One perfect afternoon

One bag of bulbs

One yard of rich, moist soilOne unexpected friend

Shhhh.....Top Secret!!

Yes, that is Lucy eyeing the ball of woolly goodness....
There is so much excitement in our house these days. We are currently in birthday planning mode and rather than doing all of the "making" myself, I now have an assistant. Samantha has so many ideas surrounding Jasper's birthday and is constantly drawing pictures of gifts and birthday decorations that need to be made.

In an attempt to make Jasper's gifts, I headed to the Woolen Mill Outlet Store and scored some awesome woolly remnants. Last night, I pieced together this football. The rest of the fabric stash is for Samantha's gift for Jasper which has been declared "top secret". I will clue you in as soon as I learn all the details!!

Mr. Freckles II

During a fun park day with Daddy on Saturday, Jasper found an amazing branch that he had to take home. My dear son dragged his treasure 3 blocks and across two streets to our house. Upon arriving at home, Jasper so graciously pushed his branch on the rope swing and then found it a warm snug bed in a basement window well.

The next morning, he invited his branch inside, placed it by the kitchen door and disappeared. The next I saw of Jasper, he had his arms full of clothes from his dresser and was carefully selecting outfits for his new friend. Mr. Freckles II was born. His first outfit was his cold weather wear, followed by his evening attire (Jasper's summer jammies) and lastly, Mr. Freckles II became a spooky ghost. Wow!... the things the children come up with. They inspire me and warm my heart on a daily basis.

Sunny November

Everywhere we go lately, people seem to have a skip in their step; a certain easy-going friendliness which makes everything around us feel connected and familiar. How powerful the November sun can be. Here in Portland, it has been sunny and comfortable for the past 2 weeks. I feel like we are spending most of our time outdoors soaking up the sun as a squirrel stores nuts for a long cold winter. Even Alice and Lucy are getting plenty of vitamin D these days. Warm November sun, we shall miss you when you're gone.

knock, knock....who's there?

Knock, knock.....Who's there? Bread. Bread who? Bread wants butter!!! This, I believe, is Jasper's favorite joke right now. And of course it is one of the many that he and Samantha have created at the breakfast table in the last couple of months. Yes, the idea of 2 joke cracking clowns was presented to me in August along with a full description of fabric colors and costume design. Sam and Jasper seem to wear their costumes for a little bit everyday and love to entertain the neighbors with a clown parade around the block.

Lantern walk

On Halloween, it is tradition that the young children at school take a lantern walk through the Rhododendron Garden. What a sight it was to see our friends dressed as leaf children, with their glowing lanterns, singing and greeting one another. Along the way, we saw a farmer, a baker, Mother Earth, Father Winter and Jack Frost whom all had a wholesome treat for the children. When we all got back to the car after this experience, we all sat in silence pondering what had just happened. How grateful we are to our school and our loving teachers for creating such a magical moment for all of us.

a little pumpkin carving

How blessed we were to have Auntie Steph stop by for our own mini harvest festival. She has always been one to roll up her sleeves in any situation and not be afraid of a little dirt (or pumpkin slime in this case). The children helped to prepare for our afternoon with Auntie; Jasper helped peel the carrots for the soup and Samantha decorated the table and created a craft corner to make corn husk dolls. By the end of the afternoon, Jasper had created a bat pumpkin, Samantha made a sweetheart pumpkin and Auntie, well Auntie created perfection. Two carvings that were so beautiful that I am not worthy to show them on this site..... Thank you, Steph for a memorable afternoon!!