Christmas Quilts

I put my new quilting machine to good use this fall and made quilts for Christmas for all the family member who didn't have one.
Some were very easy to find the right pattern and material. Some I struggles with.
Is it the right color? What pattern? How big? What quilt pattern and thread color do I use and not take away from the actual quilt. (I am just learning this part)

Brian's was a no brainer - as soon as I saw this pattern on my quilt show I got online and bought it. I changed up the colors a little bit and was quite proud on how it turned out.

 I loved this pattern for Leslie's wedding quilt and knew I had to do it again. It made perfect sense for Stacy and Kory. The colors were supposed to be dark outside to light but I changed it up and went light to dark center. I like it! The quilting pattern was one I used for one of my mystery quilts. It came together nicely.

 For once all the kids didn't mind having their picture taken with me. Roger just wasn't getting off his new Harley Davidson big wheel to get on my lap though.

 I found the purple in Kaylyn's quilt first. You can't see it very well but it sparkles. The pattern I used once before, for Sharen, and swore I would never use it again. So Hard - but this smile was all worth it. Of course it's quilted with hearts.

 Logan's I wanted to make orange and blue, but not to obvious. Yeah he loved his too.

 Don't be fooled - that IS a smile on this boys face. His has my favorite pattern, the nine patch. The one thing with his was the size. I kept on adding borders to make it bigger.

 Luke is such a happy baby. His has sock monkey on it. I just had to make his bigger than his previous "Baby Blanket". Luke's and Roger's have matching material from one of Bryan's quilts that I made him a few years ago. When they get older they'll appreciate it more. I hope.

 Bryan put Roger's big wheel in the car to take home and so he finally agreed to take a picture with his "Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site" quilt. This was by far the most difficult to make, so much hand sewing. I told Mary I had a special one for Roger and she wanted to see it. I felt bad, but I kept putting her off. I had a surprise for her too. I took Roger's hand prints and quilted them into the quilt. Should be a keepsake!

.
After all the paper was cleaned up I got out the quilts and they opened them one at a time.
I was so nervous about all the quilts. I put so much time and love into all them.
I worried for nothing. Stacy text me a picture of her and the kids Christmas morning on their couch all wrapped in their quilts.
I cried...

Christmas Eve

As always we spent Christmas Eve morning with the Dupplers and the Zierks. Carrie hosted a delicious breakfast. Ain't that right Dave.

 I got down on the floor and played puzzles with all the 2 year olds. They were very good at taking turns and helping each other out with the alphabet puzzle.

 Erica taught Matthew how to play Rock, Paper, scissors.

 The adults chilled on the couches.

 Here are the 2 youngest member this year. I'll have to get a picture next year to compare - I bet Barkley out grows Luke.

 

Yeah it was a great start to Christmas again this year!

COOKIES

Our cookie bake this year turned into a cookie exchange. Each one brought a dozen cookies for each other - No baking was had.
Good thing! It gave us time to catch up with the "daughters" and play with the kids.
Mike and I had this old dining room table in the basement. I offered it to Carrie thinking it would be a great size for the kids to play on. He cut the legs down to the perfect toddler height. Just needs a coat of paint and the kiddies have a play station and I am minus one more thing outa my basement.

Sharen guiding Kallie with a puzzle.

Aunt Erica building a track with Kendell.

 Stacy holds Luke has he holds court with Matthew and Kaylyn.

Roger had his sights set on the fruit tray. A grape, slice of banana, topped with a strawberry on a toothpick make a "Elf, Not a Santa!" Silly me.

 Now for the real fun. Matthew helped me whip up some frosting. Green and white. Each child was given a Christmas knife, cookies were decorated and more memories were made.

 Roger wasn't too sure about the apron or the decorating, but he warmed up and sat right down and smeared frosting all over the place just like the rest of them. A few tastes and bites were had by all!

 Kaylyn, Erica and Kallie stayed at the table until the last cookie had frosting.

Another successful Christmas Cookie day.

Sisters, Sisters

Lives get busy...
You have your sisters living close by, yet you don't SEE them, but for the occasional holiday. I think it was last Easter we were all together at the same time.
Sharen had a day off and thought it would be great to get together for a Christmas lunch with just the sisters. She called us all and set up a lunch date. We all thought it was a great idea!

Vicki is heading to Disney World to spend Christmas with Andy's family.
Sharen is going to be a Grandma again.
Deanna and Linda will be having a house full this Christmas, with Ed bringing family and "friend".
If your reading this you already know what is happening in my life.

Just like old times we laughed at each other, talked over each other, teased each other - you get the idea. Sisters!
It was such a hit we plan on doing it more often.

Only one thing would of made it perfect.
WE MISS YOU SISTER MARY!!!

Travel Ornaments

I love Christmas ornaments!
My favorite shop in Myrtle Beach is the Christmas shop.
When Mike and I travel I try to get an ornament from the places we visit. This year we took 2 trips out East. It was April when we stopped in the Football Hall of Fame and ornaments were slim pickings. I found one for $13. If all the places were this expensive I was about to blow out the credit card on ornaments?!?

Walking around the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame gift shop looking for an ornament I liked,  Mike says "Hey, how about these?" He was looking at key chains!
Not a bad Idea - lots to choose from and much cheaper. So I bought one!

All through our vacation I found the perfect Christmas ornaments in the key chains aisle. :)



Niagara Falls

Hey Dad!

I thought of you today.

I shoveled the driveway - just like you taught me - a path down the middle and pushed to both sides.
It was beautiful out. It was sunny, cold, crisp, clear, and fresh.
The snow was soft and light and fluffy. I had a great time. Yeah, I thought of you.

Sure brought back some good memories.
I loved getting out when we were little and shoveling with you.
Turns out I still do.

What's that Smell?

Something is smelling around here.

Is it this?

No silly - that's only for the bathroom.

This?

Wrong again - that's more like Thanksgiving, cranberry apple.

This must be the answer.
Our live, fresh cut, pine smelling tree!!

standing straight in the holder - check
rope tied to the base - check
up on a table so Luke can pull himself up and not the tree over - check
ornaments and icicles brought up from the basement - check

LET'S GET THIS DECORATING STARTED

Here it is!

My quilting machine.
 It's big and scary and I am having so much fun getting to know it. It has handles for free styling, where you stand over the material and let your imagination take over. Or you can stand behind the machine and follow a pattern placed on the black table with a red laser light. I haven't tried that yet because I DO LOVE using my artful eye.

 It is 10 feet long and as you can see takes up quite a bit of the basement.
This is me free styling!

 I just noticed I am wearing one of Mom's shirts

 

I can't help but smile all the time I am using this thing, even when it sticks up on the tracks and ruins my design. HA, The design is only in my head - I am just swirling around acting like I know what I am doing. I'll be damned if the first few turned out ok.

I never in a million years would of spent this much money on something so frivolous just for myself, (and the people who receive my quilts) but I am so glad I did.
 I wonder if Mom knows how much fun I am having?!

Bryan and Sharen both must understand my excitement over my new found passion, because they each bought me quilting thread for my birthday. Mike made this dandy holder and now I am equipped with enough thread to keep me busy this winter.

My quilts now have a finished look to them and to think I, Karen, did it all by myself.
I wouldn't dream of quilting someone else's work, but who know maybe some day.

A No Brainer

Lester's/Grandma's slot machine has been in our basement for a long time. It wasn't working and just sitting there under a blanket.
 The key to opening the back was lost and it was jammed. Not Working! I looked into getting it fixed off and on, but it was way too expensive so there it sat.
*****
When Mom would watch the kids for us when they were little, Bryan, Carrie, and Jon all played with it. They hit one jackpot. (actually Bryan did the pulling, but because Jon and Carrie were standing next to it THEY hit a jackpot).
They all loved playing it. Jon most of all. When it was time to pick the kids up, Jon would have to run downstairs for one last pull.
*****
So it was a no brainer that Jon would end up with it.
I thought it would be a great house warming present.

Now I had to just figure out how to get it working again.
First I had to get it clean so I polished it up. This is it dirty.

I called around and still - very expensive. (I don't know what made me think that it would get any cheaper with time.)

Elgin Key and Lock told me that they would look at it, so Mike and I lugged it up from the basement and took it in. This thing is HEAVY! They have never seen a lock like this one and didn't have a key for it.
They had to destroy the original lock.  I was worried that it would devalue the machine but it wasn't doing us any good as is. They got the back open again and replaced the lock with a new one - with 2 keys.

Now to get it working.
I did some research on it and found out it's a 34 (or 36) Mills diamond slot machine. And I'll be damned if YouTube doesn't have a video on how to unjammed it.
So with my Dad whispering in my ear, one eye on the computer screen, tool box open and cleaning supplies standing by, and camera in hand (I took pictures of everything before I took it apart so I would know what it looks like when I have to get it back together) I start cleaning this thing.
This is where 90% of jams occur so this is where I start. This thing was filthy and smelled like old coins. Yuck! I dismantled this escalator (the part where the coins show through the top front) and cleaned every spring and screw.

I get brave and take the whole thing apart to just give it a good cleaning. I took a picture every time I removed a screw. I gotta say I was a little nervous.

But I surprised myself and got the thing working again. Put it back together and did a happy dance.
I took the old coins (most were from the 60's and 70's) and put some in paper sleeves and the rest in one of Dad's old cigar boxes. Mom kept the coins in a cigar box next to the machine. I wrapped it up and called Jon and told him I had a house warming gift.
As soon as he unwrapped the cigar box he knew what I had in my car for him. Big Smile!

 Rumor has it that Erica is luckier at Slots than Jon.

I am so glad that it's being played again and I am sure Mom would approve of my choice. She knew how much Jon loved playing that slot machine.

Spooky Stories

Stacy's Literature class was having a "spooky Story" party and she invited all the parents of her class and ME.

Of course I wanted to bake something! Not allowed!
You cannot serve "homemade" fresh baked goodies to school classes anymore?!? What - but I'm a baker. ):

I settled on fresh fruit. I wasn't too sure that it would get eaten by the kids, but maybe the adults
would enjoy it. Oranges/pumpkins and Banana/ghosts.

Turns out the kids did eat them (after the cake that was brought in by a parent).
Stacy made a fire out of paper and we all sat around the campfire while the kids read their stories. I wasn't too sure about sitting on the floor, but I got down and up without any help.
She handed out marshmallow to "roast".

Stacy's class had to either write or read a spooky story. 6 out of the 7 kids wrote their own story. She had a flashlight to pass around.  It was your turn to read when you got the flashlight. The only one that I could understand was the kid sitting right in front of me. It was so cute, they all read real softly with their heads down. I asked her aide if they were always so quite. "Only when they're reading out loud!"

The place got louder when it was time for snacks.
I had a great time!
Thanks for the invite, Stacy.

Pumpkin Farm/Circus

I took him there when he was little.
Back then a Pumpkin Farm was just that - a farm that had pumpkins. Your picture was taken with a pumpkin totem pole.

Bryan and Carrie '81

 

Going to Goebberts with Bryan and his family was mind boggling to me. They had acres of fun for Roger and 3 tents full of animals to feed. Should be called a pumpkin circus.

 

We met them at 9:00 when it opens. First stop the giraffes. You walked a tall ramp to get to eye level and a slide was provided for the kids to get down.

 On to the animal tents. I bought some carrots and helped Roger feed the animals. He was very good at putting the food on the shovels provided and stuff  it through the fence.

 He could NOT take his eyes off the pumpkin eating dinosaur (even for a picture). I am not sure he had figured out if it was coming after him or not.

 

 

We by passed the pony and camel rides and went for the playground. He posed with Papa at the barn.

He ran from tractor, to truck, to fire truck, to big wheel.
 Roger wasn't to happy when the wheel on this truck wouldn't turn. He yelled to Bryan to "Make it Work" Tim Gunn project runway style.

 Final stop a family picture on the giant rocking chair. Luke spent the whole morning in the Bjorn laughing, and smiling at all the happenings.



What a great day.

Word Snobs

I hate them!
Who are they you might ask - They are the ones who use big words just to inflate their egos.
Now granted I am not a writer or a word nerd. I shy away from Crosswords puzzles, but I can carry on a conversation without the other person feeling stupid.

I used to work with a Editor who wrote a weekly column. He was a big Word Snob. He always used words that I would have to look up to understand their meaning. He sometimes tried to talk to me and use them, but my eyes would glass over and he knew he had lost me.

This morning reading the Letters to the Editor in the paper I thought for sure Mike wrote this one letter.

"this president's feckless, vacuous foreign policy borne of his malignant, narcissism unquestionably compromises...."

"enemies stand dramatically emboldened and ominous.."

"your predictably clever talking points, disingenuous rhetoric reveals you abject shallowness and self-serving commitment to endless spoils of political longevity."

"American untainted by the elixir of Beltway celebrity."
And he goes on and on using word that only makes me wonder what this letter actually means, because I really had no idea.

Oft-demonized, ever-besmirched, demagoguery, supplanted,  eternal vigilance.....

Call me stupid, but Enough already - I know you are using English, but I don't understand you!

Corn Maze

Mike and I have never been through a corn maze so when Stacy invited us to join them we jumped at the invite. 
There were 2 mazes a small one for $4, but for $7 you could do both the big and the small. We wanted both. They gave you a clipboard with an answer sheet to questions hidden along the paths.
Off we go!
We split into 2 groups. Dylan and I went one way and all the rest went the other. We found 2 questions and they found 2. We regrouped and decided to head over to the bigger maze and stumbled onto the last question. The maze was off a shark eating a fish - all cartoon questions. Pretty easy.

The bigger maze was of a sea turtle. Girls went one way and the boys the other.
You had to answer 6 nautical questions. You had a choice of 2 answers and use that letter to scramble and make an answer to this question. What is the Latin word for fish? Smart Logan knew the answer without the letters.

The rules said to Stay on the Path - well it didn't take Kaylyn long to make her own way.

 But her short cut lead to another question. We kinda cheated because if we didn't know the answer to the question we wrote down both letters.

 I had an awesome time. The weather was cool. The corn was so tall and spooky. And we had to whole place all to ourselves.

 The pumpkins was a little pricey so after lunch Stacy and the kids followed us home to the pumpkin farm by our house. Dylan liked all the gourds. Me I was fascinated with the color of the Indian corn. I thought my next quilt would be of the colors we saw in new England, but I just might have to blend in some colors of the corn.

 I full wagon for only $20. It was well worth the trip.