Stories in our Stockings

A while back I was reading the ever popular Momma blog, SouleMama, and I picked up an idea from her about rotating children's books with the coming and going of seasons. I normally find this easier to do around Winter and Christmas because we are inside more and it seems we have more books in our stash that are appropriate for that season. Here is a list of books that SouleMama likes for Winter.

Here are a few we have sitting around. I am wondering what to add to the pile this year.

What are your favorites?

baby bump day

Today marks 28 weeks, the beginning of the end, the 3rd Trimester. And this babe is growing! You can tell by the bump; it is growing!

images by Whit & Whimsy

Highlighting {Handmade}

Recently, I learned of this lovely company; Hand and Cloth. This social enterprise was started to give women in Bangladesh an opportunity to work, create, stitch, to love and be loved. The blankets, made from old saris, are hand stitched. And are simply beautiful!

If you are looking for that one perfect Christmas gift, this is a great place to start! Here is a lovely video highlighting the work that is done. (ps the video is on Facebook and I can't figure out how to link it other than to the Facebook page. Sorry for those who want to see it but aren't on fb.)

Blankets handmade by women.
Women handmade by God.

Leaf Art

We hosted an Harvest Party for P's class and one of the activities was to make a leaf. I got the idea from here, but used a few different materials. Mainly, rather than contact paper we used parchment paper, this was so we could use glue sticks. I have found the best part of most crafts with kids ages 2-3 is the glue stick.

The directions:

1. Glue tissue paper on parchment leaf.
2. Glue construction paper boarder on the edge of the parchment (tissue paper filled) leaf.
3. Punch a hole through the top of the leaf.
4. Tie a string through the hole.
5. Take it home and hang in in the window.

I had everything prepared ahead of time for this project. The construction paper boarders were cut, the parchment paper was cut, and the tissue paper was cut into little squares to create a mosaic look. There is a kit here that can be purchased but I didn't like the foam outline so I decided to make it myself. Of course it is those decisions that I always question while I am up late with an exact-o knife cutting away.

Nesting

As always there are a number of house projects happening around here, some in prep for the baby and some just because we always have projects! :)

Soon, I imagine, the "nesting" will take over and everything on that project list will become a very high priority! But until the that hormone (or whatever it is) kicks in, I spend time day dreaming about the space that this little boy will live when we bring him home. Here are some colors and ideas that I have for this little man:

Sweet Aroma of Tigers?

We recently visited the Virgina Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virgina. The Mister's sister works there and gave us a quick tour before all of our kids melted down on a Friday evening. One of the recent exhibits features this amazing rug.

When we walked into the exhibit I was hit with the intoxicating aroma of tobacco, quickly we realized what we thought was an over sized Tiger rug was actually a rug made out of individual cigarettes. (I was reminded how lovely tobacco can smell when it isn't actually being smoked.)

The exhibit; The Tobacco Project by Xu Bing, was interesting but a bit confusing. It was unclear to me what was being explored or communicated through this art, but the extravagant nature of this rug alone is impressive. Plus we zoomed through the exhibit in about 10 minutes so, to be fair, I didn't take the time needed to fully digest the exhibit.

The rug looks completely different from the other end of the room. The change in pattern as you walk from one end of the room to the other is like watching a falling set of dominoes, there is lots of movement in this stationary rug.

Explore

This year and last year we went to a cabin in the woods. It is a lovely time of year to be out of the city; Fall is in the air. We explored the woods, built fires, snuggled on the couch to warm up our chilled bodies, and threw rocks in the stream for what seemed like hours. We also talked about what it will be like next year when we bring baby brother along, equally delightful, I am sure!

Sold!

We just closed on another house on S Street! This is one that we will fill with friends, bringing more people to live with us on S Street.

In many ways this is the realization of a dream/calling/vision (not sure what category it fits in). This is the redemption of a place that has housed sin and destruction and craziness for a number of year. And this is newness for us, we now have neighbors we trust, love, and care about living just steps from our door.(and more babysitters!) This will only build on what God is doing on S Street and in our neighborhood. We are here to come along side as He builds up His Kingdom in our City.

Imagine

I love when her worlds collide; while the dollhouse family was feeding the forest animals, she had to get on her bike and go to the grocery store because they had run out of food.

Creating Cookie Monster

For months, P has insisted that she wanted to be cookie monster for Halloween. I wasn't sure if I should make the costume or wait, 3 year olds have a funny way of dramatically changing their mind. So I quizzed her on it over and over till at last there was no time left for changing our mind. We bought 2 yards of blue fleece and some styrofoam balls and went for it. I found a great video on-line that gave me some pointers for making this costume. (I can't find it now, otherwise I would link it).

I laid out this green costume to get a general idea of how big to make it, then had Phoebe lay down over this and traced her body, leaving lots of space for a bulky cookie monster to fit.

I cut it, sewed the seams, put elastic in the arm and leg cuffs, cut a line down the back and sewed in velcro for easy dressing. That was it!

Then I found one of P's shirts with a hood and traced around that to make a separate hood for the head. Once we tested to see if it fit, I added a 1/2" seam to the front so I could fish some pipe cleaners through, this gave it a bit of shape.

The last step was the eyeballs, which had a hard time staying on. The best way to get them on, I found, was using hot glue. P loved it, and it turns out the costume is quite warm, so warm in fact, she took it off at every party she wore it to, though it was perfect for trick-or-treating last night!

Now, I suppose it will live in the dress up box, and maybe stick around for baby brother in three years?!

get baked

When I found out the Birthday Girl doesn't really like cake and loves caramel (I do cake and I don't do caramel) I went to the best bakery in DC for some of her favorites. And some of my new favorites!

Tasty Treats; Happy Birthday Girl!