On a Brighter Note...

Well, our weekend ended better than it began.  My littlest man turned four!  We had a cozy little party yesterday with family.  Tate had specifically requested a purple and yellow race car with the number four on it for his cake.  This guy has ideas. Daddy was "happy" to oblige..  Mike, I really would have done it, but never as well as you! 

My personal contribution was to make him his own birthday crown.  His initial:

His jewels:

His Royal Highness:

These crowns are ridiculously easy and satisfying to whip up. (Amanda has instructions in her book if you can't figure it out just by looking at the pics.)  Can't wait to work on Cal and Ellerie's. I was really happy with the way it turned out.  I think the king was too.

Dumbfounded

Uh.  Yesterday, sometime between the hours of 8am and 5pm, someone stole our crummy 13 year old vehicle from the parking lot where Mike works.

It's gone.

I keep thinking that it can't be true, you know, that our car was STOLEN.  But yep, the police report has been filed, the insurance company has been called and we are stuck with one car for the indeterminate future.  So while I wrap my mind around this, please say a little prayer that we figure out how to make this work and can be grateful that it wasn't anything worse.

Busy

How did I get here?  Forget this glorious scene; this is what was just outside my window.  Glorious still, but rather different.

And it is THURSDAY.  I looked at the calendar this morning and saw there was writing on today.  Hmmmm....  wonder what that is.  Ohhhhhh... that would say "Tate's birthday at school."  Too bad I didn't do anything special for that.  Luckily he is still small enough to not notice or care about being 15 minutes late to school with three packages of "stopped by and grabbed them on the way here" doughnut holes.  And, as if that wasn't bad enough, "Tate's birthday at school" TODAY would lead me to believe that his actual birthday must be rather soon.  Oh, that's right, Sunday.  How am I left with three days?  I swear I still had two weeks.  I was sure of it.

This week itself has been flying a tad too rapidly though.  The last two days have been crazy with visiting and then company and a combination between the two of a WHOLE lot of boys and Ellie.  (Or, on Tues, Ellie and Polly).  Tuesday was a grand and all too quick (as usual) trip to my dear Meg's. I got a bag that "survived" the sale and few other happy goodies.  Thanks Megan; I love it all, of course!  

And this is what a lot of the day looked like, as we ended up with a grand total of 7 boys (not counting baby Oliver). If it is not apparent to you, there was a lot of blurry wrestling.

You'll notice though that Ellerie was NOT to be left out of this craziness.  

And, speaking of ramming around with the boys, not sure how long finding Ellerie upstairs in bed with said boys is going to be cute ;-)

Our visitors yesterday had us at my place with a six boy total and now after two days of friends, I am left with a MOUNTAIN (is there something bigger than that I can use to illustrate this?) of laundry, no food, clutter everywhere (worse than before and that is saying something) and messed up sleep routines.  And even though I feel like retreating now into a social hermit-like state, it was totally worth it.  

Wordless Wednesday

TGIF

..... and for this awesome apron!  I won something folks!  A few weeks ago, Julie over at Jane's Apron hosted a little giveaway and I WON!!!  I got my package yesterday, and I SO wish I hadn't been all excited to open it and had thought to take a picture, because she so thoughtfully put it together as if I had purchased it from her rather than her giving it away!  She threw in one of these noteflats, which I will firsthand attest to their quality.  Adorable, first of all, and the paper is just really smooth and sturdy.  Well, get on over to her etsy shop and get some for yourself.....  And she wrapped it all up in pattern tissue paper, a very cool idea, especially when giving away something hand made.   Perfect for when I come across ugly patterns at the thrift store for 29 cents!  

Now, back to the apron.  First, let me say that I am totally going to rock this as an all day accessory.    Yes, I am still wearing it as I type.  The top two squares?  Gigantic pockets!  And, I should have taken another close-up, but the bottom is a printed measuring tape, so you can ACTUALLY use it to measure things as you are working.  How cool is that idea????

And, check out the awesome little button and grosgrain loop.  Hang it up!  Slip your glasses through it!  Tie on a pincushion!  The possibilities are endless! And, I must say, this is the sort of sweet little detail that you will find in everything Julie does.  (No, she is not paying me to say this.  I'm saying it because I really love her work and tastes, but if she'd like to slip me a five under the table, that'd be fine too ;-)

And, here is the kicker to her generosity!  Because she felt she was taking too long in getting me my prize (ha!  Little does she know, it would have taken me twice as long if we were mailing the other way around!), she including a darling mini version for Ellerie...who, apparently, likes to dance in it!  

I also really like this simple apron concept because it is easily adaptable for a boy's craft/cooking apron.  Mine would eat up the measuring tape idea and it would be great made out of oilcloth or something similar that would just wipe right up.  

Julie, thanks so much, I love it all!  And readers (you like how I say that as if I there are hundreds of you?  I am sure there ARE, you just don't all leave comments, right?), go check out her blog and etsy shop because she does some nice work.  

Thank you, Toni (and, I'm Sorry)

Awhile ago, (ahem, I am ever so slightly embarrassed to say...last month) Toni over at Raising Eden very sweetly gave me an award!  An award, people, just for rambling on about myself and whatever junk I happen to be doing or thinking and what I choose to photograph and share!  Blogland is a cool place, my friends!  Toni, and everyone else who stops by, thank you SO much for sharing life with me and letting me know I am not talking to myself!

But here is where I am going to get super embarrassed and make a confession that will probably keep me from ever receiving any sort of tag from anyone else!  *deep breath*  Here goes:  I am supposed to, upon receiving said award, respond with 6 things I find important and 6 things I do not support and then award 6 other bloggers.  But I am not going to do it.  I tried and tried and tried to come up with just what I wanted to say here and who I wanted to tag and I just don't feel settled about anything that I come up with.  Anyone who knows me is probably thinking "Liss, you're kidding, right?  This is a soapbox just WAITING and you are not going to leap upon it and bestow your opinions about values on the blogging world?!?!?!"  And, believe me, there is a part of me that would love to, very smugly, jot down all the things I think are important and incredibly misguided.  But the only thing I do feel settled about is that anyone reading this blog knows the kinds of things I value and will probably discover more than 6 of them along the way.   And as for things I don't support, well, aside from the obvious things like child snatchers and murder, I don't think this is the place that I want to get all controversial in black and white.  I could, I'm sure, but I just don't want to.  

And then, when I tried to figure out WHO to tag, half the people had already been tagged by someone else and I wasn't sure if it was fair to award when I wasn't fully participating myself.  So, here I am, breaking the rules again and just thinking I can do whatever I want to do and everyone will still like me.  In spite of my inability to conform here, I really am flattered and appreciative.  Please keep coming by everyone, even if it is just to see what I will anti-participate in next!  

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I am very worried about this poor little bird.  Look at her toe.  She was on my patio, under a chair for a very long time, even with the kids and I banging in and out of the breezeway.  But, as I was trying to find the right place to call to help her, she flew off.  So, this is my little prayer that she has healed and managed to get to someplace warm.  

And This One's a Doozie.....

Dana at Old Red Barn Co. is SO GENEROUSLY having another quilt giveaway....  

.....and this time there are THREE quilts and THREE winners!  Lovely fabrics, lovely quilts and a whole lot of people with baited breath.  I could really use one of these to cozy up with.

Yup.  I really could. 

She's Crafty

Aren't these bags fun as anything?  

I love them, and the crafty friend who whipped them up for a little tag sale this past weekend.  (The sale was last weekend, she's been sneaking the sewing in for awhile).  Meg, I SOOO  wish  you had a blog so I could link everyone to more of your crafty goodness!  Megan has sewn a whole lot more than I have over the years and I always like her take on things:  simple, homey, hip, charming.  Please do keep finding time to sew Dear, because I love the results!  I do still need a bath mat (wink*, wink*).  Here's to the next tag sale!  

The Golden Days of Autumn

We have been enjoying some pretty incredible November weather for these parts the last few days.  So warm and sunny you would think it was September, except in that same time period that gorgeous, gigantic, golden maple you see in the new banner photo has been dropping it's leaves like hotcakes, along with all its tree buddies.  So a large part of our outdoor enjoyment on these days has been raking.  Well, the adults raking.  The kids always start to help, but the pull of a pile of leaves is strong...

These pictures were all taken yesterday.  And we really were all having such a lovely day.  I can hardly believe that I am still able to hang anything on the line in November!  The kids played together so nicely and I felt really content in the things I was accomplishing outdoors (in spite of all the things that I was NOT accomplishing indoors!).  It felt, for a golden, fleeting afternoon, that this is how life ought to be.  For some reason, I can't always find this rhythm.   And sometimes it seems like something I am chasing that I feel everyone I admire has already found.  

But then, as we finished up our work and play, in a manner of minutes I had to deal with two diaper (or lack thereof) crisis, a brother fight, several screaming tantrums, a sick husband, an unplanned dinner, a clingy baby, and I realized that those sweet, slow melodious moments are often as fleeting as a warm November afternoon and are only a part of the rhythm of days for us.  And, I imagine, for just about everyone, including the folks that I think are there all the time.

Still....  I am happy to keep chasing them.

Quickie

Before I become incredibly ill on Sunday, I managed to drum up these sheers for the front window this weekend.  We were beginning to feel, with it getting dark so early in the evening, that we were living in a fishbowl.  Ah.  Much better.

Trick or Treat

Well, here are the carving results... a bit shaky though.  Somehow pulling out the tripod with three hyped-up kiddos running around in the dark front yard, just didn't feel like an option.

Speaking of hyped-up kiddos:

(That clown costume, btw, made by my mother probably more than 35 years ago. It's made it through a LOT of Halloweens!)

And my funny little bunny sat home with me (after screaming and crying her eyeballs out to go with the boys) and stuffed her face with candy every chance she got.  When did she get tall enough to reach up into the bowl?

Hope yours was safe and fun and that your babes get their fill of sticky sweets!