Projects in our near future......

(don't worry....we are NOT making the gifts in this photo!)

One thing G and I are going to be doing over the next few Fridays is deciding what type of holiday crafts we can make for gifts and who for......there are a few reasons for this.....

1) money is tight (for MOST people, including us)

2) it teaches Gracie that things don't have to be bought in the store

3) it fosters creativity

4) it's heartfelt......

My Granna ALWAYS, always, always made our Christmas gifts. Her mother did the same thing with my Mother and Uncles. Those gifts from Granna mean more to me than anything she could have "purchased".....it required her time and artistic ability and the thoughtfulness of creating something just for me! My mother enjoys doing the same thing, and I want to instill this in Gracie as well....

So........if you are on our Christmas list this year, more than likely (but if time and ideas run out), your gift will be made with love by the two of us!!!!

It's a good thing.

I'm so bad......

I can't figure out why I don't blog much anymore. I don't even LOOK at other blogs much! I'm thinking it's a combo of a different lifestyle with homeschooling as well as facebook! Gracie has been under the weather some (but not this week, as you can see in these fall break photos of the Bowers grandgirls!) We have moved school into the house....the studio just didn't seem to gel with us....we keep the tv off and people seem to know now not to call the house. It's nice and quiet....all we hear is the windchimes, the birds and an occasional meow out of the baby kitten!

Yes....a baby kitten. It's mother rejected it and our neighbor Martha asked us to "kitten sit" one day last week when she had to be gone most of the day. That was all it took. We are feeding it with a bottle and it's a great learning experience......for BOTH of us!

where in the world is Gracie Jo?!

Well, I guess we have been busy! This is G's "fall photo"....each year I put a photo of her in her Halloween gear in a frame (sometimes a costume, sometimes clothes). This child is really growing! It's amazing......

We've been busy with school.....Rhett & I celebrated a dozen years of marriage, working now on our baker's dozen ;) and we have been under the weather too! I'm going to try to be better about posting on here.....I really don't get to browse blogs much anymore!

We have almost totally phased out 2nd grade work at school....although she is still technically a second grader, it is better to give her a bit of challenge :) Gracie is doing well in all of her studies....it's wonderful to see her actually learning.....and teaching me a thing or two in the process!!!