Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is on Sunday.  If you know a veteran, or someone currently serving, please thank them.  It will make you feel good, I promise.

And because we have a 4 day weekend, we're off on an adventure!  We're spending the weekend with one of Brian's fellow veterans and his family.  Hope you have a great weekend, everyone!  

past in picture: December 2009

Well, this picture pretty much speaks for itself.  Poor, poor Fletcher.  He was only 18 months old, and didn't quite get Santa yet.  He was so excited as we waited in line to see Santa, mostly catching the frenetic energy of the other children waiting around us.  And he smiled and waved at Santa, and even sat in Santa's lap readily.  But then I walked back to take the picture, turned around, and this is what I saw!  I know that some moms don't like these pictures, but I swear it was just this split second before I rescued him from Santa.  And I'm sorry, but I DO find it hilarious!!  And Fletcher is no worse for the wear.  He adores Santa Clause now and will happily sit in his lap to chat.  I feel like Santa is all the kiddos are talking about lately, so I thought of this picture. 

Do you have similar Santa pictures with your own littles?

steamed

Can we all just breathe a sigh of relief here in America?  Regardless for whom you cast your ballot, IT IS OVER.  For 4 years.  I feel like a weight has been lifted this morning because I no longer have to deal with political ads, signs in neighbor's yards, and vitriolic posts on all social media.  Oh!  And now I can unhide friends and family on Facebook whose posts had become bitter and biased (I wonder what they've been up to?).  I enjoy a political debate as much as the next person, but ignorant posts had become rampant across the board. 

I have a feeling quite a lot of the country (nearly half) is feeling quite steamed this morning.  But let's move forward.  Let's stop the biased battles, and let's hope our divided government can find a way to work across the aisle.  If you need to channel your frustration here's something for you: should we start decorating for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving?  I know, it's controversial, and I hope I don't have to lose friends over this argument, ha! 

In all seriousness, I hope our country can move forward in a healthy way.  It all starts with each of us.

happy election day!

I drew up these little political animals last night, and I think they're pretty cute, regardless of your politics.  I hope if you are an American you excercise your right to make your voice heard. 

Happy voting!

november mantle + yarn wrapped garland

I've tucked away (most) of the Halloween decorations, and I've kept out the general Fall decorations.  But the mantle needed a little something extra for November.  The littles and I have been picking up acorns and pine cones galore on our afternoon walks, so I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into a garland.  I found a few sticks, drew inspiration from a Martha project, and decided to wrap up the sticks in some ombre yarn!  If you'd like to make your own to tie into a garland, or to just stick in a vase, here is what you'll need.

1.  Some sticks!
2.  Yarn of your choice.  I chose both the burgundy/red/green and the turquoise/sand/brown yarns.
3.  Glue gun.

Start with a dot of glue on the stick, and after securing the end to the glue, start wrapping your yarn.  You'll want to pull tightly.  I added glue along the way to keep the yarn secured.  Once you get started, it's not hard at all.  I did two large sticks for a vase, and a handful of smaller sticks to string together as a garland.  After I was finished wrapping, I added a couple pine cones and acorns by gluing them on. 

I tied the small sticks together with twine, but you could also use the yarn.  That's all!  It's beautifully rustic and woodlandesque, so no need to try and reach for perfection.  I think I love these cozy looking sticks.

The rest of the mantle was put together with pieces from here or there.  I left out my raven painting from Halloween, and the aqua bowls, camera, and books are up on the mantle pretty much year round.  After much deliberation, I put up this antique mirror earlier this year since it, um, "mirrored" the fireplace decoration.  Oh this house.  It's such a mishmash of eras, so I just try to go with it.

I put more of our acorn and pine cone treasures into a jar, added a few stacked pumpkins, and displayed the massive fall bouquet that my mom made me with dried flowers and plants from her yard.  The pitcher and the big vase on the floor were both made by my talented uncle.  I obviously love color, and I'm not afraid to show it, ha!

This little project is just enough to tide me over until it's time to deck the halls, because that's what I'm REALLY dreaming about right now!  Even the kiddos keep asking if it's Christmas time yet.  All the store decorations and Christmasy sights are getting us all into the mood prematurely.  Don't worry, we won't jump the gun on Christmas.  Yet.

 

Do you keep up fall decorations through November, or do you start making things merry and bright?

 

 



darth vader + fairy

We had a pretty great Halloween.  The littles cooperated like champs with their costumes, and even stuck with what they wanted to be for Halloween for over a month.  So I actually had over a month to get their costumes ready.  You would think I wouldn't be frantically sewing leaves onto a headband the morning of Halloween, but, hello, my name is Ruthie and I procrastinate.  We still got ready just in time for Fletcher's preschool party, and I even had time to snap some pictures before it was time to leave.

The preschool party was brief but fun, just the way I like my preschool parties.  Rowan was pretty happy about getting to participate for an hour, and she crashed hard at nap time.  Yay for preschool parties!

We were all excited to have Papa home early so we could all go trick or treating together.  We were informed that no one trick or treated in our neighborhood, and that everyone went downtown to the businesses.  So we packed up and journeyed to the candy.  The littles had a great time going from store to store, begging for candy.  We live in a college town, so there was a fair share of spooky costumes, which I was afraid would scare the kiddos.  Fletcher took it all in stride, with his eyes a little larger than usual.  Rowan would ask to be picked up if we were coming upon a scary costume, and then she would stare them down with her own big eyes.  She was brave as long as someone was holding her!  I know the feeling. 

We came back home with our bags loaded, and feeling exhausted.  The littles got to choose 2 or 3 pieces of candy, which sent them reeling around the house.  But then the crash happened, and we turned on The Great Pumpkin as we wound down for bed.  And as we were watching, we got a surprise visit from a couple trick or treaters!  So we (sneakily) gave them some of the littles candy.  Halloween was a success! 

How was your Halloween?  Would you rate it a success?