Pomegranates or Grenadines

This is just one more reason why I love October. Pomegranates.

Even as a little girl, I was mesmerized by the jewel fruits. The color, the shape, the taste.

Two or three years ago, my Grandpa Heaton gave me two starts from his pomegranate tree. They looked like plain old sticks. We planted both of them, and I watered them vigilantly. One died, one lived. This year we had a fair amount of pomegranates.

Zoe helping to juice the fruit. It takes a lot of pomegranates to make a small amount of juice. Time consuming, but so worth it. Some of the juice we're taking to Grammy Blair's when we go for a visit in a few weeks.

A BLANKET FOR BABY

I love to crochet.

I made this blanket for baby Hazel. I've made this same pattern a few times for new babies, each one a little different because each baby is a little different.

I've used various colors, but I use no more than three for one blanket. I also always use 100% cotton yarn.







This picture shows a close-up of the granny square pattern. I made 12 lilac and 13 green for a total of 25 squares.

I used white yarn to bind all the squares together. Then, I added the pretty edging shown here.

What would be a good name for this blanket?

A New Baby Cousin

Little Crazy Hazie

loved to smell the daisies.

Never was she lazy,

that crazy little Hazie!

I love baby feet!
Zoe could not wait to get over to Levi and Saddie's house to hold Hazel Mazel.
I thought this picture of Tomie holding the baby was so cute. He kept telling my kids "No, no, no." Meaning, this baby was his, NOT theirs.

Fall Break

On Thursday, we took a little day trip to Red Cliffs.
It was such a beautiful day! I love October.

The hike was easy enough for me to do without an extra adult, and the kids loved it! (It was a little tricky to get the pictures without that extra adult though!)

The two older ones loved scrambling and climbing up the rocks.

The two little ones just loved feeling the cool sand in between their fingers and toes.

ONE-DERFUL!

It doesn't quite seem possible that it has already been one year since this wonderful little boy came into our lives.

THE FORT

One day Isaac came inside and asked me if he could have some pallets that were on the side of the house. I didn't know what he was up to, but I said yes, he could have them. A while later he came back inside and wanted to show us what he had built... His very own FORT!

He had taken each wooden pallet (4 total) and dragged it from one side of the house to the other. He had leaned three of them against one another. Somehow, he had even lifted one on top of the others to become the roof. Later, he asked his dad to hammer some nails into the wood to keep everything sturdy.

Isaac has had so much fun building and playing in his fort, with friends and by himself. I still find myself thinking how incredibly amazing his little boy skills truly are!

With his friend Cooper, and an ever-present stick...

Previously, Isaac had built this teepee. Pictured are Aryn and her friend Madelyn.

THE FINISHED PROJECT

Here are the pictures of the finished project Aryn and I did last week. We both think it turned out beautifully!

ZOE'S TOAD

Ever played hide-and-seek
with a toad?

Well, neither have I
but I know a girl that tried.

Her mama saw something JUMP
from the corner of her eye
and said...

Who let a toad in the house?
Was it you little girl? Was it you that let a toad inside?

Yes, mama. Yes, it was I.
The toad jumped ON the bed
He jumped OFF the bed
by the side, by the wall
He jumped underneath the bed
where it was dark...

We were playing hide-and-seek, mama
AND THE TOAD WAS WINNING!

p.s. I'll post a picture of our finished art project soon. (I just have to get the batteries for the camera charged!)

OUR FIRST DAUGHTER

I kept Aryn home from school this morning so that we could have some time together. We worked on an art/craft project for her bedroom.

I thought Aryn would be the best person to write about herself...

My name is Aryn.

I was born March 28th 1999.

My favorite color is pink , and I ador polar bears.

My favorite desert is apple pie and milk.

I am very good student in school and I have three friends named Miranda , Kassidy and Lauryn.

I am in 4th grade , and I love my teacher , MRS. WILSON!

The picture on the upper-left sidebar is going to be Aryn's picture.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR...

I'd like to direct your attention to the upper left-hand side. The picture you see here links to my husband's place of occupation. I just thought it would be fun to add a little something of Gene on this blog, since it is entitled "We are the Blairs." However, he did not want me to take his picture in front of the sign. (Two of his coworkers even tried. Thanks Summer and Daphne.)

In the next few days, I'd like to add a little something from each member of the family. So, stay tuned...

ABOUT THE MOON

My oldest daughter, Aryn, learned about the phases of the moon last year while in third grade. I heard her talking about waning and waxing, crescent and gibbous. I had never learned this much about moon phases in all of my growing up years, and found it intriguing. So I asked her more about it. When I found this gadget on another blog, I knew we had to have it!

FIRST STEPS

It's always a little scary to try new things...

For the last little while my baby has been standing on his own. A little over a week ago he took his first two steps away from a small chair. I've been watching in wonder ever since. It's amazing to me all the practice along the couch that is needed first, the concentration that goes into balancing, and then the courage it takes to step out on your own...




And now it's my turn to try something new...

I've wanted to start this blog for quite awhile. It has taken practice because my technological capabilities haven't been used since I graduated college, some concentration for good measure because I don't know how many times I tried to get that moon gadget added. (Even so, it was my sister-in-law Nicole that added it!) And now comes the courage to step out on my own as I publish this first post...