craftland



knitting and felting



Charlotte and I have been very busy the last few days making crafts.  She is a great assistant!!  When I am sewing she places the pins in the pin cushion and helps me snip the thread.  She is a great little needle felter too!  Surprisingly she is quite good.  Being the little parrot that she is, she just imitates me and does a swell job.  Being not yet two and very aware of the fact that the needle is barbed,  we take extra caution during this activity.  The Christmas list is slowly slimming.  Slowly, since I can't quite seem to focus on just Christmas gifts.  Other projects just keep creeping into the necessity list.  Although they are not necessary AT ALL.  Fun, feel good, and fancy.  YES.  but not necassary! 

Since many of these projects are gifts, you are stuck with pictures of my sewing machine.  And since extreme caution is needed when working with my assistant, taking a picture of such work would not be advisable!

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

Autumn

 It has been a busy season over here.  Several trips to the pumpkin patch, lots of time spent collecting bits and pieces of nature, and walks with friends enjoying the fall weather.  Our favorite park has a "forest"

attached to it. In the summer it was quite dense and the kids enjoyed chasing squirrels and running around in the grass.  Now all that is left is tall tree trunks and TONS of leaves on the ground.  A dream come true for Miss Ellie.  Charlotte on the other hand just wants to see what is under all those leaves.  As it turns out, it is pretty awesome.  Nuts, acorns and lots of sticks.  I could not be more proud that my children continue to enjoy spending time in the outdoors enjoying the land that we live on. 



Many of these acorns, sticks, leaves, ect.  have made there way into the house.  After finding them scattered about the house a few too many times I decided to create a designated are for out nature collection.  So the top of the shelf that only seems to gather odd things has now become our nature shelf.  I absolutely love walking down the stairs and getting to look at all the wonderful bits we have created or collected.  It always puts a smile on my face. 

Daddy's surprise

Sunday Ryan told us to meet him after nap at his Dad's house for a surprise. So as soon as the kids were awale  I throw them in the car with some snacks for the 20 minute ride to Pa's house. We visit with Pa shortly then jump back in the car for another 20 minutes. This time we don't know where we are going! Of course, I figured it out fairly quickly but kept my mouth shut! So after a little complaining about why we have to be in the car so long (which I was plenty happy as it was 20 minutes of uninterupted knitting)  we finally arrive at the surprise. We are at one of the bases where Ryan had worked this week. When we arrived the helicopter was not there and as luck would have it as we opened the door to the car we heard the familiar sound of the choppers whirl. The girls were excited to watch the helicopter land, although a little nervous at the very loud sounds and wind! They had fun (after the engine was off of course) exploring the inside and sitting in the pilot seat like daddy. 

Then came the real fun!!  A park right behind the base!!  It was a super hot day but the girls still had a blast.  Not only was there a park but a vegetable garden too!!  Charlotte liked this the best and did a little harvesting while she was there!  Oops!  So it turns out Daddy planned a great day and we can't wait to see what we will do next time Dad :)

Almost over

Summer fun is coming to an end shortly as Ellie heads back to school.  I will miss Ellie while she is at school but I am excited to spend some one on one time with Charlotte.  She loves helping in the garden and doing chores around the house.

Charlotte has also just recently found interest in reading books and learning how to put words to pictures.  This frustrates her sister to no end since she REALLY wants to read one of HER books that are NOT FOR A BABY.  I look forward to being able to read uninterrupted to Charlotte and not have the book yanked from my hands several times while trying to read!  

Another opportunity I am looking forward to with Charlotte while Ellie is at school is PAINTING!!  Charlotte loves to do art work and paint!!  As much as I love Ellie to pieces, she can be VERY BOSY!!  I am excited to see Charlotte blossom in her art without the guide of her sister.  Ellie loves to paint as well, so we will still have to set some time for her to join in the art activities.  The other day we made some bird houses  out of milk cartons and stick we had gathered on a walk.  Both girls were covered in paint and LOVED every second of it!  And mama got a little paint on her too, which secretly she was very happy about!!  

Had to throw this one in too to show just how much paint she had on her!!  She really is a mess sometimes!! 

New clothes

Ellie received her new Mini Boden clothes last night.  They arrived just as she  was getting tucked into bed, so I decided to take them up to show her.  Nothing excites this child more than clothing, so I know she would be thrilled.  Little did I know just how thrilled  she would be.   First she discussed with me that she really had not had her current PJ's on for very long and they could go back into the drawer and be worn again another day.  Then she tried on the skirt quickly before settling into the long sleeved nightgown.  Which I must admit I really want one for myself.  It is super soft!!

She spent the majority of today wearing the new nightgown (luckily it is slightly breezy out) whether it be outside running down the sidewalk or playing in the house.  Then just before nap decided that a change needed to be made in her attire and switched to the skirt for sleep.  That's my Ellie for ya!!! 

Ants

As with most days we spent part of the morning outside exploring nature. Ellie found an ant that she studied for quite a while. It was a girl because it had pretty long legs. Obviously!! I just love how fascinated the girls are by the small things in nature.