November, the month of Thankfulness

The following post was originally written three years ago this week.  I'm pulling it back up and sharing again in case you're like me and found yourself wanting a leaf stencil for another fall related project with your kids.  2013 was the year we began our first Thankful banner, and as I was asking Ella to create some colorful leaves out of construction paper for us I suddenly remembered I'd saved these stencils from three years ago.  They're nothing fancy, but they do the job.

Going around the table every night in November sharing at least one thing we're thankful for is one of my favorite things we do.  I can't do without this transitional month of Thanksgiving before the harried pace of December comes.  What's on your thankful list as we near the year's end?  I'm predicting Pokemon makes the leaf banner at our house at least once this year.

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Are there any other mothers out there who have sometimes felt like they weren't good mothers because they didn't do "crafts" with their kids?  For some reason, to sit down and color or organize opportunities to paint, create, or otherwise make something "crafty" epitomized being a good mom to me.  Maybe it's because I don't consider myself a natural crafter?  It's all kind of ridiculous, and I think I'm growing out of feeling like that, though it didn't stop me from feeling kind of proud of myself for doing a craft with Ella Saturday morning. ;)

I saw this glittery leaf project on Pinterest one night and thought it was pretty, and it made me excited to use glitter.  I also thought the kids would enjoy a glitter experience.  Who doesn't love glitter???  I was strangely looking forward to a big glittery mess.

The original crafters said they used a bag of artificial leaves from the Dollar Tree, which I was unable to find, so I ended up using Photoshop to create a template that I printed out on cardstock and used as a stencil.  You're welcome to download it and use it if you have any leaf projects up your sleeve this fall.

Ella and I traced and cut until we felt like we had enough, and then came the fun part:  glue and glitter.

We experimented with different ways of decorating the leaves.  Ella had the good idea of coloring them first so there was still some color showing through the glitter.  Some leaves got more glitter than others, but I don't think you can really mess it up.  Ella was hesitant at first about completely covering her leaves with glitter, but it grew on her.

 Pretty, Pretty

Part way through the project I decided not to worry about making a perfect banner for decor and to instead merge it with the desire to keep a record of the things we're thankful for this month.  I really liked the results:  a little bit of shiny and a whole lot of thankfulness in the heart listening to my kids give thanksgivings.  Maybe a little laughter listening to their thanksgivings, too.

I failed to take a picture of James' first thanksgiving with my good camera.  Here it is on Instagram.  I love that boy.

31 Days in October

This is a wrap on the Write 31 Days project this year.  Whew!  I didn't quite manage every day, but I hope you enjoyed the little peek into what our life in Boroughbridge is like.  I missed doing a September monthly round-up, but I wanted to close out this month with a picture-a-day in October.

October 1 - Chocolate Chip Birthday Pancakes for James!

October 2 - Found a few pumpkins and ripe apples at Beningbrough Hall

October 3 - I picked up this Pumpkin Spice Extract at Wal-Mart when I was home.  I apologize for the pumpkin obsession.

October 4 - Trying on their new scarves from the Target Dollar Spot

October 5 - Candy Blue October Sky

October 6 - Finally found the vintage suitcases of my dreams to make a bedside table

October 7 - Grocery store flowers never looked so good.

October 8 - Beautiful York

October 9 - A Couldn't be Prettier Sunday Afternoon

October 10 - Ella and I made Pumpkin Muffins, and surprisingly, EVERYONE loved them.

October 11 - There's always a surprise in the vegetable box.

October 12 - Evening Walk in Boroughbridge

October 13 - For awhile, the prettiest stretch of Autumn color was on the road to pick up the kids from school.

October 14 - Afternoon trip to the Library to pay overdue fines

October 15 - The autumn sunshine outside the outlet mall was the best part of that shopping experience.

October 16 - Our neighbor gave us a big bag of apples, so Ella and I made an Apple and Pear Pie.  

October 17 - It's hard to tell, but these squash I saw by the side of the road one morning were a foot long easily.

October 18 - Here I go with the pumpkins again...

October 19 - Double Rainbow After School

October 20 - Hot Chocolate from the Hairdresser :)

October 22 - Golden Leaves

October 23 - The shapes and colors are so pretty.

October 25 - Put 'em to work.

October 26 - Toys 'R Us in England carries sonic screwdrivers.

October 27 - Penguins in the Wild

October 28 - Family Bowling Night

October 29 - Hermione!

October 30 - Down Time

October 31 - Late Afternoon Light

Octobers Past

I love the look of Fall pictures.  Here's a little glimpse of our October in Boroughbridge last year.

1.  Late Afternoon Light in our Back Garden
2.  Ella and James after the pumpkin contest at their school
3.  Ella and James's Pumpkins
4.  Apple Harvest from our friends' back garden
5.  Leafy sidewalk on our street
6.  Autumn Sunrise
7.  Blue Sky Day at the Devil's Arrows
8.  Pretty Park Leaves

Half Term in Boroughbridge

I hated to miss writing yet another day yesterday, but this week is Half Term, and we enjoyed a day out with friends.  What is half term, you ask?  At least, my American friends will ask.  The British school calendar is fairly similar to "Year Round School" in the States.  There are three "terms," Autumn, Spring, and Summer.  Summer Term is obviously the worst.  It begins right about the time American schools are letting out, and it is the longest term of all.  Apart from the Summer Term, the schedule is pretty nice and seems to move quickly from break to break.  The kids go to school about 6 weeks then have a week off (half term), then approximately another 6 weeks and it's the two-week Christmas holidays.  Spring Term begins in January and feels super short.  Half Term falls in February, then they are off two weeks for the Easter Holidays.  It's then a hop, skip, and a jump to the half term at the end of May and then a long slog until the end of July and school finally letting out for the summer holidays.

February 2015 Half Term Fun at Beningbrough Hall

Moving to another country is like having to re-learn how to do life in every area.  Cultural nuances and differences permeate everything that humans do.  Traveling gives you a small taste of this; living day upon day, month upon month, year upon year continues to surprise me by there being continuous layers to peel up and uncover.  I spent thirty-two years gradually learning tastes, opinions, prejudices, speaking, writing, cooking, cleaning, etiquette, traditions, educational practices, spelling, hymns, driving, etc.  All of those things are different in some way and on some level here, and we're trying to learn what everyone who has lived here their entire lives learnt gradually as fast as we can.

Easter Holidays 2015 at Newby Hall

Sometimes I'm learning differences of perspective, and sometimes I'm learning simple things like: what goes on during Half Term for kids?  I was really excited to hear that the cinemas here often have cheaper tickets for children's movies.  We've really missed the free summer movies in Tuscaloosa, so we had so much fun getting to watch Finding Dory with friends this week in York at a fraction of the normal cost.

I told them to stand beside each other, but they each thought I was

talking to the other and remained 3 feet apart.

I enjoy half term because having the kids home 24/7 is a familiar rhythm of life to me since it was my experience for eight years of mothering.  It's a good time of brother-sister bonding, too.  They alternate between playing really well together and arguing.  I've been trying to let them work out their arguments without intervening more lately, partly because I think it's a good life-skill, partly because whatever they're arguing about seems of little importance.

This week has been really nice.  The first two days we stayed home.  I read a book and worked on a family photo book I needed to put together.  The kids played, watched television, and raked the leaves.  They've also both had colds and it was good to stay home coughing and blowing their noses, I think.  This last part of the week has held meeting up with friends and going out.  We enjoyed the cinema and eating at McDonalds, and yesterday we went to an American-style restaurant in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

It is such a fun taste of home.  This was our second visit, and I just love it.  My Louisiana Gumbo I had yesterday was so good.  And Ella had chocolate chip pancakes and was happy as could be. Tonight we're doing a little Trunk or Treat with friends at the American base nearby, so fun times!  

A Shoe Shop for Boroughbridge

There's only six more days of Write 31 Days...  I can do this!  I've missed three days here and there this month and didn't want to miss another, so I'm popping in to showcase a new establishment to the streets of Boroughbridge this year.

This new shoe shop opened before we went home for the summer, but I hadn't been inside.  I believe it was only children's shoes when it first opened.  Ella and I popped in Saturday afternoon on a whim and ended up having a lovely conversation with the shop owner and finding Ella some boots to keep her toes toasty warm all winter long.

The brown boots hanging there may look suede, but they are actually waterproof and super-soft and cozy on the inside.  And most importantly, Ella was really excited about them.  It was also nice to discover they were also carrying women's boots as well.  Boroughbridge hasn't had a shoe shop since we moved here; I'm sure this makes life easier for a lot of parents.  I know KJ was a bit put out that we drove 40 minutes down the road to a shopping mall looking for shoes the previous Saturday when we could have found them here all along.  Lesson learned, KJ, lesson learned.

Autumn Window Shopping

I always enjoy the window-shopping in Boroughbridge, but it can be especially satisfying in the autumn, especially for the places selling vegetables and flowers.

And maybe especially this shop, which always has beautiful offerings.

Aren't those the loveliest vegetables you've ever seen?  The still life makes so much more sense looking at these guys.  Confession:  I've never eaten a Brussel sprout.  They seem to be a regular part of Christmas dinner here.

I loved that gray pumpkin at the local florist's shop.  It was very Country Living-esque.

And last but not least, I took this picture when I was out jogging because it reminded me of The Andy Griffith Show.  Leg of lamb?  Andy's favorite dish?