Beach time!

After weeks of passing around various ailments, it was time to blow out the cobwebs and get some fresh air.  We headed up to Forest Beach Park in Lake Forest...a gorgeous beach on Lake Michigan.  It is as close to Ocean as you get in these parts, only lacking the salty air.  Something about being on a deserted beach in our sweaters, watching Fall leaves swirl around on the sand, was exactly what we needed!

Three

Few things are as fun as celebrating birthdays.  Time spent reflecting on the past years, looking towards future years, and figuring out just what would make the birthday person feel special right now.

For our three year old, that was a marching band party.  Music, instruments, a marching band cake, a marching band game, and best of all, his family, complete with beloved Aunts and Uncles (and surrogate Aunt and Uncle).  Someone once said that "there is a beauty in the natural arrogance of a child who knows he is loved," and it was in full force as Matias marched between family members, tying on blindfold and spinning them around for "pin the marching band hat on Uncle Hans", snuggling in laps, opening gifts and receiving them with big hugs.

Three was ushered in in style, and the memory of it will be enjoyed well past 4, 5 and beyond (as soon as Mommy gets around to adding a page to the Birthday Book!).

Happy Birthday Little Man!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Yarn Along

 

This week, I am reading The Midwife, by Jennifer Worth.  It is a fabulous, touching memoir of a midwife's life in the East End of London in the mid 20th century.  I have been on a midwife memoir kick recently...including Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway, Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent, and A Midwife's Story by Penny Armstrong, midwife to an Amish community.  There is something about birth stories that seems to cross all cultures and times. 

The yarn will (hopefully) become an extra large hat for my big-headed husband.  I expect it may take more than one attempt, but I am up for the challenge!

Joining Ginny at Small Things...

Seasons

This is a little photo project I've been working on for almost a year.  I'm going to frame the series for our wall.

Fall Fun...Part 3

Our local Farm Heritage Festival...we decided to go on a whim after church one Sunday.  This will be a not-to-miss event in years to come.  We loved the antique farm machinery, the hands-on exhibits, and best of all, the farmers who come to share their knowledge and treasured antiques with us!

The banging, popping, backfiring engines created quite an ambiance!

Matias would have shelled corn all day.

Making rope

Sheep dog demonstrations

and of course, funnel cake!

The Sewing Room

Matias tried his hand at a little photography as Matt and I worked on my new (to me) sewing table (yea!!).  As you can see, the room is DEFINITELY a work in progress.  I will have to take some pictures of it in its finished form later and post them as well!  The day I was born I was hailed as the "heir to the fabric scraps"...I am getting closer and closer to being able to fulfill my destiny!