Quilt

My mom and I started this last February at our Crafter's Retreat. We finished it in October for my cousin's daughter. I was finally able to post a picture because we sent it off for Christmas.

Enjoy your day!

It's Over

Christmas is over. All that hustle and bustle and it's over just like that.

We went down and visited my family for about four days (with a side trip to Cabela's of course). The roads were great and we didn't have too much snow anywhere, but lots of cold. Mom and I took the girls to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakuel (sp?). It was really cute and we all had a good time. We spent Christmas Eve opening gifts with my brother and his family and then Christmas Day we opened all ours. We surprised the kids with a Wii and they had a blast with it. We got my folks to play MarioKart with us. We left to come home the day after Christmas. We had T's family Christmas yesterday. The kids had a great time seeing each other and everyone seemed to get what they wanted.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and here's to a great New Year ahead!
Enjoy your day!

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing all of you the happiest holiday and a very Merry Christmas!

Enjoy the day!

Santa is in Town!

Thursday night after watching the lighted Christmas Parade for Winterfest, the kids rushed down to get in line to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. AT had made a wish list at daycare the other day so when it was our turn, he didn't even hesitate. He ran right up to Santa and handed him his list!
Here are some pictures from the Parade. (I missed a few really cool ones because I was trying to use night shot on my camera. Surprisingly, night shot took horrible pictures, but the auto function handled it nicely.)

Enjoy your day!

November's Gone Already?

So much for getting better at updating everyone on what we've been up to, right?

I just can't believe that November flew by so fast. Hunting season started and with it a monster has been created. I thought it was bad enough when T would get up at some outrageous hour to go sit out in the cold and shoot at birds. Now he's got AJ all hyped up about it. In fact, over Thanksgiving she actually burst into tears because T had decided they weren't going the next morning. AD I'm sure would love to be included but is a little too young, plus she's like her mother and likes her sleep! (She had to get in on one of the pictures though.)


T actually got a doe over Thanksgiving break, too, but I failed to get a picture of that.

We had a great Thanksgiving break. My SIL made a great turkey and we had tons of food and dessert. The kids loved playing with everyone. It was nice to take some time off and just enjoy being home. Things have been so crazy lately.

In other news, AT is finally getting it. The potty training is coming along really well. It feels really good to avoid the diaper aisle at the store now. I would say he was ready and he is probably late learning, but it's the end result that matters not the time frame. Right? I couldn't resist the other day when he put on his fireman costume and started dancing around. If school doesn't work out for him, at least he could have a job as a future Chippendale dancer?

Enjoy your day!

Where are we?

This seems to be a common title for my posts. It's pretty bad when I go to type "Still Here" or "Just Busy" into the title area and it automatically pops up because I use it so much.

Well, we are still here. The last couple weeks (it's been 10 days since my last post and all that was was pictures of the kids at Halloween) has been crazy. It's really true what they say about time flying. (I'm not sure I would say I agree completely with the idea of it flying fast when you are having fun because the last few weeks have leaned towards nuts rather than fun, but . . . ) I've been working a lot (hence no posts) and the kids have had a day or two of sick. Classes are keeping me busy at night. I haven't hardly read anything beside education books. joy (That was sarcasm for any who might not recognize it.) I also haven't touched anything in the form of a quilt since my mom was here.

AJ has been doing really good with her clarinet. She has been T's hunting partner most weekends. AD's reading had increased so much. I'm really excited for her. AT is still potty training. He has his good days and his bad. Today he did really good when we went to town and then for awhile at home. Then just ups and takes care of business in his pants and on the floor sometimes. Ugh! He's getting better though, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Soon, very soon, I will have no more children in diapers!!! Can't wait for that one. He did hit his front tooth the other day and knocked it loose. Cut his gum up pretty good. T took him to the dentist, but all they said was keep an eye on it and if he loses it, he loses it. (All three kids have done something to their front teeth and I think it's been the same one, too!) Him and AD are good buds. He can't wait for her to get home so they can go play pirates or something.

I guess that about sums up what we've been up to. Maybe it's not just that I've been busy, but maybe we haven't had anything exciting for me to post about it. I would say that we need to be more exciting, but I like simple and so less is better.

I hope that you all are doing well and I will try to update more often.
Enjoy your day!

Happy Halloween!

Gma was here!

What a great weekend we had! My mom came up Thurs night and we went shopping on Fri. Poor AT was pooped. He laid his head down a couple times and said he just wanted to go home. However, he perked up each time we got close to one of his favorite stores (like Fred Meyer's Playland!). We had way too much fun at the fabric stores.

Sat we went to a crafting get-together in town. We finished a quilt (darn! forgot to take a picture!) that we had started at our Crafter's Getaway last Feb. (Shameless plug: The next Crafter's Getaway is Feb 5-7th! Call me for details!) Can't wait for her to come up for that one and we have to figure out something to make. We still have some old squares from my great-great aunt that we have to finish. We keep getting side-tracked by relatives having babies!
The rest of Sat we just hung around the house and let T go to town. He was looking for hunting stuff (imagine that?).

Sun we had our Harvest Party at church and then Mom and I once again dashed off to town. (We don't shop like that individually but for some reason when we get together we like to go look.) I did get some things I was looking for the previous weekend and didn't find. We went out for supper (haven't been to Red Lobster since the last time she was up) and had a nice evening. What a great husband I have to let me spend this time with my mom!

However, she had to leave this morning to get back to work and Dad. :-( We can't wait until Christmas when we get to see them all!

Gma & the girls (above)

Gma & AT (below)

What a ham!

Thanks for coming up Mom!

Enjoy your day!

Keeping Busy

Yesterday during our teacher inservice, the girls were able to participate in a cheer clinic. This in turns means they are able to perform their routine at half-time of the football game. Considering how cold it's been, the last few days had warmed up so it was really comfortable out at the game. (I don't think the other team was too comfortable; we were beating them 35-0 at half-time!)

Our cheer girls

AD

AJ

T decided to paint his duck decoys. He enlisted his children (with a huge nudge from his wife;-) ) to help him. The weather was beautiful and they had a blast. I certainly appreciated the quiet so I could get caught up on some homework.

It's hard to see, but AT had paint on his nose, his eyebrows, his hair, and his elbow (even though he was completely dressed)! AJ spilled paint and ended up with it leaking through her sweats. She had a 6 inch green knee! Then the crazy kids used Great Gma's scrub pads (yeah, you know where I'm going with this don't you?) to get all the paint off in the shower. So if you see my kids (at least the older two) in the next few days and they look freshly scrubbed (literally) I am not responsible.

The rain has moved in and I think we are headed back to colder weather. I know that fall is here and I can't wait for the snow to come (although I don't care for driving in it). It always feels more like winter with snow. I'm still wondering where September and most of October have gone?

I am looking forward to next weekend. My mom is coming up to visit. It will be so good to see her. The kids are excited for Gma to come and visit, too. I just wish she could stay a little longer (hint, hint to her boss & Dad . . . ). Oh well, we should be seeing her (& Dad) again at Christmas.

Well, the evening beckons. I'm ready to relax a little and looking forward to the next week!

Enjoy yours!

(PS This last part was all supposed to be separate paragraphs and for some reason, it keeps shoving them all together. If somebody (anybody) who reads my blog can suggest how to keep it from doing this, please let me know! I don't write run on paragraphs like this! Thanks!)

It's Fall!!

Well we are back from the land of the sick. T & the girls have all been sick and are now back to work. AT & I have had colds and we are just as happy to end with that.

Sunday AJ & I were up at church all day. T entertained the younger two at home. Apparently, AD decided to finish a project we started a long time ago. I came home and she proudly showed me that she had sewn this all by herself! I was pretty impressed because I doubt she used the instructions to do it. T helped her with the knots, but other than that, it was her project. Cool, huh?

With the cold temperatures, our garden plants are pretty much dead. Low and behold our surprise when we uncovered 5 accidental pumpkins!

Happy Fall!

Enjoy your day!

Face of the Earth

No, I haven't fallen off it. We have been hit with sick for the last few weeks. T was home sick Mon & Tues so I was working for him. Then Tues evening, AT started to act sick. He woke up Wed feeling better, but AD had a low fever. She wasn't too bad yesterday (in fact I almost sent her to school several times, but I'm glad I didn't). However, this morning she's coughing, has a fever, dizzy, and her head hurts. Don't think I'm headed back to work for a few days. Hopefully AT got his share so we've all had it and we're done. ha ha ha ha ha ha I know, I could wish, huh? As for myself, I wasn't feeling really great yesterday so I'm going to say that it was my version of being sick and I'm done. (Power of positive thinking right?)

Hope you all are doing better than us!

Enjoy your day!!

Nothing Exciting

AJ got to go out on a youth hunt this last weekend. She was finally feeling better. We had purchased a youth gun that would work a little better for her (and the kids coming up) so we went out and shot it a few times. I had never fired a gun before so it was quite the experience for me to shoot. I couldn't hear for about 10 seconds afterwards, but I didn't hurt my shoulder at all from the kick-back. AD even got to fire it. It was cool, but my husband is still not getting me out of bed at 4 am to shoot birds. I'll stay in bed thank you much!

All my kids were back to school this week (thank god!). We still were missing quite a few up at the junior high, (teachers included). Hopefully we'll manage to stay healthy a little longer.

I guess that's about all the exciting stuff happening around here.

Enjoy your day! (And stay healthy!)

Where Does the Time Go?

Well, we are still here. Just really really busy. Trying to finish things around the yard before the weather gets too cold, band practice, soccer practice, chores, working, etc., . . . . you get the picture.

About the only thing I know that's new is AJ is home today with a fever. Yeah, I know what that potentially means. We've all had some sort of cold symptoms for the last few weeks, but this may be the dreaded flu. Her teacher was out for almost a week with it, so we'll see what our doctor says.

I guess that's all I know.

Enjoy your day!

Great Weekend

Thursday night we went down to the Livestock Show. It's like a little town down there with all the campers. It's neat to see all the kids from school and their animals. AT had fun baa-ing at the sheep and petting the cows.

Saturday was our town's festival weekend. We went to the fireman's breakfast and then went to the parade. It was a great parade. Almost 45 minutes long!! The kids loved all the princess floats, the horses, and especially the candy! I love going to the parade because you get to see so many friends. We always sit next to the same people at the parade every year, so it's a lot of fun to joke about seeing them next year.

Sunday our niece was having a birthday party. They had recently got some horses so the kids were in heaven getting to ride them. (Of course between the Livestock Show & riding horses, my kids seem to think we need more animals.)

T on Amy

AT on Socks

AJ on Amy

AD on socks (with my sister-in-law)

Hope you had a great week!

Enjoy your day!

Just an update

We had very nice Labor Day Weekend. The boys went out to the river to fish & camp while the kids & I went to the football game Friday night. It was nice because it wasn't too cold yet to be out at a game. Saturday the kids and I did some work around the house and stained the playset Dad built this summer (see below) and then met everyone out at the river for supper. We had just set up the tent for the guys & kids to sleep in when a dust storm came through. Needless to say, we took the tent back down and the kids came home with me. Sun we did go back out and have smores round the campfire with everyone. Mon was pretty low key.


T & his brother tried sleeping in the back of the truck, then the front of the truck when the rain started, and then finally on the floor of the motorhome. When he showed up at home on Sun he was bent in half. Apparently he had tweeked his back trying to sleep. He finally made it to the chiropractor on Tues after school (after suffering through a rough day!). After going Tues & Wed, he's finally feeling better.

AT came down with a cold this weekend so we have been going through the tissues like crazy! He seems like he might be better today. The girls are fighting something too. Also rying to keep them from getting the flu (which has been confirmed in our district).

I finished getting signed up for my Master's this weekend as well. I'm getting a Master's in Education with a specialization in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Although it's all online, I discovered yesterday that I'm going to have to pick the times I work on it carefully. I received three phone calls, had to go get AD from school, and AT kept whining and wanting in my lap while I was trying to work on one assignment. It's not going to be as easy (to do at home online) as I might have thought. I'm excited, but nervous because it's been a while since I've done the type of writing they expect. I know it'll come back to me, but it's always nervewracking at the beginning.

It's fair weekend in town so the kids are getting excited about going to see the Livestock Show and the parade. I love to go visit the booths and see everyone. Small town living is so much fun sometimes!

Enjoy your day!

An Eventful Week

AD decided not only to lose one tooth, but she got off the bus on Wed with another tooth in her hand! She asked a friend ON THE BUS to reach in (with a paper towel) and yank out the other loose one. (And T thought I was mean for taking the first one out!) She is so proud of herself for having some missing teeth. While I think she had a good first week, I can tell homework is going to be her downfall. We already had a war one night about doing her homework and it's only the first week!

AJ received her library aide pass this week and has to go through training and then she can officially be a library aide. She was beside herself, showing the pass off to everyone. She has chosen to be in band and play the clarinet. As this was the instrument that I used to play, this could be interesting. She seems to have enjoyed her first week, but then again, she is her mother's daughter and loves school.

AT had to stay home with me for two days and between potty training and working outside . . . well, you saw the previous post. He hung out with Gpa for the last two days while I worked up at the junior high.

I also signed for my Master's this week. I'm going to be working on my Master's in Education with a Specialization in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. A colleague of mine said she really learned a lot from the program and highly recommended it, so I'm excited, but nervous. At least I can try and get it done before I go back to work full-time. (Only two more years and then AT is in Kinder, and AJ bumps up to the jr high! Scary thoughts!)

What else?
The kids and T survived their first day(s) of school. I got some major weeding done outside before the fall weather sets in. In fact, I watched a dust devil take my canopy (like you use at games) and try to somersault it across the backyard, with a wraparound stop around a power pole! Talk about heart racing. And tonight we are headed to the football game for a little while. The fresh air combined with the week we've had should make for some sleepy kids tonight (and a mom!)

Enjoy your day!

I Wish I Could Just Fall Asleep Like That

I've been home the last two days again (after working the last four), so AT and I have been working on potty training and weeding. Two hours outside yesterday and three hours outside this morning apparently wiped him out. I laid him down in his room for a nap, (which he rarely takes anymore but I felt like both of us could use one today), but he came out to the dining room. When I looked back (from the computer) this is what I found.

This is just more proof that this kid is his father's son. He can fall asleep anywhere!

Enjoy your day!

1st Day of School 2009

Well it's the first day of school! I have a 5th grader and a 1st grader. (I'll let you figure out which one is going where since some days I'm not even sure!) They are both pretty excited.

It's been a tradition since AJ started kinder that we always take their first day of school picture in front of the frig. It's the only way to give a true estimate of how tall they've gotten since last year. When we compared last year's pix to this year's, both girls look like they've maybe grown 2 inches or so. (That's an estimate of course.)

AJ (all right, the 5th grader)

Hard to believe it 's been 10 years already? AJ is going to do band this year (clarinet) and is all excited about being the library aide. She might as well be an aide because she's in the library every waking minute of the day that she's allowed to be. I have no idea where she gets it ;-)

AD (the first grader)

She is so excited that she can show everyone her missing tooth today. We went in yesterday and dropped off her school supplies and met her teacher. She is going to have a good year, but please pray for me that she doesn't end up in the principal's office! She just has that feistiness about her that worries me about repeat trips to that special office.

Hard to believe they grow up so fast. Two more years and AJ will be up at the junior high (where I'm teaching). I think Gma may have to hang around and teach her when she makes it up there. I'm not sure I'm ready for that!

I have to laugh, because as I'm typing, Jake (the dog) is standing by the door whining because the girls are waiting for the bus. AT keeps going up to him and hugging him and telling him it's going to be okay. Isn't that funny?

Hope you all had great first days!
Enjoy your day!

A Lost Loose Tooth

AD truly lost her tooth today. (And not just out of her mouth!) She decided to hang on to her first tooth that came out because she wanted to show it to some friends today. However, when I came home at lunch, she was in tears. Apparently she had taken it out of the bag (not sure why) and had proceeded to lose it somewhere in the house. Needless to say, that could have been like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, it was found in the hallway (whew!) and we have a happy soon-t0-be first grader again.

Enjoy your day!

Misc

We finally made it home from our vacations and now it's time to get back to work. Teacher meetings this last week and tomorrow and then it's back to school on Tues! The girls are really excited. They just got new backpacks and new shoes today.

AD also had an exciting evening. She lost her first tooth tonight! The middle one on the bottom (right next to the hole in her mouth) is loose and so are her top middle two, as well. She is one happy kid!

The other night, I sent AT in to watch tv with T. After he didn't come back for awhile, I thought I better go check on him. What can I say, like father like son???

Enjoy your day!

Nothing Exciting

It's been really nice to be home again. We have gotten so much accomplished, even if they are little things. (I think that's because we know we go back to school tomorrow and won't have time to do it later.) I had most of the school shopping done a long time ago.

The weather has been so much cooler that it is almost prepping us for fall. It feels wonderful compared to the 100+ temps we had been having.

I guess today's posting title says it all: Nothing Exciting.

Enjoy your day!

We're Home! (to stay)

Whew! What a summer it's been! I told T at the start of the summer I wanted to do some things so we had some really great memories. Well, we certainly did! We just got back from our fourth and final trip of the summer.

A big huge thanks to our friends, the E's, for letting us stay at their beautiful place on PL. What a view from the cabin!

Some of us had never been on a jetski before and it was a lot of fun. As you can see, AT definitely enjoyed it.

The girls were loving the tubing!

More playing in the sand!

What a cute group!

As if that wasn't enough fun, the girls had received free tickets to SW for reading books. Since we were up that way, anyway, we just decided to go there on our way home. The kids had so much fun riding rides and playing in the water. (The one and only time we had ever been there was when AD was about 2 months old.) After we were done there, we headed down and stayed with some friends. We finally made it home today.

While I'm grateful that we were able to enjoy so many trips and make so many great memories this summer, I think it's really true: There's no place like home!

Enjoy your day!

Poor Dog

I guess it's good that we have raised a dog that is so patient with

the kids that he will let them do this to him:

(And some of you thought the wrap was embarrassing!)

Enjoy your day!

Beach Trip

Well we returned back to the east side of the state yesterday! I don't think I've been over to the west side so much. However, the view was worth it! This was the sunset off the deck of the beach house we were staying at.

The beach house

AT was extremely wore out. I don't think he's taken this many naps this summer.

The big boys had a great time catching supper. They certainly caught their limit and we definitely enjoyed the fruits of their labor!

The kids with Great Gma

We had such a great visit with family and friends. We didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing, instead just choosing to relax on the beach & deck. I think I managed to finish 3 books while we were over there. However, I went to an awesome little used bookstore and brought home probably three times as many as I finished!

Enjoy your day!

Busy Weekend

We survived a very busy weekend. My mom & gma (from MN) showed up Thurs evening. They were delivering T's truck that we had found (via the Internet). I had asked my parents to go check it out for us and they had said it was a good truck. (My brother & father know vehicles so we knew it was a good idea if they said so!) My mom liked driving it so much, she kept threatening to take it back home!

I'm so glad they brought it up because Friday we had a yard sale from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. It was really handy to have a truck for transporting things instead of just the suburban. It was soooo hot that day! I only did the yard sale until about 2 pm because mom & gma were here and then we had the swim team BBQ that evening. Yikes! I was wiped out by the time Fri was over.

So was Mom and AT! What a bunch of cuties!

On Fri, my friend, MK, brought her momma dog up to see the puppies. She really wasn't very interested in seeing them or holding still long enough for the pix, as you can see.


Sat morning (early!) was AJ's last swim meet here at home. She was so excited. She had two uncles, one aunt, 2 cousins, two gmas, two gpas, one great gma (all the way from MN!), and her family there! Talk about spoiled. The swim team parents (not me) did an amazing job running the event. It was so hot even early in the morning. They moved the meet right along and we were done by noon. AJ swam 6 races and was wiped out by the time she was done, but she did a really good job. Thanks to all who came to watch!!! And a big thanks to the swim team parents that ran a great meet! You guys are awesome!

Sat afternoon we just hung out but we had to get some pictures before everyone went home. This one above is of me, my dad, my brother, and my gma (my dad's mom).

I always try to get a picture of my kids with any great grandparents, so we had to update this one. (What a cheesy smile, AT!)

Dad, Mom, my kids, & Gma

This is a 4th generation picture. My dad, me, Gma, & my kids. Cool, huh?

They all left Sunday and we have calmed down a bit. I felt bad because we had so much going on while they were here and it was so darn hot. Oh well, somethings are out of our control. It was a good weekend and it was so nice to visit with everyone.

Enjoy your day!

A Belated Birthday Present

I love the fact that some of my friends have started quilting. It's so nice to have a craft in common with them. However, they were all smarter than me and started with nice, small, simple projects like tablerunners. So I decided to learn from them and I finished (yes with all the quilts I've made, I've never made one) my FIRST tablerunner!

This one is for my mom for her birthday. It was last week, but I knew I was going to see her this week so I wanted to give it to her in person. (I'm safe posting this because I know she's on the road right now on her way up here and won't be able to check the internet before she gets to my house!)

One of the times we went shopping for fabric, she found this butterfly fabric and the purple fabric. She left it here for use at sometime. Think she'll be mad I used it for her? ;-)

This was a fast project (the hand quilting took a little bit of time because I hadn't sewn for awhile). I decided not to try my hand at free motion quilting on this particular project because I wanted to practice some more.

This is the back. I had to piece the back because the blue fabric had a cut right in the center of it. I had to cut the fabric into two pieces and I couldn't make it cover the whole back. So I took a chance.

I really hope she likes it and I can't wait to see it on her kitchen table. I fell in love with the colors. I don't usually get to make ones with these colors so it was a lot of fun.

I did make at least two mistakes and one is very obvious but you would have to look close. I don't mind making mistakes because I think every quilt should have at least one. However, two is annoying! Oh well.

I love my mom so much so I hope she likes it! I'll keep you posted!

Enjoy your day!