Spools Quilt

every once in awhile i quilt a customers quilt that i would really like to keep.

this was definetly one of those quilts!
there is something aout the "old" brushed cottons, soft and muted, and full of memories.
friday night quilt class is starting this quilt in january and i think i'll have to do my best to re-create this.

to my customers, thanks for giving me the opportunity to quilt your beautiful quilts and thanks for inspiring me.

Sorry

for the past month, blogger (or at&t, not sure who...)

has not delivered my comments to my email.

i've been so bad about blogging, i thought i had lost some of you or that with the holidays, like me, blogging was not a priority...

to those of you who have left comments this past month, i'm so sorry i haven't replied! i love your comments and even more i love that you take the time to leave them. sorry i haven't responded and i hope you all had a wonderful christmas and thanks for being great blogging friends!!!

Christmas 2009

is a wrap!
with our unvited guest, influenza, in our home the week before christmas,

things were. well. um.
not exactly as i hoped.

i can't remember ever christmas shopping the day before christmas eve!
i am, however, very thankful that we were able to get rid of our "guest" before the festivities began.

speaking of the festivities...
christmas eve was, as usual, filled with tradition, great food and good company.
my sister and i tried something different with the 'older' kids. we had a christmas scavenger hunt with the kids gifts at the end.
we'll have to change it a bit, but i think the idea was good.
the thing i always LOVE the most is the little things that the kids always look forward to.
prime rib, 'twas the night before christmas' and reindeer food.

christmas day was spent at nana and pa's.
the hours spent there are full of the laughter of cousins, lots and lots of cousins.
the kids can never get enough of each other and it always surprises me
that the great grandparents make it through the day!

and having mom & poppy here to wrap up the day was wonderful.
suz cooked a turkey and mom made her famous cheesy potatoes and
we enjoyed more great food, laughter, family and karaoke.

hope your christmas was merry!

Dear Influenza, (part 2)

apparently you have completely ticked off mother nature as well.

there wasn't a sign of rain, until i kicked you out and then out of nowhere she unleashed a down pour. being the nice person i am, i hope you found refuge from the storm but i think you need to leave people alone!

Dear Influenza,

at the risk of being completely rude, i must ask you to leave...

you are completely ruining my family's holiday and i just can't get anything done with you around. not to mention, you are creating a ton of unnecessary laundry and i HATE laundry!!!

you have made my kids cry and my husband extremely cranky and there is nothing worse than a cranky husband...i've tried to keep my cool, but when my little girl couldn't even stand in line to see santa today because you made her throw up as we walked through the mall (thank goodness i had a baggy with me or you would've been dead!) that was the last straw!

i have too many things to do to still and i haven't been able to do a thing since you came to visit last thursday, so i am kindly asking you to go.

i know that not too many people want to take you in during the holidays, but fortuantely for you the weather here in sunny california won't leave you cold and wet.

have a merry christmas,

Make a Smilebox greeting

Oh so Cute

(photo taken from not so martha's blog)

gingerbread houses that sit on the rim of your hot chocolate. i think the little princess and i need to make them and i thought you'd like to give it a try too.

for instructions and cute photos go here to not so martha's blog...

enjoy!

Oh' Christmas Tree...

as anyone who saw it would tell you,
our dear tree lacked in christmas spirit this year.

we started with the best of intentions.
a family home evening dedicated to trimming the tree, carols in the background,
high heeled shoes and a candy cane dress all in the name of christmas spirit...
i even (mostly because i lacked the energy to care) allowed the kids to decorate the tree all by themselves.
clusters of ornaments at eye level {their eye} and all in one spot, but they were so tickled with themselves
and the tree was happy...

that is until {naughty} nancy came along

and with the swoop of a kitten's paw

one by one the ornaments came crashing down...

and daily this is what i saw.
it was at that point i gave up, surrendered to the kitten and decided to focus on next year.

oh christmas tree...
next year, i promise you will be standing tall and proud and beaming with christmas spirit...
(we'll put nancy in the closet!)

A Christmas Party

some of the gals from my quilt class came over tonight for a christmas party.
we shared some great food, nice conversation and a festive christmas craft.

the pattern for these cute snowman ragballs and a great snowman wallhanging can be found here.

The Christmas Decorations

are finally out.
i can't believe it's already ten days into december!
every year i think i'll have my act together and every year i seem to get farther and farther behind...
if it weren't for the fact that i have my quilt class coming over for a christmas party tomorrow, who knows when it would get done.
thankfully i had the pictures from last years home tour, it made it much easier to decorate. no guess work, no thinking, just doing.

oh...here's the wallhanging that i finally finished after 2 years. i started it the year i was pregnant with the happiest baby and finished it this year. the year that i am pregnant with our baby girl. 5 children...5 angels...

lots of christmas cheer to all of you!

Kindness Award

december 4th was the little princess's awards ceremony.
the school awards kids for showing kindness to others, being respectful and being helpful.
she was awarded for showing kindness and she was thrilled!!!

i was very impressed with the remarks the principal made regarding these attributes and the importance of them.

way to go punkin! we are proud of you!!!

MOM

A GREAT Quilt Site!

while searching google images for reindeer quilts, i found a GREAT quilt site!
i just couldn't resist sharing some of the photos from their gallery with you.

hope you liked them, take some time and meander through their site.
your sure to LOVE it!!!

p.s. the cutest reindeer pattern ever can be found here along with many more fabulous kits!

Thanksgiving

is being grateful for the blessings in our lives...

thanksgiving is togetherness and a heartfelt prayer...

thanksgiving is family and laughter and everyone gathered together.

it was a great thanksgiving!

A Rainy Day!

on the rainiest day in southern california, bob decided he wanted to make step stools with the kids. why he decided to do it during a once a year downpour was beyond me, but hey, the kids thought it was fun! so all bundled up in the warmest clothes i could find, they set up the tent, got out the power tools, and made new stools to replace the one bob had destroyed.

if you click on the picture, you'll see bub blowing off the driveway...

don't ask me, i haven't got a clue what he was doing. he loves that thing.

who says you need to stay inside on rainy days...