At Long Last

Remember way back at the beginning of October when I said I had finished a project and was super excited? Well, Christmas has come and gone, the gift has been given, and I can finally show it to you!

Sometimes when I finish a quilt, I am disappointed with how it turned out. Sometimes I get it done and know that if I were to do it again there is one thing I would do different. And sometimes it turns out just exactly the way I hope it will. This was one of those times. The pattern and the colors worked beautifully together and I am thrilled with how it looks.

I made this for my brother Adam and his wife Ronnie. I hope they will enjoy it.

All Dolled Up for Christmas

It's a good thing I got Malia's dress done earlier in the week. If I had waited until yesterday it would not have gotten done due to the biggest freaking migraine I've had in years. So luckily for me, my OCD worked in my favor and her dress was all ready in spite of the fact that I was only just barely functional this morning...Kev took a bar stool to church so I could lead the choir without falling down halfway through. So although I was not at my best, Malia was dressed to the nines!

Neighborhood Santa

My boys have always really enjoyed delivering our neighbor gifts. It doesn't matter where we live or what we give, they just love doing it. And they are old enough that I can send them out the door with a list and a bag of gifts and they can deliver them on their own. Which works great for me.

This year Matthew really wanted to be Santa for delivering neighbor gifts so I took two minutes to make him a quilt batting/elastic beard to go with his hat. Daniel went festive with his elf hat. It doesn't even matter that 75% of the people they tried to visit were not home. It was still fun to see them head out the door all decked out to spread some holiday cheer!

At Age Five, a Week is a Long Time

First thing this morning, Matthew sidled up to me all bleary eyed and half asleep, hugged my leg and said, "Six days 'til Christmas."

Apparently he's just a little bit excited. If only that excitement would translate into a desire to lessen the bickering with his brothers...

We’ve Acquired a Biped

Two days ago Malia decided she was ready to walk. She is a stubborn little thing and true to form, no amount of coaxing could get her to walk until she decided she was good and ready. That has been her routine with all things. We’ve just kind of had to sit back and wait for her to decide she wanted to do it. But now that she has decided that there are pros to walking (she can roam around and hold onto stuff or even suck her thumb at the same time that she is getting where she wants to be) she is off…

This evening she celebrated her new skill by toddling over to the table as we were getting ready for dinner, reaching up and pulling down a place mat. Unfortunately for us, there was a full glass on the place mat. The glass shattered on the floor, Crystal Light splashed everywhere, and Malia looked completely unconcerned. Sigh. Remind me that not only did I survive Matthew’s toddler years (He was a huge freakin’ turkey!) but now I look back and laugh. He certainly was a creative genius when it came to being naughty. So watch out world…excuse me, watch out ME…here she comes!

Proud Mama Moment

Today Daniel was ordained to the office of a deacon and received the priesthood. I’m so proud of all the good choices he makes. I know that sometimes it is a challenge being the oldest because he knows all his younger siblings are watching him, but he is continually proving to be a good example to those around him. People tell me all the time that he is a great kid and I have to agree. He is friendly and easy to get along with. He is becoming quite responsible and making good decisions on his own. He is now one of sixteen in his quorum and I'm hoping that all these young men will be able to support each other outside of church. Once again, I’m so proud that Daniel has chosen to take this step.

Mmmm…Cheesecake!

It has been a really long time since I’ve had real cheesecake. Not only was I on Matthew’s diet the entire time I was nursing Malia, but while I pregnant I had gestational diabetes so that much sugar was off the menu. As I neared the end of my pregnancy and prepared for my walk on the allergen-free side, I had every intention of blatantly defying my strict pregnancy diet just once and indulging in a slice of allergen-full heaven.  But due to Malia’s haste to arrive, I never got the chance.  I’ll admit I did a little happy dance when Kev walked in the door today with a Cheesecake Factory bag. So here I am, a year and some change on the other side of the gestational diabetes and today I finally got to partake of some creamy, milky, nutty goodness. It was carbalicious.  And so, so tasty.

A Dozen

Daniel is twelve. In one more year he will officially be a teenager and I am unprepared in a myriad of ways. But at least I have another nine months to ponder my unpreparedness before he hits middle school. Anyway, Daniel has had a birthday and is now twelve. On Friday he invited a bunch of friends over for pizza, Avengers cupcakes and a movie (The Avengers, to match his cupcakes). They were all very well behaved and they had a good time. I love that his parties no longer require me to plan a myriad of activities to keep everyone entertained. It makes planning and execution pretty simple. There was no way I would have been able to pull off a more complicated party last week. I would not even have gotten the cupcake toppers done if Kevin and Daniel had not helped. So simple parties are good.

On Sunday we shared an Avengers cake with my family. A bunch of my nephews have already crossed over into teen-hood, and looking at them reminds me that Daniel is not far behind. How does time go so fast?