jump up and down

still here...is it too late for a merry christmas?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday.  I think I'm back.  No, there have been no disasters or even anything new and exciting going on here, just life and the holidays taking over.  We are still visiting family, but head home tomorrow.  The boys have been brimming with holiday excitement (translation: the boys have been driving me crazy with all of their emotional highs and lows) for the past three weeks and I am excited to get back home and back to our normal routine.  

I've been wanting to spruce up my blog for a while, and wasn't really sure how to do it (Sandi did everything for me when I set this blog up), so I just went for it tonight.  Was anyone checking my blog while I changed it a million times tonight?  It's a little cleaner and a little crisper.  I have long loved photo headers and so I came up with something simple and quick tonight,  but I want to get in the habit of changing my header more often, so hopefully I will learn some new tricks!  

Lest you think I had forgotten the blog forever, there have been lots of plans for blogging in the last month or so which means I did take pictures.  Here are a few to show you what I've been up to... 

Stockings (with new pictures) and a new holiday banner were in the shop.

 

I'm trying to decide if I like these wood walls as a background...at least they are real wood.

We attended the annual Christmas lights parade in our little town.  Mother nature enhanced the mood with a bit of a snow storm.

 

We played in the snow and made our first snowman.

 

I made these fun snowman cupcakes for Peter's class party.  A couple of M&Ms, a few chocolate chips, and a rolled out and cut orange slice and voila.  They were pretty delicious too. 

 We enjoyed our December and I'm excited for a New Year with new starts and fresh feelings and no more Christmas treats around the house...they have really sabotaged my healthy living plan the last two weeks!

up to lately

Hi there!  Perhaps the posting has been a bit sparse here lately and today I'm giving you eight reasons why.  In fact, some of these reasons were meant to be their own post at some point.   I'm hoping to find a new blogging groove soon - something a little more streamlined, but I don't think I've quite figured it out yet.  In the meantime, here's a glimpse into my life lately...

1) Exercising and eating better - I started doing old step aerobic videos with a couple of other women at church three times a week and then using my Wii (if you really want a workout, forget about Wii Fit and go right for Wii Active) two or three times a week.  Combine that with not eating half a dozen desserts everyday, and you just might have a chance to lose some weight.  I'm not going to publish any numbers here, but I will say that my weight is lower than it's been since Ned was born - even lower than when I finished the half marathon last year.  And I feel pretty good too - lots more energy and my clothes fit! 

2) Attending our first parent teacher conference...and Peter is doing so well!  I really think we made the right decision about moving here and putting him in school this year.  I love his teacher and his class is super small - I think there are only about 15 kids on the roll and there are usually only a dozen or so there each day.  Academically, he is soaking everything up like a sponge - counting to 100 already (he could count to just beyond 20 when he started and in September we set his IEP goal at 50), being one of the top readers in his class, and really improving his handwriting which I was worried was going to be a huge ordeal since he didn't even want to write during the summer.  There are a few concerns with following directions, but I think this is probably mostly related to his sensory issues and we'll just keep working on it.  He's playing at recess (he didn't want to leave his teacher when school first started), playing teacher at home with all of us being his students and even sometimes talking about what he's looking forward to at school.  Hooray for Peter!  

3) Writing a talk to give in church this Sunday (if you didn't know, we Mormons all take turns preaching to each other) based on this great talk.  I haven't given one in a long time so I'm a little nervous.

4) Making Thanksgiving plans.  My Grandpa's health is in poor shape, so we're making an effort for the entire family to get together for Thanksgiving this year...having it at the church because that's the only place we'll all fit and I'm in charge of decorations.  I have some things worked out but might need something else to use for table decor - anyone have any inexpensive and quick ideas?

5) Starting my new post as PTSA Treasurer tonight.  This might be what happens when you exercise three times a week with the PTSA President.  

6) Working on Stockings.  The are in the shop and I've sold a few already.  I took new pictures this year that I keep meaning to share with you...maybe next post.

7) Practicing the Organ.  I am determined to not scramble at the last minute to figure out what I will do for prelude music during December (like I do every year), so I ordered a new book and got right to practicing it.  I will be prepared this year!

8) Making one more preparation for winter by ordering some new boots.  They just arrived yesterday and I think I'm in love.  I got rid of the last pair of winter boots I had when we moved to California and have suffered with cold feet every winter since we moved to Idaho and especially since I had all of my vein surgeries done.  Bring on the snow!

What have you been up to?

take a look, it's in a book

Despite what you've ever heard about on this blog, I do like to read.  This picture shows the shelf where I keep my most recently read and my next to read books, plus a couple of my absolute favorites.  I would certainly not call myself an avid reader, though I would like to be.  And honestly, until the last year or two, I couldn't read something unless it was super interesting or short without falling sleep - ahhh, the perils of being a mother of very young children.  

My other issue has being deciding on something good to read, which is why I love a good book group.  I still drive into town once a month to attend my book group from our last ward.  This week at our meeting we decided on the next six months of books.  I know I always hear people ask for suggestions for book group books, so I thought it would be a good thing to share here.  And I realized that if I write it down here, I won't have to go searching for the next months book when I've lost my written list in a few weeks - a win-win for all of us, right?  

December - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

January - Christmas Book Show and Tell (We are each supposed to bring our favorite Christmas book to share with the others - anyone have any good suggestions?  Right now I'm think The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which is definitely my favorite Christmas book, but I'd be ope to trying out something new.)

February - Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (This was my pick - I've had several of my friends on Goodreads rave about it.)

March - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

April - Pope Joan by Donna Cross

May - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen

I think we came up with a good mix here - a utopian novel, a mystery, two historical fictions (my favorite genre) and a non-fiction.  Now, to get reading...I'm still catching up on last month's pick - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

happy halloween

 

Hello!  I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween and before it gets too much past, I wanted to share our costumes.  I know I said earlier that I wasn't making anything for the boys, but after waking up in the middle of the night early last week and having the thought that I wasn't making their costumes be the first thing that came to me, I changed my mind and made an emergency trip into to town for fabric and accessories.  I convinced myself to buy pleather for the first time to make Batman costumes for both of the boys - one in black and one in silver.  You won't be seeing the black one here, because when it came down to it, Ned was still pretty set on being the "green dinosaur" that he had picked out of Grandma's costume box, so now I suppose I have something for next year if he wants, or just for dress-up. 

The pleather was actually pretty easy to work with and I loved using it for the appliques because there weren't any raw edges that had to be sewed over.  I just used a straight stitch to attach those bats.  I did have to be a bit careful about not pinning too much and pinning in inconspicuous locations because the pleather isn't very forgiving when it comes to pinholes.  Other than that, it really wasn't that difficult to work with.  And he didn't actually end up wearing the mask even though that was the only part of the costume he wanted to wear to school for his party (and the only part I really thought he should leave out for school).  

And my costume - it has been a really long time since I have dressed up for Halloween and I really wanted to this year, so here I am - the fairly friendly witch.  I made my skirt from a $4 piece of vintage grey and black woven plaid and then added some vintage trim on top of grosgrain ribbon to the hem.  I did have to make a tulle underskirt (with some help from my mom) to add a little volume to all of that skirt.  You can't see my shoes very well, but they were incredibly pointy and thrifted for $4.  I added some rick rack and ribbon to a $2 shirt.  I actually tried to reconstruct another $2 shirt first, but that turned out to be a disaster, so I got a shirt that fit the second time around and just embellished!  My Mom gave me the hat from her costume box (the one that I remember from my childhood, although I don't think I've been a witch before) and I also embellished that.  I made some of my first Wisecraft Fabric Flowers and added one to the hat and one as a brooch at the top of the cape.  I had a lot of fun with this - I just might have to make another one next year!

And our little green dinosaur.  My Mom made this costume for my younger brother about 20 years ago.  It was a little big for Ned, but that made it easy to put his jacket under it.  He also wouldn't wear the headpiece that went with it.  He actually didn't even want to go trick or treating.  I was convinced that he wouldn't be too happy with that decision when his brother brought home a big bagful of candy, so we finally got him to tell us that he thought there would be scary monsters there.  Once we assured him that there wouldn't be any and that if there were, Dad would be there to keep him safe, he put on a smile and his costume and we made it out the door.  Now I just need to figure out the best way to deal with all that candy.  This is the first year that they are both begging for it constantly and the first year that I think they might notice if some accidentally went missing.  What do you do with it?

an autumn afternoon

It looks like winter is on its way later this week, so I took a walk on a lovely afternoon yesterday.  Autumn in this small town is all about harvest and even though we're not farmers, being this close to the action definitely makes you feel a connection to the land.

Have you ever seen a sugar beet? They are huge!!

And they just get piled up in what are literally hills of beets where they sit during the winter until it is their turn to go the processing plant.

I wish I'd had the boys with me to put next to these pile for a size comparison.  They are impressive!

A field of winter wheat, waiting for a blanket of snow...

I just love all of the neat rows.

That swing behind the tree looks like the perfect place to enjoy a cup of hot cider.

Happy Autumn Everyone!!

getting ready to trick or treat

Thanks so much for our feedback about my pickle.  I still haven't really made a final decision about what I will do, but I have decided that I will keep blogging and that the content here will be pretty similar to what it's been in the past - a little bit of everything.  I think this was really just brought on by the start of school and having a new schedule and me not being sure to where to fit in the blogging.  I'll have to work on that.  I usually don't have such a rough time getting used to a new schedule.

I have been working on a few projects to get ready for Halloween.  The boys both chose costumes from my Mom's store (she has kept every costume she's ever made and every costume item she's ever bought - she's been making costumes for a long time - there's a lot to choose from!), so I don't have costumes to make.  Well, except one for me...we'll see if that gets finished.  I have one major part of it finished, so maybe it will happen.  I haven't dressed up in a proper costume in a few years and I've missed it.  

With no costumes to make, I thought I could get to making some trick-or-treat bags.  This is a pattern that my Mom made when I was a kid and I was so excited that she still had it!  You can see mine below (so glad I still have it!) and I'm almost finished with the boys.
I always loved having this great bag to take to gather my goodies on Halloween night and I hope the boys love them too!

You can find one more thing I did for Halloween here - I've been such a slacker blogger lately that I have to depend on my friends to blog for me!  Thanks Missy!

oven dill pickles and a bit of a pickle

It seems that even though I know what my next blog post will be doesn't mean that I will get it up...I think I have some reasons why I've been such a sparse blogger lately.  But let me first share that dill pickle recipe that I promised.  These are super easy and super delicious.  Something about processing them in the oven makes them turn out a little crunchier than pickles done in a hot water.  It is probably a little late for most of you to be getting a pickle recipe, but perhaps some of you in warmer climates can still make use of it.  

OVEN DILL PICKLES

3 quarts of water

1/2 cup of canning salt    

1 quart of white vinegar

Cucumbers 

Powdered Garlic

Dried Dill

Wash cucumbers, cut if desired, and stuff into jars leaving a 1/4" head space.   Add 1/4 tsp powdered garlic and 1 teaspoon dried dill per quart jar.  

In a large pot,hat brine until salt dissolves.  Pour brine over cucumbers in jar.  Wipe tops and put new lids on firmly.  

Fill a roasting pan with one inch of water and put prepared bottles into the pan.  Put the pan in a 300 degree oven for 20 min.  Remove pan and put bottles on a rack or a towel .  Tighten lids and let sit for one week before eating.  

 Here is my last basket of tomatoes.  I gathered them a little over a week ago on the day before we had our first freeze.  And then on Monday it snowed and it's been cold, cold, cold ever since.  Yes, it will get colder, but summer is definitely over which is such a shame because summer is definitely the best season in Idaho. 

And now let's discuss my pickle...I started a blog a few months after I discovered the world of craft blogging - I wanted to share in this great world.  I also started blogging to share a part of our family life with my friends and family that were far away (we are 4 hours from the closest family).  In addition, I also started this blog to promote my shop, but I don't think I do a very good job of that here and I'm not really sure that many people are reading my blog to keep track of what's going on in my shop anyway.  Let me know if you are - I'd be curious to know if anyone out there is hoping for more shop news here.  Lately, I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the blogging world.  There are so many blogs and even though I have really tried to pare down the ones I am reading, I still cannot keep up with it lately. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this is a community in which there is giving and taking and sometimes I'm not sure if I have the time to keep up.  I like to respond to my comments, but have also found that hard to do - especially since Typepad change the comment e-mail format.  I have become more concerned about the safety of the information that I share here about our family.  I admire bloggers who seem to be able to share just the right amount of personal info to make their blog more personable and interesting without indulging all of their family secret but sometimes I'm not sure where to draw the line, especially as the mother of a child with special needs.  

I have thought lately about a lot of different things I could do - stop blogging altogether, go private, start another blog for family and friends with more family information and become more crafty here.   I can't seem to come up with a solution that will make me happy.  I'm not sure that I really want to stop blogging.  I'm not a big fan of private blogs, mostly because they can't be read in a reader and I have a really hard time remembering to check them.  And I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with one blog, let alone two.  How do you decide how much time to spend on blogging and all that it entails - reading, responding to comments, photos, posting, etc.?  And if I were to change some things around here, what would you like to stay?  What brings you here and what would you like to see more of?  I'd love to hear from as many of you as possible.  One thing that I've always loved about blogging is the feedback that I can get here.  I probably wouldn't have moved to our ugly little house if you hadn't all convinced me that I could make it livable.  There are definitely some drawbacks to living in this old house, but overall, we are very happy that we made this move and we are all benefitting from it.  I'm sure you will all enlighten me again!

this and that

Apparently, I am having some issues with finding my blogging groove lately.  I'm not really sure what it is...a combination of the shop being pretty busy, the schedule being a little more hectic with both of the boys in school, some lighting issues in our house that are making it harder to get consistently good photos, and this issue of "going to town."  If I have to "go to town,"  it seems to take up the entire day and when I get home I am so tired from trying to hit 4 or 5 places in a row (with boys in tow), that I usually don't get anything else done that day.  And I usually end up going to town about twice a week - once for our therapy day and then there is inevitably some other random event or appointment.  Is this just part of small town life?

So here's what I've been up to lately, all in one post....

I had so much fun with these the Christmas Block Swap.  I really need to figure out how to fit more quilts into my sewing schedule.  I haven't taken a pic of the ones that I got back yet, but there were some great ones.  Thanks again to Beth for organizing this great swap!

A huge cold front is forecasted to come in tonight, so I'm afraid my favorite summer lunch might be coming to an end.  I just slice some zucchini, saute it in a bit of olive oil with some onions, and then add tomatoes when the onions and zucchini have softened and cook a bit more.  You can season it with just salt and pepper, or add some garlic, or basil - whatever you like.  And after the tomatoes have stewed for a bit, pull it off of the burner and add some fresh mini mozzarella balls.  I got mine at Costco for a great price.  Mmmmm.....I think I know what I'll be having for lunch today!

And thrift shopping - I have been doing lots and lots of thrift shopping lately.  I've been really trying to be open to finding more of my clothing at the thrift store.  It's so much better for my wallet and the environment.  I have normally avoided finding clothes for myself at the thrift store, as I usually have a hard enough time finding clothes I like and that fit at a normal store.  I cut two pairs of my pants into shorts at the beginning of the summer and got rid of several things that were worn out or just didn't fit right and I knew my fall wardrobe was going to need a real boost this year and that the budget for that wardrobe would be fairly small.  I haven't had much luck finding pants at the thrift (but I have found several on the clearance rack - a total of 5 for about $50), but the shirts and sweaters and even a skirt or two have been rolling in - usually for $5 a piece or less!  Hooray for that!  Here is one of my favorites - a vintage red gingham shirt.  I think I got this one for $2 and the shoes you can see were totally new for $3.50.  

I'm going to get myself a tripod and hopefully deal with some of my lighting issues and hopefully I will get more used to our new schedule soon.  Peter is currently in the middle of his two week Spud Harvest vacation (apparently we are one of only a few schools left in Idaho who actually let out for Spud Harvest) so that's not helping either one of us get used to the new schedule, but I am learning how to pass lots of slow moving trucks full of potatoes!  I even have my next post planned - check back for those Oven Dill Pickles, plus a couple of other refrigerator pickle recipes that I tried.  Hopefully I'll be back soon and in the groove again!  I've missed all of you!  

busy, busy, busy

I don't think I mentioned it, but we went to visit family  for the Labor Day weekend and after I finally made it through the mounds of laundry from the trip (mostly due to some great thrift store finds -sheets and clothing), the two boxes of peaches that I ordered a couple of weeks ago came in and I've been making jam and pie.  A generous neighbor also let me have some cucumbers from her prolific garden and taught me to make pickles.  I'll have to get the recipe and share - you make them in the oven and they stay very crispy.

 

And this week I'm trying to get my first christmas stocking orders finished so I can feel about listing them in the shop and starting on some more.  And then there are all the normal things - school and therapy and cleaning and making dinner and fighting off some sort of illness that I'm not sure what it is - a little bit of nausea with some coughing?  what's that?  Anyway, in case you were wondering...I am here, alive and well, just busy, busy, busy.

anticipation...a shop update

The summers are just lovely here - just the right amount of warmth, just the right amount of rain, just the right amount of sun - and I have spent many an afternoon outside with a blanket and a book while the boys play around me.  But, I must admit, I am ready for a bit of crispness in the air, colorful leaves, and warm sweaters.  And I know it's just not me.  I've been reading your longings for fall and even Halloween on your blogs.  I put together a few banners this year to help me get ready for fall and even Halloween...you can find all of them in the shop.