First a couple of photos of my babies…not really babies at all…they are five and six now.

But they are the closest thing to babies I have.   Well, besides my kitty.

We were waiting for the bus at 7:40 am this morning.

I feel pretty!  (do you know the song from West Side Story?  Grace and I sing the phrase “I feel pretty” whenever we feel especially pretty.  And I’m singing it today because of my tunic.

My friend Hannah made it for me.  She lives in Alaska and we have been pen pals for a long time now, and she came to visit me for a week a few years ago.  I think I owe her a visit, don’t you?  I’ve never been to Alaska before.  I love learning about her life and her days.

I met her when we were both blogging on xanga.  The first thing I read on her site that made me think she was possibly a kindred spirit was that she was currently reading through the James Herriot books.  Eventually we learned that we had a lot more than that in common.  We were homeschooling moms, the same age, loved the same books, and each had a bunch of children that were all about the same ages.  We both got married in the same year, too.   She and her husband have 6 children, four girls and two boys.

Our temperaments are a lot alike, as well.  For example, we both have suffered from depression and have been able to help each other through dark days.

We both love Jesus.

Hannah is a very talented seamstress, she made Seth and Sarah each a baby blanket when they were born.  She’s been sewing her own clothes and asked if she could have my measurements and if she could sew me a shirt.

Jacob and I went out to run errands all morning and as soon as we got home I ran to the mailbox and it had arrived!!

For you ladies who sew, here are some of the details:  The pattern is the Schoolhouse Tunic from Sew Liberated.  She ordered the fabric, which is voile, from fabric.com.  The fabric is by Art Gallery Fabric and designed by Katy Jones.  Maybe Hannah could answer questions in the comments if you have any.

She also made a tank to go underneath.  It’s a soft, thick stretchy fabric with a nice wide band around the hem.  She did a quality job and I’m thankful and humbled by her generosity.

She also sent these little goodies.  I especially like the mushroom earrings.  Her mom made the scrubbies and the earrings so you can see that amazing talents have been passed along from mother to daughter.

Today has been so unusual.  Not only did Hannah’s package come, I also got a letter from Gina, and Wilma!  The cardinal is a postcard that Dawn sent me a few weeks ago and I never did tell her I received it which is really sad…so hopefully she’ll see this post…and I’ll be writing to you four ladies ASAP, I can’t wait, and I bought some Halloween stickers today to decorate the envelopes.

Last but not least, here is a picture of Ethan (my senior 17 year old son) right after he got off the bus this afternoon.  He dressed up for school because he has an away game tonight for soccer.

Happy Friday!