Saturday, April 30, 2011

Kids Sewing Projects

Kids Sewing Projects

Here's a great website for kids sewing.

Eating, playing, and all that fun!!

We started our week by going out to lunch with Dorothy and my sister-in-law and her children. Dorothy took us to Red Robin which was lots of fun, as you can see from the hats Dorothy made.
Our Maddie with her hat!! Lindsay is hiding right beside her.

Robert in his hat.

Beatrice with her hat.

John with his hat. Beaker is helping him keep it on.

Lindsay with her fashionable hat.

After our trip to Red Robin, we headed home. On Wednesday, Kristinie the Great got the idea she needed something warm on her head. Who knows why - it was 80 something!! Well, she left her hat on the entire time we were at the nursing home and GUESS WHAT? The old people LOVED it!!! They were cracking up at her. Here she is in all her glory:
And just in case you're from the north, that is a "toboggan" on her head - not to be confused with a toboggan you ride down a hill!!!

Wednesday was the big day that Lindsay and Robert went to spend the night with Dorothy and the Great Oz. This doesn't happen very often so it was rather exciting. It's not because they dont' want to keep the children, they are just now getting to the age where they understand (the children, that is) that they can't all go at the same time.

On Thursday, Robert went with the Great Oz to run errands and do whatever he does. Lindsay stayed with Dorothy and they shopped and ran errands. Our Maddie got to spend the day with one of my friends who works in a school cafeteria. It was Take our sons and daughters to work Day. Taylor works at GE which is  a high security facility so none of the children could go with him. But Maddie got to go to see how a school cafeteria is run. She had a great time and she and my friend's daughter worked harder than her workers!!! Here they are dressed for their job.

Here's Maddie ready to work!!

Toni and Maddie at the awfully early hour of 6:00 or so getting ready to work!!

I don't have any pictures of Robert and Lindsay but from what I have been told, they had a great time. Since the big kids were off doing things, I decided to take the little kids to a place where big kids are not allowed. We have a place in town called Fit for Fun. It is for 5 and under. Neither Beatrice nor Kristinie the Great have been there. When we got inside they did not know what to do. It is a huge room filled with all kinds of toys, ride on cars, tunnels, a ball pit, balls, art center, Thomas table, snack room, etc. So Beatrice and Kristinie the Great just stood at the doorway staring. I walked them around the room and they still did not get it!! So I took them to the ball pit and threw them in. Yup, the compassionate Mom that I am - something had to be done!! After that they got it!! :)





Needless to say, they had  a BALL - no pun intended!! After that, we went to Dollar Tree so they could pick out a toy. I don't think the two of them knew what to do without the big kids. I had so much fun with them. Listening to the two of them talk together was hilarious. Kristinie the Great repeated everything Beatrice said. In the afternoon, Maddie came home and then we went ant got Robert and Lindsay. Everyone was glad to be back together but what fun they had doing something by themselves.

Friday was another busy day. Our big excitement was the weigh-in for the AWANA Grand Prix. We did that after Taylor got home from work. It is a labor of love for Taylor. Five cars, twenty wheels, lots of sanding, painting, weights, measuring, etc.!! But the children had fun preparing for it. The big day was this morning. All of the childrens' cars cross the finish line without any help. I was very thankful for that. Here they are showing off their cars - and for some, their trophies!!!







Finally, some miscellaneous photos that I have forgotten to post. Captions are as needed. Some need no explanation!!! :)

Kristinie the Great does not realize that she is getting nowhere fast!!


Cousin Lily and Beatrice.

Here Maddie is modeling the dress I am knitting for a baby due in June!! (Not ours) It may be a bit big!!


Lindsay wanted to make a cake for her Dad. It's a chocolate poundcake with Fluffy white icing and pink trim.

I assisted with the trim. The cake says, Daddy's Princess. I believe the Royal Wedding has us all star struck.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Travel time and crafting

One of our many adventures with our children includes visiting Taylor's parents. They love seeing their grandparents and Grandpa Blake is always coming up with fun things to do. Grandma Blake is always cooking up some wonderful dessert and planning the proper holiday activities. For Resurrection Day festivities, we colored the obligatory "heaster heggs" as Kristinie the Great says. But even as we colored the Easter Eggs, we remember that we are celebrating Jesus Christ's death, burial, and most importantly resurrection from the dead so that we might, if we so choose, have eternal life. I know that sounds too simple, right? Well, it IS simple. We must, as Acts 16:31 states, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." I thank the Lord for my salvation. I don't worry about death or dying at all because of God's Amazing Love toward us!! God said, "whosoever will" may come. That means anyone, anytime, anywhere. The time, of course is now!! Our Beatrice made a profession of faith two weeks ago. What an exciting time that was!! She was very glad of her decision.

Well, back to our festivities. Here are some photos of our children having fun with Grandma and Grandpa and Lily and Sawyer, their cousins.

Beaker warming up for the "official" Easter egg hunt!! Dont' worry, she doesn't have a serious skin condition, just tattoos our Maddie likes to put on her.

Our "hester "hegg' dying troupe!!! Lily is on the far right.

Our Maddie is determined to be a tomboy. Not sure how holding a fish and being a tomboy are related, but she decided she was going to hold a fish - not something I would do without gloves on first!!

Robert on his four wheeler. YES!! He DRIVES this - all by HIMSELF!! I know, can you believe it!! He is a crazy man!! I know, Aunt Betty Jean, he DOES take after me, I'm afraid!! :) And this is his cousin Sawyer.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Resurrection Day as we celebrate our Saviour's sacrifice!! :)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Little things count

We had a tremendous week last week, but I don't remember much of it!! Friday was our last day of co-op for the semester. We will start back again in the fall. The children had a great time and are looking forward to the fall semester. After co-op Maddie had her last band class for the year. Then we spent our afternoon with some friends playing at Halyburton Park. After that we headed to art class. Taylor texted to tell us he was taking us out to dinner. That was such a blessing. We went to Wrightsville Beach to Incredible Pizza. After that, we walked next door to Rita's Italian Ice. It was a great time. Here are the photos of our outing:
Here is Maddie, on the end, getting ready to play her trumpet.

Here is Kristinie the Great singing the alphabet song. She is kneeling with her teacher in the center.

Our cheerleader Lindsay getting ready to cheer!!

Below are photos from our dinner out last Friday evening:

OH!! I forgot about this - here is Kristine and Beatrice helping me make our favorite lunch - ramen noodles!!















Sew what?!!

I have decided that I need to get back to sewing so the last two weeks have been spent working sewing into my schedule. I have really enjoyed it thus far. I am getting caught up on the childrens' quilt squares and I have Robert's quilt ready to piece together. Here's a photo of it:

Thursday, April 14, 2011

It's so thimble

My grandmas, Hansen and Jones, could sew. My Mom can sew. She was one of the top in the state of NJ in high school. I learned as an adult and I am still elarning. I am finally learning how to use a thumble. such a simple little accessory but not as easy to use as it appears. I finished a quilt ssquare for Maddie today. She calls it Miami the Unicorn because it's "supposed" to be the colors of the Miami Dolphins. I don't have the heart to tell her it's actually the colors of the Chargers (I think). It could be the Oilers but I am no football aficianado. Here is the before and after photos of it. It is hard to tell with a cell camera but the first photo is how the unicorn looks before the applique.
Here is the before. No applique.

Here it is finished, with applique!! I will have to start using my regular camera because you can't see all the detail on the finished square.

I used the thimble to embroider the unicorn's eye. I am thankful that my grandmas and my mom enjoyed sewing as much as they did. I really enjoy it too. I am enjoying finally getting on the stick and working on our childrens' quilt squares, too.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Survival of the wittest

I know some people believe in Darwin's Theory of Evolution, "survival of the fittest", and all that jazz!! Well, here is a video that totally refutes his "theory". After all, it is a theory, it has yet to be proven. This penguin used wit to outsmart animals a gazillion times its size!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Piece de resitance

Yay!!! It came out!! I prayed about it and God answered my prayer. Thank you, Lord!! This is Lindsay's first quilt square. She loved Nemo even before she was one. We were visiting my cousin Carol for my cousin Alice and her husband's 25th anniversary. Carol wanted us to see Finding Nemo since we hadn't seen it and Lindsay loved it from the first second it started. She has passed down or given away most of her Nemo things and she had lots!! Anyway, Nemo is actually 3-D. He has button eyes and his "good" fin "flaps". It's a bit hard to tell in a photo, though.

Nostalgia and Quilting

I had a wonderfully blessed night tonight. Our Maddie is taking an international foods class in co-op and she volunteered to make something from Norway. So, of course, we looked to Grandma Hansen for a recipe. We were going to make krumkake but knew that would take waaaaaaaayyyyy too much time. So instead, we made sandbakkel. I think that's what they're called. They are Norwegian butter cookies, made with a cookie press. Now I love the cookie press but if the pan is not perfectly prepared, it doesn't work properly. We were hit or miss. I would say 30% came out the way Grandma would have made them, 30% came out like plain old round cookies, and 39% came out way too crumbly to even keep. But we got enough for her class. And of course, being in the thick of things, I did not remember to take photos!!

That said, I did take photos of the childrens' quilt squares. I have been working very haphazardly on a quilt square per year for each of the children. The plan is, when they turn 18, they will get a quilt to go off to college with. But as slow as I am moving, that may or may not happen. So I have got my face set to get caught up. I have made one quilt square in two days, and started another today. So, here are the ones that I've completed, in random order. You will see that I have quite a bit to do. But I remember the saying, "By the yard it's hard, by the inch what a cinch!!"

This quilt square is for Robert's quilt. My aunt Charlotte made it for Robert . She is a terrific lady. She is my dad's cousin on his Mom's side and she is very funny.


Here is Beaker, completed. I need to do something different with his eyes. They were not doing what I wanted. And applique in a circle is REALLY difficult.

This is Maddie's second quilt square. She loves the beach.

Maddie's first quilt square. Her birthday is near fourth of July. The Pooh Bear fabric is from a table cloth from her baby shower, and the flower fabric is from Aunt Jackie. The denim is just some leftover stuff I had. I am planning to put her birthdate, weight, etc. in that.

Ah, Lizzy!! Of course, this is Maddie's. Her favorite stuff animal STILL is her Ty beanie buddy lizard.

Robert's first square. He was born at Christmas time.

Robert's second square. He loves hummers and baseball.

Beatrice's first square.

Lindsay's second square. I am trying to get her first one on here. It was my most labor intensive. I tried different things with it. It was a lot of fun. Well, maybe another day I can get it on here.