Archive for December 2009
On our way home, we drove a little way out of the way to take a ferry ride over the Illinois River. After we crossed and were driving on a small road, we drove by this row of houses on stilts. There is so much flooding in this area that it is really common for people to build up on stilts to prevent problems.
Many of the houses had their decks built directly under the house complete with grill, and porch swing. I love the colours of these houses and thought they looked just perfect along the tree lined river.
I hope you all have a wonderful, safe New Year’s Eve.
travelling • Thursday, December 31st, 2009 • 2 Comments »
Isn’t this the sweetest little Laura nightdress you’ve ever seen? We love Little House on the Prairie and it just so happens that my mother-in-law is a wonderful seamstress. This is the second year she has made gorgeous jammies for my kiddos for Christmas. This is the first year that the babe has gotten some proper bigger baby jammies, and aren’t they beautiful?
You can’t really tell in the picture, but there are matching bloomer style pants that go under the dress. There is even a mop cap, though we forgot to put it on when I snapped the picture this morning. She doesn’t wear it to bed as I’m afraid she would wake up scared if she had it fall down over her face, but my five year old dons hers every night.
I absolutely love them, and the girls do too. This past summer she made a summer version for my five year old, and I think I might just have to ask really nicely to see if she’ll do a summer nightdress for the babe as her birthday is in July, so perfect timing.
I’m hoping that this is now firmly a tradition, as I know we all love the end product, but also the time and effort that went into creating these wonderful gifts.
family, gifts, sewing • Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 • 5 Comments »
On our last day at hubby’s parents, we went to see the St. Louis Arch. It is absolutely amazing, and it was such fun to see it up close.
The arch is 630 feet tall, I felt a little dizzy looking up to the top while I was safely on the ground. I’m not a huge fan of heights, so hubby took the kids (minus the babe) up to the top. They loved it and since I was safely at ground level walking around the museum, hubby took some pictures for me.
This is my favourite picture, it’s the duck pond at the park below the arch. It was a little chilly, but we had a really nice time walking around. It was a great way to spend our last afternoon there.
family • Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 • 7 Comments »
Well, we are finally back home and getting somewhat settled in to our normal routine. It was such a rush when we got home to finish up last minute Christmas gifts, not to mention all the laundry etc. from being gone for two and a half weeks, that I am just now feeling like I am able to catch my breath.
It was really nice to get away for a while and visit Hubby’s family. Some of them had not yet met the babe, so that was great. Apart from the really bad weather while driving (we drove through three different blizzards), everything went smoothly. It always makes me nervous as sometimes with different routines, or no routines at all, things can be hard on the little ones, but I didn’t need to worry, they all took it in stride. Granted, they all had a lot more sweets than normal and not nearly enough sleep, but despite this things went really well.
It’s always good to get home though, and tomorrow needs to start our normal days again. Back to schooling, cooking, lots of snuggles and reading, and good amounts of resting and sleep. Unfortunately the babe has gone back to waking up a lot at night, so not much sleep for me, but one day she will be older and I will miss these times.
I wanted to show you one more gift I made for Christmas. This was one of the garlands I made out of these Grandma Twinkle Stars. I really love how it turned out. The pattern is from The Royal Sisters, and is so hugely versatile. My daughter wants some for her room, so it looks like we will have some fun picking out colours for her star garland.
I hope everyone had a really nice Christmas. I am looking forward to this next year and can’t wait to share lots of things with you. Thanks again everyone for taking the time to visit every day and for commenting as well. I truly appreciate it.
crochet, family, gifts, home • Monday, December 28th, 2009 • 6 Comments »
Merry Christmas everyone. I just wanted to say thank you very much to all of you who take a moment out of your day to stop by and especially for all of the wonderful comments. You all have made my foray into blogging, extremely enjoyable and satisfying. I have met such wonderful new friends, and I look forward to continuing on in 2010.
Have a wonderful, very merry Christmas!
gifts, sewing • Friday, December 25th, 2009 • 7 Comments »
I just love this tin. Most of the Christmas ones I come across have the idyllic sleigh in the field scene, which don’t get me wrong, is really nice. It’s just that this one is so different, I instantly grabbed it (thrift store) and I really, really love it. Who wouldn’t love a lighthouse all dressed up for Christmas?
Well, we are in a hotel, halfway home. It’s been a long, but fun, two and a half weeks and now we are ready to get back. Unfortunately the weather is starting to get bad. It’s very rainy, and it’s starting to freeze, which doesn’t mix very well with driving. So, off to quickly pack up and head out to try to beat the storm.
I have so many pictures and things to tell you about, and Christmas is right around the corner, so I have a lot of last minute things to catch up on when we get home. I hope to pop in quickly tomorrow and show you a project that I have been working on. Let’s hope the weather holds and we can get back home tonight.
Hope everyone is doing well, and getting ready for a calm, peaceful Christmas.
family, thrift store finds • Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 • 5 Comments »
This is what I see when I walk out of the house here at Hubby’s parents. Isn’t it gorgeous? I just love brick and stone buildings and these two are beautiful. There is a huge field out back and just before supper, we all went outside for a little footy.
Several things I discovered, our little girl is absolutely brilliant at soccer. She can dribble the ball like nobody’s business, even in wellies. Secondly, wearing cowgirl boots does nothing for my already seriously lacking athletic ability. Oh well, it was tons of fun and we all worked up an appetite.
Still no internet here, so I apologize for not replying to comments etc. It’s all I can do to come over to the library and read my e-mail and get an occasional post up before the babe protests too much at me being gone. Hope you are all having a great week.
I can’t wait to catch up with everyone soon.
travelling • Thursday, December 17th, 2009 • 5 Comments »
I love living on the prairie, but the one thing I do miss most is the lush, green surroundings of just about anywhere else. Everything is so different here. It’s rainy (which I love), there is still so much green around (though I only managed to show pictures with more browns), and there is an abundance of wildlife and beauty.
There are wild mushrooms growing everywhere. I am waking up to loads of different bird song. I can feel the moisture in the air, and I love it. Hubby’s parents live in what used to be an old military academy and the grounds are gorgeous. They said that there are often deer, even wild turkeys running around out back. Also, lots of woodchucks, tons of birds and lately, there have been sightings of a coyote in the woods.
Yesterday while everyone else was taking a nap or watching football, I put the babe in the sling and my mother-in-law and I took a nice long walk. The weather has been in the fifties here, so a huge change from the below freezing weather at home. It’s been nice to be outside, and I have been trying to be out whenever I can.
Anyway, the walk, it was gorgeous. Beautiful stone and brick buildings everywhere, even a gorgeous brick sidewalk. I couldn’t take the camera yesterday as it’s really hard to take photos with the babe strapped to my front. She fancies herself a photographer which makes for an interesting time. I promise I will take more photos when I’m out with Hubby so he can carry her.
The only downside was that on our way back, we spotted a coyote across the street in front of a house, so I am a little nervous about being out with small children and I probably won’t go walking anywhere unless Hubby is along.
I still don’t have regular access to the internet which is making posting, reading, commenting, even e-mail a bit of a problem. Hopefully that will be resolved soon. Can’t wait to show you some more of the views here. Hope you are all having a fantastic week.
nature • Monday, December 14th, 2009 • 4 Comments »
We’re having a great time away, but this is the first time we’ve had any internet, so hoping to be around a little bit more this next week. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.
travelling • Saturday, December 12th, 2009 • 12 Comments »
family, travelling • Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 • 8 Comments »
