Wishing For Pine Needles

Yarn Along ~ August 31

Joining Ginny again in her weekly yarn along...

...still working on this bunting, but at least I've moved onto the hood!  (I'm learning as I go and sometimes have to temporarily put it down if I get stuck....until the next knitting circle, that is....:)

I came upon this lovely yarn at the yarn store for 70% off and just had to have it.  I'll blame it on the fallish color - it drew me in. (The grand total for 6 hanks was a whopping $13.42 so I'm justified, right?)  It's 50% pima cotton and 50% tencel.  I believe a worsted weight.  Now, if only I knew what to do with it....any ideas???

This week has focused upon a new school routine and helping my daughter with book reports on these two grade school classics.

(Does this count for my reading, too?)

 

Check out The Willing Cook for a cleaning-product giveaway that includes kitchen towels made by yours truly!

Flour Sack Tuesday: the Little Things

It's often the littlest things that make us smile the most....

....like bananas for 29¢ a pound and knowing fresh banana bread is right around the corner...

...cooler days and open windows...

...vintage linens from a friend who knows I just love them...

...thrifted books for 29¢ each...

...organized coupons...(finally!)....

...clean quilts drying in the sun...

...a screen door from a neighbor who didn't need it anymore after ours had broken...

...watching this boy kick his ball and feeling another babe kick inside my belly...

and feeling more and more blessed each day. 

Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to those in the East. 

 

 

 

Three

Yes, our baby boy turned three over the weekend.  Three!

We love everything about this big boy who is rough and tumble, rowdy and funny, cuddly and sweet all at the same time. 

And we celebrated!  First at home....

then at the pool....

with people who love him....despite all of his shenanigans.

We ate mama's baseball cake...even after it was blown over by a gusty wind...

and a football cake after an emergency run to the bakery.....(A bit more appealing for candle-blowing, wouldn't you say?)

A new light saber, of course!

Finally, a freshly-painted, new-to-him green bedroom complete with a big boy bed....

and one tired three-year-old!

(Our favorite words from this birthday boy?  "Now I can go to Costco all by myself!")

Happy Birthday, sweet Hans!  We love you so!

{this moment}

Joining Soulemama today in.....

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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. ~Amanda Soule

Back to School.....(already!)

Does anyone else feel like this summer has flown by faster than the last three summers combined?

Here, we are officially back to school!

Back to early bedtimes.....and early mornings.....

Back to packing lunches.....everyday.....

Back to homework......

Back to a routine!

Back to a school we all adore.....

and teachers we love dearly.

Back to friends who are more like a second family.

Back to learning....

about math, spelling, and grammar......

reading, writing, and geography.....

God and country.

Back to being another year older....

and another year wiser.

Back to knowing that by the end of this year,

my two baby girls will be 10 and 7 years old.

And wondering how on earth that happened.

(Hoping your school years are off to a great start!)

 

Yarn Along ~ August 24

Joining up with Ginny again for the weekly yarn along....and having a great time!

One thing I've realized through this yarn along and from my friends at the knitting circle is that it just might be wise for one to have two (or more) simultaneous projects going on.  Just in case one gets frustrated with the project at hand.  Which is exactly what happened to me this week with my bunting.

So I started on something from Fabulous Yarn - the Super Easy Diagonal Baby Blanket.  I chose it because I could use up some bulky yarn that I had here without buying new and it uses lots of yarn overs which is a stitch I have wanted to learn.  It is super easy. (And perfect for those of us who just might need super easy!)

(I did, however, make some progress on the bunting.)

(Now onto the hood!)

As for reading this week?  I scored several good finds at the library and I can't decide which to read first.  My solution.....

...is to read them all at the same time!

Happy Wednesday to You!

 

Flour Sack Monday: Fun and Free Weekending

The annual neighborhood canoe and kayak races

This is one of the many free activities that we've enjoyed this summer.  Among our favorites were concerts in the park, church pool and pizza parties, the library reading program, vacation bible school, gathering with friends and lots and lots of swimming!

What were some of your fun and frugal summer moments?

{this moment}

Joining Soulemama today in.....

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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. ~Amanda Soule

Happy Weekend to You!

Summer Crafting: Paper Maché

This week was a window-open, oven-off week for us.  So I have nothing terribly exciting to contribute to Hurrayic's Summer Cooking series that she hosts on Thursdays.  But..............

we did do an awful lot of crafting! 

We used SouleMama's paper maché instructions from her book, Handmade Home.  The girls are always delighted by a mama-organized craft, especially when there is an extra playmate over to join in the crafting fun!

This is an easy and no-cost project as long as you have old newspaper and aluminum foil, and salt and flour for the paste.  The girls added some tissue paper from the wrapping box to the outside of their bowls for asthetic value, while Hans was content with the comic strip look.

The summer is winding down for us here, and I get a twinge of sadness when I think about how quickly our wide-open days are passing us by.  Next week, my girls will be back in school.   How is it that I miss them already?

(It makes this last week of summer the sweetest yet, doesn't it?)

For those of you sending your own back to school, let's use the rest of this week to spend extra-special, fully-engaged time with our precious ones.  We all know how much they love it!

Yarn Along ~ August 17

Wow...only my second week of  Ginny's Yarn Along and my second month of knitting and I can't get enough!  The needles do seem glued to my hands. 

I am still working on the Spud & Chloe Buga Baby Bunting. 

I made some good progress this week thanks to big yarn and big needles.....but then had a bad day when I goofed on the decreasing in the middle of the bunting.  Thankfully, I have a knitting friend who graciously fixed my mistake and got me back on track.  (Thanks, Ellen!)

One thing I can already tell that I love about knitting is the portability....it can easily go everywhere I go.

(And it has!)

As for reading....I'm still working my way through the end of East of Eden.  I have enjoyed this book, but feel like the last few chapters slow down and are a bit hard to get through.

(Or maybe all this knitting has me side-tracked!)

Happy Wednesday to You!