Hello, November

November is colder than October. (Yup, I figured that out all by myself!)
Remember the hat, mittens, and coat I picked up for Ava at Target? They are perfect...well, almost. She was getting her hat off by turning her head every which way. That meant daddy had to be our retrieval system while on a walk once, and that's just not something we want to make a regular habit.
I made a trip to my local fabric retailer (Walmart, yippee), and picked up some white fleece and velcro strips. I did a rough measurement of the ear flaps for a pattern, pinned them in the hat and stuck it on her head to get the length right for the straps under her chin. Sew, turn right side out, and stitch to the double seam that runs just above the ear flaps. Attach velcro after again putting the hat on your child to make sure the ear flaps are just right.
The final fitting:

Goofball, if you hold still for a picture so mommy can blog about this, I promise I won't put your hat on for the rest of the day.

In other news, we (meaning Scott) installed this at the top of the stairs. K*Mart, you are my new friend.

Ava likes the box. The gate she's not so sure about. :)

Food cravings usually mean that I bake. Apple turnovers were my latest attempt. If they taste as good as they smell and look, well...let's just say I'm ready for breakfast now. (Yes, I am planning to eat an apple turnover for breakfast.) I did want to make them healthier so I bought honeycrisp apples in order to need less brown sugar. Then I made a cross between a puff pastry and pie crust, so there is a whole lot of butter in the pastry shells.

I sent some home with the quartet guys...lucky people, getting to be my guinea pigs.