Whoosh went November....

The grandmunchkins are keeping us busy busy busy and loving every minute of it.  Volleyball matches, wrestling matches, gymnastics, tae kwon do, Wednesday night children's program, church.  Not a lot of time to knit and sew but I finished up a few more things.  I am doing level 1 of the Master Knitter's Program and about ready to submit it to the committee. But in between the intensity of that, there has been some "fun" knitting.        Below is a hodge podge of November and photo intensive!                                           

 I finished this vest in May.  I took some pictures and stacked it away for fall.  I finally got modeled shots!  I love this vest, the yarn, the fit, the design, the buttons!  Olaf buttons, what's not to love?  It's the Rays of Gold vest by Elena Nodel and the details are on my ravelry page.

 I picked up my cross stitch again a few months ago but these are the only things I've finished and they were sent away to my swap partner for the Advent swap.  I have to do some more for our Christmas decorations.  Next year.  No time this year.  I learned a few things since the finished article is not what I would have liked but I ran out of time.  I should have made the hearts bigger so I had a bigger seam allowance to work with for starters.

All things Frozen are a hit and so why not Olaf pancakes?  We don't get pancakes during the week since I don't like to send kids to school sugared up so they are a huge treat on non school days.

 As I said, we've been going going going to grandmunchkin events.  Like volleyball matches....

 and gymnastics.  This little gymnast finished level 1!

 And cheerleading classes.

 For the first time our grandmunchkins that attend the same church we do were part of the worship team.  We were SO proud of them.  They sang, they stood still and quiet when not singing.

 No school November is the phrase around  here.  They are more no school days than school days so we have actitivities planned or we have hyper bored kids.  My sweet husband took the week off to spend with the kids as well.  Activities for this "no school November" included cleaning the roof and making cinnamon rolls.  Even the youngest learned to knead bread!

 Thanksgiving this year was 3 generations!  How special and wonderful.  No gathering of my side of the family would be complete without a rousing game of Aggravation!  It's more about who you can send back than who wins!

 Thanksgiving weekend ended in downtown for Holly Jolly Days.  Our grandson's tae kwon do school escorted Santa's train in and then put on a play of "Frozen".  It was wonderful!

 And as this face shows, it was throughly enjoyed.

Speaking of holly jolly...I have a stack of fabric waiting to be sewn into pjs and shirts and books and wrapped. A future blog post will be sewing heavy!  And a whole lot of Frozen.  I snagged the last of the Olaf flannel and then there's our tree...see you soon.  I hope.

Geared up and ready....

As these "gorgeous gobblers" remind us, it's the season.  For giving Thanks, and then onto Christmas. But even before Thanksgiving, a little crafting is in order.  

 A snowman for our tree.  I made some modifications on the tree to snowman pattern in "Topsy Turvey Toys" to make this little guy.  Details of those mods are on my ravelry page.

 I've been involved in a few ornament swaps in my Itty Bitty Group on ravelry.  This one went off to Wisconsin.  I sure hope it doesn't classify as an "ugly Christmas sweater".  Pattern is also from Susan B. Anderson.

 Bird Feeders for great grandparents for Christmas!  It was a simple recipe and they had fun doing it.  We've made 4 and need to make 2 more.

 Someone, ahem, had more fun with the clean up!  And terrorized everyone in the process.

 A very sweet little granddaughter made these for me.  They were waiting for me in a gift bag when I got home from a meeting.  They will take front and center on our tree this year and for years to come.

 The week of Thanksgiving I was mostly child free.  A good time to sew or knit or shop?  Nope.  A good time to go to the schools and have lunch with grandchildren.  On Monday I went to one school to have lunch with a sweet 2nd grader.  She opted to have what I had brought for little J and myself instead of buying lunch.  I think the selling point was the strawberries.

 We waited 20 minutes and had lunch with a handsome 6th grader.  He opted for PB and J.  No big surprise there!  He did share his chocolate milk with his little cousin.

 On Tuesday I went to another school to have lunch with 3 adorable 1st graders.  I had enough time to stay and watch them at recess.  Twirl on bars, walk on bars, and play football.  I am SO glad I did that on my days "off".

 Which brought us up to Thanksgiving.  Or rather the day after.  We usually celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday.  That would be black Friday and, more importantly, the day of the Civil War.  I was so grateful for all the help I got this year.  I try to have jobs for the grandmunchkins to help with.  They love to set the table for starters.  This year they made the fruit salad.

 And licked the beaters.

 And dried the dishes.

 After dinner it was gingerbread decorating time!  Houses for the older ones and men for the little ones while the Civil War was on the tv in the living room.  Do you think she wished for the Ducks to win?  If so, her wish came true!

 Any guesses who he's cheering for?  In a very loud voice? With lots of giggles and hand waving?

 Another swap ornament that's winging it's way to Oklahoma.

 And this is what my sewing room looks like after Thanksgiving.  Yes, I shopped on black Friday.  At Joann's.  For flannel and fleece.  I'm going to be busy finding the table.  And the way to find the table?  Sew it all up!

May the season be bright and may I find the gumption to get 'er done!

Re visiting the Thanksgiving celebration

It's become a tradition the last couple of years to decorate gingerbread houses after Thanksgiving dinner. This year, since dinner and the Civil War were on the same day, we decorated at half time. The game was basically over at half time and the kids', big and little, enthusiasm for football had reached it's peak and was headed down the slippery slope on the other side. Bring on the gingerbread houses! Lots of supervisors as the workers get anxious to get going.

Intense workers. Crafting the perfect house is labor intensive.

Great family activity.

But the lure of the sugar was too much to resist.



For even the older "kids".

Some stayed on task until every piece of candy was placed just so.

There are definitely those in our family that are very enthralled by crafts.

Then there are those that crafts hold the attention for only so long. Or could it be that the sugar high has taken over? Whatever the cause, silly entered in.

And despite the sugar, creativity continues on.

Drumroll....we have the tour of Gingerbread creations....

Each as unique as their owners.

I've been crafting a bit as well. A few more FOs:

placemats and napkins for my swap package

a test knit: Tanvi, 6 month size, also for my swap package (project #23)

the mouse from the Christmas set in Itty Bitty Toys, also for my swap package (project #25)

the little elf from the Spud says blog, also for my swap package (project #24)

details for the knit projects on my ravelry page