No wonder my head spins...

...when it is this time of the year.  Love it, but can't wait for the lazy days of summer.

Eureka!

I have found the cutest little '49er ever!  It is my baby girl, Cristina.  She is not so much of a baby girl anymore...4th grade... *sigh*

Well, one of the fantastic things about fourth grade is learning quite a bit of California history culminating in one big end of the year celebration-Gold Rush!  

Look at this beautiful little hard-worker:

Cute as a button, no?

Need a close-up of this adorable bonnet and that gorgeous little face?

Granted!

Cristina's class had great fun taking a few steps back in time!

Hobbit-ual

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.


What say you, gentle reader? Have you an answer?


Of course, the answer is "Time."  Time is something that seems to fly at an alarmingly fast rate in our chaotic lives.  I remember only a short few years ago, my oldest baby sitting on his diapered-butt, using his baby board books to "decorate" my living room in San Clemente.  We had a morning ritual that as I finished getting ready for the day, he would sit and read his huge stack of board books and toss them over his sweet little shoulder when he was ready for the next one.  The result left a huge mess that we would happily clean before leaving for our day.  


These days he is as voracious a reader as I have ever known, at his age.  He has read far too many books for me to keep count.   I would guess that half of the books that I buy end up in his hands.  As an example to his reading prowess, I'll share that he read The Hunger Games when he was in 5th grade long before it was the popular series that it became.  He also plowed through the others as soon as they were released.  (Sidenote:  He keeps pushing me to read the series, but I think that I might be a bit of a novel snob.  Just knowing that my 5th grader (at the time) read and enjoyed this series turns me off a tad. I have one word for you:  Twilight  *shudder*) 


Recently, he was out of books, so we went to my bookcase to see what we could find that he might enjoy.  Lord of the Flies was met with tepid interest.  A Tale of Two Cities?  Catcher in the Rye?  Count of Monte Cristo?  *yawn*  Then, I spotted it.... Tolkien.   Ahhh, yes...it was the time.   


As I pulled it from the shelf, with an admitted twinkle in my eye, my heart sank a bit.  
This....

...had become this...

Fear not, the Amazon gods always smile in our favor and in two days we had...

Guess who is reading it now?   Jake!  
Guess who is really liking it?   Jake!
Guess who is probably going to have to quit being prideful and read The Hunger Games series?  Not me! :)

SMGO

The acronym that pretty much describes my life.  So Much Going On.  To be honest, I am unsure where to even begin.  Perhaps I will work backwards.

This past weekend, I was able to get away with my Cabin Fever Quilting friends.  We changed things up and decided to book a cabin in Julian for this retreat!  We had a great time.  The cabin definitely had its own quirky style.  It seemed to meander in so many directions that you could actually get lost within it.
The view was spectacular...

We all brought our sewing tables, so it made setup pretty darn easy...

We did end up heading into town for a bit on Saturday...

Although there were quite a few shenanigans, I actually completed a lot of work.
I finished a quilt top and three background blocks for a really fun appliqué quilt that I started.

It was great to get away with these friends and look forward to our next meet-up or getaway.  :)

Hidden Bliss

This quilt is for my sweet niece, Kelsi. She asked for a quilt many moons ago and has been waiting patiently until her quilt was made. For this lap-quilt, I used Moda's Bliss fabric line. For the hidden stars, I used a winter-white fabric that I had in my stash. I quilted the stars by stitching in the ditch and then quilting a starburst pattern within each star, but it is terribly hard to see that. I stippled the colored squares to complete the quilt.

Backalackish.  (Please excuse the folds.)

Here is a close-up of the free-motion quilting in the middle of each star.  It was fun to do, but I really suck at taking pictures, for future reference.

The important thing is that Kelsi loves her quilt and that makes me happy.  :)

This Pre-Spring Break-Break brought to you by....

...the flu!  We (almost all of us) are at home ruminating in our influenza.  Funsies!

We can trace the gift back to my adorable husband, Rene.  I knew things weren't right with him when he chose not to take one of his epic weekend road bike journeys.   I immediately suspected that he was harboring something a bit more serious than the common cold.  By Sunday mid-morning, he was out like a light and pretty much remained that way through the day.  By Sunday evening, Gaby had started to cough a bit and I  put the mom glare on her.  Sure enough...Fever.
I took Monday off to take care of the Gabs and Rene decided to try to go into work and make a go of it.  I took Gabriela to the doctor and confirmed what I think we already knew....the flu had moved into our home.  
At the doctor's office, I experienced a first!  At the end of the appointment, Gaby and I were escorted out through the file room so as not to infect those in the waiting room.  (I like to say that we received backstage passes at the doctor's office.)  When we drove to the pharmacy, the pharmacist eyed me as though I had 2 heads when I passed her the 6 prescriptions for Tami-flu....That's right... We have all been exposed.    Ugh.
So the four sweeties are home with me today, and as of this moment, I feel no symptoms.  Perhaps the preventative treatment of Tamiflu will do the trick.  (Hard to type with my fingers crossed.)  Gaby and Cristina's symptoms are pretty much full-blown at this point.  Jake has a headache and is super-tired and Daniel has a bit of a cough with a little sneeze thrown in for good measure.  So, we are all quarantined to our home and are having a Pre-Spring Break-Break of sorts.

Enough about that...
I owe this blog a few quilts, so I'll throw this one up quickly.
First let me begin by showing you the mistake.  Do you see it?

 Bottom right quadrant?  I spotted it when it was on my design wall and I couldn't decide whether or not to correct it.  I decided to let it simmer while I went to pick up Jakey at John Wayne Airport after a quick jaunt he took to visit his dad before Derek deployed.  (Yes, Derek deployed AGAIN.  I have lost count how many deployments that man has had to serve.  At least this time, he is on the USS Enterprise and being afloat is "away" from the main action, even if you are in the area.)  I digress....  So, on the drive up and on the way home, the quilt kept bugging me.  So, of course, I came home grabbed my seam ripper and did what I had to do.
Here is the finished quilt.  Just so you know,  I made it completely with leftover green scraps and background fabric.  It was fun to get rid of some odds and ends that I had in my fabric stash.  The quilt is just a little one for my classroom.

The back fabric is a pretty horrendous green, but I was happy to be rid of it.  I don't even know for sure how it ended up in my stash.  (I think that it was left from an Eric Carle quilt.  Maybe?) *shudder*

Sorry if I burned your retinas.  :)

Febs

February has been a crazy busy month in my sweet little household.  We have been putting my little organization station to WORK.  Wait, I haven't told you about our little organization station.  Well, that's a good place to start.
Having four children is a total blessing, the paperwork that comes along with them...not so much.  There is classwork, homework, permission slips, reminders about author visits, invitations to orchestra performances, announcements about awards assemblies, yadda, yadda, yadda.
In December, I decided that I was tired of cleaning things from our dinner table and then experiencing the inevitable mad rush in the morning to find {insert name of paper here}, so I created a little station on a wall that was begging for such a thing.
Each child has a hanging organizer where they put homework, papers to be signed, and things of this nature. Inside the organizer, there is also a weekly pill box that holds their daily vitamins and they can always find pencils to complete work in one of the pockets.
There is also a check-off sheet for things that they need to have completed in the morning before we leave.  I'll admit it is a little bit of overkill, but I can't tell you how much easier getting out of the house in the morning has become!  I also made a weekly calendar out of picture frames with patterned paper behind the glass.  I stamped the days on the patterned paper so that they are "permanent" and we just use vis a vis markers to add events.

Ok.  What's up next?
Jake continues to rock middle school.  He received an award for having a 4.0 GPA.  Now, reminder, that is with the kid taking Geometry in 8th grade, which is two years early.  He is the only eighth grader that had an A at the end of the first semester.  Woot!
Here is a picture of him at his awards assembly.  I love the way the principal is greeting him.  Do you think she likes him? :)

Yeah.  Yeah.  He needs a haircut.  (He has since had one, but he was experimenting a bit with the long hair.  I pick my battles.  Not sure why his hair looks so red in this picture.)

For Valentine's Day, my hubby hit another home run.  He bought me another fabulous Dolce & Gabbana scent that I have been eyeing and he bought Just Dance 3 for the family.
Holy crap, that game is all kinds of fun...both for the person playing and those watching.  I present to you, exhibit A:
  
Daniel and Gaby dancing to Apache.  Love.
I gave him the wheel set that he had been wanting for his road cycle and all of this candy that the kids brought me.

...which he promptly took to his school to get it the heck out of our house.  :)
Also, during this month, Cristina had her very first orchestra performance.   Check her out in the front row with her  viola.  Sweet little thing that she is.

Jake also turned 14 this month!!!!!!!!!  (Where does the time go?)
I remember when he was this little baby-just home from the hospital!  I can still smell his little baby smell.  *sigh*

Finally, I have been taking a course through SDCOE, that has been really interesting.  It is a course to become certified to teach online.  I am the only elementary school teacher in my school district selected to participate in the course.  It has been really stimulating, but very time-consuming.  I love being busy, but I haven't been this distracted from my family since the National Board Certification, which was crazy.  Luckily, my family, especially my husband, is fabulous and supportive in this endeavor.  Luck...I have it.  :)

Serendipitous Countdown to Christmas

I finished this quilt top in November at our Cabin Fever Friendship Group retreat and finished quilting it over our Christmas break.  As per usual, I am just getting around to posting it.  Life has been very busy...  More about that later...  Ellipsis overload...  Seriously...

I used Moda's Countdown to Christmas fabric line. 
One of the cool things about this quilt is that there is a second quilt that can be made simply by using the scraps from this quilt...thus the "Serendipitous" reference in the quilt name. (I haven't finished the second quilt yet.) I stippled the heck out of this thing.  
The back is super-snuggly flannel and that makes the kids VERY happy.  AND that makes ME very happy!

Maci's McBaby Quilt

(Home with a sick baby girl today, so I am trying to catch up a bit.)

Here is a quilt that I made for a friend of mine from high school, Jima Jenkins McCarrens.  Her beautiful baby is named Maci and her nursery colors are camouflage and fuchsia.

Did I mention that I went to high school in Mississippi (and Maci's dad Rick likes to hunt?)

I made most the quilt top at my Idyllwild Quilt Retreat, but had to put a rush on it when Maci made a surprise entrance on November 19, 2011.  Maci has had a rough go of it as she was born with kidney failure.  She is a beautiful baby that has blessed Rick and Jima beyond measure.  You can read more about Maci's growth and progress at the blog that Jima started to keep people informed:  Day by Day with MaciMoo.

The back of the quilt is a super-snuggly camouflage flannel.

I can't wait for Maci to come home from LeBonheur so that she can put this quilt to use.  I hope it provides the comfort that sweet baby deserves.

Fall Bargello

Ahhhh, see how behind I am?  

I completed this Bargello quilt in early October, using the most beautiful batik fabrics.  It was so easy to piece and it looks great in our front room, all year long.   

 The back of this quilt is reminiscent of stained glass.  I may have to post better pictures to show the depth of the colors.  Love.

What's that?  You are wondering if I stippled this quilt??  Hell, yeah.  Did you really need to ask?
:)

Santabulous!

Wow, I really suck at this blog thing.  We have just been so busy that I find myself writing far more "catch-up" posts, than real posts.  Prepare yourself for a jumble of information that is in no particular order.  I do have a few quilt related posts to enter, but first let me post about Christmas...

This is the first Christmas ever...EVER...that I have been without Jakey.  It has been pretty hard.  It is all I can do to not call him incessantly.  Instead of the mom-call-apalooza, I have settled for texting regularly and a few "face-times" thrown in for good measure.

My sweet, 13-year old Jake also met another milestone.  For the first time, he flew across our country, unaccompanied.  Holy cow!  I can't think of one thing that was harder as a mother to do, than to watch my 13 year old man-boy board a plane alone and watch it leave the gate.  My heart.  Ugh.

But, I digress.  He is having a great time with his new little brother and his dad and he'll be home soon.  So, that makes me happy.

Here he is walking through LAX like he owns the place.  As we were going through TSA, I reminded him of the time (before 9/11) that we were flying home (or perhaps back) and he was carrying a lunchbox full of his hot wheels.  When the lunchbox went through the x-ray machine, the security had the strangest look on his face.  I explained what the heap of metal was and he had to see it for himself.  We had a good laugh over that.

We had such a busy holiday that I didn't get a lot of pictures this year.  (Crazy, huh?)  I do have a digital version of our Christmas card to share.  This year, I made a flip book that included a stack of eight photos printed on card stock.  It turned out fairly kitschy and cute.  :)

The kids were cooperative; however, I wasn't feeling well so I didn't stick around to get the best photos.

Also, we were very sneaky this year and actually caught some photos of the fat man as he dropped off his Christmas booty!
  
Busted!
Once in the front room....

 
AND we caught him again in the family room...

Apparently, we have been very nice this year.  OR the right kind of naughty.  I'm just sayin'.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.  I hope that your holidays were beautifully blessed.  :)

Snow Many Friends

Ok, I am pretty sure that I have already posted a picture of this quilt, but I am unable to find it.  If my memory serves me correctly (which it probably isn't,) I posted the quilt top and not the finished/quilted project. So, in the spirit of catching up, I want to post the finished product.

Just a little reminder...

My friendship group exchanged snowman blocks earlier this year.

In case you are unfamiliar with a block exchange, let me give you a quick explanation.  Each member of the group completed eight of the same blocks.  (The only requirement was that they had a snowman included.  There were no size or style parameters.)  So, when we met to exchange the blocks, we gave away all save one of our blocks and then received seven different blocks (one from each of the other members) that we could use to create our friendship quilt.   In order to complete the quilt, I created one more block to have an "even 9" (quilters will probably understand that...others probably not.)

So, here is my little sweetie:

This is one of the four quilts that I entered in the Fallbrook Quilt Show.  It was great to have them lined up with other quilts from my friendship group.  I think that I took some photos at the show, let me see if I can rummage them up.
Well, shucks, I think I may be missing someone's quilt.  We didn't all enter them, but I thought more did.  Below are photos of my quilt, along with Sue's and Linda's.

These were super-fun to create and will always have a special place with my Holiday quilts.  :)

More time (less garlic) on your hands!

Just had to share this tip for peeling garlic in less than 10 seconds.

This will change my kitchen routine tenfold! Woot!

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.
Vampires, beware!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Snuggly Snowmen

On the first day of fall, I am happy to present a quilt with which you can get downright snuggly!

The quilt is made of flannels with some chenille thrown in for good measure. I bought this kit at Road to California Quilt Show. My friend, Linda, and I couldn't quit gushing over how fun this quilt was. The pieces of black simply make the quilt striking! (That is my sweet hubby holding the quilt for me, sporting his head full of curls and no shoes.)


It is, by far, the easiest quilt I have pieced together. What could be easier than piecing square blocks together???? The only issue was in the quilting. It was nearly impossible to quilt over the chenille due to its bulkiness. I simply quilted around those blocks and then just used an old school tack with embroidery floss. Problem solved!

For the back, I used a flannel that I bought on clearance at the Quilter's Cottage. (I got it for a steal!)


The kids love this one! It has been getting much use and I see that it will continue to be a favorite.

San Diego County, Unplugged

What a crazy afternoon/evening yesterday!

After walking my students to the front of the school yesterday afternoon, I returned to my classroom to find that there was no power. The kids and I waited a few minutes to see if it was a quick interrupt of power or something larger. Well, I think that we know the answer to that, now. Apparently, all of San Diego County and parts of surrounding counties were affected by an unprecedented power outage.

Regardless of our perceived plight, my family had one of the best nights! Around dusk, we took a long drive on one of our favorite roads. (Sleeping Indian from Oceanside to Fallbrook is this amazingly circuitous road that Rene loves to ride on his road cycle, but it is also fun to drive. Sidenote: He actually hit 52 mph on one of the downhills. I don't even like going down the hill going 50 in my Odyssey.)

We laughed and played games by candlelight and it was pretty fabulous!
There was a spirited game of charades. We made shadow puppets by flashlight. It was nice to be able to enjoy each other without other distractions.

After the youngest kiddos had gone to bed, Jake and I sat on the front porch and read by candlelight and Rene enjoyed a little nappy.

Close to nine o'clock, the whir of power startled us all. It was almost as if it had broken the magical spell of quiet.

We did, however, get an unexpected surprise. During the outage, all San Diego County public schools had canceled schools on Friday.

Hello, 3-day weekend brought to you by SDG&E! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad