Finally back to normal!!

This will probably be a several part entry because I have so many photos and so much to tell. We left last Saturday - why there is no post for last week - to go on vacation with my two brothers, and my Dad and Mom. We just went to North Topsail which is about 40 minutes from our house and 15 minutes from Dad and Mom's and my brothers' houses. It was nice to be away but not away. We were blessed because we were able to check in at noon since no one used the house the week before. So we had sort of an extra day!!! The house is four stories, with the first story a storage area. The second floor is three bedrooms and two bathrooms. That is where we stayed with my younger brother and his wife and two children. We figured it would be safer if ALL the little kids were on one floor!!! Tom's room looked out to the ocean and had a deck. Our  rooms looked out the back (obviously) and we could see the waterway and all of its canals. AND each of our rooms had sliding glass doors with a deck. The third floor was the main living area and a bedroom and bathroom. There was a living room, dining area, and a kitchen. Behind this was a bedroom and a bathroom. There is a deck on the back and a deck on the front. The fourth floor was the "penthouse" suite!! It had a bathroom, a little sitting area, and a bedroom. That's where Dad and Mom slept. OH - and Beaker was banished up there because she would not stop talking to her siblings at bedtime. I guess she was so excited to be sharing a room with them!! More later....

Blogger Quilt Festival

WOW!! I did not know what I was getting into when I entered the cyberquilting world. There is so much information and so many creative people!!! I am posting one of my very first quilts. I made it for my youngest daughter. She really loves it. In fact, she went to bed one night without it and I walked past her room and I saw her fingers sticking out under the door and she was quietly saying, "Mommma, my wilt. Mommmmmmmm-a, my wilt!!" She was so happy when I put it ove her!! It took me a year and a half to make because I was very overwhelmed. There is a lot to learn about quilting and I guess I jumped in to deep. But I decided to persevere in the last month or so and do a little sewing everyday. And this is one of the end results. I hope you like it. The pattern is from Country Woman magazine called wiggly worm quilt.

I am posting this at the Blogger's Quilt Festival site - here is the link (I hope this works!!)

http://amyscreativeside.com/2011/05/13/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2011/

I hope you enjoy looking at all the quilts as much as I did.

The end is near!!!

Well, we are FINALLY nearing the end of our school year and getting ready for our vacation. It's the second year in a row we will be spending it with my family. It's the first time though that Dad and Mom will be staying with us, too. Mom has lists and lists and lists. She's been baking up a storm and busily getting everything ready. We were supposed to all work together but I think it's her first time being Mom again to all of us so she is going at it full tilt!! I hope she doesn't wear herself out.

Back to the week at hand. I will tell about our vacation after our vacation. This past week was yet another busy week. I am finding that God has really blessed my perserverence with my sewing, as you will see what we have accomplished this week. Aside from having our President's Fitness day with our homeschool group we ate at Zaxby's, the Bible Club at church had an ice cream social, we are winding up Keepers of the Faith, and looking forward to swimming, the water park, and seeing our friends.

Here is our week in review by way of photos, of course. When I figure out how to get my video off my phone, then we will have video too. Woo hooo.....

Here is Robert's Mother's Day present - a turtle crawling to the ocean. He amde it in his art class.

Here is Maddie's Mother's Day present - a turtle too - can  you see Mom spelled out on its shell?

The boys in Keepers of the Faith made a pathway outside one of the back doors at church to the outdoor sink. Didn't they do great? I'm so proud of them. They, as well as the girls, have worked so hard this year.

You'll have to look at Minnie sideways - for some reason she didn't cooperate tonight. This is Beaker's second quilt square. So I can happily say I am caught up on one child!! Yay.

This is Anderson, otherwise known as Big A. Beatrice was so thrilled to hold him. Don't worry, his Mom and I are on close standby just in case!!

And this is Joshua - he and Big A are two days apart.

Here is our Maddie with one of her good friends. They are serving up ice cream at their ice cream social. Talk about a fun time - and what great decoations!!!

And here are our childrens' oldest friends.  The fella on the right is one week younger than Maddie. And that's his big brother next to him. Aunt Betty Jean, their Mom is Swedish - 100%!!! Cool, huh? She's one of my oldest friends too down here!!

Beaker is sooooo tired. She didnt' take a nap this day - not sure which one but is is VERY unusual for her and Beatrice (see below) not to have some sort of nap!!

Beatrice and her mankie!! :) (translation: blankie)

Here is Maddie in the Fourth of July dress she requested I make her. Size 8 with 9.25 inches added!!! She looks a bit bean polish in the photo but it looks great on her!!

 And here was have a new delicacy: white chooclate chip macadamia nut cookies dipped

 in Ketchup (yep, that's Ketchup, or catsup, if you prefer)

and Ranch dressing. And YES, she ate it!! Blech.....

This is one of my friends and I having fun at our once a month teen meeting where the teens learn how to do things. Like sew, bake, woodwork, change oil in a car, etc. Today was cooking and baking day. Stacie (pictured) showed them how to make a simple chicken and dressing casserole. Here are the ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

Can of cream of mushroom soup or chicken soup

Half a small tub of sour cream

Stove tup or generic kind stuffing

Place chicken in pan; mix soup and sour cream together and heat in small pan so they mix together nicely. Pour over chicken. Mix stuffing with water as directed on package. Put over chicken and soup mixture. Bake in 350 oven about 40-45 minutes. Voila!! Simple meal.

I showed the kids how to make biscuits from scratch. I don't have the recipe in front of me so I will have to get it later. We also had macaroni and cheese, banana pudding (blech) and the most delectable yummy fluffy vanilla cake with chocolate frosting I believe I've ever had. OH - and we learned how to make sweet tea. And boil eggs to make deviled eggs.

Again, sideways quilt photos are my friend. This is Maddie's Pink Panther without detailing. I am psyching myself up. She picked a REALLY hard one!!



I mentioned briefly that we did the Presidentital fitness challenge. It was a lot of fun. The children got to see who could smoke a cigarette the fastest, run to the welfare office quickest, and fill out a form for healthcare. Just kidding!!! They did all sorts of fun stuff: running, sit-ups, push-ups, sit and reach, and shuttle run. No worries about our children being Olympians here!!!

I am now at a stage in life where we have no babies in the house. What a strange experience it is. Nearly ten years of babies!!! Beaker is finally getting more and more independent and as each day draws to a close she is becoming less demanding - oh, not in a bad way, but she needs me less and less. The last few months I feel like my eyes have finally opened and I can see all the wonderful milestones my children are reaching!!! I have had to focus so much on the baby milestones, that I've missed so many of the older childrens'. They were there right before my eyes, though, and we have been able to reminisce about them with the children which has been so much fun. And watching them accomplish things and be able to be there hook, line, and sinker? What a great time that has been!!! To sit with Lindsay and have the time to listen to her read something she wants. Or sharing in Beatrice's excitement as she reads for the FIRST TIME!!! WOW!! That was so exciting. I can't even remember Maddie, Robert, and Lindsay reading the first time. Probably someone was screaming at me at the time. And being able to help Maddie with those difficult math problems (I know, I know, y'all guys thought I was just a rocket scientist!! ha ha ) and work with her on her first research paper.(which is on Walt Disney). And sitting with Robert as he tells me all about his fishing lures that he loves to collect and no one crying like crazy. And we talk about when they all first walked and how they ate on their own the first time. And we could not forget my favorite milestones: their first time in church, and their first time at the beach. They love to hear those stories.

Well, Looking forward to what next week will bring!!!

After 1 1/2 years, it's FINALLY finished - and it may have been longer

I have this really awful habit. I am not a procrastinator because I procrastinate - I am a procrastinator because I get stuck on something and won't find the solution. Yup, it's true. And here's the proof. I decided about a month ago, that come what may, I was going to sew a little bit at a time every single day. So far, I have done this, missing maybe one day. And what's happened is, I've gotten some moxy about me and started finishing projects I've started, gotten stuck or frustrated, and tossed to the side. So here is the end result of that. My frustration came with not making the correct amount of squares for each pattern, THEN not having enough fabric, then blah, blah, blah, etc., ad nauseum!! But I rearranged the blocks, bought some other fabric, and voila! My very frist official quilt. I say very first because I actually made a blanket with no batting for a friend of mine who is having a baby so I don't consider it a quilt but it has a pieced together top. And I did do some quilting on it. BUT this is my very first quilt with batting!!! I am soooooo excited. Kristinie the Great walks by it and says, "my wilt, Mama, my wilt!!" So she will be over the moon when she sees it tomorrow. She's on vacation at my parents with Beatrice. So my lesson in this is that I need to persevere even when I get frustrated or confused. I wish I knew how to quilt better but I am learning. I am going to use my walking foot now. NO, not the one on the end of my leg - on my sewing machine. And I do have two walking feet at the end of my legs, by the way. Not that that matters. This quilt pattern is from Country Woman magazine and it's called wiggly worm quilt. I opted not to put the heads on because Robert and Beaker will grow out of that cute part. And there is one less row becasue of my er, uh, miscalculations. You need to be an engineer to quilt!!! I bet Mr. Handsome will help me!! :) (that's my dear husband, by the way!!) Gotta go - sister-in-law on way for our sewing party!! :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I am sitting up late waiting to move files from one hard drive to another. I just finished scanning my computer for malware and decided to post to my blog while I wait for files to copy. Last week was a terrific week. Very bus but lots done. I started AND finished a cute skirt. I am currently finishing up two quilts. One for Kristinie the Great and the other for Robert. I have finished a Mickey quilt block and have a bit left on a Minnie quilt block. The children went over to one of my friends' houses for a few hours one afternoon and Robert and his friend found a green snake. Here are the, ahem, lovely photos:

As you can see, EVERYONE but Mommy and her friend wanted to be in on the fun!!!

The children also had a yard sale which they enjoyed. Everyone made money, even Kristine and Beatrice!!!

Here is our garden. It's growing pretty nicely.

And we learned the hard way that it's always nice to go in the Spring to get glasses because you get a free pair of sunglasses!! Yep, our Robert needs glasses too!! :)

Here is is after a very tiring day!!!

The following are photos of Beatrice and her wig!! She woke up from her nap and yelled, for Beatrice never just talks!, "MOMMY!! I need my wig for Mrs. Jessica's shower!" Yes, she said wig!! And here it is.

Oh, and that's one of my friends modeling it for us!!

The last photo is of our Beatrice in her Mother's Day outfit. Keep in mind it is about 75 degrees outside. Take careful note of the climate she "should" bein for her outfit!!

Aside from starting my week by locking myself OUT of the house, I began my week today by locking myself out of our truck at joann's fabrics!! Thankfully AAA rescued me so Taylor's nap was not disrupted.

I had a terrific Mother's Day and was given a terrific gift for it and my birthday: a pandora bracelet!! God has blessed me with the best husband and children ever!! :)