Thankful!

What a fabulous and busy Thanksgiving weekend! My mom and Scott arrived on Tuesday. That night Lovey had a sleepover with a dear friend who is moving away. They had a great time and in the morning, my mom drew the outline of their bodies on paper for them to decorate. The kids loved it.

The Thanksgiving turkey took an hour longer than it was supposed to and one side didn't quite reach 180, so we didn't eat that side. I don't know it was weird. The food was delicious. We tried a new stuffing recipe from Sunset magazine that was quite tasty and Scott made cannales. My mom made olive cookies that were good at first and then I thought they were okay. She didn't like them, but Scott did.

We went to see the Christmas Forest on Friday and then my mom and I went shopping. We went to all the stores I can't take the kids into. We spent most of our time in a nursery of all places. We laughed and talked a lot and had a great time together. I had so much fun.

Saturday Big Daddy put up the outside lights at Lovey's insistance and then after my mom beat me at two games of Nerts we went to Fantasy Lights. The kids really liked it. Favorites included the construction equipment throwing the snowballs to make a snowman, the dinosaurs, the reindeer, and the bees at the flower.

What a wonderful weekend despite our house being full of runny noses and coughing! I'm so glad my mom could stay for so long, it was a treat!

Thanksgiving Preparation

We are busy cooking here. The cranberries are made, the sugared cranberries are ready to be rolled in fine sugar, and the pie pumpkins have been pureed. We still have quite a bit of cooking to do tonight and then only turkey and horseradish carrots tomorrow. Yum!

In between this, Big Daddy has decided to invite a coworker over tonight for some homemade beer he received from another coworker. At some point I still have to make dinner.

Lots to do in the kitchen!

She's pretty now!

I was thrilled when my mom gave me her pink chair. It is a great chair for relaxing in and both kids like to cuddle up in it, but it has seen better days with its threadbare arms and faded pink fabric. I had dreams of having it recovered, but I just don't have the money for that. I tried to find a slipcover for it, but it is deep and skinny, so it is hard to fit. Fed up with the kids picking at the stuffing and thread, I decided to make a slipcover for it.

I followed the slipcover tutorial at Pink and Polka Dot (don't you just love the name of that blog). I had to make my own adjustments and I ripped out a few seems, but the chair is all dolled up now. I chose an inexpensive quilter's cotton for the base of it because I didn't want to spend too much money in case it was a disaster. Maybe I will redo the base sometime in something a little heavier. The cushions are a thicker home decor fabric. Altogether I spent roughly 5 hours working on it and probably could have taken more time, but I kept getting lost in all of the fabric. It's not perfect, but I like it and it will do for now.

Before: (The cushions are missing in this picture because they were already recovered.)

After:

I think I might be crazy...

What a fabulous weekend! The kids went to see Disney on Ice with their grandparents and Big Daddy and I went spent a fabulous Saturday together. We treated ourselves to coffee and apple fritters and then did a little Christmas shopping and walked around downtown. It was nice to go into stores I don't dare take the kids into and just stroll around at a leisurely pace. I even showed Big Daddy the piano I really, really want.

To end the weekend, I started on a project that I hope turns out well. I am making a slipcover for a pink chair that my mom gave me. I hope it turns out well and I'll have a completed project to show you soon.

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a wonderful Halloween. In the morning we went to a costume contest and trick or treating at the market. A lot of the vendors were giving out candy to the kids. At the costume contest, each child received a treat bag. They didn't win the grand prize though.

Lovey was dressed up as Syndrome from the Incredibles. The only Syndrome costume we could find was $99 on Ebay. I made this for about $10. I even made the cape blue on the inside just like Syndrome's. I loved this costume. It was easy to make and it looks just like the character. It has been a few years since the Incredibles movie came out, so not many people recognized who he was. Lovey was thrilled though when one of the trick or treaters who came to the door recognized that he was Syndrome.
He even had spiky hair and a mask like Syndrome. A few minutes and some black eyeliner and you have a great mask.

Littlebit wanted to be a pink princess. This costume took me a few days to make. I was worried about the fit, but I let out the seams and it was perfect. She looked beautiful and wore her crown from her second birthday.

Both kids couldn't wait to go trick or treating. They ran from house to house and were only gone about 30 minutes because they were running. I'm glad they had such a great time. They are already talking about what they are going to be next year.