I haven't blogged in awhile. We had a tragedy in our family. On May 14th my wonderful 19 yr old stepson passed away. For whatever reason he decided that living was harder than dying and so took his life. He left no note. We miss him terribly. We take comfort in knowing he was saved and so is with our Heavenly Father. If you feel led, please pray for the family. His sister and brother-in-law as well as his parents are devistated.

Well, I survived the weekend! It was great! I was down 1.8 at weigh in at Weight Watchers...woohoo! So was Sugar Bear which is good because if he doesn't loose then he becomes Grumpy Bear! I got 2 BOM's done so at least I'm caught up through May now. I really like doing them so I'm not quite sure why I put them off all the time. I'm now trying to decide how to do a puppy panel quilt for lady at work that's having a boy and doing his room in puppies. The blocks are cute but there are 6 of them and 3 different sizes so it's kind of hard to lay them out. Maybe it's because I haven't had much experience at creative designing yet. Oh well, I have them on the design wall and will be spending time studying the situation. Speaking of design walls, I made 2 portable ones out of presentation boards and a big vinyl/felt tablecloth cut in half. I made them early Sunday morning for the little girls before they got up. Bri loves putting fabric on mine and Mia is starting to mimic her. I can't really move around when they are behind me plus Mia loves pulling the thumbtacks out of the wall and I'm afraid she'll poke herself. Bri absolutely loves her design board. Of course Mia wanted Bri's so after Mia tore all the fabric Bri had put on the board off, Bri quickly put it back on then hurriedly shut the board and put it away so Mia couldn't destroy it again. She's one smart cookie!



I'm going to have to run but will leave you with this picture: this was found by my mom's cousin in my mom's trash heap when she moved. I don't know who made it but think it may have come from my stepdad's side of the family. It's both machine and hand pieced onto strips of muslin. It is unfinished and has no binding. I'm not sure of it's age but would like to think it was made by my stepdad's mother before she passed away when he was a year old. If anyone knows anything about findingout the age of the fabric or design please let me know! The strips are not the same width. It's really odd! I have it on the back of a chair in my bedroom and once in a while Bri and I take a nap under it and we talk about how old it is and how careful we must be when we use it. A good lesson for her to start learning now don't you think?

Hurray for weekends! I'm so glad it's Friday! If I lived in a perfect world I'd be a stay at home Nanna that's for sure! But since it's not quite perfect yet I'll have to be content with staying home on the weekends (and the occasional holiday). This weekend will unfortunately be as busy as most other ones. DS#1 has invited us over for dinner tonight as well as let the little girls ride on the horse w/DGF so that's our evening plan. Sugar Bear and I recently rejoined Weight Watchers and we go to the 6:00 a.m. meeting on Saturdays. That's right...6:00 a.m. Afterwards we stop by WalMart for any weekly stuff we need then maybe hit up a few yard sales IF I can talk him into stopping at them that is. Of course there is the usuall laundry and cleaning of the castle to do. SB has insisted I hire a friend's teenage daughter to come every other week and help me clean so that's a BIG help. Somewhere in there I'd also like to get some quilting time in. Oh and I told my DMIL they were invited over for dinner tomorrow night.

Do you have Mother's Day plans? We will be going to church and taking the girls with us. I told the guys and SB that if they want to get me something they can have the family over for a meal and plan, buy and serve it...then clean it up afterwards. In other words...I don't want to be the one doing the work! We'll see what happens.

Hi again,

Can you believe I'm writing again so soon? I took a few pics of my quilting area last night and thought I'd share them with you.


This is command central. ..this is where it all happens...this is the place to be! I love love love my long table that Sugar Bear had built for me when I first decided I wanted to learn to quilt. For about 3 months I used a long folding table until this one was done and to my liking. At first it was too tall. I'm thinking about making a skirt around the outside bottom of it.

Here is my wall of "stuff". I like having my "stuff" nearby but don't like having it out so the little drawers work out great. I also keep my scissors and rotary cutter there and little eyes/hands don't see/grab them! The shelves were already in place when
we bought the house so I decided they were a good place to put
my scrap boxes and rulers. I recently put up the thread spool holder on the wall and under it is a small bedside table that I have a little ironing board on. Under it, on the shelf I have my Rowenta iron base. It's one of those big industrial irons that sits on a base that holds lots of water (it's also from Sugar Bear). I love it!




This is my design wall (it's really just a vinyl tablecloth w/the felted backing but don't tell anyone). I like having it close but the girls like to design on it too and we get a bit cramped for space so I get a bit crabby. I'm going to make them each a portable design wall out of a folding presentation board...maybe this weekend. I'm in a BOM w/some of my online Weight Watcher friends and that's what's currently on the design wall. I just finished up April last night...yea I know I'm behind. The little quilt on the table next to my machine is Bri's baby doll quilt she is making. She's 3 1/2 yrs old and loves her baby dolls. I let her pick out 12-6" squares and put them on the design wall then rearrange them to her liking. She sat on my lap and put her hands on mine and helped me sew the squares together. Afterwards, we decided it was still a bit too small for her bigger babies so she picked out 2 borders. When we were in Joann's she fell in love w/some butterfly fabric so I bought her a yard of it for the backing. We have enough left over that I will probably make her baby a bib or pillow to match. All we have left to do to the little quilt is use the machine to embroidery little hearts on it. I'll let her pick out places she wants to place the hearts and mark the spots w/little pen marks then she can sit on my lap again and help me hold the fabric while the machine does the work!

Ok back to the tour...this is where all my fabric and some of my projects are stored. On the far side of the cabinet, behind the fabric curtain, is some of my leftover battings. I have a nice oak shelving unit in my bedroom that we are going to put here (soon) and then the curtain may come down. We got the cabinet from my DBIL. He had it custom made and it didn't fit into his new house when he moved. Lucky me!

This is the corner across from my sewing table. I love this little corner. I got the book cabinet at a yardsale for $5. It was missing the middle of the door so I brought it home, cleaned it up, got some cardboard, fabric and a lace panel and wala! The little dress hanging on it is a clothespin holder. I've seen them new online but this one was very yellowed and I think it's probably an original old one...also bought at a yardsale.


I was trying to get a picture of Sophie and this is the best I could do by myself. This is her favorite place to be when I'm quilting. She has to share it w/Bri and Mia though cuz they like it under the table too. Can you see where Bri decorated my table leg for me? Aren't I the most blessed person you know?


This is the couch in my quilting studio. We got it at an estate sale for $140! Both sides of the couch recline. Can you see my Lucee kitty beside it on the endtable? She likes to inspect ALL my work almost as much as the girls do. Beside her on the table is the quilt I recently finished for DS#1 and blogged about yesterday and all the scraps from said quilt. Next to that is my cutting table folded up w/my very old stuffed horsey I had as a little girl.

How do you like my antique rocking chair? I found it at a yard sale for $100. The lady had it custom recovered and had a matching curtain top made as well. Of course I bought that and the curtain rod from her too. This chair is very comfortable and gets moved from here to the living room alot!

This is my kind of new entertainment center. A gentleman from work gave it away. It's very big and kind of "80's" but I like it. If you look real close you can see my little storage unit that holds my 30's fat quarters on the left hand side. The girls love to open and close the doors so you will probably see lots of little fingerprints too. Oh and the tv was my Christmas gift from Sugar Bear...that man sure does spoil me!

There you have it. My quilting studio. Hope you liked the tour!

Good news

Hi, I'm baaack! And boy do I have exciting news... I recently finished my 1st Crazy Shortcut Quilt. It's queen-size and about killed me (just kidding it's really not hard at all). I had emailed the author of the book with a question regarding the sashing and since then we've been emailing back and forth. Well, I sent her a picture of my finished quilt and she posted it on her blog...now HOW COOL IS THAT?!?! She also mentioned that I should have a blog...hello I have one...just not real good at updating it. I'm going to get better though...I promise! Here's a picture of the quilt. I made it for Brad. He sure likes it (and so does his new girlfriend-they live together now).

I guess I should update you on the family:

Brad is now living with his girlfriend. He is currently unemployed...DUI and being an EMT don't mix...need I say more? Live and learn-man it's hard to be a mom and keep your mouth shut sometimes. I didn't do a very good job of it when he got pulled over. Sugarbear had to tell me to stop verbally beating the boy up since he was doing a pretty good job of beating himself up. Anyway, he's looking for a job...any job...got a job that needs to be filled? He recently got a beautiful white German Shephard named Kiah (I think that's how they spelled it). His girlfriend has a horse and lives in the country. They will be moving within a month or so.

Tim's divorce is still in the works. He got sole custody of the girls with supervised visitation with their mom. This is a good thing for now. Perhaps later that will change but this is for the best for now. They are still all living with us. This too is a good thing for the girls and Tim right now. They need the stability of living in the only home they have known. Bri still asks for her mom sometimes but is content with calling her on the phone most of the time. Mia is too young to realize what's going on and doesn't seem to miss her mom. In fact, I've been told she ignores her when they are together. Brad's girlfriend is Bri's new "best friend" especially since said girlfriend has the horse! We are still having trouble getting Bri to go to sleep at night. She sure fights it. Mia on the other hand goes in her bed and goes right to sleep. They are both adorable and have big chunks of my heart in their own way.

Sugarbear is doing fine. Ok, so not fine but ok. He goes in for a "procedure" on Thursday. He probably wouldn't want me to put it out in blogland but let's just say he has to drink a gallon of nasty stuff the night before the "procedure". Enough said.

On the quilting front...I got a midarm quilting machine! It's a Ken Quilt (KC622). It is 22 yrs old but had been stored for 3 yrs in box in a garage. The lady had bought it used and never put it up. Seems the table was 1 ft too long for the intended room it was going to go in. I got the table and machine for $700 and love it! Of course I'm still very much in the learning phase. I've done 3 baby quilts on it so far. It lives in our garage and I've named her KayCee. I'm behind on my BOM that I do with my WeightWatcher friends by 1 month so that's my "this weekend" project. I'd like to get a couple of months ahead as well, if I can that is.

I better run and see if I can remember how to add a picture so you can see Brad's new quilt. I promise I'll be back soon!

Well, March is almost gone! Sugar Bear had a good bday but wants to wait on a brew kit. Said he may want something else more but hasn't told me what that something else is yet!

DS#1 has a new girlfriend and she likes to quilt w/me! She's coming over tonight to work on DS's quilt as you go quilt. I've got almost all 30 of the squares sandwiched and started quilting them. I have 4 pieces of batting that I'm going to need to piece together and then sandwich the last 4 squares. I'd like to get all the sandwiching and quilting done tonight and maybe even get them all squared into 16" squares too! With 2 of us working we should be able to get alot accomplished. I'm off work tomorrow so whatever we don't get done I'll finish up then. After that it's on to figuring out how to put these squares together! I sure hope we like the finished project.

I've found out what all 3 babies that are going to be born this summer will be...1 girl and 2 boys. I have a girl quilt top ready to sandwich and quilt and I have the fabric for 1 pinwheel boy quilt. The other boy quilt is going to be a special cowboy and horse one for my...ready for this....1st grandson! That's right...DH's DD is having a boy! A lady at church is going to help me learn to do applique for the quilt.

The girls are doing great. Mia is still popping teeth like popcorn. She's such a happy toddler! She's definitely trying to say more words and we're finally figuring out what some of them are. Bri is one smart little cookie. She's trying her hand at coloring in the lines. She asked me to help her color the princess' hair and after I did she told me, "Thanks Nanna you saved my life!" Sure hope it'll always be that easy to solve all her problems!

It's March Already

Hi again,

Wow, March is here already! How'd that happen? Sugar Bear has a bday this month! I told him I'd get him a brew kit so he can try his hand at creating his own beer if he'd like. He really needs a hobby!

The girls continue to keep us very busy. Mia is cutting teeth like crazy and it makes her grumpy at night plus she keeps getting a rash on her bottom that looks (and I'm sure feels) terrible. Bri is getting taller but still only weighs about 2 lbs. more than her little sister. She is turning into quite a little "momma" to Mia. Last night she wiped tears from Mia's eyes for her...so sweet. They love to hug each other and Mia always wants Bri kisses. They both love spending time in the quilting studio with me. Mia is learning to put fabric scraps on the design wall by watching her big sister...she wants to do whatever Bri does.

Speaking of the quilting studio, I've been staying busy in there! I've started a "quilt as you go" quilt for DS#1. It is in greens and I'm about 3/4 done with the top squares initial sewing. Next I have to do the sandwiching (no I haven't gotten the batting or backing cut yet) and then do the decorative stitching. I finished a baby quilt for a DN in February and have another top 2/3's done. I just need to do the borders but have put it on hold to finish DS#1's quilt first. There are a couple of babies due this summer and if they'd cooperate and be girls then I'd have the tops nearly done! If not then I'll have to get busy and do some boy ones. I did manage to finish my Valentine Quilt...just not in time for Valentine's Day...but it's done! I don't have any new hand projects to work on so I pulled out an older project-Sunbonnet Sue embroidery. It's going kind of slow cuz the girls take alot of my evening time.

I better run...bbl!

Time to play catchup!

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since last August! I almost decided to give up the blog but then started reading some of my past posts and realized how valuable a tool blogging is. So many things happen and unless we write them down they are forgotten in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I'll try to do a quick update:

Bri turned 3 and Mia turned 1 in November. We had a wonderful princess birthday party for them complete with a bounce house and bounce slide, face painting, games, pinatas and of course a princess castle cake (made by mommy).

Brad had his back surgery and it went fine. He's back to work but his foot is still numb and may be for life. He made a very unwise decision to drive after drinking and got pulled over a few months ago. He's waiting to see if he will be able to keep his job after the DMV hearing. I'm just thankful that he wasn't hurt! He has a new girlfriend that is just lovely. They seem very happy and I hope it all works out for them. She has a horse and a dog and since Brad is an animal lover they are great for each other.

I'm very sad to say that Tim and Vanessa are split up. Paperwork has been started on the divorce proceedings. Words can not begin to describe my sadness over this. Tim has been very upset since this is not what he wants. The girls are currently with us and he is trying to get sole custody w/supervised visitation for Vanessa. I don't want to go into details but please pray for us all during this time of hurt, anger, and depression.

Sugar Bear is doing fine. We seem to have had one type of bug or another going through the house for several months and he was the last one to get the last bug. He ended up having to go to the drs. for antibiotics and is finally feeling some better. Work continues to keep him busy.

On the quilting front I've managed to finish a few projects recently. I made my mom a lovely purple quilt for Christmas and labeled it "Lilac Love" since my mom loves lilacs. She's in a nursing home w/Alzheimers and my brother said she loved the quilt when she opened it. I also finished another top similar to it, also in purple, as well as a baby quilt sized top in the same color and pattern. I made several aprons for Christmas gifts for all the little girls in our lives, as well as a few doll quilts. I cranked out several baby quilts and crocheted around several pieces of fleece for Binky Patrol in the past several months too. Oh and I made another fall quilt for Sugar Bear's work as a raffle prize. All in all I've been pretty busy. I'm almost finished w/a baby quilt for my niece's upcoming babyshower and will post a picture when it's finished. All that's left is the binding! I've been doing the hand quilting on the Valentine Quilt but don't know if I'll actually get it finished before Valentine's Day. I'm doing the big stitch quilting on it. I did that on mom's quilt too and love it!

We lost our little Riley dog in October. He had kidney failure. Vanessa took her dog when she moved so that left us dogless. At first I like it then I got to missing the little buggers and Bri kept crying for them so we now have a new puppy! She's a Sheltie and we named her Sophie. She's 10 weeks old and absolutely adorable! She loves running w/the girls but we have to watch that she doesn't jump up on Mia and make her fall down or scratch her. Lucee kitty is fine and only gets into a snit when Sophie tries to interact w/her. She's fine if she instigates the interaction but doesn't like it one little bit if Sophie does. Of course she loves Sophie's food but I sure wish she wouldn't eat it cuz it gives her a "touch of the gas". And on that note I think I'll sign off for now!

Time Flies

Wow I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted! Time sure does fly by fast it seems like! The love of my life will be home tonight for a 3 day weekend...yea! He's such a sweetie! Yesterday was my birthday (I've had 49 of them now!) and he had a New York cheesecake delivered to my office and had his mom and dad bring me a beautiful cake from a local bakery last night! We have enough sweet leftovers to last the weekend!

Sugarbear wants to give me a mid-arm quilting machine for my birthday but I need to do more research on them. There is an Elna dealer in town that has a good deal and the machine can do more than just topquilt BUT it's not cheap either and I already have a wonderful Elna that can do just about everything but bake so I don't know if I really need the new one for anything but quilting. If I go w/another machine then I won't have the local service and expertise that the Elna provides...what's a girl to do???

I've been sewing a bit. I'm hand quilting my wall hanging and it's going so so. You can definitely tell I'm a beginner! I've also been working on Binky Patrol quilts and also crocheting around the edges of fleece for them. I picked up my knitting needles and started making some dishclothes. My youngest son just laughed at me and asked if I ever just sat still and if not did I ever work on just one project at a time! Poor forgetful kid...you'd think he'd know me by now...he's 22 for heaven's sake!

The girls are as beautiful as ever. Mia is crawling and pulling herself up on stuff. She has 5 teeth and the 6th is sooo ready to pop through! She is an eating machine...so different from her big sister who picks and grazes through her day. Speaking of Brianna, she's talking up a storm and has become my shadow...ok so she's been my shadow almost since she was born. She wants to do whatever me and her pappa do on the weekends and gets in a snit if we leave her at home. She's not above calling us if we leave when she's asleep and don't get back before she wakes up...the girl's only 2 but already knows who's the boss (she tells pappa it's him so he'll feel good). She was playing and counting the other night and somehow counted backwards from 5. I thought it was pretty cool and waited a bit and then asked her to count backwards...you guessed it...she turned around to put her back towards me! How cute is that!

I better run...lunchtime is over!

Well, I didn't make it back to post last Friday like I'd hoped but I guess 3 days late isn't too bad. Andy is in Reno and went to urgent care for a swollen eye. He may have to come home tomorrow if it's not better and go see the eye dr. Silly man should have stayed home today and gone but he had to go be in charge of a meeting instead.

On the home front we got a new fence put up on 1 side of the backyard. It looks really good and hopefully the dogs will stay put now. Riley got out a couple of weeks ago and got bit by a big doggie and is still limping a bit on it.

Rhiannon came for a visit last week with the twins...they are just too cute for words. We had 3 - 2 yr olds and an 8 month old...lots of fun...and noise! I can't wait to do it again! We took them shopping and to McDonalds and of course I had to bring them by work to show them off a bit! We also went and got their pictures taken. Bri wouldn't hardly get in the pics and didn't ever smile. They got 1 pic of the 3 other girls laughing and having a good time and Bri sitting behind them looking sad...it's too funny-I had to buy that one! I can't wait to get the pics.

On to quilting---I finished the fall quilt top (I said that in a previous post), I also got the Valentine top finished as well as 3 Binky Patrol tops done (I think I said that previously too), I started my wall hanging for the kitchen and am now hand appliqueing the flower stems and leaves on it. It's a good beginner applique project. I've almost finished 1 panel on my Snowman quilt embroidery. Tomorrow evening I'll work on Binky Patrol stuff.

How's that for an update?

1 Project Down!

Good morning! 3 days in a row...can you believe it? I was able to finish up the Binky tops last night! Yea for me! I also got to work on the fall quilt for Andy's work...it's not done but definitely getting there! I'm looking forward to some sewing time this weekend. I think I'm going to make a few minor adjustments to the "quilting studio" (I'm calling it that now and my lovely father-in-law keeps saying, "naw it's just a sewing room"-he's a funny guy). I think I'm going to get out my laptop computer and download my EQ5 on it and put it in the studio. It's been put up because the battery is going bad but as long as it's plugged in it won't matter right? I'd also like to figure out how I can get my cutting table set up long term instead of folding it when it's not in use....hummmm. I'd also like to look for an ironing board that I can sit my Rowenta on when I'm ironing. Well, I guess I'm off to the drawing board...see you all later!

1 Project Down!

Quilting Projects

I'm going to post a list of my quilting projects to help me stay on track to finish some of them this summer. I was going to try to finish them all by the end of July but that's not going to happen so I'll include August as well. Here I go:

Quilt top projects:
1. Fall quilt top for a raffle at Andy's work (almost complete)
2. Fall quilt top for Brad (only cut out so far)
3. Valentine quilt top for me (ready for design wall and sewing together-I'm going to hand quilt it this winter when it's colder outside)
4. Rag quilt probably for donation (I think I have enough squares done and just need to stage it then sew it together but I made it in browns and may need to add a few colored squares to liven it up-it was going to be for Brad but changed my mind and will probably donate it to Binky Patrol for a teen boy quilt)
5. Fun quilt using Weight Watcher groups 10" squares (barely started)
6. 2 Binky Patrol 36x36" quilts almost finished

Quilting projects:
1. Summer placemats (2)
2. Table cover for under TV

Embroidery projects:
1. Little girl Sunbonnet Sue for Brianna
2. Snowmen in bluework for winter quilt for us

That's all I can think of for now. My goal for this weekend is to finish the 2 Binky Patrol tops then try to finish the fall quilt for Andy's work. Next week I'd like to stage the Valentine's quilt and get it together. Wish me luck!

Get a chance to win a quilt!

I'm wayyyy behind in blogland! I haven't posted in ages but wanted to share a blogspot with everyone. Check out the Old Red Barn Co. at http://www.oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/ for a chance to win a beautiful quilt. I'm supposed to put a link on my sidebar but don't know how to do it:(. I managed to get the picuture on my blog though and I've given you the link so go check it out! (maybe she'll take pity on me and give me a couple of extra entries for a nice try???)

Life has been good DDIL started stenography school last week and is liking it soooo far. She also started back to work part-time at McDonalds so she's one busy momma. DS#2 is still working at Applebee's only now he's a server and enjoying it (and the tips). Their 2 girls are cuter than ever! Bri is an amazing 2 yr old that has a pre-teen attitude most of the time. She gave her uncle the meanest hate stare the other night that I'd ever seen! Her tongue keeps finding it's way out of her mouth too! Mia is an absolute doll at 8 months...chubby doll but what a cutiepie! She's all smiles and once she got over the fact that mom's not at her beck and call 24/7 she's doing ok. They are all still living with us for now. We're getting settled in the new home and working on getting a system down. They are still working on getting the girls into daycare so they are kind of shuffled around to family until the kinks are out of it. DH is still working out of town alot and stressing about the job but I think that's just the way it's going to be for a few more years. DS#1 was cleared to go back to work this week following his back surgery. He's very happy to be going back...he's been bored to tears!

I've been busy quilting and working both at the job and church. Last month we had Vacation Bible School and we served dinner every evening for a week then had a big picnic the following Sunday afternoon. Very busy week! I'm trying to slow down this month. My to-do list for July includes trying to finish quilting projects I've started. I'm also a part of a new chapter of Binky Patrol. We make quilts/blankets for donation. It's a very worthwhile organization. Check it out at www.binkypatrol.com.

I'm not promising anything but I'm going to try really hard to start posting once a week...don't hold your breath though!

Time to Catch up

Wow I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. I think we're finally getting settled into the new house. The garage is still a mess and we need to make another cardboard recycling run. Let's see what else is new:

Brad is moving this weekend. His back continues to heal from the surgery. He can't do much lifting yet so he's going to need help moving his bedroom things. I guess we're going to try to help him a bit and of course his brother is helping.

Tim is still working and says he's going to start getting more hours/days a week of work soon. I guess because so many of the servers were college students and they are graduating and moving on.

Vanessa will be starting school for stenographer in the 1st part of July. She's looking forward to it. She's getting bored staying home.

Mia has her arm in a cast! She has a hairline fracture...poor baby. Her little cousin was helping her roll over and her arm didn't roll right. Here's a picture...

Brianna is doing fine...growing like a weed! She has decided she likes the pool and her water wings. She's even getting used to us not holding her in the water. Here's a picture of her w/daddy in the pool last week...

Hunny Bunny is still working hard and out of town most of the week.

Me-well, I've been busy (as usual). I'm trying to learn to machine top quilt. I've made 1 placemat, and top quilted 3 Binky Patrol baby quilts the past few weeks. I've almost got all the fabric cut for 2 fall quilts as well. One will be a raffle prize and the other is for Brad. Between the 2 of them I'll have cut over 800 2 1/2 x 6 1/2" pieces when I'm done! It will be like my fall quilt in an earlier post but w/different fabrics.

I guess I'd better run!

Stop and Smell the Roses

Hi,

We've been sooo busy the past few weeks that I think now is the time to stop and smell the roses. Here is a picture of a rose off one of our new rosebushes in the front yard. It smells more wonderful than it looks!

Hi,

Just have a second to make a quick post. We're slowly getting more settled. I had whatever stomach virus, that's currently living in our house, on Sunday evening and Monday...managed to muddle through work with it since I've been off soooo much lately between the cold virus and then moving. Life was good again on Tuesday. I still haven't taken any pictures of the house with our stuff in it yet...for 2 reasons-1) the house is still in a bit of a mess and 2) I don't know where the camera is. I think Andy probably packed it in some of his office things but keep forgetting to ask him about it.

I'm going to have a fun evening. My ex's sister just called. She's visiting from out of town and she, another sister, and their mom want to come over to see everybody tonight. I was married to her brother for over 20 yrs (I was 18 when we married and 40 when we split) so they are very much still my family. I don't get to see them as much as when we were still officially family since I don't want to step on ex's new wife's toes or make Andy feel too uncomfortable but we still manage to keep in touch. I call myself an outlaw now instead of an inlaw. I still call their mom "mom" since she was that for soooo many years. She's a quilter too so we talk quilting once in a while and when I get my room all set up I'm going to start inviting her over more to quilt with me. Anyway it'll be a good visit. My son has to work tonight but I suggested we go visit him at Applebee's for dessert. Don't you think that was a good idea?

We're in the house!

Hi! We made it...we're in the new house. Of course we're not all the way out of the old house yet but almost! Tim got the flu from Vanessa on the Saturday before the move and didn't feel better until last Friday (3 days into the move). Needless to say, hubby was a little put out by this....then he got the flu on Thursday and let's just say he understood son's illness a whole lot better I think! Hubby is still not feeling well but flew out today for work and won't be home until Thursday evening. Hopefully he'll get to go to bed early each night while he's gone and come home well again. I thought I might be coming down w/it this morning but the noodle Cup-o-soup seems to be working out well. Now back to the new house...the furniture is all there but our refrigerator is still in the garage...along w/a bunch of boxes and "stuff" we're sure we need but don't know where to put it all. The pool fence is still being worked on by my oldest son and father-in-law...thanks guys! Hubby had wonderful plans just more plans than time and then the bug didn't help! The dogs spent the 1st night in the new house last night and of course got into the neighbors yard this morning. Ruby (Chihuahua) was raising such a fuss I was sure she was either stuck someplace or hit by a car when I couldn't find her in the yard. They had dug a little hole and crawled through and then I guess they weren't smart enough to find it to get back.

Brianna has been a cutie during the move. She saw her mommy's wedding dress and told her daddy that her mommy was Cinderella (or as she says Cineryaya)! I told them that was 1 for her baby book. Brianna's world revolves around Cinderella right now and her mom did the girl's new room in Disney princess. She really outdid herself! I'll get a picture to post as soon as I can find the camera! Bri has almost always slept w/her mom and dad and they are trying to work on getting her into her own bed. Before the move they had her up to falling asleep someplace else and then putting her into her bed for the night. Since the move she's actually fallen asleep in her bed (watching Cinderella on her new tv of course). Yesterday I asked her if she'd slept in her bed like a big girl...and her answer was...ya pretty much (she got up around 7 and crawled into mom and dad's bed). She is such a hoot for a 2 yr old!

Mia is finally starting to feel better. She's such a happy baby...unless mommy puts her down at naptime. She's only 5 months old and had a terrible cold twice already so she's very used to being held while she sleeps to keep her from coughing and choking so now she wants the same treatment...and it pretty much has to be mommy. I think I'm glad I work outside the home for when she gets broken from that habit cuz I can't stand to hear her cry.

Great news! Hubby has the keys to the new house in his hand! He's got the trailer loaded with garage items and probably unloading it already! I can hardly wait to have everything in and start getting settled! I'm very anxious to get the sewing room set up and have some time to create again...probably won't happen for a week or two though. I'll try to get a few pics posted soon!

Here's a picture of the fall quilt all finished with the binding and everything...I finished the binding on it when I was off work with that nasty cold a couple of weeks ago. I still need to work on making my corners more square...either that or start making them rounded...haha.

I know, I know it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. I've had that "bug" that's been going around...you know the one...coughing up a lung and the head sooo stuffed up you'd think you'd never breathe through your nose again...yep that one. After about 10 days my nose is now clear and I'm only coughing bad at night and about every other day through the daytime. I'm thinking this is a good case of the old fashioned cold that we never call a cold anymore...always say we have the flu or a virus...I never hear anyone say, "I have/had a cold" anymore! The house is only 3 days away from being ours (and the bank's)! I can hardly wait!!! We're going shopping this weekend for a few things we'll need when we move in. Oh course the kiddos will be moving in w/us. Vanessa has been busy buying things to decorate the girl's room and their room too. Andy is taking the week off and I'm taking the last part of next week off to do this. I've got to run for now. I'm going to take some quilt photos this weekend to post...