Our House in the Middle of Our Street

photocredit Hello all! After many years of wanting, this year I'm finally signed up for the December Photo Project hosted by RT of View from the Prairie Box . Awesome thing is, I know this lady in real life and can attest to not only her sweet photo skills but also the funny and encouraging woman she is. This is a project that people from all over the states join, (one of my favories--Sara Janssen from Walk Slowly, Live Wildly does it, too!) to share a daily photograph from December 1st-25th. Think of it as an online photovent calendar. Would you like to participate, too? Read all about it here . We start tomorrow!

cupcake credit Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. We'll be moving the rest of this week, so things will be scarce around here, but we'll have internet by Saturday so hopefully blogging back to normal on Monday. Eat up, y'all! PS-still haven't decided whether cupcake is delicious or disgusting.

Okay so not really... I don't like pumpkin pie. But I do love watching little kids pretend to bake it along side musical accompaniment. Here is Lukka and Anikka's last music lesson along with their other singing friends at Around the Corner Music Studio . We'll be taking another round of lessons most likely late Spring or early Summer, but if you have ever wanted to get your child involved in music, this studio comes highly recommended! Here they are 'mixing the pumpkin pie' with their clack sticks before patting it into the pan. Adorable ! See my blog post here if you want to know more!

Hello! Sorry about absence yesterday. Of course it's Thanksgiving week, but we're also moving at the end of the week! Our house is packed up and we're in over-drive mode (and I'm in exhaustion/over-whelmed mode) so things will be short and sweet this week and perhaps next, too. Thanks for your patience. I have a few pictures of the house for later in the week but will post more sometime next week when we get our internet up and running there. For now, we're embracing the mess....

From Soulemama's blog: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. ((Okay so technically this was from a week ago, but I love it. Lukka, Anikka, and their little friend " Piccolina ".))

photocredit I know, I know. It's not even Thanksgiving yet! If you're a crafter, like me, you've got to be on your game well before the Autumn season hits if you want to make all your gifts for Christmas. Today I'm just going to share some of my favorite resources online to get you inspired and hopeful that you can give handmade gifts this year ! Saving money is only one reason why we give handmade gifts, followed by simplicity, thoughtful making for each individual, and because I really like to make stuff. ;) I'll just let you peruse these websites, ones I have kept in my favorite folder so I could go back to again and again, since I'm a visual person. There are some for adults, some for kids, and let's not forget Etsy , who has everything in between! Enjoy. * Gifted Magazine . A free online magazine that is as aestetically pleasing as the Holidays can get for the modern handmaker. * Gift Giving Philosophy. An article by SimpleKids on expectations, and ...

photo: Anikka's knit sweater for this Christmas. Pattern by Soufulhues on Etsy. This weekend I'll be participating in a Craft Weekend with my best friend at Roger's Bed & Breakfast getting my creative juices flowing along with many other artsy women! This will be the second time I've been, I believe the last time was in Feburary. Although there is a cost, it is so worth it to have close to 24 hours to knit, sew, paint, what-ever with people who share your hobbies... uninteruppted ! If you're local and think you may like to participate the time starts from noon on Saturday, November 20th until Sunday morning at 11AM. There is still room for you if you'd like to come! Here is the facebook event page (public, just have to have a facebook account) and if you'd like more information please leave me a comment with your email so I can get ahold of you! I'm.so.excited. Happy Crafting ! Tomorrow I'll post some of my favorite online "holiday craft...

photocredit As it's starting to get colder outside, one thing I've been more apt to research is more natural/herbal remedies for flu & cold season. It seems we were sick quite a bit last year, and of course, sickness and feeling under the weather are just a part of life. Whether you choose rest and good old fashioned soup, orally take herbs & tinctures, or just pop a pill and go back to work; we all have to deal with sickness one way or another . In the past year or two I have become much more interested in herbal remedies simply because I think downing over-the-counter or perscription medecine is very harsh on our gut & bodily systems. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to ditch the bottles in your medecine cabinet, just make sure you're not drinking an entire bottle of nyquil in one week for a stuffy nose. There are better (and frankly, cheaper) ways of getting over a cold without the side effects. Obviously this does not apply for those with s...

photocredit Today we're enjoying a "floating holiday" Stefan was required to take at some point. There may be hot cocoa, movies, and snuggling involved. See you tomorrow.

From Soulemama's blog: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see . sidenote: I'm pretty sure these funny smiles are getting better week by week.

Perhaps some of you are starting to hate the fact that the sun is now setting around 5:30. I, on the other hand, relish this particular aspect of Fall and Winter seasons because it means our whole family starts to settle down, usually with a book or toy (depending on which decade you were born in) around 6:00PM. People 3 and under are in bed around 7:00PM and it feels like there is more time to relax at night. I love it! Here's what I've been reading these days: photocredit Our community group (home group) is currently reading this book, Counterfeit Gods , as is a big portion of our church, so of course I'm following along. Unfortunately it's at a snail's pace (averaging a chapter every two weeks) and so it's very disjointed for me. Neither Stefan nor I have ever read anything by Timothy Keller, but our church seems to love him and his books. To me it's a very average read. I wouldn't have been happy had I just picked it up and bought it. The interesting...

The cutest Sweet Shoppe I've ever seen. It doesn't help that the pictures, decorations, and of course owner are super charming, too! This time of year I'm always pining for this Etsy shop , ya know, all of it? Okay, so I'd totally settle for one piece, maybe this , or this , or this ? To be continued.... The one thing I'm sure to buy myself this year (Christmas) is this handmade sweater . Adorables! Seriously, you'll cry . An excellent reminder that WE can feed their creativity. This lady's renos are making me very, very happy (not to mention her banner, which I l-o-v-e)! This time of year we're always missing our house's wood burning fireplace. At least someone is getting heated this winter! have I told you yet how much you need to make this soup ? "Something to wear, something to read, something to play with" is how we determine what our kids get for presents for Christmas + birthdays. Read HERE for more cool, simple ideas. I know I...

The Secret of Kells was a bit different than most movies I watch, with the exception of Triplets of Belleville ( what? You still haven't seen that?!) First, some history.... About 6 years ago I went on a backpacking trip through Ireland with one of my best friends. We were so excited to see the Book of Kells , held in Trinity College, in Dublin Ireland. You've heard of this mastery of art, right? It is the Gospels, illuminated by monks who lived in the 9th century (though some debate). The process of inks, sheets of vellum (yes, cow flesh scraped thin), even the tools they used are a fascinating read. It was never finished. Of course, when my friend and I went over to Ireland expecting to see it, we were out of luck, as Trinity College was closed for holiday. Recently, a friend gave me the link to the Secret of Kells and I couldn't wait to watch it on Netflix instant play. I was not disappointed! The artistry is really magical, unlike anything I'd seen in animation...

I have really been trying to be on the ball with Lukka & Anikka's Christmas sweaters, and back in June, I could keep my smug little smile. Welcome uh, November 8th? How did that happen ! *Ani's* I've got abotu 33% of Ani's sweater done and stalled at about the 75% mark on Lukka's. Now, if only there were more hours in the day! The boy's sweater is from Debbie Bliss, Cozy Sweater and the girls is a favorite of mine off of Etsy called the Girl's Capped Sleeve Sweater . It is such an easy knit, although I don't love magic loop method of knitting, I've gotten past that part and am on the body now, and about to cast off stitches for the sleeves. After that's it's abotu 7-8 inches of smooth 'movie knitting' sailing. On a good note, for all of those other people in my life that are getting knitted gifts in the next month or two....those projects are done! Sorry, no sneak peeks until they've been received by giftee. *Lukka's (...

Any guesses? (okay, Anikka's costume is pretty easy, Luie's was very fun to create!) * From Soulemama's blog : {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

When I first saw Elizabeth Mitchell's youtube video of her children's song ,"Little Bird, Little Bird", I knew I had to make a replica of the wings the children are wearing. Add to my never-ending pile of 'to make' and I didn't think much about it. I usually need a deadline to start a 'just for fun' project. Fast forward a few weeks and a friend of mine asked me to make a Dove costume for our church's Christmas 'festival of cuteness' (pagent) and I knew just what to make...of course I had to make a 'rough draft' first for my own kiddos! I really, really liked making these. I had yardage of black, gray, and white felt (black birds for my kids, white for the Dove!) from my mother in law laying around and I always have tons of colors of regular felt sheets. I did a quick design I was happy with, sewed them on and sewed them up! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I didn't follow a pattern for any of thi...

photocredit "Brick by brick my citizens, brick by brick." ~ Roman Emperor Hadrian on rebuilding his country. (Local? Get comparisons here .)

Some of my favorite meals are comforting Autumn soups or casseroles, and I'd had a craving for this for a few weeks now. With a little elbow grease and... ahem ...a lot of butter; Pioneer Woman , Stefan and I made one hell of a pot pie! photocredit Alright, so you guessed it, that wasn't my veggie pot pie, but it was so delicious it couldn't wait to be eaten, rather than snapped by a camera. (I may have just finished the leftovers for lunch.) Making regular foods that use a lot of flour are sometimes hard to match in the gluten free department, but a friend of mine gave me a GF pie crust box-mix and I had all the veggies I wanted in it, so we were off! I adapted my own recipe from Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie Recipe in her cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks , using a lot less of her ingredients and omitting the chicken. Here's what we did: *Make before-hand: Box mix of GF pie crust (I know, I know, I like to make things like this from scratch too, but I'd also ...