NumberNineteen

Halloween Night

I'm sitting here at our dining room table with a bowl of tootsie rolls, waiting for the next wave of trick or treaters.  Glenn has taken Hope out to get goodies.  The last time I saw them, they'd hooked up with a group of kids and their parents.  One of the parents is Glenn's best friend.  And he has a red wagon full of beer for the dads.  Who knows when I'll see them next. Here is a picture of Hope, our southern belle this year:

I've been wanting to write here all week but when the time comes, I find that I'm too exhausted to even think about writing something coherent or worthwhile.  That whole working thing gets in the way of stuff, ya know. 

All of the good stuff happens on the weekend ('cause, let's face it, you don't want to hear what happened today at the middle school.  Really you don't.) We had another great fall weekend last week.  I had a long time wish fulfilled when my friend Heather, a professional photographer, took our family photos. I've been wanting professional family photos with her since I worked with her years ago, but there was always some reason we had to put it off.  But, when she offered fall sessions this month, there wasn't a reason not to! That whole working thing sometimes helps with stuff too.  Our session was at a beautiful farm park in Maryland, complete with horses and other livestock.  I don't have the photos from Heather yet, but here is a snapshot that I took on the walk into the farm:

 

The rest of the weekend was lots of fall crafting and other cozy activities.  I recently realised that the single thing that makes me feel happy about a weekend is whether or not I crafted.  It shouldn't be a revelation to anyone who knows me, but (as usual??) I'm the last one to get it. 

The main project this weekend was the Halloween banner that you see in the first photo. It is a pinterest-inspired project, from this etsy productt that I found:

I cut the triangles out of leftover dropcloths that I had from my living room curtains.  I swear, those were just about the best purchase I ever made -- I've used the extra fabric for pillow covers, a table runner, crafts, not to mention the curtains.  I digress.  The banner project.  After I cut out the fabric, Hope was my painting partner.  We did the lettering with a stencil from Michaels and the dots with a pencil eraser.  I'm so in love with how it turned out.

I'm already planning my Christmas projects...maybe a matchbox diorama and fancy decorated cookies?  I always look admiringly at pictures of sugar cookies with elaborate & detailed designs...I think that  I'll try my hand at it this year.

Hope & Glenn are back now & I hear her in the living room counting her haul..."3 Milky Ways, 4 Reeses, 2 M&Ms...."

Williamsburg

We took a short getaway this weekend to Williamsburg, which is just 2 hours south of us.  The trip was part of Hope's birthday gift since she has been begging to go since she read about Felicity in the American Girl books.  It wasn't hard to convince us -- Williamsburg is one of our favorite places to visit.  This was my third time there & I can see returning many times.  It's such a lovely place, especially in the fall, with the leaves turning.  They sell hot cider at a stand and I wander down Duke of Gloucester street, sipping  cider & soaking it all in.  I love the re-enactors and learn so much every time I visit. 

Hope was absolutely enamored with all of it.  She consulted the map and discussed where to go and then dashed down the sidewalk to the next place.  She really listened to the people and was interested in everything that they were doing.  She set her heart on one of the hats with purple ribbon and we couldn't resist getting it for her as a souvenir.  The rest of the day, we kept an eye on her by watching for the trailing ribbons wherever she went.

Recently, these have been such joyful times for me, spending time with Hope and Glenn.  This was the most elaborate of those times but many weekends I've sat back and looked around and thought, "Bliss".

 

Fall Day

I'm sitting here in a sweater, jeans & cosy socks (soft socks are so wonderful, aren't they?) with a cup of tea by my side, beef simmering in the crockpot for french dip sandwhiches and cookies that just came out of the oven.  A fall rain has been coming down for the past few days & I have the windows open to let that fresh smell in.  Around here, the leaves are starting to change but the full show will be coming in the next few weeks.

Happy sigh.

My weeks are mainly filled with school and taking Hope from tap class to Girl Scouts to appointments.  At night, I've been reading in front of the fire or making Christmas gifts on my embroidery machine.  I wish that I could show you all of the gifts because they turned out so darned cute, but I count the recipients among my blog readers and the surprise would be spoiled.  Here are a few that I can share:

Personalized tea towels for Hope's teachers.

An appliqued shirt for my horse loving girl.

 

A few days ago, I found some time after school to stop by a thrift store and found two adorable tops:

 

 

The purple jacket/top is from a company named Nick and Mo, which I hadn't heard of before.  I looked them up & I'm in love!  Their style reminds me of Anthropologie.  These are a few of my favorites from their site:

Gorgeous.

I think that I'll spend the rest of the day napping & then ironing while watching Love Actually on DVD.  Sounds just about perfect to me.