Happy New Year!

I hope that this finds you all looking forward to another new year. Other than a broken bone (AD's collarbone) and the loss of a few family members, we had a great year. We took some great trips, went boating, and made a lot of memories. So here's to another great year for all! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to all!

Hope this all finds you with your holiday shopping done, presents wrapped, and your house ready for your Christmas guests. (I have the first & the second accomplished, but the third is a little shaky.) We are spending Christmas at home. My folks are driving up to be here tonight until Sunday (or Saturday if the weather gets worse). It has been snowing like crazy for the last three days (the first two storms missed us but got everyone around us). We probably have 5-6 inches of snow in some places and it's still snowing! The kids have went sledding several times and are just loving it. Me, being a Minnesotan at heart, love the snow at Christmas, just hate driving in it. (Needless to say I finished all my shopping last Sat before any of this came.) We will be going two houses down the day after Christmas to celebrate with T's side of the family. The kids are so excited because there are finally presents under the tree. If you are out and about this holiday week, please drive careful and know that you are all in our thoughts & prayers!
From our family to yours: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Another Monday post

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. It's been a pretty busy one at that. Although we only have 4 more days of school and it's Christmas break! Yeah!! This week was pretty crazy. I worked 3 days this week and had Christmas parties on each of those days! What timing I have!

Thursday night was our town's Winterfest. The kids rode on a float during the lighted parade. It was soooo cold that we wanted to huddle next to the big ol' bonfire they had going. It was so neat and sure put us in the mood for Christmas.

It was a fun week but I sure was looking forward to Saturday and staying home doing . . . . hmm . . . I can't remember what I did. However, it was nice to do nothing, whatever it was.
Sunday was the kids Christmas Service at church. They did a really great job! We also had installation of our pastor so we were pretty much up at church all day. Gave T & AT a haircut. Mom usually has given AT one, but I thought I would give it a try. I guess I should have used a bigger clipper size.

He has a little boy haircut now. However, the good news you only have to wait two weeks for a bad haircut to be good, right? (At least that's what I'm telling myself.) After I got down with the haircuts, we put up the Christmas Tree and decorated it. (The kids had been bugging for quite a while to put up decorations.)

Oh! That's what I did Saturday! I had to move furniture and clean up things so that we could decorate. I had to laugh. My husband says "Let's decorate" and I say "Okay, but we have to move some of the furniture upstairs to the downstairs to fit the tree and stuff in. However, to move it downstairs, some of the toys down there need to go in the kids' rooms so we need to clean up the kids' rooms." He just looked at me and said "I just want to decorate not rearrange the whole house." I had to laugh, but needless to say we did move all that stuff and clean the kids' rooms. (Which they were in dire need of.) In fact, we tore down AT's crib (boo hoo) and put it away. No more crib needed in this family. (Believe me, that's a good thing!)

We've had such cold weather and a little snow. When I went to town today, couldn't believe how much snow they got just 40 miles south of us. At least 3 inches and not cleaned up very well. AJ and I were slipping and sliding all over the place. Was glad to come home where the wind was blowing, but the roads were clear. Don't get me wrong; I grew up in MN and love the snow. It just doesn't seem like winter without some snow, but I despise driving it. I think more snow is coming (I know the cold is here to stay for awhile) which would be nice.

Still have a busy week ahead but I think it will be fine once Friday hits (TGIF and all). We did pick up the Santa pix that they took. They turned out a LOT better than my camera had taken so I swapped the dark Santa pix for the lighter, brighter ones. So you may want to check out my last past (Santa) to see the updated pix. They look much nicer.

Well, time to go relax. Need to save my strength for making sugar cookies, peanut clusters, Christmas presents for teachers, and a Christmas concert this week. CWTIF! (Can't Wait 'Til It's Friday!) Enjoy your day!

Santa

AT & Santa

AD & Santa

Last week we took the kids to Santa & Mrs. Claus. They were brave enough to even sit by themselves with Santa. (I think AJ felt she was too old to sit by herself.)

Well, as you can see I finished the ragged squares quilt (although I can't say they are ragged enough). I decided to use reds, greens, & gold to make it Christmas colors. However, I did not use Christmas fabrics so that it could be left out all year long. It measures 40"X40."

It would look perfect in my living room, but it's for a gift exchange that us ladies are doing. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll win it back!

Because of the three pieces of fabric being stacked on top of one another, it's not exactly light. So I cheated a little bit and didn't add any batting. It still is a decent weight and if someone wanted to use it as a table decoration or something, it would be okay. So because I didn't put any batting in it, I have to wonder: is it a quilt or just a blanket?

Special thanks to Crazy Mom Quilts (http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/) for her tutorial on how to make this quilt. I loved her pattern and it was so easy to do. Check out her blog for the Ragged Squares Quilt.

Lefse's Done!

Yeah, we survived the Lefse Making Day. A friend and I worked all afternoon on lefse making yesterday up at our church. We barely got finished before it was time for the soup supper. Needless to say, by the time I got home, I was tired!! My shoulders are sore from rolling and bending over the counter. (Being tall has it's disadvantages in cases like this.) However, all & all it was a success.

We both had very different ways to make it (ingredients). I learned that last year when I was doing some homework on lefse. Not everyone uses the same ingredients and not everyone agrees on the thickness it should be. My family (husband & kids) didn't know that in my family (gparents, parents, etc) we are used to thin lefse. So when I made my first batch last year and they were thick, they thought they were tortillas and so it tasted just fine to them. (I didn't care for them that's for sure.) Well, this year I thought I had done a lot better rolling them out, although they were sticking to my cloth more, but no. They are thick & doughy just like last year. I may have to invest in some more lefse tools. Although all the tools in the world won't help if it's user malfunction!!

The fog that has been blanketing this area for the last week has finally lifted in the last few days. It's nice to see the sun again. Can't say it's much warmer, but at least it's not dark & dreary. Probably will take the kids to see Santa tonight. I hear he happens to make a pass through our little town on Thurs in December.

Well, better go get something done! Enjoy your day!

Post-Turkey Weekend

Sure hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I know we had tons of food and good times. (I may be in sweats for the rest of the week!) Still working on a few pies that didn't seem to get eaten immediately (bummer for us!).

Back to school today for everyone. Just AT and me hanging out. Looked at the CyberMonday deals, but not finding anything that really reached out and grabbed me. Probably should tackle some chores and get back in the groove of things. Holidays really can make a person lazy!

Lefse making day is Wednesday! Should be interesting. However, I watched my aunt do it while I was back in MN, so I'm hoping I can turn out a better batch this year. (It helps to watch someone do it especially when you only make it once a year.) Keep your fingers crossed!

Well, better get to work! Enjoy your day!

Back Home & Busy

Well, I made it back home on Thurs. Was tired from the traveling and emotions, but was good to see everyone. Wish it could have been for different reasons. T & the kids seemed to survive while I was gone, although I think he has a deeper understanding of what it's like to try to take care of it all. (Or at least I hope he does!)


Finally finished the Baby Girl Quilt that I was working on for my friend's newborn. For what looked like an easy pattern, it sure wasn't. I like the colors though. (It ended up measuring 36X36.)
I hand quilted this one, too, and it was a lot of fun. I liked the squares and I think it turned out okay.

For all the work the front took me, the girls liked the back better. Figures, huh?
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We plan on hanging around home and eating a lot of good food. Hope to have a relaxing weekend. Enjoy your day!

Gone

Yesterday my grandpa (my dad's dad) passed away. He had had surgery on Tues and just didn't bounce back. (He'd had trouble after his surgery in March and we thought we were going to lose him then.) I'm heading back to Minnesota for the funeral so I will be gone for a few days. Just thought I'd keep you all posted.

Wow, it's been a week!

Can't believe it's been almost a week since I last wrote. Not that a lot of things happened in that week, but still.

As you can see, the mighty hunters last weekend were successful. AJ shot her first duck. Although to hear the story, it was probably more like the duck flew in front of the bullet than she actually aimed and hit it. (he he he) She was so proud and so she wanted a pic of her, the duck, and the mighty duck retreiver. Dad was very proud I think. She even cleaned it herself (with some help). I keep telling T that he is going to make her perfect boyfriend material: a girl who likes to hunt, fish, and clean her own catches. Yikes!

AD stayed home today to fight her cold a little bit. She hasn't missed too many days of school since she started and since she tends to be sick quite a bit, I'm impressed. She didn't argue to hard about staying home (I think she forgot today was library day or she might have put up a fight!). We're all fighting colds, though, and sadly we all have plans to do something different this weekend. AJ is supposed to be going to church camp, AD is going to gma's house, and AT is going to stay with the local gma so that T & I can go away Sat night. Well, that's the plan if we all stay healthy, anyway.

Almost done with the baby quilt. Which is good, because the baby arrived Mon night. I think there's going to be a baby shower (after the fact) so I still have a little bit of time. It's going well, but the girls both said they liked the back better than the front. (Which stinks 'cuz the front took a little bit of time!)

Well, don't know too much else. Enjoy your day!

Another week

Well, made it through another week. This one was a whole lot quieter than last week or what I expect the next two weeks to be. Sub tomorrow and fball game tomorrow night and then a pretty quiet Sat. AJ got invited to go see HSM3 on Sat which should be pretty fun for her. Maybe AD & I will have our own movie night at home. Finished the baby girl quilt top I'm working on. Now just have to quilt it, which shouldn't be too bad. Well, CSI's up next so I better go. Enjoy your day!

A quiet week

Well, we survived last week. AJ made it through her play, Hansel & Gretel, that she was in. They put in a lot of hours getting ready for it (especially since they had only 1 week to get ready). It was really cute and she did a great job. She had all her Gmas there, so she was pretty excited. She was exhausted and had been fighting a cold all week. The only thing that saved her was that we didn't have school on Wed & Thurs. She could sleep in and rest.

Then Halloween came.
As you can see, we had a Sharpei (from HSM), a princess (with face painting), and a Spiderman (minus the mask) this year (with a little attitude mixed in). The weather this year was actually decent. In the past, it's been in the 30's, but this year it stayed in the lower 50's (which felt like a heat wave when comparing to year's past). The kids t&t for about 2 hrs! They hauled in quite a bit. We didn't realize it had been that long, but when you stop and visit it takes a while. AD's class had a mom come in and paint the kid's faces so she had gotten a butterfly princess look (so that is not a black eye she has in the pic, but rather facepaint).

Mom had come up for AJ's play and left this morning. It's always hard to see her go but Dad and her are supposed to be coming back for Christmas. We'll keep our fingers posted that the weather holds! It was good to see the rest of the family for pictures yesterday too. Hard to believe the Holidays are right around the corner.

Looking forward to a quiet week. Couple of vball & fball playoff games (Fri night is our hometown vs my nephew's--oh who to cheer for?!!) this week, but other than that, no running around! Yeah! Maybe I can get going on these quilts I need to get done. One friend is due any day now and I haven't even started it. Thank goodness for naptime!

Well, I suppose, better get going! Enjoy your day!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday was AD's kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch. There were a lot of little kids running around! The weather was chilly, but beautiful. They got to go through the straw maze, petting zoo, and climb the straw bale pyramid.

They loved riding the trailers with straw bales out to the patch to pick their pumpkins. AD's is the one on the left. (The other two pumpkins are ones I grabbed for AJ & AT.)

They went for pizza afterwards in the TC and then played at a playground down there. Then it was Homecoming and we all went to the fball game last night. Needless to say it's almost 9 am, and AD is still not up! Can you blame her? Have a great day!

Oh Happy Day!!

I finished the baby quilt for the shower tomorrow night. This was my first time hand quilting. For being a person who follows the rules and doesn't break away too often, my quilting apparently is where I like to rebel a little bit. A fellow quilter mentioned that she doesn't use a hoop when she hand quilts. I had tried it once with a hoop and had no luck at all. So I tried this one without the hoop. While it got a little puffy, I really like it and it was really easy to quilt. (Now, remember that I make lap & baby size quilts so it can be easy to handle that small of a quilt.) The backing is the same as the green in the front. Not your typical girl baby quilt colors, but they turned out pretty good I think. There was a little bit of gold flecks in the multi-colored print and the beige has those same gold flecks. The green was also in the multi-colored piece.

I'm relieved that it survived the first washing. I wasn't sure how well it would handle a washing & drying. Usually I don't wash & dry the quilts I'm giving away. (Don't ask me why, but I just haven't.) However, I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to fall apart or bleed colors. I took these pictures before I washed it, though, just in case. You should have seen the happy dance when it came out looking okay.

This one was a quilt that I had started when we first moved here and I think it was completed in 2005 or 2006. However, one of the few women I know that are expecting boys here in the next little bit got this one. I hadn't taken any pix of it yet, but I thought it might be fun to include it. The backing is the same light green that is around the edge. (I usually bring my backing fabric over to be the binding.)

Now that those are finished, I need to start another girl one for someone else who is expecting in Nov. Busy time of the year I guess.

Off to my nephew's fball game tonight in the TC. Kind of a cold day so we will really have to bundle up to stay warm. Fall is definitely in the air. Haven't had to start the wood stoves yet, but I'm sure that time is coming real soon.

Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Well, I can't say that I accomplished as much quilting as I would have liked to, but I did have a nice weekend. We went out for supper Sat night (yeah, just the two of us) and really enjoyed a very quiet evening. Kept busy with the usual stuff. I think we all got a lot of things done this weekend, whether it was what we had intended or not.

This next week will be busy again with fball games, homecoming, and a trip with the Kindergartners to the Pumpkin Patch on Friday. (I'm chicken; I'm driving down to meet them. Maybe chicken isn't the right word? Maybe I'm smart for not getting myself locked onto a bus with 40 kinders and nowhere to go!!!) he he he Oh well, it should be fun. Hopefully the weather will hold.

Enjoy your day!

Oct 16th

Here we are at the Mother/Daughter Tea at AJ's school today. The girls got to model their favorite outfits and write a little about themselves. It was really neat. You can see what outfit she chose.
She has her last soccer game tonight (yeah! again) out at BC. I'm torn between hoping she wants to play vball when it starts here in a few weeks and not wanting her to do anything because it's more running for me. However, I do like watching vball a little better than soccer. It's so hard with all the homework they have to do at night, but yet, it's nice for them to be involved in things that keep them busy. I'm sure with two more coming up behind her, it's only just begun.

I subbed yesterday and will work again tomorrow. This was the weekend Mom & I were going to go to our quilting retreat. Things just got busy for the both of us and so while it didn't work out this time, I know it will sooner or later. I am going to do some quilting this weekend though (still working on finishing up the baby shower present for next week). My husband promised me some time this weekend to be able to do that, so you know me, I'm going to hold him to it!! he he he We are going out Sat night (wow, it's been a while for that one) just the two of us. I'm excited to go eat without children in tow and have an adult conversation at a real restaurant (not that McD's isn't a real restaurant, but you know what I mean).

New CSI on tonight (woo hoo!!!) so kids need to be in bed early (he he he). Last week's was a tear-jerker. Have to figure out some kind of fast supper since we will be coming from soccer.

Got plenty of potatoes in the garage (potato truck missed the corner up from us and dumped the load). What are you going to do? Just let them rot? Sounds silly I know, but hey, we just consider ourselves part of the clean up crew so they don't go to waste. Have to make some lefse with them!!

Well I guess I've rambled on long enough. I hear the laundry beckoning me to return and take care of it. If I must, I guess I must. Have a great day everyone!!

What a day!

Well, I made it to town with two kids in tow. AJ's orthodontist apptmnt went well. She will probably be losing a tooth now that the bracket is off it. According to her dr, she will probably have the braces on until at least Dec. AT survived Playland at FM and shopping with mom and sister. He actually didn't do too bad. My back has healed up (dancing while holding a 40 lb son is not always a good idea) and I made it through this morning. AD's last soccer game out in BC tonight (yeah!) and then back for a meeting tonight at a friend's house. Will the madness ever stop? Oh, and here's pix of the girls cheering during half time of the fball game the other night. It was really really cold but they did a good job. I love the cheer shirts they got!

I'm currently working on hand quilting a baby quilt for a shower next week. My "mentor" mentioned that she never uses a hoop when she hand quilts, and I can say that I certainly like that idea. The quilt is a little puffy due to this (and it's my first official time hand quilting) but it actually looks kind of cute. Besides, for those of you who know me well, you know that I embrace mistakes in my quilting because then they don't look tooo perfect. ha ha ha (then again it could be that I'm just lazy, but let's not go there)

It's a nice fall day outside. Not too cold, not too hot and the leaves are all changing colors. Reminds me of when we used to go to Mississippi River in the fall to see the leaves change and buy carmel apples. Well, enjoy your day!!

This is my first time doing a blog. I thought it might be a handy way to keep in touch with family across the country and just share things that we are busy doing. Hopefully I can keep adding to it!