Bein' Silly

Had to do some shopping at Costco and Target. Stopped for lunch at Steak and Shake. Told the kids they had to pose for silly pictures in order to get milkshakes.

A surprisingly good time was had by all. No major meltdowns.

50 States Quilt

Many, many, many years ago, my mom bought this counted cross stitch set from Mary Maxim. Each state had a square to cross stitch with their flag, flower, bird, etc. My mom worked off and on for years on it.

Once she finally finished it, she packed it away until she had the space and time to turn it into a quilt. Unfortunately, she passed away before that could happen. When we were cleaning out her house my older brother almost threw the tote holding these squares away. It just happened to topple over, these 50 squares spilling out. I took them in the hope that, one day, I would be able to afford to have them made into a quilt.

My mother-in-law is incredibly talented in quilt making. I am crazy jealous of her skill. I left the squares and small amount of fabric with her. I hoped that if she ever had the time, and inclination, she'd put it together. Of course, Mary Maxim directions are sometimes a bit...incomplete. I didn't worry about the squares. I knew that even if she didn't work on them that they'd still be safe in her hands.

Then last September, she surprised me with this giant, completed quilt. It is huge! She worked so hard on this, using those incomplete directions, and turned it into something fantastic. The quilt is so big that she could not get it to work with her machine. She had to take it in to a quilt shop (and paid for it!) and have it professionally quilted on a big machine.

On the back, she added a red square that gives some info about the quilt. It has my mom's name as having made the squares, my mil's name as having put it all together, and the quilt shop name.

I was blown away by the amount of time and skill that she put into this quilt. I wish I could display it for the public to see. It is a beautiful feat made by multiple talented women and deserves a ton of recognition. It makes my heart happy to look at it.

What? No!

So...I'm guessing that brand new dog bed didn't meet with your approval?

Injuries...Why must you visit here?

Injuries. Boys jumping on beds. Heads hitting sharp corners. Trips to emergency rooms. Concussions.

Massive bruise and black eye just in time for picture day at school.

Yes. This will be a school picture that will have one heck of a story.

Tonsils are not our friends.

 In July of last year, Henry's dentist said his tonsils had gotten so enlarged that they were impeding his airway when he laid back. One doctor's visit and a referral later, this kid was scheduled for surgery to have those stinkers removed.

He was very nervous about the surgery, so I knit him a Get-Better-Soon Monster. I gave it to him the day of his surgery to cuddle during pre-op. Surgery went well. He had an amazing team that went out of their way to work for him. Turned out to be a really great experience.

Uh Oh!

Oops! The power company was cutting down a tree next to my kitchen window. Can you guess what came through my window?!

Thankfully, they paid for the window pane to be replaced.

Artful Poses: Dog Style

Captain and LuLu like to sleep with their heads on stuffed animals. Silly dogs.

2017

It's so hard to get all three of them to look at the camera at the same time. This one was taken around Easter. Mean mom (aka, me!) made them wear the vests she knitted them. MuHahahahahaha!