The Sandbox
I (finally) finished the sandbox. Why I couldn't find the time to saw 4 seats for it until now, I don't know! But that was all that was needed. Here are some work-in-progress photos from August and a finished product with seats!
K- enjoyed photographing the sandbox with her then new iPod - it does panoramic shots! Too bad its screen is in pieces at this point...
Baby J has enjoyed the sandbox so much already, seat or no-seat, especially in summer when he could go in barefoot. It is situated under our carport roof with plenty of shade.
I was exceptionally proud of this - my first "major" wood-working project all by myself! It's not really that hard, just had to convince myself that I could do it! 2 Cedar boards and a few pieces of leftover wood lying around, plus the sand. I worked a long time leveling the stones underneath first, then measuring, cutting, and screwing together. Not too bad!
K's Pillow
K- learned how to use a sewing machine this month. This was part of homeschool project week. She learned how to thread the machine, chose cloth, measured, marked, pinned and stuffed a pillow. I helped her with the black embellishments, because they were tricky and more than she was ready for on her first time sewing, but I imagine next project she will be ready to do on her own! Here are some action shots:
Hmm - can't find the photo with the finished product, but this is close.
The next day she went back and sewed a small yellow square pillow and stuffed it, and that will be Baby J's Christmas present from her!
Music
I was fortunate to find time to finish writing 2 pieces of music recently. One is an arrangement of "Of the Father's Love Begotten" for handbell choir and flutes, and the flute choir piece I've been working on is set to record in January. Feels good to be done with something, yet always a nagging feeling that perhaps I should edit more, or change something else... Time to tell the voices in my head to stop and move on to the next piece!
Thanksgiving
We enjoyed visiting with Uncle J and Aunt J for Thanksgiving. I baked some pies, and K- made a chocolate pie. Here we are rolling out delicious crescent rolls (at least, I think they were... of course, I couldn't eat them)!
Baby J
Oh, he's growing up so much. He is talking in sentences most of the time now. "J- go in your room" when he wants to get into his sister's room. I showed him our neighbor's Christmas decorations on their porch, viewed through our front window, and he said, "Go to Christmas house, get candy!" Halloween is etched deeply in his mind! So many cute and fun moments with him, whether it's tumbling around with Daddy on the bed or running around the yard or zooming down the driveway hill on his little car, he is on the move all the time. He has learned how to pop games in and out of the Wii and the X-box (they all look like cds, so I'm sure we'll find all the wrong formats in the wrong players after a while), and enjoys running his little cars and trains all over anything that looks like a road or track, including backs of couches, toilet seats and other people's bodies! Daddy lets him watch t.v. and movies sometimes, so occasionally he will climb on the couch, recline on pillows and say, "TV - turn on! Cars, Airplanes!"
 |
| Baby J and his trains |
 |
| Daddy and Baby J, caught playing together |
 |
| We squished together two small tables and linked his train station up, hours of fun! |
 |
| Riding the good old car outside through the dirt (the car was mine when I was little) |
 |
| Sliding into a huge leaf pile! |
 |
| Playing with leaves |
And now on to December! We are looking forward to visiting family and wish we could visit everyone every year. Hope everyone is well and staying healthy (as I am currently battling the flu).
Cheers!
