I made some new Magic Pillowcases!

The eyes glow in the dark!!!

And since I no longer believe that only kids should have fun pillowcases, I made one for myself too!

I love that the fabrics look like they were knit and it makes me ever so happy to wake up on this fun pillowcase!

Spidey Ghost

Tyler's school had a "Storybook Dress Up Day" for "Harvest Time" (it's a Christian school and they stay away from the word Halloween). Originally he was going to dress up as the Road from Cars and we had an all black outfit and reflective tape to put down the center of his body, but at the last minute he couldn't find the book and while looking on his bookshelf saw that the Spiderman book was right there and he knew that if he found his book really quickly, we'd have time for a Curious George show before bed. So...He went as Spiderman instead. Don't get me wrong, he makes a cute Spidey, but I really really really liked the Road idea.

On the Saturday before Halloween, Tyler's friend from school invited him to her church Trunk-or-Treat. It was really fun to see Tyler with his friends. and he had a great time seeing all the cars and people dressed up.

Tyler also decided at the very beginning of all Halloween Costume talks that he was going to be a ghost. So I found a white sheet and planned to make him a ghost costume. Knowing how particular Tyler is about these things, I knew that he would have to be a main contributor to the design of the costume. He had a very specific idea in mind and so I had him draw out exactly what he expected and he supervised the whole process to make sure it was right. I learned that I will never be a costume designer, but it was still fun to have Tyler be involved from the very beginning. It was kind of funny to have him be so emphatic about having the waves at the hem and that there were to be absolutely NO arm holes. However, at the last minute, when he realized that if he had no arm holes he would not be able to carry a trick or treat bag, he condescended to allow me to cut holes for his arms...It was in the parking lot...

Tyler and his cousin, Jake, had a blast playing the carnival games at Doug's church Trunk-0r-Treat:

My dad was there in his Fresno County SAR/CARDA Capacity (Doesn't he look all official in the orange?)

This stance from the Trunk-of-Treat should probably have been my first warning of "boys will be boys".

Tyler got into his first fist fight at school--with a boy who is about 5 inches taller and probably 30 pounds heavier than him. On the one hand, I cried over the fact that my 5 year old was in a schoolyard brawl (Kim said we should call is a fisticuffs because that was more civilized and therefore more socially acceptable, but I think it was a brawl), but on the other hand, I am kind of proud of his guts and gusto for taking on a kid so much larger than him...and winning.

Halloween Hilarity

Tyler and I were in Joann's a few weeks ago and decided it would be a good idea to buy one of those gingerbread build your own Halloween spooky mansion thingys. So, we scheduled a day where we would have a lot of uninterrupted time when Grandma Maggie and Auntie Kiki were also available (these things are better managed with reinforcments). We got out the table, mixed the frosting, lined up the pieces and put on an Art Overshirt (orange and black frosting stains). We jumped right in!

We knew we were in trouble when the frosting started spilling all over (mostly because what I thought was tight enough on the rubber band was, in fact, NOT tight enough at all) and the house kept tipping over and falling apart. Tyler's face says it all:

That face quickly turned into this face:

I learned that I do not like these events very much at all. I don't think I fully appreciate the creative spirit and the whimsy that goes into messy unplanned projects like this. Don't get me wrong...I like creative spirit. I really like whimsy...and I'm all for not having a plan. HOWEVER, this project brought home to me just how much I do not like building gingerbread houses...

So, in an effort to alleviate the heartache (Tyler's and my own) I quickly developed a new plan. We are going to take this dumb house apart, lay each piece flat and decorate the heck out of it. This plan seemed to work well, since the grumpy faced boy turned into a very happy boy:

And all three adults were very happy as well!

Tyler took a few bites of the piece he decorated, declared that he didn't really like the cookie and went to jump on the trampoline.

Then we played a few rousing games of Chess...Tyler is very creative.

Quilt Camp

North Fresno Quilters Fall 2010

Keola Fall Quilt Camp 2010

I know Quilt Camp was nearly a month ago so I'm finally blogging about it quite late. However, it couldn't pass without any recognition at all, so here goes:

There once was a girl who was going to quilt camp. She washed and cut her fabric to begin a new quilt project. She packed fabric for her Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt and backing fabric for two quilt tops that only needed to be measured so the backs could be cut and assembled. She gathered her tools and packed them in her car. She packed clothes for the chilly mountain weather. She purchased yarn, needles and printed a pattern for a "back up" knitting project *In case the sewing became tedious*. And then drove up the hill to Camp Keola. Once the table were set up for sewing stations, she began unpacking her projects to get a jump start on sewing projects. And realized that she had left the whole box full of washed a cut fabric for the new quilt project at home. Yep. That girl is me. I hied myself off to Quilt Camp without my quilting project. I had the pattern, the thread, etc. But no fabric. I called Jessica and Valerie who would be heading up the hill later that day. No answer. I called Doug to see if he could pick up the fabric from my house and take them to Uncle George's or Mark's house since they too would be coming up the hill later. He was on the path to do just that when I called Mark to see if that would be ok...No go...They were already in Prather. Bummer! Call Jess and Val again. Yay! They answered! And they were about 90 seconds from my house at Riverpark. Fweeeew...No wasted Quilt Camp weekend for me! Huge thanks to the team effort to enable me to be able to quilt!!!!

I was able to get quite a bit of the piecing done on the Vintage Cross quilt that almost wasn't:

Tyler LOVES to "help" Grammy sew. He takes his job very seriously:

Until the task is done and it's time to take a break:

Mom finished this amazing quilt:

Kim was able to wear this FANTASTIC sweater top that she knit:

(I love how in this picture, the sunlight totally highlights the top)

Obviously, "Quilt Camp" is a term loosely applied that does not necessarily indicate that quilting will be the main activity, as you can see by the fact that Kim, Jess and Val did not even bring a sewing machine:


Deb Friesen and Jessica showed me how easy it would be to make Magic Pillowcases:

The Magical World of Disney

I made my first (probably of many) Magic Pillowcase! After seeing how easy this was whilst at Quilt Camp, I decided to give it a go. I even did the French Seam on the inside...easy as pie!

I have a devious (ingenious?) routine of telling Tyler whenever we go to a fabric or yarn store that he can pick out ONE fabric or ONE type of yarn. He loves to walk around and tell me which ones he likes best and the reasons why he is considering that yarn/fabric. At the end of the trip, he makes his decision and we all walk away from the store happy...I have never once had him tell me that he does not want to go the the yarn/fabric store and it's actually really fun to hear his reasoning for why he chooses/rejects different fabrics. Sometimes he makes the most surprising choices. On one particular trip to The Bear Paw in Coeur d'Alene, ID, I found this fantastic dinosaur fabric that I was just sure Tyler would choose. No...Instead he chose the yellow you see on the cuff of the pillowcase here that is a bright yellow with small red and green pattern all over (kinda floral). I couldn't contain my incredulity when I asked him, "Really?!?" Yep... The boy has spoken...So. Here's that fabric in use. And he still likes it. Baffling, I know.

Now that I have tried it for myself, I've decided that kids aren't the only ones who enjoy fun pillows welcoming them to bed, so there are a few more in the works for me!

Closing Weekend.

It is always bittersweet to close down Lakeview Cottages for the winter. I love to spend time up there and enjoy the post-season quiet of the mountain, but dang is it a lot of work! This closing weekend, due to a rainy weekend a few weeks ago, we were still painting the two cabins slated to be painted this season. Dad painted Cabin G (he was a professional painter ;-) and thus has an airless sprayer which means he does all the "whole-cabin-at-a-time" painting.)

Tyler, Mom and I painted the trim on Cabin E (that one was sprayed a few weekends ago)

Duane and Uncle George got some amazing log splitting done with the help of some Keola teens raising money for a missions trip.

Cindy and Cheri painted trim on some of the one bedroom cabins and Mark, Dad, George and Duane worked on getting things ready for winter. It's a big task to maintain these cabins, but really...if you've got to be working--That's the place to be doing it!!!

Spiderman

I made some fun mittens for Tyler's birthday. They don't fit :-(

Supermodel Butter

Tall and skinny.

5 years ago today....

I looked like this: and then after a lot of effort, I had 9 pounds, 8 ounces of this:

In the process, I created 2 very happy grandmas:

One Papa who went AWOL:

Another who popped over "On his way to the Bank":
4 years ago he looked like this:

and was walking like a champ!

3 years ago he looked like this:

2 years ago he looked like this:

Last year he looked like this:

and this year he started KINDERGARTEN!