Living, Loving, Learning

Our little knight and unicorn (or a pegasis or maybe a unidragon)! We were joined by this adorable little bumble bee friend, Phoebe. Much fun was had by all!! This is from the library's Halloween parade, this year in the mall. Lucy is all about gettin' her some candy!!! Notice her handmade treat bag. Cutie pies!!

It is starting to get crisp here, so in the mornings I have to bundle Lucy up for our walk. I am loving using all the Norwegian knits that Dikke's sister sent us for Griffin. She is soooooo cute, she even causes the powerwalkers to break stride to say hello. Lucy is often worried that Sunshine is cold too. I have found Sunshine this way so many times, which is so suprising since Lucy hardly ever lets that blankey out of her little clutches!! They have such a sweet little friendship!! Have a great weekend y'all . Peace.

WOOOOOHOOOOT!!!! I finished my FIRST quilt. I am so excited, so proud, so happy about it! This quilt was almost (except the binding fabric) entirely made of scrap 1930's reproduction fabrics. They are all leftovers from the quilt top that I have pieced for Lucy's big girl bed. I thought this crib size quilt would be a good one to hand quilt first. A manageable size with clear quilting lines. I thought I "invented" this pattern, but the owner of our local quilt shop told me it is a very old pattern called "Chinese Coins". HA, great minds think alike. So, it is entirely machine pieced and hand quilted (and I have the calluses to prove it!) Here it is, fresh out of the drier, all cuddly and fluffy. I like the back almost as much as the front. You can really see the quilting pattern this way! I even had personalized labels made, so many years from now, the current owner may think of me from time to time. Not sure who I am going to give it too. ...

Every year, Bruce's employer holds a trick-or-treating evening where each department hands out candy. It is kind of the kick off event for Halloween week. We went last night and this is what Lucy and Griffin came home with. YEAH, it's A LOT. And we are going trick or treating two more times. Yeah, I will be donating a ton of it!!! The best part of the evening was how in to it Lucy was. Once she realized these scary strangers were giving her candy, well, she just marched right up to them with her bag open. She really loved to just stop and stare at those that had taken the time to dress up. I wish I could have read her thoughts!!

We had a GREAT weekend! We spent Sat. afternoon after a soccer game, at a bonfire party. We met so many fantastic new people and we all had a really great time. On Sunday, we headed over to our local pumpkin patch. We packed a picnic lunch, taking advantage of the amazing weather. Lucy and Griffin loved sharing some of our leftover bread with the ducks. While Griffin was playing all over the cool hay bail maze, Lucy and I explored the little market. She really wanted this big pumpkin, but settled for a bumpy gourd in the end. When we went to feed the goats, Griffin was delighted finding this little Kidd. What a sweet little baby! After a tromp around the corn maze, we hopped in the hayride that takes you out to the pumpkin patch. It must have been a sight, 3 of us tromping around the muddy fields, me holding a pumpkin in my arms and Lucy on my shoulders!! What fun. On the way back our wagon got stuck in the mud, causing all 30 of us to have to jump out and wait for it to ...

We went to my friend's vinyard, Bravard Vineyards, last Saturday for her annual fall open house and this month's herb club meeting. The weather had been iffy so not much in the way of a meeting but we had a wonderful time still. They have the cutest dogs, that the kids loved playing with!! Griffin hooked up with a ever changing group of kids, roaming the vineyards and playing all sorts of games. It was so relaxing for us to actually sit back and enjoy some good wine, listen to the great live music while our kids were happily entertained nearby! One of our herb club friends brought carmel apples, so the kids each got to have one for the first time. It reminded me of our wedding....We made dipped apples to display at the front door. We wrote each guest's name on the stick/handle along with the number of the table where they were going to be sitting. Sweet old memories, sweet new memories.

You guys have got to check out this AMAZING TV series!! You have probably heard of the book series, and HBO now has a show of the same name, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency . The series is really phenomenal and I am completely in love with it right now. The show has amazing music, costumes and story lines. And Jill Scott, wow, she is an amazing actress. So tough, so gorgeous, so sweet, so classy, so fun to watch. I love learning about Botswana, where the show takes place. The issues they explore are important, current and so interesting. I love seeing how this part of Africa is grappling with modern ideas and conveniences but still keeping their history and culture vibrant. I love that the main character is this powerful, strong, good, feminine, black woman - an image not shown nearly enough on TV these days! Wow, I just can't say enough good things about it. Rent it, netflix it, watch it, tell your friends about it. And then let me know what you think.

I LOVE fall! I love the chill in the air, the bright leaves, steamy bowls of homemade soup, cozy sweaters and scarves and most importantly, a trip out to the orchards. We went to Cider Mills in MI last weekend with the Moms. As soon as Lucy saw these ponies (donkeys?) she started her "uh, uh, uhs " and pointing. No doubt about it, she wanted a ride. So a the ripe ol ' age of 18 mos. Lucy gets her first pony ride and she loved it. Griffin is an old pro at such experiences, I almost think it is about time to get him out on a real horse back ride. This is not a great picture of either of them, but I just had to show you how much they look alike. No mistaking them as siblings! It is like totally impossible to get a good picture of the four of us - time to call in a professional!! The first of about six apples for Lulu. She had to taste test every varietal, of course!! She has been eating apples whole like this since she got her two front teeth at well under a y...

Can you tell what we did last weekend? We had a fantastic though, way too quick, time up in MI. Our kids are such amazing little travelers, it made the car ride there and back a joy. On the way home, they spent a lot of time talking to each other! I'll be posting some pictures from the orchard tomorrow!

So, here is my little table at a show I participated in last night. Only about 50 people or so walked through, so percentage wise, I think I did pretty well. I really had a great time! It was kind of nerve wracking to have my goods out there for all to judge in such a blatant way, but I got a ton of great feedback. I want to publicly thank my friend Mandy...not only did she get me the contact for this event but she also went with me for moral support. She even drove!!! And, it was way out in the boonies on a dark curvy deer filled country road - so nice to just be able to sit back and relax! I have to say my favorite part was hanging out, having dinner with Mandy afterward - girl time is so important and I just don't have enough of it in my life right now!! My friend Katie, was also so amazing yesterday (I am sure she is amazing everyday, I just got to witness it yesterday!). She had stopped by the house with her very cool "day spouse" (work partner) to drop by ...

Lucy and I just discovered Pomplamoose Music thanks to another blog I read, but already they are a favorite. We especially love this video...Lulu is working on her "oh oh oh oh oh"'s! She won't sit still to watch anything on t.v. Dora? NO Sesame Street? NO Baby Einstein videos? Hell NO But, sometimes she will really get into watching these people. That and videos of babies laughing...you know, America's Funniest Home Video style.

We are back to soccer again. Oh boy, what a difference a summer has made. Griffin is so much more focused and has so much more stamina this time around. I think his concentration has improved and this latest growth spurt has made him even stronger. This season we are the Killer Bees, be afraid...be very afraid. Actually, they are pretty good. They won the game like 15 to 3. Griffin scored the first goal for the Bees. He's growing up, sniff sniff, instead of a victory dance we got the double thumbs up!! They have this one little girl on the team who is EXCELLENT. She scored the majority of the goals. Bruce keeps telling Lucy to watch, that will be her someday. Lucy is so eager to play, she tries to lunge out of our arms all game long to try to get to the ball! We had a pretty non-existent weekend otherwise. Bruce was on-call (which has increased to every third weekend, and sometimes every other) and got called in 6 times this weekend!!! Poor guy is worn out and none of us really ev...