gingersnappers and apple cider

This weekend we are off to Oak Glen to buy some apples. It's a tradition.

Oak Glen is a town in the moutains with apple orchards and quaint little barns and stores. We see the same people every year. We know which apples we like. I'm partial to Arkansas Black. Thom likes Pink Ladies. We buy cider. Like I said, it's tradtion.

It's been a bad year for apples. We heard that a lot of our favorite apple farmers aren't even opening shop this year. Which makes us sad.  I guess in a bad economy, apples don't even grow.

But we Meekers are staunch about our traditions.  The show must go on.

I made some cookies to pack in our knapsacks. I paired gingersnaps with pumpkin cream cheese frosting. They turned out amazing if I do say so myself.

So I thought I'd share.

I like this recipe for the cookies. They are nice and chewy. Then I used this recipe for the frosting. I like it because it has a hint of orange which gives the cookies a nice tang.

I call them gingersnappers.

Have a fab weekend. I plan to.

the witch's larder

Bubble, bubble toil and trouble.

That's the motto at the Meeker residence as of late. I've been getting ready for Halloween early so that I will have all the time I need to work on Spark as it gets closer. The babies have been fighting like the dickens, climbing up on everything and generally causing a rukus. And I find myself all too often feeling like Elphaba and wishing I was more like Glinda.  Or rather, Dorthy. I'd love to click my hills and be on vacation somewhere fabulous.

But life goes on and my children are growing and I don't want to miss a minute of their childhood.

I have created a printable party set called "The Witch's Larder" that is just chalk full of sinister goodies.

Here's a peek at what I created with my printables.

You can see these photos larger by clicking on them.

Purchase the printable set here.

These printables are intended for personal use only. Please see my licensing information on my digital brush page.

You can see more of my Halloween decoration ideas here , here, here and here.

sing, sing a song

This is Victor the Singing Penguin. 

I wanted to say a few words about singing.

The first words are: I suck.

Really. I'm not in the least bit a person who other people like to hear belt out a tune.

I know this. But folks. Come on! That does not mean it stops me from singing! Why would it?

And the Birdie girl, well, she's not much of a tunester either. But she sings. All. The. Time.

Loudly.

And I love it. Because it means she is like me.

Tonight, out of the blue, the Boy asked me what song it was that I used to sing to him when he was younger.

I have sang the same song to all my babies. "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor.

Why? Who knows! I guess it might be because I know all the words. I also like the part that says, "deep greens and blue are the colors I use". And it's kinda westerny. And I'm kinda a westerny lovin girl.

So I can't sing. So what.

I'll tell you what I'm extra special good at. Making friends with crazy talented people. People who can sing and do other fun and inspiring things.

Like Mindy. She just released a single called "See the Good". You can listen to it and buy it here on iTunes.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, that even though I might be the worlds worst singer, my children still like to hear me sing James Taylor. Because I am their mother. Some mother's swaddle their babies so tight they can hardly breath. Other mothers put tourniquets with huge flowers attached to them around their babies heads. 

I choose to sing to mine. It's how they know I love them.

friday? wah?

ma vie trouvée

Well golly be. I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that it is Friday already. Sometimes I really do think there are glitches in the space time continuum and some days and weeks fly by faster than others.

Is there really such thing as a space time continuum?

This week has been chalk full of art. Just the way I like it.

I've been cooking up a little spooky October gift to share here on Suaviloquy. I've been sewing. I've been sketching silly birds in hats.

Today I'm off to meet up with more creative type people. We are getting together to think tank. What? I'm not sure exactly, but I do know that it will be fabulous.

Happy Weekend!

a room of one's own

lissy elle

The truth is everybody needs a space.

Everybody needs a space to go to and think. Or pray, or whatever it is you do in your still moments.

My space is my closet. I have a nice closet. Not too cramped, with a window so the light can stream in during the waning hours of the day.  I like to lay on the carpet and watch the dust particles twinkle and dance in the still air. My closet smells like me, on Sunday. It's a mixture of Quelques Fleurs perfume and leather.

This is my thinking spot. My praying spot. My leave me the hell alone spot.

Everyone needs a spot.

It needn't be a closet. Some might find solitude in wide open spaces. Or eating alone in a bustling cafe. Or in an attic or a tree.

I have a mantra when I lay in my closet that I like to say in my head. "I am enough". Because the truth is, the world makes me, and you, feel like we are not enough. But really, we are.

I don't actually repeat the words "I am enough" over and over. I just let myself feel like I am all I should be. As I lay there, I let myself feel good about who I am and what I do.  Sometimes I listen to happy music on my headphones. Sometimes I get our bamboo back scratcher and tickle my own back and think up new schemes.

In this way, my closet has become my place of possibility.

Children seem to inherently know there is magic in having a space. When I was a little girl, I went to an old barn in a peach orchard behind my house. It was a dilapidated building with loads character and a resident barn owl. I did a lot of really good thinking in that old barn. But then I grew up. And I forgot about the barn and about being still and doing nothing.

It's taken many years, but now I remember.

Everybody needs a space.

Go find yours.

win win

The Sugar Daddy and I rented the movie "Win Win". We had really wanted to see it because it was written  and directed by one of our favorite screenwriters.

If you haven't seen it, I won't ruin it for you by telling the story. I'll just say it's about a family, well really just a man,  who is coping with all the stresses of daily life and not doing too well.  The children are needy and the bills are heavy. 

He eats a lot of ice cream late at night.

At a certain point in the movie, Sugar Daddy and I looked at each other and commented that it felt like we were watching our own life play out before us.  The guy in the movie is pretty bad off.  We aren't bad off. But the Sugar Daddy does like to drown his troubles in a bowl of Ben and Jerry's.

 It's the daily stress that we feel acutely. The kind of stress that can drive you to do crazy things if you don't manage it.

I love my husband. I love my children.  I love my life. The older I get, the more I realize that the American dream isn't cheap.  Every single thing you add into your life comes with a price.  

Szun Wu, Thom's beta fish died this week. I felt sad. For a fish. Everything has it's price. Szun Wu cost $3 and a couple days worth of grief.

To be fair, he was a magnificent beta in his heyday.

I've heard it said that no one would do anything if they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into.

If this is true, I hope I stay as naive as possible.  I have found that when all is said and done, things that require the most work, yield the best returns.

You know, like kids and husbands and houses and the like.

eight is great or the miracle of tommy b.

Eight years ago today I was in the hospital in labor with my first son.

We had tried for years to conceive. We had given up. And then...

All children are a gift, but this kid, well, he was something else all together. He was a miracle.

The significance of this miracle child has never lost it's luster. Still, eight years later, I look at him and marvel.

Thomas was given his name after one of the disciples in the bible. Doubting Thomas. That is what I had become. Years of infertility had left me jaded and unbelieving. Bitter even.

Now I have a living reminder to keep the faith.

Here's some fun facts about Thom:

He has never in his entire eight years slept in.

He loves Doctor Who.

He has filled hundreds of pages of notebooks with his sketches.

He has a huge sweet tooth.

He's a guy's guy.

He will only wear shorts.

He loves his Converse.

He is not a cuddler.

He always remembers to say thank you.

He hates to make his bed.

He is a little afraid of heights.

He is not afraid of shots.

He has the exact same eye color as his dad.

Happy Birthday Mr. Bean. I love you. But you know that already.

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I also wanted to mention that my good friend, the little sasspipe, Rhonna Farrer is launching her new website today.  I'm so excited for her. She creates the most whimsical and fun graphics to be used in digital art. I used some of her new elements in the above photo of Thom.

 Rhonna has undergone an entire life make over the past few months. She is running a marathon in just a few weeks and she has worked really hard to train for that. She is one of the most inspirational people I know and I wish her the very best of luck with her new website and also in the marathon.

You can see her new site here.