My Poor Girls...

shawn came home tonight to this...

gavin was babysitting.

huh?! who needs to pay who???

"All...Aboard!!!..."

that's what she hollered out.

wrong mode of transportation, but who cares, she was bound for hawaii and the plane was ready for take off. passengers boarded, luggage was stowed away in a picnic basket located at the rear of the plane and they even took their "surfboard" with them...

people often ask me what my kids do while i quilt. here's a perfect example.

i'm a FIRM believer in not entertaining my children 24/7.

it forces them to be creative thinkers. this goes for video games and the like. my kids have always loved being outside, building things, creating, and generally making a mess, but they play independently and well.

of course, we provide the ground for creativity, i mean who else has buggy seats lying around hahaha. they are bubs and he has no idea what they are being used for!!! lol

the plane is ready to take off and there is one {very} unruly passenger!

she has no intention of removing herself from the cockpit!

as you can see the pilot has told her to move and she {hands on hip} is NOT budging!

so the moral of this post is let your kids be kids!

let them make messes, let them create & build and they will grow into independent, thoughtful people and you will have some time to do something you love!

My {real} Day - For Linda

this post is to give you all a glimpse into my day. a {real} day

because behind the pictures and quilts i'm just like everyone else, struggling to make everything come together and just trying to get through another day smiling.

so let me begin...

my day started out in nolan's bed with a sinus headache and sick kids. shawn's out of town and last night masyn, nolan and evyn were all sick with colds. at 6:30 pm i had given all of them medicine, put vicks on their feet and started the vaporizer. i was hoping they would all be sound asleep by 8 so i could watch ncis. {2 out of 3...not bad}

around 2am i decided that i couldn't take the coughing, snoring and kicking so i left my bed for nolan's. i was still awake as the sun started to rise and at 6:45 evyn woke up. i sent her into bed with the others and masyn turned on cartoons. that bought me about an hour.

at 8:30 we headed out to get my diet coke. my sinuses were killing me and i needed to get rid of that sick/cold taste in my mouth.

we came back home and i put the snotty nose kids in a nice warm bath as i cleaned & vacuumed up my bathroom and bedroom. that's when i noticed that nolan had wet my bed. and as you can see in the picture below, as of 6:30 tonight the bed was still unmade. guess i should go get the sheets out of the dryer and make the bed...

and note that this load of laundry that i started putting together before i noticed my wet bed is still lying on the floor with shawn's flip flops that have been there since sunday.

i did get this quilt, that i've had {forever}, loaded and started. i'll be honest. i have been really nervous about quilting it. i've searched the web trying to decide how to quilt it. i hope its {owner} likes it when it's all done. if i remember, i'll show you how it turns out.

i quilted, did some applique, got lunch and continued to take down christmas.

it's piled on my dining room table.

oh. and my mother in law brought over a {fruit salad} bare root tree this morning and it's still sitting where she put it and the kitchen has been neglected.

but here's the good part...

after lunch i decided to take a late nap with the kids {all feeling much better, minus coughs}.

when i woke up, i finally got a shower and checked my voicemail.

it was now 4 and i thought i should get out of the house.

i set out for walmart and patti's. i needed to bring her a quilt that i had finished yesterday.

as we leave her house, evyn who had been coughing, threw up all over herself.

i take her home, clean her up and leave her with gavin and take the others to go get dinner.

gavin requested jack in the box while nolan put an order in for chicken, french fries, ketchup and sweet & sour...

i get mcdonalds and head over to jack in the box. as i pull up to the drive thru nolan decides that he needs to pee NOW! i dump out masyn's lemonade and as i order he pees. i'm laughing and masyn is not impressed.

after we eat, i thought i'd better clean the car seat. while i'm at it, why not clean out the car and clean nolan's seat too.

for those of you with a mini van and an extra seat, this is great.

shawn took out the bucket seat and layed down carpet. i LOVE it!

so now it's 8:30. the kids are laying down. the bed is made. the room is picked up. the load of laundry that was on the floor is now washed. the car seat covers are drying. the car is clean. the trash has been taken out. i did a bit more quilting on the quilt and stitched on my prairie garden quilt. {i never did make it to walmart, the flip flops are on the floor and the kitchen looks the same}

i've said goodnight to chelsie and shawn and now i'll say goodnight to you.

and linda, if you're reading this...

lots of love.

hope you enjoyed my day!

Beautiful Baby

this beautiful baby hummingbird ran into our slider
and needed a place to rest...

my hand provided that place for a short time.

just long enough for me to take these shots.

beautiful.

Chimneys are for Santa!

are you wondering why my living room is covered in sheets?



we are caring for 2 cats while their family finds a new home.
one of the cats got scared and ran into the fireplace and climbed up into the chimney yesterday!
oh my gosh, gavin and kelsey were laughing, the little kids were crying, there was talk of fireworks and pebbles, i may have freaked out a little bit...

we thought it was stuck in the flue. it was in there for almost 4 hours and i was getting very worried that i'd have to call a chimney sweep.
in my state of {panic} i mean worry, i failed to think of what was going to happen once the darn cat got out of the chimney. thankfully my smart friend told me to cover everything that was dear in my living room.



with some coaxing {a bowl of tuna} the darn cat finally came out.

and just as we thought, little black paw prints, everywhere!

It's Shawn's Fault...

because he left the darn tool on the hoosier
and every time i came up the stairs it was calling my name.



i finally gave in.
it started with a simple thought...
"i wonder how easy it will come off..."



you know what happens when you start to peel.
it's like when your skin starts peeling after a sunburn.
you just can't stop...

the next thing i know the laundry room was a mess
and the wallpaper (first layer) was off

darn that shawn for leaving his tools lie around ;)
now, what color am i going to paint it???

Pie & Tie

sunday we attended a pie & tie farewell for one of my favorite guys who left for his mission yesterday. i had never heard of a pie & tie event, but i loved the idea!

each guest brought a tie. new or used it didn't matter and presented it with a bit of advice or a thought. fabulous. bring tissue!

and of course, there was pie. lots of yummy pie!

(a loving handshake...no more huggin' the missionary!)


(elder riddle & two future missionaries!)

(elder riddle & my favorite little guy!)

a friend gave each of the "older" boys matching ties with a story about "the ties that bind them as friends, bothers in Christ, and as future missionaries" great idea!

and of course, a quilt from his mom!

congratulations david. you are going to be a GREAT missionary!

A Bat!

sharing the porch with these cute little guys



WAS this cute little guy. (uh, not SO MUCH)



shawn armed hmself with his welding gloves and promptly woke the sleepy guy from his slumber.



he was NOT happy!!!
(he WAS very scary, mad and hissing)

shawn found him a new, temporary home on a far off tree.



and for a short time he peacefully "hung out".



about an hour later he had left.
now i need to make sure he and his batty friends don't come hang out on my porch again...