"The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land."
-Abraham Lincoln

Random Act of Culure

Just wanted to share this one with everybody!


Middle's Thanksgiving List

In keeping with the previous post, here is Middle's Thanksgiving list:





1. I'm thankful for my toys.

2. I'm thankful for my mom and dad and Gran and Grandpa

3. And for my dog.





glitter-graphics.com

Oldest's Thanksgiving List

I've decided to let each of the two older kids take some time to post what they are Thankful for this year.   In this case, Oldest has typed it out herself, for Middle's post I'll do the typing and he'll do the dictating.  






My Thanksgiving LIst:

I'm thankfull for my mom and my dog becuse he is cute. 
I"m thankfull for my dad becuse he fixed my bike.
and I'm thankful for God and Chrismas and my bruthers.

Thanksgiving

Now that we're getting closer to Thanksgiving I thought it would be prudent to really make an extra effort to be consciously aware of all that I have to be thankful for this holiday season.

1. I'm thankful for my family and my friends.  Even though my husband and I don't always see eye to eye on every little thing we're still a perfect fit for each other.   I love him for who he his and he loves me for who I am.   Everyday I learn more and more from my kids about joy, appreciating the little things, unconditional love, and imagination.   And my friends help me to realize that you don't have to be blood related to be family.  

2.I'm thankful that I live in a country where, despite some instances of discrimination, we are allowed to practice our faith in freedom without having to worry about being jailed or killed.  

3.I'm thankful for good books and warm fires.

4. I'm thankful for friendly smiles from people just passing by.

5. I'm thankful for the Word of God that helps me put everything into perspective.

6. I'm thankful for my church that helps me to help my community.  

7. I'm thankful that growing up poor has helped me to be more appreciative of what I do have, more empathetic towards those who have very little, and more aware of poverty in the US and overseas.  

8. I'm thankful, and very much in awe of the fact, that God feels humanity is worth the effort and the sacrifice.

9. I'm thankful for full baskets of yarn and plenty of fabric.

10. I'm thankful for my good health and the good health of the one's that I love.  \

Oh Sock, Why Do You Mock Me...

I started a second pair of baby socks for Youngest yesterday and was already finished with the first sock by this afternoon.   I was pretty proud of it since I had finished it so fast (usually it takes me at least two days to finish one sock..I knit slow).   I couldn't believe my luck!   I figured I must be getting better at this since I was so obviously moving much faster than usual.  

So here I was feeling rather proud of myself when I decided to try the sock on Youngest's foot.   I found that while the cuff fit perfectly, the heel was right smack in the middle of his foot.   It didn't fit, at all.   Then I realized why this project had gone so quickly for me.  You see, when it comes to knitting the instep and the toe the pattern says something like this K6, K2tog, around.   Next row, Knit.  Next row, K5, K2tog, around.  And then you continue on like that, knitting every other row.   And that's the part that I forgot.  So instead of decreasing in one row and knitting the next row, I decreased every flipping row.   So I ended up with a sock that was half the size that it was supposed to be. 

This cute little sock that was going to keep Youngest's feet toasty warm is now a Christmas tree ornament and I did a full face-palm.  Knitting fail. :p

Crib Sheets

Winter is creeping in on us and that means there is ALOT of preparing that has to be done.  I'm nearly finished with Middle's sweater.   I've knitted several pairs of socks.   I've canned TONS of food including tomato sauce, pickles, sandwhich spreads, apple sauce, apple butter, pear butter, peaches, apple pie filling, cherries, cherry pie filling, beans, corn, well you get the picture.  

On last nights to do list: warmer crib sheets for Youngest.   Crib sheets really are a simple thing to make.   It's pretty much cutting out a large rectangle from the fabric of your choice, cutting 9 in. squares from the corners, a little sewing, a little heming, a little elastic and presto! Crib sheets!   Ok, so that wasn't a great tutorial.   Here's a better one at make-baby-stuff.com

Here's an example of what your corners should look like after they've been sewn (but before finishing the edges and adding the elastic).


And this is the finished product! 

All told it only takes about an hour and half.   So get over to the tutorial, then head for that sewing machine and have at it!