Crafts this fall

These are a few of the things we made this fall for our church bazaar. The pig and cat are made from old socks! We have a new book on this called, Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel.

I love those cute pin cushions...

Carrie's beloved chair

This is one of Carrie's favorite perches at home. She loves climbing up there and just standing there...

Merry Christmas from the Parente family!

Christmas mantel before the mayhem begins...(2am)

Big bro and Carrie

Girls' piano recital

The girls played in a holiday piano recital at a health mall's Christmas tree festival. Here's their duet:

Homeschoolers DO go to the mall (sometimes)

Just to prove we DO make it to the mall once in a blue moon... we went a few weeks ago and saw all the Christmas finery before it got too crazy busy. My kids LOVE Pottery Barn Kids so we took in the sights there a while and let them play. Check out the weird reindeer mannequins...

My Advent wreath idea...

I got a little creative and made our Advent wreath this year with the cake dome upside down (as it can be a punch bowl) and then put a glass microwave plate on top. The kids and I collected cedar and magnolia tree clippings, etc. to put inside.

Lucas the artist

Gratuitous baby picture

Family Glue: Be Blessed! A Family Study

Family Glue: Be Blessed! A Family StudyWow, this is great! Thanks so much to Angie for giving us nourishment for our souls as we begin Advent in a few days.

Christmas Shopping Op while Helping Others

St. Athanasius Academy:: Christmas Shopping Op while Helping Others Please help out by shopping thru HIllside Ed. if you can. The Quigley family is wonderful bunch!!!

Praying for Grace: It Takes Courage

Praying for Grace: It Takes Courage

I'm copying this idea for tomorrow as we hand out literature outside of a polling site. Lord, be with us!

Gotta' share this one...

I had an incident last week with my own family that made me once again wonder why people think they can open their big mouths and comment on my family. Kim did such a nice job when put in such an awkward situation with someone who was obviously clueless as to her worldview...

God bless the little children!

Faith and Family Live!: Before Hitting Enter

This is a must-read for all the blog fans out there.

Apple Pie Tutorial

Most of you have probably made a bunch of pies before but we had such a grand time last week making pies with friends one afternoon. We had purchased a 40-lb. box of Mutzu apples at the N.C. State Farmers' Market in Raleigh and made apple recipes all week! We tried a variety of pies from The Joy of Cooking, all similar and all good. This was home economics at its best! The only real tip I have is to be sure not to overwork the dough. You are NOT looking for the pie dough to be elastic like pizza dough.... yuck!

Newest member of our animal family...

SneakyBaby!

Under
my
desk!

Gnomes, finally!

Some of us (ahem) are a bit late on the take-off... we're FINALLY getting our gnomes made for our mathematical tale!

Emma in pink....again

The elusive big brother with Carrie

Gnome home surprise

Someone's moved in at my folks' house! Wonder who it could be?!

Joint effort headboard project

I'm so proud of dh and myself. We collaborated on this king-size headboard for our bed. I was inspired by an article in a home decorating magazine I saw in a doctor's waiting room. ;-) I originally wanted to get a blue and white toile but I was too stingy to order the fabric, knowing that I would probably want to recover this thing in a few years to change things. The hardest part (for me) was matching up the pattern perfectly to make that center seam. I love it! Of course, I meant to post this a year and a half ago when we did it. :-)

Labor Day at the beach

We finally are sheperds!

We got a sheep! Lucas proudly proclaimed that now he is a sheperd.

A Candidate for our daughters...

I thought this was an interesting article to share with you all by my friend, Mary Ellen. I think we all need to pray and research all we can about the candidates we elect this November. Please remember to always pray for our leaders!

Wordless Wed. Picture

Chickens on the loose!

You know, I LOVE the idea of "pastured poultry" and that's what ours have been. But lately, these new hens and our roosters have over-stepped their boundaries. They have about a half acre to roam, why do they have to get all up in my yard?! They are about to be old enough to start laying eggs so we've GOT to get them on the straight and narrow path. Here's today's evidence. I looked out the dining room window and there they are, eating my grape tomatoes! Max the cat was of no use, either.

Queenship of Mary party!

We had such a great time! Too bad more folks couldn't make it but we had a grand time, nonetheless. And check out that great craft we made! My friend thinks of the BEST crafts! That Mary doll is made from a dishwashing liquid bottle! I wish I had snapped more photos of how it was made. Maybe that'll come later. And guess who came to visit? MavMama!Wow! It was a great day!

Where's baby?

Here I am!

Wet and Wild!

A few pictures from our "daycation"...