TGISS

THANK GOODNESS IT STOPPED SNOWING!!

Today, the sun is out and shining bright. The snow is melting. It isn't as cold as it's been. And, it isn't windy or SNOWING! I am happy again now that there is no more darkness and Blizzard-ing.

Just thought I'd share. :-)

Mmmm....Blizzard!

I love Blizzards. The ice cream treat, not the snow storm. Unfortunately, it is way too cold outside to justify purchasing a Blizzard treat. That is why today I didn't get the ice cream treat. That and the fact that I got the real thing. {brrr}

Last night the wind blew and blew and blew. It blew so hard that I thought our roof was going to come flying off! It continued to blow well into the morning. Then it started to BLIZZARD! I of course was driving on the freeway...not a good idea. I was going maybe 35 MPH. This made a lot of people behind me angry, but when you can't see anything in front of you, why go fast??

My husband said that a guy called in to the radio station that he was listening to, and was stuck just past the last Payson exit going NB on I-15, and that he had been there since 11 AM (at this point it was around 2:30 PM). Poor guy! He was stuck in between two semi trucks that were stuck. He wasn't stuck in the snow, but he couldn't go anywhere because the semis were.

This is the snow perma-stuck to my back door windows. My back door opens out onto a covered porch. Just shows you how bad it had to have been snowing to get my windows all covered!

Now, you can't probably tell, but it really is snowing really bad in this picture! This is the view out the dining room window. It was the best shot I could get of how bad it was snowing, and you can't even hardly tell. Just take my word for it.

Mommy's Little Helper

While I was working on my quilting project this afternoon, Marshy decided to be my little helper and unload an entire cupboard of its cans and cookie cutters.

He likes to line everything up and group them together.

He is also very helpful when it comes to putting things back into the cupboard, even though he doesn't put everything away!

Midway through his unloading of the cupboard, he got distracted by Sparky playing with his sister, Fiona, outside on the back porch. He ran up to the door and started hitting it saying "Doggies, doggies!" Well, that's what the words sounded like, at least.

This picture is from yesterday, but he does the same thing everytime he sees something on the porch or in the back yard. So cute!

He loves his little Sparky-dog, but Sparky is a little afraid of him. He runs away, probably because he doesn't want to be man-handled!

Marshy of course usually gives chase, and then Sparky ends up hiding under the couch, or jumps up on Daddy's lap!

Newest Quilt Project

So, I have until March to finish this adorable quilt for my friend. I have been going really slowly on this project, because it is a lot of strip sewing and then cutting, and then sewing and cutting, and more sewing.

These are all of the strips that have to be cut and then pieced together into nine-patch blocks, modified nine-patch blocks, and other blocks.

I've made a little more progress this evening, as half of the pieces are pieced together. Once I finish piecing them, I can sew them into blocks and rows, and finally complete my quilt top. I can't wait to show you the finished project!

Finally Finished!

This weekend I spent a lot of time in front of the TV. Don't worry, I was working on other projects too! In fact, I finally finished my Quiet Book project. And just in time too! It was such a lifesaver today at church! Marshall was totally enthralled by it....for about 10 minutes, which is about how long his attention span lasts during church! Here are some pics of the finished project:

This is the book when it's closed. In order to hide the stitching, I needed to slip-stitch the spine to the cover.

I know there are already pictures of each of the pages, but it was really hard work getting them finished and into the book itself, so I decided to show ya'all how they look!

My husband made fun of this page today at church. It's supposed to have the crinkly-paper inside the wings, and I tried using celophane which in turn ruined my sewing machine's tension for a while.

This is my favorite page. Partly because it was the "easiest" and partly because I loved putting the eyelets in.

Thanks to the Simplicity pattern 3709 for making this project possible! I would never have been able to make a book like this on my own.

Laundry, and more laundry, and even more laundry. Will it ever end?!

At my house, I feel like I never can get caught up with the laundry. You know the feeling? Like no matter what you do or how many loads you get washed, it never ends and there seems to constantly be laundry? And there are only three of us! Granted, most of the laundry belongs to Marshy. I mean, he really does go through a lot of clothes! Today, for example, he woke up soaking wet from a leaky diaper (outfit number 1). We got him cleaned up and dressed (0utfit number 2) and went to work. At about noon, I discovered that he had peed out of his outfit! I had to run home and get another outfit (outfit number 3). After work we came home, ate dinner, took a bath and got in our jammies (outfit number 4). Now, if he doesn't fall asleep on his bottle, or pee out again, we'll end the day with four outfits! It's ridiculous, I know, but I can't make him spend the whole day in wet clothes, can I? NO!

Well, my goal this week has been to do 1 load of laundry a day. Yeah, right! I plan ahead, and make sure that everyone has enough clothes...but then I miscalculate and have to hurry and get clothes in the wash so that there are plenty of socks and underwear for everyone!

Today I ended up doing 2 loads of wash: the whites, and Marshy's clothes. My husband is so picky about how laundry is done. The whites have to be just that: whites. They also need to be washed with bleach (granted, how else am I going to keep my whites white?) Then, there are the colors. Now, growing up, my mom had 3 loads: whites, lights, and darks. When I went to college, there were 2 loads: whites and everything else. Now that I'm married, I have been schooled in the art of laundry. There are many loads: towels, whites, rugs, reds/yellows/oranges, blues/greens/blacks (this is the load I throw my purples into), and the tans/browns. That is 5 loads!! AAHH!! Now you know why I feel like I can never keep up! I get one load of reds done, and by the time I get the rest of the laundry done, it's time to do the reds again. Plus, throw in Marshy's laundry every other day and you can see how easily it piles up.

Honestly, I don't know how people with more kids do it! My hat is off to you Lola! I have no idea how you keep up with all those kids and all that laundry, especially with all those boys! You are my Laundry Idol. :)

From the Cutting Board

I know that I haven't finished my Quiet Book yet, but I am really frustrated with it now and am taking a break. Not from sewing, but from that particular project. I have a friend who is having a baby in March, and I need to get started on her baby quilt. See, that is my thing. When one of my friends or family members has a baby, I make them a quilt.

These are the fabrics that I'm using for the quilt pieces:

These are the fabrics for the larger pieces and binding, and the quilt back.

This is a close-up of the detail on the backing fabric.

So far I have everything cut, laid out on the cutting board, and am working on piecing it all together. Hopefully I can hurry and get it pieced so that I can throw it on the quilt machine and get this baby quilt finished!

Speaking of cutting boards. . . I got a new one the other day! I am so excited. We went to Ikea, and my husband convinced me to buy this beautiful wood butcher's block. I'm going to make a cover for it, so I can use it as a bread board as well as a cutting board. Here is a picture of it. We started the oil treatment last night, so the color of the wood will get deeper as the treatment progresses.