autumn leaves

what happens when you forget about the bags of leaves that daddy & the boys collected to make fall art, and your baby finds it:

here comes the sun

weekend at grammie's

we spent the weekend in my hometown to attend a dinner celebrating what would have been my grandfather's 100th birthday, where there was some impromptu music and dancing...

the rest of the weekend involved some outdoor play...

and trunk-or-treating at my mom's church... 

and a few special moments glimpsing the past~ reading letters my grandparents had written to each other...  

goblins & gourds

we love the goblins & gourds festival every year at lewis ginter!

sonic the hedgehog and batman

skeleton bitty dancing to the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra

welcome to the machine

today our homeschool bowling league got treated to a behind the scenes look at what goes on in the lanes...  

after the tour, the manager raised the panels above the lanes so that we could actually see the machines at work, since they had to turn them off while we were in the back.

model

bitty had her one year photos done today, by the awesome & talented Amy (of snow globe 365).  i can't wait to see them, but i did manage to get a couple quick shots of my own:

mid-shoot "snack"

  

dogwood

the architect

building an archway at CMoR

crafty

is one thing i'm really not.

however, when the dogs chewed up the eldest's sweet Mario themed tooth fairy pillow from Happy Felties last year, i just didn't think i could bring myself to shell out another $20 no matter how much i love Mary's work...  fortunately, we had a bit of a lull in tooth loss, so i didn't have to make a decision for a nice long while.

then, when one of his lateral incisors came out this week, the eldest insisted it was time to get to work on a replacement pillow, and that i should make it for him.  of course, it had to be Sonic themed...  i asked him to come up with the design he wanted, then we went together to purchase the felt (and embroidery floss for the sewing).  i cut out the fabric and put it together, trying to keep as close as possible to what he had envisioned, and then he handled the stuffing.

i think we are both kind of proud of it...

but i think i might be a little more proud of the munchables one i've got in progress for the younger son...

i'll guess i'll decide once it's done, after i see how it turns out! 

babyless

today is bitty's first birthday, and our last baby is now officially a toddler.  it is bittersweet, only for the fact that it went by so fast.  i do NOT mourn that there will never be another baby in this house...  at least not one of ours. ;-)

so far, her favorite gifts have been the noisy ones from the aunts and uncles, but i think that's mostly because she loves to dance to the music they play...