Happy Wednesday

This sweet lady turned 7 months yesterday.
Today is the first day of her 8th month, and a shining day for Minnesota and the nation.
Happy Wednesday, All.
(photo by my friend Leslie)

Englisch spielend leicht

Long-time readers will recall that I took a trip to Germany about 4 years ago.
When I was there I saw this book in a bookshop at the train station, and I just had to snap it up.

At the time, the Younger and Elder were 2 and 4, respectively, but this week my pack-rat tendencies paid off.
The Younger was clearing a shelf in the bookcase so the Youngest wouldn't be tempted to eat the books as she was on the move, and he pulled this out.
"Did you know that skirt is rock in German?!"
This morning he learned that birthday boy is Geburtstagkind.
We'll have to keep this up! One new German word a day, and he'll be fluent in no time ;)

Mo-vember

This morning as I was driving the kids to school they were talking about how November is Men's Health Awareness month, and people commemorate this idea by growing mustaches, which then makes this month Mo-vember.
We have had a fall of thinking about men's health issues here at the fifth lamp house.
My husband was taking his morning shower one day in August and felt a lump.
He went to the doctor right away and was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

I've been having difficulty finding words to talk about this experience, it all happened in kind of a whirlwind of activity, and doctor visits and surgery and chemo.
The best news about this situation is that testicular cancer is very treatable, with a 90% cure rate, and even higher if caught early before metastases.
Since early detection is the best way to treat this cancer, please do exams.
And if you find something out of the ordinary, please go in.
The doctors we saw told us that many of the people who come in have tumors that they've ignored for weeks or months and at that point the cancer has spread and it's more difficult to treat.
So the moral is - If You See Something, Say Something.

As for our family, we're out of the woods.
My brave, strong husband is cancer-free, and finished with chemo and we're back into our regular routine.
In a lot of ways we've been lucky - he caught the tumor really early, the doc was surprised he felt it at all, his surgery was without complications, the chemo was only one dose and my rock star of a hubby came through it like a champ.

Anyway, if you feel like growing a mustache to help raise awareness for men's heath issues, or would like to donate to the American Cancer Society or Livestrong, or the Prostate Cancer Foundation here are some links.

Hold close the ones you love, today and every day.

Yarn Along

Today's Yarn Along is more of a Thread Along since sewing has been foremost on my plate lately.
We're celebrating Halloween today, as many of you are as well, and I had a little last minute sewing to buzz through this morning.
The Younger has a costume that he saw at Menards a month or so ago, a faceless ghoul, which I would be happy to let him wear to school today but, unfortunately, there are no scary or violent costumes at school.
So, instead, he'll go as a dragon this afternoon and change for trick-or-treating tonight.
We didn't have a dragon costume, per se, but we did have a stegosaurus costume that my Mom made for my brother many years ago.
The Younger has worn it a few times, and it's adorable.

 So, rather than re-invent the wheel, or dragon, I made some wings this morning.

 I found possibly the last wire hanger in the house and stuck it through the wings to give them a little structure,

 In an update from last week's Keep Calm and Craft On, I finished my shoes.
They fit o.k., they're fine for inside stuff, I wore them for ECFE where I spent the whole time on the floor and they worked great for that.

 As far as knitting goes, I finished up one leg on the doll that I started two weeks ago, and the red is the beginning of her dress.

 Gratuitous cuteness of the Youngest and the Elder all dressed up for Halloween.

Be safe and eat lots of candy, All!

Shoes!

Something special for Keep Calm and Craft On today.
I am making shoes.
For myself.
It's always been a little dream of mine to make my entire wardrobe from my hat to my shoes.
About a year ago I came across Shoeology and that dream became a possibility.
She has patterns for all sorts of shoes, and she has a soling material that will work out in the real world.
Around the time when I bought the pattern I happened to be at SR Harris, a local fabric warehouse, and I found this amazing stamped leather which I thought could make a swingin' pair of shoes.
The color is a little more red than this photo allows.

The first thing that the pattern says is make a trial pair of shoes, so before I cut into this stuff I decided to make a pair of shoes to wear in my ECFE class.

We're required to have shoes that haven't been out in the big dirty world but could be used outside in case of a fire drill, and I keep forgetting to bring slippers or anything of that sort, so these will be specifically for that purpose and I'll just keep them in my diaper bag.

The outer fabric is from a bag of slipcovers I got at IKEA in the as is section a long time ago, and the lining was stash as was the button.
I am really pleased with the look, though they're a little roomy. I may try these again in the 8.5 size instead of the 9. I'm also a little annoyed that I chose to machine sew the straps instead of by hand. I'll do that differently on the next one too.
What's on your creative plate today?

Walking With My Babes

The Hubby and The Elder went on a walk today for some special Dada Daughter Time, so I The Younger, The Youngest and I went to the woods.

 This was a deep creek this summer the last time we were here.

We, like most of America, have had a little drought the past month or two and you can certainly see it in the creek.
It made for some terrific climbing and adventuring with The Younger. The Youngest spent the entire time in the sling, but I can imagine her scrambling up and down these rocky shores next fall.

Handmade Ornament Swap

Christina Lowry is hosting an ornament swap on her blog.

I signed up a while ago, and I meant to share the info here but time flew by and tomorrow is the last day!

Head on over, and she'll pair you up with a secret swap partner. 

I have been swapping Christmas ornaments for the past 5 years, and I really enjoy the making and receiving lovely packages in the mail.
I will say, too, that my tree is the best looking tree around since it's all full of handmade goodness.