Sewing with Pnut and Pilly

We are not segueing from summer to fall very smoothly here. We seem to be just leaping into winter. This morning it was 41 degrees outside. The hardest part of all of this is finding things to do when we can longer go outside. We still went to the playground, but we were not gone for an hour and a half like we usually are! Poor Pilly's little hands were freezing, which means I need to locate mittens, but she will hate them just like she hates hats, shoes, coats, and clothing in general. Anything restricting. You can imagine her feelings towards her car seat. Anyways, back to my point, one thing we do like to do is "sew."



Pnut loves it. She strings as many as she possibly can and then I have to take them all off because she puts them on there so tight. But it keeps her amused!

Pilly has another take on it:



She was kissing all of the doodads. This is a green strawberry. She had an affection for the strawberries and the "french fries," also known as butterflies. This is sort of like "open door" whenever she wants anything opened.

I noticed today how much Pilly is speaking in sentences. She said yesterday "I hear a puppy." Pnut was speaking in clear and cohesive sentences at 18 months, and Pilly is 20 months so I am relieved that she is getting there. I know she is ahead of where she is expected to be, but after Pnut it felt so slow!

I finished the purse for Lynn tonight. I hope that she likes it. My feelings towards it are mixed so we will see. I have an idea of how to do it that I would like better so we will see! I haven't made the fabric yo-yos for mine yet so maybe I can try it. We also made more applesauce, cookies, and learned about the letter "G" today. It was a very busy day, and Joel is already in bed so I need to head upstairs. I hate going to bed after him, especially if he falls asleep first. Then I feel all weird and hear lots of strange noises. So I hope you have a strange noise-less night!

I Can't Think of a Title

I made some more buttonholes tonight. I am working on a birthday present for my friend. We are having birthday day on Friday night. I am just making a purse, but you use buttonholes for the clasps to secure them a little more. I hope it turns out alright. I actually made one purse last night, which was supposed to be for her, but I didn't like a defect in it so it will be mine and what was to be mine will be hers:)

We took that pain-in-the-rear for a walk today. How can a dog so small pull on my arm so much? You would think he was a sled dog. He tries to race down the sidewalk, and I hold him right beside me. He barely has any leash because he is so uncontrollable, and I don't want him to trip the girls. We only walked around the block, but that is enough with him. I do feel bad because he really would like to get out there and run, but he is just too small to take to the dog park. Maybe some night I can take him for a little run while Joel watches the girls.

Pnut walked to the playground instead of riding in the stroller today. She did a really good job! We didn't go the long way, but she didn't complain at all about the walk there or back and she stayed with me very well and made no mad dashes for the road. She loves walking. I have probably shot myself in the foot and will never get her to ride again without protest. But it was fun to have her walking and observing and enjoying herself so. I had also hoped it would tire her out more, but that did not happen. She did take her nap, but she certainly did not fall asleep any more quickly!

And all of that was the interesting part of our day...I do love it, this life of staying home with the girls. The thought of having to interact with people in a workplace is enough to send me to a corner crying. Besides, how could I flex my imagination in the workplace?! They probably don't like to play fairies or tea party there.

I was flicking through our pictures this evening, and I came across this one. Do you know who this is?



This is Pnut, but I think she looks especially like Pilly in this one. Her eyes and cheeks look bigger. She grew into her cheeks a little more quickly than Pilly is. I think they are part of what makes Pill still look like a baby to me. Or maybe denial. I am sure that has something to do with it as well.

Well, my goal is to be almost lights-out by 10:00 most nights so I need to scat. Have a great day tomorrow:)

Lost and Found

Have you ever misplaced something?



And you know that you know where it is...but you can't quite remember?



And you are checking everywhere?



Well, don't give up because that crack in the porch might really hold what you are looking for!

And in case you are worried about him:



No mad dashes were made into the street today.

However, he did drink gross water, but I think he has an iron stomach:



Would you like to know what I learned how to do tonight? I am so excited about it. I almost hopped around the computer room because I was so happy! I know how to make buttonholes. Isn't it shameful that I haven't learned until now, but now I know. What's that? You need some plumbing installed? Well, sure I can handle that. It's probably no harder than buttonholes. But I won't tackle that electric until I learn to do a zipper.

It was wonderful to open my sewing machine after almost two weeks. I still haven't cleaned it, but I decided not to wait until that happens. I do want to sew before Christmas!

Well, I am trying not to stay up too late, and I got a bunch of exciting books at the library so I need to head upstairs! Have a wonderful evening and following day:)

From Good to Stressful!

Today started off as an innocent enough day. We went to a friend's house to help pack boxes and successfully made it home with all parties awake with the help of some McNuggets and fries. The girls took a nap, I got all my work done and exercised too. We played in the basement after they got up and Joel called and asked us to pick him up from work. It was a drizzly afternoon. We got ready to go, but I decided not to put Java in his cage. That stupid dog, who I thought was in the kitchen, raced out the door as soon as I opened it. He ran down the alley out into the road. I called him and called him to come back as he was going down the alley sniffing things. I didn't want to chase him to fast because I knew he would just run away. Well, he turned the corner, and I almost had him and he darted out into the road. A car was coming and couldn't see him because he is so little. Thankfully the girl was going slowly. I screamed and she stopped. I grabbed him and said sorry and carried him back to the house. I threw him rather forcefully inside. I was so mad at him. He does not listen at all. It is so irritating. I was so stressed out. It made my whole body so tense. Then, after we got Joel and came home, Pnut walked out into the road. There was a car coming. I have no idea why she walked out there. She knows she is not supposed to do that! I grabbed her after Joel told her to get back on the sidewalk. What a stressful evening! My very sweet husband did the dishes for me, and I relaxed with the girls in the living room and played Mario Kart. They haven't gotten to play that for a long time so we all enjoyed it. Tomorrow is the first day of Bible study and I am very excited. Hopefully Tuesday goes a little bit less stressfully than Monday!

Movies and TV

Today, Joel took a personal day, and he took Pnut to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was Pnut's first time at the movies, and Joel said it would be the last time they went to the regular theater! She behaved very well, but it was just too expensive. It was a matinee so Joel expected it to be a leetle bit cheaper... Next time, they will go to the $2 theater:)



This is Pnut when she was seven months old. It just reminded me of the movie with it's giant food, and I read that people would rather see a picture, even if it is unrelated to the post. Ha!

We also enjoyed our free treat from Carvel this evening. It is their birthday, and from 3:00-7:00 they gave away oreo ice cream sandwiches. Yum-O! Pilly was a mess. I wish we had had the camera. She held it in the same place for so long that she had a white stripe with a brown stipe on either side! By the end, though, she was just a mess with the lower half of her face entirely brown!

Joel asked me to watch the new show Flash Forward with him. I'm not sure if I will continue watching that. It is a little creepy...but it is interesting. It does seem like the stuff nightmares are made of. I think Lost is enough intensity for me!

My mom is supposed to come to lunch tomorrow, which she hasn't done for-ev-er! This will probably be her reminder. We think that she might have short-term memory loss. Just kidding:) But the girls are very excited. I told Pnut tonight, and she jumped up and down in the bathtub:) Our weekend is filled with a wrap-up of softball (which was over two months ago) and church. I hope that you all have some fun enjoying Autumn this weekend!

Applesauce and Squirrels

Today, we made applesauce. A lot of applesauce. It is so good. Honey Crisp apples are so beyond any other apple! They are a taste sensation. :) Each morsel is a joy. A celebration in a bun. Oh wait...these aren't hot dogs. If you don't get that, you need to read for Pigeon books:)

Tonight, the girls made a new friend.



Pnut named him Peanut. They fed him all sorts of nuts. I am afraid that he is going to become a pest.

There isn't too much to say tonight and Bear Grylls is going to be on in a few minutes so I have to go. Catch you on the flip side!

Autumn Arrives!

Today is the first day of Autumn!



We are experiencing some early leaf-changing here, probably somehow related to the non-summer we had.



Can you smell the crispness in the air and odor of falling leaves?



This is also the perfect time to look for pine cones. Pine cones are the new acorn for my girls. Or at least today anyways.

Yesterday, we found a rose garden at our park. I don't know how we missed it all summer, but I have never seen anyone in it so I guess my gaze was never attracted enough to realize what we were missing. I realize now!



That is poetry for the eye.



There are but a few left. You can see the slowly decaying ones around this beauty who clings to life.



This is such a unique color. I would love to have a room accented in this color.



We all had great fun smelling them. I don't known a purer smell, except baby skin maybe.



This was a sweet way to end our summer.

Then we met this gentleman on the way out of the park.



He is quite charming, n'est-ce pas? He kindly waited for me to creep closer and closer to capture him for posterity. I had the zoom all the way forward, but I really was quite close.

We had some excitement at the playground today. After our romp in the rose garden, we made our way up through some trees with very big roots, where we discussed how the trees use roots to get water and how it was mean of people to carve things into trees, and as we crested the hill, we noticed a large piece of machinery quite near the playground. The closer we drew, the closer we realized that big machine was to the playground. It was, in fact, right beside the covered slide and overshadowing the swings. Apparently, the tree that shaded our stroller all summer whenever we played was hollow inside and had to go. I guess it probably posed a risk of falling onto someone or something. We stayed far away, all the way over by The Big Slide and watched them cut the tree down. They had removed all of the leafy branches by the time we got there, and it was quite an interesting process to see them bring it down piece by piece. One man up in a lift would tie a rope to the piece he was cutting and then cut several feet below it. Then two men on the ground would hold said rope so that when the piece came loose, they could guide it to the ground. This only worked while they had another branch sticking up to use as their guide. Then they just started using the rope to help pull the pieces down as they were cut. Revealing her inner barbarian, Pilly demanded "more" after the first large piece fell. I must say, it was quite enjoyable to watch. They worked so smoothly together while always checking on each other's safety and being quite systematic. Quite a way to spend our morning! We must have watched for about 45 minutes!

Well, tomorrow it is to The Apple Store for some Honey Crisps to make deliciuos applesauce. No sugar needed! You should try it:) Have a honey of an evening.