Moving! Be back soon!

And blue and purple make five...

...five lovely little Christmas ornaments. Five more to finish and...I need to hurry--my creative free time is running out what with the move and all. Oh to be done of packing boxes!

Pookie is two. Old enough to remember what things were like last month and old enough to notice that things are different this month. What she notices the most right now? Leaves.

Pookie and I like to play color games. Kind of like "I spy" but easier for a toddler, I point and ask what color something is and she tells me or I ask her to show me something of a particular color and she points it out. Up until this point leaves have been green and something green is leaves. Not now...

Pookie brought me this leaf today. "Mama, Mama...color?? red???" She's just a tad bit confused as to why these leaves aren't green.

So we sit and talk about the seasons, but it's kind of a hard concept for a two year old. She has a book that shows a tree throughout the seasons and she's constantly bringing it to me asking me to explain it to her over and over again. The changing seasons, so very ordinary to me, are fascinating to her.

I love rediscovering the world through my children's eyes...

Fig's quilt pieced together perfectly. I was feeling quite happy with the whole project and was gleefully thinking to myself that I'd have it done in no time...but then it came time to add a border to it. The red polka-dot fabric I had been planning on using was the wrong shade red (too orange) and so I had to go out shopping for a different fabric to use.
On shopping expedition one I came up with nothing--everything was too modern, too new looking, too busy, or...just the wrong shade.
A week later there was shopping expedition two. I found the cutest flannel for the girls' winter pajamas...but nothing for Fig's quilt.
Shopping expedition three was planned for several days later and while I waited to shop I stared discontentedly at Fig's quilt. This is kind of how most projects go for me. I get just so far and then that perfect last element...can't find it. So the project sits and sits and sits while I think things over and keep searching.
But I was determined not to let that happen this time--I mean really, we're having cold nights now so perfect or not Fig needs that quilt! So on shopping expedition three I gave up on my "dream fabric" and settled for something. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't what I had envisioned, but it was going to work. And upon getting the fabric home...well I think it's going to be almost perfect after all! So soon, very soon, Fig will actually have a finished quilt!
And hopefully another almost perfect quilt will be in the works soon. Pookie will be moving into a big girl bed (still searching for the...umm...perfect bed) and will need a new twin sized quilt. She has already informed me multiple times that hers should be green. Yes, green--it's her new favorite color. For now though--well I think she can just share Fig's. Afterall...

...apparently nap time is just that much better when you can nap together.

And the weekend went just as planned. One box filled, taped, and labeled...

...and then apple picking and...

a little bit of pumpkin picking too. And a final stop on the way home at the country store for some cider and my all time favorite maple sugar candies!Drinking hot cider and eating maple sugar candies...Mmmm! This is why I love fall so much!

(Thanks for the pictures Dad!)

Finished this little bird...

...and I'm really immensly fond of this color combination. Something about it feels so very fall to me and I love that.

Fall is my favorite season--I love the cool days, the cozy sweaters, the fall folliage, pumpkins, hot apple cider, raking and jumping in leaf piles! There's so much I want to do with the girls now that it's fall and yet there is all the packing, the moving, and the planning going on.

I'm trying to find a balance between the fun and the work. Trying to enjoy our time now, while getting ready for our future. My plan? Use this weekend to pack a couple boxes...and then go apple picking and carve some pumpkins with the girls!

Another bird finished. And another in the works...

More trips to the beach.

The water is almost too cold for wading in now.

Almost.

There was lots of packing this weekend, but there was no packing today. Today the girls and I made chocolate chip cookies to send to daddy, who is at boot camp...
...because I'm almost certain they don't serve chocolate chip cookies at boot camp...

and cookies just make everything better, wouldn't you agree?