Suddenly So Much to Say

For a long while there I didn't have much to say but suddently I am so chatty!

First off, last Thursday the girls and I went to Prineville to stay with my sister and her family. Alyssa and I attempted some projects that we have seen on Pinterest. We were getting a little tired of pinning a lot but then doing nothing. I obviously needed my sister to help/do most of my crafting as I am not particularly good at this kind of thing. So here are two of the projects we did:

We took a bowl of felted wool balls:

And then made a wreath (after wrapping the wreath in pretty green yarn first):

Here's the pin that inspired us to make this wreath. Ours is much, much smaller because the felted balls are quite expensive. 

And then we made framed pears. That is fun to say but we were inspired by this pin. We think ours is cuter. Telfer spray-painted the frames for us and we used Alyssa's fancy cricut machine to cut out the pears. We also made framed trees and next time we are together we will make other scenes for different seasons of the year (snowflakes, hearts, etc). 

Of course the cousins had a wonderful time together and then Mom & Dad came over for the weekend. And let me just say this: my children are horrible sleepers in any new situation. Maybe this is my fault somewhow but I literally got ONE hour of sleep the first night we were there. It got a little better as the days progressed and it was all worth it.

And then Halloween. Witness the cutest mouse and elephant you have ever seen:

We took the girls trick-or-treating in the neighborhood and at Grammy & Papa's house too. We let Cate stay up and watch Charlie Brown's Halloween and eat candy. She liked it. Telfer also carved this utilitarian pumpkin for our porch:

And now we all have colds but are preparing to leave tomorrow for our ten-year-college reunion in Nampa. I am bringing ear plugs for our hosts, Claire & Nate, because it could get, well, loud, particularly around 3:00 AM. We are looking forward to seeing some of our most favorite people in the world. I am so excited I can barely stand it.

Also, reading The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver with some of the girls for our very periodic book club. I need to get cracking as I am only half-way through. Ah, it really does feel like college again. All night readathon? 

I pinned this cookbook on Pinterest but if anyone (Anna) wants a cookbook for Christmas this is my favorite, favorite new cookbook ever. All the recipes are fabulous and not that hard. Fall makes me want to cook and try new things and spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Also very, very excited by this bit of news. God is good!