Ribbon Turkey Onesie and Baby Legs


If any of my girls were still in onesies (as apparently I wish they were per my last post) they would be sporting this adorable turkey set this Thanksgiving. Those polka dot leg warmers kill me! Perfect to protect a crawler's little knees, keep their chubby legs warm, and the fashion statement speaks volumes.
This set is headed out to California for a craft show, so I left it blank, but a personalized name, "Gobble" or "Thankful" would look precious below the little turkey. The ribbon edges are treated to prevent fraying. The onesie is $20 and the baby leg warmers are $8.
The only thing missing on this bib is some mashed potatoes. It's $10.
 The window for Thanksgiving orders is small so I can start prepping for Christmas. Order soon!

Pumpkins

I'm in total denial that my kids aren't toddlers anymore. The fact that they are 7, 10 and 12 is still a surprise to me. Of course, I made them pumpkin shirts like I always do and planned a fun family outing to the local pumpkin patch. It actually wasn't until we got there and I saw my almost-teenagers mingling with the 1-year-olds and pre-schoolers that reality hit me. My kids are big. Our days of pumpkin patches and hay rides are coming to an abrupt end. While I don't intend to short-change Tatum's childhood, I need to acclimate to this new era of self-sufficiency and pseudo-independence. This was probably our last year to do the coordinating shirts and take family photos amongst the pumpkins. I think everyone else knew it was time but me. That said, here are the girls' festive pumpkin shirts and some photos of our last time at the pumpkin patch.
 
 
 
 My 3 not-so-little pumpkins and me.
Dad even sat for a pose. This is the one salvageable shot where he wasn't cross-eyed, tongue sticking out or goofy-grinned. The man does not like to have his picture taken.
Ava, the horse whisperer.
So happy to be back on a horse after her birthday party a few weeks ago!
Gentry looks a little concerned about that sign behind her.
She's still my baby.
He's wrapped around her little finger.
Miss G found her favorite pumpkin
Ava posing with her pick
They're still appeasing me with smiles and poses, but inside they're thinking, "Really, Mom? We're so over this".
Tater Tot and her find.
Happy Halloween!

iPhone Pics

I tend to go months and months without downloading the photos from my phone, so some of these are from early summer, but here are a few snapshots of our goings on recently.
Tatum and her BFF Ardyn were finally in the same city for a couple of days so their broken heart necklaces made a whole.
This is what happens every time I take Ava out for a Mom and me lunch. It's very quiet.
We stayed on a houseboat with Tye's family this past summer and the kids all had fun tubing...until Ava was almost decapitated by the ski rope. Then the fun stopped. I didn't see it happen but Tye could barely talk about it because it spooked him so much.
4 days on the lake without showering means french braids all around.
Tatum in the sassy outfit she selected.
This is a special friend and mentor of mine at church. We dressed alike one Sunday, even down to the multi strands of pearls, and I asked Tye to document it. She had white linen pants on too but her tunic is hiding them in the photo. She is one classy lady, and I was thrilled to have accidentally copied her.
Some of our oldest friends came into town for a Rangers game. The outcome was not in our favor but we loved every minute of it. The sign reads, "Hey Craig, my name is Gentry too!"
Chef Tatum preparing a random but delicious meal for the family.
One day, she came home from school, retrieved her pillow and blanket, laid down by the front door and went right to sleep. 1st grade is exhausting.
Ready for school with time left to read. These are the best mornings.
More Rangers game fun with my best friend.
I find notes like this from sweet T all the time and treasure each one. I had a weird tummy bug on this day and her get well note made me feel "beter" in no time.
Gentry has fought her nail-biting habit for SO long, and finally conquered it! She managed to grow her nails out long and came home from a slumber party with a nice french manicure. Twist of irony: her guitar teacher told her to trim them short.
Me and Charlie. She's big now.
More bookreading. Judging by her expression, it must be a suspenseful Junie B. Jones.
Waiting in line at Smashburger. She's finally the perfect height to be Tye's armrest.
More waiting and reading. 4 out of the 5 in our family are bookworms. The non-bookworm is okay with it as long as we don't try to convert him.
Poor Ava had been at a lock-in at church the night before (hello, 4 hours of sleep), worked a fundraiser garage sale early in the morning, played an entire game of soccer as goalie (intense!) rushed home to look nice for a family photo shoot, smiled as if she was perfectly rested for the photo op and then out to dinner. She just couldn't keep her eyes open another second.
Me at lunch with my middle girl at middle school.
Tortilla face
 
I'm working like mad to prepare to ship lots of items out to California for a Fall Festival at Pepperdine University this week. Of course, my machine is acting up and I've had to take it apart myself to try and remedy the problem. You know it's bad when I'm dismantling my embroidery machine at 1:00 in the morning. I'm really hoping it is miraculously healed before my busiest season of the entire year hits next week. I know the nice service technician will want to keep it if I take it into him and I can't let him have it right now. I may be looking into sewing machine repair courses online.



Turkey Shirt

This is a different turkey applique than I've used before, and I love it's startled expression. The ribbons can be changed up for a different color scheme or for boy and girl sets. Name is optional. The last day I can accept orders for Thanksgiving items is November 8.

Pillows

These first 3 pillows were ordered by a very proud grandmother for her 3 little grandbabies.


And this one is for a Nicholas, but the customer wasn't sure if he would be Nick, Nicky, or Nicholas, so we chose the safest alternative and went with his monogram. I love the classic 3-initial in the Pottery Barn font.
All 4 of these pillows look like this on the back, so I'm just showing it to you once.
I'm about to restrict orders to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas only as I prepare for 2 holiday shows in the next few weeks. I have a few new items I need to post as well. I'll be taking orders for Thanksgiving/turkey shirts until November 8. Check back soon for a cute new design. I've had a lot of requests for the Christmas hand towels I did last year. I will be offering them again, with a few new designs, so let me know now if you're interested. They make great teacher gifts!

Monograms

It's no secret that I love a good monogram. Here in the south it's a traditional symbol of family and gentility. When Tye and I were choosing our girls' names, I labored over their proposed initials, careful not to spell anything offensive or silly. Tatum instinctively uses her initials instead of her name when she personalizes her red Solo cup with a Sharpie (with the correct first, LAST, middle placement). Ava's initials, A.C., earned her the nickname "American Cutie" by her Papa on the day she was born. I've sacrificed countless little dresses to the personalized monogram instead of handing them down to each younger sister (although there have been plenty of hand-me-downs too!). I always prefer to give a monogrammed baby gift because I appreciate the hours invested by the parents in picking that name, the name that maybe raises a few eyebrows for everyone else, but for mom and dad is the sweetest sound they've ever heard.
 
 Here are a few monogrammed items I've done recently:
 
A plush throw for a couple's wedding shower,

 a purple minky robe for Gentry's bestie, Gracie,


and some personalized aprons as the party favors for a fun paint-your-own-pottery party for one of our favorite 7-year-olds!

Pillows

These first 2 pillows were ordered by a freshman in high school. She wants to give them as Christmas gifts to her sister and her best friend, and knew exactly what she wanted. Lots of hot pink.


This one is the mini-size pillow. My mom wanted a throw pillow for their new bedroom color scheme. I like the style of the H in this font. It feels like home to me, since it was my initial for the first 21 years of my life.