Yeah for cooler weather and fall activities!

I am not a summer person, nor a hot weather person, so when the weatherman predicted rain and cooler temps I cried.  It's been a long hot summer and I was more than ready for it to vamoose.  I love the rain, and fall, and cool weather.  I love the activities we do in the fall and through the spring.  

 Things like read books!  A friend from ravelry sent us this book.  I think we've read it 10 times.  What a fun book!  The art work is amazing too.

 Football!  Oh my, I love football season.  I more listen than watch since I'm churning out the knitting but I love football.  Our grandsons are playing flag football this season and we are loving the games.

 We return to library story time every Wednesday and come home with a big bag of books to read the following week.

 I've been getting a bit more knitting done.   Due in the part to the aforementioned football, but also due to the 2 hour nap time I have free while the littlest sleeps before I pick up the school kids.  I'm in the Advent swap again in the Itty Bitty group and one of the requirements to include was the nesting boxes from Itty Bitty Toys.  These took longer than I anticipated so I was glad I started them first.  Shega even helped with knitting one of them.  They were labor intensive but I loved the results.  It will be hard to send them away.  I think I'd do a few modifications if I were to do them again.

 There was also a fall swap in the itty bitty group that I joined.  One of the swapees shared her craft on the forum and I knew it would be fun to do with the kids.  She sent me some pointers when I asked about it.  Pumpkins from canning jar rings.  I wish I could come up with these creative ideas but I'm glad somebody does and then shares so the rest of us non creative types can copy.

 Step one was laying out the rings and painting the insides with spray paint.

 While waiting overnight from them to dry, we also did another craft I'd found on pininterest a year ago.  We even went leaf hunting and pressed the leaves.  They've been sitting in the garage for a year.  Using modge podge you paint the leaves on a canning jar and they use it as a candle holder.  They kids had fun with this too and although I don't have the finished project with a candle in it, it really does look wonderful with the light shining through the leaves. Lighter brown leaves work better than the dark red.

 After the rings were dry it was time to tie 12 of them together

 and form a pumpkin shape.

 Spray paint a glossy orange and we used a metallic copper to accent.

 Sprinkle glitter on the wet paint.

 In their minds there is no "too much" glitter.

 Success!  Can't wait for them to dry and put on the table with our candle holders.

Take it away school!

It's over.  Summer vacation is over.  I feel like crying.  There has been a noticeable absence from this blog because the summer was packed.  That is as it should be.  There was also a noticeable absence from sewing, knitting, crocheting, or any other handcrafts.  That isn't as it should be but it is what is.  When there are children here almost everyday and as many as 7 of them, there is no time for sittin' and knittin'.  I did miss sitting in the  yard and doing that though.  Our yard is secluded, shady, and perfect on even the hottest days to sit and enjoy.  Ahhh, well, the kids are only young once.  I did sit in the yard but more as a peace keeper with the sprinkler and hoses going.  As I said the summer was packed.  Below are a few of our adventures:                       

                                      Trips to the local water park

Time for napping

            Somebody turned two!  That was just one of the 10 birthdays we celebrated this summer!

                                             There were blue ribbons won at the fair!

                                     There was soap making

                             There was the family campout to Ft. Stevens.  The weather was perfect for playing on the beach, swimming in the lake, and riding bikes.

                           There was some Nonny cuddle time with a book.

                         What would camping be without hot dogs?

                     There were visits to the Battery for hide and seek and photo ops.

                  There were baseball games and routing for the home team.

                 There was painting in the yard and then sprinkler play to wash off.

             On a really hot day, inside play at Pump It Up was great fun.

                      There was one last trip to the water park.

                     And the last day before school starts, a trip on the rails, complete with a hold up.

Yep, summer was FUN!  And PACKED!  There was time for learning too.  We watched the entire series of Liberty Kids from OPB in half hour increments each day.  We all came away with a knowledge of the Revolutionary War.  I did manage a few sewing projects in the last week.  Little ones that will eventually make it on the blog but for now, I'm reliving summer and my eyes are misting over.  It went way too fast.  9 months until it's summer again!  In the meantime, there is fall and winter and spring fun to plan.

Hello Summer!

I cannot believe the school year ended today.  Now the crazy really sets in.  Keeping 6 or 7 children busy and having fun.  We're going to study the American Revolutionary War this summer which should be fun?  I'm working on some things, knitting, sewing, and crocheting, to enter in the fair but they are either complete and I haven't got modeled shots yet (due to the models being in school) or they aren't quite finished.  Next post.  Fingers crossed.  The scrapbooking is completely caught up, or rather was, until there was a t ball game, so there is more time for crafting.  We do start our birthday season next week so we'll see.  

 This is my Mom with 2 of her sisters.  One older, one younger.  One suffering from alzheimers.  Three of my Mom's five siblings suffer from the dreaded mind robbing disease.  As did her father.  Her youngest sister died a few weeks ago at the young age of 69.  She had alzheimer's.  I firmly believe in my own mind that it robs the body as well.  It was a hard memorial service but made me very thankful for my mom and that her mind is intact at almost 80.  Sure she forgets things but don't we all.  She has to have a list.  So do I!

 Do the crime and do the time at my house.  These little "criminals" wrote on my car.  I am grateful it was with the end of a jump rope that was wrapped in duct tape.  It was first mentioned it was sidewalk chalk!  It came right off but they had to do the washing.  I supervised.

Our garden looks mahvelous!  We've been ahead of the weeds so far and anxiously awaiting harvest.  Especially the tomatoes and cucumbers.  I have bacon in the freezer for the BCT sandwiches.  I'm drooling thinking about them.  As you can see below the beans are up.  What kid doesn't like to drink from a hose?  We didn't have a hose per se going but the soaker hoses were on so getting a drink from them was the closest he could come to drinking from a hose.  I'm not sure how much he got.

School is OUT!  Bring on summer!  We had 3 first graders going to second grade, a second grader going to third, a seventh going to eighth, and a freshman going to sophomore.

But the one that got the most attention for the end of the year is the sixth grader finishing elementary school and heading to junior high.  This one made me tear up.  I remember him in kindergarten just yesterday.

The fair entries are due in 2 weeks and I still have 3 projects to get ready.  I didn't realize it was so soon.  I may not enter for the Niftiest Needler after all.  People, not things or hobbies so if my time is taken from my hobbies to study the American Revolution and make rootbeer or take trips to the library for special programs or play with origami with the kids, or, as in today, play paper dolls....so be it.