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Ingrid pretends that she’s riding a horse pretty often, but I’ve been resistant to buying her a big stuffed horse for obvious reasons. Shed seen those stick horses at toy stores and wanted one. Since she has a special fondness for unicorns, I was thrilled to find this tutorial http://lightbluegrey.blogspot.com/2011/01/lets-diy.html for a stick horse that I could then add a horn to!

There was a bit of work to get the mane and eyes on, but Ingrid sweetly made lunch (pb&js) so I could keep going. All in all it took us about 2 1/2 hours and there was lots of working together which I loved. Ingrid has named her Sweetie-horn, and she is the mother of the pillow buddy I made Ingrid for her birthday, Sweetie-corn

Later on I snuck a little time for own project, and made these cute little sushis for Ingrid’s tea party. They’re felt, and SO easy to make! Each one took about ten minutes. Can you tell, that one is an Unagi roll, and the other a Philly? And check out the adorable mini roses Ingrid made.

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Halloween may be over, but we’re not done with dress up just yet. We got these cute costumes for $2 each (gotta love Target–90% clearance on all their Halloween stuff!). Broomstick and wig were each less than a dollar. Score!

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A few days ago, Ingrid announced to us very matter of factly that she is no longer into Star Wars. She doesn’t want to part with any of her Star Wars stuff, which she still loves. She just loves Harry Potter more now. This was rather shocking news, because I thought that once a SW fan, always a SW fan. Apparently not with Ingrid! She is pretending to ride a broomstick even as I type this.

Today, I received my much anticipated copy of Big Felt Little Universe, by Jeanette Lim. I couldn’t wait to dig in and make something amazing! We flew through our lessons, goofed off at the playground, finished up some chores, and then spent the rest of the day making a felt slice of cake and kiwi. Ingrid helped with reading the instructions, cutting out templates and felt pieces, taping cardboard pieces, and a bit of easy whipstitching. She doesn’t have as much interest/attention span for sewing projects as she does with painting and drawing. She began playing her own game on the side after about 2 hours, coming back and giving me encouragement every so often. Nevertheless, I really loved making them, and I know Ingrid will put them to good use in her many many tea and birthday parties. I just wish I had discovered this book when Ingrid was 2! I would have made her every toy in there : )  Oh well I’m telling myself that we’ll package them all up and save them for her children.

Lastly here are some photos of Ingrid sporting her new clip earrings. She’s mentioned wanting them a few times, so yesterday I took my girl to Claire’s so she could get a feel for what earrings are about. I have to admit she looks cute in them. I thought I wouldn’t like them, but when I saw her wearing them out of the shop I realized: this is Ingrid intensified. She has an exuberant quality that you don’t really see unless you spend a lot of time with her.

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We’re in music city this week: Nashville, Tennessee. In fact, we’re right across from the Grand Ole Opry. Haven’t been there yet, since we just arrived last night.

Instead we’ve been busy making puppets this morning, sprinkling in Math as we go. This beauty’s name is Charlotte and Ingrid made her from my huge, new stockpile of felt.

The felt is for my sudden inspiration to make Christmas ornaments. I made a few, but then just as suddenly I wasn’t really too into it anymore. And I didn’t want to part with my lovely stash of felt (it really is wonderful for stitching!) so puppets were the logical answer. A fun homeschool project that you can complete in just a couple of hours. I couldn’t find a template I liked so we just winged it. Next time though I think I’ll use a template, her jaw needs to be smaller.

As for my need to make something, I’ve now turned to learning embroidery. With the help of an iron transfer pencil, I can put any drawing onto fabric and then stitch it. Have a couple of awesome embroidery books on the way, finally using the birthday Amazon gift certificate from my mother in law (thanks, Pam!!) Pretty fun so far!

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I’ve never desired to visit Alabama, but here we are. And I kind of like it! So far, we’ve only just stayed in the campground. I’ve been sick since yesterday but I did get in one jog. Andrew’s been riding his mountain bike everyday, and raving about the trails.

There’s a closed road that goes for miles here inside Monte Sano State Park, and I was really surprised to see so many people here. And they’re not just older couples; there are families too. This campground costs $19 a night (possibly the cheapest we’ve had so far in 3 years), and there doesn’t appear to be a limit on how long you can stay. So I wouldn’t be surprised to find some other “roadschoolers” here with us.

How do you like our pumpkins? It’s only been a couple of days but Ingrid’s unicorn’s horn is beginning to curl.

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