Home for the Holidays

Surprise! We have arrived in Washington! This actually wasn't the plan, but we decided to leave yesterday to beat all the winter storms that are coming up this week. It kind of threw a wrench in our plans....mainly our Christmas plans, but we made it work. We had the kids open most of their gifts on Friday night so we didn't have to haul all our gifts. Christmas won't be the same, but at least we'll be with family!

What we've been up to...

This was our project for family home evening this week.Since the snow started to fall last week, the kids beg everyday for Aaron to give them snowmobile rides or pull them on the sled. Kaden is too scared of the snowmobile (he thinks it's too loud), so he plays with his dump truck instead.
Peyton has had many falls lately, but usually her helmet saves her...not this time! She was climbing on my stool and feel and the corner hit her right between the eyes. Poor baby!Today I went to start the wash and my washer was making funny noises. So, Aaron and Kaden took it apart and decided it was more complicated than they thought...so after about 30 minutes on the phone with parts and service, they are coming out tomorrow to figure out what's wrong with it!

Family Christmas Photos

These pictures were taken yesterday morning before church....what a joke! The kids did NOT want to cooperate! I'm not sure I can convince Aaron to take pictures next Christmas....it was that painful! Well, I'm glad they are done...and luckily they turned out pretty good (for taking them by ourselves).

Christmas Plans

Just wondering what everyone's Christmas plans are. We are coming HOME (Basin City, WA) for the first Christmas in 4 years! We are coming home Dec 26-Jan 5. If you're home, we'd love to get together!

Peyton

Just couldn't help myself! Peyton is growing up so fast (actually, I'm kindof glad...I don't do "baby" well)! She is 9 months old, just over 18 lbs and loves fruit (we just discovered that her favorite is guava!). She is crawling EVERYWHERE and started pulling herself up on things and standing! I love this stage! She is much happier....which makes the rest of us happier!

Thanksgiving Turkey?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope everyone had a great "turkey" day....except, we didn't have turkey! Yep....you heard right! I don't really like turkey (it's always dry and flavorless), and for years I've been begging to have beef....and this year I got my way! We had prime rib instead! The meal was great and the company was awesome! We had Skyler, Aubrey and Austin over for the festivities (which included LOTS of eating, louging, playing the Wii and playing games). I think Thanksgiving should be once a month! Anyone else?

"Sew" Busy

I have been super busy with (what seems like) a million sewing projects. I have (finally) finished embroidering and sewing my 2 pillows (projects started about 4 years ago), finished a minkie quilt started by my mom (not shown), made curtains for the baby's room (not shown), used leftover material to make the girls "church bags", made a flannel receiving blanket w/ ric rac, made 3 fleece blankets for the kids' Christmas presents. (Picture above is Peyton's baby quilt....I can't remember if I showed you guys the finished quilt or not...so here it is!)

So, what's next...put binding on a lap quilt, figure out what to make with the piles of scraps I have lying around, and start on another quilt from the 15+ patterns I have from my good friend Camille from Thimble Blossoms or her mother, Bonnie, from Cotton Way. Anyone up for a sewing party?!?

Kaden's Fiance

Last night we took the kids to dinner at the Hard Hat. For those of you who don't know Kaden, he's a ladies man. So, when he first saw our waitress, he started winking at her and that lasted for about 10 minutes. Then when we were almost finished with our food, he told us that he wanted to marry her. We couldn't stop laughing (and of course he got mad at us). So, the next time she came to our table he told her, "I want to marry you."

Since then he's been saying that he is going to marry a "cooker girl" and going to help her clean the tables. Don't you just love nice waitresses that play along?!?

Ads

Please ignore the mess. I am trying out Google Ads....we'll see if I can make some money blogging! How great would that be?!?

Austin's 20th Birthday

Yesterday was Austin's 20th birthday. We had everyone over for the party. Here are some of the pictures of the big event.

Giveaway

Everyone...PLEASE check out my friend CAMILLE'S blog for an awesome giveaway (http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/)! Here are some of the rules:

1. Pick your favorite Thimble Blossoms pattern over here or here. New one, old one, whatever you like.

2. Leave a comment with your name, where you are from, your favorite pattern, and to shake it up a little bit, either the strangest compliment you've ever received, or something that makes you unique. I'll be reading your entries while taking breaks from pattern writing, so dazzle me. ;-)

3. I'll choose the winner via Random Number Generator, and make the quilt of your choice out of the fabric of my choice. I'll give you one guess on what that might be. ;-) If you are thinking Cotton Blossoms, you are probably right. Probably. Maybe I'll give you a few to choose from. Who knows, I'm kinda crazy like that. I'll probably throw in a few consolation prizes as well. Who knows what those will be!

Extras:

*Mention this giveaway on your blog and get an extra 3 entries.

**Go to the pattern page on thimbleblossoms.com and post a picture of your finished Thimble Blossoms project and you get an extra 5 entries per project. Yes, PER project. Those of you who already have projects posted over there get those points automatically. Especially if you give me a little reminder. Way to go, you!

*If you are a quilter, and would rather have the kit for your quilt, you can definitely opt for that after you win. If you aren't a quilter, you are good to go, it will be all done and ready to snuggle in when it makes it to you. If you are one of my designer friends/fabric friends/quilt shop owners/mom and feel like you shouldn't enter because you aren't sure if you should, go right ahead!! It's good for my self esteem. ;-)

*Check out ModaLissa's blog to DOUBLE your entries (http://www.modalissa.blogspot.com/). All you have to do is comment on her entry about Camille's giveaway.

So girls....if I were you, I'd do it! What do you have to lose?

Now just go to this blog and get started: http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/

Kids

What's new with us, you ask???

I've been sick for the past week
Peyton has a double ear infection & sore throat
Peyton learned how to roll over (HURRAY!)
Kids think Obama is their new principal at school
Enjoyed a GREAT weekend at Merilee's cabin with her sisters & mom

Peyton has decided she's tired of being immobile. She's started rolling over and trying to scoot. She also has been saying da da and ba ba (probably not really understanding what she's really saying). I love this stage...where she is starting to do so many fun things.

Happy Trunk-or-Treating

This year our sweet friend (Debbie) from Florida sent the kids their halloween costumes. Ashlyn was Ariel (the little mermaid), Morgan was a cheerleader, Kaden was an astronaut and Peyton was a kitten. All the kids LOVED their costumes (well, maybe not Peyton). THANKS AUNT DEBBIE FOR THE GREAT COSTUMES!

On Halloween we went to a trunk-or-treat with my friend Merilee and her family and then dinner at her house afterwards. We all had a blast! After dinner we did the rest of our trick-or-treating (to family and close friends). We are now left with piles of candy (I would still welcome trick-or-treaters...PLEASE!), and wrappers hidden in secret places (my kids think they're sneaky).

P.S. To explain the other costume choices below....Austin is Uncle Fester from the Adams Family and Sky and Aubrey are Dum Dums (lollipops).