We worked on a painted family portrait, and we each painted ourselves. Actually, I drew papi, and Brave drew mommy. At first, we painted the giant canvas white and gray. Next, we layered over it with different shades of pink and white. Then, we painted ourselves like a shadow in pink. Finally, we painted our faces and our bodies in black. Glow made herself happy! We thought it was so exciting to paint a family portrait. Everybody ended up looking a little funny! – True

Anyone invest in a pair of wide-leg denim yet? It’s my favorite denim pant silhouette. I’ve had this vintage pair for a few years now, and I’ve thought about hacking the length to make it cropped, but I just can’t get myself to do it. I like the look of this, but I can’t get myself to ruin a vintage pair that I love. Is the crop thing just a trend and will I regret the decision later?! I don’t know.

I ordered these a month or so ago, but didn’t feel they were worth the money, so I returned it (I’d rather wait to thrift a pair, and spend the money on shoes or an antique ring). They were cute, but I found them to run a little larger, so I should have gone down a size or two. Maybe had I had my proper size, I would have felt differently about them. They are on sale and an additional 30% off, so maybe it’s worth it now.

on me: jeans, vintage (vintage here, new there). top, vintage and thrifted (vintage here, new there). necklace, vintage. shoes, rachel comey (scored on eBay). bag, humble hilo (mine is 2 years old).

I’m so thankful to have been able to experience 34 years of abounding grace. My ugly mess is covered by His blood. Jesus in my place; that’s what it’s all about.

I’m usually done with all my Christmas shopping by now, but I haven’t even started. On the bright side, we have our Christmas tree up already!

Let’s start with the tree base … Ben drilled a hole into an old tree stump to use. We inserted the center pole into the tree stump instead of using the base that it came with. Last year, I used a crocheted bedspread as the skirt, now I don’t even need one because we have a pretty tree stump. We used it before here, but since this tree is much larger, we had to drill a larger hole to fit this 7.5 foot tall tree.

I wanted to go a little bit fancier this year with our tree, so I picked up a bunch of sparkly and glittery ornaments. Once we got them up, it didn’t feel right. It was too much for us. We simplified everything back down to our wooden and straw ornaments. Though, we did pick up more wooden ornaments to add on. To finish it off, we added some tapered candles onto the tree. Now, it feels just right. This is my “holidays” Pinterest board, and from that you can tell we prefer simpler decorating for Christmas.

Supplies for this project were provided as part of the Michaels Makers Series. From now until November 14, you can get FREE shipping on all Christmas trees that are 6ft or taller on Michaels.com! You can also check out some of Michaels’ ornament projects and tutorials available here.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Thankful for hard parenting days because where I fail, grace abounds. When I have those good days, it’s still only by God’s grace too.

Super thankful for wonderful neighbors with whom we can spend Halloween with. It’s a tradition to walk around with a few neighbors, and every year we meet more friendly neighbors that get added to our Halloween walking crew.

Thankful for nights when I get to go over to my parents for dinner, especially the nights Ben works late, because it helps relieve a little bit of stress to have more hands on deck (and not having to worry about making dinner sometimes is such a big help).

Avocado chicken salad sandwich looks and sounds delicious.

We got a bed frame! Yippee!!! The bed came with a lot of headaches though … ugh!

Love the vibe in this room.

I’m excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

I’ve currently been craving a steak. Must. Have. One. Soon.

I think these lace up ballet flats are pretty.

Thankful for all the things that happened in October, good and bad, because God is working through all of it. This week, during a bad day, a friend encouraged me to “rest in what Jesus has for me today.” #word #mustlearntorest

The girls have a belly full of candy (mine is full of Twix and some cookies my parents brought home from NY) and I’m excited to go on a double date with the BFF tomorrow. The weekend’s been so good, and I don’t want it to end!

Yoda and Leia were just walking in Dagobah, when suddenly Darth Wah-Wi-Shi popped out of nowhere! Then, he trapped them in a cage in his Death Hideout.

Yoda tried to break the cage with his lightsaber, but he couldn’t. Leia tried to shoot the cage to get out, but the blast came back towards them.

Back at headquarters, Nancy Drew, Molly Drew, and Rosie the Riveter were waiting for Leia and Yoda to show up for the team meeting. They waited, and waited, and waited, but they never came. Leia tried to use her comlink to get to them, but only a buzz came back to Molly’s comlink.

Nancy and Molly have solved lots of mysteries together, so they decided it was time to solve another … the mystery of the missing Leia and Yoda! They canceled the meeting and set out to solve the mystery.

They knew that Leia and Yoda were probably in Dagobah, so they checked there first, and that’s when they found a clue … Yoda’s comlink! They knew it was Yoda’s because it was the oldest comlink model, and Yoda is the oldest Jedi. He’s 900 years old!

Nancy exclaimed, “Yes! A clue!”

Rosie yelled, “We can do it!”

They followed the trail of Yoda’s feet and uncovered the Death Hideout. They couldn’t see any doors or windows, so Nancy, Molly, and Rosie put on their invisible sunglasses. They got out their magnifying glasses too.

All at once, they saw a door with a keyhole! They did not have a key, but good thing Nancy had bobby pins with her. She used it to open the door, and voila … they were able to go in!

They heard cries for help, so they followed the noise. They came to the cage and saw Leia and Yoda! Rosie the Riveter grabbed the cage door and tore it apart!

Yoda and Leia got out, but Darth Wah-Wi-Shi came out of nowhere and started fighting with Yoda! Leia and Rosie took the droids, while Nancy and Molly were looking for a way out.

They found an invisible escape pod, so they called Rosie, Leia, and Yoda over. They all hurried into the escape pod!

While the door was still open, Yoda pushed Darth Wah-Wi-Shi with the force. Yoda had defeated him. They landed in Masonville, and lived happily ever after now that the mystery was solved!

THE END

This year’s story was written entirely by True and Brave (last year’s was too!). I’m totally impressed with what they came up with; guess they do learn something in homeschooling (didn’t feel like it yesterday when I was crying about how they weren’t listening to me).

Brave loves Nancy Drew, so that’s who she chose to be this Halloween. Soul came up with the character, Molly Drew, to be Nancy’s sidekick. Since my kids have a Star Wars obsession going on, two of them had to be their favorite characters from the series … Princess Leia and Yoda. Brave and Soul came up with their own outfits, and I made the Leia and Yoda costumes. I was so tempted to buy it on Amazon, but that sewer in me just couldn’t do it (it ended up being about $12 each making them myself). Once I was done sewing, True exclaimed, “Homemade costumes are THE best!” It made me glad I made them for them.

Have a look back at some of our past Halloween stories…
2014: The Zookeeper’s Wild Day
2013: The Mystery of Pinkie Pielilocks and the Three Bears
2012: The Adventures of Spider-Girl & She-ra
2011: Barbershop Quartet
2010: The Three Little Piggies
2009: Hannah and Gretel
2008: The Untold Story of Oz
2007: Little Red Riding Hood

Happy Halloween friends!

on me: jumpsuit, vintage from ms. tips (and she was so kind to add in the scarf, so instant costume!). on true: leia dress, handmade. silver clogs, hanna anderson. on brave: dress, vintage from ms. tips. hat, old navy. bag, zara. clogs, hanna anderson. on soul: dress, old navy. jacket, gift from the grandparents. sandals, old navy. hat, gap kids. on glow: outfit, handmade. ears, made by true (for her birthday). light saber found here.