We celebrated Granddaughter #3's second birthday on Sunday. Her princess cake was slid across the table a few times before I was able to snap a picture. Notice the tilted doll.
She was our special miracle to survive the last three months before she was born. We continue to be so very thankful that she and her mom both were fine after her birth.
Grandson #3 is now three months old. He weighs over 15 lbs and is wearing size 6-9 month clothes.
My mom enjoyed loving up her youngest great grandson.
Granddaughter #2 made sure she had her share of the frosting on the doll! She already placed her order for her princess cake this summer.
Do you know where to find the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) where you work or places you may go? A friend's life was saved last Saturday when he collapsed while officiating at a high school basketball game with his son. A coach or trainer at the game ran for the AED to shock Tim's heart. It was able to restart his heart. He had quadruple bypass surgery on Monday. Today he is home with his family thanks to the AED and the quick response by someone who knew where it was and how to use it!
I should finish working on farm taxes today. We have Monday off from school and I am planning to spend it sewing!!!
I am sitting at the computer doing farm bookwork and trying to prepare for taxes. Agriculture/Farm income taxes are due the end of February. I have been working since 7:30 and needed a break.
I haven't been able to spend much time quilting yet this year.
I did finish a quilt for our neighbors new baby. He is the newest addition to the young family whose three year old was killed in a car accident last January.
My "sister" (college/forever friend) oldest daughter is expecting her third any day. Since Dar and Len both grew up on Wisconsin farms, I made a John Deere quilt for the baby. That is if he's a boy. It is the same pattern I have used before. I used some different fabrics and backing.
I have to finish free motion quilting border of the "if the baby's a girl." Yes, again I used a pattern I have used before!
The day after Christmas a former neighbor "boy" who grew up with our boys came with his girl friend to announce they had become engaged two hours before. They hadn't even called her parents yet. He has been an extra son to us most of his life. I had tease them before that they needed to give me enough time to make their Christmas Tree Skirt between engagement and the wedding. Their wedding is being planned for May. I have the flimsy ready to sandwich and quilt.
"And
the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling
and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came
without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled
and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of
something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come
from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
This year Christmas came without any baking, very little decorating,
not much shopping, and very few cards were mailed. (And NO sewing or quilting time!) However, as the
Grinch discovered Christmas still came. It came in the form of the
smiles and laughter in my grandkids faces, in the look of their great
grandmother as she smiled at their actions, the look as they all gazed
into the face of baby, Colby, and through the lighting of candles as the
light was passed around the entire church family on Christmas Eve.
The last time I posted was following my MIL's funeral. It has been a challenging two months dealing with her estate and family dynamics. It has been even more reinforced that we are completely blessed having our sons, daughters-in-love, and precious grandchildren. Things are only things...others may argue and fight over things...we are blessed with our family.
Now the the exciting news! Colby arrived on November 30. He was delivered through emergency c-section following several hours of labor. He weighed 10 lbs, 22 inches long, his head measured 14.5 and his chest was 14.75. He became stuck in the birth canal.
Kasey decided it was ok to have another brother.
Cole still isn't sure about a baby. He was more excited about the two little John Deere tractors that came in his big brother bag at the hospital.
I had two quilts ready! The front is similar to Cole.
Cole had thought it would be ok if the baby's brothers
quilt was almost like his.
Hopefully, I will now find time to finish or begin Christmas gifts!
Yesterday after MIL's funeral the kids were at our house. I went out with my simple camera. I know this is blurry...after I saw the picture I thought of the Lee Ann Womack song, "I Hope You Dance."
A couple of days after my last post we received a call from the nursing home where my 97 year old MIL has resided for the past 5 years. Her kidneys had shut down. She was asking for her family. I sent a text to my kids..DIL-2 was able to be there in a few minutes with Tatum and Jessica. Grandma knew her and the kids. By the time our DS-2 arrived she was in considerable pain. DH and I got there she was talking, but incoherent. DS-1, DIL-1, Kasey and Cole all were able to see her.
I spent part of the night and left with the nurses telling me they would call. The next day at 1:50 I was sitting beside her holding her hand and talking to her as she took her last breath. DH's brother and his wife have been on a month long trip to New Zealand on vacation. They will be returning the end of this week. The services are scheduled for Sunday evening and Monday. We said our goodbye to her on Sept. 30 and now will have to do it again.
October 3rd was the 31st anniversary of Travis's death. This year we again were day sponsors at the Life 97.3 Christian radio station. A few weeks before Travis was killed he sang during an evening church service the Gaither song, "I Wonder How It Felt." The lyrics of the chorus go:
"I'm just a child, my life is still before me.
I just can't wait to see what God has for me.
But, I know that I will trust Him
and wait to see what life will be for me."
We didn't realized that in a few short weeks we would learn what God's plan for our precious 4 year old would be.
My school year is very busy and challenging. I try to be at school by 6:45 and usually leave about 5:30. I need to plan for the 17 students with disabilities and my three 1/2 para educators. Finally this week my SpEd director and principal have worked it out that I am able to leave my classroom for 30 minutes for lunch. (I had been eating lunch while teaching students.)
One of my new aides has been working with my four fourth grade students reading the book, "Little House in the Big Woods" This novel is read in the general ed 4th grade classrooms with many activities and projects. One of the suggestions in the study guide is for the students to draw scenes from the book to make a quilt. When she asked if I would help with it...How could I say anything but yes!
They each drew a scene from the book and a picture of them if they lived in pioneer days! It felt so good to spend some time quilting.
What started out as a Garden Flag for my front yard has turned into a wall hanging. I like it too well to let it fade outside right now. Our school district office manager has an old "cheap" picture hanging on the wall of her office. I told her this fall she needs something new in there. I think I just might take it in to her in the morning.
Does anyone know of a place online to purchase quilt hangers similar to the one in the picture? I bought two last spring in Appleton and should have picked up more. There are no shops in my area that have quilt hangers.
I must be slipping. Saturday I only canned 18 pints of applesauce. This afternoon I have been baking squash all afternoon to freeze. It is delicious this year-very dry and fluffy. Next Saturday will be applesauce Saturday for D-I-L 1.
Friday night Sew-In. It has been a LONG and CHALLENGING week. I am so very ready to set up my sewing machine. I plan to work on quilting the baby quilt flimsy.
My housecleaning, laundry, and more applesauce will have to wait until Saturday!
Kasey started 4K ( 4 year old Kindergarten) this last week. She rides the big bus to school in the morning. At noon the bus takes her to day care for the afternoon. When fall field work is complete she will be spending her afternoons with Papa.
We were blessed with rain early in the growing season even though we have been without adequate rainfall the last half of the summer. We will have ripe corn. Thankfully it is already drying down so we won't have to purchase as much gas to dry it.
I usually try to can enough applesauce for us and my two daughters-in-law. It is difficult for them to can with the the kids. I have a system that works well. Especially with the use of my 38 year old Kitchen-Aid mixer and the attachments. I only wash and quarter the apples before cooking. When they are soft they are put into the funnel. The applesauce goes through the strainer with the peelings, core, and seeds out the end. So far I have 45 pints done. (And four pies)
In the middle of processing a batch this afternoon, DS-1 called asking if I could bring Cole something to snack on and his blanket. He is combining beans with his daddy while Kasey and her mom went shopping.
I packed a snack for DH, DS=1 and Cole. Cole was happy to see Papa caring his John Deere blankie. (I couldn't find his "Farming With Daddy" hat. There is a small passenger seat with a seat belt for Cole.
Cole was happy just to have his blankie!
The beans are dumped into the grain cart, then emptied into the truck that DH drives to the grain bins where the soybeans are stored until hauled by semi truck/trailer to the plant.
My school year is as challenging as I expected it to be. I am still working on my daily schedule. If I don't need to stop to eat or use the bathroom I should be able to make it. However, that also means there is no prep time in the day either. They have sent a fourth aide into my room for an hour a day.
I hung my motto above the bulletin board where I keep the daily schedules of the ten classrooms that my students leave to receive pullout instruction in my room.
Also, put up a shelf with blocks to help me remember why I do what I do.
When I learned that September is National Sewing Month a blogging friend encourage me to find even 5 minutes a day to sew or quilt. So some nights-no matter how tired I have taken time to clear my mind with sewing/quilting.
Here is the result, the flimsy is finished and needs to be sandwiched and quilted. I need to finish it soon. Cora Elizabeth is the granddaughter of a friend and is due in October!
There are three events that have occurred in our country that I will always remember where I was when they happened. The first was the assassination of President Kennedy and the events.
Remember when John John stood to salute his father's casket as it left the church, the riderless horse during the procession?
The second was the Challenger Explosion.
And...what we will never forget, and changed our lives forever.
9/11/2001
If you have a family member who has ever served in our country's military, please thank them.
