Lead up to a HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Our favorite holiday of the year...it is almost here...we will be carving our pumpkins in the morning!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Strawberry Costume

Just in case we have this baby before Halloween I went ahead and made it a costume. Inspired by my friend Bev, the baby will be a strawberry in celebration this year. If you have never had a taste of Bev's Strawberry Jam, you are definitely missing out on part of the yummier side of life.

Happy Halloween from Karin

I have a very talented friend, and she sent me the cutest halloween card...I just love it!

Birthday gift bag from Carmen

One of Carmen's girls on her soccer team had a birthday, so we sewed her up a fun tote bag with a matching zipper pouch. It had six pockets all around the exterior. We filled it up with art supplies. Hope she has a good time with it.

Carmen's crochetted skirt completed

We finished this skirt a little while back and I think we forgot to share it with you, so there is no time like the present I suppose. I looks cute on her, I don't think we have a pic of her wearing it, I will have to do that.

FUN IN THE LEAVES

Fall is here! Today Gianina and I went out and raked up a small pile for her and the dogs to play in! Not too hot and not too cold today, all 3 of them were very tired when the fun was over.
Sally and Copper
Yummy warm cornbread I made in an iron skillet, great on a cool fall day!

Jaguar

In our efforts to complete Halloween costumes, we finished Vincent's. He seems very pleased!

CANDY CORN VINCENT

When Vincent was about to turn one, I asked him what he would like to be for Halloween. Of course, he had no idea what I was talking about, but he had watched everyone else's costumes come together. He was eating a few candy corns at the time...he held one up and said,"this." So I made him a candy corn costume. He was a really cute candy corn boy, of course I cannot share the pics with you because I had not yet gone digital and I do not have a scanner. So, in celebration of that Halloween, we used a few scraps from the scrap bin and made this doll last night. Turned out pretty cute, just like little Candy Corn Vincent!!!

Gianina is a Pink Crayon!!!

For Halloween Gia wants to be a pink crayon, so here is teh first pic of the work in progress, nearly finished. whooo HOooooo!!

An Apron for Blessing

Well, a very long time back I started an apron for a friend, finally I am mailing it to her. FINALLY!!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Vincent!!!!!!

Vincent had a very fun 6th birthday today. He got his dog, Sally about a month ago, so he got a lot of dog related things for his birthday. He asked for his presents to not be wrapped, but instead have them hidden and get clues as to where they were located, so we had a very fun time doing that. And Sally has grown quite a bit in a month. happy birthday Mr. Vincent!!!

Potter's Bride

We had a wedding. The kids called it Potter's bride. My oldest was the groom, dressed in some Hogwart's get up and my 2nd wore what she calls her "wedding dress from my friend Ronna." We had a full wedding, with no muggles allowed. Boy was it fun, broomsticks, wands, and all.

Lego scenes by Vincent and Anthony

The boys have been busy this week with Legos, here is one they did before bedtime last night. Vincent's birthday is Friday and has requested more Legos to go along with his puppy, sally that he already got for his birthday! So, I will be shoppin for those this afternoon!

Finished the Fall Halloween Wall Hanging

I am trying to finish all my in progres projects before the baby comes. Last night I finished al wall hanging I have been working onout of a fewextra of my pumpkin blocks that I made for a swap over on MJF. So I can check that one off the list. I hope you like it, I am not a great quiter, but I have fun doing it.

New stuff for a new baby

As most of you know, our baby is due anytime, we are so excited, everyday brings hope and more projects getting done. Well, this new baby has a few new things!!!!!

I made a new pair of wool longies for the baby out of a felted sweater's arms.

My fabulous friend Autumn made a really really cool changing pad for the babe, cannot wait to use it. I will have to get a full shot of it. Thank you so much Autumn from my whole fam!

Belly casting....

For 6 of our soon to be 8 kids, we have made belly casts. They are fun to do and the kids love em. Some I have decorated, some are still waiting. The 2 kids that don't have them wish that they did, but they both get it that I really just had not thought of it yet. Not that they were my idea, but I did not know about them.

The first one I did with a group of girlfriends and aunts, cousins, sisters, and in laws, the second my my sister and my 2 oldest girls did with me, then the 3rd and 4th my labor support team of friends, kids, sister, and midwives did while I was in labor with the twins...interesting experience, then the 5th was made by my sister and I alone.

So for this one, I had John's help, so his first hands on belly casting experience was last night. I think he had a good time. It was almost midnight and all was quiet, it was cool out and the windows were open, just he and I, some Vaseline, a bunch of plaster gauze, and bowl of water. Sounds like fun, huh?!!??? So we made it, and if you know my husband, everything he does, no matter how messy, he always stays extremely clean, and once again no mess..no surprise there I guess, so here it is, still drying, now it is actually drying not sitting upright so that it does not lose it's shape. It was very fun for us to do it together, kind of a fun therapy session or something.

Something about a pregnant belly!!

Here I am in all my prego glory. I just love big pregnant bellies. John and I made our belly cast last night, it is drying still, been pretty rainy and humid today, so drying is not going to be so fast ya know. Pics of belly cast to come.

Legos from Ronna

My friend Ronna has been taking very good care of my kids with packages from a million miles away. Here is a robot Vincent made of legos a few days ago.

A day at the pool

Isabella

Gianina
Gianina, Lexi, Francesca, and Isabella
FrancescaVincent and Anthony

Vincent and Carmen

The day before school started we spent the whole day at the pool. We took a basket of treats with us and lunch. John met us with a picnic dinner. It was a fun day for everyone!!

The latest crochetted dishcloths

My latest dishcloths in my attempt to crochet my way through a bunch of cotton yarn gifted to me recently!!!

A few more tales from this summer's garden surprises. Some cukes turned into bread and butter pickles. The first batch of apples, I think after this lot we stopped taking pics! Our puppy, Spastic Sally..in this pics she had just turned 4 months old. She is still tethered in our kitchen nearly a month later. If we can convince her to stay off the kitchen table, and only go potty outside when not tethered, she will have a much more enjoyable stay with us...we are working on it. She is still a baby and has learned in the short time we have had her that she cannot eat the children or knock them down to rip out their hairbows, or try to remove their socks. She is sittimg on command most of the time and "down" seems to be working, so one step at a time. Now if we can get her to stop ripping my arm outta the socket on the lead, I will be one happy girl.

Chicago in the summer

This summer we went to Chicago for a bit of a short vacation. We took the kids to a minor league game, always a trip to a new playground, the Museum of Science and Industry, an 1800s village, and lots of time with John's family. I think the kids really had a good time.

Some last memories from this years summer

Two of my favorite things from the garden. Our annual garden spider and some yummy treats, various tomatoes and peppers brought in by the kiddos. Oh how we are going to miss summer, but I know we need the winter to prep for next summer. And really, fall and winter bring hot apple cider and hot cocoa...2 of my favorites.