with needle & thREAD

Joining with Eliabeth

Not too much sewing going on, but a lot of cutting ... to me, it's the most time consuming.  I try to cut out many and then sew assembly-line style.  The patterns are from The King's Daughters.

Projects ready to sew:

2 Button Dresses
1 Jumper
1 Skirt

All for my oldest daughter ... she's a size 8 in the waist and a size 16 in height.  Try finding clothes that fit!

To conclude from yesterday's post, my spiritual reading that I do along side the daily Mass readings is The Conversation with God  The funny thing is that in today's reading it talks of the 'heroic minute' on pg. 491 of volume two.  I just had blogged about that the other day!

Yes, It is November and Happy Birthday Lil' Chef!

Mother Nature finally decided that it was time.  November has been on the warm side for us and the kids have been anxiously waiting for the first snowfall.  Wait no longer, children...

Before my 9 mile run

Looking outside, the pavement didn't seem too slushy.  Therefore, I wore my Asics Nimbus instead of my trail shoes.  At mile 6, my foot stepped into a huge puddle of freezing water.  My toes were frozen for a mile.  Note to self:  When in doubt, wear the trail shoes.

My beloved running path ... may be one of the last times running on it until spring  =(

There are five deer in this picture ... trust me.

The falling snow was so beautiful.

Today is a very special day in our house; the day I went from a working mechanical engineer to a domestic engineer.  Eleven years ago, we welcomed our first child into the world.

Lil' Chef @ 18 months

Her birthday requests were:  ham with honey and brown sugar glaze, butterscotch pudding, ice cream cake, two friends over for a sleepover, kitten, and snow.  We actually came through on all requests this year.

The End of Taper Week

This week has been a total recovery week for me.  I want to be strong for my next half marathon on October 9th.  I'll be running with my mom, my little sister, and her friend.  I'm still holding out hope that a good friend of mine will join us too.  We have a super cute outfit planned ... (stolen idea from another runner's blog, but she said to.)

I've started a part time job.  I know, you're thinking ... When do you have the time?  I'm very fortunate to be able to work from home.  They set me up with a laptop and I'm able to connect to their networks via internet.  I'm a mechanical engineer by trade ... I've just been a domestic one for the last ten years.  The work that I'm doing is 3D computer modeling.  I was surprised how fast I was able to come up to speed with the software.  I work in the early morning hours before school on non-running days, during nap/quiet time, and after dinner.  My goal is 18-20 hours a week.

What to do with the extra money?

1. Increase the running budget =)
2. Build up our emergency fund from 3 months of living expenses to 6 months
3. New tires for the van
4. Start a vehicle fund  -  Hubby's truck is a '96 and the Sienna is '05   We are at full capacity in the van and would need to go bigger if there are babies in a future.

Speaking of babies,  Lil' Chef asked me the other day if I may be pregnant.  I asked her why she thought that.  "I was hoping that we would have a baby next year."  LOL.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that my fertility hasn't returned yet after Lots of Hair's birth.  I did say that if God willed it; we would be very happy.

Here's the graph that she made a year ago:

Notice the stationery that she drew it on; The Couple to Couple League. 

The Couple to Couple League (CCL) is an international, Catholic, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and teaching fertility awareness (natural family planning) to married and engaged couples.

Hubby and I were NFP teachers for almost nine years.  It works, people!

Windsor Rodeo Run - 10K

It was a beautiful morning for a run.  The temperature at 8:00 am was 63 degrees.  This was the first year that the Windsor Center organized the run.  They were surprised by how many runners showed up.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on which outfit I should wear.  I went with the majority.

A very good friend of mine (another homeschooling mama) was running her second 5K.  We stayed together for most of the first mile.

Mile 1:  10:20
Mile 2:  10:10
Mile 3:  10:20
Mile 4:  10:32
Mile 5:   9:59
Mile 6:   9:54
The finish:  9:09 pace

Time:  1:02:53

PR!!!  (I beat my last 10K time by 1:39)

Placed 1st in my age group!

Elevation:

Lil' Chef (#343) ran the 2 mile with a good friend of hers (#340).  They are standing next to their swim instructor (bib #370)

Her friend finished first in her age group and Lil' Chef finished 3rd in her age group with a time of 27:20  (39 seconds faster than her last 2 mile race)

Next, Mr. T and Squeaker ran the kiddie race.  Squeaker was disappointed that she wasn't running the 2 mile race.

At 10:00, the town had a Rodeo Parade

We had lunch at a local sub shop and then onto the rodeo!  A big thank you to Babcia and Papa for taking all of us to the rodeo!

GO - Get Outdoors

GO - Get Outdoors celebrates outdoor recreation.  Our local state park provided opportunities for the family to fish, learn to tie knots, kayak, make a campfire dinner, listen to Indian stories, and archery.

When we arrived, the kids headed straight towards the kayaks.

Lil' Chef taking her dad for a cruise on the lake

Brother's turn to take dad for a cruise:

Next, we learned all about great horned owls.  Thanks Journey (the owl)!

On to fishing....

 

Looks like Trouble caught something!

 She was so excited.  Trouble was jumping up and down, clapping her hands, and saying, "I caught a fish, I caught a fish, I caught a fish"  A small bluegill is what she caught.

Little Passports

Each month, the older children anxiously await a package in the mail.  This year, geography has been very exciting with the help from Sam and Sofia at Little Passports.  Activities and little surprises accompany every adventure.  The first month, we headed to Brazil.  Sam and Sofia sent us an amethyst from one of the mines and a picture of a red uakari monkey.  Next, Lil Chef and Mr. T read about Sam and Sofia's adventures in Japan and how they tried sushi.  A sushi eraser and some origami paper were included with the puzzles.  The next adventure was in France.  We learned about the French Alps and were given some French music for our listening enjoyment.

Today, we are in Egypt ... pretending to be archaeologists.
Lil Chef and Mr. T took turns digging and brushing into the pyramid.

 

 

How much fun school is!





There is an online component also with each adventure.  The children are given a boarding pass with a secret code.