Today we took Rebekah to a free trial gymnastics class. To say she loved it would be an understatement. She did not want to leave and is really looking forward to our free trial dance class on Friday, which is called "Princess dance combo". I'm betting she hates that, I mean they dance to princess songs and use tiara's and boa's...no not up her alley at all. So you know where to find me every Monday and Friday at 3:45.

She's very excited about tomorrow because tomorrow we get to start the advent calender. I did not realize what torture it would bring to that child to hang it up a few days early. She has gazed lovingly at it through out every meal, wondering what could be in those little presents just for her! I can see the pitiful look of disappointment when she opens the first one and it's two rolls of sweet tarts. Of course, it was her favorite Halloween candy, so I am hoping it passes approval, but you never know with her.

The trees are up, and it's looking a little more festive around here. Christmas card envelopes are addressed but the letters are not written yet.

I had my second workout at Curves today. I really can't say enough good things about the place, I love it.

Leaving you with tree pictures, enjoy!

Tonight I finished off this little skirt for the cutest baby in all of Washington . The fun thing was that I used scraps from making the larger version, also seen here. And the larger version was made from scraps to start with! Love that :)

Turkey art (that arrived in Minnesota one day late...oops)

in process.

Frugal Friday

Todays frugal ideas...

That skirt is too short, throw it in the donation bag.

NO WAIT ~ sew a little ruffle of fabric along the bottom and you're good to go!

The zipper on that super soft knit jacket broke, throw it out. NO WAIT ~ cut off the sleeves, add elastic to the top of each sleeve and you've got leg warmers!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We started out our Thanksgiving morning with these pancakes, very fun!

Bekah had to have a nap before we went to the neighbors for dinner, she was having a tough go of it already. I think it's the Christmas anticipation setting in already. I'm gonna go with that anyway, since that excuse takes us all the way through December.

Over to the neighbors for this delightful bird (and we got to bring home leftovers, WITH home made stuffing...SCORE)!

Everything was lovely.

Most of all our host and hostess.

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family near and far. I love you all.

Now let the holiday season begin!

Wordless Wednesday

No it's not a tree skirt...

Although, that was an excellent guess, Martha! And no, it wasn't really a contest, but if you would have guessed correctly you could have claimed a moral victory :) And now that you mention it, I wish I had more of that fabric because it would make a beautiful tree skirt!

Okay, here is another clue:

Still don't know? Well, I gathered the inspiration for this project from the latest Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Ta-dah!

It's...

An

ADVENT CALENDER!

And yes, if I could have contained my excitement until morning, then I could have brought you better pictures with better lighting, but alas I CAN NOT! Seriously, for YEARS I have only thought of doing this project in the middle of December. Now, finally...it's done! One project down, a few hundred to go, but this one gets to make me happy all month long.

What am I working on today? I'll give you a hint, it's for the month of December! I've wanted one for years but never took the time to make one, and it'll be usable for years to come :)

Does anyone know what this plant is? I so need to check out a Pacific Northwest plant guide book next time I go to the library. This plant is about 5ft tall, and it's thick all over our yard!

Frugal Friday

Yeah, I know it's Saturday, but I had that whole lights out post ready to go yesterday and well...you know how it goes.

But this is one of the frugal things I did this week. The cover for our foot stool cushion obtained a nasty rip when I tried washing it in the washing machine.

I guess it was too rigid and got caught in the agitator, oops!

I was a little bit surprised that it didn't have a removable cover in the first place. So anyway, I took the cover off and was happy to see the insides were just fine.

I picked out some cute fabric from my stash that I had picked up at a quilt shop in Minnesota last spring, and completely winged it after that!

If you spend any amount of time in my sewing area, you will see that winging it is my favorite way of doing things. Well, actually it's the only way I know HOW to do things.

At any rate, I basically sewed the 3 sides together rst. I finished the edges of the 4th side and added velcro all the way down so now it's removable!

Heaven forbid I should learn how to put in a zipper!

I added ties to two corners just like the original cover had.

And whalah! There it is in my living room.

So, the frugal tip is this; consider your options when something seems to be ruined. Sometimes you can salvage part of it and make it even better than new!

Lights out!

Our power was out here for a couple of hours last night, a regular occurance here on the coast in the winter. So what do we do when the lights go out?

Well, we pretty much just hunker down and enjoy the peacefulness of it all...

Mommy makes candle gardens around the house

See, no alarm clock....kind of peaceful, huh?

We make tea (propane stove...love it!).

Daddy studies by candle light.

Rebekah just continues on with her bath as though nothing really happened (she stayed in another 45 minutes or so after I put the candles in there).

The lights came back on just as we were finishing up the last bedtime story by candle light. I was a little dissapointed. Oh don't get me wrong, I enjoy our modern conveniences, and I don't want the food in the fridge or freezer to spoil. But there is a certain calm that washes over the house when it's bathed in that soft candle light and there are no humming motors, and no electronics calling our name.

What do you do when the power goes out? (Keep it clean, no TMI stories ;) )

Congratulations, Josi ~ I hope it helps to get you in the Christmas spirit! :)

I had to do this a little later than planned because our power was out for 2 hours. But that's another post I'll save for later! I'll get this in the mail ASAP, Josi!

Last chance to enter into the book giveaway! The drawing is tonight.





And a picture of Rebekah's tea party set up ~ how many ponies does one child need anyway? :)

Wordless Wednesday

It's a blow your pigtails straight back kind of day.

Or to the side...depending on which way you are facing.

Book Review and Give Away!

A book review of Lakeshore Christmas, by Susan Wiggs.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of Lakeshore Christmas and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

It took me about 2 pages to be completely swept up into this story. I'm a sucker for a good romance novel, and this one did not disappoint. I found a little bit of myself in each character, their lives weaving in and out of one another.

The book is set in a small town, facing a library closure, much the same as small towns all across the country (including ours). The town librarian is trying with all of her heart to find an answer to their budget crisis, while at the same time trying to put together a wonderful Christmas pageant. Throw in a handsome, charming, co-director that throws her for a loop with his whit and easy going nature, despite a troubled past, and you've got the makings of a good book :)

Susan has a way of making you believe in angels, Christmas miracles, and love. I found myself alternately laughing and crying, and really not wanting to put the book down! Lucky for me, the wind and rain outside allowed me to read it in only two days with hardly any guilt at all! Now it's taking everything I've got to not rip into the Christmas boxes and start decorating, yep, the book just takes you right into that spirit!

There are a lot of children in this book and I think that's one of the qualities of the story that was so enduring to me. From the little red haired sweet cheeked two year old Charlie, to the various teenagers that formed unlikely friendships, I loved seeing how the author moved them through the holiday season, and into the community. I think there is a lesson there for all of us.

And bonus! There are Christmas cookie recipes at the end, which you will want to read if you have any lingering questions after reading the book, now there's a teaser for you! But those recipes look delicious, I plan on baking at least a couple of them for the holidays.

I would like to pass this book along to one of my lucky readers! Leave me a comment after this post and I'll pick a lucky winner Thursday evening, November 19th at 8:00 PST. Now...I'm off to browse Amazon for more of Susan Wiggs's books, I love her style!

Never a dull moment

Bekah is in the tub making her ponies (there are 15 of them in there with her) talk. Here is the conversation:

Pony 1: I'm didle daddeling

Pony 2: Uhmmm what's didle daddeling?

Pony 1: Oh! Diddle daddeling is when you walk on water.


I did always wonder what that was called.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy birthday to my wonderful, amazingly talented, beautiful, loving Mom.

I love you very much!

*P.S. I want that Bailey's Cake recipe! ;)

Weather Watch

Wheeeee....well if I don't post for a couple of days you'll know why. No worries though, we have food, water, and a propane stove so we'll just hang out and read until it passes.


Issued by The National Weather ServiceSeattle/Tacoma, WA 2:42 pm PST, Sat., Nov. 14, 2009
... HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING.
A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL SLOWLY PUSH THROUGH THE COASTAL WATERS LATE SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY THEN PUSH ONSHORE LATE MONDAY EVENING. WINDS ALOFT AHEAD OF THIS FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO BE VERY STRONG... AND SOME OF THIS ENERGY WILL LIKELY MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE.
SOUTH WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 85 MPH ARE POSSIBLE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. IF THE STRONG WINDS DEVELOP AS FORECAST GUIDANCE SUGGESTS... THEY COULD PERSIST FOR ABOUT A 24-HOUR PERIOD... ESPECIALLY WITHIN A FEW MILES OF THE BEACHES AND ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST FROM ABOUT TAHOLA SOUTHWARD.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HIGH WIND WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR A DAMAGING WIND EVENT. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH AND GUSTS OF 85 MPH MAY OCCUR. RESIDENTS AND LOCAL OFFICIALS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD PREPARE NOW FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF WIDESPREAD DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES THAT COULD PERSIST FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
&&
More Information
... A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING...

Frugal Friday

Here is a little something that won't be applicable for everyone (not everyone buys their artichokes this way, and I dare say I've heard some gagging over the very WORD artichoke), but maybe you have other products that would work similarly...it's just about thinking outside of the box.

This is how we buy our artichokes from Costco. Pretty good sized jar!

The first way I like to extend the value of this product is to use the oil that they are packed in (it's SEASONED even!) to cook my chicken breast in. It gives it a nice flavor and I just use it as we go, leaving enough oil in the jar to always cover the remaining artichokes.

Once the artichokes and oil have been used, I wash out the jars, remove the labels and whalah, instant matching jars for the top of my cupboards!

We have limited storage space, so if things look nice I can leave them out instead of trying to squirrel them away in some non existent spot in the cupboard! We use the jars for cereal, pretzels, rice, etc. I tried to get away with this using pickle jars but could never get rid of that pickle smell (dill cheerios, anyone?) but artichokes don't have a strong smell so it works out wonderfully!

Daddy is home

We definately missed Daddy!

Some new blogs added to the blog list over there ------->

Enjoy :)

A little random?

Out of the blue, Rebekah just said, "Hey Mom.... bar charge".

Me shuffling through my mental file, nothing clicking..."uhm, bar charge?"

Rebekah giggles, "yup".

"Where did you hear that?"

"no where, I just made it up, cool huh?"

Yeahhhhh...think we need to keep an eye on that Malibu barbie.

Big waves

This is the best I could do for footage of the big waves the other day. Keep in mind that the water is usually a good 15-20 foot drop off on the other side of those rocks!

The old/new kitchen valances

We've always disliked the blue manufactured home valances that were in every single room of our house when we bought it (imagine the dislike!). I took the last of them down yesterday.

This what it looked like when we moved in. I knew I took those before pictures for a reason.

This was without the valances, I just couldn't leave it that stark. So out to the studio to see what I had to work with. Something a little retro maybe, a little quilty, something with some character hmmm.... AH-HA, some old quilt blocks I picked up at Pikes Market last summer, and some red scraps of fabric to stretch out the quilt blocks.

I whacked off that bottom ruffle (gag) and went to town on re-purposing the rest of it.

I'm happy with it. I may add something to the tops but I'm okay with it plain too.

It definitely added some character to that corner of the kitchen. Next project, table cloth! Also on the list? That ugly gold and glass light above the table.