Family Time at a Country Fair

Today Steve took the day off so we could go to the Topsfield Fair. This fair pride's itself as the oldest agricultural  fair in America. This was my third time attending it. Steve took me for the first time when we had just started dating six years ago. We took Hazel again last year on a Saturday morning when it first opened for the day, but by the time we got to the young children rides the line for tickets was too long for her to go on any and there were not many she would have been able to go on due to the minimum height requirement. This year she made it by two inches for most of the rides.

We also had gotten two free ride tickets and a voucher for a hot dog and drink from our local library's summer reading program. We actually entered this time right at the young children rides since the entrance near where we parked was next to the flood of the Ipswich River. We headed for the rides first. Hazel wanted to go on the train first thing. She enjoyed being the only person on it.

Then the three of us went on the carousal. She didn't want to try the horses so we sat on a sleigh together. Next we went on the spinning strawberries. Steve didn't get a picture though. Then she drove a race car.

Then we bought some kettle corn and walked around. We found a magician who was quite silly and Hazel (and we) found quite entertaining. His assistant did acrobatics with silk ribbons hanging from the top of the stage. Really beautiful.

Then we found the petting zoo. Hazel of course said she wanted to pet the animals and wanted to feed the animals, but was afraid to when we got closer. She laughed as I fed the goats though. And we watched people ride the elephant and camel. She was fascinated with them, but definitely did not want to go on them.

Then we found more sheep and a cow to see. Then we realized it was lunch time and we were at the place we could get Hazel's free hot dog and drink. We also got hot dogs and some cheese fries for us to share. Then we went to see the pigs, but the line was too long and not moving so we went to see the bunnies. Hazel loved seeing all the rabbits and wanted to be lifted to see them better.

Now we knew our time was running out since we needed to be home by 1:30 for an appointment (and hopefully a nap--which did not happen). So we had one more ride ticket and that was where we needed to exit. So Hazel drove a purple car and I went off to buy apple cider, apple cider donuts and an apple (which they gave me a knife to slice for Hazel). The donuts were just coming out of the fryer when I got them and were still warm when we got them home. They were the best I have ever had.

Overall it was a perfect fall day. The weather was cool and comfortable and finally sunny. The fair was just getting crowded when we left so we timed it all perfectly. The traffic to get into the fair when we left was horrible, so we were really glad we did it how we did.

Do you do any fun fall family activities?

Fall Decorations and the Pumpkin Fairy

This morning we woke up to quite a thunder storm. It was loud and I think that is what really woke Hazel up this morning. Now the storm seems to have passed, but the forecast doesn't look great for today. Hazel wanted to start some crafts this morning, so we made some fall crafts. We started with some Indian corn. The button Indian corn came from All Kids Network. They have the template there so all you have to do is cut out the shapes. Hazel enjoyed this one.  The fingerprint Indian corn also came from All Kids Network. Again they provide a template. And again Hazel enjoyed this. We have a nice fingerprint ink set that I got her at Lakeshore Learning Store.

Hazel's New Pants

Last night I finally finished the first of the pants I started for Hazel. She has started to love to have pockets. She loves to put all of her treasures in them. She also continues to grow like a weed and several of the clothes I made this summer look short on her already. So, I added a paper pieced pocket and lengthened them with ruffles.

I used a basic elastic toddler pants pattern. Then I found the pocket pattern on line here. I have been trying to figure out a good way to make the pocket cat shaped and loved this paper pieced pattern. I hadn't paper pieced in awhile, but it is easy. To get started you take a piece of the correct color fabric for your number 1 piece and put it on the back of the paper then cut a piece of the correct color fabric for number 2 piece bigger than the piece and put it on top of the number 1 piece on the back of the paper so they can be sewn on the line between the two pieces and the number 2 piece will fold over that line and completely cover the number 2 shape. Make sure on all of your pieces you have enough to have a border to sew. Continue adding pieces until the block is finished. For a video on doing this you can check out here. After finishing the paper piecing (I had to sew the three separate blocks together to get the cat), I sewed a piece of fabric on the other side to make a stronger pocket and to not have to fold over edges. I sewed it around 3 1/2 sides leaving the hole in the bottom to turn it. Then turned and pressed it. The bottom edge gets finished when attached. I sewed the top before attaching just so it wouldn't mess up the edge (topstitching). Then I pinned it and sewed it. This would have been easier to do before I sewed the pants together, but I hadn't had the idea then.

Then I trimmed an inch off the bottom of the legs and added a no-hem ruffle. I cut two 5-inch strips of full length fabric and sewed each into a loop. Then folded them in half and stitched the tops at 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch in loose stitches. I gathered them up so they would fit the leg cuff and sewed them on. The ruffles are so full that they go out on her now, but will provide a bit more length when needed. She wanted to try them on right away so this is with her pajama top this morning.

The only part I'm not completely happy with is the pocket placement, but I will do better on the next pair. I have several funky pairs started and just need to add pockets, ruffles and elastic. Hopefully you will be seeing more this week.

For those of you with a daughter, check out Tatertots & Jello's Monday giveaway from Downeast Basics Clothing--something for Mom and daughter!
Also check out the giveaways at Raising 4 Princesses. She has some great prizes!

Halloween Countdown for Toddlers & Spiced Pear Muffins

So Hazel has been getting excited for Halloween. Last year, she had a teeth breaking through and was miserable. She also refused to wear her lion costume that I made her. You can see in the picture when I forced her to try it on, she was not happy. For a Halloween Party at the library I got away with putting her in a dress and saying she was a princess. It was all she was willing to wear or should I say unable to take off herself. On Halloween, she literally refused to dress up. She was feeling miserable. So we did not go trick-or-treating. So I'm excited that she getting into it this year. She has changed her mind a couple of times (with some influence from her grandmother), but she has decided to be the dish and carry the spoon from Hey, Diddle, Diddle. If you have been following me, you will know this is one of her favorite nursery rhymes.

So to help keep the excitement going, I made her a way to countdown the days until Halloween. I was going to make something more formal and have things to do or stories to read each day, but didn't get my act together (or should I say the plan together) soon enough and also thought this would be perfect for her age. I made her an October calendar with the correct dates and the number of days until Halloween. At the bottom I included pictures of kids trick-or-treating. On our's I also included a picture of the dish and spoon. However, I removed this before I saved it as a pdf. Here it is in case you want one. Halloween Countdown Each morning Hazel will put a sticker on that day. This way she will have a sense of when Halloween is. She has been asking to go trick-or-treating every day, so I have been trying to give her a sense of the time.


Since we did not bake yesterday, I baked today. I had five very ripe pears to use, so I combined some recipes to make spiced pear muffins. The verdict is good. All three of us liked them!

Spiced Pear Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
6.5 ounces Greek non-fat yogurt
5 pears, cored and pureed in food processor (I did not peel them)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices and set aside.

In mixer bowl cream butter, granulated sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Beat until fluffy (if butter was not at room temperature it will take slightly longer but the mixer will do the work). Add the egg and mix well. Add yogurt and pear puree. Mix and stop to scrape bowl at least once.

Add flour mixture to mixer and mix well. Remembering to scrape bottom and sides of bowl.

Put batter into muffin cups. Divide and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 and then turn the oven down to 400 and bake for another 10 minutes. The muffins are moist, so it takes a bit to bake them. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!!

Saturday and no baking

Needle felted acorn necklace

So yesterday we discovered the reason behind Hazel chewing on her hands like she was teething again. She has a sinus infection. With that in mind, but having promised her we would go to the Open House today at school--well actually at the entire Morraine Farm where the school is located, we went, but only went to the school.

We spent most of our time in our classroom. Hazel is most comfortable there, and she loves to play with the toys especially when there are not as many kids around to share. Plus I promised her we would go visit Mrs. Hill (our teacher). Steve went and bought us two bowls of vegetable soup from one of the classes earning money for their class trip and we ate it near our classroom. From there we went to the Nursery classroom and met the new Nursery teacher. This is who Hazel will have next year. Then we went to the Kindergarten classroom where they were making Huckabuck bread. Hazel got the last piece to knead. Then Steve took her outside to play on the playground and I went back inside to do the handiwork project which was a needle felted acorn necklace. Hazel had been asked if she wanted to do one, but she said no. Since I had seen some on Magic Onions and saw her kits, I have been wanting to try them. She sells them at her Esty Shop, Fairyfolk as well as kits to learn how to needle felt. So today I was able to make one as a necklace and learned the proper technique. Now I can get busy making more for decorations with all the acorn caps I have been collecting.

To make them, you need some wool roving, needle felting needle and foam, acorn cap (and if you want to make it a necklace the cap needs to be drilled with a hole and you will need ribbon and a needle for the ribbon that will fit in the hole) and glue.

Take your roving and fold it up to form a squarish ball. Then start needling it especially on the ends to get it to the shape you want it to be. Make sure one end is small enough to fit in the cap. You glue it into the cap. If you want a necklace you first have to pull the ribbon through the hole and tie it and hide the knot in the cap. Then glue it.

Happy Autumn!