Mia over at One Hour Craft blogged about making kanzashi. These little Japanese flowers are so fun and easy to make and I think they look great. I think the next batch I make I will use kimono like fabric. Mia has linked to a great photo and video tutorial that you have to see.

More kanzashi links:

Craftlog…very pretty double kanzashi pin
Kanzashi Yumminess…links about the history of these flowers
Ciao! Cimba…two examples

A few things seen Up the Hill…

Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.

Inspired by Georges Seurat.

Belle finished her squirrel lapbook today. The cover reminds me of Joe, the Squirrel, and his coat of many colors! lol!! I love that Belle colors everything “rainbow”. She came running in this afternoon to get my camera so she could take a picture of rainbow but when we got out there it had faded too much.

Since we have been studying squirrels, I have discovered that I love these little creatures! They are so cute…I know, I know, they are rodents but they are still cute. I explained to Belle that squirrels were omnivores and that they eat plants and meat. When Pete asked her about squirrels being omnivores she said, “Yeah…they eat plants and humans!” LOL!!

Stay Tuned…I know everyone is hanging on the edge of their seats…Our next lapbook will be about penguins!! So if you have any great links about penguins I am sure Belle would love to visit them…we are looking for neat crafts too!

Judi tagged me…

A - Available/Single? Nope, married 13 yearsB - Best Friend? My Husband
C- Cake or Pie? Chocolate Cake
D - Drink Of Choice? Diet Vanilla CokeE - Essential Item You Use Everyday? my glassesF - Favorite Color? reds
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy BearsH - Hometown? somewhere in East Tennessee!
I - Indulgence? Mocha Frappuccinos from Strabuck’s
J - January Or February? January
K - Kids & Their Names? Nik, Jake, Isabelle, Sam and Gus
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? My Family
M - Marriage Date? September 11
N- Number Of Siblings? 1 sisterO - Oranges Or Apples?Apples
P - Phobias/Fears? worms and snakes. I used to be afraid of gnomes! lol!!Q - Favorite Quote? “My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.”
R - Reason to Smile - the hope of HeavenS - Season? SpringT - Tag one person… Pete
U - Unknown Fact About Me? I was a drum major in high school
V - Vegetable you don’t like? beets
W - Worst Habit? eating too muchX - X-rays You’ve Had? MRI
Y - Your Favorite Food? Crab Legs from the Crazy CrabZ - Zodiac Sign? Libra

…for those who think we no longer “do school”!! This has been a fairly light day because sometimes you just need those kinds of day! lol!!

Nik: **Today we reviewed finding the area & perimeter of hexagons
**Discussed Job and the advice that Job’s friends gave him. We are
studying the Books of Poetry in the Bible.
**Play practice for “Everyman Jr.” which is a morality play. Nik is playing
the role of “Everyman” at the Jonesborough Repertory Theater. We
are not allowed into the auditorium while the actors are practicing so we
haven’t seen Nik perform yet!! I am getting excited…

Jake: **Jake and I reviewed shapes, planes and dimensions.
** A few chapters in The Hurricane Mystery were read.
** A mini poster titled “Proverbs” was created and several verses were
added.
**Jake reviewed for an upcoming grammar quiz
**and attended his Webelos meeting

Belle: **Reviewed addition facts and reviewed number words
**Learned the letter “Gg” and practiced handwriting
**practiced “squishing ” some words together…like mat, pat, sat…
**practiced her memory verse John 1:1 and colored a William Tyndale
picture while I read a story about Tyndale.

Me: I found a few neat sites this morning while I was drinking my coffee…

Kiddley…this site is waaaay too much for one sitting! Claire has created such a fun blog where she shares “everyday ideas for you and your kids”. It is one of those blogs that I go to and say “ohh..I want to do this..” after all the posts! I think I want to be her when I grow up! lol!! And guess what! She has another wonderful blog too…LoobyLu. I love that name.

My Minutia has posted directions for a wonderful advent calendar using a baking sheet.

Mighty Goods is the answer to all my Christmas shopping woes…I think I’ll get all those “hard to buy for” people that lovely Yeti ornament! I don’t care who you are, you have to love it!

Enjoy!

I just submitted my novel at NaNoWriMo to be validated (50K words) and I received my “winner” logo and certificate! WooHoo!!! I really enjoyed writing this month and I look forward to writing again next November. You should join us!

“Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children’s minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day.”

chapter 1 Peter Pan, J.M.Barrie

I have just started reading Peter Pan to Jake. I love the quote above about Mrs. Darling “tidying up” her children’s minds. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could really do that…not to be nosy but to truly “tidy up” We could get rid of all those awful words they have heard or the horrible things they have seen and “put things straight”. Well, we can’t do that but we know someone who can…God! Let’s pray for the “tidying up” of the minds of our children! And while we are at it, let’s pray that our minds will be “tidied up” too!! I sure could use a good “sweep”!!

Check out this fun link…Peter Pan

Our Thanksgiving Day actually started the night before with Jake cleaning out the turkey. He was thrilled to find some organs which is so typical of a boy! The next day, we were served a delicious “turk” (as my sister called it) that Jake had prepared with a dry rub. He is such a great cook…I may just turn over all the cooking to him!

My parents and grandmother came up early so they were able to get their cooking done the night before too. This is my mom…I like this color on her! Be sure to check out her earrings. She made those herself!! She does a lot of wonderful beadwork. She is very talented. She will not be happy to see herself on my blog…..

Then this happened…..a big dog fight in the den!! This is Milo and his brother Duffy and they played like this the whole time. There was only one time that there was a real true fight and that was when Milo helped himself to Duffy’s food. It was not pretty…

Belle helped create our centerpiece and I think she did a great job! Do you see how she added popcorn kernels to the votive cups? And yes, I know that the silverware is not right! lol!! I was just happy that we actually had enough silverware…that is certainly going to be the next thing I purchase for our home!

We added quotes about thankfulness to the table. I had originally planned to have a lot more quotes around the table but I ran out of time! I also wanted to sew the placemats together with big chunky “X’s” to bring in some more black but I just plain forgot to do that! lol!!

And here’s the “good stuff”…

We always ask the adults to go first when we have a buffet-style dinner. We do this as a way to show honor and respect for them. The “Great-Grands” go first followed by the “Grands” and so on down the line. This is a photo of all the lovely young ones waiting ever so patiently…with honor and respect…on the adults to get their food! And before you leave a comment asking about the brown bottles…yes, it was beer…root beer!!

I just love my new white dinner plates and salad plates! My mom and grandmother brought these to me and I am so pleased. Doesn’t the food look so pretty on it?? I started using white plates a few years ago because I like the way food looks on white..except when it is on my new white t-shirt! lol!!

The only thing that would make this photo of my mom perfect would be if one of those “brown bottles” stood where the Diet Coke can is…..lol!! This may be my most favorite holiday picture yet!!

We all had a wonderful time and really enjoyed each others company. I guess I’ll ask all of them back since they behaved so well!!! I hope you all had a wonderful day too!

This spring when we were in Knoxville, we studied how to write a haiku. I found this wonderful book at the library that encouraged us to not focus on the 17 syllables because 17 Japanese syllables did not translate to 17 English syllables…made sense so we gave it a try. Here are some of Jake’s haiku…

A chihuahua puppy
running in the summer grass
gazing at the shiny sun.

Photo from Tucson Tea-cup Puppies.

Be sure to check out the Chinese Crested puppies…I love them! Maybe a puppy would make a nice gift for Christmas???

Miracle Whip
running across the black railing
jumping to the trees.

Miracle Whip was a squirrel that we watched often. He would run around and around on the black railing surrounding the play ground…then he would jump on a tree. He was named Miracle because the kids were amazed that he didn’t fall off the railing…I’m not sure who added “Whip”!

Photo from Photographing Squirrels.

Please check out this site…it is so funny!

And last but not least…

A green leaf
swaying in the wind
falling off the stem.

Thirteen Things on Today’s Shopping List

carrot peeler
tablecoth…for Thanksgiving table
pumpkin…for table centerpiece
red berry garland to drape around pumpkin
fresh candles…both tapers and votives
coffee
laundry detergent
cloth napkins
a dress for me!
black mary janes for Belle
tights for Belle
trouser socks for me
lipliner

“My mommy wants me to sign “mommy” first…”

“So I signed “daddy” first!”

Oh I just can’t be wordless today! These pictures are of my son Gus who was bilaterally profoundly deaf and Pete and I decided that we would all learn ASL. Gus was a candidate for a cochlear implant however, he died on May 31st of this year awaiting a liver/small bowel transplant. We miss him but look forward to seeing him again! Please discuss organ donation with your family. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me and I can give you some links to explore.

and even though I am smiling I did not enjoy this one little bit! Walking in a circle using a big long wooden stirring thingy??? I just about croaked. Maybe if I had controlled the stirrer better it would not have been so bad. But I couldn’t so I probably ruined the precious butter/gold…hmmm….maybe if this had been a big vat of cheese being melted for nachos I would have done a better job! lol!!

By the way, this is my photo for the His Temple, My Body Challenge over at Smalltown Homeschool. I have not been drinking water like I was before and guess what, I am no longer losing weight like I was before! So, tomorrow I am going to be hitting the water again!! And no, I am not going to eat the apple butter because it is way too sweet!

“Cat on an Old Shingled Roof”

1. I can’t stand halloween…but…we did have a really good time this past Tuesday while we were out getting candy! Afterwards we went to Pizza Inn. I guess halloween isn’t sooo bad after all! lol!!

2. On Wednesday, the kids and I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes to tidy up the house. We spent around 10 minutes in each area that needed some attention. This went very well and we ended up with a tidy house and an energized mom!

3. Thursday we took a fieldtrip to Knoxville the see the replica of the Nina, Christopher Columbus’ favorite ship. We also visited the local Ronald McDonald House. The best part of the trip was meeting up with my dear friend Judi and her sweet kids Olivia and Grayson. It was such a treat to meet Judi…I feel like I have known her forever but we actually have only known each other for less than a year! I love friendships like that…it’s obvious that our friendship was just meant to be! I have lots of photos from our day that I will be posting later tonight….

4. Pete and I gave blood this past week…I’m thankful that we have the opportunity to just go a couple of blocks from our house to the blood mobile and give blood. Gus received too many transfusions to count…if I had to guess I would say approaching 100! He would receive 3-4 transfusions when he was in the hospital this last time. It’s an honor to give our blood to help others like him and we are so appreciative of all the people who donated so that he could have what he needed.

5. We had another good day at co-op. That evening we rented RV and enjoyed it very much. It was nice to just hang out with the kids!

Pete is honking at me to get off the computer…we’re going to go look at a station wagon! lol!! I haven’t seen one of those in awhile! lol!! Hopefully, we’ll get it and be done with this car shopping thing!!

Check out others “reflections” over at Mommy of Two’s blog!

I just have to tell you all that the recipes from the Kraft site were a huge hit with my family! 1-2-3 Hasbrown Pie and Steak and Potato Stir Fry were great. The Steak and Potato Stir Fry was probably the favorite. I will certainly be trying some more recipes from the Kraft site!

Monday: Clean out the Fridge Dinner
Tuesday: Homemade Pizzas
Wednesday: Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Soup
Thursday: Spaghetti
Friday: “Dang it Napoleon. Fix yourself a quesadilla” night! Inspired by the movie Napoleon Dynamite.
Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner
Sunday: Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

Check out other menus over at Organizing Junkie’s blog!

“I yam what I yam”
–Popeye

I ‘ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about what it means to be hospitable. Good idea since I have invited half of the world to my house for Thanksgiving dinner! Sheesh, what was I thinking! lol!! Anyway, I do this every year around this time…I long to have this beautiful home with all these beautiful pieces to decorate with…beautiful plates, beautiful tablecloths, beautiful Christmas trees and you know, the whole works. Well, I love my little brown house up the hill I really do! I love the layout of the house and the back decks and yard. I love the neighborhood. I don’t love that my laundry room is outside…who ever thought that was a brilliant idea was nuts! lol!! So why do I do this? Why do I think everything has to be perfect to host a Thanksgiving dinner?? Why do the plates have to match? Why do the tableclothes have to be the same on every table? Why do all the chairs have to be decorated? Why does everyone have to have a handmade napkin ring? Why do we need to make place cards for seating? Why do I have to cancel school for a week while the kids and I scrub the whole house down so that everything is perfect? Why do I have to go out and buy new dishtowels so guests who are helping me clean up after dinner won’t see my shabby dishtowels? I know why…I just hate to admit it! I have things mixed up…I am not being hospitable I am trying to entertain….trying to impress people with my ability to keep a perfectly spotless house and with my incredible ability to decorate!! Hear my heart here, I am not saying that cleaning my home and decorating it nicely and even splurging for some new dishtowels is a bad thing. I am saying it is a bad thing for me when I am obsessing over it and the important things are not getting done. Hospitality is about people not things and during this time of year I tend to forget that! We are commanded to encourage each other through being hospitable not by showing off our homes and their decorations. A bowl of chicken noodle soup and good conversation is just as encouraging, even more so, than an elaborate feast spent with a worn out hostess! lol!!

I am thankful that God has provided me a home with all the necessities. I am thankful we have indoor plumbing, a stove and fridge. I am thankful we have a couch though it is broken down! These are the things that God has blessed us with and they will do their job well when we are being hospitable! So, I need to remember that the “things” I have and the way I decorate are not what “make”the dinner special…it is the fellowship! Pure and simple! So, from this day forward I am not going to compare myself, my plans for the holidays or the condition of my home to anyone else’s….”I yam what I yam” is my new mantra!!

Thirteen free patterns I have come across lately!~

These sites are just chocked full of wonderful pictures. I love to visit these sites and take in all the creativity..just marvelous!

1. Pointy Kitten Pattern from Wee Wonderfuls
2 . Hedgie Pincushion Pattern from Urban Debris
3. Pillows from Velocity Art and Design…this isn’t actually a free pattern but I think one could figure out how to make their own. I think these would be neat if you used your own photos of your pets…cute!
4. Chibi Kitty and Rabbit from My Little Mochi
5. Softie Scotty Dog from Allsorts
6. Wee Bunny from Wee Wonderfuls
7. Lambkin from Pattern Bee
8. Fabric Flowers from Molly Chicken
9. Patchwork Notebook Covers from Craft Apple
10. Water Bottle Carrier from Pink Chalk Studio
11. Cloth Baby Shoes from Great Turtle
12. Kanzashi from Spangle Scroll down for the link to the tutorial video! These are neat and fun to make
13. The World’s Most Gorgeous Dog Lead from Anna Maria

I plan on making some of these for Christmas gifts and some for myself! Enjoy!!

“Cat on an Old Shingled Roof”

1. I can’t stand halloween…but…we did have a really good time this past Tuesday while we were out getting candy! Afterwards we went to Pizza Inn. I guess halloween isn’t sooo bad after all! lol!!

2. On Wednesday, the kids and I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes to tidy up the house. We spent around 10 minutes in each area that needed some attention. This went very well and we ended up with a tidy house and an energized mom!

3. Thursday we took a fieldtrip to Knoxville the see the replica of the Nina, Christopher Columbus’ favorite ship. We also visited the local Ronald McDonald House. The best part of the trip was meeting up with my dear friend Judi and her sweet kids Olivia and Grayson. It was such a treat to meet Judi…I feel like I have known her forever but we actually have only known each other for less than a year! I love friendships like that…it’s obvious that our friendship was just meant to be! I have lots of photos from our day that I will be posting later tonight….

4. Pete and I gave blood this past week…I’m thankful that we have the opportunity to just go a couple of blocks from our house to the blood mobile and give blood. Gus received too many transfusions to count…if I had to guess I would say approaching 100! He would receive 3-4 transfusions when he was in the hospital this last time. It’s an honor to give our blood to help others like him and we are so appreciative of all the people who donated so that he could have what he needed.

5. We had another good day at co-op. That evening we rented RV and enjoyed it very much. It was nice to just hang out with the kids!

Pete is honking at me to get off the computer…we’re going to go look at a station wagon! lol!! I haven’t seen one of those in awhile! lol!! Hopefully, we’ll get it and be done with this car shopping thing!!

Check out others “reflections” over at Mommy of Two’s

Monday: Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Tuesday: 1-2-3 Hashbrown Pie with Turkey Bacon and fruit
Wednesday: Chicken ,Potato and Veggie Bake with a salad
Thursday: Steak and Potato Stir-Fry
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Meatloaf and potatoes
Sunday: Soup and Sandwiches

See more plans over at Organizing Junkie’s site!

Milo received this e-mail from his brother Duffy today:

As you can see, I peed all over myself and the table. I’ll be glad when this halloweenie stuff is over. Milo you started this.
your bro,
duffy

“Corndog”

Today kicks off the month-long challenge over at NaNoWriMo so I may not post here as often…because I’m writing a novel!! No, it’s probably not going to be good but it doesn’t have to be…the goal is to write 50000 words by the end of the month. I thought this would be a great time to purge my brain a bit! lol!!

So…what I’m going to do is post links to some of the posts from my bloglines…hence the title of this post “Not so Random”! lol!!

Check out “More Attitude” over at Mommy of Two’s blog

Go visit The Brew Crew Adventure…beautiful posts and beautiful writing! There’s a link there for “The Marriage Bed” by Michael Simms.

Tammy over at Tammy’s Time is working on some neat socks…be sure to scroll down to see the Tiny Pears!

Lindsey has started Advent for Evangelicals to help us keep Christ in Christmas. This blog was just launched today so go over and check out what a great blog Lindsey has put together!!

Mia over at One Hour Craft