Family Photos December 2012

It was great to see my family for Christmas and even better that we got to have pictures taken together!

Front-ish L to R: Doug (brother), Holly (SIL married to Michael), Riley (niece) Mom, Shelly (sister), Curtis, Me

Back-ish L to R: Michael (brother), Mikeala (niece), Dad, David (BIL, married to Shelly), Travis

My super cute nieces and an oh so cooperative Curtis:

Yay for Quilting!

Pretty excited about this!! If your looking to get a start in quilting this looks like a good place to start. :)

Quilts

Some may disagree, but I don't consider myself crafty or very creative. I am very much a left brain thinker (practical, logical, to the point). However, in the last couple of years I have come to really enjoy making quilts. I LOVE fabric and I would have a lot more of it if the budget allowed. I also love that there is structure and order to quilting and for the most part you just have to be able to cut straight lines and sew straight lines. The rules never really change and you can fudge a little here and there if you need to. Unlike clothes that have to fit someone when you're done and if they don't then you've wasted a lot of time and resources. Quilts just make sense to me.

Sadly about a year ago I put a stop to all sewing. Curtis was at that age where I couldn't sew in the room next to him without waking him up and there was no way he would leave me alone to sew when he was awake. So all projects got shut up in the cupboard not to be seen for quite some time.

A few months ago I was going through a bit of a rough spot of knowing who I am and what makes me me. A good friend of mine, who knows of my love of quilts, asked me what I was working on. I told her my sad tale of not being able to do much sewing as of late, but she saw my face light up when I talked about quilts and what I had been working on. She opened my eyes to one way I could find myself again. What a lifesaver she is. We discussed many other things that night, but I even noticed how different I felt when I started talking about fabric and quilts that I could be working on. Soon after that late night I got out my sewing machine and put a quilt top together in about an hour. It was so much fun and rewarding!

Another friend then shared a pattern for a pinwheel quilt that looked a bit challenging, but doable. While it was more tedious than I usually have the patience for I am so proud of how it turned out.

Here's a portion of the top. I'll share better/more pictures once it's quilted and bound.

I am grateful for other quilting friends who have helped me along the way and reminded me that a finished quilt top should never just be shoved in a cupboard! I am also grateful to have some sort of creative outlet and for those who encourage me to use it.

Happy Halloween!!

Curtis Turns 2!

Technically he's not 2 until Wed, but we celebrated early so that the family could join us. We started the day by freezing corn. Curtis really enjoyed helping the corn "swim" but he enjoyed eating it more!
Later in the day family came over to take part in the festivities.

Travis informed me that Curtis needed a tractor cake for his birthday so here you have it. Pretty well done if I do say so myself!

Curtis enjoyed all his gifts and was more interested in playing with each on then opening another. :)

He loved his tractor birthday cake but was a bit confused when we sang to him. He put forth great effort to blow out his candles and was successful with Daddy's help.

It was a great day and I really can't believe that he's 2! Time has flown and I can't imagine life without him. He is such a bright and happy kid. He is also opinionated and stubborn, but I wouldn't change a thing. :)

Pictures!

Curtis is such a ham. Here are a few pictures of what he has been up to.

Why eat your yogurt when you can smear it all over the table

Curtis's new favorite activity (thank you Aunt Joanne for your genius idea). I give him measuring cups with water and let him play on a baking sheet. He loves it!

Corn on the cob was a hit this summer

There are no words (feel free to suggest your own caption)

Feeling a Bit Better

I feel like I should post something a bit more positive and not have that last post be the star of my blog for the next month or two.

I've chippered up a bit and have gotten some stuff done. I did a minor overhaul on the closet in my sewing room to make room for the new baby. I also de-cluttered the room a bit. Now it has on the essentials in it and is more or less ready for a baby. I also did a bit of cleaning in Curtis's room. I finally put all of the baby toys away in a box and then did an overhaul on his dresser. Out with 18m clothes and in with 2T/24m. He hasn't quite outgrown all of his 18m clothes, but I'm tired of looking at them. He's been in them for quite a while. I am very excited for some of the very cute clothes that he now has in his dresser to wear. I'm also glad that he has a nice variety that will take him from summer into fall and winter.

I have also managed to get some of the downstairs picked up, apricot-pineapple jam made, cooked up a loaf of zucchini bread and rescued my onions from bind weed. Thank goodness tomorrow is the Day of Rest and I don't have to feel guilty about taking a nap and not being productive. :)