she's here!!

I have all these thoughts swirling in my head,

but no time to properly process,

or compose them here.

Since I am already at risk of being completely disowned by my family,

for failure to post in a timely manner,

I have to get something down 'on paper'.

So here goes.

Hadley's first bath

Our sweet little Hadley was snug as a bug in her mum's tummy

and had no desire to leave

of her own accord,

so Kacy was scheduled to be induced on Dec 9th.

Knowing that labor is reported to 

be more difficult when induced,

Kacy begged very nicely asked me 

to hop on an earlier flight than my Dec 11 ticket called for,

so I could be with her during labor and delivery.

Knowing that babies sometimes surprise their mommas,

I opted to wait until the last possible minute to change my flight,

concerned that I could spend a bunch of money to do so,

but still miss out on the blessed event.

Hadley's first nap with mama

This decision proved

 to
first of all, be unnecessary,

but it also provided me with a sort of false sense of security,

and allowed me to

- up until 11pm Monday night,
when I purchased a ticket for a flight the next morning -

continue to think that I was not leaving town until Friday the 11th,

and therefore still had plenty of time to accomplish all of the many things on my 

-before-I-go-to-California' list,

which led to much scrambling.

Nevertheless,

I made it to California with hours to spare

 before we all (Tony, Kacy, her mom, and me)

arrived at the Naval hospital to begin the induction process.

I say 'begin',

because, bless Kacy,

it was a long 

long

process

which lasted from 7:30 pm Tuesday the 8th

until Hadley (finally) arrived at 4:08 am on Thursday the 10th.

What happened in between those hours

is not my story to tell

(hopefully, Kacy will write that  post... hint hint ;-)

but I will say that Kacy was an absolute trooper

and I was so very proud of both her and Tony!

And I was so honored and grateful to be there

and play a small supporting role

in the story.

I got teary eyed on more than one occasion,

watching the two of them labor together

to bring this precious new person

into the world.

their first moment together, as a family of 3

~

not their first nap together ;-)

I so enjoyed my hours of holding Haldey each day

(and miss her terribly, now that I am back home!)

It was such a treat to be able to snuggle a baby

and not feel

even one time

that I really needed to be doing something else,

and should just.lay.the baby.down.

I was reminded

again and again

over the past few days,

just how much I loved every bit of caring for my babies

(even though every single one of them cried way way way more than Hadley...)

I spent my time in Cali

doing the best I could to love on 

and serve

all 3 of my sweet loves there,

all the while,

missing my entire gang back home.

~ 

Seeing that I left earlier than I'd anticipated leaving,

I never did finish all those things on my 'before I go' list,

and I didn't leave them as prepared

as I would have liked.

Rumor has it

(and evidence - once I got home - supports the rumor)

that Brandon was a total rock star,

holding down the fort here.

I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

(but still felt bad that I didn't leave them in better shape..)

~

My plane got in at 5:40 last night.

Knowing I hadn't had much sleep,

My Love (and the rest of the fam)

met me at the airport with a steaming hot cup of coffee - yum!

then we went straight

to the church

for our 242 group's Christmas party.

It was fun, even though I was completely exhausted.

I do love our people!

~

Oh! 

I almost forgot!

I took the train (a first!) from Oceanside to San Diego,

where I was supposed to find transportation to the airport.

When I got off the train,

I saw a row of buses

but couldn't make sense of the routes;

there was nothing that said 'take this bus to the airport'.

Taking a bus was out.

There were no taxis in sight,

even though there had been the Friday before, 

when Kacy's mom made the same trek,

so

 I set off walking.

I was a bit nervous petrified,

(I am a small town girl from Arkansas, you know...)

I soon came to an intersection 

and across the street, there were a few taxis.

whew!

I waited at the light for the sign that it was okay to cross,

wondering how, exactly, I was supposed to decide which taxi to take...

The sign to cross never appeared, so I moved closer to a lady that was also waiting to cross

(or so I thought)

and asked if she'd pushed the button.

It turns out she hadn't.

She wasn't waiting to cross;

she was waiting for a car to pick her up.

To take her to the airport.

And she invited me to join her!

I can't tell you how relieved I was!

This sweet lady took me under her wing.

She let me ride with her (for free!)

then once we got there,

told me where to go 

(I had checked in electronically - another first for me, 

so I was nervous about doing something wrong)

and also invited me to wait for my flight in the Admiral's Club with her

(a lovely, quiet spot in a sea of noise and rushing that is an international airport)

I had started out the morning

on very little sleep

(we'd stayed up irresponsibly late

 playing cards, 

trying to cram as much 'being together time' in as possible)

and I  was super nervous,

knowing that I had all kinds of little 'firsts'

that were waay out of my comfort zone,

and then

out of nowhere,

this angel lady appeared.

An hour or so later,

with a hug, 

we parted ways at gate 25.

And I wasn't nervous 

anymore.

~

I didn't really have the luxury of easing back into life today,

(Christmas is only 8 days away!)

but I took it anyways.

Life can get back to crazy 

tomorrow.

progress, at a snail's pace

It's quite possibly my frame of mind,

and not actual fact,

but progress has been pitifully slow around these parts.

I finally managed to finish sewing the rows together and trim the OBW quilt

and made and attached the border.

(my first mitered border!)

Prior to attaching the 3" creamsicle border,

I'd also made a 5 inch border using a scalloped fabric from the same Joel Dewberry line,

but when I put it next to the quilt

well,
let's just say
it didn't add anything.

So - I decided the quilt top was finished as is.

A little smaller than I'd have preferred,

but still quite usable at 59 x 73.

I came up with a plan for the back 

that utilized my already-made border,

but I wasn't loving the idea,

so I scrapped it

and put together a backing

that I am much happier with,

with just 3 large pieces of fabric.

Since my cutting mat was still on the table,
I went ahead and cut my binding strips.
And then,
since they were cut,
I went ahead and sewed 'em up.

~

I (finally!) finished my 110 QAYG blocks on Monday.

(which more accurately should be called QAYP - quilt as you piece - blocks)

then finished trimming them yesterday afternoon,

and spent a few hours last night
and another hour this morning
 adding a bit of hand quilting
to every strip 1 7/8" or wider.

I'd say I've got another 4 hours or so of hand quilting to go,
then I'll join the blocks
and it'll be almost finished :-)

hi, kitty kitty

linking up with Lee and the girls

tidbits on a Tuesday

Breaking news!

Brandon just got his ACT scores.

He does not have to take the test again :-)

Sweet relief!

I'm telling you, a huge weight fell off that boy's shoulders.

We are so proud of him

and his diligence!

Now, to jump through all of the application hoops....

~

You may have guessed,

what with the photos of the bulldozer

and my subsequent backyard-o-mud,

that we started

(sorta)

on the house!

Leveling the ground isn't even technically step one,

but after so many years of working toward this,

we're calling it step one

anyways.

~

The kids all passed their TKD testing

this past week.

How crazy is it that they are all high-ranks now??

~

Allison hasn't gotten her package yet.

I'm starting to get worried : /

The new owner of the patchwork mini mini quilt 

hasn't gotten her package yet either.

But that's because I haven't mailed it yet.

Sigh.

~

Grandbaby Hadley will be here in less than a month,

and I 

will be holding her

and breathing in that newborn smell in 30(ish) days!!

~

I'm beginning to feel a little panicky 

about getting everything done

before Christmas 

that I need to get done

before Christmas.

(not to mention all of the college stuff that needs to happen between now and then too.

Applications are due by the the 18th.

How dumb is that?!

You know nobody will be looking at them for almost a month!)

~

On that note, 

I best end this

and get busy!!

what a difference a day makes

patchwork towels

My first completed Christmas gift ~ yay!!

I'd already purchased the towels 

when Amanda Jean posted her tutorial,

and was trying to work out in my mind how, exactly, to attach the patchwork strip.

As it turns out,

because my towels had definitive 'markings' where I placed my patchwork,

I didn't actually use her tute;

I decided to just press and glue baste, then topstitch.

I folded the ends in 1/4 inch, then wrapped them around the edges of the towel,

so there is just the tiniest splash  of color on the backside of the towel.

For extra security,

I ran a line of stitching in the ditch 

down the center of the patchwork strip.

While I am not the biggest fan of small pieces,

I do love using scraps 

because they are fun reminders of the projects they are originally from

(How many projects would you guess are represented in these towels?)

Linking up with Amanda, once again :-)

~

(the answer is 15)

Fifteen projects represented in one towel!

That's a whole lotta love :-)

Girls Easter dresses, circa, 2009!

Gramma's quilt

Lana's quilt 

My California Dreamin' quilt - the first time I used designer fabric

and the only time I used an entire line (and only that line) in a quilt.

Tony and Kacy's quilt ~ gifted as soon as it was finished, and I have no pictures : /

Pink Parade

Poetry in Fabric

Brandon's quilt, Surrounded

Claire's quilt

Any Which Way (which is still not finished...)

zip pouches

Simply Luscious, of course ;-)

my longstanding WIP, stars to hexagons EPP

Covered in Love and Prayers, the quilt for I made for Connie, when she began chemo

and 

Owl always love you, for  Kacy

:-)

cheeseburger soup

Soups are tricky around here.

A fragrant pot of soup 

bubbling on the stove

says 'warmth' 

in more ways than one, in my opinion.

And soups are generally simple meals to make.

(And clean up)

But when you have 7 eaters in a family,

and the entire meal is in one bowl,

and you want to please all of those tongues and tummies,

well,

it gets a bit tricky.

I saw a cheeseburger soup recently on pinterest,

reminiscent of the cheddar chowder we used to make.

Why it was called cheddar chowder

when it used velveeta,

is beyond me...

Anyways,

I thought, 'hey. I bet everyone would like a cheeseburger soup.'

So 

last night, 

I set out to make some.

After a few bites,

Tyler asked if I knew what I did,

so I could recreate it,

and Brandon asked if I was going to put it on the blog.

Then Lily - who as a rule - is not a big fan of soup,

assured me that even though she didn't quite empty her bowl,

she really liked it.

I guess we have a winner on our hands :-)

Normally, 

I cook my ground beef in the same pot I'm cooking the soup/chili/spaghetti sauce in.

Saves on washing.

This doesn't surprise you, does it?!

Last night, though,

because I was sewing, and really should have started dinner a little sooner,

I sped up the process by using a separate frying pan.

(I washed it immediately after adding the meat to the pot, so it wasn't too painful)

While my meat was browning (about 2 lbs)

(seasoned like we always season it - with our all purpose season all)

I threw 2 small peeled potatoes,

3 peeled carrots,

and a pound of radishes in the food processor 

and chopped them up.

Then added them to a pot 

in which I'd dropped 1/2 stick of butter

(I am not sure why I didn't use a whole??)

Because it didn't fit in the food processor with the other veggies,

I chopped an onion by hand

then added it to the pot, too.

I am a speedy onion chopper, so it's okay.

When the veggies were about half done cooking,

I added about a quart of chicken broth.

The meat was pretty well browned at this point, so I added it too

(and quickly washed the pan)

I sprinkled in some more season all

and some extra black pepper 

and garlic and onion powders, for good measure.

I brought that to a boil, then let it simmer for probably 15-20 minutes,

then I reduced the heat and added

2 c of milk, 

to which I'd added about a tsp of glucomannan 

and a few TBS beef gelatin as thickeners - and shook well.
(I shook the milk and thickeners. Not the soup. That would have been messy!)

Then I added about a cup of heavy cream.

While it bubbled gently,

I added about a cup each of the following 3 cheeses, grated:

monterey jack

sharp cheddar

colby/jack

I left it to simmer for another half hour or so 

'til the rest of the kids got home from TKD

then we ate it.

Some enjoyed it as is,

and some of us added chopped green onions,

bacon bits, jalapenos, and/or siracha sauce.

But the good news is - everyone enjoyed it.

Which is a huge win

in my book :-)

~

To make this more THM friendly, you could replace the milk with almond milk.

When I've got fresh raw milk in my fridge,

I'm not about to do that!

2 c of milk, divided among 10-12 servings,

doesn't really end up being that many carbs anyways.

And of course, you would omit the potatoes.

I add them 

because

when you live in a large family,

you make compromises.

That's one of mine.

Again, though, 2 small potatoes, divided so many ways? 

Eh.

That's fewer than 5 carbs...

(so really - even with the milk and potatoes ~ it's still perfectly on plan!)

~

You could also make this with ground venison.

Which is what I did

(but nobody knew it, until just now :-)

(I wasn't trying to trick people, 

so much as I was trying to give the deer meat a fair chance...)

So. I guess we like deer venison.

Yay!!

tricks and treating

Way back when we all lived in Fayetteville

(early 90s)

we would spend Halloween together.

(Which really doesn't mean all that much, 

seeing as we spent a pretty good chunk of all of our time

together.)

They moved to Rogers.

Then we moved to the Fort.

But we'd still get together most years for Halloween fun.

Then they moved to Texas, and it put the kibosh on Halloween festivities.

Then they moved to Maryland,

and that put the kibosh on pretty much 

all

festivities.

(although we did go up for the Fourth of July once)

Now they are back in Texas,

and somehow,

4 1/2 hours away doesn't seem all that far,

so we went to Scott and Jackie's

for our first Halloween together in a really long time.

The menfolk had a blast planning pranks

(I loved peeking out the window and seeing them all smiling and laughing as they got things set up)

and the kids had loads of fun dressing up

and trick -or- treating

(this was the first time for the 4 youngest!)

Brandon was in both the menfolk category,

and the kid group.

That makes me happy!

(The ridiculous amount of candy

 I am allowing the children to consume,

however,

does not...)

At one point, there was a 100% chance of rain predicted for Saturday,

but we were very grateful that it held off.

Even more, 

we are so grateful for friends

who,

except for the tiny little matter of blood,

are

family.