happy halloween!

max, king of all the wild things wishes you a wonderful, candy-filled halloween!

halloween cards

it has been pretty rainy here so we have been indoors more often than not. stamping is one of calvin's favorite things to do, and he asked to make halloween cards the other day (he actually asked to make halloween thank you cards because it seems that whenever we write cards they are thank you cards and i am afraid that he thinks all cards are for saying thanks...) so we dusted off our halloween stamps and set to work on cards that were not thank you cards.

i love that his drawings are starting to be recognizable. here he drew several pumpkins (some upside down because sometimes the paper was upside down...) and the tall thing in the middle is a birdhouse. earlier in the day we put up a birdhouse that we bought at the agricultural fair awhile back. we (sam) put it just outside our dining room window and as we were sitting in the dining room making these cards, calvin looked out and drew the birdhouse and the branch it is hanging on. i loved watching him draw as he looked at his drawing, then out the window at the birdhouse, then back to his drawing. he is starting to understand that his writing can have meaning, which for a literacy teacher, be stills my heart.

crown

i made this little pink and yellow birthday crown for miss charlotte who turned 6 months old this month. in my family we celebrate half-birthdays (a small celebration, usually just family, but you get to wear your birthday crown) for the yellow i used 100% wool felt and for the pink i used a blend, because that was what i had on hand in pink and, well, charlotte is a pink girl, i think, so i wanted to use pink. oh how i do love the 100% wool felt better though. it is so soft and thick, but a bit pricey. i used my own pattern that i created for calvin's birthday crown.

as i look at the picture though i realize i need to work on my embroidery stitches. maybe i will do some embroidery for christmas (i know it seems early to be thinking about the holidays, but i want to make most of my gifts and that requires time and forethought and more time, so i must start now). i found these tutorials here and here to get me started. now to find the time...

happy half-birthday charlotte!

autumn cooking and craft

calvin and i made the maple nut granola from feeding the whole family a few weeks ago for my mom. she was coming for a visit and she loves yogurt and granola for breakfast. my mom didn't love it, but calvin and i sure did. it was delicious! great for breakfast, snacking or even dessert!

i also made the emerald city salad from the same book. as i was making it, i wondered if it would taste too earthy because it is mainly wild rice and kale. i loved it. calvin loved it. even my mom loved it. it was a terrific and very healthy salad to have it the fridge to put on the side of anything. my mom and i even put it on tacos.

my sister took calvin out for a walk and they collected some fallen pine cones, leaves and acorns. then they drew pictures of their collection. such a simple and wonderful idea. (the stick colored pencils came from my aunt, they were perfect for this project!)