Sliding into Winter

Well, it's still fall....but the chances to go outside and play are getting fewer and farther between. Lydia has been making good use of the leaves in our yard by sliding into a pile, but it keeps getting wetter and colder, so that may not be possible much longer. I refuse to admit how close we are to December....... and to winter.... and trying to find ways to entertain an active toddler inside the house....preferably by the fire! Hmmmm, maybe dairy free S'mores will have to be created to get us through. Until then, enjoy what is left of Fall!

Hangin' with Nana and Popop

Larry and Debbie volunteered to baby sit the other night and we ended up taking several fall themed pictures of them with Lydia outside their house. Lydia was wearing such cute fall colors, thanks to my detour past the outlets after my art conference. She had such a great time banging around on the piano in their living room.

Diana, Goddess of the Hunt.

I just got back from an art teacher conference. I signed up for a workshop with fabric designer and fab mom of six, Anna Maria Horner. I took a workshop from her two years ago when the conference was in Nashville. This time around, I was able to plan ahead and bring fabrics from Lydia's first birthday dress. I also brought a picture of a statue of Diana, goddess of the hunt, that I took on the grounds of Biltmore Estates years ago. I have wanted to create something on that theme ever since we decided Lydia Diann would be named after her Grandmother Diann. I'm not ready to say that it is finished, but I am getting pretty fond of her. She is purple so she is neither human nor statue at this point. I feel like she is in a good place, she better be... I slaved away on her details for two solid days! The background was a little harder to bring together. I originally glued down a piece of paper from Lydia's birthday invitations, but the paint didn't want to stick to it, so off it went. I got just a small snippet of fabric that Anna Maria designed with deer and small houses that just seemed perfect for the land in front of Dianna. It was just too bright and kept coming to the foreground. I finally settled on picking up the diamond pattern in the Lydia dress fabric and used it like a chain link fence to separate the goddess and the animals. Maybe she has herded them into the fence.....maybe they are being protected from her? I'm not sure but I like the idea that the butterflies are breaking free at the top!

Now, like Dianna I too feel the need to hunt ....... for that adorable Anna Maria fabric with the deer and houses that I used in the background. Maybe I can make Lydia a new dress from it. I'll keep you posted.

Hop, Skip, Jump, HELP!

You know the saying, something is just a hop, skip and a jump away? Lydia knows it too, only its more like everything is suddenly a tug, a pull, and a leap away! Lydia has been tugging and pulling and (scariest of all) leaping into all sorts of locations that used to be off limits. Technically, most of them are still off limits, just no longer inaccessible! I turn around to do something in the kitchen and suddenly Lydia is sitting right next to me on a stool. Hmm, sitting may be the wrong term. If she has made it to the kitchen stool, chances are good she is not content to sit. She is probably still climbing, trying to tug, pull, leap, her way onto the island. Where to go from there? I suppose she will have to work on the hop, skip, and the jump between the island and the light fixture!

Lydia and Jen (in costume)

Are you sick of witch pictures yet? I'm not! We have now worn our witch outfits to 5 parties and one photo shoot and there is a possibility for dinner and 3 more parties tonight. If feels like we have been in our witch outfits more this week than in our own cloths. At some point this week, Jen and Lydia were hanging out while we waited to go somewhere as witches and I was able to shoot these pictures. I love them so much. The pictures. The colors. The tulle. My sister. My daughter. I love them all SO much! Happy Halloween!

The Little Witch of the South!

We went to JCPenney's Portrait Studio yesturday. Grammy was in town, so she got to join in the fun. There were several last minute changes, change of appointment date and time due to my jury duty and even a change in costumes a day before the pictures, but I am so happy with how everything turned out. More pictures coming soon. Happy Halloween from some southern witches!

What the Witches Ate and Drank

Thhis should be the wrap up of pictures from the Black Hat Society. Jen and I worked so hard on the food and are very proud of the result. Witches are very picky and you don't want one to be mad at you, so they get only the best when they come for dinner. We served our beverages in crystal edged with green drips of candy coating and garnished with worms, spiders, and witchy umbrellas.

Not the best picture, but our beverage for the evening was blood red, served in a large specimen jar, with the heads of lost souls floating inside. (Effect achieved with red wine and shrunken apple heads)

An overview of our witchy buffet, with my sister witch in the background.

An appetizer of prescription pills complements of Mike and Ike and Good and Plenty candies.

A summer squash witch's hand coming out of the dip.

The melon brain was fabulous. The wizard's "members" (chocolate covered bananas) shriveled, wilted and drooped. Hmmmm, maybe they performed as expected!

My favorite finishing touch, a cheese plate infested with gummy mice.

Oreo truffles and powdered doughnuts made to look like edible eyeballs.

Cheesecake with chocolate spider web. The witches were fed, happy, and no one was turned into a toad. A successful Halloween party with a fun witchy twist!