Happy Birthday My Sweet Parker

On the 24th, we celebrated Parker's 7th birthday!  Seven...how is that possible.  When I close my eyes, I can still picture the day he slipped into this world and my arms.  And now, we are here and he is 7!  My sweet Parker, you fill our world with love and laughter, always with a bright smile on your face.  You are a friend to everyone you meet and have developed a confidence that makes this mama proud.  Your sensitive nature continues to nourish those around you.  You are an amazing big brother and despite being "big", have such a way with little kids.  We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we love  you more than words could ever express!

(tradition in our house is that every 7 year old gets a pet for their birthday!  Parker bounced around from pet to pet even up to the day we were actually in the store buying the supplies, but settled on a dwarf hamster named Hammy.  Hammy is already a dearly loved family member...my sweet boy declaring he is so glad he got her "she is the best hamster ever")

Christmas in Georgia

This past weekend, we drove down to Georgia to spend an early Christmas with my side of the family.  It was a full weekend- crafting, baking, playing, seeing the Lights of the South, playing, playing and playing!  We all came home happy and tired...a sign of a great weekend with family.

This week, we will put the final touches on our handmade gifts as well as prepare to host this year's Sostice potluck and Advent spiral!  We missed last years event due to illness and the season never quite feels the same without it- we look forward to it so much.  We are also gearing up for a special little boy's 7th birthday (which also marks the 7th year of this here little blog!).

*the pouch doll's were made for my nieces using this tutorial and the birdseed ornaments were made for my bird loving mama using this tutorial.

*in the haste of packing up for the weekend, I forgot to take pictures of the gifts the boys made for my dad- Blake and Jacob made potholders/hot pads using a potholder loom and Parker wood burned "Merry Christmas" and a hand drawn snowman onto a wooden plaque.

'Tis the season

How is it that it is already less than two weeks until Christmas?  As much as we try to slow these days down to savor the season, they still seem to manage to whiz by.  As in years past, we are taking the month off of formal lessons so that we can focus on creating and enjoying the holidays.  This past weekend, we took advantage of our one and only free weekend in December and got our tree.  We always enjoy getting out the  ornaments and remembering where they came from or when/who made them.  So much fun in decorating the tree!  This year, MaKenna has been really excited...since seeing the first Christmas lights put up around town (and not to mention decorations in the store).  She continues to ask if it is Christmas yet.  Just the other day she asked if Santa would put something in her sock (stocking!) and perhaps he would even put "choc-o-late"in it.  Just the way she said it, like it was something oh so special, was just the cutest and I wish I could have captured it on video!  Such a blessing to relive the magic of the season through my children.

In a few days we will head south to celebrate an early Christmas with my family.  The boys and I have been busy making gifts for the cousins and my parents.  I will share the final products after they have been gifted so as not to spoil the surprise!  So much creating is happening around here (and if you happen to stop by, please excuse the mess!)  

A Little Gift Making

 The fall decorations are boxed up until next year, Christmas music is playing in the background, the tea kettle is in constant use throughout the day and gifts are cast on AND off the needles-December is here! While fall is typically my favorite time of year, there is something about winter and all the busyness of gift making and the anticipation and magic that comes with this wonderful holiday season. It seems as the years go by, we are incorporating more traditions into our family and handmade gifts is one that we treasure. The kids are just as busy planning and creating and already have a few gifts complete with more in the making! 

The first of the gifts already made and gifted were for my niece and nephew in New York. My niece takes ballet and jazz classes and what could be more perfect than a nice cozy pair of legwarmers for those chilly, northern winter days. The yarn is a superwash wool, in pink of course and the pattern I used was in a Living Crafts issue. They knit up pretty quickly and I made them long so that she could get several years out of them! I was hoping to get a picture of her wearing them (and hopefully my SIL will email me one!). I can say they looked rather nice on Parker :-) Peter and I collaborated on the gift for my nephew. I knit up a chainmaille hood and Peter made a knights shield and sword. As you can see, I now need to knit up more hoods for the boys!

On the long to-knit list this fall was a new hat and mittens for Parker and MaKenna.  The colors will come as no surprise to those that know my babies- green (specifically "spring green") and pink are their favorite colors and anything knit in them will be well received.  The yarn for both is Quince & Co. and details can be found on my Ravelry page.  This has been my go-to yarn as of late...so soft and durable, perfect for children's wear.  Right now, I am working on Kenna's first mitten and hope to have both done by the middle of the week.  Lucky for us, here in the south, mitten weather usually doesn't appear until after the holidays.  Although, they are predicting a colder than normal winter, so who knows!

And I can't believe it is mid November already.  Just the other day I was thinking that Thanksgiving was in two weeks.  When I realized it was in fact in only week, a small panic rushed over me!  Christmas/Solstice/Hanukkah is just around the corner and that means I really need to start moving on the gift list!  I am scaling it back a bit this year.  In part to ease some stress from that time of year and in part as the kids don't need much.  In preparation for our trip up to NY after Thanksgiving, we will be starting the first round of gifts this weekend! Oh, I do love all the craftiness associated with this time of year!

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!

Yesterday, we headed over to the Sheepdog trials that were being held at a local historic site.  It was our first year going and I think the boys were a little unsure as to whether or not they would have a good time, not really understanding what a sheepdog trial was exactly.  Well, we ended up having the best time!  Parker especially was interested in watching the border collies herd the sheep through the course.  I think he could have watched them for at least an hour.  They also had some other events going on demonstrating the different types of activities you could participate in with your dog.  Our favorites were the dockdog jumps and flyball.  It was a dog friendly event so there were lots and lots of doggies there to love on as well.  I must say, it did feel a bit odd not having one of our own.  Perhaps next year we will :-)  And because it was held at a historic site, they also had open hearth cooking in a replica cabin as well as a blacksmith on hand.  This was the boys second favorite "event" of the day.  I suppose anything to do with fire is pretty cool in their eyes.

We also had our family Martinmas celebration yesterday.  We kept it simple...warm meal and then the lantern walk around the neighborhood.  Our lanterns turned out great and were a lot of fun to make!  MaKenna is still carrying hers around today, sweet girl.

Today, Daddy is away on a business trip and the big boys are at a birthday party for the afternoon.  So it is just the "little" kids and I.  It always feels a bit strange when family members are missing.  We already ran a few errands, had some lunch and I can hear them painting as I type this up.  Hopefully, we will also get to a bit of yard work and a bit of baking before the big guys come home with their friends for a sleepover!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day!