sadness

Dallas, our grandpuppy, Tony's puppy, died in my arms last night.

I am so sad. So, so sad.

I was apprehensive about him moving in, to be honest;

Lola wasn't overly found of the little thing - he made her quite nervous.

So I'd told T&K that Dallas could live here on a trial basis; I didn't want to torture Lola for months.

Lola adapted to Dallas just fine,

and Dallas adapted to life in a full house pretty quickly.

He loved all the kids, but Josiah and Brandon were his favorites.

Of course they would be, they are the most like Tony.

And Dallas loved Tony!

On Thursday, when it was raining, I traumatized the poor thing, trying to make him go potty in the pelting rain.

I made it up to him by carrying him around in the ERGO for an hour or so.

Tyler gave him a bath on Saturday, washing him with men's body wash, so he'd smell (almost) like he did before Tony left 

(Tony always washed him with Old Spice; all we had was Suave)

You'd think a bath would be torture - considering how he acted about the rain, 

but no, Dallas loves warm baths.

He was so soft and yummy afterwards.

Lola got a bath, too. 

Only, Tyler didn't wash her with men's body wash.

And she is not a fan of warm baths.

Sunday afternoon, I smiled, watching the two of them playing together

and thought, Lola is going to miss him when he leaves.

I had no idea he'd be leaving us so soon.

He was fine all day, but come bedtime we started noticing a few things weren't quite right.

Around 9:00, I decided he was sick, so I texted Kacy to let her know something was up with him.

I really figured he'd be fine in no time, but thought she should know, in case she wanted to come home...

I snuggled him next to me  on the bed while Tyler and I watched an episode of Bones.

Around 10 he was still pretty lethargic, but responded to kids coming in the room (again!) by wagging his tail.

I called Brandon in, to see how Dallas would respond to him.

He lifted his head and wagged his tail more vigorously.

I took it as a good sign.

We watch him pretty closely, but as you know, there's always crap on the floors here,

so I figured maybe he ate something and had a tummyache,

and he'd be better in a few hours....

Brandon and I fixed him up a bed in the chair right next to me, and around 11, Dallas crawled into it.

His breathing seemed kinda labored.

I was worried, but not terribly so.

I kept praying that he'd be okay.

Kacy would come home and take him to the vet in the morning...

I put my hand on his tummy as I laid in bed.

He'd wagged for the kids. He must be feeling a little better.

Around 11:20, he climbed up next to me.

I grabbed the towel I'd put in his bed, thinking it was quite possible he'd pee.

Encouraged with his movement,  I decided we should sleep on the couch, so we wouldn't disturb Tyler's sleep.

I felt kinda silly being so watchful, but I'm a momma. And mommas are watchful. 

He did pee, so I was glad I'd grabbed the towel.

I turned on the light.

Dallas did not look good.

I ran in to Tyler and cried, "He's dying. Dallas is dying."

So Tyler came and sat by me and held me.

While I held Dallas and cried

as Dallas died in my arms.

And I am so, so sad.

laundry expository

I  don't make my kids do laundry.

There.

I said it.

I've often thought it was due to some laziness on my part;

it's easier to just do it all myself, than to devise some scheduled system

that I would have to stay accountable to.

(I'm not terribly good with schedules)

It's also due, in part, to my perfectionist tendencies;

I'm good with laundry.

(I am the stain ninja, after all ;-)

And I like laundry done the way I do it.

I have a system, and it works for me.

(when the hamper is nearly full, I wash what's in it - that's my system ;-)

Just so we're clear, all children over the age of 5 do know how to do laundry,
(Adult males in the household are an entirely different story... ;-)

and I have a chart hanging inside of a cabinet, telling how to wash what
and what temperature to dry it on.
Occasionally, everyone has to pitch in and fold.
And often I have someone grab a particular hamper for me.
(we have one for whites, one for towels, and one for coloreds. A separate basket in our bedroom houses line-dry items)

I just don't require that people do their own laundry.

More than my perfectionism, laziness, and pride though,

is the simple fact that one of the ways I love my family,

is with laundry.

Washing it.
Drying it.
Folding it just so.
(It's not all gushy; it makes me crazy to find folded clothes in the laundry hamper - just like it does every other mom.)

I do a lot of laundry.
So,
I must love my family an awful lot ;-)

needle and thread ~ the letter edition

We just got a letter!!

Our first letter from our boy!!

:-)

So, that's what I'm reading today.
(I've also been slowly making my way through last week's library stack. I'm not as enamored with The Everlasting Meal
as some people seem to be, but I'm only a few chapters in, so that could change, I suppose.)

In sewing news, I finished the quilting on my first quilt of the year, and it's on to the binding...

linking up with Elizabeth's with needle and thREAD again ~ no surprise there ;-)

makin' me chuckle

Jeremiah and Tyler were going to buy this sign to put on a tree.

(which I think is hilarious and perfectly appropriate for this one-bathroom household)

Unbeknownst to Tyler,

Jeremiah snuck it out of the shopping cart and bought it with his own money

and put it on the bathroom door as a joke for me.

I'm leaving it there

because it makes me chuckle every time I see it.

And also because I think it lowers the cleanliness expectation.

I mean, you expect to see pee all over the gents' bathroom, right?

so maybe I won't get as frustrated when I find it all over in mine.

Maybe?

all the colors of the rainbow, except pink

When I'm using needles and thread, 

I have great difficulty managing to also fit in the reading part of Elizabeth's with needle and thREAD.

This week's trip to the library yielded a nice stack of books though,

so we'll see if I can pull myself away from working with my squares-of-many-colors

to actually crack the covers.

It could happen.

one thing

There's not much I'm going to miss about this house whenever we finally move into the new one.
(oh! We met with an architect last weekend ~ yay!!)

I'm not going to bother listing all the things I will not miss about the place;

it's much quicker for me to jot down the one thing

I will miss.

Sunshine on my face when I shower in the afternoon.

That,

I just might miss.

state of emergency

Remember back about 3 1/2 years ago, when I bought that huge roll of batting?

The very first quilt I made with the batting was a throw sized quilt for Lana.

I made it at pretty much the same time I made Josiah's quilt 

(neither of which got blogged apparently)

only I purchased Josiah's batting from the store,

which prompted the whole buy batting in bulk idea in the first place.

Every time my sewing buddy or I make a quilt,

we 'buy' the correct yardage for the project at $5 a yard, and put the money in a crumpled envelope

where I jot down the quilt name or prospective owner and approximate date of said project.

My envelope has been getting full, and the roll empty,

so I've been keeping my eye out for bargain batting for a few months now.

The price of batting has gone up considerably!

I just went in the dining room, backed a chair up to the yellow cupboard

and climbed up.
I reached up and pulled the now fairly lightweight box down from it's perch on the top of the cabinet.

I lifted the batting out and began unrolling it on my cutting table.

(aka - the dining table)

I was totally shocked to discover I only have 45 inches of batting left.

Lynnet and I have used all but 45 inches of  forty yards of quilt batting!

This is most definitely a state of emergency

that needs to be remedied right away.

for her fourth

Two days before her actual birthday,

two days before he left,

her big bub (and his wife ;-)

took Lex' to get her ears pierced (or 'piered' as she calls it)

She got flowers just like her sis, in the color we call 'Lexi blue'

double date

"You know what I'm disappointed about?" she said with a sigh,

"I'm disappointed that in all the time we've been married (almost 6 months ;-)

- and even before that -

we've never gone on a double date with you and Dad!"

Well.

Having your beautiful daughter-in-law disappointed for something so easy to fix

is just plain silly,

so last night,

we remedied the situation and went on a double date.

And even though we were all exceptionally lousy bowlers*, we had a great time,

and came home to three sleeping kids

and

a clean house. 

(thanks so much, Bran!)

*I would like it to go on record that, for the first time ever (and according to him, also the last time...)

 I beat Tyler bowling.

Never mind what our scores were....

heartsore

I've been walking around fighting tears for days now.

Today, the tears are winning.

Tony leaves for basic training in a week.

And my momma heart just hurts.

Not long after they got engaged, Kacy 

(who has mentioned on numerous occasions how much she loves our Sunday snacky dinner and a show tradition)

asked if they could still spend Sunday evenings with us after they got married.

Well, of course!!

So, even though he's married, we still get to see him fairly often.

But even if we didn't get to see him pretty much weekly,

the thought of not seeing him at all, for months

(and maybe not even talking to him)

makes me sad.

And I'm a little worried for him; Boot Camp can be brutal, you know.

And it's not like he's going on vacation; ultimately, he's going to war.

And, of course I'm sad for Kacy ~ she's going to miss him so much.

(although I'm not worried about her, since she'll be staying with us)

I'm sad for the kids, especially Josiah. and Brandon.

Since tears are already lurking just beneath the surface,

I cried when I read my (online) friend and mentor's post, saying she was going to quit blogging.

And delete her blogs.

I cried again when I read Elizabeth's post about her boy going to college.

'specially when she shared that her little girl (whose oldest brother just got married 2 weeks ago) said,

"My whole childhood will be people leaving!"

and I thought ~ it don't get any better, kid. 

It's really too bad my machine is in the shop ~ I could sure stand to be immersed in a project right about now.

Somehow, I don't think cleaning will be as therapeutic as sewing...

kicked the habit

Through all of the changes in dietary habits over the years,

there was one 'bad' food item I hung onto. 

Sam's Choice Extra Rich (Fake) Creamer.

Love the stuff.

Other powdered creamer - not so much,

but the 'so creamy it actually whips' creamer? Delish!

I'd rather quit drinking coffee, than drink it without my creamer. (and I have, multiple times over the years.)

A few months ago, I decided I was ready to start trying to give it up.

I slowly (very slowly) replaced some of my powdered creamer with real cream (and sometimes coconut milk).

I'm happy to report that I can now

enjoy a cup of coffee with real cream.

Without even a sprinkling of Sam's Choice fake creamer.

in the shop

You know how I've been whining for months about mentioned my machine not being quite right?

Since I am not currently immersed in a project

(although, I will be starting one next week that I'm getting very excited about!)

I figured it would be a good time to go visit the shop.

(I really like Jeannie and Patrick at the Sewing Machine Center; they're good people.)

Jeannie messed and messed with it - they always try to get me fixed up without having to leave the machine if possible. 

(I must get a wild, desperate look in my eye when they mention it staying.)

We determined that no amount of adjusting would fix it - it needs a new tension unit.

A computerized ($250!) tension unit.

(It's a very nice machine!)

And it'll be a week or so 'til I get it back.

I actually cried a little.

I think I may be emotionally attached to my machine.

I briefly considered trading it on a new one - just so I wouldn't be without a machine.

I quickly came to my senses and remembered that I didn't want a new machine; I wanted that one.

(but gosh - the 12 inch throat on the Janome 8900 sure did look nice!)

~

You know, when the girls and I bought that sewing machine for Jesus, I had to think long and hard about it.

I mean, it isn't exactly food or life-saving.

But then again, maybe it is.... 

I feel like sewing, as silly as it may seem, has been part of my healing.

The prayers have helped. And of course, my hormone creams. And Tyler's love and patience. And an improved diet.

But there were times (in the past - I am soo much better now) when the only time I felt anything close to alive,

or remotely happy, was while I was sewing.

My mind and heart and even my body would be in so much turmoil, but when I focused on what I was creating, 

for those brief moments, I was okay.

I couldn't be all bad, if I could make something pretty. right?

I feel like sewing has been a gift from God to me.

That's why I wanted to buy Jesus a sewing machine.

The woman who receives it can use money she earns from her sewing to buy food.

It will buy her freedom.

And dignity.

I see her giddy when she masters new skills.

And clapping her hands with delight at her finished projects. 

I see her focusing on her work, and forgetting her troubles for a moment.

I see her growing more confident as more people buy what she creates,

and she buys healthy food for her family.

I see her noticing beauty around her, 

now that she no longer has to wonder if her child will die today from hunger.

I see her smile.

And it's beautiful!

Maybe a sewing machine is life-saving after all.

~

I feel a little discombobulated, not having my machine.

The up side is, 

I have plenty of time to clean off my sewing desk,

which, except for the little empty rectangle space my machine usually occupies,

 is anywhere from 2 - 10 inches deep in fabric, tools, scraps, and patterns.

yikes!

books

We went to the library yesterday.

I don't know why it's so hard for  me to schedule a time to go regularly.

I guess 'cause pretty much everything is hard for me these days....

Once upon a time, we went to the library every. single. Thursday.

Now that we live 'out of county' and have to pay $40 a year for a card,

not utilizing the library is wasting of money.

Anyways.

After about 6 weeks of having an empty library basket,

it's full again (along with another box!)

and besides the occasional fighting over books,

the house is always so nice and quiet for a few days after we visit the library :-)

(which makes it especially crazy that I don't make library trips more of a priority ~ I love quiet!)

a little funny:

I ran upstairs to pick up a few books,

and the girls went with me.

Lexi picked up a book, How to Run Your House Without Your House Running You, or something like that.

I told her to put it back; she didn't want that book.

She assured me that she really did.

I told her it was a book about cleaning your house, and she happily put it down.

"A book about cleaning your house?" Lily asked incredulously,

"I already know how to do that. Why would anybody even write a book about that?!"

She just thought it was the silliest thing ever.

I didn't tell her I once bought a book called The House that Cleans Itself...

What's in our library basket:

Nate the Great books (I love these. I read them to myself, sitting right in front of the basket :-)

Putter and Tabby, of course

Henry and Mudge 

(these, I do not like and the kids know I'm more likely to say 'yes' when they ask em to read to them if it's not a Henry and Mudge. 

I forced myself to read one last night. out of love. If you must read a H&M, Annie's Perfect Pet isn't too bad)

A few Beatix Potter books

Amelia Bedelia (these are painful for me to read, also)

(Suprisingly, no Fancy Nancy this time)

What Mommies / Daddies do best

(This book I saw years ago at the bookstore, and thought it was sweet, but didn't note the title or author. I've thought about it over the years, and even looked for it at the bookstore a time or two. I found it looking for a different book yesterday and was so tickled)

Hardy Boys (another duh)

I grabbed a few books for Brandon, but I can't recall now what they were.

It's kinda hard to pick books for him.

The stuff written for young teens now-a-days is often inappropriate, in my opinion,

and I'm just not familiar enough with older books (especially for boys!) to know what to choose.

He's a little leery of my choices anyways; I've used book guides before and gotten many award-winning books for him, but they often have sad parts in them, and he hates sad in books!  Now, sometimes, he just has to read sad stuff (much of history involves sad stuff!) 

but I don't want his pleasure reading to cause him undue angst.

He's not real eager to pick out his own books (beyond the few series / authors he knows he likes)

which I totally understand - the choices are overwhelming, and it's hard to know in just a few minutes if its a good option or not.... 

Any recommendations would be appreciated

For myself, 

I grabbed I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had and Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper from the new release section

and High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers

and a cookbook/memoir written by Italian sisters.

I told Tyler wheat-free people probably ought not read Italian Cookbooks.

I've also been reading Grace-Based Parenting (again) and Desperate, a book that I apparently pre-ordered and promptly forgot about 'til I received notification that it was scheduled to arrive Christmas Eve.  Like any good husband would, Tyler wrapped it, Amazon box unopened, and put it under the tree.

I'll start Stepping Heavenward, soon, too, since I try to read it every January.

Last but not least, we checked out Curtis Stone's cookbook again at Josiah's request.

I should probably buy it for the kid. He loves that book!

He's got about 10 recipes marked with scraps of paper

and was thrilled to discover his old bookmark, still marking the recipe for Pomegranate Martinis.

"Why do we need that?" he laughed; "We already know how to make Pomegranate Martinis!"

(As I type, they house is silent, except for the noise of heaters and the hum of appliances. Everyone is reading.)

So.

What are you reading? And should I read it, too??

Italian soup

Gosh.

I didn't mean to leave you hanging with your leftover spaghetti sauce for so long; sorry!!

I intended to write up the recipe the next time we had spaghetti;

we always have about a quart left.

But the next time we had spaghetti, we didn't have salad,

and besides leftovers for Tyler's lunch, we ate every bit of it.

The next time, Tony and Kacy popped in and ate with us, so, no leftovers again.

The next time after that, we did have leftovers,

and I did make soup,

but for whatever reason, didn't have time to write down the process.

Since Master is getting all up in arms about my lack of posting of late,

and we had Italian Soup for dinner last night,

well,

I figured it was high time to share.

Like most of my 'recipes', it's not an exact science, more of a method...

Italian Soup

(I cut up the veggies as I go, and add them to the pot, giving it a stir with each addition. If you are not a fast slicer and dicer, or if you just want to do your prep work early, cut everything ahead of time and just dump it all in a bowl or bag 'til you're ready to cook)

Place a stockpot on your favorite burner set to medium heat and pour in a glug or two of olive oil.

To your warm oil, add 2-4 carrots, diced

1/2 - 1 whole onion, diced 

1/2 - 1 whole bell pepper, diced

a yellow squash, you got it, diced

and a couple of small zucchinis - one diced, one grated, unless your kids admit to liking zucchini, in which case, you can dice both.

a handful of parsley, chopped as small as you can get it

If mushrooms are on sale, they make a delicious addition, especially if you saute them in butter and garlic salt first. 

If you don't have a child particularly averse to spinach in soup,

go ahead and add a few handfuls of chopped spinach, too.

I, personally, don't even notice the addition of spinach, but Josiah, who really is a pretty good eater, and eats spinach raw just fine, 

can not stand the feel of spinach in soup.

I get that.

Since I am not overly fond of torturing my children for the heck of it,

I choose to feed my family spinach in other ways.

Back to your soup.

Continue to cook your veggies, stirring occasionally.

Throw in some of your Italian Seasoning mix and a few cloves of garlic, crushed.

Also a bit of seasoning mix.

When your veggies are mostly cooked, increase heat to high and add about 6 c of chicken broth.

When it's good and boiling, reduce heat back to medium and add your leftover sketti sauce.

Simmer and stir and stir and simmer.

Taste and add more spices if needed, and maybe some salt, too.

It'll be ready after about 15 minutes of simmering, but if you aren't ready to eat yet,

just reduce the heat and leave it simmering 'til you are.

Now.

As is, the soup is good, but nothing terribly memorable;

add the following toppings, though 

(I've listed them in the order of importance) 

and you take it up several notches.

Even Lily, who has been an awful eater lately, loves it, which is quite a feat these days, unless sugar is involved.

sliced pepperoncinis, with juice

cottage cheese

bacon bits

grated monterey jack

cabbage leftover from your sketti dinner, chopped small

hemp seeds

Oh ~ all those scraps from your veggies? Don't throw them away. 

Well, you can toss the carrot peels and the stem from the pepper,

but the onion, carrot, and squash ends

put in a bag or other container and stick it in your freezer.

Add other veggie scraps to it (but no pepper scraps) and I'll tell you soon(ish) what you can do with 'em.

happy birthday, Jesus!

*this is always a very hard post for me to write. I really considered not writing it this year; I don't want to be misunderstood. 
But the simple truth is, this blog is the record for our family. We want to remember. We want to remember what we gave to Jesus 
as much as we want to remember the funny things we say, and how to make the foods we like, and when somebody got baptized. 
I don't mean to offend, condemn or brag. I just want to record. so we can remember.
 If you are encouraged, I'm glad. and grateful. If our annual Christmas post makes your skin crawl - skip it*

I woke up Christmas morning not feeling real swift,

so we ended up postponing our birthday party.

I'm feeling much better today, 

but sadly, a few of the kiddos are sick now.

We decided to go ahead and have the party anyways,

'cause if we wait 'til everyone in the house it totally well,

well, it might be awhile...

We did things just like last year, except there was real cash in the envelopes instead of fake money. (The bank loved me this month ;-)

and we didn't have any cake (I don't think it was missed)

We've had a small chunk of 'Samaritan Money' set aside for a few months now, but we never felt led to use it, 

 so Tyler said we could spend it on gifts for Jesus, too, in addition to the money we had earmarked, 

which made me happy. 

My sister gave me some money;

she wanted to give to Jesus, but trusted me to spend her money for her :-)

I could have just added her money to mine, but I really tried to pick something that she would be passionate about.

She owns a small shop in Rogers (and has an etsy shop) where she sells, among other things, her hand made jewelry.

She works with beads and gems, common metals, and even gold and silver.

She loves to learn new skills. (Fortunately for her, her brain actually works...)

All of those thing combined, made my choice easy:

I went in with her 50/50 and we gave a hard-working woman (maybe even a jewelry maker?) a small business loan!

What's especially cool about that, is,

when that woman's business is up and running, and she repays the loan,

the money is then loaned out again, to another woman,

and the cycle will continue to repeat, and the gift will keep giving. Indefinitely.

I'm so tickled!!

(anybody else want to send me some money to spend?? ;-)

So.

What else did we buy??

lots!  :-)

I love how our choices reflect us.

We bought:

A dozen baby chicks (Lexi)

10 'Greatest Gift' booklets to be included in shoeboxes (Lily)

Food  for 2 children for a week (me and the girls)

Food for 4 hungry babies and/or nursing mommas for a week (Lily and Lex')

A pair of chickens (Lily)

Training for an evangelist (Brandon)

5 fruit trees - these will provide food and income from selling both fruit and saplings (Brandon & Jeremiah)

2 shares of a fish pond (Tyler)

Help for children with disabilities (Brandon)

Mosquito nets for a family (Brandon and Lexi)

2 Bibles (Brandon)

A sewing machine (girls and I)

 (before the seamstress takes home her machine, she will receive 6 months of sewing training and Bible teaching :-)

and 

A goat. (Josiah)

Lexi really wanted to give bees, but a beehive was very expensive this year, so we passed on that.

Brandon wondered if there was any way to give safe heat (beyond clothing) because many deaths and injuries are related to unsafe heating practices. I think that is something we'll need to research this year, as that is not something that was in the catalogs we have.

Tyler and Brandon gave money to World Vision's Maximum Impact Fund, so they can use it where its most urgently needed.

I gave money (which will be multiplied 5 times) for emergency food

and we all put money towards emergency clothing.

The money given for that will multiply twelve times :-)

So our combined $90 will buy $1,080 of warm clothes and boots and such to protect people from harsh winter weather.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Happy Birthday, Jesus; we bought these presents

just for You.

oh dear

I'm not making many Christmas gifts this year.

Just a few, actually.

I was right on track with everything,

until I was going over my making schedule in my mind (and you know hard  that poor thing has to work!)

and realized that we'd be gone for the better part of two of the next five days.

uh oh.

On a happier note, a friend who knows me well 

made me the cutest dishtowel.

It says 'I'd sew more quilts if I didn't have to cook!'

Is that perfect or what?!

I love it!!

welcome to another episode of 'she should have been blond'

So.

Lexi was out of pull-ups.

I congratulated myself for remembering to add them to the list.

And then, 

actually remembering to buy them.

After unloading the groceries and goodies from the car,

(and all the other crap, too)

the pull-ups were taken to the girls' bedroom,

and come bedtime, the package ripped open.

They were in bed for about 20 minutes before beginning their parent-torturing ritual of 

fighting, 

getting up to tattle,

getting up to go potty, etc.

On one of her trips in to tattle on Lily for stealing all the covers

(which Lily admittedly did - but only after Lexi had kicked her, and stolen the covers first. 

Note that they each have their own quilt...
*sigh*

also note that Lily would not tell on Lexi even when asked; 

I only found out about Lex's transgressions by asking her what she did to prompt her sister's actions.)

anyways,

I noticed that Lexi's pull-up looked a little snug.

Then a few minutes later, she came in the room again,

complaining that her diaper was bugging her.

And I realized - I hadn't checked the size! 

I just grabbed a package.

'24 count - yeah, that's prob'ly enough,' I thought, then I threw 'em in my cart. 

Enough for what, exactly, I'm not sure....

If anyone needs some size 2/3 pull-ups ~ I can hook you up

on Sunday

happy day!!!

brothers

Jeremiah spent yesterday at Silver Dollar City with his big sis, brother in law, and nephews.

Josiah wasn't overly thrilled to be going to bed by himself,

when bedtime rolled around

and it would still be a few hours 'til his bub got home.

We let him stay up  late and watch us play Rummy.

(Brandon beat the pants off of both Tyler and I. And Tyler wasn't sure he knew how to play. hmph)

(Kids are so much easier to enjoy one on one - or two on two, as the case may be...)

Anyways.

We sent him to bed (for good, this time) after 11,

but he still hadn't gone to sleep when Jeremiah got home a little after midnight,

so 

of course, he got up when he heard Jeremiah come in the door.

(he brought home a little present for me - which is extra special, cuz he is 100% Daddy's boy, and I would have thought if he was bringing something home for just one person - I would not even be near the top of his list. Like his biggest brother, though,
he had no trouble at all letting someone else (Lana) pick out the gift. )

I let them yammer on for a good bit, then sent them both to bed at 12:52.

As usual, they climbed into the same bed (even though they each have a perfectly comfortable twin bed...)

and just continued their conversation.

I finally fell asleep close to 2, to the sound of the two of them, still talking.

Brothers.

:-)

covered in love and prayers

I know she loves Jesus.

I know this,

because I've seen it with my own eyes.

For almost 12 years, our family has served with Connie (and others) in 'apartment ministry'.

And I have watched her love His children.

A few weeks ago, Connie was diagnosed with cancer.

I thought, "I should make her a quilt".

Then I dismissed the thought, because it seemed rather cliche.

Last Thursday,

while the rest of the team was at Timberline Apartments,

Connie got her port.

I thought again, "I should make her a quilt."

Again, I dismissed the notion.

this makes me think of zebra strip gum

A few days later, I just happened to read something that mentioned why people are cold when they undergo chemo.

I started thinking again...

Wednesday afternoon, I did a little research,

trying to determine what size quilt I should make, should I , you know, decide to make one.

And I sat at my computer choking back tears.

I had to get up and do something else, then went back later and researched some more.

My heart just broke for Connie.

I know God has everything in control, and I'm not worried about her,

but I don't want her to have to go through this.

And being that I have this houseful of (germ-y) kids, there isn't a lot I can do for her.

I decided I was definitely making my friend a quilt!

I texted Lynnet and said, now is when one needs a fabric stash...

She sweetly offered to let me have shop her stash. I told her I needed to get the current quilt (!) off the design wall before I could do anything, then I'd see what I might have, so I'd know what I'd still need.

That evening, I messaged a mutual friend to ask when Connie would begin treatment.

I knew I'd want the quilt to have lots of white for Bible verses, 

so I quickly settled on Amanda Jean's zigzag pattern (but made it a bit bigger, and changed up the size of my zags)

I wanted the quilt to be cheery, and you know there is no fabric cheerier to me than California Dreamin',

which, I just happen to have in my meager stash.

I also just happened to have 2 1/2 inch strips of Kona white - already cut.

I pulled out 7 Cali Dreamin fabrics, and grabbed a few more coordinating fabrics

that I 'happened' to order when I found them on clearance when I ordered Matsuri this summer.

I should interject here that the entire time I worked on this quilt, I felt like God was blessing my work,

which confirmed to me that it was right that I should make this quilt.

Wednesday night, after the house was in bed, I cut two 3 1/2 in strips of each print,

and noonish Thursday,

I started sewing.

Oh. I also got a message back from Mary - Connie would begin treatment Tuesday. 

which meant, if I was going to give her the quilt before her first dose of chemo,

I'd need to finish it by Monday afternoon!

Brandon and Tyler were huge helps, fixing meals and doing extra picking up,

so that I could sew.

Tyler asked how long it would take me to hand-quilt the verses.

I looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

I sweetly told him that just wasn't an option.

He said it was too bad. He really liked the pink stitches on Lily's quilt.

So I thought, "Well. Maybe I can do a little hand quilting.... 

I wanted to use a vintage sheet from my collection for the back, but nothing was just right.

(or even close to just right...)

I held a not-at-all-suitable daisy sheet up and asked Tyler what he thought.

He noted that I was asking him for more input than usual.

He suspected maybe it was because I was trying to rush, and maybe even skimp in the rushing.

And that I was only asking because I already knew the answer...

He demanded very lovingly suggested that I should create a back with my 'signature pop'.

 I free motion quilted the verses with the quilt top basted to the batting, but not the back. 

After I added all the colons by hand (french knots) I taped everything to the floor again,

and spray basted the back to the partially quilted front.

Then I used my walking foot and did miles and miles of straight line quilting - in zig zags -

in dark pink, orange, yellow, and pink thread.

I hand-quilted the one row I'd planned to hand quilt,

and liked it so much, I added two more rows of hand-quilting

before adding the binding.

I did finish it on time,

even though sewing the binding on took an inordinately long time.

After finishing, though, I decided not to barge in on her last evening before treatment,

and will get it to her very soon.

I hope that, whether she takes it with her to her treatments or not,

this quilt brings warmth and comfort, 

to both her body and her spirit.

I asked if there were specific things I should be praying,

and the reply was, "Connie asked us to pray for the salvation of her doctors."

Which is perfectly typical Connie.

budding entrepreneur

We have a plethora of cats.

It's the only animal we seem to be able to raise.

But besides eating a few mice now and then, they're useless.

We were discussing listing them on Craigslist (free, of course) when Jeremiah said,

"Tell them that they are house-cats; 

and when the people come to pick up their cat,
we'll hide."

(I couldn't for the life of me figure out where he was going with this)

He continued,

"Then we'll have a cat poop cleaning business."

(the 'we' referred to the children, not all of us)

where it belongs, finally

When I got to the binding, Lily asked me to just sew it all by machine, saying she'd already been waiting so many days for it to be finished.

I tried machine binding.

And after about 6 inches (which included my first corner) I asked if I could please sew it by hand.

She said, "No." 

Said she didn't care if it wasn't perfect, she just was ready for her quilt.

So I re-did those few inches (I'd not caught the binding in 3 spots! in that little bitty span!)

And it looked crappy.

And I still missed a little section of binding, so I told her I was sorry, I just had to do it by hand.

At the rate I was going, I wasn't sure it would be much slower than machine binding anyways...

I told her I'd be finished with the binding by Thursday.

I was finished by Wednesday.

But it took me part of Thursday and all of Friday to knot and bury all those threads.

165 squares, each with a flower free-motion quilted in the center.

One start and one stop on each flower

equals 330 thread that had to be brought to the back, knotted, and buried.

I thought this would be a good idea why??

Fortunately, on about half of the starts/stops 

I was able to just cut the threads, because I has traveled over them sufficiently to lock the stitch.

So I didn't really have to knot and bury 330 threads 

(or 660, since there is a top and bottom thread to each start and stop. if we want to get technical...)

I sent my best sewing girlfriend a text 

and asked her to whop me upside the head if I ever breathe a word of this knotting and burying nonsense again.

Anyways.

It was finally finished (my whining and the quilt) late Friday night,

and I wish you could've seen the look on her face when I asked Lil' to grab the laundry out of the dryer

and she found her quilt instead, all perfectly crinkled and properly fluffed.

Lily wanted to help photograph it, and for one reason or another, it took us another few days for that to happen...

It's already been drug around the house, played on, slept with, and even thrown-up on.

(it's had a really busy week.)

Without further delay,

Lily's quilt. Where it belongs - with her.

Linking up with Elizabeth's with needle and thREAD ~  but I can't manage reading and sewing these days.
Also linking up with my quilting mentor, AmandaJean.

Christmas with the Hodos

I got a text from Eva that said Ben had a little gift for the girls

and he really wanted to give it to them himself,

rather than just passing it along via TKD,

so I changed up my shopping plans, and we went in instead of just dropping the boys off.

Not surprisingly, I stayed and gabbed more than the 10 minutes I had allowed myself.

I gave up the Hobby Lobby stop, but still needed to run to Walmart.

But I didn't have time to run to Walmart and fix dinner by the time the guys got home. 

 I opted for Walmart.

And after the guys got home - we ran back to Walmart again because I am an idiot.

(they had gators ('crocs' to the rest of the world...) for $.50 a pair. I picked up a pair for each girl for next year, but completely forgot

 to look for any for the boys. who wear them even in winter to TKD... Jeremiah wore his last pair plumb out.

You'd think I would have thought to at least get him a pair... but no.    *sigh*)

After Walmart - again - we went to Sonic for half-price burgers. (using for the 4th time, our gift card :-)

I'd snagged a bag of Doritos when we were at Walmart the first time, so people wouldn't think they needed fries.

 (The cheaper of two evils, at least ;-)

I'd had the kids all grab their water bottles, since they charge for water.

(I guess I'm not a total idiot.)

After Sonic, we went to the Hodo's light show and stayed 'til it ended at 10:00.

Not being the weekend, they weren't passing out candy canes, so we didn't have that part of the tradition,

but I did have the thought to boil some water to bring and bought a pkg of hot chocolate mix on the 2nd WM trip.

Not being the weekend, we felt the freedom to stay as long as we liked, so it was worth missing the candy canes, but next year - I'll buy some...

They added an empty tomb and a cross scene, which, along with the addition of Amazing Grace, put a lump in my throat.

Tyler drove us home to a chorus of 'thank-yous'.

And that was a pretty good night.