Merry Chrismtas

 We are just back from a quick trip to the mountains to see family.  I finished the binding on three quilts during the trip!  here is the first.  It is called Four Patch Surprise.  Lots of random four patches on the front. 

 Then a strippy quilt of the extra four patches for the back.  It is quilted with a meander in the background space and a winding snake maze alternating in the four patches.  Kurt was kind enough to hold it up in front of the Christmas tree. 

 While things were calm this morning, I finished loading another quilt onto the frame.  This is the second set of postage stamp stars.  I had quite a nice stash of these from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

We celebrated my nephew's 21st birthday while we were in the mountains.  His sister made him a bucket list of 21 tasks to complete for the day.  He didn't quite get them all done, but he did check off quite a few before the end of his birthday.  Most of them had to do with drinking or dancing and he was a good sport about it all. 

On the way home, we stopped to take Sydney skiing.  She has been asking since the last time we went and she had so much fun. 

Nobody else wanted to ski, and so I took the others back down to the bottom of the mountain to go tubing instead.  The drive home from that was just over 9 hours, so it was a long day, to say the least. 

As far as celebrating Christmas, we got home so late last night and were too tired to get everything ready.  We are calling today Christmas Eve and waiting to celebrate for when everyone is more recovered tomorrow. 
Merry Christmas to everyone else though, celebrating on the actual day.  I hope that you all had quality time with family and friends with plenty of quilts to keep you all warm and cozy.  

Back Home and Gone Again

We took the kids on a Christmas Cruise.  It left on December 26th and we just got back home this morning.  The kids had so much fun, especially on this waterfall jumping trip we took in the Dominican Republic.  We all came back a little bloody and bruised, but WOW was it a lot of fun.  One of those once in a lifetime experiences that you are so glad you tried but never want to do again.  Kurt's brother and his family came along with us, so it was a nice chance to spend some time together.    

Unfortunately, while we were gone, be got a message letting us know that Kurt's mom had passed away.  She has been fighting lung cancer for the last couple of years, and had been in a lot of pain for several months now.  It is a relief to know that she isn't suffering anymore, but it was still a shock for everyone.  We are home for just enough time to do laundry and pack again.  Then we will head up to North Carolina to spend some time with Kurt's dad and visit with family who are coming for the Celebration of Life that she wanted to have instead of a funeral.
I have plenty of handwork ready for the car trip.  Maybe I will finally catch up on the 366 circles for my Leap Year quilt?  I'll set up next weeks ScrapHappy Saturday before we hit the road.  Hopefully I'll be able to check in with everyone when we are home again for good.  

Hawaii Sunset Progress

 Yesterday was super busy with no time at all to sew.  I was determined to make up for it today.  Amy recently finished her Hawaii Sunset top which inspired me to pull my blocks out again.  They have been done for ages, but I needed more sashing strips and some of the odd little setting triangles to be able to sew it all together.  I was able to get everything cut out while the kids were swimming this morning and now they have gone off to play and I am ready to start sewing the rows together.  I'd better get busy quickly before the dog comes and helps me rearrange things.

 Hopefully that will leave a bit of time for slow stitching the binding on Jamestown Landing.  Sundays require a bit of relaxation after all.

The main activity that kept us all running yesterday was a trip to St. Augustine to visit family in from out of town.  Aunt MaryAnne passes away this summer and everyone came down for the memorial service on Friday.  From the back left it is Kurt's mom and dad, Bonnie and Tom.  Next to him is his brother, Uncle Bob and his wife Aunt Barb.  Then there is Kurt on the right and the kids all in the front row.  The rest of the aunts and uncles headed out Saturday morning, but we spent the day exploring downtown and ended the day with a dinner out before heading home again.  It was so nice to be able to catch up and visit for a while.  We live so far away from everyone that it is easy to loose touch.
It was unbelievably HOT yesterday, but we tried to walk slowly in the shade and cool off with a bit of ice cream and some swimming.  I can't remember it ever being so hot for this long since we moved here 16 years ago.  Hoping for cooler weather next week.  Ryan had a football game yesterday as well, thankfully it was early in the morning before the real heat of the day set in. 

DC is Done!

We are home from our whirlwind 7 day tour of Washington DC. We saw A LOT while we were there. Walked A LOT every day. Had so much fun.

 Here is the family in front of the capitol.  We did the tour and got gallery passes to sit in the house of representatives and watch.   The kids were not impressed with the efficiency of our elected officials as they gave speeches to a scattered collection of staffers all texting madly on their phones.

 Sydney requested a trip to Georgetown cupcakes.  We combined that with a dinner, but saved the cupcakes for after.

 My favorite day was a trip out of the city to Front Royal.  The adults did a little wine tasting at Naked Mountain Winery.

 The kids picked blueberries and peaches and rolled down hills.  We don't have hills much around home, so they had a blast.

 Everyone loved the Zoo.  We even glimpsed Bao Bao the baby Panda.

 The kids got to gin cotton at the American History museum.  Combined with the outside monuments and Natural History it was a long day of walking.

We went up to the top of the Washington Monument and watched money being printed at the bureau of engraving.  What else?  Air and Space was Ryan's favorite.  He like the new one better than the old.  The weather at Mt. Vernon was unbelievably beautiful.  Honestly, all the weather was fantastic.  Sydney was disturbed by the naked people in the paintings at the National Museum of Art.  Kurt made fun of modern art in the sculpture garden.  We are all glad to be home again though.  It will be lovely to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Check out the rock from the Natural History museum.  Isn't it a beautiful shade of green?

Winding Down

School is officially starting to wind down.  We are reviewing for end of the year exams which will happen starting next Wednesday.  Though I did spend a bit of time this evening updating grades, mostly we have been baking.
 

 ANOTHER administrator at work is having a baby. No quilts this time, she already has all that she needs for nursery supplies, and so we are having a book shower.  The assignment was to find a snack and a book that tied together in some way to bring to the shower.  I chose If you Give a Mouse a Cookie because I just happen to have a mouse cookie cutter.  Sydney made sugar cookies for me.  She didn't want any help at all until it came to clean-up time.

 Anna was working of these caramel cookies from Chile for her Spanish celebration next week.  She wanted to try a practice batch first to perfect the recipe.

 Clean-up was an all hands on deck party because our dishwasher is broken!  We went this weekend and ordered a new one, but it has to be ordered and delivered.  We will all get a bit of practice with hand washing in the next few days.

 Monday was a big day for Anna.  This was the last photo of her with braces.

Here she is with her shiny straight teeth!  She celebrated by eating popcorn for lunch and dinner and snack.  She hasn't had any in the last two years and is making up for lost time.  

So no sewing tonight, but I have at least one or two blocks I would love to sneak in before the end of the month.  I am looking forward to putting away my purple and looking for greener pastures.  How about you?

New Years Eve

Hanging out in Tampa with family.  After the aquarium we started a round of bowling.  Parade to follow and something with sports at the convention center before the big game tomorrow.

Foiled Again

There has been something every night this week.  Usually two somethings.  One night there were three things, all in the same evening.  Kurt has been gone and I was really looking forward to curling up under a quilt on the couch.  A cold front just moved in, so a hot chocolate sounded like a definite possibility.  Instead we got a note home saying Sydney had won science fair and we were supposed to go to the awards ceremony.  Yeah!  Sydney won the science fair!  She will the the third grade representative for her school at the regional fair in the environmental category.  I'd be excited if  weren't so darned tired.  

Junior High Dance

What could be more fun than a junior high dance?  Anna was determined not to go, but her dad talked her into it and in the end she was very excited.  She wanted him to take her in his fancy sports car.  They are on the way now.  It will be fun to hear how it all went.
I spent the day digging my way out of piles of papers and had things mostly under control by the end.  Then, as I was leaving, I heard good news on a project that I've been helping out with for another teacher.  Hopefully everything will be finalized by the end of next week and I can tell you all about it officially.  The kids will be gone all day tomorrow at a Lego tournament.  I wonder what I will find to do?

Slowpoke Sunday - Puttering

 In the hoop this week, Dear Jane still in progress.  I have it ready for evening TV viewing with the family.  Hop over to Kathy's blog to see what other hand work people have pulled out this week. 

 This morning I was making a few fabric covered folders for school.  I made a set last year for "in" folders, but now I need some for "out".  With two down and two to go, I ran out of spray adhesive!  Not something I use very often, but it has come in very handy from time to time.  I had promised to take the girls to see a movie while the boys were at D&D, so we were going to pop into Joann's while we were out.  They had entirely torn apart the store for a remodel!  The fabric was were the yarn used to be, the cutting counter had switched with the patterns an everyone was wandering around looking dazed and confused.  I eventually asked someone who worked there where the glue was, but she didn't know either.   Oh my.  I hope they get it all put back together soon.  Obviously we didn't stay to shop but grabbed the glue and escaped. 

Back from the movie now, Anna has settled in to do a sewing project for school.  Her science teacher asked if she could make a set of curtains from some tie dye panels that her students make each year.  She did have me trim them to a consistent size, but the rest is all up to her.  She is quite excited to be asked to do such an important job and is earning volunteer hours at the same time.
I hope you are all enjoying some down time this Sunday.  It is always nice to take a deep cleansing breath before jumping back into a new week. 

Universal Birthday

Anna didn't want to have a party for her birthday this year.  Instead she wanted to take a friend to Universal Studios and ride the new Harry Potter ride. She chose a friend whose mom is a good friend of mine so that we could hang out while the girls did their thing.  I was pretty sure we were going to be rained out, but somehow, the rain magically parted around Orlando and we remained almost entirely dry for the day.  Until, that is, the girls decided to ride the river barge ride 10 times in a row! Hogwarts village was amazing, the detail of the architecture was SO impressive.  Such a fun day, I was feeling great and still full of energy all the way home, then I sat down on the couch and lost ALL motivation.  I thought briefly about getting a little work done on Smith Mountain before dozing off in the middle of my move on Words with Friends.  Tomorrow looks wide open though. Sydney has a sleepover and Ryan has been invited to a pool party of someone he met at Rocket Camp, other than that it should be a calm day.  I even have some purple projects to show! 

Switching Again

I made just a few more green blocks this afternoon.  Little nine patches from one inch strips.  They will finish at 2.5 inches when they all come together.

Also, a quick picture from the father daughter dance on Friday.  It was a Hawaiian Luau.  Kurt took the girls while Ryan and I hung out at home eating pizza on the couch.  Now I'd better get to work on grading some essays.  I promised my AP students I would have the free response questions from their last test ready by Monday.  Maybe I can add them all up while I watch the Oscars. 

Weekend Wind Down

 I finally found some time to sew today.  The weekend was zooming by and I thought it might slip away without anything accomplished on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Instead I stole away some time and put together these green log cabin blocks to go with the red from last month.  I wanted to print out some more templates for a few green houses, but my computer is on the brink of death.  I've got a new one, but Kurt is still working on getting all the old files off for me.  I'm still getting used to a new machine and trying to get all of my favorite programs up and working. 

Last night we all went to a performance for Anna.  She was invited to be part of an all county honor chorus with 6th graders from each elementary school.  They chose 8 singers and 4 strings members from each school.  With about 30 schools represented, it was quite an ensemble.  Anna is in the second row from the top, four in from the right side.  See her?  It was a little like "Where's Waldo" when the kids all came at the beginning of the show.

President's Day

Today was a day off school for the kids but not for the teachers.  Kurt took the day off and went with the kids to Legoland.  It is new and we hadn't been yet.  It was a big hit.  So much so that they had record crowds and ended up staying open late to accommodate everyone.

That left with me with some quiet time at home after my training.  Allergies have gotten the best of me, and I didn't feel much like sewing.  I did spend some time ironing and folding though. Not all of this fabric is new, some just got pulled and auditioned or had some cut off to be used.  It does seem like a lot of fabric though, doesn't it?  I'd better get it put away before people start asking what it is all for. 

Slumbery Sunday

It has been a sleepy day all day today.  The kids are off school tomorrow, so they are still in weekend mode.  I've got training all day and the rest of the family is going to Legoland.  They had fun at the Lego Team end of the year party yesterday.  The big event was seeing which lego boat could hold the largest number of coins.  I think we'll be pulling money and legos out of the filter for a few days.  It was a good excuse to start getting the pool in shape for summer though.  Sydney helped with pressure washing while I swept away spider webs.  It looks so much better now, though I think repainting the deck is still on the list of upcoming projects. 
I got lots of sewing done today, though I can't show any of it yet.  I am all set for a month's worth of Tiny Tuesdays though, which makes me very happy. 

This Week So Far

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

The Good Life

Early Morning Conversation sums up our family

Mom: Let's all go out for breakfast this morning as a family.
Dad: Sounds good, kids lets go
Anna: I already had a bowl of cereal
Sydney: Yea!  I'll get my shoes
Ryan: Huh?

Today we are all puttering around the house.  Kurt is shopping online for new cars while watching football.

Anna found some scrapbooking supplies to do crafts. This morning we went out and got a haircut, she wanted bangs.

Ryan is working on Lego Robotics. Tonight he is sleeping over with his friends.

Sydney is missing in action, she keeps calling to tell us who's house she is at.  Last phone call was asking if she could have friends sleep over here. 

I have Netflix going on my i-pad while working on the RRCB border.  They just need ironing, I'm sewing them together as I go.  

Crafty Day

The Girl Scouts are making rugs out of old t-shirts.  They are weaving them on hula hoops using a cute tutorial that the leader found on a Disney Family Fun website.  They got started last week, but came home with bags of t-shirts to be cut up for homework.  I did Anna's last night and got carried away playing with the scraps. I made two coasters by crocheting the extra bits together and then used an embroidery hoop to weave the sleeves.  I thought I was at the end of the extras when our neighbor who is also in the troop came over with her bag of shirts so that we could cut her shirts out together.  So I've just finished her homework too, and I'll save the scraps for later. 

I saw the cutest idea in a blog last week where a lady had opened up envelopes and used them to trace a pattern out of interfaced fused fabric which she put together with cute little buttons and such to make fabric envelopes.  I can't find the link again, but I modified the concept a bit to come up with these fabric covered file folders.  Interfacing seemed complicated, so I just took some old folders and used spray adhesive to glue fabric to both sides.  Then I trimmed and zigzagged the edges to make color coded folders for school.  The edges are sewn together so the papers won't fall out the sides. 
I did some more work on my green and blue mile a minute blocks, but they aren't done quite yet.  The green are getting close, but I'm sorely lacking variety in my purples.  I hate to cut up more fabric when the goal is to use up scraps, but maybe I'll search through my stash for small bits and pieces. 
I guess that is all on the crafty front.  Yesterday morning was a Girl Scout garage sale after ice skating.  Then this morning I took the kids to see Rio.  It was very cute.  Kurt came to meet us for lunch after and then we all went shopping.  We are in need of a new fridge but can't decide what we want.  The rest of our appliances are off white and I guess it isn't very popular anymore, because none of the new styles come that way.  We also looked at new couches, and picked one out that we all liked.  It is a very soft brown microfiber and comes with a matching love seat and chair.  It should be here next weekend. 

Home Stretch

Tomorrow is the last school day before spring break!!  I don't think it has quite sunk in yet that I am going to have a week off.  The last time I was supposed to have a vacation I ended up taking a new job and missing out completely.  It is going to be nice to be able to spend a couple of days at home.  There will be time to finish off mom's chemo quilt and to get some work done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'm feeling a bit guilty about not having participated in my own challenge in recent weeks. 
Tonight was the awards ceremony for Anna's science fair project.  I know we already did an award thing for her project, but that one was for the school and tonight was the district level.  She was so happy with her 4th place ribbon and is already planning project ideas for next year.
It was a big day on the family front.  My mom had her first round of chemo and it all went great!  She isn't feeling any side effects yet and is upbeat about the results.  We are all working hard at keeping a positive attitude.  Kurt's mom had a shoulder replacement surgery today.  She is still feeling numb from the nerve block they used and will stay in the hospital overnight while that wears off. 
I guess that is all.  I need to go and look over the tests that I am giving tomorrow.  We have this nifty new grade camera thing that is supposed to grade them instantaneously.  If only it could score the essay questions I would be a happy camper. 

Overwhelmed with Good Things

We always root for the kids to do well in all their activities.  It is nice to see them rewarded when they do well.  Somehow every little victory leads to a bigger time commitment though, and we seemed to be a bit short on hours in the day lately.

Last weekend Ryan's Lego Robotics team had a tournament and qualified to compete in the regional competition.  We had thought we would be done with that before football started again, I guess it won't work out that way.  The kids were all so excited though and want to get their robot to complete another challenge before the next round. 

Yesterday was the school science fair competition. I had volunteered to be a judge. I couldn't do any of the categories that my kids were in, but ended up doing some of the other groups.  I didn't do the nosy mom thing and stayed away from the area where their projects were.  When I went back after school though to get Anna headed off to her Girl Scout field trip and Ryan working on his robot I found out that she had won in her category and qualified to compete at the regional competition.  We went to the awards ceremony for that last night though Kurt was late because it was at the same time as the football coaches meeting. 
It is all good, maybe we just need to start doing some picking and choosing.  I'm feeling a little overbooked and stressed, I'm sure some of that is carrying over to them.  For now, it is Friday though.  A weekend is always good for the stress levels. 

Nothing Quilty to Report

Sewing a bit on the binding for Cerulean Sky was as close as I came to something quilty today.  With Kurt gone again I'm on both Mommy and Daddy detail.  Science Fair projects are due this week so I spent some time after dinner helping Ryan finish off his board.  Anna's is due on Friday, so I'll help her tomorrow.  Everything is done for both, it just needs the final proof reading and printing so it can get glued down and turned in. 
Tuesday is always a meeting at work, so Sydney came with me to that while Anna did Art Club and Ryan did Lego Club.  I went to help out with that as soon as my meeting was done.  This weekend is the big competition so it is all about finishing up all the last minute details. 
I did have a little time for me amongst all the kids activities.  I went out to lunch with my good friend Meisje and we got to catch up a bit.  We used to run together every Saturday, but she had knee surgery and I got lazy busy, so now we have lunch instead.  That little bit of calm is all that is keeping me going right now.  The kids have just headed off to bed and I need to write a test and type up the Lego script before tomorrow.  I've said it before, but I salute all the single parents out there who manage to handle all of this alone on a regular basis.  It's been two days and I'm a bit batty already.