Woo Hoo, Party Time Almost Here! Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Busy, busy days! The "play" time is even busy, but fun! We even managed to get most of our kitchen unpacked and put away. That would be 14 boxes, over half of which were the big dish boxes that are 3 feet tall, and other large boxes as well! There are only 2 left, but they have a lot of glasses and mugs in them, and I have to put away a few more things before opening those. Christopher has his baker's rack back, which is where we put his own personal supply of plates, cups and bowls and placemats, so he can help himself when he wants something. He will be happy about that now! Poor guy was getting used to asking if the dishes in the dishwasher were dirty or clean, so he could hunt for a clean glass or mug to use these past two months. Next: the 22 or so boxes in the dining room, then we move to the guest room upstairs. Now, THAT will be an accomplishment, when we finish that final room! And, then we'll finally be all unpacked and also downsized. And then we'll have our "Moving In Sale", which promises to be a mega-yard sale at this point.


Got some Christmas calendars (advent calendars) made just in time. Two are completely done, and two others just need the binding around the edge to be sewn down on the back, and then they are also done. I found this pattern online a few years ago and made one for a friend's child. She really loves her calendar and our friend Kathy says that Jaclyn considers it her favorite decoration at the moment. It comes with 25 pockets that are placed in the pattern of a tree, and you can put little treats in each of the pockets. It's really a mini-quilt, and fun to put together. After cutting out several with a friend to make, and having learned from my mistakes on the first time around years ago, this time went much smoother. Even so, I figured out that after all the patterns were cut out and sewn together, that I wanted one with slightly larger squares on it for us to use for Christopher. Another trip to the fabric store, and here's the (almost) end result!

Of course, this is one that needs to have the binding finished on it, so the edges are all folded over in this picture. It has a sleeve on the back where you can put a bamboo or dowel rod and then attach decorative rope or string on the rod to hang on the wall. There are so many fun things you can stuff in the pockets, we will probably do a combination of (miniature everything): coins, candy canes, chocolates, gum, matchbox cars, the little figure sponges that look like pills and expand when put in water into special shapes, and anything else fun that we come across. If we make any more calendars after this year, I'll stick to the larger pattern so it's more functional for families that have more than one child, or to just get to put more into each one. The ones below are about 2 feet wide by almost 3 feet tall, and they are for some friends:




I ran out of batting and backing, so these two will get saved for gifts for next year. As you can see, the background colors make the final product very different. I did really like the background with the pine cones. They looked almost like a photograph, the image on the fabric was so fantastically clear!


Going to the brother and sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving! Promises to be a LOT of fun, which will be great! So far, we have on the menu:

SOUTHERN MARYLAND STUFFED HAM!!!!!! YAY!!!!!
turkey & stuffing
baked/candied sweet potatoes
watergate salad
pumpkin (from fresh pulp) and apple pies
cherry breeze pie
fruit salad (Mom's style)
hot apple cider
gingerbread cookies for the kids to decorate and eat what they want
and lots more!
did I mention, Stuffed Ham!

We made pillow cases for the nieces and nephews, including the ones that won't be able to make it, just in time for the holidays. For anyone looking for a fun gift for kids, even the not so young kids (like the adults), interesting pillow cases are the way to go! They don't cost much to buy the material, you only need a yard, and they really don't take that long to make. We've been giving them as gifts for years now to friends and family, and even to the high school kids at the school where we lived in California, and they really are a hit! We even made them for the pre-schoolers last May, stuffed with their summer toys the parents got them, and they also loved them. So, here are the latest editions below. Fabric comes in so many interesting patterns now, it's so hard to choose which to get and make. We're going to let the kids pick names and then pick their patterns, or maybe I'll just pull them from a bag and let them trade amongst themselves:



THEN, we get to go to Dean and Doc's house for Friday! Yay! It's been almost 16 months since we've seen them, and while we were certainly looking forward to going to see them, they have enticed us even further with these balls of fur and fun that they call the babes, the little 7-week old basset hound puppies! Check out their really amazing website! Our little guy doesn't know how dogs are supposed to play, since ours is not the typical house pet. She lays around and has never wanted to play much. So, he thinks that is what all dogs do. The first time he saw one actually play, he just couldn't believe it. He's never been around puppies before, I can't wait to see how much fun he has. Of course, we will "school" him on the little needle teeth. That just cannot be avoided, getting lots of nips from the pups, but he will just fall in love with them. And, of course, will forever associate that experience with his love of going to visit "Gramps and Doc".

Happy Thanksgiving Week!
May we all give thanks for all that we have and all that we know, and all that we can be and share.