Boys Starting School

Brandon and Nathan started school again last week! I have mixed feelings....VERY happy that they are in school now and out of my hair, but then sad that I won't see them as much anymore. Then I feel very guilty for having them gone and being happy they are gone! Going into the second week now, I am feeling better.

This year they are riding the school bus too and from school! I am so excited about this because I don't have to spend 2 hours in the van each day dropping off and picking them up from school now.

 So far they are loving school. Nathan has made some new friends, which I am so proud of him!

 In Math, since Brandon is so far ahead of everyone else, they have him on the computer now doing some harder math. This is great because Brandon would get so bored!

 Even riding the bus, things aren't perfect, Brandon has received 2 citations in the first week! You are only  allowed 4 for the whole school year! Apparently the bus is pretty crowded and Brandon has lost his temper with people. He has major sensory issues and people being too close or too loud drives him nuts!

 Thankfully the school if VERY understanding of Brandon and are actually working with me to help him instead of just getting mad. So we have come up with a few ideas that should help him. Only time will tell.

I can't believe how big my boys are getting! Brandon is now in 3rd grade and Nathan in 2nd! Where has the time gone?

Star Sample Quilt Along 2010

It's done!! Okay so its been done for some time now, a few months...but the important thing is, it's not OFFICIALLY done until I post about it!

 I ended up editing it quite a bit. First because I couldn't go back to the ladies blog and actually finish it,  I had waited too long and then had to pay for it....no thank you.....

 But I also have some left over blocks that I am going to turn into pillow covers!

 But this bad boy is going to go in my living room! It will go very nicely with the quilt that is over the couch right now.

 In February, my sister Catie came up with an awesome design for my living room, because I also have 2 other larger frames I need to put up, but I have forgotten the layout! So I need her to come visit me again to help me out! Or have my awesome cousin, Amy come help me again!

I must say I feel good to be able to put this on my "finished" list now!

Productive Weekend

I have had a very productive weekend! Because of my newly found motivation I was able to whip up a quilt top already. I was then able to short through my scraps!! So after 5 hours, they were all sorted into color and then little projects that I have.

 I did make a quick run to Hancock Fabrics to get some black and orange fabric. I surprisingly didn't have any of those! Scraps yes. but enough to actually do this, no.

 I am thinking of adding another row to the bottom, but I will have to see if I have enough fabric in my scrap bins ( I saw some as I was tossing them in the right color bins, but not sure how many)

There is all of my Halloween i spy squares.

I don't have pictures of my bins yet, mostly because I need to fold and sort all of my other fabrics. But I will post one when I am done with it....

Now with that done, tonight I am going to start Nathan's dinosaur i spy quilt.

 Nathan has been bugging me to do it for awhile now and I think I have enough different variety saved up, well as variety that I can do.

I needed to wait a few more days because since Spoonflower had their free sample day I asked people to get me a sample of any of their dinosaur prints. Not a ton but any extra square I can get, is another square!

Hopefully this quilt top will be done soon, and then I can start my next Moda Bake Shop quilt project. I just finished one and hopefully it will be posted in the middle of next month.

Never fails.....

It never fails to get me motivated.....

Today I was just chilling with Bubble, and relaxing and doing nothing. Now doing nothing is playing computer games and watching movies. I decided to catch up on all of my blogs....and this is no small feat...I mean I have TONS of different blogs that I follow and read to get inspired and whatnot.

Now I did plan today to sew, but just wasn't in the "mood" until I started checking my blogs. Now I am all motivated to start sewing again and then the worse of all....start "new" projects!!

Let me show you what has inspired me today....

From L'Fair Quilts - Go To Quilt
She is always making fun and interesting quilts. She has a more traditional style of quilts....she is also very sweet!

 From Film in the Fridge - This is her Kites in the Clouds quilt
She has a modern style and she is always bursting with cute quilts!

 Then again from Film in the Fridge - Gradual Rainbow Quilt. 
I really like her twist on the rainbow style quilts.

 Then of course at CrazyMomQuilts, she always has something fun she is working on! Here is one that I have been seeing a lot lately everywhere, her 9-patch quilt along quilt....This is on my list for sure!!

 Then CrazyMomQuilts is finishing another quilt along right now, it's a 36 patch quilt. I love the color combos and just how pretty it is!!! I think I can use a LOT of my scraps on this too!

 Then LASTLY from Reil in Canada, The Q and the U she is making a Halloween I spy quilt! Now this is what I am going to start making today!!! I am going to go through all of my i spy squares (and boys is it growing!) and decide on a pattern and start working. This sounds REALLY fun and exciting!

All of these fun ideas, and I am not even half-way through my blog list!! I like to add to my "to-do someday" list and then never do them! LOL But we will see since the kids are in school I am planning on getting a lot of my WIPs done- all in time to add more!!

What do you get?

What do you get when....
1) Your kids have started school
2) Avoiding quilting projects
3) Have a LONG time desire to use scraps
4) Avoiding the house work you need to get done

It started out with a pillow case...then ended up being a good size lap quilt approximately 67"x54"

 

For the back I ended up using ALL of my scraps! Like the fun little design? I ended up only using a small scrap rectangle! 

 

I just added pieces together over and over and over. 

I have everything ready for it, so all I need to do is baste it, quilt it, and then bind it! THEN ALL DONE!

Not So Wordless Wednesday

I can't keep this wordless today....But here are some FABULOUS pictures that my sister took while we were in Colorado!

Zayne:

 

Zoey:

 

Kimball:

What can I say....I am more partial to Kimball! So adorable!

Little Zayne and his Lion

 I have been trying to make my children, nieces and nephews some crochet animals. Trying to cater to their tastes and whatnot. So the first one I made something for was Zayne (no particular reason).

 This cute little lion (with detachable mane) is so adorable and goes with Zayne so well

 He sleeps with it every night...although he doesn't really realize it's there, or maybe he does....it's not really special to him right now, but I bet it will be when he gets older!

Isn't he adorable? He is now 5 months old.

I am making dinosaurs, giraffes, dolls, spongbob and patrick for the kids....all getting whatever they are liking. I find that I am enjoying making these animals rather than making an afghan....maybe because they are smaller and easier to do and faster!! The website that I have used a lot lately is Free Amigurumi Crochet Patterns. Tons of awesome patterns all in one spot, and they are FREE!!

7

Ahh my baby is getting older!! My little Nay Nay is so old now! While we were in Colorado we celebrated his 7th birthday! His request for a cake was a dinosaur.....so after searching the web for some dinosaur cake inspiration, I found this betty crocker dinosaur cake demonstration.

 

By the time we were ready to actually eat the cake, the neck had melted! Mostly just the icing oozed down...so it looked like it had a skin graph! But no worries, it was still delicious! 

 Aunt Jenni with her boys...Zayne and Cade

 Uncle Joe (the one he looks so much like) and his daughter Payten

 The MANY faces of Nathan

 Opening Presents.....Dinosaurs

 Getting ready to blow out candles....he couldn't wait for his cake, and I got his 100% approval!

 Lighting of the cake and making wishes....

 Uncle Chris showing him how to eat his piece.....

 3 generation picture with Grandpa Longan

 Cousins- Dallie and Wyatt waiting for their piece of cake....

 Eating.....(notice Joe's pretty princess plate)

 Mommy finally sitting down and eating her hard work!

What a fun day of food and family! 

Happy Birthday Nathan! I love you!