Scrambling to finish up costumes for tomorrow. Struggling because those little models will not stay still while I pin this and adjust that.

Using up old leftover formal wear fabric and gathering up all the miscellanous trim I can find because these princesses want to be trimmed in ribbons, lace, sequins, beads, and glittery buttons. What's a princess without some sparkle, right?

Finding some milkweed...

and sending it flying.

Finding a playground...

and sending them swinging.

Enjoying the fall...

before it starts raining.

I know, I promised pictures of Little Peach's coat for Monday...and it didn't happen. Sadly it's not going to happen today either. Little Peach wore the coat over the weekend and, as babies often do, spit up all over it. It is now in the process of being washed, dried, ironed, and made picture worthy. Hopefully it will be all set for some pics tomorrow.

Something that is ready for pictures--the leaf wreath we made yesterday.
The girls collected some of the prettiest and most colorful leaves they could find and then using some thread and a wire coat hanger (shaped into a circle) I wrapped the leaves on.

An inexpensive, easy, colorful, and very seasonal wreath to decorate the door with. Mhmm, yup, I feel just like Martha Stewart!

To celebrate the end of the week we had our very first tea party...

...complete with mini sandwiches, cucumbers, and hot cocoa for dipping cookies in.

The tea set is from Montessori Services, a company whose catalogue I spend countless hours drooling over.

And here's a glimpse of Little Peach modeling an almost finished fall jacket and bonnet. Finished pics to hopefully appear here on Monday.

The cosmos are the last plants flowering in my garden. I grew them to add a "little" height to the garden. They were supposed to grow to four feet tall, but they must really like our soil because they range from five to six feet tall. The blossoms themselves are gorgeous, but... ..this late in the season, the rest of the plant looks horrific (four feet of droopy gray/green leaves.) I'd cut off all the blossoms and rip out the plants but...I'd feel guilty because these little guys...

are just going crazy over them. And to tell the truth, I like listening to their buzzing while I rearrange the perennials and rip up the weeds.

And so the flowers get to stay...for as long as the bees do.

Attempting more dresses for the girls made from discarded men's shirts.
This is from a polo shirt. The base of the dress is finished, but there's still a lot to be done. Pookie and I just picked out the buttons (and pinned them on to see how they'd look) and finally settled on two pockets (not the "eight, nine, or ten??" that Pookie was suggesting.) We're still debating over what felt animal will be sewn on the front. I've been recommending a white bunny or cat, but Pookie has been requesting a cow...we'll see.
Once this is finished there's another polo shirt to be made over Fig. Plenty to do...and so litle time!

Carefully scooping out all those pumpkin seeds...

and....hmm, refilling a pumpkin with seeds...

picking out eyes, noses, and mouths for Mommy to carve...

and after a long wait it was finally dark enough for...

jack-o-lanterns!

That was an impromptu blog break brought to you by the last of summer warmth and fun! But now that the leaves are changing, the temps dropping and a distinctly autumnal breeze is blowing, I'm spending just that much more time indoors and happily am back to blogging.

So besides playing in the sun, what have we been up to? Mostly packing up the summer clothes and unpacking the winter clothes (a long slow process what with three girls' wardrobes to take care of), but also a bit more painting. I'm slowly getting more color on the walls, which looks great, but makes our lack of wall art somehow all that more noticeable. For the girls' room I've been thinking that these might look cute...

Illustrations by Ethel Everett for the book "Water Babies", a recent used book sale find.

The girls were thrilled with the illustrations in this book as they love this video...

...Disney circa 1935. Don't you love how imaginative the old Disney Silly Symphonies are?

Now I just need to figure out what should go on the walls in our main living area...

I guess that's something I'll have to search for later. I promised two little girls that we would carve some pumpkins today and if I don't help them do it now I'm afraid they're going to start doing it on their own...yikes!