I've been collecting these:



So that I can make another one of these:



I didn't keep a single quilt for myself last year, and I think this one is for me. It will be a long time before we ever light a fire in the fireplace (maybe after the pyros move out?) and so a fire quilt can keep me warm on the couch until them. Not quite as romantic, but hopefully just as cozy.

I plan to use the same pattern for the fire quilt as I did for my brother's water quilt. Don't hold your breath, it will take some time. Maybe by summer?

We don't see too much of this where we live, I think people around here have a little more fashion sense, but this is not an uncommon site.

This one is for all the people in Utah I laughed at while we lived there. Yes, you are not alone in this practice, they do it here too. Here's NW profile #56 Sock and Sandals Guy

I couldn't have pulled these boys away from the window today for anything. And isn't it appropriate that the window treatment I made way back when is a circus big top? Hmmm . . . wonder why a circus theme came to mind. ( =

What could be better than a roofing supply truck coming right up to your window and lifting a pallet of supplies with an actual authentic crane? And then the worker unloading and nailing right outside your window? WOW. They were even nice workers that appreciated their fans with occasional waves.

I just remembered a story I heard about my Aunt Yara. She made her boys (she has 5) clean their rooms before they were allowed to go watch the neighbors house burn down. (Isn't she so smart? Genius!) Dang, wish I would have thought of that today!

I suppose there are part of the country where having a leaky roof isn't that big of a deal, but not in Seattle. Bye-bye tax return.

As I write this post there's a lot of emotions running through me. And if you're a mom (or a parent) you will know what I am talking about as I walk you through this experience and accomplishment.

When Aaron first came to live with us he was 13 months. He wasn't your average 13 month old baby. He had a whole lot of life experiences that most babies do not have, which is part of why he came to live with us. One thing we discovered quickly was his deep fear of water. Tubs, sinks, pools, lakes, every body of water--Aaron really avoided at all costs.

We decided there were 2 options, not bathe him until he forgot about whatever the problem was, healed and trusted us or we had to bathe him everyday until it became routine and normal. Of coarse we went with the latter. At first we fed him ice cream and Oreos in the tub. It distracted him enough that he would stop crying and fighting. Plus it was a happy association. We bought all sorts of tub toys. Bathing was the funnest greatest part of the evening, every night for the past year and a half. We bathed all three boys all together so he wasn't singled out or any different than the other boys. Bath time was just what everyone did, every night. It was loud, wet and wild. Everynight I had to mop the floor afterwards, and often change my clothes.

Last summer we went to the pool and the lake every chance we got. Aaron often declined to get in. Mostly he watched Luke and all the kids having so much fun. Luke went to swim lessons all summer and he got to watch those too. Sometimes he would swim with me, he trusts me the most. He was most comfortable observing 10 - 15 feet from the water's edge. (It was kind of nice not to worry about him jumping in, Owen was determined to jump in and swim--at 12 months he was sure he could do it. It felt like baby suicide. Kind of stressful.)

A few weeks ago, I signed Luke up for swim lessons and they asked if I wanted to put Aaron in the beginner class. I said maybe this summer, but they talked me into it saying we can just give it a try. So half-heartily, I suited him up before lessons. I tried to act like it was all normal, but inside I was really conflicted and anxious about it. What if it was too soon? What if he wasn't ready? Could this make things worse? Or harder on him?

At the start of his lesson I walked him over and introduced him to his teachers. He was acting normal so far, I was relieved. I told them this was his first lesson ever and go easy on him. Then I slowly walked backwards, not to miss a second, back to my seat. I sat in awe and watched as Aaron got in the water--no problem, kicked around the pool with his teacher, jumped in off the side, blew bubbles with his nose and mouth in the water, WENT UNDER WATER, and even did an assisted back float with his ears under water, it was amazing. He even smiled a few times and waved to Luke, Owen and I sitting on the sidelines.

There's a scripture that comes to mind here. " . . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass . . . " It was an inconvenience to have all three boys bathe every night altogether(they did usually need it though), but it was a simple routine. Now Aaron is comfortable with water. Something that was terrible and painful is now all healed. I am so proud of him, so happy he is ok with water now, so grateful to have been there to help him and be apart of this accomplishment for him. This is a YAHOO parenting moment.

Here's some shots from his lesson.

Waiting to get in: Owen has found where I keep my chapstick and is determined to eat it.

Talking to Tanner, one of his teachers who lives around the corner and is just great.


Pushing off from the side, (I'm against goggles at this stage in the game, but he wanted to be like Luke and I wasn't going to tell him no, I was too happy he wanted to get in.)

Looks at that happy face!

Nice job in swim class Aaron!

So the Kix roll all over the table and onto the floor.


But have you ever tried to get oatmeal out of an afro?

I can't say I own one of these, but I can't count the number of times I've driven on a two lane highway and passed some shack-like store/hut selling these. I personally think they are pretty cool. I might consider buying one at some point if I had an approprite place to put it. Maybe for a cabin or a evergreen rainforest themed garden or something. Neither of which I have. But lots of people here do.

This one is for all my Fortuna, California friends who know all about this sort of art. For this week's NW culture spotlight: Roadside Chainsaw Woodcarver

I saw this video on another adoption site. It's such a great adoption story video. Adoption wasn't what I thought it was before I became apart of it. I think this viedo really captures the beauty and love involved in adoption.

So my longest close friend, Jeanette, was due to have her first baby December 30th. I made her a quilt for her wedding in July (7/11) and then I sewed like the wind to finish my brother's wedding quilt for October (10/3). I had always planned to make her a baby quilt for her first baby, so even though I had already just made 2 quilts I hurried to get this one done too.

She didn't find out gender until birth, so I had to go as gender neutral as a mother of 3 boys can go. I worked on it all of November hoping to get it done before the holiday rush. She had a "surprise I'm early" baby December 2nd. Eltaes Rue Delaney was 6 lbs. 5 oz. and healthy in every way. They were taken by total surprise and were not completely prepared. Instead of sewing on the binding for the shower December 6th (which was cancelled) I scrambled together an assortment of newborn baby boy hand me downs and cleaned up our baby car carrier so they could safely take him home from the hospital.

I finally got out to see Jeanette last week. She lives 2 lakes away which may seem far but really it's not, traffic is really the issue. 520 bridge traffic is awful. I finished the binding and was able to give her the quilt along with a few of my baby favorites, finally she received her baby shower gift.


The fabric is Moda, "Recess" by American Jane. I used a charm pack for half the squares and then fussy cut a border print the for the other half. The corners are a border print that went with the center block. It was easy to pick the fabrics since they are all from the same designer and the colors all match perfectly. They also match her nursery, which isn't completely finished as I'm sure you can imagine. ( =

I made it kind of big so it should last him through his preschool years, if he still likes it. I love the various toys and games being played on it. I think he will enjoy the bright colors now and looking at and identifying the toys and activities on it later.

Congratulations Jeanette and Matt!

Mike's family will appreciate this picture. Apparently even Luke holds the phone far from his ear when talking to Grandma Charlene. We love you Charlene! It's always good to hear from you, even if it is loud and clear. ( =

It's true I was a member of the ecology club in high school. I owned and wore an Earth Day t-shirt every Earth Day. We sold them as our club fundraiser. We donated the proceeds to a tree-hugging foundation every year. So yes this video rings a little true for me. I'm not so OCD, but I will say I train my kids on what can and can't be recycled and into which container things go. They also know pizza boxes can go in the yard waste bin for composting. ( =

Here's this week's NW flavor for you--Obsessive Compulsive Recycler.

For my sweetheart I made this:

Thanks Ann Taylor for the cool box! This year Mike and I are giving each other shoes. He needs new running shoes and every Valentine's Day he gives me a gift card to Foot Zone for a free pair of shoes--any pair in the store! (He gets the gift card for being a PT and refering patients there.) I've got a nice Dansko collection going.

Anyway, I couldn't just say, yeah get yourself some shoes. So I made him a candy gram. I started giving him candy grams way back when he was in Portugal on a mission and now it's sort of a tradition. Did you know they make a candy called Twerps?

I host a monthly play group at the church. This month Luke and I made these to share with them:

I've seen them on several blogs the last few weeks. They are waffle pretzels, Kisses or Hugs melted and then a Valentine's M&M on top. Super easy to make and Luke had a great time helping.

For our craft we made these:

Each little participant got to decorate their own paper their own style and then their mommy helped them fold them into boxes, fill them with Hugs and Kisses and tie the bow on them.

It was a lot of fun! Happy Valentine's Day!

This is our dining room before picture. There's nothing really wrong with it. I actually like it a lot. The problem is the table you see here is falling apart--it's being held together with a wire hanger wrapped around the base and bolts. The chairs are super wobbly and about to break. Not to mention we have about grown out of it. We are 5 now and it's a little crowded. I prefer the boys not be able to touch each other while eating.

So I turned to my buddy "Craig" a.k.a. craigslist, and found a great table for $250. It is totally solid. Without the leaf lettes it's 60 inches and with them it extends to 96 inches--perfect for when we have people over. It came with 6 matching chairs. It's a slightly darker stain, which matches my piano. Someone told me once, a room looks more put together if all the woods in the room are the same color. Since we have an open "great room" floor plan for our kitchen, living room and dining room, the piano is not to far from the table. So now all of our flooring, cabinets and trim match and then all our wood furniture matches.

We have a lot of wood, appropriate for living in the forest. Plus I really like wood, it always feels warm and homie.

Anyway, the reason the table and chairs from craislist were so cheap is the surface of the table was badly damaged as you can see here.


It was pretty much like this all over the top of it. Coaster neglect and I'm pretty sure no one ever used a hot pad.

I was not intimidated by this project since Mike and I have refinished our floors in 3 different houses, not to mention I refinished our current table top. I was hoping to lightly sand the top, match the stain and put several coats of polyurethane on it making it little boy friendly. But matching the stain proved to be very difficult as you can see here.

Because of the seal already on it and the age of the table, the stain absorbed differently and despite trying several colors, I couldn't get a decent match.

So I decided to bust out the belt sander.

The challenge with the belt sander is keeping the table smooth and not making divots in it. The belt sander is pretty hard core. I used 60 grit sand paper and in a couple of hours the entire finish was completely off. This broom came in pretty handy. Sixty grit leaves the table pretty rough, so I went over it again with 120 and then 220.

Now the table was ready to stain. But I was pretty dusty. ( =

It's important to do a test spot, let it dry and compare.

It's ok if the table top surface is slightly off, since the light hits it totally different, but you want to get as close as you can.



So after the stain and 5 coats of polyurethane, (I don't mess around, better an extra coat, than not enough.) here's the finished table top ready to be remounted to the base.


So here's the before picture again:


And after:



I think we need to have someone over for dinner Sunday!

Mike and I have lived in 4 states since we were married 12 years ago. The best part of living somewhere new is getting to know the local culture. Every area has it's quirky fun people, lifestyles and past times. There have been some advertisements for Pemco Insurance that so perfectly capture the Pacific Northwest. So for the next few Fridays I am going to post some of my favorite Pemco comercials. I hope that this gives my far away family a fun picture of what living here is all about and for the locals, I think this will make you smile even if you have seen it on TV already.

To kick it off this one is "Blue Tarp Camper" which I dedicate to my fabulous nature loving husband Mike.

In case the embeded thing doesn't work for you, here's the url:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpfcO4Yfw44

As Mike left out the door after family prayer today, Luke yelled to him, "Be good today Dad!" He was smiling and laughing as he said, "Do what your teacher tells you to do! Play nice with your friends!"

Luke has obviously heard these instructions before and he thought it funny to recycle the advice back to it's sender. He has a pretty good sense of humor for a 4 year old. I'm sure he gets it from his dad. Mike was cracking up as he left.

For whatever reason, the dogs are really shedding. Weird because it's the middle of winter. It's too cold for an outdoor bath, so they got to be bathed in style, in my shower!! Good thing I waited to clean my bathroom until after they were done. Tons and tons of dog hair!! Some of your are thinking this is probably crossing a line, but remember we had dogs while we were waiting for children. They were our first babies and receive nearly all the full family member benefits. When we put in our papers to adopt, one of our very good friends wrote in his letter of recommendation, "If they are half as loving to their children as they are to their dogs, they will make great parents." I died after he told me he wrote that! What if they denied us for adoption?! But I guess the social worker thought we were the nurturing responsible types and dog loving wasn't a negative. I'd like to think we love our children more than our dogs--we do, but we do love our dogs. Our boys love them too.

Look at how good Bruce is. I told him to go get in the shower and he did. He's just standing there waiting for his water torture. Even tough labs love swimming, bathing is just not their thing. Maybe it's the soap? Or standing still?

This is just one hair pile I made as I pulled handfuls out of the drain.


As we were bathing Lucy we noticed some sores, one on the top of her head and one under her chin. Later that day we got her into the vet worried they could get infected. Turns out they are called "hot spots" and the vet wasn't sure what might have caused them. Anyway on top of a bath, poor Lucy got shaved and is now on medication and has to have her "hot spots" sprayed 3 times a day. She also got a shot! Poor Lucy Bear. She did loose 3 lbs. since her last appointment. Now I won't feel too bad letting the boys give her extra doggy treats as she recovers.

I hope her hair grows back soon. I know she feels ugly.

Poor Lucy, that just can't feel good!

Mike got a bonus this last week for superior job performance. Only 2 physical therapists got one, and his was for the most. He also passed his test that earned him more letters after his name. He is now a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist on top of the Certified Sports Medicine Specialist title he earned last year. So we got take-out from our favorite local sushi shop. I know not everyone loves sushi, but we do. Then we watched the Express, which is so Mike--an inspirational sports show. It was really good, I would recommend it. Nice work Mike! And I love the excuse for a yummy dinner!


In case you are wondering what this is, its California Roll, Rainbow Roll, Energy Roll, Philly Roll, and Yellow Tail Roll. The Energy Roll is my new favorite, it was our first time trying it. It was better than my old favorite the Rainbow Roll.