Pumpkin Patch

Garrett & Gracen got to go on a field trip in October to the Pumpkin Patch. I went along for fun. Here is a sampling of the photos...

Garrett's 2nd grade class...

Gracen's 4-year-old preschool class...

Losing Teeth

Not only is G. losing teeth, but so is the Girlie!

Gracen has had a couple of loose teeth for quite a while now. Finally, one was lying on it's side so she asked Grandma Marsha to pull them for her. (I think they were getting in the way of her sucking her thumb!) I was substitute teaching that day so I didn't get to see it, but apparently she was a VERY brave girl. Only two tiny little tears when Grandma pulled the tooth that wasn't as loose as the other.

Grandma is the only "dentist" I know who PAYS her patients! She gave Gracen $2. Gracen also received $1 from the Tooth Fairy--$0.50 for each tooth. Gracen is so happy to have the loose teeth out of her mouth. I secretly think it's because she now has the perfect slot for her thumb. :o)

The Crappiest Blogger Award Goes to...

ME! Yeah, I suck at blogging. Seriously. There's nothing all that interesting or exciting going on in our lives it seems. That's probably good because I really don't care for a lot of of upheaval. A boring life makes for a boring blog, but oh well! All the daily stuff takes up most of my/our time so there's not much left for other stuff. I'll get you caught up anyway.

Garrett is almost 8 and in 2nd grade. He's doing very well in school and seems to like his teacher. She's a pretty tough cookie and really seems picky about keeping the kids in line. That's good! Garrett is a really good kid.

Gracen just turned 5 last Friday. She's in 4-year-old preschool every afternoon 11 to 3. I take her at 11 for lunch and she's old enough now to ride the bus home from school. Saves Mommy an extra trip to town! Yay! She's so funny. She says she can't recognize certain letters like "r" and "e" even though they are in her name which she can write really well! Doesn't make sense to me, but maybe she's just being stubborn and silly. She loves going to school so that's great! She already has two loose bottom teeth and one of the bottom permanent teeth coming in. Garrett was almost 7 before he started losing teeth. Gracen is a good kid, too, but she sometimes has those "I want what I want when I want it" moments that kids her age often have.

We're in the midst of harvest right now...except it keeps raining so there's not much harvesting going on! Matt has been roaming the house the past few days bored out of his mind (he kept the kids for me yesterday but I think he was bored even though he did stuff with them). Harvest is something he's always excited to tackle and likes to keep the momentum going so it gets done. Hard to do when you don't have control over the weather.

Me, well, I've been so busy with everyday stuff that there's not much time for extras. I don't seem to accomplish much between taking Gracen to school and the kids getting home except for eating lunch, doing Bible study, and showering.

My mom's group is doing a very interesting, intensive Bible study that takes some time every day. It's Beth Moore's A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. It's just...WOW! I definitely recommend it.

I have been completely lax on sewing anything lately! It's so sad! I have a couple of projects I'd like to do, but I just haven't had the time and gumption to start them. It's pitiful. Maybe I'll get back in the swing of sewing later this fall and winter when it'll be more difficult to get outside. Whenever it's been nice out, I've tried to get the kids outside to play and ride their 4-wheelers because I know that time is running short for that stuff.

I've been trying to work on my photography knowledge and skills, but it's slow going. I really should make a better effort at posting my photos here for feedback as I know that would help me. I'm rather lazy about getting my photos onto the computer and getting them processed in a timely fashion. Heck, we went to Maine this summer and I'm still not done editing them! Ugh! I'd really like to have an album made with those photos.

I've done a few casual photo shoots with the kids lately, although Gracen isn't really gung-ho about being my model. My sister and brother-in-law also graciously let me take their portraits last weekend when they were here for Gracen's birthday. I'll show you a few of some of the better ones. Feel free to post your opinions!

I hope your autumn is going wonderfully! Blessing to you!

A Boy & His New Toy

Not much time for blogging lately, so this is a quicky. Check out what Garrett got yesterday...



He LOVES it and has taken to driving it like a duck to water! Gracen is dying to ride with him but we want him to have more practice on it first. I've taken her for several rides so she's gotten her turn. It's a fun little thing!

Can't Live Without It

We are such a TV-watching family. It's ridiculous really. We only have two TVs, but do you think we could live with only one? Nooo. A couple of weeks ago the TV in our living room died on us. We promptly went to Wal-Mart that same night and bought a new one. Kinda of pathetic that we can't even go overnight without a TV in our living room, but it's the truth. We bought a 32" flat screen LCD TV and it's very nice.


The new TV didn't fill up the hole in the entertainment center, so I, of course, felt the need to get something different. We stopped by a local furniture store and lo and behold! The exact thing I was wanting! I love this new console! I need to find some better boxes or baskets for our DVDs, but here's what it looks like. (Please excuse the photo, it's not the greatest, but you get the gist.)

Gauchos!!

The gauchos are finally done! It's about time, huh? Let's have a little parade to celebrate. LOL!

Pattern: Simplicity 4135 Threads Pants

This is a Threads Magazine Collection pattern for boot leg pants in two lengths, city shorts, wide leg pants, and gauchos. The sizes are misses' 6-14 with a petite alteration option. The pattern includes "perfect fit techniques" as well. I liked the waistband of these pants as well as the bootcut look, so I made View D, the gauchos and used the petite length.

Having never made pants before, I agonized over what size to cut. I finally decided to cut a size 12 waistband, a size 12 for the top 3 inches or so of the pants, then tapered to a size 10 at the low hip and legs. In hindsight, I possibly could've pulled off a size 10 or even a 12 may have looked nice. I ended up taking in the waistband quite a bit more than I expected and it is still quite roomy. I wasted too much time trying to decide what size to make when probably either one would've been OK.

I made these gauchos out of some black cotton wrinkle-resistant pant fabric I found at Wal-Mart. I'm sure I'll have to deal with lint, but you almost always do with black pants anyway.

These pants went together surprisingly easy! I was surprised at how good the pattern instructions were. They didn't assume you know everything about sewing pants and were pretty darn good about leading you through step by step. The waistband pieces can be confusing, but if you mark which side is which, etc. you should be OK. (Also, don't take 5 months to make the things and you won't forget where you're at in the process!)

I did have some problems with the fly. The instructions for making the fly and inserting the zipper were pretty good even though I had a hard time seeing how it all fit together before doing it. However, once I was getting toward the end and was sewing the crotch/back seam, I ran into problems with getting the bottom of the zipper to lie flat and not pucker. I don't know about you, but I don't particularly need to draw attention to my crotch with a puckered zipper! So, after many seam-rippings and rebastings, my mom suggested that I take out part of the top-stitching on the front of the fly--basically the curve at the bottom. Then, I resewed the crotch/back seam and voila! A flat fly front! Next time, I'd like to try Sandra Betzina's flat fly front zipper directions, but at this point in the gaucho-making process, it just wasn't possible.

I'm happy with how these came out. I hope they last and I'll get some good use out of them. I have a blouse to make that just might look pretty darn cute with these, so sometime I'll get a good full-body pic of me dressed in them.

Have a great weekend!

Playing with the New Camera

I've been playing a bit with my new camera. Bottom line: I have a LOT to learn! I'll just keep studying, K? In the meantime, this one turned out pretty good...enjoy!