Do your kids do this too?

The other day I wanted to capture a cute moment of Tad playing with the little kitchen in our kitchen.

I got this one shot before I realized that my camera was on the wrong setting.  It took me 5 seconds to fix it, but it was too late - - I had been caught.  At that point, there was no more acting natural, he wanted to pose. So this is all he would do for me. . .

Oh well, he is so cute, I guess any picture of him is a pretty good one.

Thomas' Baptism Quilt

I made Thomas a quilt as a memento of his baptism day.  I started this tradition with Dallin and plan to continue it with all my boys.  I promised a few people that I would post some pictures of the quilt on the blog, so here goes...

This quilt was b-o-r-i-n-g to piece, but I think it turned out sooo great.  All those HSTs were worth it.  It is the perfect quilt for an eight-year-old boy!!  I wish these pictures did this quilt justice.  I seriously think it is my all time favorite that I have ever made.

It is backed with soft white chevron minky.  I like how the pattern reflects the arrows on the front.

I ordered and attached a label to help him remember his special day.

I quilted it on my machine in vertical straight lines and I am totally in love with the quilt and its cute owner.

Thomas is Eight!!

 Thomas turned eight and was baptized a few days ago.  It was a short and sweet baptismal service and such a nice day.  We are so proud of Thomas and what a good boy he is.

After the baptism we came home and had another little birthday celebration.  This awesome boy requested brownies and ice cream instead of cake (HOORAY!!  We are not really cake people around here, so birthday cake mostly goes to waste.)

Of course, having my boy turn eight and be baptized is a big milestone in our church, and it always makes me feel pretty nostalgic, so please indulge me as I share a few pics of my handsome Tom through the years.

What a handsome, smart, fun, and good kid!!  We are so grateful for Thomas and the happiness he brings to our family.  Congratulations and happy birthday Tom.  We love you!!!

Tad's Quilt

Tad's baby quilt was getting a little too small for him, so I made him a new one for Christmas.



I love seeing a quilt come together.  When I was in the middle of piecing this one, I was not so sure, but by the time it was finished I really liked it.

 This quilt is throw-sized and I quilted it in horizontal straight lines on my machine and bound it with a two fabric binding.

We still love Tad's little baby quilt, but this one is becoming a new favorite quite quickly.

Jack is Six!

Jack just had his sixth birthday!  He had a fun day.  We went to Flagstaff, did some shopping, and ate lunch at Chili's (his choice).  After we got home we had cake and opened presents.  He was very specific about his cake.  He requested a chocolate cake with strawberry ice-cream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. He also wanted sprinkles and transformers on top.  I was able to satisfy all his cake requests and he was pretty happy.

Jack is a sweet and creative boy.   He is tons of fun to talk with and we love his enthusiasm for all of his favorite things in life.  We are so happy he is in our family.  Happy Birthday Jack!!

I know... I have some explaining to do.

For the handful of people that actually check my blog, you have probably been wondering where in the world I have been for the past month.  Well, to be honest, the last three months have been a little rough around here.  I blogged about how I spent the first part of October down with the flu. After I recovered from that, my boys started passing around a stomach bug and then they all started coming down with colds.  It was sick city around here.  I managed to stay well, but finally during the first week of November, I started feeling pretty rotten. This turned into six weeks of sickness for me. I am finally starting to feel better, but boy that was a rough patch.  So, we didn't have the fun Christmas season that we normally do, and we are still working on getting the house put back together after weeks of being laid up.  Plus, I totally win the lamest mother of the year award for not taking even one picture on Christmas day.  But, I will share the five - yes, only five, pictures I managed to take over the last few weeks.

Drake decorating the Christmas tree

Dallin singing The First Noel with his class at the school Christmas program.

Thomas singing at the school Christmas program.

Jack singing Innkeeper with the Kindergarten at the Christmas program.

That is all the pictures I took of my kids over Christmas - I am horrible.  Yesterday, Jeremy reminded me that we had better run and get a picture of the Christmas Horse, before she paints over it.  So, since I know you have all been dying to see its latest look, here it is.  You can thank Jeremy for this one.

Last year, Santa was riding the horse, so I was terribly disappointed not to see him again, but this look is very festive too.

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and that your new year will be a healthy and happy one.

Now, if I can just stay relatively healthy, maybe you will be hearing from me a little more often on the blog in 2014.