Stockings

I think I need to make these.  If only I could find some felt on a bolt that didn't cost me an arm AND a leg!

At the moment my sewing room looks like a mad scientist has been up there...and she has!  I'll post some of my things another day.

Christmas

I pulled out our Christmas decorations about a week after Thanksgiving.  Adrian was so excited to put up the tree and help.  We got everything up and then the next morning he asked where the snow was.  Poor kid!  He figured since the decorations were up we would automatically have snow the next day.  

My photography assistant.

Only one more candle to light.  I can't believe how fast the Advent season has gone by.  I had all these great plans to sew Christmas gifts.  I guess I better get a move on!

A three year old

Ryan turned 3 this month.  He's come a long way from the little guy he once was.  Here he is 8 days old.

Now he's a big 3 year old.  Here he is at his birthday breakfast. 

I made him a birthday crown, but he was less than thrilled to wear it.

Oh well.  Happy birthday little guy!  

Thanksgiving

I know it's December.  But I never posted anything about Thanksgiving.  I was able to take a few pictures before the crowd came and then that was it for photography.  

Mom and I set the table for 12 adults and 6 kids. 

Below is the kids table.  I made Thanksgiving hats for the kids.  They were kind of a bomb.  No one wanted to wear them...to bad.  I thought they were cute. 

Ryan kept his on for about 3 seconds.

We had a great time, excellent food and excellent company.

Angels

I am organizing the Christmas program for the kids at church.  I got it into my head they all needed to be dressed like angels.  This week I'll be churning out 15 angel costumes.  Thank goodness my mom is here to help and a couple other ladies will lend their sewing skills.  What was I thinking?  Pictures to follow.

On another note. Adrian has lost a couple of teeth.  Here he is after loosing the first one.  I pulled it.  He pulled the second one during lunch.  It was a little gross, but he was pretty proud.  

Sunday Outing

Last Sunday the weather was really nice.  After church we set off for the Hagen.  This isn't my most favorite walk really.  The Hagen is the highest point in Schaffhausen.  At the end of this walk is the Hagenturm - a tower you have to climb that freaks me out.  I'm not a very big fan of heights.  The view is pretty amazing though.  On a good day you have a panoramic view of the Alps.  It still freaks me out.  If you're interested the Hagenturm has a webcam.  

http://www.wamo.ch/~webcam01/index.php  I just looked at it and there isn't a view at all.  It's a big grey screen. It's pretty foggy today.  

OK, on with the pictures that I took along the way.

Here's Adrian showing me a "dinosaur tooth" he found. 

You can't hike without a walking stick. Adrian sat in tree sap in this picture.  Any bright ideas on how to get sap out of pants? 

Trees.

Fall leaves

The dreaded tower - only for me.  The boys (David included) think it's great.

At the top.  Poor Ryan, I'm pretty sure I have a death grip on him.

Family picture.

Adrian had seen it after about a minute and was ready to go back down.  My feelings weren't hurt. Here he is guarding the bottom of the stairs.

"Who goes there?!"

"Dad, are you ever coming down?"

It was a nice Sunday.  I survived and will live to climb the Hagen another day.

Baby Kit

Remember that gift I made for a friend who just had a baby?  Well a friend asked me to make her one for her niece who is also having a baby.  What fun!  So here it is.  

It's brown with white polka dots.   It looks kind of black here.  It also has a pink lining.

 A diaper clutch and changing pad.

 A bib and two zipper pouches for whatever.

I had a lot of fun making things with a girl in mind.  I don't get a whole lot of that in this house.  Right now I'm getting ready to go and try to make Adrian a pair of pants, brown pants.  Pretty exciting stuff!

Brotherly Love

Here's some brotherly love to last you through the weekend!

OLMA

On Friday we all went to St. Gallen for  the Olma Messe.  It's a big agricultural exposition .  We had a nice day, and the boys especially enjoyed the pig race.  Here are a few pictures of what we saw.  

One big bull weighing in at 2678 pounds!

There were all kinds of different kinds of cows.  

I thought this girl looked a little bony, but apparently that's just the type of breed.

I just had to get a picture of this cow, sharing my sister's name.

This little piggy went to market...

This is where we watched the pig race

waiting...

and waiting...

still waiting.  We left and came back later for the pig race.

On our walk back to the car we walked through the old part of St. Gallen.  It has some very pretty buildings and if I wasn't freezing and my camera battery hadn't died, I'd have taken a few more pictures.

Abbey.

We had a nice day, but I was glad to get back to the car and head home.  

Count Down

Grandma and Grandpa Clay are coming to town.  We are counting down the days with a paper chain.

Every day we try to take one off.  Ryan could care less, but it helps Adrian.  Without the chain he asks me, on a regular basis, 

"When will grandma and grandpa get here? Tonight? Tomorrow?..."  Now we have the chain.

One day down...

My Helper

When ever I make something I try to take a picture of it.  This way if I ever give it away, I'll remember what it looked like if I want to make it again.  I always have a helper.

He sneaks in almost every time...

Notice, there's a small corner of a purse off to the right side...

and again, purse, bottom right.

I don't mind, he's a cute helper.