Last day of the year

Already? Really? The very last one...

Yup. The last one.

Simon and I ventured out early this morning to go get his brace. When I woke him up he groggily said, "It's not a school day."

"We have to go get your new brace, remember?"

"Oh, ya."

We squeaked this one right under the wire. Our last chance to get his brace fit and get it put on our current insurance out of pocket rate. The very last day.

Now we are holed up in the house with two extra kids while it snows pretty hard outside. I love snow. I know it sucks to drive in but I do love it so. A soft blanket of white. Perfect weather for quilting. Ok, in my book all weather except extreme heat is perfect for quilting.


I've worked on a few things since Christmas but not much. Once the pressure was off to finish all the projects I lined up for myself I haven't been in much of a hurry. It is winter break, right. I should relax while I can. I made two pillows to go with my moms quilt. I only had scraps so I did what I could.


I also began Seth's top.

Seth also asked me to take his picture yesterday after we finished putting together his Darth-tater guys.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy New Year!

Almost 3

Sometimes I think toddlers have a death wish...


Isn't the golden rule, "Don't touch the fabric!" It surely isn't, "Please smear black slime on the bins holding mommy's precious/expensive/coveted fabric!"


But then they do adorable things like play hide and seek in the stuffed animals...





and they live to see another day.

Merry Christmas!!!!

(Susan made me the advent mittens and stockings. Doesn't it look great above my quilt?)

I love Christmas!

We finished opening all our presents and trashing the house in the process. I made a special breakfast this morning and was the only one to enjoy it. The little heathens turned their noses up at french toast because it was made differently. You know, you cut up a loaf of french bread, add some fruit, pour the egg mixture over it, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and bake. Yummy. Oh well, more for me I guess.

Since I was a good girl this year I got some nice presents. Hannah and Simon both got me jewelery (from the school's Holiday Shop), I got a coffee press (wow, is that coffee gooooood!) and I got a massage. Oh ya, a massage....

The best gift I gave was quilt for Dan. I managed to keep it a secret from him. Tee, hee.


Everyone loved their pajamas. I still need to make the top for Seth but I ran out of time!





Well, I better go take a shower and get dressed. I have a beautiful sweater to wear today and I need to get the ham in the oven.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

PS- Keep your kids away from the oven so they don't turn it off while your ham or turkey is baking!

What do you want for Christmas?

Seth- "Me want choo-choo train."

Hannah- "Lots and lots of candy. Oh, and a cell phone!"

Simon- "Yeah, LOTS of candy!!"

I think Santa might come through with most of those requests...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

...If you've finished going to the post office! Being the last minute person that I am I managed to get the 2 boxes I had to ship out and I got most of my cards out too! Ah. I was utterly impressed when I walked into our pathetic little post office and there wasn't a line. Yes! Too good to be true. I went all over today running errands. Seth tagged along because he doesn't have a choice. I went all the way down to a place called Stitch and Sew. Holy crap, they have EVERYTHING you'd need to sew. I don't know if I'll be going there for my quilting fabrics but they had elastic which I need to complete some pajama bottoms for my family. Yeah, I'm not done with those yet. I have six days left.

We've done oddles of Christmas related things as of late. We got our tree up last weekend. We listened to John Denver and the Muppets while we decorated.


Made some ginger bread cookies last night. We decorated them today.


I'll make some more this weekend as gifts for the teachers. I think an ornament and some cookies is a better gift than something that says "worlds best teacher" on it.

Tomorrow we are taking Simon and a few friends to see The Tale of Despereaux and then we'll have a low key party for him. I guess I should go make his cake.

We're also going to go see Santa this weekend. It should be fun for Seth this year. We saw Santa yesterday out driving around in his firetruck. Didn't you know Santa hangs with firemen in NJ? Seth was very excited to see his friend Santa.

I have been working on some projects but don't have photos to show you. I'll remedy that soon.

Last night I discovered I'd gotten another gift from my Secret Santa in the MOMS Club. It's been very sweet. We got a mini loaf of bread already. Yesterday I got a cute green cup with some cappuccino mix... it's like someone knows me. :)

The middle man

Today is all about my middle man. Simon. He is 8 years old today. It's crazy but true. 8 years ago we lived in West Seattle in cute little craftsman house two blocks from Alki beach. Boy was I huge while I was pregnant. Simon took his time coming out too. I woke up each morning and cried because I was still pregnant. I told my husband I'd be the first woman to be pregnant forever! I meant it too. He decided to make me wait almost 2 whole weeks before he came into this world. Since he took so long he got to get big in there. He was 10.4 when he was born!


Seeing how he was enormous we jokingly called him Enor the Moose. He latched on within minutes of birth and didn't stop. He grew like a weed. Since about 2 he's been Hannah's size. She had him beat by height for a while but now they are the same height but he out weighs her.

As you know he's gone through a lot in his life so far. He's had major surgery and has to live with the scoliosis caused by his condition for the rest of his life. He wears his brace everyday and he's such a trooper about it. That doesn't mean he doesn't want out of the brace but he excepts his fate and moves forward. We took him in yesterday to get a new brace. The kid's growing. We had to jump through some insurance hoops to save ourselves $750, which is how much more we'd have to pay come January, but that also means we are paying $500 out of pocket at Christmas time. It's always something, isn't it?

He is also a lot like me. Meaning he won't shut up. Talk, talk, talk, all he does is talk. Whatever he thinks, he verbalizes, at top vloume. Talk, talk, talk... unless he is playing on the X box. His favorite thing ever!

He rocks at Tae Kwon Do too. He's already a purple belt.

He's doing great at school. Of course.

He is great.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful son.

Happy Birthday, Simon.

Simply striking

Sometimes the most simple pattern can be the most striking.

This says, "If we love nature as we love ourselves, the earth will become beautiful and all good things in our human lives will come to be part of the earth."

Mess

This is what happens when you leave a toddler alone for a few minutes at bedtime...


He dumped every single bin out on the train table and floor. And yes, he's wearing a pull-up on the outside of his pj's. He's wearing two as a matter of fact.

Relaxin'

I've got a little bit of time while dinner finishes up so I thought I'd show you what I've gotten done as of today. I got Hannah's night gown made.


It wasn't all that hard. I do think putting sleeves on is obnoxious because of the curve but I didn't have a hard time with it.

I also have the ornaments almost done. They need string put on them so they can hang. That's the technical term, right, string-to-hang-them.

It was so awesome to have a quiet day. It all ramps back up again tomorrow but for today I got to get a few things done around here. I have Minestrone Soup simmering downstairs and the bread maker will have some yummy Italian Bread ready for us in about a half hour. Ah. If only everyday could be a quiet day.

Oh... quiet time is over. Seth is crying at the bottom of the stairs...

Panic

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed this week. There is so much going on and I have so much to do. AHH!

The kids have Theater Week so they are staying after school everyday until 5:30 but Hannah still is heading over to Future Problem Solvers on Tues and Thurs until 6. The school is also doing it's Holiday Shop this week. Of course they need volunteers (enter sucker Numero Uno!) and I offered to help. We have multiple MOMS Club things this week, Seth has to get a flu shot, I got my hair done, my quilt guild meeting was yesterday, ahhhhhhh... AND next week Simon has an appointment to get fit for a new braces and it's his birthday. AND, I still haven't done most of my Christmas stuff.... AHHH.

Too much!

I have a quite day tomorrow. Phew. Hopefully I can get some work done on my Christmas gifts. I am not sure when I'll learn to start on Christmas projects in like July!

Thanks for all the comments on Hannah's glasses. She liked that.

These eyes, they are a changin'

Since she is a product of Dan and I it was inevitable that she'd need glasses one day. That day has come. The doctor last month said she needed to get her eyes checked, the school nurse last week said she needed her eyes checked, and the reminder that it had been a year since her last eye exam came in too. Gee, do you think we should go to the ophthalmologist?

We all went in and got our eyes checked together yesterday. Simon is better than 20/20 and quite smug about it. Dan and I are both still the same, ya know, we still need glasses but things didn't get any worse. Hannah, she definitely needed to get glasses. Her eyes are worse then mine. Mine really aren't that bad. I think she picked out a really cute pair. She didn't want to get them or wear them. Poor kid, glasses and braces. I think she's beautiful. It adds to her smart look she's got goin' on.

After school today we went back to pick them up. I asked her to wear them home just to see if she thought things looked different. Pretty much every sentence she said started with, "The way I used to see..." She also told me just a little bit ago that she doesn't think she'll just wear them for school.

It's nice to be able to see clearly, isn't it?

This and that

It's finally happened. I have been sucked into the vortex of Facebook! I know so many people that use it and I have ignored it for a long time. It was becoming it's own monster, demanding that I finally give in. I did it... there's no turning back.

We're pretty crazy around here. Our friend Said is staying with us for a while and last night he cooked dinner for us. Real Enchiladas! I learned how to make enchilada sauce. It's not hard at all. If I'd have know how easy it was I'd have given up the canned crap years ago. I am very excited! It was soooo yummy! We also had Parent Teacher Conferences earlier this week. I like sitting down with the teachers and hearing, "Your kid is doing great." Sweet.

Said babysat for us while we went to the little meetings. See how this is working in my favor? He thinks he is a burden for sleeping on a blow up matress in my office... silly boy. I'll let you think that if you'll babysit and cook for me...

I've begun working on my ornaments. With Said in my office I don't want to take the whole room over with fabric right now. Besides, working on the ornaments allows me to sit on my big tush and watch TV shows. Ah, the rough life I lead. I think the ornaments are coming together quite nicely. Whatcha think?


Oh, I have to share a little funny ha ha that happened yesterday at the grocery store.

Hannah: "Mom we should get some apples."

Me: "Ok, what kind do you want?"

Hannah: "Fuji."

Me: "Ok, I like Fuji." The I saw the Pink Lady Apples. "Oh, yum. Pink Lady I like those."

Hannah: "They are pink but I don't want to eat a lady."

Me: Shocked, stunned, and trying desperately not to laugh because I couldn't explain it. "Hannah, please don't ever say that again."

It's pajama time

Look, flannel pajamas! I made something!

They are a little on the large side. (Extra Large) I swear I cut out the medium pattern and used the longer length. Yeah, Dan swims in them a bit. I had him try them on yesterday and they are humongous! Of course he loves them and thinks they are very comfy. To which I responded, "Good. Now, give them back. You can't have them until Christmas." Aren't I sweet? Hey, he asked for hockey fabric and he got that. Now he must wait...

Can I say, I am trying hard not to make comments about his pants saying "Goal!". Thankfully they don't say "Score!". I'd never stop snickering like Beavis if they did. Hu, hu, score. I am truly still 12.

Where was I? Flannel pajamas. I have more patterns and more pajamas to make! All 5 of us in our little family are getting a pair of pj's for Christmas. Of course I had to make some for me too.

I'll get started on the ornaments soon. So, what are you making/giving for Christmas this year?

BTW, if I ever turn into that crazy old lady who makes lacy doilies and ugly quilted vests for everyone for Christmas feel free to shot me... or at least give me a heads up that what I am making just isn't cutting it anymore. Thanks.