I was so happy to finally COMPLETE something.  This has been in the works for a while.  I totally go in stints.  I cut, pieced, and did all the sashing.  Then it sat around forever without the border.  By then I had missed the baby shower deadline.  When I finally got to the border, I messed it up and got frustrated.  Imagine!  So I missed the birth/Christmas gift deadline.  Next stop, baby blessing deadline!  I busted out the border, which took a whole 10 minutes.  I’m such a loser for putting it off for so long.  Then I talked my good friend Elizabeth into quilting it for me.  She is uber talented.  She helped me decide on what to do for the back since the lady at the quilt store was nice enough to explain to me that I really didn’t want to buy a whole other length of fabric for just 6 inches, especially if I had scraps.  (I think now I might even like the back more than the front.  It’s so cute.)  I was so so happy with the quilting that Elizabeth did.  I think it worked out so perfectly to go with the fun and whimsy of the quilt.  So after busting out some serious hand stitching, I finished the binding in one day and FINALLY got to pass the quilt off to a much deserving friend and her darling little addition. 

The feeling of a successful completion motivated me to finish another quilt I’ve had sitting around forever.  All I had to do was stitch up 3 more sides of binding.  Ridiculous that it sat around for so long like that.  This one I’m keeping for myself.  I did ALL of it, 100%.  First quilt to ever do the cutting, stitching, quilting, machine and hand binding all by myself.  I’m kind of proud of it.  I’m going to make Erik hang it this weekend.

December 16, 2010

Samuel was so super duper excited about Candy House Day at preschool.  I had kept him at home the Tuesday before it, and he was really nervous he might miss it.  On the Thursday, Sam helped me choose from the baking stash (I’m so lame the we didn’t go buy something special!!) and he brought candy corns left over from Halloween (told you I was lame!) and some chocolate covered marshmallows.  When school was over, Samuel came out carrying his house and charging full sprint towards the car yelling, “Look, Mom, look!!”  I jumped out of the car and screamed “SLOW DOWN!!!”  I could totally see him face planting right into his beautiful candy house on the cement.  Sam insisted on holding it the drive home, and I kept hearing Owen say, “Share!  Treat share!”  Five short minutes later, we were home and the house was definitely lacking in candy.  Samuel was still more than happy and oh so proud to pose for a picture with his candy house creation.

So for Christmas this year, I thought I’d try my hand at that thing called craftiness.  One of the projects I have known for a while I wanted to do was make a superhero cape for Samuel’s best little buddy, Mr. J.  And once I planned that out, I didn’t think it was fair for Miss E, J’s little sis and Owen’s girlfriend, to not have one, too.  A couple years ago I sewed a cape for Samuel.  He plays with it often.  Since then, I’ve worked on a few quilting projects, but no other sewing.  I am by no means even good at this, and there are so so many mistakes.  But I was still pretty pleased with how they turned out.  We finally delivered them today.  And by we, I mean I drove in the car and made Sam walk through the snow storm with strict instructions to tell our friends, “Merry Christmas, and thanks for being such SUPER friends!”   Anyway, this post is mostly for mi Madre so she can see the prodigy I am becoming.

I have a couple more little crafty things I put together this year, but I’ll post those later so as not to spoil any surprises.

I love Samuel’s age right now for his appreciation and understanding of what’s going on.  It’s so fun to make a big deal out of everything now that he’s definitely old enough to “get it.”  Halloween has been a lot of fun with Sam.  We’ve read lots of books, done so many different crafts, and talked about it tons.  One morning I bought spider webs while Samuel was at school.  He could barely wait for Owen’s nap time when I promised we could decorate.  And guess where Sam chose to decorate?  His room!  When Owen woke up, Sam and I were still going strong, now making spiders to add to the webs.  We all had so much fun talking about spooky Halloween things, deciding just where to put each web (I was hesitant to put them over the picture of Jesus, but Sam won), and naming all the fuzzy spiders.  Once our spooky masterpiece was complete, Samuel and I concocted a plan.  Sam called his Daddy, now on his way home from work.  “Dad!!!  You gotta come home quick, Mom is FREAKING OUT!  There are spiders all over my room.  A big mommy spider and lots of baby spiders.  Hurry home!”  He hung up, we high fived, and waited amidst fits of giggles.  Erik walked in the front door, and Sam was still totally playing it up.  Erik called from downstairs, “What do you want me to bring up to get them??”  He came walking up the stairs with a whole roll of paper towels.  Then Sam jumped out and shouted, “Surprise!”  And we all had a pretty good laugh.

Then this week for Family Home Evening, we carved pumpkins.  Once Sam saw what was inside, he had no desire to be involved.  He opted to color his pumpkin and poke holes in it.  But I think when he realized how into it Erik and I were getting, Sam jumped back on board.  He scooped all the gook out, chose and taped his pattern, poked and cut with minimal help, and TA DA!  Samuel’s first jack-o-lantern.

{Sidenote.  Fully aware I use the word “fun” at least 8 times every post.  I could use a thesaurus I guess.}

Samuel’s lines and letters have started turning into pictures with stories.  It’s been really fun watch Sam hone his fine motor skills and create his perfect preschooler works of art.  

This is some sidewalk art from last week.  “Here’s the knight, and this is his sword and his shield.”  (Can you see it?  Sword on the left, then knight’s head and face with two legs no arms, and shield on the right.)

And on Sunday, while trying to keep Sam distracted with something quiet so we could watch conference, I started cutting out pumpkins.  As I cut out different shapes so he could create his own jack-o-lanterns, Sam got to work with his marker on the first pumpkin.  He did this on his own, without any direction.  Including the ”green eyebrowers and scary things on his face.”

We ended up cutting out more Halloween things.  Sam wanted “a Sam and Owen jackolatter for the Mommy and Daddy jackolatter” and a mouth that said “Woooooo” for his ghost.  And then I cut out pieces for a witch and Samuel put it together and decorated it himself.  When we finished, Samuel was happy to hang his creations for display and we were both pretty proud of his work.

The Monkey . . .

And his Uncle . . .

October 27 Are you kidding me?  This wasn’t even a week ago?  Open house for Christian up in SLC.  Yummy food, lots of family, good times.

Oct 29 Take Erik to work.  Rapidly run some errands.  Come home to get dressed and maybe even a bit {fixed up} by which I mean brush my hair, and maybe even throw on some mascara.  Meet Erik at work, get dropped off at MTC, Erik takes Sam home for lunch and nap.  See ya later, Elder Whitby.  It was a super neat experience.  Follow Christian’s blog at http://elderchristianwhitby.blogspot.com/  He was so prepared and more than ready to begin his service.  Gardner Village that evening; I took maybe 3 pictures.  Visit Triana, she’ll tell you more about it!  Except the part where Gavin was a bit miffed Sam wouldn’t share his hot dog.  That I did happen to capture on camera.

Oct 30 Finally finally finally meet these two adorable bundles of baby.  Can I just tell you what a stellar woman and amazing mother my dear friend Julie is?!  I can’t even imagine, but she has survived two months with the cutest little boys you will ever meet.  Again, no pictures.  I am lame.  But I did finally finish these quilts with soooo much help from my talented mother.

Oct 31 Halloween, der.  Sam was so ready to knock on doors and get candy.  Despite all the practice, he definitely did not master “Trick or Treat” but he would say “Knock knock, candy!” at every door.  My friend Lisa and her family go all out for Halloween.  It totally freaked Samuel out and had him whimpering “Go home” the rest of the time.  But when we came home Sam couldn’t stop talking about monsters, kids, candy, pumpkins, knock knock, on and on.  So cute.

Nov 2 Released as 1st counsellor; called, sustained, and set apart as Primary President.  Told you things were only going to get busier!

One more shout out to the amazing muffin I call my husband.  He is my hero.  Thank you Erik, for every single thing you do for me.  Particularly during these past couple crazy weeks.  Love you mucho.

I’m tired.  Now it’s time for a nap.

I have such a kind husband.  These are on their way in the mail right now.  I can’t wait.  Thank you, Erik!