Thankful

I am thankful for so many things this year, but mostly I am thankful that we are here, celebrating Thanksgiving.

This year has been incredible and crazy. When Mollie was diagnosed with leukemia, my top 5 priorities pulled way ahead of the other priorities on the list. I am so thankful to my friends and family for recognizing this and not putting pressure on us.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I like the food and flavors, the decorations, the warmth. But mostly I just enjoy spending time with family and having no agenda. We don't have to go anywhere. We are just going to enjoy the day.

10 Month Old Lucy

And Happy Birthday to Lauren!

Wow! 10 months has gone by in the blink of an eye!

Lucy has a great personality. She is not quite crawling, but manages to get around by rolling or scooting (Mollie says she slithers). Peek-a-boo is her favorite game followed by pat-a-cake and "this little piggy went to market". She can sense the energy level in the room and gets really excited when everyone else is singing/laughing/dancing. She can clap and sometimes waves "bye- bye".

Lucy has four teeth now. She has always loved to eat and last week she developed the skill of feeding herself, so now we just put food on her high chair tray and watch it disappear: pears, grapes, pancakes, crackers, meatloaf, chicken, pasta, peas. You name it, Lucy will eat it.

Lucy's Crib

Sorry for the blurry picture- Lucy's room is tiny and it was hard to focus.
And yes, those are Lu's chubby little legs in the lower left corner.

Nea posted about some of her collections-vintage/embroidered linens in particular. That's also a love of mine and I mentioned that I had made a "crib skirt" for Lucy's crib out of some old linens.

I had this blue gingham fabric shower curtain from when we lived in Boston and I simply laid it out on the mattress support. Then, to cover the short end, I pinned two embroidered hand towels (the pins are way under the mattress so not accessible to little hands) to the shower curtain. It has a vintage "feel" event though it's not vintage. It would be really cute to do something similar with a bunch of vintage towels sewn to a piece of muslin. Katie, watch out- I might get crafty before that baby is born!!!!

WTF???

Grandmother gives birth to daughter's triplets

Story Highlights

• Jaci Dalenberg, 56, offered herself as a surrogate as her daughter waited to adopt
  
• Dalenberg said she wasn't frightened to be pregnant at her age
  
• The triplets were born Oct. 11 -- more than two months premature
  

I understand a mother's love runs deep, but this is strange. Surrogacy and IVF kind of bother me in general though.

Sewing Tip

For those of you who sew, I found this great video about applying bias binding. For some reason, I have never done it this way and I usually end up cursing.

So, without further ado, here is the link to the no swearing bias tape method.

Doing the Right Thing

I get frustrated with the various religious institutions in this part of the world because they seem like they are mostly about showmanship: beautiful families dressing their kids in matching, clothes (a post in and of itself) and showing them off every Sunday. They support vacation Bible school, anti-abortion activities, and other events that promote very conservative values. It often seems like these churches lack charity, understanding, and acceptance of those who don't fit the mold.

But today I saw something a little different. One of the biggest (and probably richest) Baptist churches in town was offering free oil changes and car washes to single mothers only! Very commendable.

New China Cabinet Brings New Problems

I love our new dining room set (pictures coming soon), but since unpacking all of our china and glassware, I have discovered a new problem: our china pattern has been discontinued!

If you see any pieces at second-hand shops, antique shops, craigslist, etc., let me know! I have five place settings (enough for Thanksgiving this year), but I would love to get a few more.

The pattern (pictured above) is Westport by Waterford. Expensive, I know- that's why we only have 5 place settings. But I really love it!

Hope

Today's historic election brings hope on so many levels.

I am concerned about the huge task Obama has ahead of him, but I am happy.

America has spoken and I have hope!

As I write this, McCain is congratulating Obama and his supporters are booing. I feel sorry for McCain. I think he wanted to take the high road with his campaign, but ended up cowing to the RNC.

happy list

Nicola and Anita will appreciate this (if they haven't discovered it already):

the Things to Be Happy About website.



Anita introduced me to the book, 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, and it inspired Nicola and I to start our own happy list that has continued to be updated for 10+ years .

I've posted about the happy list before, but it is so great it is worth mentioning again and again. It is very therapeutic. It is simple to write in and fun to look back on. It's a diary of sorts, but there is no need for context.

My additions for today:

the local library
mint chocolate chip ice cream
a good lecture
being cozy inside on a rainy day
friends who bring you food
people who are "handy"
the BBC

I have had the "real" happy list for quite a while now... guess it's time to send it back to Nicola. It will be on it's way soon!

Getting Things Done Weekend

We have had a fun and productive weekend. We've celebrated my dad's birthday, trick or treated for Halloween, barbecued, had our first fire in the fireplace of the season, and had a nice dinner out. Mollie and I also had our German lesson and Mollie went to a play with her friend Bella.

My dad has been here visiting since Tuesday and he has been a fabulous help. In addition to reading to, playing with, and being "entertained" by Mollie and Lucy, he also helped rearrange our storage room (no small feat), replaced some 70's brown shutters with light-filtering shades, hung a bed canopy in Mollie's room, and uncovered at least several square feet of concrete by clearing the leaves off the driveway and trimming some bushes! Wow, I'm tired just writing that.

We also purchased a beautiful new (to us) dining room set from an estate sale- table, chairs, and china cabinet. This is our first dining set ever, so I'm in the process of unpacking dishes that we had stored away. Mollie can't wait to have a fancy dinner in our dining room sometime soon.

Matt did some major trimming, wood cutting, and cleaned off the deck. You would think with all the recent yard work that our yard would look fabulous, but I think it would take a crew of 6 two days to really clear out all the weeds, ivy, dead trees, etc. Right now it can only be described as a "natural" setting.

I am trying to declutter- I have a pile of baby gear ready to be shipped off to Katie and Blake and have designated a few things as attic-bound.

So, most of these things are still works in progress, but at least they are in mid-late stages, rather than stuck at the beginning, or worse, not even started.