trick-or-read, and lots o' curlz.

katie is forever wanting me to curl her hair. alas, the girl has the same hair as her mother: fine, straight, and won't hold a curl to save it's life. when i use the curling iron on her it lasts all of about 15 seconds, and then it is stick-straight again. so, the other day at walmart, i picked up some foam rollers. figured i would give it a go and see if they held up any better. so we rolled her hair sunday night.....

and this was her hair monday morning.


she looked adorable. by the time i picked her up from school that day though nary a curl was in sight. ah, well.

in other recent crafty news, katie's class is having their halloween party on friday, and her teacher asked for donations of halloween prizes. i thought it was a good excuse to make these cute bookmarks, and a good use of lots of my scraps. and, a smart alternative to the abundance of candy that the kids will surely receive.

a rainbow of bookmarks. all 22 of them, ready to go.


i hope they love them!

tension relief.

yesterday as we were driving in the car nathan was being an aggravating person in general. he thought it was funny to constantly annoy me by touching my face (which i HATE. it is a pet peeve of mine.) finally i said, "do you think you're funny? because you're NOT. you are being friggin' annoying." katie pipes up a minute later and says "daddy, samuel and me think you are funny. but mommy just thinks you're friggin' annoying." nathan and i just looked at each other and started cracking up. it was an opportune moment for some tension relief.

lunch bag.

katie didn't have a lunch box and i sent her to school today with her lunch in a paper bag. gah. certainly i can whip up something for her to take her lunch in, i thought. so i found this wonderful tutorial and voila! her lunch bag was born. it is done in one of my all-time fave fabrics, alexander henry's apples and pears. i didn't have any oilcloth (which is what cindy used) and since i am trying to be thrifty and use up some of my stash i improvised and laminated my fabric and then sewed. i added some velcro at the top to keep it closed and a cute scalloped hem. i think it turned out pretty cute, no?! and katie is excited to take her lunch to school now :)

Pheasant Field Farms.

inside the corn maze


he had to stop at every.single.pumpkin. in the maze. and trust me, there were a LOT.

checkin' out the sheep.

the sheep checkin' us out.

katie loved the goats.

samuel did not.


but he did like the tractors.

and the ducks. his "oh!" face.

this goat tried to eat my mitten. and my pants. and the camera.

checkin' out the hen house.


the kids liked the resident dog.

we don't say "good-bye"; we say "see you later".

once every so often you come across that rare friend that you just "click" with. one you can *totally* be yourself with (and they still like you). one that you don't feel obligated to make idle conversation with, you could just sit there and breathe together and be completely comfortable. you have been that friend to me for the last 7 years. you were my first real friend when i didn't have any others in south carolina. you shared in my worm crusade (or warm crusade, take your pick, LOL) and were my "sister-in-christ". (i will keep and cherish that card forever, by the way :) you saw me through 2 pregnancies and watched my other kids while i was in the hospital. you were the co-founder of our exclusive club, the EHP. we have been friends, fought, and then made up the next day. our kids have been friends, fought, and been friends again. our boys have gone from being cute lil' 8-year-olds to awkward, pubescent lil' hoodlums together. my heart is heavy as i imagine the void you will leave in my life, but i can't think about that right now. i refuse to think about that. i will tell myself that our paths will once again cross someday.....so for now, my friend, i will just say "see you later".

a couple new things.

i've been on a creative binge lately. remember this skirt? well i made another one and i am *loving* this fabric combo.

a friend of mine recently had a baby shower as well, and i made her babe a sock monkey outfit. excuse the poor pic quality.
my model.

the cute scalloped hem on the pants.

yes, that is drool all over the sock monkey's face and you can't see his eyes very well in this pic, but you get the idea.


i made her a couple matching bibs too but forgot to take pics of them :(

i bought some flannel to make nathan a pair of pajama bottoms, got home and started cutting, and realized that i didn't have enough. i *did* however have enough to make sam a pair. as soon as i get more fabric daddy will have a matching pair :)
"camping" jammie bottoms



i also made a pair of gray corduroy ruffle pants and a pillowcase dress for katie, as soon as i get pics i'll post those!

school days.

today was back to school for austin--9th grade?! are you kidding me? that is still in the junior high here where we live but he is still considered a "freshman". yikes.

and katie started kindergarten today. yeah, you know those parents who are all teary and weepy as they drop off their kindergartener? yeah, that's NOT me. i was like "whoooo-hoooo! 2 down, 1 to go!" LOL well, not *totally*.....i did get a little teary-eyed at one point as mrs. vasquez read "the kissing hand" to her new class of kindergarteners. it is about a little raccoon who doesn't want to go to school. his mama raccoon kisses the palm of his hand so he can carry her love with him all the time. ♥



katie's first day of kindergarten!

lining up in mrs. v's room

katie, class of 2022!

austin and steven, first day of 9th grade! (photo courtesy of heidi :)