sponsored post: happy thanksgiving from crayola!

I have been looking forward to this week all month. Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays since in my book not much can top taking a time-out from our busy schedule to spend a whole weekend with family. Oh, and let's not forget the food. 

It is also fun to do some holiday projects with the girls. So far this year we have kept our Thanksgiving crafting pretty simple. I set out a roll of paper with some markers and crayons on the coffee table and the girls have been drawing pictures of things they are thankful for... our family, home, rainbows, flowers, warm beds, trees, kites, crayons, scribbles... :) It has been a good way for us to keep an open discussion with them of all the blessings we enjoy, both big and small, and help us all fill our hearts with gratitude this season.

As a kid I remember being given the job to make place holders and paper turkeys for table decor. It made me feel important like I was contributing to the meal too, and looking back I am sure it was my mother's way of keeping me entertained and out of the kitchen! I am sure my girls will need some entertainment while we are busy prepping food, so I have been taking mental notes of easy Thanksgiving projects they can do mostly unsupervised. Crayola has put together a short Thanksgiving craft inspiration video for those of you looking for some fun ideas too. You can watch it below.

This post is sponsored by Crayola.

pear harvest

This year we were better prepared to harvest the fruit trees in our backyard. Last year at this time we were in the thick of the remodel and were sorting through a bunch of rotten apples. Our backyard smelled like rotten fruit and I felt pretty overwhelmed at all of the clean up and pruning our trees needed.

We inherited an old giant pear tree that is half dead and needs a lot of care. Last year when we tried a pear straight off the tree the texture and flavor was so gross I thought maybe the tree was sick and produced bad fruit. I had no idea that pears should never ripen on the tree! Thankfully, this year I did some research and we picked the pears early and let them ripen off the tree and it made all the difference - they were SO good! The taste and texture was delicious, although Lark enjoyed  nibbling on the pears all summer long and didn't seem to mind whether they were ripe or not. ;) We ate our fill and shared a lot with friends and family.

Next year we hope to make our pear harvest turn out even better, these are the types of learning curves I really enjoy.

the best advice my mother gave me

How some advice my mother gave me helped make this messy memory a happy one, guest blogged over at What To Expect.

(Family picture photo credit on the What to Expect blog goes to Valerie Hart Photography.)

kindergarten

It all happened so fast that I didn't even get a proper picture of her sweet excited face until after we had walked home from school. I blame this on my naivety that we were right on time instead of early and so she was ushered inside immediately upon arrival and it was all I could do to get my goodbye kiss. There were no tears, maybe because I didn't even have time to think to cry, but I also knew she was ready.

She chose her outfit that morning and I noticed with a smile that she was wearing some of my hair elastics as bracelets. So when she confided to me that she was 'a little bit nervous' I told her if she felt sad or missed me she could twist the hair elastics around her wrist and be reminded that I love her. She wore them for the rest of the week.

So, I guess I have a kindergartner now, and a toddler who just happens to have a nap time that perfectly coincides with her sisters school hours. I don't know how I pulled that one off. 

p.s. I made the backpack for her last year, tutorial here.

summer is...

Spending warm evenings at the lake...

Exploring the nature around us...

Cooling off in the backyard (and locking ourselves out of the house)...

Enjoying being together at home...

Going on adventures...

 Relaxing and soaking it all in...

Summer is winding down and we are settling into a new routine. Part of that routine means I get a few hours to myself each day. So far that time has mostly been spent enjoying the quiet and tending to the garden, but I am sure it won't take me long to fill up those hours with shop work (after a looooong break) and a project here or there.

For me this summer has been wonderful and healing in a lot of ways, and hard and humbling in others. I am watching all of the women who were announcing their pregnancies around the same time I was now announcing the birth of their babies. And they are beautiful and I am happy for them, but I can't help but feel a pang in my chest for my empty arms. This summer is closing a hard chapter in my life, but I am leaving it with a heart filled with hope for the next.

another edelweiss

I couldn't go too long without whipping up another Edelweiss dress. Since I made the last one a tad bit more difficult with all of the added piecework sewing a more simple version the second time around felt like it went super fast. You may have noticed a color theme going on this week. I promise I didn't plan on making everything black and white, but what can I say?! I am falling for the trend.

So this is my KCW summer wrap up! I didn't have time to sew a ton and I didn't even sew a single thing for sweet Lark, but it was really fun creating these outfits for LM.

       Stenciled Cat Top                      Jumper to Jumpsuit                     Black + White Edelweiss

refashion: jumper to jumpsuit

   

My husband bought me a cute jumper dress as a surprise when we were dating because he remembered I mentioned I liked it. I wore it a lot during the time we were falling in love, so later when I decided it was a little too short for me to feel comfortable wearing it anymore I didn't want to just give it away. It sat in a pile in my sewing room for almost two years before I finally decided to cut into it and this is what became of that nostalgic gift. I think this sassy pants almost five-year-old wears it better than I did!

This project only took about an hour start to finish. All I had to do was take the sides in and then I laid a pair of her leggings on top of it to use as a template to cut out the inseam. I actually finished this a few weeks ago but have been super busy with a work project this month so I am just getting around to sharing it now. I am pleased to report that LM has been pulling it out of her drawer to wear often.

I am linking up with KCW here.