Our Little Suffragette

Recently Ashleigh had to give a history presentation on a famous American.  Her famous person was Esther Hobart Morris, the first female Justice of the Peace, who became known as the "Mother of Woman Suffrage".  She was also quite the "working home keeper" - wife, mother of three and owner of a successful millinery business.

Along with a written report and visual, Ashleigh had to dress the part of her famous American.  After looking high and low in various thrift stores for something Edwardian-esque, we ended up using a long, ruffled skirt from my closet and a small black jacket from Ashleigh's.  Our homemade costume turned out quite nicely, for no out of pocket expense at all!

Happy Birthday Clayton!

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY CLAY BABY!

Birthday Crown Fit for a Princess

This weekend, the birthday girl came to me with a last minute request.  She wanted a birthday crown to wear out to dinner with her friend.  Okay, Momma can do that - yikes!

Luckily, I found this cute birthday crown template.  I didn't have enough felt - or interfacing, or sewing skills.  But I did have some foam left over from Clayton's 100 days project.  I cut the foam in the shape of the template, added a little craft paint, a little glitter glue.  Hot glued some hair combs to the foam.  And voila!  

A birthday crown fit for a princess! 

Happy Birthday Reed!

Happy 4th Birthday to my

Baby Reedy Pooh!

This Is What Jolly Looks Like!

Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree(s)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Using my Fall starfish frame door "wreath" as the star over baby Jesus

Our foyer Christmas tree (burgundy & gold)

Nativity wreath over  berry trees in the foyer

Red, turquoise & apple green ornaments for the three accent trees in the family room

(only two trees are pictured)

Family room

Remember these from Target last year?  Target is my first stop when it comes to after Christmas clearance sales!

Blue & gold tree in the dining room

Dining room

Dining room china cabinet

Kitchen tree

(we also have a small counter top tree in the kitchen as well)

Living room trees by the fireplace

Sunroom tree

(Red & cooper ornaments with pine cone garland strands)

The "Martha Stewart" tree

(pink, purple, pearl & gold glass ornaments with pink & gold bows)

This tree is decorated entirely with Martha Stewart ornaments bought on clearance from Kmart eight (yes 8!) years ago.  The year after I bought them, Ashleigh was only 11 months old, so these glass ornaments have been packed away ever since then.  But this  year, I decided to be brave and put them out!  The tree is sitting on top of a dresser in the living room.  Safe from little hands - but not so safe from our new kitty Oreo!   

The "Sweets" tree upstairs by the kids bedrooms

(Candy themed ornaments, pearl bulbs with gumdrop garland)

Adorable Country Living fabric cupcake ornaments

Red poinsetta for upstairs


Our Main Christmas tree with family ornaments, some dating back to Dave's childhood

We also have a tree in our master bathroom that wasn't decorated at the time I took these photos.  But I did the same theme as last year with the recycled paper towel garland and copper ornaments.

Only 3 days till Christmas!

Our Mostly Local Thanksgiving Meal

Our Thanksgiving Menu

Herb Roasted Pastured Turkey with Pan Gravy

Rustic Mashed Red Potatoes

Cornbread Crockpot Stuffing

Steamed Green & Yellow Beans

Sweet Potato Casserole topped with Pecans (and homemade whipped cream!)

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Buscuits

from local sources:

Pastured turkey & red potatoes - Cane Creek Farm, Efland, NC

Fresh rosemary - backyard container garden

Green & yeallow beans - Cloverfields Farm, Timberlake, NC & Cedar Rock Farm, Castalia, NC (frozen from summer)

Sweet potatoes - R & V Farm

Pecans - S & L Farm, Louisburg, NC

Cream - Maple View, Hillsborough, NC

Wheat berries for flour - The Grain Mill of Wake Forest, Wake Forest, NC

Halloween

This year Halloween fell on the weekend...

Me and geto boyz are trick-or-treating ;)



Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

A Birthday Simple Pleasure - Cafe Blue Cupcakes

Cafe Blue Cupcakes

from Cafe Carolina & Bakery

Think about the most delicious, moist cake from your Grandmother's kitchen.  Topped with sweet (but not too sweet!) buttery, turquoise blue frosting.  THAT is the Cafe Blue!

YUM!

It's My Birthday!

10 Years Ago Today...

Dave & I with his Grandmother and Father on our wedding day

First Day of Second Grade

Ashleigh with her sparkly kitty lunch box

She had a great first day of 2nd grade!

Teaching Little Hands

My Mom giving Ashleigh knitting instruction

Our home has three generations under one roof.  It can be interesting at times.  Raising young kids while  moving into a support role for an aging parent.  But the blessings of having a multi-generational home have greatly outweighed any of the bumps in the road.   

A Walk Around Lake Lynn

Lake Lynn

This past weekend, Dave's Mom came up to visit along with her dog Rocky.  The kids thought it would be fun to take Grandma and Rocky for a walk at the park.

It was a hot afternoon, so Rocky decided to cool of by taking a dip in the lake.

Rocky going for a swim.

Grandma and Ashleigh looking on.

We saw plenty of ducks and geese by the lake.

And turtles

The bridge going around the lake

A view of the lake

After our hot 2 mile walk around the lake, we cooled off with some ice cream from Goodberry's!

A Southern Daydreamer - Outdoor Wednesday