Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I Spy Swap
Recently, a friend from high school extended an invitation to those following her blog, to participate in an “I Spy Swap”. At first I had no idea what that could even possibly be, but as I read on I realized it was right up my alley and an amazing opportunity. Now, I like to sew, but I am NOT a professional. I know enough to get by; enough to hem pants, sew small blankets, or fix minor clothing issues. I attempted quilts for my brother and my sister when they each got married and they turned out…fine… I guess. At the time I was so proud of my accomplishment, but NOW, I’m a little embarrassed. I’m almost positive the quilts are falling apart at the seams and my siblings probably resist the urge to throw them away or donate them for fear that my feelings would be hurt. If I could do it over, I would have liked to put small binding around the edges and then send them off to a professional to Machine Quilt over the top of them. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do it. Anyways, back to the I Spy Swap. You sign up to be a part of the swap, then each member goes shopping- or raids their fabrics at home for 10 different fabrics with different images on them. You contribute 20 4x4 squares of EACH fabric and then mail them into your “leader/organizer”. They in return divide up the squares giving one or two of each design to each person, and then they mail it back to you. You end up with 200+ different patterned squares to make a quilt (for a child of course). I am so excited to start this project. I plan on turning this quilt in after it’s put together so someone can Machine quilt over the top of it. These are the squares I turned in: I love bright colors-if you can’t tell.
And these are the fabrics I got back.
Counting all the squares I got in return and the extra squares I have from my scrap bag, I believe I have 245 squares. Should be enough for a twin size (or slightly smaller) quilt right?
I want to try and do a neat design/pattern for the blanket. I don’t want just a "plain jane" rectangular/square straight lined quilt. I want it to look like I put some effort into it, you know? I’m going to try and post pictures of my progress along the way...but I have a feeling that this isn't just a weekend project. Luckily, my Aunt Melba who is (what I consider) a professional and expert quilter has agreed to help me with this project. Can anyone say road trip to Phoenix? :) At least she can help me get it started, and give me some pointers along with some techniques. It'll be some nice bonding time. I'm excited.
My sweet boy Clayton. He's excited for me to start on this project too.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
A Few Recent Events
Giving In-
Well we gave in. Clay got his blue room. And Chris did a wonderful job.
Clay insisted on dark blue walls. But I didn't want it so dark that it was depressing. But I also didn't want baby blue...I'm not really a pastel kind of person. So I'm really happy with color we ended up with. It's quite uplifting if you ask me. While Chris painted the walls, Clay and I took his name letters off the wall and painted them to match his new wall color. Clayton loves to do "art projects". He is my big helper when it comes to anything crafty.
Easter-
Easter came out of nowhere this year. I was physically prepared (easter baskets, colored eggs) but not mentally. For some reason I'm stuck with like Jan/Feb brain. I mean how is it that time really IS "flying" by? As a child I remember wishing away my days. I couldn't wait for my birthday, or summer or Christmas; and it just seemed like the more I wished for it, the slower time seemed to pass. Now I find myself wishing for more time.It really is mind boggling. Easter was fun. Clay is at the age where coloring eggs and searching for them is fun. Cody not so much. :)
This year we tried a different technique. It was called "Molten Eggs". The directions were to take Crayons and sharpen them to give several crayon shavings. After boiling the eggs, pat them dry and then drop the crayon shavings onto the hot eggs. The shavings melted so fast, it was one of the coolest things I had seen in a long time. Even Chris got really into it. He eventually passed the shavings up altogether and just started drawing on the eggs-even slightly warm eggs were still melting the crayons so it was having a really cool effect.
How do you like Chris's Camo Egg? It turned out kinda cool.
Cody on the other hand, could've cared less. He just wanted to touch everything; when I told him no, he decided he'd dance on the table instead...
...that is until Grandma, Carter and Declan (Carter's little half brother) showed up with the traditional water/vinegar egg dye. Cody was so fascinated-as were the older boys.
Cody thought he was so big.
That night when we put Cody to bed, we noticed he was a little congested. So I put some Baby Vicks Vapor Rub on his little chest in hopes he'd feel/sound better in the morning. We had "big plans" in the morning to make it to the Riverton Easter Egg hunt at 10am. Cody woke up at about 6:45am making a horrible wheezing sound. He was sobbing but couldn't breathe in deep enough to make any kind of a noise but a gasp or wheeze. I panicked. I have NEVER heard Cody like this-even when he was way little and had RSV. So we rushed him to Alta Hospital-where they got him in immediately. They gave him two Albuterol treatments and within seconds he was breathing silently with ease. They x-rayed his chest...and said his airways looked like those of an asthmatic persons, where their airways are constricted making it very difficult to breathe, which was also why the Albuterol worked so well. (Albuterol is the medicine very commonly known in many inhalers) The doctor however was very cautious about diagnosing "Asthma" as the problem. Because Cody was congested from a previous head cold...he didn't want to jump to any conclusions. So he sent us home with an inhaler and told us if we experienced anything like we had that morning to use the inhaler. Scary, scary, scary! We made it out of the Emergency room by 9:30am and Cody was hyper and ready to run a marathon, so we decided to meet Chris's mom, Clay, Carter and Declan at the Riverton Easter Egg hunt, we only had to stop by the house to get Cody's shoes and a basket. At about 5 minutes after 10am, Karen called to inform us not to come. Apparently they had gotten there right at 10, just as they blew the horn to start the hunt and less than 5 minutes later it was Done. Over. The End. Clay and Carter got a few pieces of candy, while poor lil Declan didn't get a single thing. So we decided to hold our own Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house. By the time we got the Easter Eggs stuffed and hid-Cody was in desperate need of a nap, so he was unable to participate. :(
I'm pretty sure the boys made out like bandits-better than any City organized Easter Egg Hunt I've ever heard of...and it was only Saturday.
After Cody woke up from his nap, he wanted to play outside.
Cody saw how much fun Clay was having on the scooter so he wanted a turn. Clay was so patient with him, and walked him around for at least 30 minutes. Cody was loving every second of it. He did Not want to get off.
So he settled for the four wheeler.
Even after it got too cold for him to be outside...he didn't care, he just really wanted to be outside.
Sunday was really nice. Cody was up first and didn't even notice that there where eggs "hidden" all over the house. Actually I don't know that he "didn't notice", or if maybe he was just thinking "o just another toy I've strewn all over the place". Clay's reaction was slightly different. No sooner had he walked out of his room, he saw the first "hidden egg" and his eyes lit up. "The Easter bunny came Mom!"
Clay was so excited he found all of his eggs AND Cody's. (The Easter Bunny "hid" all of Cody's eggs on the floor, and all of Clayton's from the couch up.) In their Easter Basket Clay got "Chase" the Rescue Bot (police car) and Cody got a Bubble blower. Nanny and Poppy sent them lots of goodies too; like foam dinosaurs that grow in water(and little plastic dinosaurs for Cody), Colored Bath Fizzies (which Clay thinks are the coolest thing ever), some delicious little candies and money! Clay was especially grateful for the money, and he told Nanny that. After the excitement of finding the eggs wore down, Clay, Cody, and I got ready to go to church with Grandma and Grandpa. What is Easter Sunday without church and family? This was the best picture I could get of the three of us.
After church, we came home, changed our clothes, took a well needed nap and then headed back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Easter dinner. It was delicious, as always. The weather was nice, so the boys got to soak up some sun and play outside.
Clay was helping Cody with his bubble blower, and Cody was loving it.
The weather could not have been better.
The big boys were working in the yard and decided to have a little fun with the little boys.
It was a perfect Easter weekend.
Clay insisted on dark blue walls. But I didn't want it so dark that it was depressing. But I also didn't want baby blue...I'm not really a pastel kind of person. So I'm really happy with color we ended up with. It's quite uplifting if you ask me. While Chris painted the walls, Clay and I took his name letters off the wall and painted them to match his new wall color. Clayton loves to do "art projects". He is my big helper when it comes to anything crafty.
Easter-
Easter came out of nowhere this year. I was physically prepared (easter baskets, colored eggs) but not mentally. For some reason I'm stuck with like Jan/Feb brain. I mean how is it that time really IS "flying" by? As a child I remember wishing away my days. I couldn't wait for my birthday, or summer or Christmas; and it just seemed like the more I wished for it, the slower time seemed to pass. Now I find myself wishing for more time.It really is mind boggling. Easter was fun. Clay is at the age where coloring eggs and searching for them is fun. Cody not so much. :)
This year we tried a different technique. It was called "Molten Eggs". The directions were to take Crayons and sharpen them to give several crayon shavings. After boiling the eggs, pat them dry and then drop the crayon shavings onto the hot eggs. The shavings melted so fast, it was one of the coolest things I had seen in a long time. Even Chris got really into it. He eventually passed the shavings up altogether and just started drawing on the eggs-even slightly warm eggs were still melting the crayons so it was having a really cool effect.
How do you like Chris's Camo Egg? It turned out kinda cool.
...that is until Grandma, Carter and Declan (Carter's little half brother) showed up with the traditional water/vinegar egg dye. Cody was so fascinated-as were the older boys.
Cody thought he was so big.
That night when we put Cody to bed, we noticed he was a little congested. So I put some Baby Vicks Vapor Rub on his little chest in hopes he'd feel/sound better in the morning. We had "big plans" in the morning to make it to the Riverton Easter Egg hunt at 10am. Cody woke up at about 6:45am making a horrible wheezing sound. He was sobbing but couldn't breathe in deep enough to make any kind of a noise but a gasp or wheeze. I panicked. I have NEVER heard Cody like this-even when he was way little and had RSV. So we rushed him to Alta Hospital-where they got him in immediately. They gave him two Albuterol treatments and within seconds he was breathing silently with ease. They x-rayed his chest...and said his airways looked like those of an asthmatic persons, where their airways are constricted making it very difficult to breathe, which was also why the Albuterol worked so well. (Albuterol is the medicine very commonly known in many inhalers) The doctor however was very cautious about diagnosing "Asthma" as the problem. Because Cody was congested from a previous head cold...he didn't want to jump to any conclusions. So he sent us home with an inhaler and told us if we experienced anything like we had that morning to use the inhaler. Scary, scary, scary! We made it out of the Emergency room by 9:30am and Cody was hyper and ready to run a marathon, so we decided to meet Chris's mom, Clay, Carter and Declan at the Riverton Easter Egg hunt, we only had to stop by the house to get Cody's shoes and a basket. At about 5 minutes after 10am, Karen called to inform us not to come. Apparently they had gotten there right at 10, just as they blew the horn to start the hunt and less than 5 minutes later it was Done. Over. The End. Clay and Carter got a few pieces of candy, while poor lil Declan didn't get a single thing. So we decided to hold our own Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house. By the time we got the Easter Eggs stuffed and hid-Cody was in desperate need of a nap, so he was unable to participate. :(
I'm pretty sure the boys made out like bandits-better than any City organized Easter Egg Hunt I've ever heard of...and it was only Saturday.
After Cody woke up from his nap, he wanted to play outside.
Cody saw how much fun Clay was having on the scooter so he wanted a turn. Clay was so patient with him, and walked him around for at least 30 minutes. Cody was loving every second of it. He did Not want to get off.
So he settled for the four wheeler.
Even after it got too cold for him to be outside...he didn't care, he just really wanted to be outside.
Sunday was really nice. Cody was up first and didn't even notice that there where eggs "hidden" all over the house. Actually I don't know that he "didn't notice", or if maybe he was just thinking "o just another toy I've strewn all over the place". Clay's reaction was slightly different. No sooner had he walked out of his room, he saw the first "hidden egg" and his eyes lit up. "The Easter bunny came Mom!"
Clay was so excited he found all of his eggs AND Cody's. (The Easter Bunny "hid" all of Cody's eggs on the floor, and all of Clayton's from the couch up.) In their Easter Basket Clay got "Chase" the Rescue Bot (police car) and Cody got a Bubble blower. Nanny and Poppy sent them lots of goodies too; like foam dinosaurs that grow in water(and little plastic dinosaurs for Cody), Colored Bath Fizzies (which Clay thinks are the coolest thing ever), some delicious little candies and money! Clay was especially grateful for the money, and he told Nanny that. After the excitement of finding the eggs wore down, Clay, Cody, and I got ready to go to church with Grandma and Grandpa. What is Easter Sunday without church and family? This was the best picture I could get of the three of us.
After church, we came home, changed our clothes, took a well needed nap and then headed back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Easter dinner. It was delicious, as always. The weather was nice, so the boys got to soak up some sun and play outside.
Clay was helping Cody with his bubble blower, and Cody was loving it.
The weather could not have been better.
The big boys were working in the yard and decided to have a little fun with the little boys.
It was a perfect Easter weekend.
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