Give-away winner & My how they've grown...

I'm happy to announce that Josie selected Erica from Golden Egg Vintage for my Kim K. Halloween give-away.

Congratulations, Erica. Please send me your postal address and I'll gladly send these goodies your way.

While Chris was helping a colleague with yardwork on Sunday, I took the girls to our local pumpkin farmer for our annual pictures. We've been going back to visit this farm every year since Josie's adoption four years ago. I always look forward to seeing just how much the girls have changed from year to year.

Emma age 10, Josie age 2 (2008)

Josie age 3, Emma age 11 (2009)

Emma age 12
Josie age 4 (2010)
Josie age 5
Emma age 13

Emma age 14

Josie age 6

It's been a busy weekend and lots of Halloween decorations came out of storage.  Get ready to spend the month of October celebrating Halloween with me!!

5,000 sky lanterns...a glimpse into heaven...

I had a wonderful time visiting Josie's classroom to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.   Everyone seem to enjoy their chocolate covered fortune cookies and coloring their moon cake pages.  

Later Friday evening we went downtown to participate in the "Lights in the Night" for ArtPrize 2012. Picture over 5,000 sky lanterns being launched simultaneously.  We got to the park early to pick a spot and enjoy the scenery along the grand river.


It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever participated in.

Josie kept saying this might be what heaven looks like.  

I couldn't agree more. 

Mid-Autumn Festival - Moon Festival

For the last few years, I've gone into Josie's preschool or elementary school to share a lesson plan on the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival.  

This year's festival begins September 30th and I will be stopping by her 1st grade classroom for a a brief lesson Friday afternoon. To better understand the holiday, think of it as a mix of a harvest celebration as well as a culinary celebration all mixed together as a family reunion. There are also several myths which you can explore further here.   Many of my adoptive friends describe it as a "Chinese Thanksgiving" which is how I'm going to explain it during our anticipatory set to kick off the lesson.  

 One of the most important traditions during this celebration is the giving and eating of moon cakes.


This delicacy is definitely an acquired taste, so I'll be bringing chocolate covered fortune cookies for our classroom snack.

As you can imagine, Josie is very excited to share her cultural traditions with her new classmates.

Wishing you a Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!
 

Giving thanks and enjoying my orange feather tree...

I'm long overdue in giving thanks to a few blogging friends who have recently sent me goodies. (Meri and Leslie, I promise to make good on all my proper thank yous and spread them out over the next few posts).

First.  
Deb from Garage Sale Gal recently sent me this beautiful tea cup and lace doily.  It's been the sweetest addition to my teacup collection.  Thank you, Deb.

Second.
Last week, I purchased another Magpie Ethel creation to add to my growing collection and Laurie tucked in a few extra treasures. In 2011, I purchased the black cat and this year I added the sweet little witch. Love them!!

Knowing that I collect vintage Christmas bulbs shaped like lanterns, she tucked in a few bulbs along with a hand-made Halloween ornament.


Thank you, Laurie.  I always appreciate visiting your etsy store and admiring your estate sale finds each week on your blog.
Third.

As most of you know, Renee (My Vintage Mending) is so generous in sharing her vintage and hand-made treasures with others.  Knowing how much I like owls, she purchased this owl pin cushion from Beth's Bagz and had it sent to me.  

She also sent me a Halloween package filled with all sorts of sweet treasures.


My orange feather tree is starting to look rather full with all my latest acquisitions!



I've said this before and I'll continue to say this, but blogging friends are really the most GENEROUS friends.  Are the rest of you starting to get your Halloween out?  We've got 20+ bins full of Halloween decorations waiting to be unpacked.  I'm not kidding.  If you'd like a few Halloween goodies to add to your collection, don't forget to leave a comment on this earlier post for my Kim K. Halloween give-away.

A Kim K. Halloween Give-away!

I'm ready to share a few of my favorite Kim K. Halloween crafting projects with my blogging friends.

Goodies include:

 a vintage apron with a candy corn pin.

A mini witch hat, a glittered mini Halloween house, and a mini shadowbox made from a candy box lid.


A Halloween inspired scrabble holder.

A tiny pail filled with Halloween cats.

A Halloween bracelet and a Family Fun Halloween Treats book.

And last but not least, Halloween spider candles.

So many Halloween goodies, just waiting to go to a good home!

In order to be entered in the giveaway:
* Leave me a comment on this blog post. Period. That's it. Absolutely no strings attached.
* Entries close at 6:00pm EST Sunday, September 30th.
* Winner will be picked randomly by one of my two girls (whoever happens to be home and eager to be my assistant). I might even thrown in a few surprise Halloween goodies too.

Good luck and Happy Halloween!