What Ana Does

We're all excited to have our first nephew in the family! Baby Harper has his eyes open to the whole world this morning ... and is ready for a family of women to dote on him every single day. Lucky boy. 6th Time An Auntie, But First Nephew

For a family that travels quite a lot, it doesn't escape me now lucky we get sometimes by not getting sick before or on our trips. So it's especially relevant on this trip, our annual journey  back to New Jersey to be with Dave's family, that I'm reminded of our little luck --- by all getting the flu.  All of us, except for Leah, laid out with coughing, fever and runny noses.  For days.  Easily the worst trip ever. We even infected our hosts --- the good friends we stay with each year. Horrible.  So, let's all take a moment to give thanks for not being ill or contagious around your family.  Happy Thanksgiving! Homeward Bound

Today's lunch brought to you by: Appetizers!! Hummus, Pita, Crackers and Cheese!

Dave unearthed these two adorable pics from deep in his laptop. This is what these ladies looked like when I started this blog in 2011. Lunch With The Girls Alice - Halloween 2011! She Was Blueberry Muffin Relate posts: More more and more Alice

While I was getting my craft-on, our house was turned into the ocean with this little mermaid swimming around. I made that skirt last year at the request of Alice who is in love with mermaids. Seems to be holding up well. My Littlest Mermaid Side note: Though she loves mermaids, she has no interest at all in swimming lessons this winter. None. Related Post: Sewing the mermaid tale tail

I've cleared the schedule and shoved aside all housework to concentrate on sewing projects I've been putting off this weekend First up ... Circle pennant.  I got this lovely felt at my favorite fabric store in SoHo. And this morning I found a circle cutter at Micheal's. Seems like the perfect union.  The verdict: fail. The flannel is too thick to to cut.  Circle-Cutter and Felt = No Go But it works on paper ... So I'm rethinking my plans.  Imagine the Possibilities!!!  Next ... dolly blanket.  I'm terrified of quilt binding so I'm making this mini quilt and following some instructions I recently found.  I Found Fairytale Fabric - Princess And the Pea for This Side The binding came together a little easier than I expected but the corners were another story. Seam ripper to the rescue.  Binding and Corners - Need to Figure that Out The stitch the the ditch has taken the most time. Are they uniform stit...

Lately I've been getting into a few things from the outside world more enthusastically than usual. So here's a roundup: - Death Comes to Pemberly on BBC Mystery! It's a sequel-ish to Pride and Prejudice written by a famous mystery writer. I don't usually give these Jane Austen-wanna-bes too much credit, but this seemed like fun. It was, er, interesting to see my favorite characters in all of lit -- Lizzie Bennett and Darcy -- continue their story and throw them into another crap-storm thanks to Wickham and Lydia. Lydia always ruins EVERYTHING! Once I finish it, I'm pretty sure I'll have to pick up P&P again for yet another re-read. Oh Lizzie, Iloveyouso. - Outlander.  First, you should know I didn't read these books, so I have no context. And this season is only 8 crazy episodes but if you haven't enjoyed the loveliness that is the Scottish accent, men in kilts or Jamie (hubba hubba), you really should. It's slow at times and Claire keeps t...

With a kid sick at home (small fever and cough, sigh), I've had a little time in between meetings and work emails to continue my project of scanning in old family photos my Mom has been generously dropping on my desk. Great-Grandparents -- Dressed up for a Dance From the black and white images that belonged in my Grandma's photo albums, I'm starting to recognize faces of relatives that I never met in real-life. "Hey, there's Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Whitey again!" So, it's a rewarding, though, a never-ending project. Someday, I'd like to make a picture family tree using my Mom's genealogy information and give them as gifts. But that's not in the plans for this year. For now, just scanning. Also in the stacks of photos are pictures of my siblings and I when we were young. Grainy shots from the 1970s and '80s of little girls with rosie cheeks and long bangs. It's fun to look for similarities in the faces of my own kids. Last ...

I voted! It always makes me a little emotional. It feels historical and dramatic and not-a-big-deal all at once. My voice, my thoughts, my political leanings will be heard, even if it's just a drop in a bucket. Here's how it goes: I pick up my ballot with professionalism. Walk to my booth. And as I'm slowly filling in circles a montage of suffragette protests plays in my mind. They're picketing, they're starving themselves, they're stopping traffic and getting thrown into jail. Votes for women!! If it wasn't for them, I would be banned from the polling place by baton-waving policemen. My voice wouldn't be heard. I wouldn't matter to my own government. Not a true citizen but a women "too stupid" to be trusted with the task of choosing my government representatives. Appalling. The music swells as I turn in my ballot. The ghosts of Alice Paul, Emmeline Pankhurst, Susan B. Anthony and numerous others -- in their billowy blouses and oversize...

I suppose I could hire a photographer to take professional photos of the kids -- throw them into a studio or something. But it seems like a waste of money for something I'd rather do myself. So, this weekend I set an "appointment" on Sunday morning to dress up the ladies and get them outside to gather pics for this year's holiday card. The thing I find funny is right now, the girls LOOK FORWARD to picture morning. Which is a complete 180 from my childhood when my Mom forced us into clothes, curled our hair like a mushroom (I have photographic evidence, though I'm sure I'm half to blame for that unfortunate hairstyle) and drove us kicking-and-screaming to a studio. But, then again, there was five of us. Two is a bit more manageable. And my girls are total hams in front of the camera. Here's five things you need to know about taking your own holiday card photo:  Take the photos outside in the early morning. Inside photos are usually too dull or grey. ...

Leah's Rendering of Costumes In the town we live in, they DECIDE when Halloween trick-or-treating takes place. And it's not on Halloween. Oh no, it's far too dangerous in this very rural suburb to let kids walk around subdivisions in the dark. Sigh. So, on Sunday we celebrated Halloween by trick-or-treating at 3pm in the afternoon. We got a sunny, 60degree day. And the streets of our neighborhood were littered with Elsas and superheroes. Leah went as a witch . I made her skirt and pinned on the shawl, belt and bustle. We bought the hat and broom. She was dead-set on finding boots -- which she did at Old Navy. I wanted to do more make-up, but she only allows eyebrow enhancement. We found Alice's costume in a catalog. We had to vote on it, since she liked two different outfits -- shiny mermaid and Little Red Riding Hood . We all voted for Little Red. (I looked into buying the velvet to make the cape myself but it was almost as expensive as the costume.) There ...