'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!  We have just finished a rousing game of Apples to Apples and are settled in with freshly tie-dyed PJs and a Christmas movie.  We are all trying to ignore the 85 degree weather and enjoy the holiday spirit.  

 I am doing a bit of binding stitching during the movie of course.  Just two more in the hand sewing pile.

Christmas Eve trivia: did you know that the kid from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is also the same actor who plays Leonard on Big Band Theory?  

Merry Christmas

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Today we made Christmas pajamas.  Everyone picked out their own color and style for the bottoms and then cut out the shapes for snowman face.  We are all watching Christmas Vacation together and getting ready to set out the milk and cookies for Santa.  

So Close

 I didn't get much sewing time in on the first day of winter break.  We were working on PVC frames for science fair boards which took trips to Lowe's and Home Depot.  Kurt has everything cut for me and I'm about halfway done with the glueing.
The giant postage stamp quilt is my first goal for the break though.  I finally decided to use four patches as cornerstones, which meant a slightly wider lattice strip than I had originally envisioned.  That, sadly, meant that I am now out of Kona white with 9 strips still to cut.  Maybe I'll shift everything to the center and add the outer border later?  Now that I think about it, I could even use a slightly different shade for the outer strips to achieve a faux border effect.  I think that might work.  I love blogging as a way to work things out logically.  Problem solved with no shopping required.  So nice given the traffic yesterday.  Frightening!

Last night we went to a Christmas party with some of Kurt's work friends.  They live on the water and so we enjoyed a boat parade past his back yard.  This float was the kids favorite.  The reindeer took turns lighting up to give the illusion of flight.  Kurt and the kids have gone to see the new hobbit movie, leaving me alone to sew madly.  Vacation!  Such a beautiful word.  

Christmas Day

 Christmas Morning has left everyone tuckered out.  It was a fun filled morning of gifts and family games.  By afternoon everyone was ready for a bit of quiet time.  Even Lizzie.

 The boys built with Robots while Anna made more cookies and Sydney found some friends.

 That left me a bit of time to quilt a bit more.  Three rows done!  I tried some outlining.  Not perfect, but I think it will work.

I even got out the ruler base and did some stitching in the ditch.  I am getting better with each block.  Slow and steady takes the prize.
I hope you are all enjoying lots of quality holiday fun, any new quilting toys out there?

Ski Slopes

Much winter fun was had by one and all. The three kids all enjoyed a quick beginning ski lesson before trying out their new skills on the "green" slopes. It wasn't long before they were ready to try out the chair lift. Eventually they even made it to my favoritely named slope of the day-- omigosh. I told them all I was working on a quilt called Omigosh, but they seemed less than impressed. I think they are all worn out. Hopefully that means they will sleep the day away on the trip home tomorrow. I'm not sure we will be booking a trip to the slopes of Colorado for spri g break, but it was nice to let everyone try something different.

Drive Time

We didn't spend too much time in the car yesterday. Just a 3 hour jump from south of Atlanta to the mountains of North Carolina. The trip home tomorrow will be a bit longer, but first -- we are layering up for the slopes.

Vacation Part 2

We are taking a quick hot tub break before our tubing session starts. Ski lift tickets are reserved for morning. It isn't really much below freezing, but I am sure the kids won't mind a bit of slush. They have never seen real snow to have a point of comparison. We have begged and borrowed all the cold weather gear we could find. Look out mountain, here we come!

Slowdown Sunday

 With more than a few hours in the car to look forward to this holiday season, prepping some more Dear Jane applique blocks for handwork was high on my list.  Last night while we watched The Wizard of Oz as a family, I traced and cut freezer paper templates.  This morning there was just trimming and turning of edges to get them ready to sewing on the go.

First though, minor surgery was required on a stuffed dog who was loosing his inards.

The kids have been up to baking and decorating.  Anna made a Chritmas Cake.  We went over the spelling together, but she still managed to leave out the S while piping on the words.  Poor Anna, she is not the world's best speller.

Everyone also made and decorated a gingerbread house.  They used quite a variety of architectural styles as well as lots of frosting.  Today is our Christmas Eve.  It looked like we would be able to stay home for the actual day for the first time ever, but it was not meant to be.  Santa is quite understanding of course and is happy to visit tonight and relieve some of the congestion of Christmas Eve proper.
Kathy is hosting Slow Stitching Sunday again, be sure to go visit and check out other Sunday projects.  

Brocolli, Carrots and Cucumbers

Today were are all being vegetables, chilling around the house and enjoying every minute of being home again.  The kids pulled out Christmas crafts and construction projects and set up camp around the kitchen table.  Wanting to be social, I pulled out some midget blocks to prep and joined in the fun.  Here is Sydney making perfume, Ryan building a trebuchet and Anna constructing a soda can robot.  Ahhh.....vacation! 

Merry Christmas To All

We tried to take a nice family photo of the kids in the Christmas PJs they made.  

That was followed by the silly picture. 

Which was apparently followed by minor back injury. 
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year with your family and friends. 

Just One Word

VACATION!!

White Christmas

Sydney has never seen snow.  Not real snow.  We drove to a ski resort a couple of years ago and they were making snow.  Last winter a couple of flakes fell from the sky and she gathered them in an overturned umbrella.  But we are in Georgia for Christmas and it is snowing.  Real flakes that are sticking to the ground and covering it in glimmering whiteness.  For most of you I'm sure it seems silly to be excited about a bit of winter weather, but for our native Florida children it is a magical treat.   It is the first time they have ever had a white Christmas. 

We had our own family celebration yesterday.  We have never spent a Christmas day at home.  Santa is nice enough to come a day early though.  He is very accommodating that way.  We have all the same rituals and traditions, just a day earlier than other people. So we put out the milk and cookies and modeled the new Christmas PJs.  We listened to Christmas music and Christmas stories.  I don't think we'll have another Christmas with the magical believing still going on.  I'm savoring it while it lasts, like the last bite of  a dessert so delicious you are tempted to lick the plate clean. 

After that it was a short 7 hour drive to Georgia.  We have had a lovely day spending time with our cousins, sharing meals and opening gifts.  Each time they see each other the kids jump back in and start playing as if they had seen each other yesterday instead of months ago.  Ryan and Austin are so close in age and interests and Paige and Sydney are just as well matched.  Anna and Zach make an odd set of solo book ends on either end, but they find their own amusements. 
I brought three Christmas quilts to give as gifts.  The Christmas twin block of the month samplers went to Mom and Tom while the Christmas Lights mystery quilt went to my sister and her husband Scott.  The kids each got a homemade snuggie, I'm wishing right now that I had made and extra for me. I am starting to remember how cold snow is. 

Last Minute Christmas Gifts

I've been seeing lots of really cute mug rugs on other people's blogs.  I kept thinking it would be fun to make a few for gifts.  Most people are smart enough to start on handmade gifts a little bit earlier.  I bought some mugs to go with the rugs and I'll fill them with tea or coffee or hot chocolate.  First though, I'm headed to bed, I've finished giving and grading my last final, but I've got a conference scheduled for tomorrow, so I still have to go in to work at some point.  After that I'm going to sew myself silly though.  That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. 

Half a Tree but a Whole Lotta Quilting

We started getting the tree up this evening. We'll need a ladder for the rest, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. It's pouring rain right now, so getting the ladder out doesn't seem like a great idea.  All the neighbors got their outside lights up over the weekend so our house looks a little sad and lonely by comparison. 

I've been busily working away on the Elm Creek quilt. I've got most of the blocks quilted and started on the inner border. I'm still not sure how I'll quilt the outer piano key border, but the nice part about hand quilting is that I've got lots of time to figure it out as I quilt along. I'm trying to decide if I've got enough energy in me to hop up and start on the next step of RRCB, It wouldn't take much to at least go and rummage though the 3.5 inch strip drawer.  I could probably get at least that much done. 

Little Bits at a Time

I didn't accomplish anything major today, but I did a little bit of lots of things. Working backwards, I just (finally) put the last border on Christmas lights and pieced a back. We had Odyssey of the mind from 4 to 6 which doesn't really require me. Before that I took Anna to a class on how to potty train your dog and then to a Superbowl sale at my local quilt shop. I walked out without a single thing (gasp!) But none of the sales seemed that stunning to me. This morning was devoted to cutting happy block pieces so that I could put them away and clear off the dining room table. I also emptied and organized that pesky drawer next to the fridge that collects all the random refuse of our lives. I know you all have one just like it. Now we are cooking appetizers to eat during the Superbowl after which I will (finally) pull out the Dear Jane blocks I want to get prepped.

I need sub plans for tomorrow, so I'll work on those next. Then it is laundry that needs folding and kids that need bathing. Just a normal Sunday around here. I hope you all have lots of fun quilting planned during the big game. Happy Sunday.

Ho Ho Ho

Happy Christmas day to everyone out there. We are safely in the cold rain of Georgia today ready for round two of our Christmas festivities.

I quilted frantically to get Sister's Choice ready for Mom in time and it is officially done. As soon as I sat down to start stitching the binding down, Lizzie scootched on over to keep me company. She is an excellent quilting companion and didn't seem to mind the time required to stitch down almost 500 linear inches of binding!! I'm well caught up on my DVR backlog now and the quilt is ready for Christmas giving.
I caught up on everyone's blogs on my iphone during the trip and Amy has me thinking about my quilting plans for next year. I think I finished 8 of my UFOs on the Patchwork Penguin Challenge. I was absolutely reliable until School started again in August and then I hardly sewed anything for 4 months. It was an excellent challenge though and I finished off several projects that I am sure would have languished without the extra motivation. I've got several lists going now with ideas for next year and will have to figure out how to do one of those cool photo collages to highlight my accomplishments for last year.
I also finished another Dear Jane Block in the car. I forget what the name was.

Merry Christmas to All!

Santa came to our house early this year. As Sydney is so fond of telling everyone to today. "He knows we are going to travel."
That meant last night was the traditional Christmas eve parade of activities including milk and cookies for Santa and new pajamas. For me it also meant driving down to pick up the one present from Mom and Dad. Our neighbor Barbara agreed to keep her overnight and woke up with us at 5 this morning to sneak her inside. She was much bigger than when I met her at Thanksgiving and will need a new collar and kennel sometime this week.
We opened up all the other presents first thing this morning and then brought in the new puppy who was waiting patiently in the garage. Ryan promptly suggested Elizabeth as a name and the girls readily agreed. It was about a minute and a half before it got shortened. So here she is, Lizzie, our newest family member:

Anna dove right in and started telling us all the things we need to know about dogs. Apparently she learned a lot from visiting Nana and watching Animal Planet on TV. Lizzie is not at all shy and was quickly exploring her new surroundings and visiting each of us for attention. If anyone tries to leave her alone she follows them with a forlorn look on her little face.

3 Sleeps

I took a celebratory power nap this afternoon after my last final was graded and Kurt got out the ladder so the kids could put some ornaments on the top half of the tree. The bottom half has been mostly done for a while, but it is hard to read the top without standing on something very tall. Did you catch that subtle hidden statement about my last final being graded? Woohoo, Christmas vacation has officially begun!

On Wednesday Anna had a performance with her school choir at a local retirement community. She sang her first ever solo and I was so choked up about it little tears welled up in my eyes. It is still amazing to me that these tiny babies I gave birth to have turned into functioning breathing people with their own interests and agendas.

Then Thursday brought picture day at Sydney's gymnastics class and she was happy to show off for the new camera. Kurt got a new digital SLR for our Christmas present and I had fun playing with all the new settings.

He wanted to know if I really wanted to take 523 pictures. How could I not want to when some of them turned out as cute as this?
The first of the ice skating Christmas shows is tonight so I'm guessing the camera will get a bit more of a workout. My mom was supposed to be coming down to watch it, but my nephew is back in the hospital and she has stayed home to help my sister out until he is all better again.

Finally, Christmas Number 3

Our final Christmas this year happened on the 26th. Kurt's brother just bought a new house and moved, conveniently, just about half an hour away from my mom. The moving truck arrived just a few days before us, so we got to go see Kurt's brother and and family at their new house. Amazingly, given the short time, they had all of the boxes unpacked and were mostly settled in before we got there. The men were put in charge of installing TVs and and hanging heavy things on the wall.
The kids were put in charge of making sure the toy room was properly broken in. They had a great time playing rock star on the playstation and had quite a little band going.
We enjoyed a traditional Christmas lunch of turkey, ham and sweet potatoes along with family favorites like hashbrown casserole and black olives. It was wonderful to see both sides of the family on one trip. I know we will enjoy getting the cousins together more often now that more families are in the same general vicinity. The afternoon brought a visit from more "cousins" who live in the Atlanta area.

Merry Christmas Take 2

Our second Christmas was on Christmas day. After Santa came on the 24th, we were off to Georgia to see Mom and all the aunts, uncles and cousins on our side. Everyone was happy and healthy this year, and very happy to be together. We've been trying to reign Noanie in on the gift giving for years, and I think this year we finally managed to achieve our goal! I knew it had gotten out of hand when the kids skipped making a Christmas list for Santa and sent it to Noanie instead. There were still plenty of gifts for all the kids to enjoy, but not so many that they were overwhelmed. The girls all got Barbie mp3 players that have not been off their ears since, and the boys got wall climbing cars that are just really cool.
All of the kids spent some time with Zach, who is very interactive and getting around really well. He is on oxygen all the time, but just crawls all over the place knowing that someone will carry his tank over when he runs out of tubing. Anna wanted to hold him like a big baby doll, but he was too busy exploring. Ryan sat on the floor with him rolling a ball back and forth and practicing the signs for "play" and "ball. Sydney was very curious about why he ate through a tube, and had lots of questions.
Tom outdid himself on Christmas dinner as usual. I was second in command and had such critical tasks as peeling apples and stirring sauces. There was a pear and fig stuffed pork tenderloin to go with the prime rib as well as fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp and scallops. We even made a homemade applesauce for the kids. He finally decided, as a concession to the kids, to do the dinner buffet style, which is totally contrary to his gourmet tendencies, but it is easier. Maybe when the kids get a little more independent we can go all out on the presentation again. After diner was a "Chinese" gift exchange for the adults and stockings for the kids. We finished the evening off with a holiday Pinata. We've had one for the past three years, and it is just way too much fun.
Christmas number three is still on Kurt's camera, so I'll post about it next time. For now we are all home again and happy to be settling back in. Today we worked on the traditional post vacation laundry and unpacking as well as getting a LOT of painting done. I think we'll be able to finish off almost everything tomorrow if we keep making such good progress.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention -- I finished off the last Twilight book last night! Wow, that was so much fun. I love "discovering" a series when there are already several out there, ready to be devoured in a big reading marathon. I have to make plans now to go and see the movie. One of my running partners, Ashlyn, is willing to go with me, even though she has already seen it, she is a big fan and is going to keep me company.