Baby it's cold outside!

 Seriously cold! 

(source for all pics)

Time for scarves, mittens, hats, sweaters, hot tea, quilts, long socks, cuddling, layering, hot chocolate, slippers, blankets and...hmmmm, what am I missing?...crocheting!

She's easy!

 

Yoshi's Christmas wish list:

One new baby...that's what she calls all of her stuffed animals.

What's on your list?

Cinnamon rolls to pies

Although I knew we were going to overdose on food on Thanksgiving, I just couldn't pass up the occasion to make these yummy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast.  I almost went with the Pumpkin French Toast because french toast is my all time favorite breakfast, but I have been wanting to try making breads so I thought I would give yeast a try. They were so fun to make with the kids and AMAZING to eat.  The best part was that most of the work can be done the night before than it's just refrigerated until the morning.  

We might have a new Thanksgiving tradition...I love traditions.

We did get some veggies in our diet.  I made Pioneer Woman's green bean casserole and I could have just drank the sauce that is poured over the green beans...seriously, that good.  I think I love every single one of her recipes that I have ever made.

 

All dressed up and ready to go.

 A cozy day/night spent eating tasty food with people I love at two family dinners...a great Thanksgiving!

So much to be Thankful for...

 This little Indian is wishing you

a 

Hape Thanksgiving!!!

Pie Making

 I am in the baking/cooking mode right now.  Sewing was last week, baking/cooking this week.  Good timing right?  Today we worked on some pies, but first we had to start out our day with a breakfast favorite...banana pancakes.

 I used to make them more often before Ella started school and before we actually had to be out the door by a certain time.

 

Ella ate 6 pancakes...seriously.  Sometimes I can barely get her to eat a bean, so I'm not complaining.

 This guy had 4 1/2, which is about his norm.

 Next we were off to grandma's (my mom's) house to bake some pies.  We made a couple of pecan pies.  I have never made one before and it was surprisingly easy.  Making the crust was the longest step.  I tried Pioneer Woman's pecan pie recipe and it turned out looking and smelling SO delicious.  Haven't had the taste test yet...I almost cheated.

 Next up was a French apple...or is it Dutch?  What's the difference?  Anyways, it's an apple pie with a crumb topping.  This picture is pre-baked, but still looking yummy.

Sorry mom, this was the only picture that I took of you.  

We had such a good time hanging out together and the kid's had fun hanging out with their cousin.  We even had time for a nice walk to enjoy the fall weather.  I love it, even though I am always cold.  

These are my favorite types of days.

I love you mom and am so thankful for you.

Another Skirt

 This was the skirt that I started to make for Ella to wear to cousin Kate's birthday party.

 It's a basic gathered skirt with 2 layers of tulle over it.  At the bottom of one of the layers I ruffled a 1"strip of the tulle and sewed it along the bottom.  The nice thing about the ruffling is that the strips can end and a new strip started and you can't even tell.

 Usually I use elastic around the whole waistband, but for this one, I only used elastic in the back.  This gives the front a little cleaner look.

 It's perfect to wear when collecting autumn leaves.

Trying a little Dana

I had been wanting to make this circle skirt from a tutorial over on dana-made-it since the beginning of summer.  I love her blog and tutorials.  I am a total visual person and I love how she has a picture for each step.

This skirt was really easy...I just really wish I had a serger...this skirt would have been even easier.

I used the black 2" elastic for the waistband, but on her tutorial she shows how to dye the white elastic band...so fun...next skirt.

Best part, Ella LOVES the skirt. She had fun twirling around in it. 

This is so weird.  When I went back to the tutorial to get the link, I realized that in a couple of the pictures her little girl is wearing a circle skirt with a yellow sweater.  Ella had picked out what she wanted to wear with the skirt...weird.

Definitely will be making more of these.

I love

 This was a bummer.  I burned my pumpkin bread.  Luckily my family isn't too picky and they didn't mind it after I cut all of the burnt parts off and luckily I had made enough batter to make a couple of perfectly moist pumpkin bread loaves.  That's why I love pumpkin bread, it's usually really moist.

 On a subject far far away from pumpkin bread, but about something else I love... 

I love watching this girl draw and color.

 She could do this for hours...and she does.

 'This is a mama wolf (see the bows by her ears) with her water bowl.  The water bowl has a pink paw print on it.  Her baby made the bowl for her.'

I love her imagination!

Signed Ella K.

A little redo

 For Ella's Halloween costume I made a simple sweatshirt.  It just needed to be all gray.The edges were unfinished and it was a little tight getting it on.  It probably would not be worn in the state it was in so I decided to make it a little more wearable.

 I cut the length of the sleeves and added a cuff, cut the front open off-center, added big buttons and a small panel to overlap, and hemmed the bottom.

 This will now get a little more wear.

Better!