Autumn Beauty

These past two weeks have been pure insanity with our first ever 1st grade assessments for our new report cards followed by Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Peggy ended up coming in to help me give some of the assessments and I have no idea what I would have done without her.  I don't think we've had a home cooked meal around here all week and my nice clean house is definitely a thing of the past.  Thanks to my driving to Indy for a Fleetwood Mac concert midweek amidst the chaos ensuing all around me (totally worth it), I'm rendered exhausted and suffering from a cold.  Alas, I made it through my conferences today and got to leave a few hours early.  Now I just need to whip up a Sally (from the Nightmare Before Christmas) dress by tomorrow evening's Halloween Frolic and we'll be good to go. 

 

SO busy is the life of a working mom, yet I wish I could bottle these days......

 

Now back to that Fleetwood Mac concert....Stevie Nicks rocks!!!!  We had a blast.  As I said, it was totally worth it even though I've been dragging ever since Tuesday.  Boy oh boy, I'm sure not as young as I used to be.  This picture was taken as we sat forever in the parking garage waiting to leave for home at the crack of dawn. 



For the Birds...

My mother is friends with a very cool couple that operate a program called S.O.A.R., Save Our American Raptors.  They rescue injured birds of prey and provide educational programs about these special birds to elementary schools all over.  Every time they are in the Terre Haute area visiting schools they stay at mom's house.  It's pretty fun to go over and visit them and the birds perched out in mom's back yard.  This particulate owl is my favorite.  I got to hold him several years back and was amazed at how light weight he is.  This little fella got blown out of his nest as an owlet and suffered some injuries that made it so he could never survive in the wild. 

This beautiful bald eagle only has one wing.  He was shot by a hunter.  He is living a pretty great life with Dale and John.

Our favorite feathered visitor was Casey the buzzard.  He has imprinted on humans and is quite the social little guy.  Evangeline loved him.  She even worked up the courage to let him put his beak in her hand.  I worked up a little courage too....

Welcome, Great Pumpkin

We love this time of year...  

Easy Like A Sunday Morning

The soccer season is coming to a close.  Evangeline has come a long way since she first set foot on the pitch.  Granted, she still dances and prances her way around the field, and when the shadows are long during the evening matches focusing on the game can be a challenge, but the confidence level and overall knowledge of what's going on has really increased.  Her whole team has shown improvement.  

She's not at all afraid to volunteer to be goalie, or kick or toss the ball into the game.

 

Here's their official team picture. 

 

And here's her official picture.  It's been a very fun season.

 

After church we decided it would be fun to have brunch at Saint Mary of the Woods.  After stuffing ourselves we walked the grounds.  Evangeline had fun showing her daddy all the places we like to visit there.  

It's so nice to have a three day weekend.  I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.  I finally got caught up on the housework and I'm trying not to allow myself to think about school today.  Dad came over yesterday and we baked some bread together.  My dough is in the proofing box right now ready for me to bake.  That's a nice feeling knowing that there is bread dough made and just waiting to fill the house with it's delicious smell.  I really need to make it a part of my weekly routine.
I treated myself to some tea in a real tea cup today (my grandma's).  It's the little things....

This was in Evangeline's backpack.  She said she made it during her free time.  I love her so.

Work and Play

The amount of learning taking place around here has been astounding lately.  I absolutely love all the papers Evangeline is bringing home from school.  She's reading to me every night.  We do sight words and read the leveled books she's bringing home.  I love watching the her excitement and enthusiasm involved with the process of learning to read.  It's amazing.

This is one of the first things Evangeline brought home from Kindergarten.  Mrs. Reynolds had all of her classmate's paper people hanging in the hallway at the beginning of the year. 

Evangeline brought this home the other day and I was very impressed with the words she sounded out.

Here is her first sentence. 

Evangeline received a "shout out" in her class newsletter for bringing a gourd to each of her classmates a few weeks back. 

Here is another paper from earlier in the year I couldn't bare to part with. 

And this is just a lovely fish she drew.  I've always loved her artwork. 

By golly, she's been working on those color words. 

 

Evangeline also rocked her first official eye check up. 

 

We've been enjoying the crisp autumn weather that's swept through the valley.  It's brought a lot of rain with it.  I'm not sure we will have the beautiful display of fall leaves that we had last year.  The leaves have been turning, but I'm afraid the rain will take them right off the trees.  I love this time of year.  It's so cozy.  We've been relishing all of the lovely things this season brings.....squash, spices, opened windows, snuggly sweaters, hot tea, pumpkins. 

 

Some of my family came to visit a few weeks ago.  My aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania and my aunt and uncle from Texas.  I love seeing these people.  When I am around them I'm enveloped with memories of my childhood and loved ones past on.  

Ahhh, it's the weekend and not just any weekend....a three day weekend.  I got to leave a little early today and had a few hours to myself at home. I cranked up Easy Tiger, an old favorite by Ryan Adams (it reminds me of Carbondale) on the old stereo.  I cleaned like a banshee and made chili and brownies.  Black bean brownies, at that.  It felt good to be in my house and productive at the same time.  My evening was shared with Granny, Peggy, Kyle and Evangeline in my nice clean house.  Can we keep it this tidy?  I'm always willing to try.

The Creative Juices are Flowing

I had such a wonderful day at the Hobnob Market in Effingham, IL yesterday with Colleen, her mom, sister, Ainslee and my mom.   It was a very chilly fall day; perfect for walking around looking at 90 some venders of crafts and antiques.  We had to warm up a few times with some hot chocolate, apple cider and a coffee with a shot of Rumchata.  Inspiration was found at every turn; lace, flannel, plaid, and folk art.  I have lots of projects swirling around in my head....just need to find the time.

 

I could have gone crazy with all the 1960's tablecloths, feed sacks and fabric I saw, but I reined it in by just purchasing this pretty hankie, pillowcase and a set of 15 hand quilted blocks.  

 

And I'm super excited about the charms I bought for a necklace I'm calling my "these are a few of my favorite things" necklace.  There's a tea cup, mixer, sewing machine, and a camera.  I looked for a tiny little E, but they didn't have one.  Gonna have to add that one later.  

 

I picked up some dangly clip-ons for the little girl.  I don't think she's taken them off once since I handed them to her. 

 

I came home to a delicious meal cooked by the hubs and a clean house.  Sometimes a mommy needs a day like this one.