An Earthy Crafty Thanksgiving!

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the U.S. We had a wonderful day at our house, and really took the time to count our blessings for our family, wonderful harvest, and being able to be together.

Feeling so so grateful lately, and inspired by one of the projects in Amanda Soule's beautiful book, Handmade Home, I made a new banner using felt, and cutting the letters from some of the upholstery fabric remnants (from my gift in June)...



The morning started with the boys harvesting the last of our broccoli, and digging the last of our potatoes...


I covered the dining room table with easel paper, and set out all of the crayons, markers, colored pencils, stamps and pads I could find. This kept them pretty busy while I got to the cooking...



Always a willing assistant chef, Joshua mashed the potatoes when it was time (the very ones he dug up that morning :-)


The corn that we preserved in September was delicious...


Noah ate EVERYTHING and then some!


After dinner there was plenty of cuddling and we watched " ACharlie Brown Thanksgiving." Adam borrowed Noah's birthday ball for a pillow...



This year was different and a little bittersweet for us. We usually host a big group of about 20, but this year it was just the five of us. For a little while I was kind of sad about this, especially since we've been hosting every year since we've been married, and since this is most likely our last holiday season living here in New England. But, the more I thought about it, the more I looked into the future, imagining the years in the not too distant future that one or more of my handsome boys may want to go to a girlfriend's house, or be a world traveler, or be off to college far away, and miss Thanksgiving. So as we sat around the table this year, and I was able to look around into the faces of the four most special people in the world to me, my heart was overflowing with gratitude.

Whatever season you may celebrate at this time of year, I hope that it is filled with joy, peace, and true thanksgiving!

2 Days Until My First Craft Fair...a Tour of My Home Studio

Two days to go till the craft fair, and craft has taken over our home.

My cutting station -- read dining room table (photo taken during lunch, with one of my assistants who really likes to eat, fortunately :-)


My pressing and sorting station-- read ironing board in the middle of the living room...

My sewing center-- read closet that I have completely taken over and is mine, mine, mine...all 4 by 6 feet of it...

My cutting station at night-- it gets taken out & put away about 3 times a day right now.

My sorting the wool sweaters I found thrifting over the last few weeks table-- read folding table in the corner of the living room...

My staging area--read our loveseat that no one is allowed to go near or sit on until I leave the house Saturday...


I don't know why, but I felt the overwhelming urge to take a quick break tonight and document all this craziness, um, I mean busyness. Oh boy, I'm getting nervous & excited!

Okay friends, back to my closet, er sewing station;-)

Care for some pie?

Yesterday we hit the thrift store looking for some inspiration (and a break from fair preparations) when this little lady called over to me and asked me to take her home...


If you've been here a while, you may know of my love for baking pies for my family. I also have a soft spot for vintage charm, especially from the 1940's & 1950's, when my Memere was homekeeping & raising her babies.

When I walked up to purchase this, the very sweet lady behind the register said "I knew she was going home with you."

I hung her up on the chimney next to my stove. It's the original chimney from nearly 200 years ago that hooked up to a wood stove. Perfect inspiration just in time for next weeks' flurry of pie baking for Thanksgiving!

10 Things I Really Meant to Blog About...

Looking back over the last couple of months of posts, I realize that there are so many things I photographed and blogged about in my imagination, but they never seemed to make it to this space. Care to join me for a little time-travelling??

• Blueberry Picking! We're going to have to travel all the way back to end of August/Beginning of September for this one!

• Officially becoming a Soccer Mom (um, soccer ended 2 weeks ago...now I'm a den mother)

• Caterpillars! We had our share of groovy caterpillars this summer & fall...all right outside our door!

• Seeds! Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, healthy goodness enjoyed all autumn long around here!
  

• Milkweed fun... really, is there anything more fun than blowing milkweed all over the yard then making boats out of the pods?
  

• The gazillion or so Canadian geese that descended onto the area that was once occupied by corn...

• Rosehips! Harvesting, drying, and preserving them for the first time. Big thank you to Jen's wonderful post at her lovely blog for the idea!
  

• Apples; picking, apple pie, apple cider (visit Pennie's wonderful post for a true New England apple experience)

• Halloween... Okay, first, my children have never seen any of the Star Wars movies (although I have seen, and own, the first three which are apparently the second three, but if Harrison Ford isn't in them, I'm not too interested in seeing the second three which are the first three...you with me?) Yet, they know the major characters & really wanted to be Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker this year. I jokingly told Adam that if we found a DV costume in his size for a dollar or two at the thrift store, okay...sure enough we did. Joshua's was easy enough to make, and I made the lightsabers out of foam pipe insulation and shiny fabric (nobody got hurt, and eventually Darth came back to the good side :-)

• Any Soldier; Yesterday was Veteran's Day here in the US, and I meant to come here and write about our experiences with anysoldier.com. I watched the documentary "The Way We Get By" on PBS and it was too late by the time it finished, so here I am tonight. We first learned about anysoldier a few years ago through an article in our local paper about a drive collecting school supplies to send to US soldiers in Iraq to give to the schoolchildren there. What began as one simple act of dropping off some crayons turned into an opportunity to teach my boys about the people behind the headlines-- that a "troop" (as in 40,000 troops) is a human being who is sometimes representing our country somewhere very far away, often in harm's way, and is trying to help others there. No matter where you or I stand politically on the wars going on, I think most people would agree that our servicemen and women deserve our gratitude and respect. This website puts you in touch with service members abroad who are sometimes requesting personal items (we've sent a lot of baby wipes and deodorant) and often requesting school supplies or children's clothing. Most often though, they are writing on behalf of someone in their unit who doesn't get any mail, and hoping that someone over here will take the time to send them a little card or note. I can tell you personally that nothing you do is too small to make someone's day. Here's a thought... if you find yourself with a few extra Christmas cards this year, how about looking up a few names of these good folks and sending them some holiday cheer?! Yes, they even (especially) love to get cards with photos of cute kiddos whom they've never met!

Well this certainly was a long post! I think I finally feel mostly caught up, and now I must return to the blanket that I want to finish for the fair :-)

Some Very, Very Good News

You may remember back in September I knitted a prayer shawl for my former teacher's daughter-in-law who had been diagnosed with breast cancer during her pregnancy. Some of you had asked for updates on her in your comments & e-mails. Well, I am happy to report that yesterday I received a photo of baby Sarah and a wonderful thank you letter filled with good news!

Sarah was born via c-section at 35 weeks so they could begin treatments as soon as possible. She was healthy and had no complications from being born early, and is at home, beautiful and thriving.




Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"I am happy to report that the prayers are helping tremendously. Just yesterday we learned the results of the body & bone scans and everything came back cancer free! Danielle's last chemo will be Christmas week so we are looking forward to an especially blessed Christmas and a new beginning in 2010."


Thank YOU for the prayers and good wishes that you sent Danielle's way, and please keep up the good work!!

Hope you are having a great Sunday!
~Michelle

My New Adventure!

I've decided to try something that I've never done before...a craft fair. I'm going to have a table at our church's craft fair and try to sell things that I've made with my hands. There, I've said it, in writing...no turning back now!

Things have been tight around here this year. I know everyone is feeling the pinch, so I won't go into details about our personal situation. I've been trying to figure out a way to help contribute, in some way, to our family's income. Steve is the hardest working person I've ever known, and I appreciate all that he has done since we decided that we wanted me to be home full time with the boys. We don't have any family available for free childcare, and don't want to pay a babysitter so I can get a part time job. I had to figure out something that I could do here, in my spare moments during the day, and in the evening when all the boys are sleeping (with the exception of a certain monkey who has recently decided that sleeping for more than 90 minutes at any given time is entirely over-rated...)

So I started knitting children's scarves. I decided that I'd see what I could make in a week or two and figure out if I was really going to be able to do this.


The nice lady who runs the fair said that the little girls love the fun fur scarves especially, so I made a few of those too...


The urge to pull out the dpns and knit something for a baby girl pulled at me so I made this hat, and am working on matching mittens now. The mittens in this photo I made from felting and sewing a thrift store sweater (more on that adventure later...too much to fit in here)

And continuing with my crafting for girls theme, I made this giant granny baby/toddler blanket (using the same pattern and yarn type as Joshua's rainbow)


I'm working on a boy's version of the above blanket right now, and have much felting & sewing in the pipeline. These are the items I've finished (okay, not finished technically, since I have to weave in all the ends & block-- that will be a party night let me tell you;-)

The fair is on November 21st, and I am really nervous & excited. I have no idea how to price anything, and no idea how many of each item I should make. I'm just going to keep going till the fair, and I figure I'll either sell everything, or be all set for baby/child gifts for a few years ;-)

I'd love to hear any advice from you folks who've done anything like this before (and any words of encouragement from those of you who haven't would be much appreciated too:-)

Okay, back to the laundry!!

Scenes

Phew!! October was fun and my goodness was it full! Here are some scenes from a few of our adventures...

A lost tooth at dinner...
A new tooth after a few long nights...


Plenty of goodness for our nature table...

A hand knit shawl for Grandma's birthday...

Harvest stew...

Crafting for Daddy's birthday...


Picking apples for Daddy's birthday pie...


Searching for the great pumpkin...

Fun in the trees...



Finally answering the age-old question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

To escape the over-zealous toddler of course!!

Oh my, no wonder I'm tired;-) Actually, I've begun a new adventure that has been taking up my "hands-free" evening hours the last couple of weeks. I'm starting to feel a little more confident about it, so I'll be back soon to share...who knows maybe even tomorrow night?

Getting that tea ready for some good reading at your places now!!

I've missed you!
xoxo
~Michelle

October Is...

Beautiful and BUSY!!!

We're in the middle of celebrating the 5 birthdays in 5 weeks that we have in these parts (including 3 of my favorite boys with whom I am fortunate enough to live, and 2 of the dear grandparents). We also had our first hard frost the other night, so the final harvest (excluding the hardier crops) is scattered in various forms throughout the kitchen, dining room, etc.

So much crafting, baking, preserving, hiking, Halloween costuming, apple picking going on...lots of things I'd love to share, yet not finding time right now...

I sort of blame you incredible folks, with all of your wonderful ideas and constant inspiration :-)

Will probably be away another week more-- at least till all the birthday crafting & harvest preserving is caught up-- then I'll sit back with cup of tea, share our adventures, and catch up with yours. Hope all is well with you, friends. Looking forward to catching up soon!!
~Michelle

SEVEN!!!!!!!

Adam turned seven years old on Friday the 2nd. I fully intended to come to this space that night and recount the day's events, but I fell asleep with the monkeys. Let's just say a great time was had by all!!
His big request this year was a castle cake, and a party with all of his friends. He had both, and we all had a wonderful day. Almost every picture from his party includes his friends (boy do they love him!) so I don't feel comfortable sharing them here, but I will share our attempts at a family photo...


Someday I'll have a photo with everyone smiling, and I'll be longing for these goofy days, I'm sure :-)
Later on, Adam found a new friend, a caterpillar that he named Tiger...


Adam kept Tiger on his shoulder while riding his bike, and made a comfortable home for him on our nature table.

Adam is a sweet, funny, sensitive, loving child, and I can honestly say that I feel like my life really began the night he was born. I'll never forget holding him in my arms, gazing into his sweet face, feeling such complete joy and love, and saying to Steve, "I get it now...the meaning of life."

There's something about seven that sounds so old to me...not a baby anymore, but always my first baby. I feel like a mom now. Does that make sense? I've been "Mommy, mommy, mommy..." for seven years now (wow!) and the last few days, I've been feeling this undeniable, peaceful, grounded feeling. I get it now, time really does go by in a blink, and we can't afford to waste a single day with our children. They grow; whether we're having a bad day, or a good day, or a tired day, they grow. I'll have a really clean house, and all the projects finished someday, when the house is quiet. For now, I'll take the noise and the chaos and the hugs and the love.

Seven years of this beautiful life, thank you Adam, for sharing each day of it with us, and for turning us into a family. Happy birthday, again, and always remember that we love you so very much!

Backyard Snacking...the Taste Test

One of my favorite things about living where we do, and how we do, is the ability to be out in our backyard playing, get hungry, and pick ourselves a snack.

Adam & Joshua can pretty much handle picking their own things, and know what they like and don't like. They know which compost to throw which things into, so they're pretty independent back there.

Noah still needs a little help. We started at the peach tree, and he was so excited, that he just grabbed a peach off the ground and started chomping...


But I wanted to figure out what was his favorite backyard snack, so the taste testing began. I gathered a few raspberries, a peach, and our one pear, and very scientifically, ahem, placed them before our test subject...


At first, he wouldn't let go of that peach, but then he grew curious. No doubt he'd heard us talking about the pear (the only one on our tree) and he decided to check it out...


Although he did enjoy the sweetness inside, the same was not true for the pear skin...


Next it was onto the raspberries. Would he love them as much in this situation as he does while gobbling them up in the sling when I'm harvesting? Oh the suspense...


In the end, our little subject decided that clearly the best option was to mush them all together into a mixture and fluctuate between eating the mixture, feeding it to his family, and rubbing his toes with it.


I do believe he is gifted in this area :-)

I'm Quite Sure I'll Laugh About This...Someday

Yesterday was a beautiful, cloudless 75 degree early autumn day. So, I brought the boys to the playground...

Adam & Joshua were running around playing with a couple of friends. Noah was having a great time crawling back & forth through a long tunnel, and I was running back & forth to catch him.

One time, I sat down, in my favorite yoga pants, on the pressure treated wood deck at the end of the tunnel & was playing with him at that end. Then he quickly turned & crawled the other way. I slid forward to hop off the deck and run over before he crawled out...

The rest is sort of slow motion and surreal in my memory...

I caught him, and as he was giggling in my arms, I realized that I was in pain. A lot of pain. On my tush. I reached back, and felt the big hole in my favorite yoga pants, then felt the 4 inch long piece of wood sticking out of my left cheek.

The 2 other parents who were there, came over to ask me if I was okay just as I realized I needed asking. With one monkey on my good side, and two embroiled in a sibling squabble of epic proportions, and embarrassed at my ripped pants, I reached around, and realized that there was indeed more wood, um, back there...

I Explained to my cherubs that mommy got hurt and we needed to leave right now. When I explained a little further, one shouted, "You mean you got a splinter in your tush?" Because, what I really needed at that moment, in pain, with ripped pants, a now crying baby, and 2 boys not exactly getting along, or listening to me very well, was more eyes on me. Good times, I tell you.

So, after about a 20 minute struggle into the van, and removing more wood splinters from my tush, we were headed home. A tearful call to my dear Steve, who responded with a muffled chuckle, and "what a pain in the a**" resulted in us all meeting up at home to survey the situation.

After he took a peek, since I couldn't exactly see very well, ahem, we decided I needed to go to the doctor. When I called they told me to go to the er, but I pleaded for, and was granted, an office visit. I love my doctor.

However (Notice, I didn't write but) they couldn't do anything about the 3 PIECES OF WOOD that broke off from the pieces I removed and remained stuck in my, um, gluteus maximus, which were now pushing on some nerves. Time to call in a surgeon.

Seriously? I asked. Yes. And the most interesting case we've had in a while. What a bummer though. Ha. Ha.

Today I got to have minor surgery. It was not fun. It now really hurts to sit.

We're canceling our kind of long drive to the fair this weekend :-(

I'm sure I'll laugh about this someday.

It really is a bum deal. I'm allowed to say that!

It's okay to laugh a little when you read this.

A little.

Really. I'm okay with that.

I am giggling -right now as I write it. Mostly because I am writing it. Because I didn't think I would, but Steve says it's blog-worthy. And since he was sooo helpful with the monkeys today, I'll oblige him.

Have a great weekend, and watch out for splintery pressure treated wood while wearing yoga pants!!

Early Autumn Garden Tour

Summer may be over, but there's still plenty of garden goodness at our little homestead...


Sunflowers are in their glory...

We're having a terrific broccoli harvest...


Noah loves chewing on broccoli stalks and basil leaves while we pick...


Swiss chard and beets are doing great...


Lots and lots more basil for pesto production...


We're still getting corn every day, although it is petering out, we've managed to freeze quite a bit...


Plenty of cucumbers for salads, and pickles...

Even though we were hit hard by the tomato blight, we're still able to find several on a good day. Our San Marzanos did particularly well (and our brandywines...well, we won't talk about that)

Our fall crop of raspberries is in full bloom, and sometimes one or two even make it into the house ;-)



And after a long wait and much worry on my part, our peaches are being enjoyed for dessert nightly now...

Our pear harvest (really, this is it...one pear this year!!)


And we're on the brink of apple season...lots of goodness right there!!


We also have a couple of bumper crops that are starring in their very own posts, so stay tuned...

Happy Autumn!!!

Farewell Summer...

Noah's first summer when by as quickly as any I remember. Like the rest of his family, he loves the ocean. We were sure to squeeze in one last beach day before the weather started to change.

Adam & Joshua aren't the only ones who run headlong into the waves as soon as we get to the beach now...

Most of my day was spent picking him up from the waves, carrying him back up to the blanket/sand-castle building area....


and watching him crawl straight back in!

On this day, there was considerable excitement out of the water too...

After a couple of lessons...

And some prodding from his brothers, Noah was ready to help build, too.


But he was happiest when the tide came in and the waves filled the moat:-)

Our jetty will be ready for one more boy to climb on it, and explore the tidepools, and count the barnacles next year...


I can hardly wait!!

One Year ago...

We've been thinking so much the last couple of days about Noah's birth, time in the NICU in Boston, and wonderful homecoming. This is a Reader's Digest condensed version of the story...

One year ago, our beautiful, sweet Noah arrived--several weeks early. After a very difficult pregnancy that included 12 weeks of bedrest due to placenta previa and an abruption, he decided that he was quite ready to arrive. His lungs, however, weren't exactly ready yet. He was diagnosed with Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Right after he was born, the wonderful doctors at our hospital called for a neo-natal ambulance to come up and bring him to Children's Hospital in Boston. This is a photo of the team taking Noah in his incubator--with my arm reaching in, holding onto him to the last second.


A couple of hours later, I got my own ambulance ride down to recover from the emergency cesarean at Brigham & Women's hospital, which connects to Children's via a long tunnel. I did not spend much time in my room, however, as I was doing this (or pumping milk for them to put into his feeding tube) every second I could...

Steve was able to get down to visit a couple of times, but was sooo busy up north with the big brothers that it was a challenging time. (I actually blogged about Noah & this huge hat here .)

When he was in his "pod" ( while I'd get my own check-ups with my doctors) he had a photo of his sweet brothers, and a chicken (of course ;-) to keep him company...


When we finally came home, everyone was ecstatic. These photos are from our first night at home as a family of five...




This last year has been the fastest and most wonderful year of my life. It's been full of love, and joy, and noise, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the universe. Thank you Noah, for joining our family. We love you so very, very much.