Hanging Planter in Washington

My kids are funny. Not funny weird (except for one of them), but funny, as in ha-ha. My missionary sent this picture in his last letter. Wes has gained about 20 pounds since arriving in Washington, giving his older sisters and I an opportunity to make a few fat jokes at his expense. I haven't felt bad about it, since he is the Ultimate Fat Joke King. In retaliation, he sent this pic with the comment that it reminded him of me and the girls. Actually, I never knew he'd seen me in my swimsuit, but the likeness is UNCANNY!

A Single Shard

I just finished reading this book with my 6th grade students and they loved it! I've read it several times and found it just as enjoyable this time as I did the first time I read it. I like the life lessons taught in the book and the way the author presents some of the very struggles my students face, like cheating, lying, and treating others with respect. It's an easy read, and well worth your time even if you aren't in 6th grade. The author, Linda Sue Park, has other books, but this one is my favorite.

Grandma's Sweethearts

I found this picture on my camera when I was posting my quilt blocks (keep reading). How cute are these two munchkins? Kourtney LOVES to hold babies and last Saturday she got to hold her baby cousin, Brennen. Brennen was happy, Kourtney was happy, and all was right in the world!

Saturday Sampler

I heard about the Saturday Sampler at the local quilt store and decided to give it a try. Here's how it works: In January, you buy a kit to make your first block, then on the first Saturday of every month, you return to the store with your completed block and pick up the materials for your next block (for free!). The store makes their money in the end when you complete your quilt and want to buy coordinating fabrics for your sashing, backing, and binding. Due to an illness that was totally out of control, I didn't complete my January block until Saturday morning about an hour before I was supposed to show up at the store to redeem my next block. Luckily, the block was pretty easy to put together once I got past the panic of knowing that I didn't have extra fabric just in case I messed up. Messing up comes naturally to me, but I'm happy to say that I only picked out and resewed one seam in this whole entire block. Isn't is pretty?

Since my sewing machine was all set up, I came straight home from the quilt store and set to my next block. Needless to say, I picked out and re-sewed more than one seam! It was a tad bit harder than the January block, but I finished it!

Then, since I was on a roll, I decided to do both blocks again. The hardest block is the first one, but with a sampler quilt, every block is a first. My plan is to have two sampler quilts done by the end of the year. The pictures of this make it look like the second one might turn out to be a Christmas quilt.

I just thought this was kinda neat to see the same two blocks done in different fabrics. I love to sew and especially love creating beautiful things like this!

Oh no! It's a Man Cold!

I have a pretty healthy immune system, but every once-in-awhile I get a bug. Sometime during our Snow Days, I caught a cold. I was too sick to teach Sunday School yesterday. (Thanks to my son-in-law Nolan for bailing me out and teaching my lesson.) I'm on the mend, I think/hope! DoJo is about a day behind me in symptoms, so today was his day to be absolutely miserable. I will just say, if the hubbs skips work, well...it's serious! This whole episode reminded me of a video that a male co-worker shared with me a couple of years ago. It was his way of explaining to me how he was more sick than I could possibly imagine. I'm not saavy enough to figure out how to put it on my blog, so you will have to go to YouTube and watch it. It requires no further explanation. Enjoy!

Gloves

After my last post, I had a couple of friends question my gloves. (I only wear them when I'm machine-quilting or sewing something bulky.) DoJo and his employees use gloves like this at the Ice Plant. The palm and the finger tips are rubberized, which gives you a nice grip on those cold, slippery ice bags. Really, they are the best gloves ever, and they are multipurpose! I have a pair I wear for outside work, but I save a clean pair just for my machine-quilting projects. I discovered their quilting usefulness quite by accident. Several years ago while quilting a large quilt on my regular-size sewing machine, I found that I needed more control of the fabric-batting sandwich. (What I really need is a long arm quilter, but that's another item on my already long enough wish list!) Anyway, the quilt was getting the better of me. My shoulders were achy and my hands hurt even worse. I was on the verge of giving up when I had the brainstorm...Ice Plant gloves, and presto! problem solved! It's kind of redneck, and I know it seems goofy, but it worked for me and I've used them ever since. At the time, I didn't know that they actually market quilting gloves. I Googled it recently and found out that Atlas, the maker of my Ice Plant gloves, also sells quilter's gloves. They come in much prettier colors, like fuchsia, granny apple green, purple, and blue (like mine!) Too bad I didn't come up with this idea years ago. Perhaps if I had, I would have enough money to buy myself a long arm and eliminate the need for the goofy gloves.

*Note to Mel: You don't need gloves for making the blocks. Plus, I have an idea for finishing our across-the-pond quilts. Check out my friend Deidra. She has the long-arm quilter I covet and she knows how to use it! Paying for her expertise is better than buying a pair of gloves. Her work is beautiful.

Snow Day!

This morning, I woke up to this. It may not seem like much to my friends in Utah or Scotland, but in the Four Corners area, this is called a Snow Day. School was canceled and I celebrated.

First, I dressed like this. Comfy pants, a.k.a. sweats, and my special gloves.

Then, I sat at my sewing machine and had some fun with a little machine quilting.

DoJo came home early and made me some lunch. (Yes, his hair looks funny, but it usually does unless he's wearing his church clothes. He doesn't know about this, so don't mention it when you see him in his everyday-work-clothes.) Lunch was good and I was impressed. This is actually the first time I've seen DoJo use the microwave for something other than nachos or popcorn!

Not long after lunch, these two sweethearts came to visit with their little ones. They invited me and DoJo to join them in the snow. Who could resist these two sweet smiles?

Kourtney patiently waited for her turn on the sled.

Lexi spent her down time making snow angels.

Our yard is somewhat level, so there's no downhill experience. The dad's provided the horse power for a lot of fun.

Olivia and Lexi have a snow snack during their ride.

Drew does his best to just hang on. Olivia, on the other hand, practiced her parade wave each time she passed the camera.

Nolan gives Kourtney a wild ride.

Jeremy decides to show Amanda just exactly how wet the snow is.

It seems that Jeremy would know better. They've been married for almost 10 years. Guess he's a slow learner.

Yeah, that snow in the ear is REAL cold! Live and learn, Jeremy!

If you've seen The Christmas Story, then Andrew should look familiar to you.

All the snow clothes made walking difficult, so he resorted to hands and knees.

This is FUN? Save me Grandpa!

Time for cocoa. Grandpa decides to show the grandchildren the wonders of whipped cream in the cocoa, only his whipped cream never makes it to the cup. DoJo likes his straight.

Lexi tries it.

But Kourtney sticks with the tried-and-true.

Kourtney assures me that you can't have too much whipped cream in your cocoa. Plus, it is okay to scoop it out with your fingers!

What a day! Everybody needs a Snow Day every now and again.