The Sweetest of the Sweet

Zoe' first breakfast she ever made

Life has been more than a little crazy lately. I dare not even whisper the words "seriously, what else could happen" for fear of something really crazy taking place. Life is like that though. I think it's Gods way of toughening us up for the hard road ahead. And by that I mean it's just a feeling I have in my gut. That pang in my heart that tells me life is only going to be harder as the years go by. With that being said I believe when life sends tough things your way the good times are that much sweeter. I'm so grateful for so many sweeter than sweet moments that have taken place during the last month of craziness. Here are just a few things that have put a smile on my face. Sure there are more times than pictures allow but I'm sharing what I was able to catch on camera. The rest will have to settle for being kept close to my mind & my heart.

 Dean & I woke up to this loverly breakfast Zoe made us one Saturday. Who wouldn't want peanut butter & jelly on sourdough, salad & strawberries for breakfast? & look how cute Oblio's breakfast is! A banana & crackers. She thought of everything right down to the "treat" a candy for each of us. Love it!

We just switched Sloan from the back bedroom to the new room. I am so excited that we now officially own a home with 4 bedrooms. In some places that would be considered a mansion. Add to that the fact that we have beds for every family member, heat, running water, indoor plumbing & food in our fridge........we are rich! Truly we are in so many ways.

Since we added on the extra room Omri took Sloan's old room. 

Can you tell he's loving it? 

I think the smile says it all. 

I love watching him play. I have been working on actually sitting down with my children lately. I know that may sound silly. I've found when I do that they almost always make a bee line for my lap. Especially this little guy. He's the best snuggler of all my kids. He's really sick today. All the kids are. I'm so grateful that I am able to stay home with them. Not every mom is so lucky to have a husband that works so hard so I can be here with our littles.

Here she is! The bravest girl I know. She had her tonsils & adenoids removed on Monday. Why is this a "sweet" thing?  The Dr. said her tonsils were huge & very infected. Because of this she has been suffering from an almost constant sore throat for who knows how long. Add that to her joint pain & headaches, I am guessing this is part of the reason she's often so grumpy. I think she has felt crappy for quite a while. The Dr. felt this would improve how she felt 100%. That's worth all the pain she has to go through over the next 2 weeks. Although I'm sure she doesn't feel the same, she's been a trooper.

My dear friend Christy came over the other night & helped me baste the two quilts I've been working on. These quilts are huge! It really was a 2 person activity. I couldn't have done it without her & I am forever grateful for her coming to my rescue. With all the goings on I haven't had a chance to start quilting them. My hope is that tomorrow everyone will be feeling better so I can get started on them. I'd love to have them finished up by this Friday so I can do all the hand sewing this weekend.

So there it is folks. The sweetest things that have been filling my heart with happiness lately. 

Backs

2 backs down

Now on to the quilting

My dear friend Christy came over last night & helped me baste the two quilts. I feel like I'm almost on the last stretch of this project. Can't wait to get them finished up so I can send them to my sweet friend Elizabeth. What are your plans for the weekend?

Monster Mash!

I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

                                                                      He did the mash 

He did the monster mash 

The monster mash 

It was a graveyard smash 

He did the mash 

It caught on in a flash 

He did the mash 

He did the monster mash 

From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes

They did the mash 

They did the monster mash 

The monster mash 

It was a graveyard smash 

They did the mash 

It caught on in a flash 

They did the mash 

They did the monster mash

 The zombies were having fun 

The party had just begun 

The guests included Wolf Man 

Dracula and his son

The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds 

Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds 

The coffin-bangers were about to arrive 

With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five"

 They played the mash 

                                                           They played the monster mash

The monster mash 

It was a graveyard smash 

They played the mash 

It caught on in a flash 

They played the mash 

They played the monster mash

Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring

Seems he was troubled by just one thing

He opened the lid and shook his fist

And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"

It's now the mash

It's now the monster mash

The monster mash

And it's a graveyard smash

It's now the mash

It's caught on in a flash

It's now the mash

It's now the monster mash

Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band

And my monster mash is the hit of the land

For you, the living, this mash was meant too

When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash

The monster mash

And do my graveyard smash

Then you can mash

You'll catch on in a flash

Then you can mash

Then you can monster mash

Hope you all had a Monster Mash of a Halloween!

She's Sassy

Bet you couldn't guess that this is my little one who likes to dress up. 

Or that she has a penchant for over accessorizing. 

I can't help but hum Madonna tunes when I look at these photos. I don't know how she does it but she really has her own little style already. Even if she didn't, anything would look good with those smiley eyes. It's going to be interesting to see what the teenage years bring with my sassy little one. Heaven help us!

Almost There

 I thought I'd start this post off with a lovely "before" pic of my ironing board. I bought this when I first moved to Nevada & got my own place. It's almost 8 years old. I've had it longer than 3 of my children. It's been with me longer than my husband. Sweet little Bessie has been a real help all these years (I just made her name up, cause I don't usually name inanimate objects) Let's face it she's pretty worn down & needed a makeover. When I would iron I could feel the metal beneath her thin little cover. It was getting harder & harder to iron. I have so many projects to finish that it was time to get a new cover.

So guess what I found the other night in the discount section at Ross?

Isn't it awesome! I love my new cover! LOVE it! It makes me want to iron everything. It almost makes want to iron my clothes.......nah. 

I got it just in time too because I've been doing an awful lot of ironing the quilt I've been working on. this is my first attempt at improv quilting. I took the most amazing class on improve quilting at the Sewing Summit from Jessica Berret of the blog Urban Patchwork. I had a chance to sit with her in the free motion quilting class by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew & she was just as sweet & friendly as can be. I learned so much from her class & really feel more confident to loosen up when it comes to quilting. Jessica's quilts were amazing! It makes me want to think outside the box when it comes to upcoming quilts that I work on.

I have had so much fun making this section for the back of the scotty dog quilts in the previous post. It is taking soooooo much longer than I thought it would making these quilts. I thought for sure I would have mailed them off already. I hope my sweet friend hasn't given up on me. I am working in every spare moment to finish them up & send them off this week. I need to get these done this week because I have 3 other quilts to make for her. The three other quilting projects are going to be just as fun! (but hopefully won't take me quite so long....sorry about that Elizabeth!)

My thought with these quilts was to give them a very vintage feel on the front & a more modern feel on the back. That way she has two different quilts to choose from when using them in her cabin. The quilts are huge too. They could almost be used on a queen sized bed. She will be using them on two twin sized mattresses. I made them bigger on purpose. Remember the old time bed sets that went all the way to the floor & you could tuck the pillow up underneath the quilt? My great grandmother had quilts like that on her bed. I wanted these to have the same effect.

I'll be sewing up a storm tomorrow & promise to share a few more work in progress photos on Sunday. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.