Merry Christmas!

We have had a wonderfully blessed Christmas here with days full of fun! Friday evening was spent at my in-laws, with 3 of Ben's 4 siblings and their spouses. We had garbage plates for dinner (Thanks Andrew!) and just hung around. Christmas Eve morning we spent at my parents and visited with my brother Aaron and his girlfriend, Christina. Christmas Eve was back to my in-laws with the WHOLE family there - I think there were 15 of us there. Lots of presents were opened, and lots of laughs shared. Usually we go to Christmas Eve service, and then head back over there until bedtime, but this year we decided to just take the kids home and keep a regular routine and regular bedtimes. I am SOOOO glad we did! It was the most relaxing Christmas I can remember in a long time.

Ben and I got everything "set" for Christmas morning, and then relaxed and watched a movie while we did the finishing touches. Christmas morning was relaxing and low key. The children were patient and thankful, and I couldn't have asked for it to be any better.

Church was lovely as usual, and we even got a family picture snapped quickly before we went home. Thanks Lindsy!

We had lunch at my parents, and my brother Phil got in from Brooklyn shortly after we arrived. Then a quick trip back to my in-laws to see Ben's Aunt Suzy and a game or two. Then back to my parents for dinner and our family gift exchange. Phew!

This morning we headed back to my parents for a delicious breakfast and a chance to say goodbye to my brother and his sweet girlfriend. Then back home and a RELAXING quiet day in our PJ's. I love, love, love this time of year. Ben and I got a few things moved into the garage, but not much since there still aren't any doors on it! Hoping for a productive rest of the week.

Hope your Christmas has been wonderful too!

Professional pride.

Mini-rant. I promise. It'll be mini.

My job is a gift. I know that God allows me to be in this position, that He chose the best place for me to be, that He surrounds me with special people (Phyllis!) who help me be the best I can be, and that there is a reason (which I have seen clearly!) for it.

I love my job. LOVE my job. Would it be for everyone? Well, of course not! But it's totally for me. It saddens me when others don't feel the same way, not only because it must be miserable for them, but because their misery rubs off on those around them.

And for a small dose of THANKFULNESS, I am also so so so so thankful that I work specifically where I do. As a special education teacher I am particulary blessed to have my Superintendent, High School Principal AND Elementary Principal each be a former special education teacher. Such wonderful perspective and advice available from so many places. Serious blessing. Plus I'm just a short walk away from Quinn at any moment, in a building of people who know and care about him. Maybe I sound like a sap today, but as I was walking down to get Q for his dentist appointment I couldn't stop thinking about what a special gift it is to work where I do and with such amazing people.

Okay, rant over.

Puppy love

The next to last of Clementine's puppies went off to her new home today. She was definitely the pup that looked and acted the most like her mama, and I was a little sorry to see her go. A little. Leanie (my fab MIL) had two other pups that were ready to meet their new owners, so we made a day of it. After meeting all three buyers, we spent the rest of the day doing some light Christmas shopping and chatting. It was such a lovely day.
I have quite a few of my "12 days of Christmas" presents out of the way for the boys, a couple more stocking stuffers, something I know my husband will love, and some little girl stuff for my niece. And because the Halloween costumes were 90% off, it seemed wrong to not buy the adorable Snow White costume that would fit a 6 month old baby next Halloween...
Not that I know if I'll need a Snow White costume next Halloween, but for $3, I'm prepared just in case.

Giveaway!!!! Holy smokes!

Looking for the most amazing Christmas present ever?!?!?!

Well head on over to No Big Dill and check out her review of the new HP TouchSmart 320 Computer. I follow Katy's blog obsessively regularly and am so excited that she and her many little ones got to use this bad boy and show us all how awesome it is.

And yeah, I'm really hoping we win!

The best of intentions...

When I purchased these fabrics this Spring and decided what I was going to do with them, I fully planned to give this quilt as a gift. I used 5 fabrics that I bought to coordinate, and another three that I had leftover from other projects and I LOVE how it turned out.

As a side note, I fell off the chair, onto the table, and nearly flipped the table while I was taking this picture. Apparently my center of balance is more "off" than I'd realized. Oops!

Okay, back to the quilt.

So I want to be a generous soul. I really do. And I know this quilt would be appreciated. But...

I. Just. Love. It.

Sooooo much.

The mere possibility that this little life growing inside me MIGHT be a girl is causing me to hoard this quilt like fabric is suddenly going to be rationed and I won't be able to get any. It's silly. I know. But maybe someday I'll have a beautiful photo of a sweet little girl of my own on it. Maybe.

Of course, I should probably get started on something for a sweet baby boy. Just in case.

Tutorial used for this quilt: http://aquiltisnice.blogspot.com/2008/09/zig-zag-quilt-kit-tutorial.html

Kennedy's quilt

Ben's cousin had a baby (over a year ago... shhhh) and I FINALLY got around to finishing her quilt. I used this tutorial at Moda Bake Shop.
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/07/his-hers-personalized-baby-quilts.html

I hope she likes it!

Baby girls...

I love babies. I find myself stealing borrowing any new baby I can get my hands on. My newest darling niece (well, I only have two!) was born yesterday morning at 1:25 am. Lavera Marie. And she joins her 15 month old sister Venora Grace. Of course I had to buy pink. Pink w/ brown polka dots. Soft, fuzzy, ruffly pink. Oh how I love ruffly butts.
And yet, I adore my boys. Their meaty hands, their rough and tumble ways, and the way the just love their mom like no other. I'm sure it's the same with girls. And really, I'm hoping I get a little pink of my own. But another boy sure would be a blessing too.
It's a good thing God knows just who is supposed to end up in our family. ♥

Quality time with my love.

Most of the time I think about "quality time", it's with my little love bugs. But how will I teach my little boys to grow into strong men capable of being wonderful husbands if I don't show them how their dad does it?! In honor of my birthday tomorrow, Benjamin and I took off for the day and went shopping. Over an hour drive there, which means lots of time to talk about ourselves, our family, our plans and dreams. It's just soooo important. And I love that he's willing to give me the time I need to be with him.

We had a delicious lunch at Outback, followed by yumminess at Coldstone. And lots of shopping. Yay! Plus it was super fun to buy baby girl clothes. No, they're not for me. We are NOT peekers. Unless I somehow become a totally different person, I think we'll continue our tradition of letting the baby show us who he or she is. But since my newest niece is due any day now, I had to pick up some goodies for her new arrival. Can't wait to meet her!

One-third of the way there?

I find it amusing how comfortable I am assuming that my baby will come on time. On time I said, AT 40 weeks. Just like Quinn (alright, 40 weeks, 1 day) and just like Nolan (such a prompt little peanut). But I know my timing is not necessarily the baby's timing, or for that matter, God's. I am thankful for an uneventful 1st trimester, and even more thankful for this new beginning of the 2nd phase. It's my fave.

I feel my own physical progress, and our home is coming along nicely too. The garage foundation was completed last week, and weather permitting we'll have WALLS by the end of this week. I can see the end in sight and it will be amazing to park INSIDE this winter... I hope!

We had our morning adventures at Kent Farms - my favorite pumpkin finding location. Mostly the boys just want to ride the indoor vehicles on the indoor track, play in the feed corn sandbox, and walk through the "spooky" tunnel of carved pumpkins. I mostly like to sit and chat, with a delicious donut and some delightful company. Both my parents, and my SIL Ashly came, along with "Baby Nor" and we took lots of lovely pictures to commemorate this stage of live. Ashly is due in one week with her baby #2, and with our family expanding as well I'm really trying to appreciate the now.

Off to celebrate my OWN birth with the 'rents, my brother & GG, the in-laws & darling Eden, and my sweet little men. It should be fantastic. Pepper steak. Yep. My favorite in the WHOLE WORLD. Thanks Daddy! He always makes it, just for me.

A case of the crazies.

Friday morning my sweet and darling children awoke as usual... and promptly turned into crazy people. What I'm beginning to realize is that I might have been a bit of a crazy person myself. I need my sleep. Lots of it. Always. And so do my boys. I've been having a great deal of trouble sleeping lately. And while my midwife is wise, and tells me it's my body telling me I'm hungry and should go get a snack, night after night I continue to lay there thinking I'm going to fall back to sleep ANY MINUTE. Yeah, that's not working so well for me.
Tonight I WILL eat something before bed. Something substantial. And delicious. I really hope it helps.

In other news, we've heard a wonderful, precious sound. The heartbeat of our newest family member. I'm just so curious to know who he or she will be. When I speak of baby, it always comes out "she", but when I see a picture in my mind, it's a bouncing baby boy. The gift of a wonderful surprise will be ours, whether boy or girl. And I can hardly wait.

The latest...

Wow! I have been terrible about keeping this blog updated!

A blessed woman, that's what I am. Baby #3 is coming in April. I feel excited. There's relief in knowing that we were able to get pregnant again so easily. There is curiosity, wondering if this little life will be a he or a she. I also wonder if we'll do this again. Will we decide that three is enough? Or will I feel the need to do this again? I guess only time will tell.

I'm less nauseous than I was with Nolan, but I'm more tired than I remember being with either of my first two pregnancies. Between weeks 6-8 I was so tired I ended up napping hours every day. And for anyone that knows me, you know I do not nap!

My stomach is already growing, and I've already had to break out the maternity clothes. I know that's happening faster than in the past, but I'm guessing it's just because everything is already stretched out from going through this twice before. It did, however, make it impossible to keep the news secret.

10 weeks down, 30 weeks to go until we meet this new life that God has created. I can hardly wait.

Stick-to-it-ive-ness?

I wish, I wish, I wish I could stick to this blog and write regularly. I disappoint myself a little, but I guess I'd rather be living life and spending time with the boys this summer so I'll chalk it up to busy-ness.

We have had QUITE the ant problem this summer. I *think* we finally have it under control, fingers crossed, and I'm glad we've been nudged to deal with the 80 year old windows we've been ignoring. I need to get someone scheduled to come in measure those windows and help me decide what to put there instead. Right now they're big, huge, old windows with leaded glass (that I LOVE), but they SUCK heat and really need to be replaced.

We're also working on a plan to officially go ahead with the garage plan. Tear down, and rebuild. Not cheap, but necessary. I will be SOOOOOO happy when it's complete.

Alright, not a very exciting post, but it is what it is. :)

May: Day 4

I feel like there's a baby explosion going on! We have tons of friends having babies right now, and quite a few of them are boys. I'm just getting started on my projects, but got one adorable onesie ready for a special baby boy who was born recently.

Isn't it cute?!?! He's going to look like such a little man!

May: Day 3

Isn't Ben's mustache shirt hysterical?!?! It seemed like if each of the little boys had their own that Daddy out to have his own too. I'm totally loving it and hope he'll be willing to actually wear it.

I bought a two pack of t-shirts before Christmas and never got around to giving them to the hubs or making them into anything. Finally got around to using one of them. I'm thinking I have a plan for the gray partner to this one, but you'll have to wait and see!

May: Day 2

Project #2: Let's see if I can keep this up!

I'm in the mood for mustaches. Seriously. I bought this t-shirt a few years ago and was just waiting for the right inspiration. My dearest cousin Lydia suggested that my mustache projects were perhaps in honor of my dad, or "Pa" to my boys. I think she may be right!

I used a different strip of the previously mentioned striped polo shirt (again, you'll hear more about that later) to freehand a big, fat mustache and I just love it. Q asked to wear his mustache shirt to church on Sunday. Hmmm.

Happy Birthday to my little man!

Two years ago today my darling little Nolan came into our family. I can't imagine our lives without him. He is the friendliest, most joyful little boy who loves his mama fiercely, adores his Pa, thinks his brother "Chi" is the coolest, wants to be just like Daddy, and will chose "Nonnie's house" over any other destination. I adore him and I can't wait to see the person he becomes.

I love you, Nolan. ♥ Thanks for letting me be your mom.

May makeovers!

So we'll see if I can really keep up with this, but I'd love to be able to post one of my recent or current re-fashions every day this month. We'll see!

Tomorrow is Boo Boo's birthday. Last year I made the boys matching birthday shirts with a big # to show how old they would be. I didn't feel like doing the same thing so I searched around to find something I liked. I found this striped t-shirt this afternoon at Walmart for $3. I'd rather spend less, but Q said he really liked the blue stripes. Sold!

I didn't have a lot of chocolate brown to use so I cut up a striped polo I've been using for some other projects (more about that later...) and used three strips to get enough brown. I had an old t-shirt that Ben's wonderful Aunt gave me that I wore out! But I was able to use the sleeves to make the pink base. A little more of the brown for the accents and voila!!! Here's my baby's big boy birthday shirt!

And a close-up of my cupcake mustache man. I'm really loving the mustache. For real.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!

Today I am so thankful for a Savior who triumphed over the grave!

We had a wonderful day as family.

The boys got up and hunted for their Easter baskets.

We went to church as a family.

We continued our family Easter tradition with our 9th annual trip to the Chinese Buffet for lunch.

And then back home for a lovely afternoon, just us.

How cute are they?!?!?! I love them so much!

I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow! What a wonderful three day weekend!

BUSYYYYYY week.

What a week! Callie's puppies were born last Thursday. Of course she had to deliver all of them in the middle of the night AND I had to go to work the next day. Ugh. But the pups are gorgeous - 2 solid black little girls (both already reserved!) and a solid gold little boy. Everyone seems to be doing well.
I started a quilt on Saturday. I finished the front last night, and finished the back earlier this evening. It's the first thing that I've made that's really just for me! I can't wait until it's done.
I've got Quinn's Valentine's Day shirt done, but not Nolan's. And although their Valentine's are started, they're not done.
AND both kids are sick. Oh joy.
BUT the weekend is coming and I'm going to try to get everything ready for V-day on Monday.
And quilt pictures to come soon.

St. Pat's, oh wait, it's still February!

Last night's project was shirts for the boys. I bought these t-shirts last year for $1 each when I bought their birthday shirts. I've just been hanging on to them, waiting to figure out something to do with them. I was sorting my fabric scrap pile and found this delightful green batik fabric left over from Ben's bath towel project last year. It's PERFECT for shamrocks!
I used the printable shamrock template I found on familyfun.com. It had 2 shamrocks in 2 different sizes on the same page. Just right!
So now the boys have *adorable* shirts to wear for St. Patrick's Day. Now if only I had something ready for them to wear for Valentine's Day! Maybe I'll figure something out this weekend. :)

Sorry for the blurriness! Q's is on the left & Boo-Boo's is on the right.

Pretty pinwheels!

Although I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, I have 6 large pinwheel blocks ready to sew together. They are so fun! My mama took my quilt top in to Material Rewards today to be machine quilted too - I can't wait to see it with the daisy pattern complete.

Quinn and I have spent the past few evenings putting together his "All About Me" poster for school. It is almost entirely pink. Oh how I love that he still sees things just for their beauty and is not yet aware that pink isn't "cool" for boys, or whatever other nonsense he might be "taught" by his friends. He also wants us to by a pink sectional for the living room. Ummm, no. We're not getting a pink couch. I guess the boy can dream.

Simplify!

So the book that I ordered last week was by the amazing Camille Roskelley and today I discovered that she's doing a giveaway!
Check out her blog and look at pictures from her beautiful book!

Simplify!

It's fabulous!

New project!

The trip to the fabric store was a HUGE success. Nonny came away with 10 beautiful coordinating fabrics to make a super neato strippy quilt. I can't wait to see how it goes together.

I ended up with enough fat quarters to get started on "The Friendship Bag" from Rachel at p.s. i quilt. I think it's going to be my next project for "Pay-It-Forward 2011".Click on the link to see it. Isn't it cute?!?!

I also got a whole scrappy bag of 3" strips of the Moda Verna fabrics and I'm going to make a lap quilt (for who? not sure yet!!) when the back and binding fabric I ordered online comes in. It's going to be a little bright and busy, but I think it'll look amazing when it's done.

Tomorrow we're on nursery duty at church and then I MUST grocery shop. My family is going to starve. Seriously. If all else fails, we always have goldfish crackers!

Super daddy!

For a "school night", I went to bed fairly late and was awakened at 1am by a whining 4 year old.
"Stop crying and come in here!", I yelled down the hall to the bathroom where the sound was coming from.
As Q entered our room I asked, "What's the prob, Bob?"
He replied, "I have to throw up!"
"Go, go, go!", I yelled.

Oh boy, I am NOT super mom. My sweet boy got it out of his system (or so I thought) and I tucked him in, and went back to bed.

Ummm, yeah. Not so much. Super daddy says he was up with the sweet boy 4 more times AND he stayed home with the cherubs today so I could go to work. I think I'll keep him. Well, all of them really.

I'm getting super-antsy to start a new project. A real project. Not a scarf, or a pillow, but a quilt or a wall-hanging or something fantastical. Nonny and I are taking off during naptime tomorrow for The Village Sampler in Big Flats. I am waaaaayyyyyyy excited (can you tell?)!!! And I need to start uploading pics on the new laptop so I can start posting them on here. Yep, very excited. Oh boy.

Sicko!

Poor BooBoo has been having a terrible weekend! Friday night he was making these horrid breathing noises (hee haw, hee haw) and by Saturday morning he had a lovely cough to go with it. I called my mama (nurse extraordinaire) and asked her to listen to him. "CALL THE DOCTOR", she said. So I did.

Croup. Poor kiddo. We've had a weekend of steroids, and Benjamin took Monday and Tuesday off from work. So tomorrow is back to the grind, and hopefully little Boo makes it through.

As I type I can hear him coughing through the wall between our bedrooms. Ugh.

Nonny (my amazing mama) and I have a weekend date to the fabric store in Big Flats (can't seem to remember the name). I'll be searching for the right combination of Fandango amazingness, and Nonny found something fabulous she wants to use to make a new quilt for her living room.

Sqqquuuueeeeeeee!!!! I love fabric shopping!

Fabric obsessed... not even kidding.

I have pretty much piddled away this entire evening looking at amazing fabrics! I've mentally planned out a wall hanging for the living room, a quilted throw for the sofa, and about nine other projects. Wowza.

The Moda Fandango line by Kate Spain is AMAZING and I want to use it to make the Love Emblem pattern by Anna Maria Horner. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. It would look amazing on the blank wall in the living room that just stares at me every time I sit on the couch. That space is begging to be covered in beautiful fabrics stitched together by ME!

Must. Buy. Fabric. Now.

Or go to sleep and buy fabric tomorrow. Pretty sure that would work too.

Pay-It-Forward 2011

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I'm a facebook addict (admitting is the first step, right?) and last night I had 2 dear ones post that they were going to "pay it forward". The deal was that you would make something handmade for 5 people, but they in turn had to find their own 5 peeps to make something for.
I'm pretty excited to figure out what I'm going to make, but mostly it's making me want to go fabric shopping. And... I'm easily distracted so I'm just now realizing that I've spent about an hour on the Anna Maria Horner website drooling over her gorgeous works of art. I want to buy everything she's ever designed, and I'm pretty sure that's not going to fit into the budget. Oh well.

Guess I'd better get cracking. I know EXACTLY what I'm making for Betsy so I think she'll be first. Yay!

Back to reality (AKA THE CHILDREN ARE CUCKOO!!!)

Apparently yesterday was just a fluke. The children got up on time, they were delightful while we got ready in the morning, and bedtime was smooth sailing.

Today... not so much. Everyone was up by 6:30am (okay, fine, no big deal), breakfast went great and we were all out the door on time. After school? Ummm, mayhem.

Whining. Crying. Misery. (The misery part was mostly me.)

Soooo, it's early bedtime. Lights out and everyone is fast asleep. Hopefully tomorrow is a new day. A much perkier, happier, smilier day. PLEASE!!!

And there's still a lot I need to learn about this whole blogging business. Thankful for friends who are willing to help a girl out. :)

Boys, boys, boys...

So the men in my life are all sitting at the kitchen table practicing their maniacal laughs. It's hysterical. BooBoo's might be the best of all, and really, how awesome is it that my one year old has an evil laugh?! He rocks.

So BooBoo's "rubby", AKA pacifier is his constant companion and he needed some new clips. My mama gave me the most awesome red snaps to use. She said she's pretty sure they're nearly as old as I am, but they worked great. I'm excited for him to wake up tomorrow and check out his new "rubby".

BooBoo's new rubby clip! I'm loving the red snap soooo much!

A New Year...

How can it already be 2011? We rang in the New Year at G & L's wedding. Benjamin was the best man, and wow, he was amazing. How do you give a best man speech for the brother who has been your best friend and confidant throughout your entire life?

Apparently, with humor. I know my hubby is funny, I live with him. I smile, laugh, and roll my eyes at him on a daily basis. But man, he could do stand up for a living. One of the wedding guests said she was pretty sure he'd gotten his father's goofiness and his mother's amazing ability to write. While I'd never thought of it that way, it's a decent description.
So congrats to G & L, and congrats to my Bean for his touching, humorous, and meaningful best man speech.

For me, it's back to the grind tomorrow. After 11 days off, it's back to work tomorrow and back to "school" for the kiddoes. Q's been put to bed in his PJ's and BooBoo's probably taking his breakfast with him in the morning. Eek. We'll see how it goes.

Hopping along,
Bunny