And that's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown

Today Ella went out on her own and picked out a Christmas tree for the children's room.

 Then she oh so lovingly helped Gabriel make ornaments for the tree.  Together they decorated it, and put up the lights.

Ella even put up lights all around the boy's beds.

I had been tempted to tell them to clean up their room before they started decorating, but I'm so glad I didn't!

First Time at the Lanes

 Ella  bowled a 105!

 Joshua bowled a 93!

 Gabey came in at 70!

And Hannah bowled (and nursed) too!

My Somebody

 Sometime, somewhere back, I read about dyeing wool with koolaid.  I even bought a couple of koolaid packets that then sat on my pantry shelf for months.  Whenever Gabriel saw them he would ask, "when are we going to dye?"  (and of course I always thought he had said "when are we going to die?").  Anyhow, our DYEing day finally happened!

You first soak the wool in a vinegar solution for 15 minutes.

We used pieces of felt, yarn, and a small amount of wool roving.  Turns out that our felt wasn't 100% wool, because the color didn't stay in it as well as it should have, but our results were beautiful!

Gabriel really saturated his felt!

Santa bibs helpful, but not necessary. 

To set the dye, you pop it in the microwave for two minutes covered in plastic wrap.  When it comes out, you let it sit for two minutes.  Then, if the water in the dish is clear, you are finished!  If the water is still colored, you microwave it for two more minutes.

The yarn turned out most beautiful of all!  Next time we will dye more yarn and use more colors!

Remarkable Ginko

Thought I would inundate folks with an overload of pictures from our fun under this extraordinary ginko tree on the UVA grounds.  We "dropped everything" to meet Bee here on Monday.  I am so glad we did!  There is no time like the present, especially where tree color is concerned!  After playing under the golden canopy we walked in some of the gardens, which are mostly bare this time of year.  We did find some tasty rosehips, and a fruit similar to an apple that had the bite of a lemon!  Cheers!

Nine Months!

I can't believe another month has passed, and here we are again celebrating another of Hannah's birthdays!  This morning was busy with back to back soccer games (last of the season), then going to the library and grocery shopping.  Then coming home and putting away groceries and library books and playing football (always more and more football).  It wasn't until I was relaxing on the sofa when the sun was going down that I realized that today was the big nine month birthday!  So, I grabbed my camera and took the little girl out for a quick photo shoot.  She was only too happy for a bit of fresh air and to watch her big brothers play football.  (She cracks up when Gabriel says "down, set, hike!)  A beautiful evening, a beautiful girl, and beautiful brothers and sister that love that girl so.