TreasuresInTerraCotta

We have a great thrift store nearby.  It's owned by a Christian family, it benefits the police department and I really like the way it is organized.  We've shopped there for Halloween costumes, clothes for dress-up parties, and clothes that fit a new mama.  But I've started to branch out and spend time looking at the other things they have.  My Auntie Marla always finds books and craft supplies and dishes at her thrift store.  Nichole always has very stylish outfits, often pieced together from the thrift store, not to mention the name brand shoes she found.  SouleMama inspired me to keep an eye out for linens that can be used for crafts.  So....here is my recent find!  Two packages of fabric "yardage" at the thrift store. After my sticker shock at the fabric store I was happy to find these for a total of $5.   I am considering making a bag like I've mentioned before.  Since I'm still using my summery bird bag as a purse, maybe i...

And if you come visit the house with all the muddy boys, you just might get a little muddy...even if you are a dainty girl. 

My blog has a bit of an identity crisis.  Am I a craft and garden and recipe blogger.  Or am I a kid and family and homeschool blogger.  Or, on the intellectual side, maybe I am a book review blogger or a contemplative Bible studier blogger.  Or perhaps, I just blog to keep family and friends updated on my little life.  All of the above and probably a few more, too. This week, I have sewing on the brain.  I planned an "enrichment activity" (AKA a sewing project) for my Texas-friend who had never used a sewing machine.  We happily sewed away an afternoon and a morning.  We made a simple potholder using a few different sewing techniques and tools. We made a potholder like this one.  Which, by-the-way, I made when my Colorado-friend was visiting.  In that scenario, she was the one teaching me.  So we are all learning and sharing and paying-it-forward in a crafty sort of way.  We sandwiched a square piece of batting between...

Lest you be deceived that my yard is an English Cottage Garden. In reality, it often looks like an excavation site. Boys love to dig and they love mud.  Calvin has moved on to more involved combinations of the two.    A knight defending his fortress.  He usually has a stick sword in his hand, so I can't believe I got a picture of him without it. It's a good thing it was only his foot that went in that mud hole.  I can't even tell you how many holes we have in every corner of the yard.  If you come for a visit I will caution you not to twist your ankle.  Still a work in progress. Landscaping is highly overrated!

Because it's November in Arizona our yard is happy and growing.  (And what isn't happy and growing is bare dirt and rock.)  The tomatoes have overgrown their colorful cages and now two of the plants are tipping over.  But they are still producing tomatoes. Roma tomatoes  Cherry tomatoes    Geraniums  Lobelia  Mini rose  Hibiscus   Bouganvillia with basil in the background Butterflies on the Lantana  And just a little bit of Fall fun: a scarecrow in our EarthBox along with corn, carrots and beets. 

Two years ago this week we had the pleasure of visiting Boston.  It was the perfect week to see the leaves and explore the city a little bit!  I thought I would make it feel like Fall around here by posting a few pictures from the 2010 trip! Wellesley College from the bell tower      Those little boys are really growing up!  Truman is almost the age of Andrew in these pictures.    Salem, Massachusetts We seem to make lots of trips to pumpkin patches.  This one was near my sister's school and we were a little early to pick her up so we stopped for a few pictures, play and we picked up a couple pumpkins for the college girl.    A small park we spontaneously stopped to visit.  Just because it was pretty.  And because it had this beautiful clock tower. The leaves in the canopy of the tree were so red that we look exceptionally pink in this picture....