all done!

This weekend Timothy and I enjoyed a visit with the Nies' in Spearfish. Timothy was a trooper traveling with just mommy and we had a good time. Timothy learned how to roll the ball with Grandpa (and a pumpkin, and an apple, and anything else they could find to roll), we watched the Cardinals game 6 and 7, visited Great-Grandma and Grandpa in Rapid, and Aunt Kim came to visit too. Of course we played with Eric, Michelle, Eli, Jason, and Alison. He has had some amazing naps since we have been home too. ;)

While we were there, my mother-in-law helped me with the binding on the Christmas Tree pants and it is done! I am really glad that I stuck with it and finished it through in a timely manner. I am still working on the advent calendar...sewing on 24 buttons by hand takes awhile. :)

And to make my day even better, I went to sew,mama,sew website this morning, and found out that I won 3 patterns! Woohoo!

At least his diaper matches his socks

I love cloth diapers :)

I have now been totally motivated to get the 12 month clothes out of the basement...

Tigger's new blanket

...I mean the Christmas tree pants. :)

Hey, at least I am being realistic. I even put a heavy canvas on the back because I don't want her to put her fat self down on it and rip it on the metal tree stand underneath. She does keep my feet warm at night, so I'll stop complaining about her now...

Almost done! I have officially machine quilted my first project. It has some wobbly lines (mostly because I am terrified that the quilting pen won't wash out after I am done), but I am really happy with it. All I need to do is cut a slit into the center with a circle for the trunk and bind it all together!

Yes, I have to cut into it now that I have finished it...also slightly terrifying...

And another picture of my helper, who is standing pretty well and starting to creep along the couch. I can't believe how fast he is growing and learning! I have a feeling he may walk before he crawls...but I think that is what happens when you have a feeding tube in your belly. We have such a wonderful physical therapist that comes to our house to work with him (a.k.a. show me what to do with him for the next week) as well as an awesome speech therapist.

Is it weird that we had to move out to the middle of ranch and farm land, 3 hours away from a major medical center, to actually get quality care?

Advent Calendar

Here are the promised pictures of the advent calendar. I have now finished top stitching each leaf and pear, but only after ripping half of them out and starting them over. After seeing some of the other projects and how smooth the stitching was, I was thinking it was going to be easy. I was so wrong. Stitching around the curve of each shape, trying to be 1/8" from the edge was PAINFUL.

I should probably rip out a couple of my leaves and try a third time, but I think I am just going to leave it.

I need to let it be a beginning project and sit back.

Besides, I only have 6 other things going on right now and I need to move on...

:)

This week's assignment is to cut all of the windows open, trace the openings on the stabilizer, attach the Bible verses on the stabilizer where they will show through the windows, and fuse the whole thing together. (This is easier than it sounds) Next Wednesday we will get the finishing instructions!

Tree Pants

Here is an update on the Tree Pants (aka Christmas tree skirt) that I am working on. It is nice that we get a little bit of the instructions every week...it is keeping me on track. The pictures are a little dark because it is absolutely dreary here today. I think we may have turned the corner and the fall weather is here to stay. We are supposed to get our first hard frost this week and highs only in the forties a couple of days too. To celebrate (and keep warm) we have declared it soup week. We kicked it off with tomato soup and tuna sandwiches for lunch and cheeseburger paradise soup for dinner. Amazing! Looking forward to this tomorrow and this later on in the week and lots of leftovers and soup going into the freezer for future meals!

I am also following a sew along for an advent calendar too. I am learning a lot and my sewing skills are definitely being challenged and growing. I am working on tracing all of the leaves and pears with stitching and lets just say that a couple of them are going to have to be ripped out and redone. :) I'll post pictures, the good and the bad, in a couple of days.

mmm...

chicken and noodles :)

Yes, Timothy is working on solid foods and apparently having a good time with it too. How much he actually takes in is questionable, but I do know that he does swallow and we are even swallowing with our mouth closed. (He would swallow with his mouth open before...you try it, it is not easy!)

We met with the pediatric surgeon/feeding team specialist earlier this week and he is pleased with how Timothy is gaining weight. At this point, we are just waiting for the muscle on the top of the stomach to get strong and for the spitting up to stop. Then we can wean him off of the feeding pump and to more regular feedings. For now, we are staying with the same plan with lots of practice eating, which is adding to the calorie intake too.

all clean!

weight (as of today): 17 pounds, 7.5 ounces

length (as of Monday): 27"

3% in weight, 4% in length, 41% weight for length

Best Buddies

Tigger has been amazingly patient the past couple of weeks and letting Timothy pet her (aka grab bunches of fur and pull or grab at her ears and squeal in delight). He lights up when she looks (glares) at him and he can talk to her for the longest time. We'll see how long this lasts once Timothy starts moving!

And the other pair of best buddies... :)

And just for grandmas...here he is standing on his own!

tomato preserves

So here is how the tomato preserves turned out:

I have to admit, it tastes pretty interesting. There is a hint of tomato in there, but it is sweet and really lemony. I am looking forward to trying some on pancakes in the morning. I had better start using it up... 5 eight ounce jars and 7 four ounce jars are now sitting in my fridge, ready to be eaten, transferred to the freezer, or given away to unexpecting family and friends...

things I did today...

1. Finished my fall wall hanging!

2. Roasted the last of the acorn squash from our garden and packed it in freezer bags.

3. Roasted squash seeds...mmm

4. Started making tomato preserves...I have never heard of this before, but one of our members gave us a box full of yellow tomatoes and mentioned this is what he loves to make with them. So, we are going to try it. It starts with boiling sugar, water, and 2 lemons (pictured). Then I added the tomatoes and cooked them for awhile. Now it sits overnight and I finish it tomorrow. Updates will be coming...I can't imagine spreading a tomato based preserve...

5. Went to the laundromat to do Timothy's stuff...our washing machine broke last week and we are still waiting for the repairman to come with the ordered part to fix it. (long story) Said laundry is also folded.

6. Took the van to the dealership to get a part installed so all of the window controls work, yay!

7. Played with Timothy and enjoyed Jared's company.

8. Cut Jared's hair. (yay for being easy!)

9. Updated the blog.

9. Heading to bed...

10 months

Yes, I have squash on my shirt. I obviously don't care.

10 months, 17 pounds. :)

took too soon

So, I thought the picture of the mums was beautiful last week (which it is). Then we spent Monday-Wednesday at the district conference and came back to this! Wow! I am loving all the mums and I still have one bush that hasn't even started. :)

sew alongs

I have discovered something that really intrigues me...the sew along. I know that they have been around for awhile, but I am new on the scene I guess. For those of you that are even farther behind than I am, or not involved in the crafting world, a sew along is when a group of people all do a project together and share the progress with comments and photos.

My first sew along was for a quiet book and I thought that it would keep me on track and motivated to finish it. Unfortunately, the creator of the group lost interest and it fell apart and I left the group, disappointed.

Just last week, I found a sew along on sew, mama, sew that I am really excited about and with 60 members on one project and 80 on a second, I am pretty sure that it will be a better experience. The first project is an advent calendar and every Wednesday during the month of October they are posting the next set of directions. So far, everything is cut out!

The second project is a tree pant ("because not all trees like to wear skirts) that has directions posted every Friday. So far, I have my fabric picked out.

I am killing two birds with one stone...improve my sewing skills and decorate the house for the holidays. I'll post more as I progress, because I know that this will also keep me on track. :)

16 pounds, 14 ounces

:) so happy to just play...

end of the season

We are officially done growing vegetables for the year. We had a couple of cold nights that toasted our plants, so Friday they came out. Jared ran the tiller around and then we added a couple more beds for next year. They will get a good mulching of leaves in a couple of weeks, bone meal, and another good tilling.

Is it sad that I already have an outline planned for the garden next spring? :) I am looking forward to getting our seed catalog in January and picking out a whole bunch of yummy produce! New things we are thinking about for next year...asparagus bed, rhubarb, garlic, pole beans, peas, and whatever else catches my fancy in the catalog.

I just processed the last of the zucchini for the freezer...is 35 cups enough? That doesn't include the galloon freezer bag of ice cup zucchini puree or the 6 loaves of zucchini bread already baked and in the freezer too. :) I didn't mind tossing the last couple of zucchini we had left in the fridge...they were getting a little mushy and my arm was getting tired of grating.

The other big gardening news is that we finally have beautiful mums blooming! The entire front of our house is planted with mums and I have been very patiently waiting all summer to see what colors we would have. Along the long side of the porch, they are mostly orange with a couple of yellows, and on the short side are a couple of rusts, one purple, and one that is still tightly closed. So exciting! (hey, there is not much going on here) :)

finishing up pages and adding too

So, I vowed to myself that I am not allowed to make any more pages for Timothy's quiet book until the bits and pieces left on old pages were done.

I did pretty good.

I have only one page left undone, the car page, and I still haven't figured out what kind of cars to make yet. The only new page I have made since my vow is the back cover. Originally I wasn't going to do a back cover, but it would be nice to have some kind of strap to hold everything together. I am not finished with it quite yet...it has a lot of hand sewing (as you will see), so I'll post pictures later. You'll have to pardon the lighting...it is after 8, so it is pitch black outside...

All of the fish are done!

The mailbox now has mail!

(not pictured...balloons are all trimmed, traffic light trimmed)

I did make a couple of pages before my vow and I haven't posted them yet, so here they are!

zipper page, a new obsession for my son.

They reveal a spaceship fabric underneath...I may make a removable ship for inside too.

texture page (much brighter in person, I promise)

Chick in an egg pocket. (saw it here first)

barn with...

finger puppets! (pattern here)