Fall Tablescape

I just helped a friend with her table for a bridge dinner.  She used my new Nell Hill’s chargers with handles — FUN!  (Just wishing we had smoothed the tablecloth before photos.  Hope Doris did this before guests arrived!)

Kitchen’s Done; Time to Play!

I recently made cones like the following ones with the Happiest Mommies and Friends group at our meeting.  I had left-over materials and have been itching to make more.  So after the kids went down for a nap, I cleaned the kitchen and threw in a load of laundry.  And as my reward for working sooooooo hard (NOT!), I made more cones to give as gifts.  It was difficult to overlook the hundreds of more important tasks I should have been doing, but I persevered!

The pumpkins, leaves, grassy material, and pipe-cleaners (handles) came from Wal-Mart, and the body of each cone is a wallpaper sample.  A friend of mine was given three books of samples to use for her play group, and she passed along some of the more elegant sheets to me.  

I ran out of the ribbons purchased for the meeting, so I used bits of black, orange, and green that I had stuffed in my personal ribbon drawer.  I love using my stashed, recycled items for craft projects like these.  This is something my mom always did when she was making decorative items for our house and gifts for coworkers or friends’ birthdays.  It seems like projects always turned out more special, more beautiful as a result of using something unexpected.  A great lesson learned from good ol’ Mom!  (I just wish I had listened when she tried to teach me to sew and cook as well!)

Here are some images of the cone I made for myself (the metal-edged “31″ tag), two monogrammed tag cones for friends, and one for my husband’s office (“hello” tag).

Fun with Fall on Picnik (Photo Editing Site)

Honey, we need more cabinets!

I have just started doing letter recognition activities with Maggie. Unfortunately, we do not have a magnet-friendly refrigerator.  So I’m posting the letters and other toddler-created art on the fridge and cabinets with tape. We have only made it through the letter “C” so far, but I am pretty sure that we will soon run out of cabinets.  Time for a kitchen remodel!  (I wish!)

Anyhow, I have been getting some great ideas for letter-making at No Time For Flashcards.  Here is a link to a page with images of all the alphabet letters: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/06/the-whole-alphabet.html.

I am amazed by the free ideas out there in Blogland!  I wish that there had been sites like these when I was teaching.  It is good to not have to reinvent the wheel, especially when my background is not in early-childhood education.  This is all pretty foreign to me!  

Check out some of the other links I have on the right towards the bottom of the column for additional (fabulous!) kid and parent-related blogs.  Each blog author has a list of her favorite blogs as well, which means that the number of ideas out there is endless!  Now, if only I could say the same about time…

A Princess and a Monkey Walked into an RV…

I just returned home from a weekend of camping at Poncho’s Pond here in Ludington.  We had an early Halloween there with loads of fall activities — pumpkin carving, a hayride, and trick-or-treating.  It was fun, but I have to admit that as a result of this busy weekend, I am now “too pooped to pop!” (That came from one of Maggie’s books.)  Here are the kids in their costumes.

I am now catching up on e-mails, Facebook, and other blogs.  I just came across a great idea for a little girl’s party on a darling blog called The Pleated Poppy. The blog’s author, Lindsey, held a Fancy Nancy party for her daughter.  Maggie MUST have a similar party in the future!  I adore the pink, the jewels, the boas…  

You can see Lindsey’s ideas and photos here: http://lindseycheney.blogspot.com/2009/10/fancy-soiree.html.  Too cute!!!

I’m off to rescue two kids from jail (cribs).  Their alarms (voices) are sounding!

Is it Christmas Yet?

Halloween is sooooooooo passe, or at least that’s how I felt for a few glorious moments today when a friend named Paula dropped off some Nell Hill’s goods!  Paula went on a trip south recently and convinced her husband that Atchison, home to Nell Hill’s, was “on the way.”  (It wasn’t.) Fortunately, she called beforehand and asked if she could pick anything up for me.  I would normally pass on such an offer, worried that I might inconvenience someone.  However, I could not help myself this time!  ”Yes!” I replied.  I asked Paula to retrieve six cool woven place mats/chargers with handles and Mary Carol’s new book, O’ Christmas Tree.

After Paula left, I combed through every inch of the book.  Three times. What laundry?  And then I took some quick photos of my fall stuff, because I’m afraid that Mary Carol’s inspirational book won’t let my black and orange linger too much longer!  Can you find the kids’corner?

Mommy Gets Her Halloween Fix

I really do not care for the doom and gloom aspect of Halloween. But I sure do love the vintage decor element.  I just stumbled upon a site that is all about Haloween. It has lots of eye candy and directions for holiday crafts. I especially love all of the photos of banners!  Go to http://www.allsorts.typepad.com/owlsorts/ to get your fix too!

Ribbons of Hope

Here are a couple of examples of ornaments I am working on for a Power of Pink-sponsored fundraiser called “Ribbons of Hope,” a Memorial Medical Center of West Michigan project.  The money will go towards breast cancer education and free mammograms.

The ornaments are about 4 1/2 inches in diameter and will be sold for $25 in honor or memory of someone special who has been affected by breast cancer.  The ornaments will hang on a special tree lit with pink lights in the foyer of the hospital where people enter to go to the new Women’s Imaging Center.

I would like to put the year on the ornaments and am playing around with the idea of some sort of tag coming off the top.  Any suggestions?

Update on a Fast Fall

The vibrant trees here are absolutely gorgeous, and my babies are growing big. So much is going on, but I am attempting to remain aware of the “moment.”  I ran into a 92-year-old man at Wal-Mart last week who commented during a brief conversation, “I’d give anything to be your age again.”  So here I am, Lord willing, and, despite the wheels that continue to race, attempting to remain cognizant of the true blessings that surround my family.

Last weekend we took the kids south to Lewis Farms.  We ran into good family friends there, Kalchiks and Mosiers.  The farm was full of pumkpins, animals to feed, an elephant to ride, activities like a bouncy blow-up pumpkin, a giant pillow and huge slides for the kids to play on, and tasty fall treats.  The kids LOVED the pillow and the slides.

I also attempted to do some hands-on activities with Maggie over the last two weeks.  One day I had her string some fall necklaces for the ladies in the office. I was amazed by her ability to do this on her own!  Another day we “made” a doll from a kit I purchased on sale at Hobby Lobby.  She LOVED placing the foam sticker pieces on the doll’s dress.  That day we also made chocolate pudding and put together “pudding in a cloud” desserts with fall leaf sprinkles. (I’ll admit that my motivation to do this activity was for the two of us to wear the adorable mother-daughter aprons my mom sent a while back!) Maggie helped herself to some of the sprinkles off one of the pudding cups when we finished.  She was in hog-heaven!  

And what did Walt do during all of this? He walked around the kitchen, getting into trouble (he’s been walking since a week before he turned fifteen months), or hung out in his high chair, snotty nose and all.

Good friends Jo, Laura, and I also hosted our first formal Happiest Mommies and Friends meeting last week.  Jo was our fearless, professional, and — at times — comical leader as we discussed membership, Community Table, and the Mom 2 Mom Sale.  Next we moved on to social time in which each of us made a fall cone — a craft I came up with after perusing some old Halloween magazines.  The fall treats that the ladies brought were adorable and tasty; I only wish I had brought out the camera sooner!

Then last night Bret and I were part of a progressive dinner held by my husband’s colleagues and their spouses in honor of Bret’s and another friend’s (Kerry’s) birthdays.  The cake read, “Happy Birthday Bret and Kerry! Cheers to your thirties!” with two mugs tipped toward one another.

We had four stops: appetizers and drinks, dinner, dessert, and after-dinner drinks.  Our home was the dinner stop.  Thank goodness for Luciano’s!  We ate Leo’s lasagna, salad, and garlic bread amid pumpkins and candlelight. Twenty-two people sat around four tables in my dining and living rooms. It felt like our house was transformed into a little cafe with much chatter, glow, and music!  I really enjoyed seeing the other homes (it felt like a homes tour!) and visiting with people whom I generally only see once or twice a year.  Everyone agreed that we should get together more regularly. 

It’s been crazy and fun around here at the Autrey household.  And it will certainly continue!  I am doing my best to make sure that I will have wonderful memories to reflect upon when I finally stop to catch my breath at 92 on a Wal-Mart bench.

The Sweetest Thing

Just put Maggie to bed.  (Bret had put Walt to bed, too, and he was still crying.)  She hollered at me as I left the room, “Mommy, I want a hug and kiss.”  I went back in and gave her what she wanted.  How could I not? And then, as I was leaving again: “Mommy?  Leave the door open just a little bit, okay?  So I can hear Walt, okay?”  I almost cried.