halloween, our day

Here's our day from end to middle

Bugsy became a blushing bride...

Papaya went back in time and became Mary (not Laura) Inglis. If you knew her, you would understand why the difference is important to her!

Boo-boo was going to be a dog and decided at the last minute to be a princess...worked for me!

Earlier in the day we carved pumpkins

It was a family affair, even our dog joined in! Well, at least Bugsy tried to make him.

We were suppose to have a bonfire with friends tonight, but as this mommy was sick yesterday, we decided to just come home and curl up for a movie.

winter? really!

a beret for papaya

I came across these lovely patterns by Sirdar. A booklet of 11 designs for women and girls. Which in my case fits me perfectly. I had been wanting to knit a beret for Papaya. She has a cute fuschia wool coat that is will look positively great with.

Since I am almost done, I wanted to try it on for size. Partly because the last few nights have been busy doing bookwork.

She is loving the result! How do you like all my unfinished ends?

She just lost another tooth today and as cute as that smile may be, I am a little worried that it will need straightening at some point. The new teeth just aren't fitting into the holes the old teeth left.

Oh well! Worries for another day. Right now I have one happy little girl who will also find a loonie under her pillow in the morning.

how do you like it

I really cannot decide and wonder if you can. Laundry?

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Do you do it all in one day or a little each day?

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I have done both.

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Being a good dutch girl I use to call Monday my wash day and didn't stop washing till it was done.

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Enter kids and scheduling time wasn't quite so neat and tidy. Actually neither were their clothes.

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(Disclaimer...Mom you should stop reading here!)

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Yet, life kept evolving as more kids came, responsibilites and activities changed. Now it sometimes happens, really it is rare though, that the same load of laundry gets washed, then rinsed and maybe even rinsed again! It gets forgotten in the washer for a couple of days, then sits in the dryer for a couple of days. Eventually it gets folded when the next load needs to be dried.
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I can't find my fairy...so I guess this will have to do! What about you?

on the needle

Well really, I haven't touched my knitting since last week Saturday! This is my mystery sock from Kirsten. The last clue, clue 4 came out on Thursday and I would like to spend some today on finishing up.

This is "Smart" yarn. I have cast on a stockinette stitch beret for Papaya. Since two of three children are gone on play dates today, I think it might be time to grab a tea, find a comfy spot and click a couple of hours away.

However, I stayed up way too late last night. Eight ladies got together and watched a movie, we laughed so hard I cried! Way fun! Definately need to do it again soon. So if I drift off this afternoon I won't be surprised either!

sailing the high seas

We have been taking a look at the world.

Studying climates, weather, water cycle, food chains, and habitats of animals and the ocean. Today we went on an ocean adventure and sailed on the high seas. Bugsy (my gluten goblin) made a sailboat so she could test and observe the force of moving air.
Can you guess what they have planned for the afternoon? Boat races. She wants to help her sisters make them. Anyone have more yogurt containers?

the gluten goblin

Well! Let's say the start of my week was a hard one. My oldest daughter was struggling with school and her swinging emotions.

Sometimes her reactions affect the rest of us. Sometimes it is positively exhausting to watch and help her through. Sometimes I want to throw in the towel and walk away for a while. And then sometimes I cry, let it all out and manage to gain a new perspective.

She is also our daughter that has food allergies. Not sensitivies, but allergies. Her allergy to dairy is almost right off the chart on every dairy product. If she has some dairy, we see physical symptoms fairly quickly.

Apparently the gluten allergy is a little harder to detect unless you know what you are looking for. Two years ago she was diagnosed with these allergies and we have been pretty good about avoiding dairy, but not so much with the gluten.

What we found today, on a trip to the naturopath, is that gluten given to a child who is allergic impedes brain function. Other tests today show that her adrenel gland is depleted which leads to excess tiredness.

We were here two years ago and a big part of me didn't want to go back today. My husband was absolutely convinced we needed to take her as we were beginning to wonder if she had ADD. The regiment prescribed by the naturopath takes her off gluten and dairy, and focuses on DHA from fish oils for mental health/power and L-Glutamine for her flora health.

Sometimes I find it so hard. It is easy for hubby to support me taking her in but now I need to be responsible and follow through on the day to day cooking for an allergy. If you haven't been there, it might be hard to understand. It's hard for a child, much less an adult, to say no to things they like to eat, especially when everyone else around them is eating it.

I don't find avoiding dairy that hard. I had to do it as a teen and adult. Avoiding gluten is another thing. It is in so much of what we eat...bread, cereals, granola bars, pasta, crackers etc. Lots of the non-gluten choices are blah! Guess I might really need to start experimenting and getting creative.

It's not that I don't want to do it for her. It's just that I get tired thinking about it. Hopefully soon it will become part of our routine and will just become part of life.

out my window today

my monkey

I have a little 4 year-old that I am sure has turned into a monkey.

Last week she presented me with a book that she wanted to read.
Thing was, that book was on top of the book shelf. Not even on one of the shelves.
When quizzed she admitted that she stood on the back of the couch to get it.
"It wasn't hard Mom!"

The other day one of her sister's awoke to hear money clinking from a piggy bank.
This piggy bank is on top of the fridge.
We didn't catch her red-handed because we were sleeping in.
So later when she showed us the money she had for her change purse, we asked where she got it.
Her first reaction was a speechless uh-oh look and then she dissolved into tears.

Yesterday I was coming through the living room and caught her profile on a chair in front of the buffet, reaching for something on one of the shelves.

Who's child is this? She swings up into trees and crawls up onto counters in a blink. I think I am just lucky that she didn't see her daddy doing this!

safety first?

I'm wondering if anyone else sees what's wrong with this picture?
If any other wife might look out the window a second time and raise their eyebrows?

I have a husband that is well versed in safety.

He operates a company that is "safe-certified".

He uses off-road vehicles, ATV's, generators, saws etc. He knows what to do and not to do. More so, he knows how to do it right!

I am certain that if he happened to be the one looking out the window and I was perched on top of the ladder that things might look a tad different from his perspective.

At least he didn't spend the whole afternoon standing up there. After awhile he got tired of standing and tried sitting in the tree. Worked for a while, but not too long.

This next position seemed to work best. Propped up nice and comfy, a few good branches surrounding him. So that if he did fall, those branches might cushion or at least slow his descent.

Heh! Who needs a ladder anyway! Apparently for some jobs they are just over-rated. But then again it is always good to keep it close by, you just don't know when you might need it.

a homeschool day

Involves a little bit of baking. I wish that was always true! Too often we get a little busy and forget. Although we have been donning our aprons quite a bit lately. What really happened was we were completely out of bread and had no quick fixes for lunch, so we thought some Cranberry Crumble Muffins might be in order. Of course I had a willing helper.

A little bit of spelling practise is always good. One cup for learned words and one for words we are working on.

Kindergarten has a bit of cutting, pasting, coloring. counting and phonics all in one.

Writing a creative story is always up my girls alley. We found an idea generator on Scholastic that had the girls laughing.

Then of course there is math! Some hate it and some love it. My older two girls each fall into one of those categories. Oh, Bugsy also made a terranium today. Really cool project that teaches her about the water cycle. Will have to post more about that another day.

and therefore i will hope

In my part of the world, today was Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, I was outside and I was trying to think of what I was thankful for. I was a little unsettled however, kind of cranky, so the exercise was not proving very fruitful. I should have been thankful for the blue sky and sun on my face, as I usually am but couldn't quite shake the "blahs".

As I planted my fall bulbs and continued to ponder on the topic, I realized that I am thankful for hope. Really thankful actually.

So often I can get lost on this journey of life. I try to figure things and can't make sense of them. I try to understand people or fix a problem and botch it. Sometimes, like yesterday, I just feel discontented and can't completely understand why. At those moments it would be easy to stay there, wallow, get sucked in or just give up.

But we don't need to! We have hope and that really shouldn't be taken for granted. Hope for eternity through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Hope that sets us free to not need to be perfect, have it all together, be understood or even understand. Hope that says God has created us in His image and even though we can't see or comprehend it, we are slowly being molded into his heavenly likeness.

So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for hope. A hope that raises me out of my mire, sets my feet on a solid place, focuses my eyes on the finish line and reminds me that my reward, the one that I truly long form, is not in this world.

not so much

Some days you are a success. You feel like a culinary genius when you make something out of nothing. Other days not so much. Sometimes another person has a fresh, or maybe just new, perspective on things. Like today at lunch.

Last night I had made Beef, Chickpea & Tomato soup for supper. I had wanted something warm and comforting for supper. We had spent the afternoon doing yard work and as much as I hate to say it, I was cold when I came in at 5:00. So I threw on some biscuits and we had a delicious supper, everyone was happy, no one complained.

Fast forward back to lunch today. We came home from church with one daughter gone to play and another bringing home a friend. That soup was the perfect leftovers for lunch. At least we all thought, Boo-boo's friend not so much!

The conversation went something like this:

Little friend, fiddling with spoon on her tongue, "I don't like chicken!"

Me, "Well, that's good because this soup doesn't have chicken"

Little friend, who is as cute as can be "Yes it does!"

Me, "Nope just beef, no chicken"

Little friend, thinking "Hmm, I don't like beef"

Boo-boo decides to enter conversation "I LOVE this soup, this is my favorite soup. I don't like all the other soups, but I like this one!"

Little friend, not to be outdone of course "No, I do not like this soup. I like all the other soups, but I do not like this one!"

I almost snorted! Yes, I have done that before.

But seriously, how can you get mad at a 4 year-old who is being honest and doesn't realize that they could possibly be offending someone? To her she was just stating the obvious. It almost read like a book. Sort of had a pattern and a rhyme. Was the logical reply to her friends comments.

Make me laugh! What a good way to keep someone humble. I hope that whatever you might be eating this Thanksgiving weekend brings you comfort and maybe a few laughs along the way.

it was cosmic

We went cosmic bowling yesterday! Do I really need to say that we had fun? Boo-boo was determined to bowl on her own. So I gave her wings and let her fly at it!
The girls got creative and turned their glow-sticks into earrings and bracelets. Each of the older two got at least one strike.

I was thinking bowling was kind of an out-of-date pasttime! Was I ever wrong! Turn of the lights and put on some whites and you have a real party!

Afterwards we joined other kids, parents and adults for a picnic in the local park. It was a great afternoon where the girls met new friends and enjoyed the outdoors.

lunch surprises

Today the girls and I had a visitor in the morning and were gone over the lunch hour.

We came in the door at about 1:20 pm feeling hungry.

I opened the fridge door and thought "Oh no, what for lunch at this late hour?" I am not the biggest fan of sandwiches, unless they have great bread and fixin's.

Anyways, the first thing that I spotted was a single serving of leftover spaghetti sauce. No pasta. Hmm? This was not looking goood. Then I remembered the nann bread that I had.

So I winged it and layered nann bread with light layer of spagetti sauce (that had ground beef in it) and topped it with cheese. When it came out of the oven 10 minutes later the girls thought it looked delicious and 2 minutes later they were thinking I was some sort of culinary genius! Hah! I won't be telling them any different!

So if you are in a pickle and need a quick snack / light meal....you might just want to try it. The possibilities for changing it up are endless!

yet again

I couldn't resist!

Really I couldn't resist!

I am finding socks very, well, satisfying.

There happened to be a Mystery Sock knit-a-long by Kirsten at "Through the Loops"

I had yarn in my basket that needed to be knit.

I have Christmas gifts to start or finish, depending on how you look at it.

Really how many more reasons does a girl need?

So, here I go again!

Isn't she pretty?

one pair is done!

Here's looking at one finished Christmas present for the girls.
I really enjoy knitting socks!
It's kind of funny but I find them strangely satisfying.
It is also great that it is a small project, portable and easy to complete.
If you are thinking at knitting a pair and are nervous about working on dpn's (double pointed needles), don't be because they really aren't as hard as they look.

explain the unexplainable

Do any of you, can any of you, understand or explain the phenomenon of craving fiber and textiles? Really I spent an hour tonight on Ravelry drooling over various yarns and fibers and thinking of all manner of things that I could create with them. While on vacation, well over a month ago, I saw a new line of fabric from Moda that I loved! Wanted! Even walked away from! But I still keep thinking about it!

Crazy? True!

Then I walk into my craft room and realize that I still have things to knit, things to sew, things to quilt. Projects undone with my girls!

Why does the new call so much? I really REALLY try to use up, rethink, recycle but I still have more! Trying VERY hard not to give into my urges for a new project. Perhaps these are just the unexplainable urges of a crafter!

good morning autumn

I opened the shade on my daughter's window to see that we are truly being greeted by autumn. Her window was covered in condensation, the sky was blue and the colours are changing all around us. I needed to get outside for a moment to feel fall on my face. Have a fresh breath before we start our school day.

I see the changes of the seasons not only in the colours around me, but also in the mountains around us. A few weeks ago there was no snow on the mountains at all. They were still bare from summer heat. Now it seems there is a little more each day. If you look carefully you can see how autumn still hangs on below the clouds.