The Holy Family

Here is my latest felt creation called The Holy Family. I have fine-tuned my pattern pieces (like the beard/mustache combo) and used several symbols. The prickly holly leaf represents the crown of thorns that Jesus will wear and the red holly berry represents the drops of blood he will shed for us. The candle symbolizes how he is the light of the world and the cross that Joseph is holding just symbolizes how Jesus triumphed over death. It's a little bit putzy to cut out all the pieces and sew it all together, but the kids are loving the results.

My Toasty Kidz

My neighbor, Sara Ead, who has 4 children of her own started her own business about a year ago. She designed a children's hat that serves as an "all-in-one" hat/scarf combo with no fasteners. It simply pulls over the top of the child's head so it's super easy for even young children to get on themselves. It covers the ears and the neck with a warm fleece that is washable and durable. She has put together many cute designs for both boys and girls. They are all reversible as you can see in the photo as I purchased the same design for both Connell and Liam and just reversed one to show you both sides. She has them made in sizes up through mid-elementary school at the moment and shows them at craft shows. She has an entire website with all the designs and colors and prices. Check it out... http://www.toastykidz.com. 'Tis the season to be spending lots of time outdoors in the snow and cold and you will want your children to be "toasty warm"!

A creative project

I saw an example of a felt stuffed softie doll on a blog I came across although the person had made a nurse and a soldier. I thought to try and design my own related to Mary so I started making the hair, arms, etc. The top one I call "Mary, Queen of Heaven" complete with crown and stars. The other one I call, "Our Lady of Sorrows" complete with broken heart as there are 7 times in her life that the church identifies as her "sorrows" (like meeting Jesus along the way of the cross and Jesus being taken down from the cross and being laid in the tomb, etc.) Now I want to make something that relates to Christmas... Stay tuned for more softies...

Looking towards high school graduation....

Our friend Katie and son Nathan had fun making these tie-dyed shirts for the kids. Here is Connell sporting his with his high school graduation year. Nathan is in the middle and friend Jack is on the right.

Beginning of November

I can't believe it has been more than a week since I blogged. I guess not too much has been going on. We have had a nice spell of weather and so the boys have had fun playing outside again although they are not as content with their bikes put away for the winter! Had we known it would have been this nice after all our snow in early October, maybe daddy Ray would have kept them down longer.

Ray went hunting this past weekend for the first time in 4 years. He had a nice time although he didn't shoot anything. I warned him not to bring anything home since I despise deer meat even when it is combined with other meats. Yuck.

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on Saturday and came up to our house for the day. We played games, went to a park and I fixed a simple crepe meal for them. It helped to make the time go by quicker while Ray was gone.

That's the scoop from around here.