This Vintage Chica

Indian Corn Necklace

Hi!

Did you miss me?

I missed you all.

But vacations are good.  Even vacations from things we love.

The extra time was spent getting a few things around the house back in order, running kids to soccer games, making a dinosaur costume and doing a bit of mindless blog surfing...which is oh, so much fun.

Oh, and I've been taking a ton of pictures.  I don't think I have *ever* taken as many photos as I have this past month or so.

You can see the latest photos from the Picture Fall class here.  I have met some really lovely new friends, photographers, very inspiring women who have me looking at the world a bit differently.  That's always nice.

And I would completely recommend Tracey's next class Picture the Holidays.  I've already signed up.  Want to join me?

While bouncing from blog to blog, I came across a great indian corn necklace.  And I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it.  If you know, please let me know in the comments and I will provide the appropriate credit.  *sorry, very creative friend with the great blog*  Thank you Suzanne, I saw it on Crow Roosters Crow!

The boys and I enjoyed the first fire in the fireplace this season with hot cocoa and corn stringing.  It was a picture perfect evening.

I liked this version with pumpkin seeds too.  How fun would they be to mix the two?

We still have a few to make.  We thought they would be fun for the boys teachers...a little pre-holiday gift giving.

What have you been up to?

Can't wait to catch up with you all, dear people.

Being Inspired by Our Children

All three of my boys play soccer.  The older two, the twins, are on the same team this season – thank goodness!  For the past several seasons we have played in a church league that emphasizes character, teamwork, and values.  But the oldest boys are eight now and felt like it was time to join the league to which most of their friends from school belong.
 
I signed them up online and waited to hear back from the coach.  
 
From the beginning it felt like this team was going nowhere fast.  I did not hear back from the soccer league with the name of the coach until a few days before the first game.  

Most teams had already been practicing for weeks.  And when I did hear from her, she admitted that she knew NOTHING about soccer and was just one of the boys' grandmother who knew if she didn’t sign as the coach no one else would. (Bless her for that.)

(cont.)

Read the rest of the story over at Steady Mom.  There's a good ending, I promise.

An Autumn Break

I hope you don't mind, but...

Wyatt needs someone to play in the rice bin with him.

And I have a few sewing projects screaming my name.

And my husband is home again.  We need to plan a date night.

The boys have soccer practices and games...which are so much fun!

And I need to get back to meal planning.

And I need to schedule myself for a haircut.

I've got to do the big summer/winter clothing and bedding shift.

We need to take a walk in the woods.

And I am having too much fun posting photos over here anyway.

And so, so much more.

So I'm going to take a bit of a break.

Like for the rest of October.

Hope that is ok with you.

See you in November!

Photographing Fall

It is day 3 of Tracey Clark's Picturing Fall class.  And I am already enjoying it so very much.  We moved around a lot when I was a kid and I have to say, some of those very same feelings of being unsure, questioning my abilities, all came back.

But as soon as I submitted my first photo, all of the anxieties washed away with all of the rain falling outside my window. 

I am doing this for myself.  I am on my OWN journey.  Here to learn the lessons that fold out before me and only me.

Feel free to follow along if you wish.  I'll be posting all of the daily shots here.

I've been reading through Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace and Learning the Hard Way by Shauna Niequist.  I read her first book Cold Tangerines on the way to Nicaragua and loved it, so I knew this one would hit me in the gut as well.

I am only half-way through it and it has not disappointed.

Here's a few quotes for you from Bittersweet.

"she said it's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about.  What's hard, she said, is figuring out what you're willing to dive up in order to do the things you really care about."

"I stop dreaming sometimes, because I'm afraid of what it would take to change my life.  I stop dreaming because I'm afraid of the chaos that a dream might bring, afraid of what a new dream will require of me.  I practice being fine, and tell myself that things are all right, just as they are.  They ARE all right, of course."

"Sometimes the most spiritual things we do are the most physical, the most tactile."

Happy Sunday!

Hello October, Hello Projects!

We're on our 4th (or is it 5th?) day of rain here.  But it looks like the clouds should be parting tonight or tomorrow.

The rain has been a great excuse to hang inside and do a few projects.  I've been sewing in 5-10 minute increments on the quilt.  And we've been cooking up a storm.

We've also been completely enamored with the spider webs around our house.  No garden orb weavers this Fall, but another kind of orb weaver.  A spotted orb weaver maybe.

These spiders begin their webs after the sun goes down and then are gone before the sun comes up.  But with the cloudy days we've been having, we've been able to see them well into the morning.

Yesterday Wyatt and I made a spider web tablecloth for the kitchen.  You know how we love natural colored painter's drop cloths.  Right?  I always have a few on hand as they are so, well...handy.

Sharpie markers are also handy to have on hand.

Wyatt even added a few little spiders just for fun.

I used to be a bit creaped out by spiders and spider webs.  But the more I research and watch, I am amazed.

My parents have an antique bowl painted with spider webs.  I used to think it was a bit weird.  Who would want to paint webs on good china?  But I think I'm beginning to understand.

Our tablecloth is not close to good china, but I understand how someone could be inspired by these most delicate of nature's creations.