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.

Thanksgiving Horse

This is a little late, but as promised, here is a picture of the feed store horse all gussied up for Thanksgiving. 

When I drove by today, she had already started getting the horse ready for its Christmas look.  I will share that soon.

A few of my Favorite Things

Well, Thanksgiving is upon us again, which means it is time for one of my favorite things posts.  This is where I post about a few things in my house that bring me happiness.

First...

I love fresh flowers in my house. My awesome husband brought these home for me on my birthday a few days ago, and I love how they just make the whole space seem happier.  He would probably make sure that I always had some in my house if the budget would allow for it, but since it doesn't I pretty much get them for every important occasion (birthdays, mothers day, anniversary, every time I had a baby, etc.) and every once in awhile he will surprise me with some for no reason at all.

My magnetic chalkboard menu.  This fills up the perfect spot in our kitchen and I think it is so fun.  The boys think it is pretty fun too, so, it rarely looks quite this nice.

We recently revamped our teeny tiny laundry room and I am so much happier with it, but this little basket shelf is the best thing we did, and I plan on taking it to whatever laundry room we end up in after we leave this house.  When I fold the boys clothes, they go in their designated basket and then the boys take them to their rooms and put them away as part of their daily chores.  It makes laundry so much more efficient around here.

My Bernina sewing machine.  My dad bought this for me as a graduation from college present.  I am so glad he did, because I never would have purchased such an expensive one for myself, but I have used it and used it and used it and it still runs like new.  In fact, when I went to pick it up after the last time I had it serviced, the technician kept telling me what a nice machine it was, and I had to agree.  I love my Bernina.

Without that Bernina, this quilt would not have been possible.  I pieced this quilt last spring and took it to a long-arm quilter to be quilted this summer.  I love it.  It is so cute and happy and the quilter did a great job on the quilting.  I have this on my bed to keep me warm when Jeremy steals all the covers. ;)

Back in the days when I was working and had money to spare, I used nothing but Lancôme Defincils mascara.  I loved it because it did not flake, or smudge - ever, but it came right off with just soap and water.  Now, that we are living on an educators budget, $27.00 for one tube of mascara is out of the realm of reality.  I am so glad that I discovered this Kirkland Borghese mascara from Costco.  While it isn't as great as my beloved Defincils, it is darn close and for less than half the price per tube, it is well worth it.  If you keep an eye on your Costco coupons, this usually comes up often for a nice big savings.  Love this stuff!

And finally, I can't have a favorite things post without posting about my very most favorite things in the whole world.

These six people mean everything in the world to me.  I am so grateful that I get to be their wife/mother.  They are all extraordinary and I love them tons!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!