Baby Quilts!

So two of my favorite peeps are pregnant right now. One of them is my friend, Neeley. Here's what I've been working on for her while I've been watching Ben. She's expecting a baby girl March 12, and I'm planning to send the quilt to her by the end of February. She has no idea!So after I finish Neeley's baby quilt - here's the fabric for the next one. Hmmmm. Wonder who's getting this quilt??

Home Care for Ben

Ben's healed well during the last week. With all the attention and fussing, he's also more spoiled now - and I didn't even think that was possible.

Last night, he was up at 1:00 a.m. - needed a drink. After unsuccessfully trying cheese, crackers and canadian bacon to coax him back into his crate, I finally got him back in bed at 1:30 a.m. with a piece of rotisserie chicken. Up again at 3:30 a.m. - had to poo. (Ben had to poo.) I went straight to rotisserie chicken to get him back into his crate this time - quite pleased with myself because it worked like a freakin' charm - quickly back to bed at 4:00 a.m. UP AGAIN at 5:00 a.m. - I'm thinking is he doing this just to see if he can get me out of bed again? He faked that he needed another drink and ran right to the fridge for his rotisserie chicken treat. Hmmmm, interesting. It appears as though I have done a great job training him to wake up every hour and a half. I'd give myself a treat of rotisserie chicken, but I'll need it tonight.

So of course, he's completely exhausted this morning - all he can do is sleep. What a cute little brat.

Ben's Thoughts for the Day

Here's Ben saying "hellllllloooooo" to someone hiking on the trail behind the house. He's such a crack-up.

Jake's Thought for the Day

Cabin Trip II

Here's Hayden & Jacqi. What an adorable grin - makes me laugh. He had a 'tickle bug' under his arm. The only antedote for tickle bugs is a good tickling."Sara, say cheese!"It's hard to tell - but that's Anja, Natalie and Robin."Sara, say CHEESE!""Darin, you need a helmet."Sara getting ready to go build a snow fort.Mitchie snowboarding courtesy of DK.They don't drink, really. REALLY, they don't drink. And from the shot below, it's probably best they don't. Payton and Shane sharing a sled. Shane looks so much like Mikey.What up Mitchie?Here's Jeff and Anja, with Anja singing in Espanol. Here's Darin giving the snowmobile safety speech to Mitchie and Mattie before the three of them head out. But what I find most interesting about this photo is the car prowling going down on the right. Who's the car prowler, you ask? It's Robin! So BUSTED!

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday Quilt

I really find quilting to be quite relaxing. I just kind of zone out, get in a groove, and cut, sew and iron fabric. One word of caution though - I have found that too much red wine can cause seriously crooked blocks. So, it's best to groove a bit, but not too much.

After the top and borders are finished, and the quilting is done, it's time for the binding. I really don't like binding. Drives me nuts - even more than usual. So - my awesome quilting sister, Nicke, took over to bind my most recent quilt by HAND. She's such a domestic diva. The results are fantastic. She added the thin, red border in the shot below.The quilt is Jacqi's Christmas present from Darin and I (and Ben and Jake, of course). And now, the quilt is also Jacqi's Happy Birthday present from Nicke, Spencer, and Sara. Nicke's shipping it to Jacqi today, so she will have it by her birthday (this Friday). I happen to think it's very cool that the quilt was passed between two sisters, and I think Jacqi will love it. Here's the finished quilt photo complete with Spencer's socks (see bottom of quilt). Now that I have the quilt/sock picture, it's official, the quilt is finished. Thanks, Nicke (and Spence)!

Idaho Cabin Trip

Here's my most favorite sister-in-law, Candy - she was in charge of pulling the kids on sleds. She'll be an RN by the end of the month, so not only could she drive the sled, but she was also prepared to provide medical assistance. :) She had them three sleds deep. They really had a great time and only took timeouts when the old snowmobile needed a break.Here's Mitchie - on his snowboard - being pulled behind a snowmobile by Darin.As it turned out, Robin and Anja were experts at making snow angels. Anja lives in Tennessee, so this was the most snow she'd ever seen. She couldn't get enough.I was playing the Humble Bumble snow monster, and here she is trying to escape. After Anja saw Payton take this spill from the last snow sled, she only wanted to ride on that sled. Candy drove much slower with Anja on the back, so she didn't fall off so dramatically, but I think the suspense was enough for her (and us)!I think it's pretty safe to say that Hayden had a great time in the snow, too. He's already pretty good at making and throwing snowballs. So - even though he's only a little guy - I'll be playing snowball wars with him for only one or two more years. Then the boys can take over. Sara loved eating the snow. She must have eaten a couple snowballs worth.She was pulled on a snow sled by hand, but Spencer did take her on a short ride or two around the meadow.Here's Matt and Robin enjoying the snow. More photos to come.