listen

check this out

Just a little tidbit I heard from thought-provoking wise man, Keith Olbermann.

more bags!

Christmas is coming and I have a customer giving a bunch of bags for different occasions. Check them out...
I think she's planning to stick a novel and some sunscreen in - then she's ready for a trip to the pool! The flip flops kept walking around the bag.Her little cupcake will be able to pack up all her favorite treats in this sweet bag!

No walking the plank for her little pirate- this bag (complete with monogrammed eye patch!) will help him keep all his treasures together!

How many of you are taking a trip this Christmas? Or do you just need a little something to go back and forth between the car and home? I made this bag for my son's forthcoming adventures. It is ready to be stuffed with crayons, paper, Etch-a-Sketch, pipe cleaners, and other road trip goodies!

family

I have had an amazing family-filled week.

We drove 15 hours to visit my brother. It was worth every minute. It was so nice to be in his world for once (being a bachelor he usually comes up here). We raked leaves, decorated his Christmas tree with him, went to the zoo, and went to work with him. He works for Habitat for Humanity, so my son can now say he has helped build a house for someone. Not many 3 year olds can say that! And yes, he really did help - he used a cordless drill to help put doorknobs on. There was a lot of finish work to be done, and my brother had to check in with the plumbers, so it was the perfect job!
Then we got home Wednesday night, unpacked, and the next family marathon began. Thanksgiving day at our house, with aunt, uncle, mom, dad, MIL and FIL. Nice day. Good food.
Friday we went to the Children's Museum and the fire station. I feel so blessed that there are so many people who want to be a part of my children's lives. Everyone wants to be with them, interact, teach, challenge, and encourage them. It is so fun to watch.
Saturday my hubby took the kids for the morning and I got some of my orders done. Then we got our Christmas tree and had lunch at Boston Market (yummy mac&cheese!). We go pick it out from a bunch at a local petting zoo kind of place. It's nice ambience and we end up making a donation at the same time. It works out pretty well. Then we left my daughter with my parents and took my son to see STOMP with the in-laws. He is so going to be a drummer someday. He loved it.
Tomorrow is busy crazy too with church, choir practice, Advent party, and our own tree decorating. So much going on, so many people and opportunities to be thankful for.

Now if only I can stay organized enough to make it to 2009...

inspirations

I'm full of ideas and inspirations lately. Too bad I don't have the time to do them all. And that's just in the sewing corner of my world!!! Let alone home decorating, card-making, candy making and any other crafting variety! I have a friend coming over in a few minutes to place Christmas orders, and a phone order that just came in. Too bad there's 3 baskets of laundry calling my name.
However, I have a beautiful long to-do list and inspirations galore. I'm trying to make a lot of my Christmas presents this year, so I've been paying close attention to a variety of bloggers and I look forward to interpreting their fabulous ideas to work well for my recipients.

Here's my thanks for the last week... I've been a slacker. Let's just say thanks to my lovely son for loving his sister, helping me, and generally being a champ the last couple days. Thanks to my daughter for her long nap today and for cracking us up last night with the head-butting game with Conner. Thanks to my hubby for the flowers, keeping the kids busy, and doing his best to put up with 3 year old shenanigans.

Have a creative week...

fiber filled

No, I'm not talking about prunes (although those did make for an interesting trip to the fabric store this morning with little babe). I'm talking about our house. It now has an extra layer of fiber filling up the attic. Because we have to give the neighbors something to talk about, we went to Menards last night and bought 20 bags of fiber insulation... the blown-in kind. We then came home, had dinner, put the kids to bed, and proceeded to hook it all up and blow it all in. I stood outside shoving the bags of junk into the machine which then sucked its way through the tube into the attic where my husband was (most of the time) standing at the ready. I don't want to think about all the crap I inhaled. My husband had a mask, thank goodness. We both decided we don't EVER want to do this for a living. Luckily, we were done blowing by 10, picked up, showered and in bed by 11. Did I mention it was about 32 degrees last night?! Oh yeah - we were only able to manage the pick up so easily because I drove one truck and hubby drove the other one we're going to be donating soon. Not sure how we would have gotten it all home otherwise. Maybe the bags would have gone in the minivan? I don't know.

Although it was convenient yesterday, I just want to get rid of the old truck. Our driveway looks like a parking lot. ugh. Plus, if we keep it much longer something else is going to go wrong. Greensboro Habitat, here we come. Brace yourselves.

My allotment of thanks recently...
Sunday... thanks for sleeping children and supportive friends.
Monday... thanks for the gift of spontaneity, fleece gloves, and patient neighbors.
Tuesday... thanks for Mod Podge and treasure boxes, Christmas shopping without a 3 year old, yummy soup, candy cane milk to make hot chocolate with, and blogs full of crafty ideas.

all done

Hooray. They liked it. They really really liked it. I donated some items to the craft fair and people bought them... 3 fuzzy cubes and an ornament-adorned onesie. It's always nice for people to buy things you've made. Even better, the money goes to missions.

The end of the show is always kind of a let-down - the shoppers dwindle and I always want to just clean up rather than wait it out. Luckily I was working the booth with two good friends so we sat and chatted the hour away.

Yesterday my thanks have to go to Bob the Builder for ending my son's crazy evening in peace. Thanks also to my lovely Kitchen-Aid for a fun morning of cookie baking. I love snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles.
Today my thanks go to friends who help pass the time, yummy bake sale goodies, and random strangers who appreciate my talents. A big thanks also goes to my in-laws for a delicious Chinese dinner out, and thanks for the laughter of a crazy dramatic 3 year old.

family traditions

My mom sewed a lot of things for my brother and I to wear, for all four of us as a family, for my doll and I - we were into matching outfits! So, of course I want to encourage other families to join my family tradition... Matching dresses for a 10 month old little girl and her 5 year old sister.
A family with three kids is celebrating Christmas together in matching pajamas. Three pairs of pants, two t-shirts and a onesie.

harvest of the hands

Today my Studio Workshop craft group at church started setting up for our weekend craft show. We have over 20 other vendors, in addition to a "Christmas stuff" table and "Other stuff" table of items we've made throughout the year. The knitting group made lots of goodies too. Lots of amazing handiwork. Of course, we have all sorts of goodies on their way to the bake sale too. I'm so excited for Saturday. Should be a great show! I donated a couple of things, I hope they sell too!

I'm thankful for my mother-in-law picking up my son from preschool so I could eat lunch with my friends (PIZZA! YUM!) and have fun getting everything set up. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for the chance to raise money for missions.

yes!!!

Election Day has come and gone. And what a day it was! I was so proud to be able to walk into my polling place with my children and vote for the first black President of the United States. It was important to me that my children be there - that way they can say in their own little way that they helped make history.

So many bloggers don't really want to get into politics at the risk of offending one of their readers. Whatever. Right now this is a private blog anyway. ha. But even if it wasn't, I would be proud to say my thoughts about election day and all the surrounding issues. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Oh well. We're each entitled to our own opinions. There's another blogger I read who is pretty dead set on the other side of the aisle. Good for her. It's America, she's got the right to speak her mind. But she said she felt "dismayed" today. Sorry to be contradictory, but I am EXCITED!!!

Hopefully Obama's Presidency is even half of what it's cracked up to be. Some of my favorite parts of his acceptance speech...

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other...........That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow..........America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; what progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment."

And what a moment.

My thanks for today is thanks for a day filled with the promise of a momentous change, the promise of a perfected union. That and some sunshine, leaves, and 2 kids that will grow up in a better America.

thankfully

So many people are putting me in a thankful frame of mind. Whether it's cute Thanksgiving/ November calendars, or just a vow of daily thankfulness, I'm feeling the need to join in. It's often too easy for me to dwell on what is frustrating me, what I WANT but don't have, and other whiny things.
Here's my November thanks so far...
November 1st - thanks for my parents (and especially their house's physical proximity to mine and their ability to take the kids fun places for random periods of time), thanks for the time to sew, thanks for my favorite pizza, thanks for family play time in the evening.
November 2nd - thanks for my husband's hard work in the garage getting ready to park my car in there for the winter, thanks for good friends at my church, thanks for a helpful 3 year old who is eager to carry grape juice and go for a walk with his mom, and thanks for a yummy dinner @ Chili's.
November 3rd - thanks for a beautiful sunny gorgeous day, thanks for animals at the zoo, thanks for my mini-food processor, thanks for an eager, growing, learning 6 month old with a huge grin, thanks for a yummy dinner, and thanks for long naps.
in advance of November 4th - thanks for the right to vote. May the right man be elected!