the end of November

I haven't checked my e-mail in over a week.

And now I'm scared to.

I get about a hundred e-mails a day;

most of them are junk,

but there are some that I'll need to tend to,

and weeding through it all takes forever.

~

Remember my china cabinet??

The one that I had to drive the trailer

to go get!?!

We finally painted it

and moved it 

to the spot that it's been waiting for its whole life

💛

It's a tiny tad more 'French's' mustard than I'd have preferred,

but I love it anyway.

As soon as I find the china 

that we bought in East Berlin

while it was still a communist country

I'll fill it up!

~

As you can see,

we also put up the Christmas tree

(and plugged in the frasier fir fragrance...)

though we have yet to put any ornaments on it.

~

no - that's not true.

There is the Operation Christmas Child ornament 

that Lexi picked up when we worked our shoebox shift.

~

For several weekends,
Tyler has been working on our stair rail

and we finally got that finished and up this weekend, too.

I love it so much!!

~

I may have gone a bit overboard,

but I've finalized the fabric pull 

for my new commissioned project.

I'm hoping to get my first block made today,

and after that,

I'll aim for a pair of blocks every work day

(double that when the blocks are small and simple)

I estimate it'll take 4-6 months to complete.

~

Along with other leftovers,

Mom and Bill gave us 

both the ham bone

and the turkey carcass

 after Thanksgiving,

so we had a delicious ham and bean soup yesterday

and our (almost) annual day-after-Thanksgiving

 turkey noodle soup.

They were both scrumptious,

but now I am ready to get back to not eating carbs!

~

I only have four more granny circles

to turn into squares and join!

(obviously, this was taken a few days ago...)
I use an empty candle jar to keep a row of circles contained and in order :-)

I discovered there is a thing called continuous join as you go

which is ever so much better than join as you go

which is better

by far

than joining afterward,

so that has sped the process up considerably.

I couldn't find an exact tutorial,

so I sorta cobbled together bits and pieces

from various blogs and videos

and muddled through

until I figured out a good method.

I should probably write it up 

so I can use it if I ever make another one...

week in review

Not long after hitting 'publish' 

on my last post,

Tyler and I hopped in the car and headed to Everton Missouri

for a 'couples getaway'.

In a moment of utter weariness,

the word Get-a-way

and 

the low price of $150 for 2 nights

- all meals included -

totally suckered me,

and I texted Tyler, "want me to sign up for this?"

We were expecting that there would be hundreds of couples,

and we could just sorta hide away 

and be unnoticed.

Turns out,

there were only about 14 couples,

7 of them

from our church,

so hiding out was not really an option.

The speakers were great

and had a lot of wisdom to share

and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them 

to any newly married

or troubled couple.

I couldn't help thinking multiple times

that perhaps Tony and Kacy wouldn't be getting divorced

if they had sat under some of their teaching.

~~sigh~~

We skipped out early on Sunday,

because right after we got home

we were heading to Springhill to camp for a few days.

 Camping was wonderful.

Our site was gorgeous

and the daytime temperatures were pretty much perfect

though the nights were a bit nippy.

The kids rode bikes and scooters.

We played cards.

And kayaked and fished.

(I made circle centered granny squares....)

We ate yummy camp food.

We played at the park

and collected firewood.

We rested.

We could have easily stayed a few more days

but we needed to get back home

and work on the house.

Thursday night,

we finished installing all of the hardwood flooring

that we can install right now!!

(the rest will have to wait until the LEM is moved

and the other half of the library is built)

Friday,

Matt and Marin and Milo

came down for the weekend to help.

We decided that Matt helping with trim 

would pack the biggest punch,

and man, was that a good call!

While the guys worked on priming, painting,

and then installing trim (upstairs),

Marin and I worked on the upstairs floors;

I used the belt sander on the subfloor seams

(the one job I had successfully avoided up to that point)

and Marin followed behind me with the shopvac

cleaning up all of the mess I made.

We also spent some time just visiting,

which was every bit as nice

as having their help.

Somehow - they fit in spending some good time 

with our kiddos, too.

I always love 

when people love on my kids!

Speaking of the kids -

they were troupers, too.

They helped out in the house when they could,

(boys, especially)

fixed food,

(girls, mostly)

and enjoyed playing with Milo

(all of 'em)

when he didn't need his mom or dad.

And that,

is pretty much our week in review.

Sunday snippets - on a Monday

Continuing on the subject of sleep:

Normally,

Tyler and the kids head out for Sunday school 

somewhere between 8:30 and 8:40.

I lay in bed another few minutes, 

then go to the kitchen,

and hit the 'small cup' option on the Keurig,

where Tyler has already got my fixin's in my cup.

I enjoy my coffee

(it's always so much better when he makes it)

and browse blogs

until 9:00,

when I need to start getting ready for church myself.

This morning, yesterday morning,

they left,

and I promptly fell asleep

and didn't wake up until 9:57

😳

I texted Tyler

then promptly fell asleep

again

and woke up at 12:05.

I guess I was even more tired than I knew...

~

Tyler and the girls had a Daddy-Daughter dance Saturday.

no pictures, sadly,

except for the one itty bitty poorly lit one they brought home,

but they all looked lovely

and they had a great time,

and Lily even won the daughter dance-off.

~

We bought the tub surround for the upstairs bathroom

this weekend.

It was on sale,

plus Lowe's gives Veteran's a 10% discount,

so we got it for $188 plus tax (reg price $239)

While at Lowe's 

we also found a custom counter top/ integrated sink

on clearance for $200 ((originally $583).

It isn't exactly the size we need,

and I forget the name of the material it's made from,

but Tyler did a quick search in the store

and found that we should be able to cut it to size

with just a circular saw.

The counter was kinda bowed,

but we both thought it looked as though it would level out once installed,

but $200 seemed a bit pricey

since there was a risk that it wouldn't,

so we asked if they might come down a bit more

and they dropped the price to $150 for us,

so we bought it.

We had a sink picked out already that I loved,

but I was really concerned about what I would use to waterproof

- really waterproof -

the top of the credenza,

so this seemed like a really great solution

and I'm quite pleased with it.

(hopefully it really will cut easily and neatly...)

~

My elbow is a smidge better.

I can hold my coffee cup now with my left hand,

and sometimes even lift it to my lips.

My 30 oz water cup is still too heavy though.

I was talking with my dad yesterday,

and he suggested a Tennis Elbow brace,

so as soon as we got off the phone

I ordered one from Amazon.

(after making sure that it wouldn't be less expensive at Walmart)

Maybe I will be functioning better soon??

I do hope so.

I've grown pretty weary of this nonsense

and I am quite ready to lift weights

and be a contributing member of the building team again.

Surprisingly,

the one thing I was very worried about

- machine quilting -

hasn't been too terrible,

but hand-quilting 

(which I wasn't concerned about at all)

has been especially painful.

I had estimated about 6 weeks for the quilting,

but it's going to take more like 8,

I think.

Of course, it doesn't help 

that I've decided I don't like the micro quilting

I did on a couple of stars,

so some of my hand-quilting time has been spent

unsewing

instead.

I'm ahead of schedule so no worries.

~

Tyler brought these home for me the other day.

They aren't potato chip clones, mind you,

but they actually quite satisfying.

~

We recently went to Texas again to see our good friends/adopted family.

We had a nice visit,

but Brandon had to stay home to work on school work,

which was kinda bummy.

We got home just in time for me to start cooking 

our Super Bowl snacky-dinner.

~

Oh.

speaking of snacky dinners.

Last night,

I cut up a few sweet potatoes for Tyler to cook up 

in his new little fryer.

I'd recently bought some beautiful dark reddish/purplish 

sweet potatoes,

and decided I'd cut one of those up too.

I was excited at how pretty the two colors would look together.

Plus, more color = more nutrition, right?

I ran the peeler over the potato,

and was shocked to discover

that the inside was white, not red.

I felt robbed.

~

Talk to me about carpet in bedrooms.

(please...)

We'd been thinking not,

but upon discovering that carpet is actually the least expensive flooring option

(excepting perhaps a super cheap laminate, which is not in the consideration)

we are reconsidering.

Right now,

we are thinking to carpet the upstairs.

It will be more comfy for the kids 

and will create a sound barrier,

and most of the dirt that they bring in the house

will be left downstairs,

so that isn't as big of an issue...

What I'm having trouble with is our bedroom.

Going with hardwood and throw rugs would be gorgeous,

but carpet would be a little more comfortable

and a little cheaper.

(and let's be realistic, easier, 

since we wouldn't install it ourselves

but that doesn't factor terribly much into the decision)

Another consideration - 

we have an exterior door in our bedroom,

so if we went with carpet,

would we need to have a different floor covering in front of it??

Also - Tyler does have allergies,

which is one of the reasons we were thinking no carpet.

But - the foam insulation is supposed to cut down drastically on dust,

so that may not be much of an issue.

So - care to help me think through this??

sweet dreams

I had 2 girls up

around 11:30 last night,

hungry.

I gave them a glass of milk

and a few crackers,

and then I pulled out a book about other little girls,

and read a chapter and a half

in an attempt to fill 

more than just their bellies.

Ever since I've been a mom

(going on 30 years!)

it's been my habit to spend special time

with kiddos who couldn't sleep.

I gotta tell ya,

I battle (with myself)

pretty much every time;

I really like sleep!

But I also really like my kids...

Sweet dreams, Baby Girls.

Momma loves you.

Monday Miscellany

I finished my final block for Jordan's quilt.

Well, sort of.

All of the stars, swoons, fireworks,etc are finished.

I still have to add fabric to all but the swoons
 to make complete blocks.

But phase 1 is finished,

and incurred no swearing, and no tears!

(thought there was a fair amount of seam ripping.

I've come to accept that that is just a part of sewing for me.)

It was silly of me to work on that last week,

when I had so many other (more urgent) things

I could should have been working on,

but I just felt so compelled to finish.

So I did.

It does feel good...

As soon as I finished,

I got to work making a double-ended pot holder for Jeannie.

Stupidly, the only picture I took before wrapping it

was one I snapped quickly to show a friend.

I added hand quilting on the mitt part,

which was probably silly

for a pot holder,

but I am not always sensible with my sewing.

Overly sensible with pretty much everything else, though....

So I guess I've achieved balance.

haha

~

We had Christmas get-togethers

with my dad and most of my family on Saturday,

and my mom and even more family on Sunday.

I was sad that none of my big kids were there.

Life doesn't always turn out like we think it will...

At my dad's,

we always do a dirty Santa / white elephant exchange,

usually with a theme,

(and a low dollar amount)

and it's always a lot of fun.

I always remind the kids that it is a game,

and if you actually like what you end up with,

that's a bonus.

This year's theme was 'favorites'

so there wasn't quite as much opportunity for craziness

as say  - when we did 'bathroom',

but more people went home with something they'd actually use.

~

I never posted about Jack.

Jack bit the mail lady a few months back,

and had to go.

As much as I hated that stupid dog,

I cried an awful lot that week.

I sobbed so hard while I was driving him to the shelter

that I was afraid I might have a wreck.

And how dumb would that be?!

Jack was such a nuisome!

But we'd gotten a bark collar, 

and I really thought he was doing better.

So much so, that I'd told him a few times

he just *might* make it to the new house with us.

I hope that some time in the clink straightened him out,

and that he got a new home,

with an old lady

who likes being warned every time anyone

(or a leaf...)

is around,

and he can have a long happy life.

Bonus if the old lady likes to lay out in the sun,

because Jack liked that.

(so long as it wasn't too hot...)

~

Somebody tried Walmart's online ordering / grocery pick-up
using my code!
If that was you ~ thank-you!!
(they got $10 buck free, and so do I, now :-)

~

I'd love to sit in my toasty bedroom
with its south facing window
and read all day.
It's in the teens,
which means we'll be lucky
if we can get the rest of the house in the 60's.
But alas,

today needs to be a house cleaning day.

It's gotten totally out of hand.

ornament tradition

We started the tradition in 2000.

In Mexico,
actually.

In June or July, no less.

The whole family had gone to Juarez

with the youth group from church to build a house.

When we found ornaments

with a house painted on them,

it was kind of a no-brainer.

We haggled over the price a bit

and bought four.

The next year,

liking the idea of a 'significant' ornament,

we chose an ornament for each kid based on their likes.

(for example, Tony loved to watch birds, 

so he got a birdbath ornament)

I just wrote on the bottom of the box

'because you like ___________'

The ornament tradition has evolved over the years

and what we now do is:

Tyler and I go on a date 

and we make a list

for each kid of things they've done / like,

areas they've grown in, etc. in the past year

(this could be improved on, by making notes throughout the year)

(Oh. wait. I sorta do that on the ol' blog. Whatdoyaknow?!)

One of the nice side-benefits of this list

is it helps us to look past what we're dealing with 

right now

with a child

and reminds us of the 'whole' child.

(For example - Lily has been a whiny crabby pill for several weeks

and when we first started her list

it was sparse;

but as we looked back further over the year

we remembered how amazing she is!)

remember when Lex' hated homeschooling
and was a beastie??

Then

armed with our lists

we start shopping for ornaments.

We often find things to add to the lists.

(the girls love having tea parties, 

but we hadn't thought to write that on the list

until we saw a teacup ornament...)

After choosing an ornament for each unmarried child,
(or deciding we'll need to make one)

we buy boxes for them.

(plastic food storage containers are great)

Then

- and here's the most important part -

we write a note for each child to include in the box,

using those lists we made earlier.

Little things that would otherwise be forgotten

(like that Lexi used to call Tony 'Hony')

are also lovingly written.

Every year,

once the lights (at least 600, preferably more) are strung,

and the garland is wrapped around the it,

the kids fill up the tree with ornaments,

one memory at a time.

And when they marry - they'll take it all with them.

As Tony was hanging his ornaments Sunday evening

(and complaining about the brevity of the early notes)

Tyler asked, "What if Tony's wife doesn't like his ornaments?"

(though, I am careful to choose ornaments with spouses in mind)

"How could she not like my ornaments?!"

he asked.

"They are me."