old houses

i love old houses.
and this past weekend we stayed in one.
the john denham house of monticello

it is such a great place,
and full of all the details old homes have.
this is in the corner of the stairs.
(can someone please tell me what it is called?)

front porch with ferns and wicker
can you get any more southern?

doors with chipped paint

brick lattice

huge pocket doors

little boys using visors as slingshots
not part of the charming house, but look at all that light the old windows let in.

newel (yeah, i looked that up) woodwork
just the right height for knocking a knot on you head (if your are about 36 inches tall)


and so much more,
like the dark stained hardwood floors,
bead board ceilings,
and the light that those windows let in.
(i know i already mentioned that, but man it was good. )

now back to my new house.
to clean up the plastic i just burned onto the stove!

i almost forgot

parker was a money bag. i bet you didn't guess that!!

and because i had requests from so many of my faithful followers,
(o.k. so it was only samantha and bonny)
me in the clown costume 30 years ago:
and erica sent me this pic today.
kinleigh is sporting her dress made by aunt erin.
i hear she is doing some good advertising for me!!

halloween havana style

august and i hitched a ride north to celebrate halloween with the cousins.
we arrived in havana with one happy cinderella and one sleeping clown. e.n. was excited to "drive" aunt erin's car.

kinleigh is saying (with no one really listening),

"but wait everybody. we can't leave august.

we gotta wake him up" in a desperate voice.

there were so many cute kids in really good costumes.

we had a fortune teller.

she was for seeing lots of people getting rich.

(hmmm . . . maybe i should have picked up a lottery ticket)

the finally awake and on the hayride.

the fortune teller turned pirate girl.

one of the cutest spiders i have ever seen.

a very serious spider man.

a bee sweet as honey.

half the group traveling to our first house.

i wonder what they were thinking on the inside?

there was also a mermaid, dora, boots, and snow white.

finally awake enough to make the trip to the front door.

he made a great little clown,

in a 30-year-old and worn by many costume.

enjoying the loot.

the hayride ended at dark.
we traveled to the farm to enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs.
august was really happy to spend halloween havana style with his cousins.

pumpkin carving

we carved our pumpkin last thursday night.
i read somewhere that you should cut out the bottom of the pumpkin,
then all you have to do is light the candle and set the pumpkin on top.
we tried it and i will never do it any other way.
not only was it easier to light (no messy hands digging around trying to light the candle),
but i was able to make the hole bigger for better gut diggin'.
checking out the insides.

"look mama!"

putting seeds back in.

he wasn't about to get his hands in there.

he did like stirring the seeds.

the final product.

the best part:

seeing this face light up and saying "whoa, mama!"
when he saw our jack-o-lantern all lit up.

the second best part:

toasted pumpkin seeds.

yummy!

the brother is earning his keep

its been busy sewing for the last three days.

mending my old clown costume for august to wear.
my mom made it for me when i was 2.
her last ever BIG sewing project.
something about having a 2 year old hanging on her while sewing on a t.v. tray made her quit?!?!?

sewing a costume for parker.
it's a surprise!! (i promise to show you next week!)
here is a little sneak peek:
can you guess what it is?

and sewing my first quilt.
for a charity.
their site it down--hope this is not a bad sign.

i am loving sewing.
and learning by mistake-
like you can't iron felt.
and sewing machine needles will make you bleed.

and i had to throw in this picture:

because its cute.
and reminds me of days when kari and i played together,
while our moms got crafty and did things like hanging wallpaper for days and days.
we sure are lucky that our boys are going up together too.

tired boy

enough said.

impromptu crafting

bonny called and said "wanna get crafty?"
of course my reply was "yes!"

so she and brooker (a.k.a bubba - that's auggie's name for him) came over.
and the mamas got crafty while the boys played and ate lunch over a shared tray.
crafty things to do list:
bonny - 2 bracelets
erin - crinkly blanket and make thank you cards

things that got done:
LOTS of catching up
1 bracelet
1/2 way through blanket (that should only take about 15 min)
TONS of crafty ideas shared

the verdict:
we need to do this more often
i cannot measure, cut, and piece together while talking

hope we can do it again soon.
does anyone want to join us?

first overnight camping of the year

saturday night we had our first overnight stay in the woods this season.
the weather was perfect for campfires, s'mores, breakfast over the fire,
jeep riding, and all things outdoors.

august used the screwdriver as his gun.
he even sprinkled his black powder over it before taking each shot.
he mowed the grass.
and checked the blades to see if any repairs needed to be made.

we always eat well at camp.

including breakfast cooked over the fire.

deer venison, scrambled eggs,

and grilled toast.

there is always plenty of planes flying by,

and august doesn't miss one of them.

he makes sure we all know about them too.

friday night live

friday night live - a downtown wauchula get together of sorts.
bonny turned us on to it.
they were selling pumpkins.
so we loaded up and headed over.
august took a catnap.
and he wasn't quite ready to wake up when we got there.

still tired and quietly observing from the pumpkin.

photo op with gran.

they were having hay rides pulled by this big red tractor.

they also had a good band,

homemade goodies for sale,

a pumpkin seed spitting contest,

bounce house,

trick-or-treating,

and more.

we hung out at the revell pumpkin patch.

the boys played hard.

they even spotted this car.

patiently waited for it to be abandoned.

and took the plunge when they thought the coast was clear.

we can't wait to go back for another friday night live.

museum class

the children's museum started offering a class for 2 and 3 year olds.
so we tried it out.

august wasn't sure about being in a room full of strangers.
he stopped fussing to make his paper plate puppet, but still wasn't happy about it.
he wanted no part in the dancing that brooker was more than willing to do.

he even make a break for the door.

it was all because he really wanted to spend some time on the fire truck.

and tell mama that it was his hat!

so much that you could almost see his tonsils.

and who could really argue with this face?

i think we will give it another try.
even if we have to slip in the back door to bypass the fire truck!