November Flashback

Not much new going on in Nathalieland these days, just our normal daily routines. I asked the girls to sum up their days in five words and they came up with: school, friends, playing, animals/LudyPoof, happiness. Steve and I can summarize our days with: music (piano/ukulele), food, exercise, work/volunteer, family. It's been lovely!

With nothing new to post about, I thought it'd be fun to look back on what we were up to in late November over the past ten years. My, how they grow up fast!
 

November 26, 2010:

November 25, 2011:

November 28, 2012:

November 27, 2013:

November 29, 2014:

November 22, 2015:

November 29,  2016:

November 20, 2017:

November 28, 2018:

November 26, 2019:

(This morning)

We are planning a one-night family trip to Ottawa this weekend, so that will be a small change in routine! But I'll take normal, content days any time :).

Book List #13

I read 22 books over the last six months, though many of them were YA novels (Twilight saga!) and graphic novels that made for quick reads. But what's neat is that altogether, since I joined a book club in 2012 and started reading as a hobby, I've read a total of 208 books. Woot!

Here are my latest reads:

I found Michelle Obama's book interesting and eye opening. I'm well into the Harry Potter series (reading it out loud to Jessi at bedtime) and am working my way through that 800-page 5th one. And I can definitely understand why the Twilight saga was a hit with teenagers!

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12

Adventures in Guinea Pig Costume Making

Ask and ye shall receive! This was my response when the girls decided they wanted to be guinea pigs, specifically Ludwig and Lemmy, for Halloween. I love a good project and this one kept me busy for 2-3 weeks.

I started out by sketching some ideas for patterns and colour combinations, all while observing our boys as a guide, of course!

I checked out a few thrift stores for cheap fabric options, but then when I went to Fabricland they had super-soft and perfectly-coloured fabric on sale for only $9/metre. I was able to purchase all the materials I needed for about $60 total, which equals $30 per costume. Not cheap, but worth the custom look.

Luckily I already had a great hat pattern that I could use for the head pieces, so I started with those. I just adjusted the pattern (by cutting it into pieces) to allow for different colours and replaced the bear ears with guinea-pig shaped ones.

The body of the costume was a bit trickier since I didn't already have a pattern. I made my own by using one of the girls' onesie pyjamas as a guide. I had never sewn sleeves before either, so I looked up a few YouTube tutorials to figure out how to do it.

DIY onesie pattern 

I used some old spare fabric to make a tester version! Always worth the time and effort to make sure things look/fit ok before cutting into my pricey fabric.

Modelling my sample 

Getting started with Lemmy

The most challenging part was handling all the mess. For every cut I made into the fluffy fabric, loads of hairs were released. Little hairs ended up everywhere (including walls, baseboards, shelves, books, my clothes and hands... once even on the girls' dinner plates -- oops!).

Hard at work in my messy space

Ludwig front and back

I (litterally) shed blood on this project: I nicked my thumb with my rotary cutter and later stabbed my thumb with a seam ripper. Hazards of the job...

... But totally worth it!

Wynn Farms Corn Maze

Here's a family activity we might start doing every year: visiting the corn maze at Wynn Farms before Halloween. We went last year (though I didn't blog about it or take any pictures), and the girls enjoyed it so much that we figured we'd try it again this year.

Every year the farm designs a new maze with a specific theme and provides the kids with maps and stations to visit throughout the maze. The kids love the "puzzle" aspect of it! Here was the maze's design this year:

(Aerial view - source)

Theme: pirates!

On the way to the farm we happened to drive by a house in Amherstview that goes all out with their Halloween decorations. It must be quite a sight at nighttime!

Wynn Farms is about 30 minutes from our house. They have a pumpkin patch and apple orchard too!

Having fun yet?

I have to admit that the girls were a bit tired/grumpy from their school day and not so keen on going to the farm, but once we got there their attitudes changed and they got into the pirate spirit!

Reaching a fork...

A secret passage way

Answering questions and solving puzzles
at one of the 10 stations

Parents having fun too? 

We did it!

Before heading home the girls chose their Halloween pumpkins and declared they wanted to come back next year. Yay!

And in true Canadian fashion, we went from mild, fall weather last week to our first snowfall today! Quite the contrast:

October 28, 2019 

November 7, 2019

Oh hello snow!