ha - I think the same way you do! that is a great looking wall-hanging. I'll be interested to see how it turns out. I did, however, do my grocery shopping today as opposed to later in the week - when everything is supposed to be ice covered. sighhhh

right -a pocket on the INSIDE of the library bag. brilliant. I don't like to use the outside pockets on my bags cause I worry that the keys and card will fall out in all the jostling. excellent idea (and very fetching bag).

Amy, you are BRILLIANT. I might fry up some cheese right this minute. I always have homemade breadcrumbs in my freezer. I use them on any kind of homey casserole thing - mac and cheese, gratins, etc. I also take leftover mashed potatoes or leftover rice dishes, smoosh it into patties, dredge in egg and then breadcrumbs, and fry. Yum. Especially with homemade cocktail sauce with extra horseradish. And here's a shredded raw beet salad - that's an ephiphany in itself - but I would ADORE it with your fried cheese rounds. http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2010/07/raw-beets.html

I thought we were going to build a snowman after supper tonight, but I could NOT get the snow to pack onto the snowball. What the heck!? From the weight of it and the relatively warm temperature, I thought for sure it would be perfect. I love your tallllll snowman. Oh well. We did a lot of sledding instead. Rebecca told me you have the best hill next door :) Margo

What a good story to go with the shirt. I had no idea about the clothing business either. And what is Smartwool? The photo of you and the shirt is beautiful - you look lovely and happy. And Alex is darn cute with his cheese :)

wow, you all are thrifty and you look BEAUTIFUL. I'm especially impressed with the great boots for cheap. How can you get such fab boots for five bucks new??! I think that nothing worn with tall boots can be matronly. Matronly is low beige heels, usually vinyl. I do really like that paisley too, Sylvia. I've secretly always been drawn to paisley, but felt so. . .old. . . wearing it. I think it might be my own hang up. Yours certainly looks sharp with the blue and the boots.

Adorable photos. And what a GREAT pattern - I must check it out. It would be so convenient to sew replacements for the inevitable lost mittens around here.

Congrats on the Bernina! Impressive start. I have an idea to make G a cape when she grows out of her current wool coat, but wow, Alex's coat looks great.

oooh, those roosters. And those hankies. That's a great idea for gussying up our plain white ones. I want to learn more embroidery. I've got the book and the floss, just need to take the time to do it.

I adore lists, too. And I do lots of notebooks too. My weekly list is tucked out of sight on the side of my fridge. Sometimes if I worked on an item, but I didn't complete it, I put a checkmark next to it so I can feel like I'm making progress - got that tip from your Aunt Sondra. And she encouraged me to put things on my list and cross them off when I had done them, even if they weren't on the list to begin with :) So satisfying.

aw, what a sweet post! I like Alex's greeting to the mouse.

hey, those look good! And I've got fresh cranberries in the freezer.

hey, those are GREAT costumes for you and Nick! I wish I could think of something so clever, easy, and spot-on.

Sweet outfit. Nice series of photos too :)

awww, sweet pictures. Happy Birthday, Alex!

oh man, those PANTS!!! Not only do they look great, they're special denim! I want to go that day out. I hear about it but never remember it in time. What nutritionally dense food did you take?

We were there too! What a hoot. I got some soap. You should go to their New Year's Eve "drop a goat" too - when I went (years ago, before I was married), it was so small-town funny.

that is a GORGEOUS school room. Just beautiful.

great pants. And I love your sweater too with that big button. How fun to start school!

I didn't know Nick worked at the Guild. That was one of the places we got to swing through at the last First Friday. We had our kids in tow, so we were a bit distracted, but the work we saw was lovely. Sunflowers - so brave and bright. Love them.

What farm is it? Ben would flip for that tractor! I love this fall weather, but I'm still a little surprised that it's pumpkin time.

your projects look interesting - I want to see the embroidered towels more closely. That potty training - we've been working on that too. And where have you found cute undies? All I can find are white or licensed characters.

my, you all are busy! But it all sounds so fun. We thought of going to the Etown fair one night, but we were just too tired. Hopefully we'll make it to another one - kids love them so much.

hey, doesn't cleaning out feel GOOD??! I know it's the crisp cool weather that makes me want to dung out the corners. I like before and after pictures so much :) thanks for sharing.

Maybe some plain yogurt? This reminds me of making peach kuchen (here's the post with the recipe http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2010/03/dark-days-week-19-pantry-supper.html). I would maybe cut the mayo with half plain yogurt, but I think ricotta could work well too. I think I would keep a little mayo in since the other cook raved about it so much.