternoon and I wanted to get some photos of them in their costumes. By the time we made it up the hill to the party, Dorothy had gotten mud on both knees of white leggings, Glinda had caught her crown on her skirt and ripped off one of the fleur de lis (fleurs de lis?) from the top, and I was carrying the grown, Glinda's scepter, and Toto. The girls had a blast at the party: running around with their friends, playing games, eating, and having just a generally good time.

I don't know why Kaia is looking at Peyton so suspiciously. Perhaps the duck costume is throwing her off?

See, Kaia loves Peyton!

Sierra in the game circle, this one was a Halloween take on "hot potato." I don't think the younger kids really knew what was going on, though.

The party group photo. A little chaotic? Maaaaay-be, but you should try getting a photo of this many small, squirmy people.

Kaia found another friend to hug. This time it's Kyra who's the recipient of Kaia's not-so-gentle sqeezes!

The very next day, there was even more Halloween fun with toddler trick-or-treating through all the office building on campus. We arrived late and the group photo was already happening, so I wasn't able to get a good one to share. Signs are half up and half down, children are looking in all directions, Kaia is screaming her pretty little head off. Sheesh!

The little ones who are not yet in school all day are invited to go from office to office collecting treats. They have a good thing, and the community at Woodberry love seeing the little ones all dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Pumpkin Patch: Take 2

2011-11-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

Since Daddy didn't get to go to the pumpkin patch when we went with Sierra's preschool, the girls and I thought that he should get in on the fun, too. This time, we went to our local farm, Liberty Mills. We've been there before with some of our Woodberry friends, last fall for pumpkins and this past spring, to pick strawberries. We were happy to head back again as a family.

It had rained recently, so the pumpkin patch was a bit muddy, but we just went with it and embraced the mud. Kaia thought we should bring home this pumpkin, but it was a bit too big for her to carry.

Ah! These are a bit more what we were looking for!

Just the right size for little hands!

Of course, the little ones aren't great for carving, so we had Daddy's help to pick out a couple bigger pumpkins as well.

After we had loaded up our pumpkins, we took some time to explore the fun kid area at the farm. There was a corn stalk tunnel that the girls loved, and Kaia kept walking back and forth through it. She thought it was great, especially when Jason or I would appear at the other end!

There was a hay pile for climbing up and jumping off, and Sierra had a great time with that. Kaia tried to keep up with her big sister, but she still needs to work on her climbing skills. Or grow longer legs. Or both.

One last time through the corn stalk tunnel before we headed home!

Party like a preschooler

2011-11-06T13:10:00.000-05:00

I was scheduled to be working in the classroom on the day of the preschool Halloween party. Sarah not only did an amazing job doing most of the planning of the party, she also kept Kaia in the morning before the party and then brought her to preschool.

The day started out as a "normal" preschool day, with play and circle time and stories by Ms. Jeannette.

At 10:30, the party started and all the kids changed into their Halloween costumes. I didn't manage to get a great photo of everyone dressed up, so I'll have to see if one of the other parents had better luck.

There were games to play, including "Pin the Legs on the Spider." Each child had a spider leg with his or her name on it, and the goal was to give the spider her legs.

They were moderately successful.

There was also a bean bag toss game into Halloween buckets. This game worked a lot better for the older class of preschoolers as the 3-year-olds (and almost 3-year-olds) just threw the bags at the buckets as hard as they could rather than trying to put them in the buckets!

There were crafts to do, as well. Everyone got to decorate a pumpkin as well as a trick-or-treat bag.

When the trick-or-treat bags were all decorated, our little dressed-up darlings got to go around to all the parents and collect little treats to put in their bags.

We made some lunch together, and the kids got to make a peanut butter sandwich and then choose a Halloween cookie cutter to make their sandwich into a ghost or pumpkin or bat.

Then it was time to investigate some of the treats before packing up and heading home.

Weekly Wee Read: Knuffle Bunny

2011-11-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I made a list and hope to review them one by one.

Today's pick:

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems, suggested by Carrie.

While I know and love Mo Willems, I wasn't familiar this book. I was excited for the opportunity to explore something else by the author of "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," and the "Elephant and Piggy" series.

The story line is simple, cute and funny, and it will really speak to any parent who has ever had a child with a very special "lovey." In the story, Trixie goes to the laundromat with her daddy and leaves her special lovey there. She doesn't yet speak words, so when she realizes that she left her bunny, she tries everything else in her power to express to her daddy that she needs to go back. I love the line, "She goes boneless." The accompanying illustration is particularly hilarious, and I've been there (with a boneless child). If you've been there, you know exactly what the author is talking about.

So, Trixie is hauled home, bawling, because he daddy just doesn't understand that she trying to tell him they forgot the bunny. The first thing Trixie's mommy says upon opening the door is, "Where's knuffle bunny?" Of course. Mommies always notice those sorts of things. So the whole family runs back to laundromat and, after an extensive search, knuffle bunny is found!

The illustrations are also great, with drawings over photographs of actual places, similar to the style of the illustrations I enjoyed so much in To Market To Market.

Here's the list:

Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann

~~Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz~~

Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish

Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman

The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll

Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis

Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert

Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer

Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee

Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel

Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks

The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small

~~Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex~~

~~Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd~~

How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

~~I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore~~

If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton

Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems

Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego

Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney

The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper

Little Miss Spider - David Kirk

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton

Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard

~~My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb~~

My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner

The Napping House - Audrey Wood

The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore

Olivia - Ian Falconer

The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Polar Express - Chris Van Al

Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague

Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg

Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson

~~The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau~~

Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild

Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner

Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

~~To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens~~

The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren

Top Cat - Lois Ehlert

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman

You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano

Authors

Sandra Boynton

Jan Brett

Tomie dePaola

Richard Scarry

Dr. Seuss

Preschool Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sierra's preschool had a field trip to Round Hill Farm. At Orange Cooperative Preschool, field trips are organized, but the kids don't really go as a group. We are all responsible for bringing our own children to the location of the trip and we meet there at a designated time.

It's amazing we made it there at all, as we were definitely having "one of those mornings." Sierra was absolutely refusing to sit down and eat her breakfast, Kaia required an early outfit change, and I just couldn't get it all together. We should have left at 9:00am; at 9:15, I was pulling out and suddenly realized I had set my coffee on the floor when I buckled Kaia into her seat, and it spilled all over. So, into the house I ran to fetch ~~a pail of water~~ a towel to clean up the mess. And now I had no coffee. *sad face* Meanwhile, Shannon called to say "are you okay?!" because she was also running behind and saw our car still there when she drove by.

All turned out okay, as our group was still congregating when we arrived. Our little munchkins took some time to find their favorite pumpkins.

Then it was off on the hay ride. Sierra had so much fun with her buddies!

Kaia had a great time, too. The hay ride went through the farm, and past the animals. Kaia made sure to point out all the interesting things there were for us to look at.

The hay ride took us to another pumpkin patch where we got to get out and find a pumpkin to take home with us.

Then we headed back to the main farm area where we had some time to play and feed the horse.

We attempted to get a photo of all the preschoolers who were there, and were only moderately successful. Here are some of them.

There were animals we could interact with, including a zebra. A ZEBRA! I can't say I've ever been that close to a zebra before. I did pet him, but he was a bit nippy, so you had to be really careful.

This donkey reeeeally wanted to have a bite of Kaia's apple.

The baby goat was born the day before we were there visiting. She went to the back of their enclosure to lie down and as soon as she did, mama goat side stepped next to her as if to say, "Step away from the baby, lady."

The girls had a blast in the "corn box."

There was a slide inside of a tractor!

And did I mention the zebra?!

We had a great time!

We're off to see the wizard

2011-10-31T22:29:00.000-04:00

It's Dorothy of Oz! And Glinda the Good Witch of the North! Follow the Yellow Brick Road ...

Happy Halloween!

The Apple Harvest Festival

2011-10-31T08:04:00.000-04:00

This was our third year heading out to the Apple Harvest Festival at Graves Mountain Lodge. It's such a good time, and it seems it's becoming a bit of a fall family tradition. This year, friends Milo and Shari rode along with us, and it worked out nicely because there were some things that we wanted to do all together, and some other "big boy" things that Milo was interested in, so we also had a nice balance of fun with our friends and family time.

Almost immediately, we headed to the hay pile. There is a $2 charge, and it's $2 well spent because oh! how the kids love it! It's just a giant pile of hay, but you can climb and jump and slide all over it (and then you have to pick the hay out of your pants!)

We wandered over to the pumpkin area to decide what kind we wanted to bring home later.

Kaia says, "These pumpkins are all mine! Back away."

There's a little stream down behind the festival area, and we went down there to find Milo and Shari. Milo was trying to figure a way across the stream without using the bridge. Later, as one might expect, Milo ended up in the stream and then spent the rest of the day wearing his mother's sweater. All in the name of adventure!

Milo was still working on his stream crossing endeavor at the time, so we went up to find a snack. Fist up: apple butter donuts! Yum!

But why stop at just one snack? Funnel cake is good, too! We were certainly a little over-sugared by the time we left, but I think it's not a real festival unless one leaves being slightly over-sugared, amiright?

Back out on the grounds, there were some people making apple butter in a giant kettle. This man told us that it has to be stirred for 15 hours straight!! (or was it 9 hours, I can't remember, but that's a lot of stirring!) Sierra got to have a go. (Also, love the way Kaia is looking at that guy!)

I bought a 1/2 bushel of apples, which is really not much, but I"m going to try my hand at apple butter myself. Not the stir-for-15-hours kind, though. My mom suggests the crock pot kind, so I'll give that a go.

By this time, Milo had already fallen in the stream, and Shari found us to let us know they were in the bounce toys area. They wanted to join us at the farm across from the festival area, so we wander the craft booths for a bit before heading over to see the animals.

The farm has goats to feed, and some other animals to look at and/or pet. There were calves and chickens, quails, pheasants, and peacocks. I love the peacocks. I always forget just how vibrant their colors are until I see one in person again.

In the hen house, Sierra measures her wingspan against some predator birds. She doesn't even reach the span of a great horned owl. We'll have to try again next year.

Before heading home, it was back to the pumpkins, where Sierra decided that it was a bumpy one that needed to come home with us!

Happy Fall!

The busiest of Sundays

2011-10-30T22:56:00.000-04:00

We had an action packed day today.

I woke up (way too early) with Kaia and Jason got to sleep in (I'm only a tiny bit bitter). We went to brunch and then went to Liberty Mills Farm where we proceeded to get wet Virginia red clay from our toes to our armpits and gather several pumpkins to bring home with us. The girls had a grand time in the kid area after our pumpkin gathering quest. Until Sierra clotheslined herself and we left in tears.

At home, Jason and Sierra carved two jack-o-lanterns. Kaia took a nap. And I cut up a pumpkin, then cooked and skinned it, made applesauce, made toasted pumpkin seeds, cooked all the ingredients for chili and put that in the crock-pot, mixed up some corn muffins and set the table.

We went to the Woodberry kids Halloween party, had a lot of fun, then Jason left for a hockey game. I walked home with the girls and was greeted by all of our advisees already in our living room. We had dinner with them, then sent them on their merry way. I gave both girls a bath, then we watched a video and read some stories and I just barely drug myself out of bed before falling asleep with them. I straightened up my sewing room/closet (which I'm rearranging right now) then started cleaning the disaster area of a kitchen.

Now, to sleep. Maybe.

(photos of pumpkin patch and Halloween party later)

Meet me at Yoder's

2011-10-30T07:23:00.001-04:00

We love Yoder's. It's a great place to go, and less than 15 minutes from our house. There are the animals that the kids can feed, a little playground, and of course the store itself, which is a playground for grown-ups with all kinds of good stuff to eat, baking ingredients, bulk items, organic snacks, etc.

When trying to arrange a playdate with my friend Katie, we decided on Yoder's a meeting place. It's located between our homes, and there were plenty of fun for our kids-of-various ages.

Sierra feeds a grateful goat.

Kaia checks out the chickens with the feathers on their feet.

Here's our happy crew: Sierra, "big" Kyia, "little" Kaia, Grace, and Gabe. Baby Latham was asleep in the car.

Grace gives Kaia a helping hand.

Latham woke up and has a ride on the swings with big brother Gabe. Sierra spins on her swing.

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Serendipitous Sewing

2011-10-28T15:47:00.001-04:00

This quilt was going to be a surprise, but I just finished it, just in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, so I feel like I should post it. (even though I'm pretty sure its intended recipient, who you will meet in a moment, reads this blog so I'm spoiling my own surprise)

The fact that I finished it just in time and I didn't think it would be done yet just adds to the serendipity. So, to the recipient: surprise! This will be in the mail soon.

There are many parts to this story, which is why I feel like this little quilt was meant to be, but it also makes it difficult to determine where to begin this quilt's story.

Let's start with Suzanne. I met Suzanne 12 years ago, my sophomore year in college (has it really been that long?!) when she and I ran on the cross country team together. Our junior year, we were roommates; our senior year, we lived in the same house. I admire Suzanne for a lot of reasons, and just one of them is her superior creativity and craftiness. She is a creative inspiration for me. She always has a good ideas in terms of design, decorating, crafting and creating.

One of the crafting ideas she once shared on her blog was a quilt designed by Denyse Schmidt. Denyse is an artist/quilter/fabric designer whose studio is in Connecticut, only about 90 minutes from where we used to live (but I didn't know of her then). I first learned of Denyse from the post on Suzanne's blog, but have since seen her and her creativity around the quilting/sewing/crafting/blogging world. Recently, she has designed a couple fabric collections for JoAnn Fabrics.

I was in JoAnn Fabrics one day and found the Denyse Schmit prints on sale. They were pretty, and so I picked up a few, not yet having a project in mind.

Meanwhile, I wanted to learn how to quilt and how to do free motion quilting on my machine. I practiced on some scrap fabric and then attempted my table runner. The next logical project was a baby quilt. I have a few friends who have recently had babies, and I wish I could make a baby quilt for all of them, but sadly, I just don't have that kind of time. However, I had recently finished a mei tai for Suzanne and I realized that the fabric she chose for her baby carrier fit right in with the Denyse Schmidt fabrics I had picked up from JoAnn's.

The back is a part of sheet that I dyes using a low water immersion dye technique, giving a mottled, water-y quality.

I'm thrilled to be able to thank Suzanne for her creative inspiration by gifting her something that was born of my creativity, made with materials designed by someone I was introduced to through Suzanne.

{this moment}

2011-10-28T07:47:00.000-04:00

Weekly Wee Read: Goodnight Goon

2011-10-26T16:48:00.001-04:00

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I made a list and hope to review them one by one.

Today's pick:

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex, suggested by Stephanie.

Look at me planning ahead, reviewing Goodnight Moon last week so that it would make sense to review Goodnight Goon this week, the week before Halloween!

If you are one of the many that love Goodnight Moon, well then, you should definitely read this petrifying parody. And if Goodnight Moon is just too sweet for you, perhaps this one will be more your style.

The style and rhyme sequence mimic that in the classic book, but instead of a great, green room with a telephone and a red balloon, this story takes place in a cold gray tomb with a gravestone and a black lagoon.

There are no kittens, mittens, bowl of mush, or quiet, old lady whispering "hush." Instead you will find jaws, claws, a pot of goo, and a hairy, old werewolf hollering "boo." We also say goodnight to a loud, screechy bat, a black hat, and of course, the goon. "Goodnight you. Get under there. (pointing under the bed) Goodnight monsters everywhere."

Frightfully delightful.

Here's the list:

Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann

~~Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz~~

Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish

Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman

The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll

Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis

Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert

Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer

Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee

Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel

Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks

The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex

~~Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd~~

How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

~~I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore~~

If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton

Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems

Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego

Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney

The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper

Little Miss Spider - David Kirk

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton

Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard

~~My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb~~

My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner

The Napping House - Audrey Wood

The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore

Olivia - Ian Falconer

The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Polar Express - Chris Van Al

Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague

Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg

Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson

~~The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau~~

Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild

Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner

Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

~~To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens~~

The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren

Top Cat - Lois Ehlert

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman

You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano

Authors

Sandra Boynton

Jan Brett

Tomie dePaola

Richard Scarry

Dr. Seuss

Cider celebration

2011-10-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, Jim and Cindy hosted their annual apple cider pressing party. And this year, wow, they just had a pick autumn day for the gathering. It was gorgeous.

I'm so thrilled that Jim and Cindy host this party every year and share their apples with everyone. It's just such a great gathering, outside, on a beautiful autumn day. Everyone brings treats to share and there is a slide and a tree swing for the kiddos to play on.

And, then, of course, there's the apple cider making itself! The old press that Jim and Cindy have is just really cool and it's great that everyone gets to help: even the little ones!

There was plenty of time for chatting and playing with friends, both for the big kids and the little ones.

And there were plenty of apples to try a few before they were all made into cider.

Skill Builder Sampler: Block 13

2011-10-22T23:40:00.000-04:00

Block 13 in the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler was the string block. I really liked this block. I liked making it. I like how it looks. In fact, I like it so much that I made another in browns and greens that I will use to make a little bag.

However, I now find myself behind as Block 14 and Block 15 have both been posted and I have not completed either of them. When I get caught up again, I'll have to post another progress pictures with all the blocks together. I've enjoyed seeing how the quilt is progressing with the addition of new blocks. Thank goodness next week is a catch up week! I had better use it wisely ...

Though, we'll see how that goes as I have precisely 4 days to finish 2 Halloween costumes that I haven't yet begun, so those are at the top of my priority list, along with a couple mei tais for babies who have already made their appearances in the world (and one who will show up in January, but that project is on hold until his mama sends me her fabric choice!).

{this moment}

2011-10-21T07:56:00.001-04:00

Painting

2011-10-20T14:31:00.002-04:00

Sierra and I are painting with watercolors.

She's telling me what she's painting. It goes something like this.

This is dog. It's two dogs on a bridge. It's our dogs. Casey is red and Molly is purple. I made Casey red because he's red. I made Molly purple because purple is a pretty color for Molly. I wish we had a purple labrador. I'm drawing a green leash for Casey. And a hook. The hook is blue. There. I hooked Casey's leash. Molly doesn't need a leash because she doesn't go as far as Casey. I'm drawing you to hold Casey. There. You have brown shirt. I'm drawing a purple bra. It's under your shirt. You need some underwear ...

Waiting for the next "new boy" at the Forest

2011-10-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

My Woodberry friends will understand the reference in the title. For everyone else, "new boy" is a term that is widely used around here for any student (we're an all boys school) who is in his first year at Woodberry.

This time, though, the new boy is much, much teenier than a high schooler. Erin and Brian are expecting a baby boy next month, and last weekend, we had a shower to celebrate his impending arrival. I've written in that past about friends having babies, so this little guy is sure to have plenty of playmates! Here at Woodberry, he will have friends two months younger (Erin and Jeff are expecting in January) and two months older than him (baby Eric was born in September).

The shower was lovely; the "hostess team" did a really great job.

Darling decorations.

Delicious food.

And some fun games, like guess the baby picture (mom or dad). (I tied for the win by guessing 9/10 correctly but didn't win the drawing for the prize. Bummer.)

Plus, there were chocolates to take home with us.

Erin received lots of great things for her little guy, including his first lacrosse gear (Daddy is the head lacrosse coach), a handmade tiger quilt (we are the Woodberry Forest Tigers), and a darling baby carrier (ahem ... *wink*).

Congratulations, Erin and Brian. I look forward to the day your little man arrives.

14

2011-10-19T21:48:00.000-04:00

Today, I held baby Eric and I could not believe that it was only a short year or so ago that our little Kaia-bear was so small and squishy. How quickly these 14 months have flown by.

She still is a cuddle bug. Tonight, Jason was away playing hockey, so I had both girls in my bed reading stories, and as Kaia was going to sleep, she insisted on lying on top of me, body draped over me, head resting on my chest.

Small and squishy, though? Not so much. Opinionated? Now we're getting somewhere. She's intense. Intense when she's happy, and intense when she's angry. Right now, she's been in a bit of a "mommy phase," which sounds sweet but is really quite annoying, mainly because I feel guilty leaving her with anyone other than her dad because she becomes a grouchy, clingy mess. Sometimes, though, I have to leave her; Sierra is part of a co-operative preschool, so I have an obligation to work in her preschool classroom from time to time. When I return, I hear from my friends that they had to call in reinforcements (i.e. their husbands) because my sweet child would cry and have a fit if she were set down. I apologize (and I'll do it again, I'm sorry Sarah and Shannon, and I'm sorry in advance because I'm in the classroom the next two Thursdays) and they, of course, tell me "it wasn't so bad," but still, I feel terrible that my child was so troublesome. Oh, I will be so happy when she comes out on the other side of this phase. "This, too, shall pass."

It bums me out that she acts like that with other people because she's not like that. That's not her personality at all. At home, she's sweet and happy (most of the time). She loves her big sister and wants to do whatever it is that big sis is doing.

She's our little comedian, catching on when we laugh at something and doing it again and again.

And she's such a love, freely giving out hugs and kisses: to me, to her dad and sister, to her little baby friends, to the dogs.

Lately, Kaia has been experimenting with that pointer finger. I think it's just the cutest thing when she sees something that interests her and she sticks out the chubby little baby finger to let the world know she see it! The pointing is usually directed at animals, but sometimes at people she knows, and yesterday, at Grandma on Skype.

This little girl, who had no teeth to speak of in July, now has an entire mouth full. She's sporting the four front teeth on both top and bottom, two top 1-year molars, and is in the process of getting both 1-year molars on the bottom. One is nearly finished coming through, and the other is about half way there. I wish I could tell you that this has been easy, but unfortunately, Kaia (like her sister before her) does not get teeth easily. The process has been torturous. For her. For us. She screams in pain, she pulls her ears, but beyond some tylenol and some extra comfort nursing, there isn't a whole lot we can do for her. I'm pretty sure that teeth are the most cruel invention ever and I wish there was a way I could help her get them in painlessly.

My babies are notoriously bad sleepers, and the teeth don't help in that department any. Even without the pain of incoming teeth, sleep is still not something babies do "well." It's probably one of our main parenting challenges when our kids are babes. Kaia still wakes up several times a night and she's tough to get back down. She will stand her in crib, clinging to the bars screaming, when she is clearly tired rather than just lie down and settle in to sleep. She will go to sleep, she just needs abundant help getting there.

Despite the bad sleep, one thing that isn't trouble is eating. So I guess that makes the teeth trouble worth it? Kaia is a great little eater. She will try almost anything you put in front of her, she likes a variety of different foods, and she has no trouble eating her fruits and veggies.

It's great seeing Kaia's speech develop. Right now, she will repeat patterns of speech that you say to her. Not words, necessarily, but sounds with the same number of syllables and the same intonation. She has also been getting better at signing, and I love that. It allows her to express herself when she doesn't quite have the vocal ability to do so.

Game Day

2011-10-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

Football games in these are parts are not just high school football games. They are Events!

Before I go further, I must first issue my major complaint. We live directly behind the stadium. And for some reason, to some people, our yard somehow looks exactly like a parking lot. I know, it's just so weird, right? It must be the ~~asphalt and painted white lines~~ front walk and porch steps that confuses them? Seriously, though, leave me your address so I can go to your house and drive across your tulips! Grrrrr ...

Here's Jason on our front walk on game day (note that white vehicle?).

All that aside, game days are usually a lot of fun, especially when the weather is as picture perfect as it was last weekend. Not a cloud in the sky!

We watched the game, and played with friends, and had an all around good time. Bonus: Tigers win!

Jason and Kaia check out the action on the field

Harper and Sierra on the sidelines

Kaia and Kyra have a baby meet and greet

Pile of girls!

Weekly Wee Read: Goodnight Moon

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I made a list and hope to review them one by one.

Today's pick:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, suggested by a lot of people, actually, including littlebitty, Evelene, Leigh Anne, Val, Nanbon, Sangeetha, and Ramirez.

This book was first published in 1947 (wow! I didn't know that until I just looked it up!), and is clearly (as indicated by the number of people who suggested it to me as a favorite children's story) well-loved. It's a classic, and if you haven't read it, you really should.

The story takes place in the bedroom of a little bunny, who goes through the bedtime routine of saying "goodnight" to all the items in the room before going to sleep. My favorite line?

Goodnight comb and goodnight brush.
Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush.

The beauty of the story is its simplicity, in my opinion. It is a sweet rhyme accompanied by detailed illustrations. A must-have in any child's library.

Here's the list:

Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann

~~Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz~~

Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish

Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman

The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll

Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis

Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert

Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer

Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee

Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel

Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks

The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

~~I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore~~

If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton

Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems

Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego

Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney

The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper

Little Miss Spider - David Kirk

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton

Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard

~~My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb~~

My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner

The Napping House - Audrey Wood

The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore

Olivia - Ian Falconer

The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Polar Express - Chris Van Al

Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague

Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg

Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson

~~The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau~~

Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild

Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner

Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

~~To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens~~

The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren

Top Cat - Lois Ehlert

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman

You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano

Authors

Sandra Boynton

Jan Brett

Tomie dePaola

Richard Scarry

Dr. Seuss

Eleventh hour sewing

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Erin's baby shower was Sunday (more on that later). While I could have given her a card with a note letting her know the gift would be forthcoming, I really wanted to finish it before the shower. Really, really, really.

I had all the pieces cut out, but as of Saturday, I hadn't done any of the sewing. So, I put the girls to bed and set to work. Jason told me "goodnight" and I toiled on into the night and early morning hours.

As the time neared 1am, Kaia woke up crying, and I was at a good stopping point. Nearly completed, but not quite.

I settled the baby and went to bed.

Sunday was crazy busy for us. Jason left shortly after 7am for a coaching clinic and was gone most of the day. I was able to squeeze in a little bit of what I had left on Erin's gift before I had to get myself and the girls ready to go. Carrie was coming over at 8:30am to take some pictures for, but before that, the dogs got out through the not-quite-closed sliding door and ran off on to the golf course. The guys that work at the golf shop were then knocking on the door at 8:15, just moments after I had slipped out of my pajamas but was not quite dressed, standing at the top of the stairs in nothing but my underwear. I'm yelling "JUST A MINUTE!!" as I frantically try to get some clothes on, and Sierra is downstairs yelling, "Casey wan awaaaay!"

Phew. Okay. I'm dressed. The dogs have been retrieved. The girls are both dressed. Carrie shows up and we have our little photo shoot; she leaves probably 9:45 or so.

Tori (Victoria, my sewing machine) and I get in an argument and she is being uncooperative and this is really not the time for this!! Tori and I have a little talk and settle our differences, but she's still being a bit stubborn. Still, I manage to finish the project, snip all the loose threads, lint roll everything (there are many tidbits on my sewing room floor that projects pick up), take pictures of the finished project, throw it in a gift bag and get the girls fed before the babysitter shows up at 11:00 and I walk/jog to the baby shower.

Like I said, I know I didn't have to have it done "on time," as the baby isn't here yet, but I really wanted Erin to be able to open it up at her shower!

The front: Alexander Henry 2d on navy straps

The back: a nice, "man friendly" solid green

Close-up of where the hood meets the body of the carrier. It makes me so happy to match the pattern on the hood to the pattern on the body. Little joys.

Top stitching detail of the contrasting thread to match the strap color

Look! It fits!

What does this look say to you?

2011-10-17T20:13:00.004-04:00

I want to know: what do you think Kaia's face says here? Comment with her quote.

Photo courtesy Linda Hogan.

Baby buddies

2011-10-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Peyton and Tommy hung out with us during the day while dad was at work and mom was away (also at work). While "the big kids" were at preschool, Kaia got to hang out with her baby buddy, Peyton. It was double baby fun.

Kaia welcomes her friend before she can even get out of her car seat

Look! A picture of two babies, and they're both smiling!

"Heeeellllloooo, friend!"

This picture cracks me up: Kaia with the cheesy grin and Peyton's like, "Girl, hands off!"

This baby loves her pal

Day 2: she still has love to give

What amazes me a little is that Kaia clearly recognized her little buddy after spending a couple days with her because we were at the Woodberry football game Saturday and Kaia saw Peyton and kept pointing at her. So cute.

And then! Wednesday afternoon, while Tommy was napping, Sierra went to dance class with Sophia and Sarah, so Henry got to hang out with us for a little while, too. Triple baby fun!!

Won't be long 'til Henry's in the mix, too!

Kaia's got some love for Henry, too. I can't believe I got all three to look at me!

Don't worry, Sarah, I didn't let her squish your little guy!

KCWC: Project 2

2011-10-15T16:45:00.001-04:00

I spent Day 4 of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge working on a second pair of pants for Kaia.

(I spent Day 5 of the challenge going to bed when I would normally sew. Oh well.)

They took me longer than the 1-hour challenge time. And they still weren't finished. But I did manage to sneak in a few minutes to attach the waist band the next morning.

I only had a fat quarter each of the Heather Ross Mendocino fabric, which wasn't enough for a pair of pants. Even if the pants are intended for a 1-year-old. So I had the idea to add the racing stripe on the side. I first thought I would do the pants in the print and the stripe in the solid, but even with that plan, I didn't have a wide enough piece of the print. Bummer.

It's okay, though, as I really like how they turned out.

Like the last pair, they are fully lined with a nice, soft knit fabric to make them cozy for fall and winter.

{this moment}

2011-10-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

You can't buy sleep

2011-10-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

Ha! Just kidding! In fact, you can buy sleep. And that's just what Jason bought me as a gift to celebrate my upcoming birthday.

If you've been paying even a little bit of attention, you may have caught on to the fact that my children don't sleep particularly well. I wrote about it a lot when Sierra was a baby because it seemed to strange and different from the experiences everyone else was having with their babies. With Kaia, I've not said as much about it. Not because she sleeps well. She doesn't. I just have a new definition of normal. In nearly 14 months of life, Kaia has not slept through the night. Not once. Yes, she's had a few occasions where we've experienced the medical definition of "sleep through the night," which is 5 hours. But the "real life" definition of sleep-from-when-I-put-you-to-bed-until-it's-morning has not happened. Big sis didn't reach that milestone until sometime after her 2nd birthday. (And they told me the second one would be different. Ha!) By that time, I was 7-months pregnant with Kaia (one does not sleep through the night when one is 7 month pregnant!). Which means, I haven't had an uninterrupted night of sleep in (drumroll please) three and a half years!! (I've only ever spent one night away from Sierra, and none away from Kaia, and that one night, our neighbor spent 'til midnight shooting off fireworks and Jason and I woke up at 4am to head in to Yellowstone so we could try to spot a wolf.)

Last night, I spent in a local hotel. All. By. Myself. (I did wake up and look at my watch at 3:45am, so my amount-of-time-since-I've-slept-for-8-hours-straight continues upward, but that one wake up did not involve crying or getting out of bed, so it's just fine with me!)

I finished work yesterday about 7:20pm, came home, ordered a sandwich, and grabbed my bag. I spent a few minutes talking Sierra down because she was starting to freak out a little bit about me being gone, and then I was out the door. I drove into town and picked up my dinner, then I made one more stop to pick up some wine and chocolate. I checked in around 8pm.

I ate my dinner and I didn't have to juggle feeding other people at the same time.
I watched some television and I didn't even have to turn up the volume to hear over the background singing/crying/babble. I didn't have to turn off my show to pull children off each other or wipe a bum.
I ate my chocolate and I didn't have to share.
I rolled out my yoga mat and did some yoga and no one was trying to climb me while I did.
I took a bath by myself and I didn't have to rush.

I finished the evening with a cup of camomile tea, courtesy of my friend Shari, and snuggled under the covers, where I spent some time working on the binding of a baby quilt before turning off the light a little after 11.

As it turns out, it seems I've lost the ability to sleep in. I was up at 6:45, but I refused to get out of bed (and there was no one climbing on me, or crying, or needing a diaper change), so I dozed until about 7:25, and then finally got up at 7:40.

I got ready to go, ate breakfast, and was home in time to catch Sierra's carpool to preschool and give her a quick kiss on the way out.

Thank you, dear husband, for a night all to myself.

Kids Clothes Week Challenge

2011-10-13T17:50:00.001-04:00

Twice a year Elsie Marley host the Kids Clothes Week Challenge.

Basically, the idea is that you put aside 1 hour each night for 1 week to sew clothes for your kids. By the end of the week, you should (hopefully) have some completed garments for your kids to wear. This is the third installment of the kcwc that I've said "Yes! I'll play along!" The first time was a complete bust. It just didn't happen for me. The second time, I managed a skirt, I think. One skirt in the entire week.

This time around, I'm sad to report, my progress has not been great. The challenge started on Monday. Day 1 I spent drafting a pants pattern for Kaia, cutting out the fabric, and putting together a pair of pants. Then I spent way too much time with seam ripper pulling them apart. Twice. Grrrr. I had to go to bed. Day 2 I spent finishing the pants I should have finished on Day 1 and then digging through my fabric trying to decide what else I was going to make this week. Day 3 I did not have access to my sewing machine.

So, here we are, half-way through the challenge and I have managed one measly pair of baby pants. Not exactly what I had envisioned, but hey! I finished something. As it turns out, the elastic is a touch too big so the pants slip down a bit, but I don't care! I would rather tug the pants back up there than get in there with the seam ripper again!

This fabric is by Michael Miller. I think it's called Pretty Bird Swirls. They are fully lined with brown knit to make them nice and cozy for winter wearing. (Also, did you catch that there are no side seams! Ha! I'm pretty happy with my pattern drafting skills and so as not to waste time, I will use that same pattern to make another pair of pants tonight. ... I hope!)

Fall Camping Day 2

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

We woke up to an absolutely perfect camp morning: cool, crisp and sunny. We started packing up our camping things and getting breakfast together and then Greg (who's not so much down with sleeping in a tent) showed up for a morning hike with their husky puppy, Suki.

Kaia gives Suki some puppy love

Milo and Sierra clowning around camp

Camp dogs, Molly and Casey

Kaia, trying to blend with the grass

Enough blending! What are these big kids up to?

We ate sausage and pancakes, even though I forgot to pack the syrup. We made it work with butter and cinnamon sugar instead. Yum! After we had cleaned up and packed everything up, we all headed up the Lewis Mountain Trail, in daylight this time. Fall is just beginning to show her colors in Shenandoah and the hike was lovely with some very pretty views at the top.

Milo and Sierra try out the jumping rock in the daylight

The hiking crew, minus me and a couple dogs who aren't visible

Kaia, being a goofball, and flipping her head back in the carrier

View from Lewis Mountain

Sierra thinks Milo is the greatest and wants to try everything he tries

Back at the campsite, Greg had to head back to Woodberry and Milo had had enough hiking for one day, so he went home with his dad. The rest of us, however, planned out next hike to the Lost Cliffs!

And wow! What an amazing hike that was! Jason says it may be his new favorite hike in the park because you have views comparable to those from Hawksbill Mountain but without the crowds that mountain draws. It was a pretty easy hike, with most of it on the fire road across from the South River Overlook. After hiking down the fire road some distance, you come to the cliffs rising up to your right, and shortly after you pass them, you have to find a tiny, little, unmarked trail that leads up to the top of the cliffs. That little unmarked trail is steep. Wow! Steep! But so. totally. worth. it. Pictures cannot do it justice. We spent some time just enjoying the views and the solitude at the top before retracing our steps back to our vehicles.

We started the hike at the South River Falls Overlook. Beautiful!

A steep rock scramble was required to get to the top of the cliffs, and our guide book did not recommend this for families with children. Jason and I, however, just strap our children on and haul them up!

Amazing views from Lost Cliffs

Jason and Sierra look at the different colors in the changing leaves

Our guide book suggests continuing down the fire road to a small cascade at Dry Run, but we decided to save that for another day. We needed to head home, it was approaching lunch time, and the description of the cascade indicated it wouldn't be particularly impressive this time of year anyway (the stream is called Dry Run, afterall). I'm sure we'll be back to explore this one again!

There was a tree back at the overlook that was just gorgeous; a perfect demonstration of fall color. It made us miss New England a little, and the beautiful colors we used to see there in autumn.

We really, truly could not have asked for a better two days in "our" park. The weather was splendid, the leaves were just starting to change colors. We had beautiful hikes, cozy campfires, and the company of friends. What more could you want?

Weekly Wee Read: I Love You Stinky Face

2011-10-12T04:00:00.000-04:00

Back when I had my giveaway associated with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I asked my commenters to tell me a favorite children's book. I made a list and hope to review them one by one.

Today's pick:

I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore, suggested by Shannon.

I love children's books. (Why else would I do these posts?) But I have loved children's books since I was a child and didn't stop loving them in between being a child and having a child. I bought children's books as an adult without children and I would read them when I needed a little pick me up (now, of course, I live in a sea of children's books and I'm less than thrilled about having to pick them up!). This was one of those purchases. I bought it because the title is hilarious. It's a bonus that the story is completely endearing.

It's bedtime and a mother is tucking her child in for the night. When she tells her child (well done illustrations make it possible for the child to be a boy or girl) how much the child is loved, the response is, "What if I were ______, would you still love me?"

The child asks "if I were a skunk and I were so smelly my name was Stinky Face, would you still love me?" (paraphrasing) And the mother responds that she would bathe her child and use sweet smelling soaps, and if the child were still smelly, mama wouldn't mind.

The child wonders about being a dinosaur that rips the sheets to shreds at night, a monster that must live in the swamp, a green alien that only eats bugs and several other scenarios. Each time, the mother assures her child, that she would love and take care of her wonderful child. Mama plays this game with her child, using what the child has said to respond that she would sew the sheets back together each morning, build a house right next to the swamp, and pack a lunch with the most delicious grasshoppers and spiders.

This is a fun book about the wild imagination of children, and the unconditional love of the mother.

Here's the list:

Books/Series

10 Minutes till Bedtime - Peggy Rathmann

~~Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz~~

Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish

Are You My Mother? - P. D. Eastman

The Berenstain Bears - Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The Boy and the Moon - James Christopher Carroll

Boy Who Ate Words - Thierry Dedieu

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type - Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin and Randy Travis

Digger Man - Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars - Jean Merrill and Ronni Solbert

Enemy Pie - Derek Munson and Tara Calahan King

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like - Jay Williams and Mercer Mayer

Everywhere Babies - Susan Meyers and Marla Frazee

Fancy Nancy - Jane O'connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel

Frogs Jump - Alan Brooks

The Gardener - Sarah Stewart and David Small

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody - Michael Rex

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

How do Dinosaurs ... (series) - Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa Mccourt and Cyd Moore

If you give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton

Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems

Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego

Llama Llama Red Pajama - Anna Dewdney

The Little Engine that Could - Watty Piper

Little Miss Spider - David Kirk

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton

Mr. Men and Little Miss - Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Putter & Tabby - Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard

~~My Great-Aunt Arizona - Gloria Houston and Susan Condie Lamb~~

My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

My Monster Mama Loves Me So - Laura Leuck and Mark Buehner

The Napping House - Audrey Wood

The Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore

Olivia - Ian Falconer

The Paper Bag Princess - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Polar Express - Chris Van Al

Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague

Pirates Don't Change Diapers - Melinda Long and David Shannonlsburg

Please, Baby, Please - Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee and Kadir Nelson

~~The Quiltmaker's Gift - Jeff Brumbeau~~

Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

The Shoe Books - Noel Streatfeild

Skippyjon Jones - Judy Schachner

Stephanie's Ponytail (Classic Munsch) - Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

~~To Market, To Market - Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens~~

The Tomten - Astrid Lindgren

Top Cat - Lois Ehlert

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Where Is the Green Sheep? - Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

Wild About Books - Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs - Phoebe Gilman

You Are My I Love You - Maryann K. Cusimano

Authors

Sandra Boynton

Jan Brett

Tomie dePaola

Richard Scarry

Dr. Seuss

Sneaking Away

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

When school is in session at Woodberry Forest School, we don't get away. We can't. Jason's position here is demanding, and time consuming, and there is simply no opportunity to leave campus for more than a half day.

This year, however, for the first time in four years, Jason's classes are composed completely of sophomores. He is lacking his usual rogue junior or senior. This weekend, the entirety of the sophomore class left campus for a "wilderness excursion," which meant that Jason had no one to teach on Saturday morning, and left us with the perfect opportunity to head to Shenandoah for a one-night-only fall camping trip.

Sierra was so very, very excited and was talking about going camping all week. We had a moment of panic when we first arrived at the park because the sign at the main entrance of the park indicated that all the campgrounds were full! Oh no! May day! Our plans were in free fall! We were going to disappoint our 3-year-old! The weekend would be ruined!!!

The campground we were planning on staying in was first come, first served, no reservations accepted, and despite the "full" sign at the main entrance, we headed there. We discovered when we got there that, thankfully, there was some turnover, we had arrived early enough, and there were plenty of campsites that were available or being vacated that day. Phew!!

We set up camp and then went to a near-by picnic area for lunch before heading out for our first hike of the trip.

Kaia has some lunch at the picnic area

After lunch, Sierra found a tree she "needed" to climb

Jason and I had been to Rapidan Camp before, but it had been a couple years, and we were interested in going back. Rapidan Camp is the camp that was used by President Hoover when he needed to "get away," and there are still several buildings there, as well as some exhibits, and explanations of the history. It was a 4-mile round trip hike, and Jason and I were both very impressed with Sierra and her hiking. She hiked 1.2 miles all on her own before proclaiming she was tired. She then rode with me in a carrier for a while before hiking a little bit farther, probably for a total of a mile and a half or so.

Sierra loved hopping across the stepping stones on the three stream crossings on the way to Rapidan Camp

Kaia spent most of the 2-mile hike in asleep on her daddy's back

Once at Rapidan Camp, we wandered around a bit and looked at the exhibits and then found a spot at the edge of the trail to sit and have a snack before hiking back out to Skyline Drive. The hike in must have worn Sierra out because she fell asleep in the carrier. Babywearing saves the day, even at age 3!

An outdoor fireplace that was used by President Hoover

Family photo on the porch of the Prime Minister's cabin

Kaia enjoys her snack before getting back on the trail

Jason gets a little baby love

There was a pretty little waterfall along the trail

Next stop was the visitors' center, where we met up with Milo and Shari, who were camping with us. We had originally planned on doing another short hike all together, but instead we headed back to camp so we could get a fire started for dinner. Milo and Sierra had such a great time making a fort in the tent; it was great to hear them giggling together!

Dinner was camp pizzas in the pie irons on the fire and then Jason started clean-up while Shari and I took the kids up Lewis Mountain Trail on a night hike.

It had been some time since I hiked at night, so I appreciated the experience, but part of the appeal of a night hike is the relative silence, which, was, well, not so silent this time. We did have a good time, though, and then headed back to camp for cherry pie and/or s'mores.

Milo and Sierra had a fun time on the night hike

The view from Lewis Mountain at night

To be continued ...

A fall camping preview

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

We escaped to the mountains for a fall camping trip this weekend. It's been a long time since Jason and I have managed a fall camping trip (we're thinking it may have been Carlinville, the first year we were married!), and we were really happy for the opportunity. I'll share the details with you a bit later, but I wanted to offer a sample of our 2 days in Shenandoah.

Moving pictures

2011-10-09T09:35:00.000-04:00

Some recent videos for you to enjoy!

Gotta love how she shakes that cute, little, round, cloth-diapered bum!

One of Kaia's most favorite words right now? "GO!"

Can you count to 22? It goes something like this: 19, 20, 20-11, 20-12, 25, 24, 26, 29, 22. Perhaps we need to work on Sierra's numbers just a "little bit!"