Merry Christmas 2007

We just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Or a Happy Hanukkah! And we pray for a SPECTACULAR New Year for everyone!

Pacific Northwest

Please pray for all those affected by the horrible storms in WA and OR. The town of Chehalis has been basically wiped out. I just got these pictures from a friend. Here are a couple that you can really see the extent of the flooding.

These were taken along the I-5 freeway. We would drive by these places on our way to Seattle.

I also talked to my friend, Monica, and she said they had terrible damage on the coast. Trees are down on houses, no power since Sunday, highway access in and out closed. They had 100+ mph winds. A Sitka Spruce tree that was one of the nations largest was snapped 75 ft from the bottom and they say it will now die. I saw on the news a story about farms losing hundreds of cows. So many people all over the PNW are homeless, lost businesses, and some have lost their lives. It makes me realize I have NOTHING to complain about.

The calm after the storm

We rolled out of bed late this morning, but got dressed and went outside to clear the driveway. Here is Travis with the snowblower. We did ours, then I went to help my neighbors a little tiny bit and visit. It's funny, everyone comes out to do their driveways and then we all visit in the street. It's fun.

Here's the plow that always comes by AFTER we do the driveway to push up all the snow back into our drive. Darn guy! It has now turned warmer and started with a mix of snow and rain. I have to run to Target to print out Christmas pictures!! It will be nice to get those out early, hopefully. Now to go warm up my feeties. :)

Milwaukee Bucks Dance Competition

Today was the Milwaukee Bucks Dance Competition down at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The team performed their pom routine and pulled a 2nd place!!! Well, they got a 3rd place trophy, but one of the judges was totally biased and after checking into it, their totals got them a 2nd place. They also performed their funk routine. This was the first time they performed this routine in competition, and they did really well, but they also found things they have to work on. We are very proud of the chicks. They ROCKED!!!!


When we left the Bradley Center, we came outside to several inches of snow and ice pellets. We buzzed home in the Element going 30-40 mph and the normally 2.5 hour trip took us 5 hours. I took a couple of moms with me so it was ok. We just visited the whole time. Here is the Element's back end covered with snow from the road.

Here is snow in our yard. It's still coming down. We have about 8 inches now, and are expecting a total of about a foot by morning. YIPPEE!! :)

Now, to get into my comfy flannel pants and chill. Have a snowflakey day/night!! :)

Jingle Jolly Runner

No, I don't mean a person who is running. I mean a TABLE runner! :) This pattern was designed by my splendid friend, Monica It's called Jingle Jolly Runner. I whipped it out in a few hours. Super fun, and super easy, and super cute! Thanks M!!! :)

I used Peppermint and Hollyberries fabric by Benartex (the green). I bought it a while ago, and figured this was perfect to use it for. I think I was right. :)

Ta Da!

Well, just as I said earlier, here I am posting my first of 2 NUJD quilts. I'm so glad it's done. I can throw it into Foxy (the Element) and we can stay snuggly warm. :) The top was done with 4" squares that I found at a thrift shop for $4 (and I got 2 tops). The back is 11" squares that were leftover (see last post) from several quilts that I've already made. I even pieced together the batting from leftovers! So, this quilt cost me a whopping $2 bucks! Yippee!!!

Now I'm planning to work on a table runner designed by my very talented friend, Monica. I need (yeah, right....NEED) to go get some fabric at the quilt shop, so I'm off here for a little bit. Hugs and kisses to all! :)

It's been a long time......

It's been a while since I posted last, and I've been meaning to. But here I am today!

Thanksgiving was great. We spent the day lounging in our jammies, watching TV and eating, of course. It was just the 4 of us, just the way we like it.

We woke up to a dusting of snow. Since then, it's snowed on and off. It was supposed to snow last night, but it looks more like we'll get it later today. The temperature has risen from 20 degrees, when we went to bed last night, to a balmy 30~ The clouds are bluish, so I'm guessing they're full of SNOW!! :)

I've been trying to get my NUJD quilts done, but since I was using scraps on the backs I had to cut flannel. I dug out all my scraps from quilts past and cut squares from 11" to 6" depending on the strip. Here are my piles. I have a ton! Well, not LITERALLY a ton, but a lot. :) I have one NUJD quilt in the machine today. I hope to post it later this afternoon. I'm just quilting across and up and down just to get the batting all nice and snuggly inside.

Here is my new Walking Foot! I know, I know. I should have gotten this years ago, but I never wanted to spend the money. I'm glad I did. I just got used to not having it so I didn't know what I was missing. If you don't have one of these for your machine, I encourage you to get one. It is very nice! :)

Now, off to the drop the kids off at school and come back to SEW, SEW, SEW!!! Have a fantastic day!! :)

Aprons and more aprons

After I showed the chicks at the Barn Door quilt shop the little Ava Apron, they told me if I wanted to make some more, they'd sell them at the shop! Heck, a little extra fabric money??? I'm so there! So, I made up these little aprons. Candy Canes, Cherries, Watermelon, Patchwork and a Packers Green with Gold Stars. :) We'll see if they sell before I make more. For now, I'm trying to get all my flannel scraps cut into squares to put on the back of my NUJD quilts, so I can FINALLY finish them.

Artsy Fartsy stuff

I have gotten a couple of projects done. They both had deadlines, so I got them done quickly. I love deadlines! :) I am a procrastinator, I admit it, but I'm good when I had a deadline.

The first little tiny quilt is a gift for a friend. Our friends in Cheboygan put us up for a long weekend and took us for a tour of their town. Anyway, this is a little Thank You gift to them. :) It's a Tiny Stars wallhanging and it's about 9" x 9" square. My friend's master bathroom is lavendar and her room is lovely green, so I thought she could hang this in either room and it would look nice.

This is a little reversible apron for Miss Ava who just turned 2 on Saturday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE PRINCESS!!! :) Anyway, she is into (play)cooking, I hear, so I figured she needed an apron so she doesn't get (play) frosting all over her clothes! :) One side is watermelon-y and the other is purple/pink. I also made her some little tiny watermelon potholders. I got the idea from a little fancy schmancy toy store in town. But they were selling their NON-REVERSIBLE aprons for much more!! This turned out so adorable, I just wish I could see her in it! Since they live stinkin' far away, I'll only get to see her in pictures and when I finally get to go out and visit! :)

Today I'm working on finally getting the backs on my NUJD quilts. I'll post pics soon (I hope!). :) Have a fantabulous day!!!

Rockin' Out

We went to the Ruth/ RelientK/ Switchfoot concert last night in Green Bay. It was VERY fun! We were pleasantly surprised by the opening band, Ruth. They are a band from WASHINGTON STATE!! OH YEAH!!!! Anyway, after the concert, we got to talk to them, and 2 of the guys are from Battle Ground ~ about 15 minutes from where we lived in Salmon Creek! 1 of the guys is from Portland and the other is from Seattle. We talked about mountains, trees and THE OCEAN! It was great. Yeah, we're good friends now. tee hee Here are the girls and their pal with the band.

This probably should have been posted first, but here is a picture of the crazy kids waiting to get into the concert. We had to stand and wait in a little waiting area for about an hour before they would let us in. This was the first rock concert in the new Kress building at UWGB. Nice place, but better for sports.

And speaking of rocking out, here is Anisa and her old man, I mean, Travis (tee hee) rocking out on their guitars. I'll get a picture of Sara and her bass some other day! :) Someday, I might have rocker daughters!! but probably not! hahahaha

Dance Competition

Well, our chicks have made it through their first competition. It was down in Milwaukee this past Saturday. They competed against 9 other teams in their division. Unfortunately, they didn't place THIS TIME, but they now know what to expect and where they need to improve. 2 girls were out due to injuries. Here are some pictures of our beautiful chicks.

This is the team the day before competition. This was their dress rehearsal. This was also the day that one of the girls pulled her hamstring. Don't they look sparkly??

This is the beginning of their routine. Anisa is on the right side, on her knees in the back. They danced to You Lift Me Up by Rachael Lampa. They ROCKED!!!! This was their Pom routine. They are learning their Funk routine which they'll perform at another competition.

This is the end of the routine. Anisa is in the back standing up (almost directly in front of the dancer on the Coach's right side). We are SO PROUD of our girls. They did such a great job. We're looking forward to the next competition coming up in December!

Da U.P.

We went up north this past weekend. It was VERY fun. We went to visit Tim and Belinda, some CG friends from Astoria that are now living the retired life. We hadn't seen them in about 11 years! It took about 6 hours to get there, but it was so worth it. We went exploring, visited Belinda's very cute parents and their chickens, dogs, and turkey, we shopped a little and even visited a haunted school.

They live on a river in Upper Michigan and it was beautiful! The water up there is so nice and clear and all different colors of blues and greens. Here are some highlights of our trip....

This is the Mackinac Bridge. It's the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world and THE longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. It's total length is 26,372 feet which is about 5 miles. On one side is St. Ignace, MI and on the other is Mackinaw City. The Straights of Mackinac run under it and connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It also connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.





This is Mackinac Island. The only way over is by ferry/boat. Unless it's winter. Then IF conditions are right, they use an "ice highway" to get on and off the island. There are no cars on the island other than the fire truck, ambulance and a tractor used at the landfill. Horses and bikes are used to get around. You can see the Grand Hotel. In the summer, we plan to make another trip and go over to the island. The weather wasn't all that cooperative this trip.




Here is the Old Mackinaw. Tim was stationed aboard this big red beast 2 times. His first and last stations. This ship is now decommissioned and there is a New Mackinaw. They are Ice Breakers/Bouy Tenders, and they are beautiful.









So, I'm thinking this might be where Madonna goes shopping. Have you ever heard of pasties? I was thinking, "WHAT??!!". That isn't an appropriate sign for the children to see! But these pasties aren't the kind Madonna likes to wear. These are actually little meat pocket thingies. They have meat, potatoes and onions inside. We didn't try them on this trip, but plan to someday.





Now that I'm on the subject of food, did you know there are still Big Boy Restraunts? Well, here's proof. Here's the Big Boy himself! Larger than life. :)










This is one of the beaches on Lake Michigan up north. There are sandy beaches and they are really pretty. I'm still going back to the ocean eventually, but these were nice to look at! :)










The trucks that normally drive up north have big ol' HONKIN' grills. We figured it was because of all the elk, deer and moose they hit on the roads.











Here are the chicks goofing off while we were playing and shopping in Mackinaw City. We were being Fudgies. That's the name they give tourists who visit there because the fudge is very popular there.









And this final picture is us dreaming. :) I keep saying that we need to buy a teardrop trailer for Anisa to tow with Foxy and we won't all be crammed in Traily. I'm not complaining, mind you. I don't mind being squished into my little trailer, but it would be nice for Travis and me to have privacy. :) Doesn't Foxy look cute??



I hope you enjoyed looking at our trip pictures. It was very fun and we are looking forward to our trip in the summer. :)

Brown and Aqua

Here is my latest quilt. I have been getting quite a bit of sewing done, and that makes me happy.

This is an Atkinson's Design Pattern from one of their latest pattern books, Happy Hour. The quilt is called Picture This and it was a fun one to make. It's very easy and goes together quickly (my favorite kind). The blocks turn out to be big 15" blocks, so you don't even have to make that many to get a decent sized lap quilt. I had something different in my head when I started it, and I'm not as thrilled with it as I thought I would be, but I do like it and my girls liked it when I finally got it done. I want to make this quilt in some other colors.

My next quilt is in the machine right now. It's my Not Ugly, Just Different 2 quilt. A little explanation......I made a quilt out of 4x4 squares that a friend had given me years ago. She had all the squares cut in a ziploc bag and the package was a garage sale item that didn't sell. The fabrics were pretty ugly, with the exception of a few. So, I sewed them together thinking that I could throw the thing outside in the grass and it wouldn't matter. Well, I got it together and really liked it.....it is very scrappy. I showed it to my friend and told her it was my Ugly quilt and she said, "it's not ugly, It's just different", and that stuck. Anyway, fast forward a few years and I found a ziploc of 4x4 squares at a thrift shop a few weeks ago, and I'm making another NUJD quilt. :) I'll be posting soon. It's raining today, and I have bible study this morning, but I plan to get some sewing done later. Yippee!! :) I hope your weather is to your liking where you live! :)

Ta Da!

Wow, thanks chicks for helping me vote on your favorite setting. There was a tie with 2 and 3 being the winners. I had to see which looked better with the border fabs, and this is the finished project. I finished it minutes before I had to go to the baby shower! I'm happy with it. What's up with the blue strip and the bone in the border, you ask? Well, yeah. I ran out of fabric, and since I live an hour away from Joann's (where I bought the fabrics), I had to make due with what I had. I like the bone on the border. It looks like I MEANT TO do that. :) The blue strip, eh, well, it looks ok. I quilted little swirlies in each of the big blocks.

And now on to cleaning my house and the NEXT project, if I don't die from heat stroke!~ It's supposed to be another hot day in the 80s with HIGH humidity. I'm sitting here in 66 degrees and the air is WET! ewww. I hope everyone has a comfy day! :)

I NEED HELP! :)

I am at a loss. I just cannot decide which way I like this quilt, so I'm asking for your vote. Please vote for 1, 2, 3, or 4. I need to get this done by Sunday! URGH. :) Thanks chicks!

1.

2.3.
4.

It's Done

Here is the wallhanging all finished. I made it from a pattern by Lori Smith from her Fat Quarter Quilts line. It's called Sampler Quilts . Happy Zombie posted the patterns a while back and I found them at the local quilt shop. I have another pattern with fabrics that I want to do, but I need to make another baby quilt (posted soon, HOPEFULLY).

The weather here is starting to cool and the squirrels are in hyper-storing mode and I'm going into hyper-quilting mode. So, I need to log off the computer and SEW, SEW, SEW!! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Something Fun

I know we all like to show our finished projects, but I thought it would be fun to show a project that's ALMOST finished. :) This is a wallhanging that I'm working on. It's almost done. I just finished ironing it and thought I'd be silly and take a picture of the inside of a quilt. I'm hoping to get the back and binding on later today, and post the FINISHED little quilt tomorrow. I'll give more details then, but for now, enjoy the INSIDE of quilt. :)

Things I've been working on

I finally finished some projects for other people and they've both been received, so I can post them! :)

This is a quilt I made for a friend's new baby girl. She picked out the fabrics since she wanted me to also make a valance and bedskirt for the crib. I didn't get a picture of the valance and bedskirt, but I was happy with the results and mom liked them too. :)

Here is a Thank You gift to my friend, Evonne, in Vancouver. She put up with the girls and me this summer, then took in Anisa for a week. I figured a quilty hug was a good gift. :) And I've always wanted to make a black and white quilt, but it just doesn't really go in my house. It goes REALLY WELL in her house, since her family room furniture and carpet is black and kitchen is black and white. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA

Would you all help us wish my Grandma H. a BIG OL' HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

She's a Wife, Mom, Grandma and GREAT Grandma. This picture was taken in Kodiak, um, 20ish years ago with one of her Great Grandpups. I had to SEARCH through all my photo albums to find a good picture because she never lets us take pictures! Isn't she cute?? :)

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA. We hope you have a wonderful day, week, YEAR!! :) love, Your family!!!! :)

Mmmmmm

Ok, if you haven't tried these, you MUST! I found them at Wal-mart. So, what are you waiting for, go get some!!!

Homecoming in a Small Town

We endured 40something degrees last night to watch the Clippers LOSE again (they lost last year, too). How sad. The pre-game stuff was pretty fun, tho, and warmer. :)

Traditionally, the students TP the school. The only rule is, they have to clean it up. So, on Monday, the kids will be cleaning up the mess.

What's Homecoming without the PARADE! Here's our beautiful kid marching with her little picolo.

Ah, the bonfire. Here is the pile BEFORE.......

and After

We had fun hanging out with friends, yelling and screaming for our team and then came home and warmed up in our quilts! :)