Barely Alive

Wow. That title was a tad on the dramatic side, was it not? But seriously, folks, we're dropping like flies around here. Flower, Mini-me, and Patch are over the flu (yes, flu!), but Curly seems to have caught it. And today, Ginger is extra clingy, which does not bode well. I am trying to stay strong, but as chief nose wiper I may not have much of a chance. I also have a special order I'm working on. My days are full.

So I'm going to go on a blogging vacation for, let's say, a week. Then I'll be back and full of energy and things to say.

Gobble Gobble!

My favorite holiday of the year is finally here! I love Thanksgiving. I love that for a day, we just come together and are grateful. Oh, and we eat. Seriously, it's the best. This year we were supposed to celebrate with Curly's family, but unfortunately we have sick kids. So we're staying here. I love staying here. We'll get up, watch the parade, be lazy, watch football, eat, be lazy some more, have pie, go to bed. Doesn't that sound great?

I put the turkey in the brine this morning. I've made one pie (chocolate cream). Over the weekend I did the stuffing and the sweet potato casserole. This afternoon I'll make the pumpkin pie and then tomorrow I'll do the rolls and mashed potatoes. I also have two crafts ready for the kids. It's going to be a great day, colds and all.

I am thankful for so much this year. My kids, my husband, my hobby, just to name a few. But I'm also thankful for each one of you who comes and reads my blog. It makes my day that you come here and spend time with me. I wish each of you, whether in the US or not, a very happy Thanksgiving.

Sickies

Patch was home sick from school yesterday with a nasty cough. This morning he seemed better, but then took a turn for the worse. At school. I got a call at 1:30 to go pick him up. One of the saddest things I have ever seen is Patch laying on the bed in the nurse's office. It just about broke my heart. We went ahead and picked up Mini-me as well, and have been cozy at home watching movies for the past few hours.

I love Christmas movies. They really help me get into the spirit of the holiday. So far I have watched Holiday Inn and White Christmas. We've also seen some kids movies, like The Christmas Toy, and Mickey's House of Mouse. While I was getting ready for the craft show, I played my Christmas music with wild abandon. My favorite? Barenaked Ladies. Their Christmas album has some wonderful songs, including my favorite "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings."

So tomorrow I'll be home again, nursing sick kids. Luckily we still have tons of Christmas movies to watch, like Elf, Rudolf, Santa Claus is Coming To Town, etc etc etc.

2 Things

First, my friend Joan is a fabulous graphic designer. She is offering an early bird special on holiday cards. It ends today (sorry for the late notice!), so head on over to her website and shop!

Second, The Quilted Fish e-mag is here!! Amanda did a great job with it. Go here to take a look. I love the projects I did for this magazine. We did the photo shoot at the Up house, which is a house that was built to look like Carl and Ellie's house from the movie Up. It was amazing and I just love the kitchen.

Today I am home with a sick Patch. He has the coughs. Ginger has been coughing, too. And here I was all excited to get back to working out this week. Oh well. At least my sink is clean.

Oh, What A Show!

Thank you everyone for your well-wishes for my show on Saturday. To sum up the day: I killed it. I have listed everything that didn't sell in my etsy shop. It's a whopping 8 items. I know, right? So exciting! The crayon folios were a huge hit. I sold all of the big ones, and only have 2 small ones left.

 They are so very cute! Here's the inside shot of one of them:

I do also have some pencil rolls and a couple of table runners left. Go the etsy shop and check them out!

I know they would make someone very happy this holiday season.

The Final Countdown

The craft fair is tomorrow. I am very nervous. I had a dream last night that I sold one thing. It made me sad. Yesterday, I had two custom orders to deliver. First was this t-shirt quilt. It's ginormous, but so soft.

 Then this cute tote bag. I just love these fabrics!

 For the craft show, I've been working hard. I don't have the variety that I have had in years past, but I think that's okay. I have a couple of table runners:

 A lot of crayon folios:

I have a few other things that I forgot to take a picture of. Back to work and wish me luck!

Last Week

My craft show is this Saturday. This is my last week to sew myself into a stupor. I'll post some photos tomorrow of what I'm doing. I'm just too dang tired to get the camera now.

Speaking of tired, the kids are all a little tired thanks to the time change. That means I can start my sewing earlier. It's a win-win.

While you wait for my awesome photos, go say "Hi" to Julie and Jackie. They are both having a fun giveaway. If you win, will you share with me?

Spookiest Night of the Year

We had a very spooky night of Halloween revelry. Mini-me was Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty), Patch was Luigi, and Ginger was a witch.

 Ginger has a mind of her own, as we all know. So when I told her she was a witch, she was very upset. She said, "I no witch. Ina pincess." She refused to put on the costume until I called it a "princess dress." So, she was a Halloween princess instead. She discovered how delicious hot dogs are for dinner and M&Ms are for dessert.

 Patch changed his mind around 47 times. Finally, this week, he settled on Luigi from Super Mario Brothers. Someone said to him, "Oh, wow, are you Luigi?" His answer: "No. I'm Patch. This is just a costume." He helped me hand out candy after we were done trick-or-treating. I noticed that he would give the pretty girls an extra piece (or two) of candy. There was one particularly attractive teen who came, and Patch said "I like the girls." Yeah he does.

 Mini-me found my costume in her closet and claimed it as her own. She was so excited to wear it, but wanted me to understand that she was a good Maleficent, not an evil one. She had to leave early, because she and Curly had rehearsal. Their show, Seussical: The Musical, opens on Friday. Curly is Horton and Mini-me is Cindy Lou Who.

The best part was that I didn't have to make a single costume and the only thing I bought was Patch's shirt. It was $5, and he can wear it to school. I love when Halloween works out that way!

Curly's brother brings his family every year. We love living close to cousins. Ginger in particular was so excited when they got here. In fact, Ginger was excited to see everyone. I'm not sure if it was the promise of sugar or something else, but she was happy to sit on laps or go talk to everyone in the room. For anyone who's ever been treated to one of Ginger's special chin-in-her-chest looks, you know how monumental this is!

So there you go. Another Halloween come and gone. Flower asked to stay at her mom's house this year and trick-or-treat with friends. It's only the second or third Halloween she hasn't been at our house, and the first time Curly hasn't gone trick-or-treating with her. Kids grow up, I suppose. Sometimes I wish they could stay little forever. But then I remember how great it is when they can get their own breakfast on a Saturday morning, and I'm okay with them growing up a little.