Unexpected Surprises

Hooray! Martin just called to let me know he'll be coming home tonight instead of tomorrow night! Evidently scheduling school visits for tomorrow wasn't going well and his boss was supposed to come down and do the visits with him, so when he called his boss this morning and said the schools weren't being very receptive, he was told to just come on home tonight. I don't blame his boss--who wants to drive all the way down to Evansville for nothing? So I'll be happy to get Martin back tonight, AND my mom already was planning to make Minestrone Soup for dinner, so I'll just plan to go up there to eat and if Martin gets home in time for dinner her can join us, and if not, I'll still get a hot meal that I won't have to cook! Everybody wins! Except for my mom, I guess....

I made the face on Anja's rag doll yesterday and it looks only SLIGHTLY satanic. I didn't have black embroidery floss so I used a light brown. And her mouth is pink. Everything is a little lumpy because I really have no idea how to embroider correctly, so I just leave the knots out and try to squish them down a little bit. Haha... this doll is probably going to give her nightmares. I did take pictures, but I'm not sure if they're appropriate to post because I still haven't made the dress for her, so she's naked. She's a modest doll.

I'm really looking forward to Halloween, except for the part where I haven't made our costumes yet. Oops. We're going to be the three little pigs! I hope everything works out. (Translation: I hope I can get motivated to get off my lazy patooter and put together some decent costumes.)

I can't believe that Anja is going to be ONE in only a couple of weeks!!! This year has flown by. We are having a birthday party for her on November 9th (her birthday) which is a Sunday. It'll be at 4:00, a kind of pre-dinner cake and ice cream thing, and any of you can come. All you have to do is call me and let me know you're coming a little bit ahead of time so I'll know how much ice cream to get! I'm going to make her a duck cake. I was originally planning to make a dinosaur cake because Mrs. Watson sent me a video tutorial on making a dinosaur cake awhile back, and it really didn't look as hard as it sounds, and since she is our little dinosaur, it would be appropriate. But then she started quacking... and I just can't help myself. It has to be a duck cake!

Last night I ran the little space heater in our bedroom and it made the room so cozy. And it totally reminded me of last fall when Anja was so tiny and we kept the house soooooooooo warm because we were sure she was going to freeze and die. I really love late fall and winter when it gets so cold like this. We've got our wool blankets loads of quilts piled on our beds and today I'm wearing my super adorable stripey wool tights that I got for Christmas last year. I love them. They are sooooo soft and warm, and unlike a lot of thick knit tights, they are very comfortable and don't sag down!

Speaking of knit... I really need to decide what to make and get myself down to River Knits with my gift certificate. Tis the season to be knitting!