Christmas 2008

We are grateful for the time of year that directs our thoughts to the Savior and His birth. We hope we can carry the spirit of this season throughout the year.

We had a lovely Christmas in Virginia. It was a full house with four kids and eight adults. Everyone brought gifts with them and it made for a very full living room come Christmas morning. James seemed impressed.

James got to know his cousins this trip. In the beginning he followed them around and tried to grab their hair (or their hands ... or their eyes). After that he spent the majority of the time trying to eat, or at least drool on, all of their markers, princess dolls, or horsies.

Kate wasn't too sure about James, or us, when she met us. She is teething, so one of her favorite sounds is AAaaaaAAAAaaaaaa! We figured that it was in part because of her teeth and in part because of all these weird people (and there persistent hair-grabbing son). By the end of the visit she seemed to have decided that we passed muster though. She let James hold her hand on the way to church and even let Daniel and I hold her.

The girls had fun getting tickled and picked up by Grandpa and their uncles. So did James.

James loved all the attention he got.

We are glad we could spend time with family and we value the joy they bring us. We hope this Christmas season brought you an equal measure of joy and peace.

Have a happy New Year!

P.S. Melissa took some family pictures and some adorable James portraits so stay tuned for those.

Some Projects...

Last Christmas my mama gave me a Bernina. It really has been the gift that keeps on giving. Now that I won't ruin anyone's Christmas surprise, I can share what I've beeing using it for.
This is a quilt I made for Melissa and Jacob. Designed in Illustrator, of course.:)

The quilt below was a baby quilt that spoke to me and said it really wanted to be full-sized. So it grew up into a full-sized quilt for Ben and Josie.

I'm particularly proud of how the piecing on this one went. I took this picture of the back so I could bask in the straightness and flatness of the seams.

You won't see the final border of the quilt because I forgot to take a final picture after binding and quilting. This may be because the border was where the karma ran out. It was less than perfect (not square or as flat as I would have liked).

The next quilt shows that I can learn from my mistakes. I think this is the most technically perfect quilt I've ever made. It was a baby quilt for a friend of mine.

See how square, flat, and unpuckered? What was even better was the heartfelt reaction Meg gave when she got it. I love making and giving to good people.

This is a baby blanket I made for Lisa. I made it big enough that her little boy should be able to enjoy it well into childhood.

I am proud of how I balanced the color in this one. You can't see it very well in these pictures but the fabrics and the layout compement each other.

I also made six aprons for my Budge nieces and nephews for Christmas. Unfortunately, I just realized that I forgot to take any pictures before I mailed them. You'll just have to believe me that they are really cute.

And of course, I have more projects hatching in my brain, in my documents file, and waiting for the right fabrics to be chosen. Speaking of which, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mama for sharing her fabric stash with me. Thank you, Mama!

December-at-a-glance

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas and have neglected our blog. Here are some pictures and random thoughts to fill in the gap.

James is our happy elf. He makes us smile with his antics and his joy. We are looking forward to sharing Christmas with him and spending time with all the Howells in VA.

Daniel has been spoiling me as we await Christmas. In the background of the above picture you can almost see the Christmas chart that we got last year for Christmas (it's on the wall above the piano). Each day I pull a piece of paper from that day on the chart and there on the paper is written something nice that he will do for me. So far I have accumulated back rubs, a clean house, scrubbed toilets, a fancy dinner, and books read to me while I work on things around the house. Thank you, Daniel!

In early December, we had a second Thanksgiving with some friends of ours in New York. They were cooking a turkey and the fixings and invited us over to enjoy it with them. It was a lovely evening with good talk, food, and friends.

I have to blockade the treadmill while I use it because James is fascinated by it. Dan thought it would be fun to see how he would do.... maybe now we have a way to get some of James's energy out.

Not that he needs it much. When he wants to, James can sleep like a rock. Aaaahhhhh...... my heart melts.

We went to the Christmas party for my department at work last week. It was interesting. They had an entertainer singing songs with the kids and telling knock-knock jokes. I learned some really good ones. Just ask me and I'll happily inflict them on you.

James was enthralled by a six-foot plus Frosty. He kept trying to get to him. In this picture, I'm trying to get him to turn around to look at the camera. No such luck, Frosty is just too interesting.

J-walking

James officially walks. They grow up fast... or so everyone keeps telling us. We believe it. His 8 month birthday is tomorrow and his 8th tooth is coming soon. We can't believe it. We are amazed, awed, and, of course, extremely proud.

ABC's

The other day, I was spelling my last name over the phone. Charity and I got to thinking how we might spell our name in a way that would not be helpful at all. Today on the radio, I learned how from this song:




I just hope this doesn't affect James to0 much.... ;)

Elven folk

It must be that season... Just the other day I saw one of Santa's elves snooping around our living room, obviously scouting out where Santa will need to put the presents. I had my camera handy and managed to take a picture of the elf while his back was turned...and before he vanished in a twinkling, with a wiggle of a nose, or whatever they do to teleport. For as much fame as Saint Nick's henchmen seem to command, I thought they would be a little bit taller in person.

High chair

We inherited a high chair from a good friend, but it didn't have a tray attached to it. Over the past few months, we have been trying to find a cheap alternative. Apparently, they don't sell baby tray liners individually at the stores. So we looked at storage box lids, dinner trays, Tupperware accessories, utensil organizers, plastic storage boxes, trashcan lids, paint roller trays, cookie sheets and lunch trays to no avail. Finally, we just bought a board of oak and some edging and I made one myself.

I think it looks nice, even if it is a bit squarish and big. It reminds me of the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. It would have been nice to have a tool shop with a band saw and a mouse sander to make the tray look a little more like the chair. But, alas, that tool shop has to wait for my dream house.

James has taken a liking to it despite its appearances and has ground a lot of his food into the wood as a token of his appreciation. Bon appetite, little buddy!