laowai = foreigner

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Seems like I write less and less on my blog these days. I guess things just keep ticking along. I feel surprised at how grown up my girls are and I no longer have cute little stories to tell about their favorite toys or their latest milestones. And while I am happy - I can see how each year turns over with the same patterns and routines. Most of the time my head is filled with thoughts of pretty things or things that grow or what to make for dinner. And those are the things I take photos of and post here on my blog. It's a habit now.

So here are a few photos from the last few days. First, we went to Michigan for Thanksgiving. Bea wanted to drive over to Sanford where the damn broke. Here's a photo of what used to be a lake.

I took very few photos but here's a nice one of Jennifer bringing the turkey to the table. Yum.

Back at home I was eager to get our Christmas decorations up. The girls and I decorated our little Christmas tree tonight.

And I enjoyed putting out some other Christmas decorations. Brian and the girls gave me that wooden tree for my birthday. I filled it with glass ornaments. Some of the old ones came from my mom-in-law and I think they belonged to her mom. I love the sparkle.

SATURDAY MORNING

TWO THINGS

This week I had a birthday. 

Bea made a pretty cake for me.

And I finished knitting this hat.

TIME FOR OUR LITTLE VILLAGE

The weather has finally turned chilly so Claire and I felt like getting out some Christmas decorations. We set up our little village on Sunday. We always have so much fun setting out the houses and trees and itty bitty people and animals. And now I pause and look at the happy little village whenever I walk by.

SUNRISE AT O'HARE

Brian has been going to Minneapolis a lot lately. I often drive him if he takes an early morning flight. 

AROUND HOME

I usually feel like doing a deep clean of my kitchen in fall instead of a spring clean. It stayed sparkly clean for a couple minutes.

This time of year the sun shines so brightly through my front door. I feel drawn to the sunny parts of home when the temperatures cool down. It makes me want to lie down right on the floor - on a rectangle of sun - just like a cat would.

SOME COLORS IN MY YARD

The leaves are mostly fallen by now but we've had a super pretty fall. Here are some beautiful leaves growing in my yard. Amelanchier, Witch Hazel, Oak and Locust leaf confetti.

LEARNING COLOR-WORK

My latest knitting project is a hat. I'm trying to learn this type of color work - sometimes called fair isle. My teacher recommended I do the method where you hold yarn in both hands - plus I'm learning to use double pointed needles. Definitely feeling challenged and it would be helpful if I was an octopus. But I'm enjoying it.

HALLOWEEN PHOTOS

Finally I have everything figured out on my blog and so I can post a few photos from Halloween.

We might be coming to an end with these elaborate costumes that Bea and I make. But this year she wanted to be a fish. I did the sewing and she did the painting.

Claire went as Cher - not really. Just a cute girl from the 60's or 70s. She said so many people asked her if her "boots were made for walking".

She and her friend Dafna had a fun night. And the leaves coordinated with her costume.

We had a beautiful warm night and Brian and I enjoyed sitting outside watching all the kids.

PROBLEMS

Well I thought my blog was back to normal but it's only displaying normally. I can't upload and photos at the moment. Very frustrating! Also, it makes me want to have a hard copy of my blog because I would hate to have it go poof! and be gone. So I'll keep trying to get this figured out and in the meantime - thank you to my precious blog readers.  : . )