Week in Pictures

Oh, so much to be grateful for. Life is so busy this time of year, I find it hard to take the necessary moments to enjoy it all. After a long week of stomach flu, we all felt so thankful to share beautiful meals with the our family. Thank you, Barbara and Dave, for hosting. It was so nice to relax and unwind with family. I got plenty of time to knit, read and sip tea contentedly. So, here are a few of our completed projects and photos of the cute cousins. Thank you, Aunt Jude, for the festive children's table decoration and costume.

The elegant grown-ups Thanksgiving table~

And now for the crafting...Vivienne made a hot air balloon~

Jasper's favorite train tee that got stained, and remade into a new t-shirt applique.

Vivienne made a carrot rattle ~

Warm wrists knit in delicious color!



Jasper's lambie ~The girls in their new cozy wrist warmers ~ with thanks to the long car ride to Virginia!

Finally, Vivienne's sweater is complete!Yippee!!!

And I received this really special surprise on my doorstep when we were away. It was a giveaway from the sweet mama at this blog. Thank you, zencrafter, for your inspiration and your most thoughtful package of goodies! What a sheer delight!

~frozen leaves in a block of ice~

In gratitude and with with warmest blessings to you on the first eve of advent!

Capturing the Light

Now that the days of light are shorter, it is time to take hold of the sun's rays and enjoy them! Here are the beautiful window stars that the girls and I made together.

~Mia's star~~Vivienne's Rainbow~

Some of our other highlights for the weekend:

The kids and I had a ball at the family contra dance sponsored by a local charter school. Mia would have loved to sashay the night away! It really was a delight, with the live Irish-Appalachian music and incredibly talented caller, Beth Molaro. If you are wondering what Contra dance is, don't worry I hadn't heard of it until recently. Here is a wonderful example of a dance and music here -Belfast Contra Dance .

(please pardon the blur...we had low light)

Vivienne put on a puppet theater for us. It was a tale of an old woman and a gnome.

~granny in her car, riding over the bridge, looking for the gnome~

~ there he is!~

Dress-up time! Vivienne helped Jasper create his pirate look.

Making star baby ornaments with felt. I found a simple way to let Vivienne experience needle felting with less risk of getting fingers jabbed. I used a star cookie cutter and stuff the wool inside. The form keeps the needle at a safe distance from fingers. I still supervise, and don't necessarily recommend that five-year-olds needle felt!

More paper crafting - We all worked on our Michaelmas lanterns, some yet to be completed! Vivienne made lovely snowflakes and ornaments cut from cardboard.

For snowflake inspiration, check out this book, Zoo Flakes ABC - it has amazing animal snowflakes from A to Z, and shows how to design your own.

Vivienne's lantern~ Mia's drawing~

A dramatic shift has occurred in the last couple of days. The leaves have dropped from the trees, forming a blanket of oranges and browns below. And the weather has turned cool and wet, the mountain peaks even have a dusting of snow now. It is time for hot baths and family evenings by the fireside. I love this soup-eating, tea-sipping, knit-by-firelight season! As the days draw shorter, I feel the internal shift too. The peaceful solitude draws me inward, my mind quiets and my dreams deepen. I count my blessings...

Velour bunny basking in the fire warmth (doesn't he look real?)

We send our warmest birthday wishes to our beloved Grammy and Granddaddy in Virginia! XOXO

Random bits of goodness

The girls have been home from school the last several days, and we have enjoyed the time to make things together. Here is Vivienne's wool angel. She describes how to make it " Wrap a bit of white wool into a ball, tie a bit of colored wool around the neck for it's wings. Add some colored wool for the skirt. Then tie a string to the neck and hang it"

Pretty little rainbow, made by Vivienne~

Recycled wool sweater tooth fairy pouches, designed, sewn and needle felted by Mia.

My first attempted needle felted wool gnome, with a lovely locally made beeswax tree candle.My first wire-frame needle felted toy, a little pal for Jasper.
And these cute little comics were the inspiration of our friend, Rachael. In addition to making comics, they spend the afternoon playing Restaurant (inventing menus and all) and playing at the park. Thanks, Rach!

Mia's story: Once there was a horse whose owner was moving away, so he sold her at the market, and a little girl with blonde hair came to get her. They went home and lived happily ever after.

Vivi's story: Once there was a baby who needed a change, and cried. So the mother said "AhhhH, you need a change!" She changed him and he was happy again.

Vivi's 2nd story: Once there was a flower and he was happy when the sun shone. But when the sun got too hot, he felt sad. The clouds made rain, and the flower drank up the water. He was happy once again.

Vivi's 3rd story: Once the was a girl who was crying. She couldn't go swimming. But then the Dad said, "Okay, Let's go to the pool!" and so they went and she was happy again.

And a collaborative effort, both baking and eating (this is all that remains of our huge double batch!) yummy pumpkin cookies from this cookbook.