Quilting Retreat

It's been so long since I have posted but part of that is because since having my last child things have gotten so busy and little things, like keeping up with a blog, fall to the side. Life flies by so quickly and I don't take the time to sit down and write about it. It's a shame. However, I am still a mom and I am still a quilter.

That being said, I just returned from an amazing weekend at the beach with my quilting friends. Each year this group that I have been quilting with since I moved here takes a few days off and heads down to the beach. We rent a beach house and quilt like crazy! We have been doing this for four years now and this is my second time. We always stay up too late, eat too much and laugh a lot. It's kind of like college! I managed to finish three quilt tops while I was there.

The first quilt I finished the very first night I was there (Thursday night). The squares were already cut for me and I cut the sashings (the white pieces), cornerstones (the little black squares) and borders (around the outside) before I went to the beach so all I had to do was sew them together. It was a really easy pattern so it zipped right up.
This quilt is a pattern called "yellow brick road". It makes a really cute baby quilt. I have used this pattern many times and it turns out different every time. This quilt will go to Chris's resident at work whose wife is having a baby girl in April. I made this quilt on Friday.
This quilt was the "mother" of all quilts at the beach. No other quilt there was this labor intensive. To be fair, I started making the "flying geese" blocks two years ago. I got the pattern from a quilting magazine and the pattern is called "rhubarb crisp". I fell in love with the pattern and immediately pulled out some fabrics from my stash. It has 480 "flying geese" blocks so it has taken me two years to want to get back to it. I was determined to finish it, however. I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. Monday finishing it. I wanted to go home with the top done. I must say, I love it and it is not leaving our home once it's finished.

For all you non-quilters, this little block is a flying geese block. Can you picture it? They flying geese, I mean. It measures 1 1/2"x3".
In other news, Chris was called to be in the bishopric the night before I left for the beach. The timing was impeccable.

Summertime Fun

I keep thinking things are going to slow down and I will get back into the habit of blogging again but I never seem to have enough in me at the end of the day to write down my thoughts. Life with three young kids is very busy. We have been trying to keep busy this summer too.

Kennedy had her dance recital about a month ago. She did really well. She was in a group that performed a ballet routine and a tap dance. Kennedy was front and center in both dances.

Kennedy and Tristan had two weeks of swim lessons. Kennedy took right to the water but Tristan never did much. I think he doesn't like the idea of not being able to touch the ground. That is kind of scary when you think about it. Jack and I would sit in the baby pool while the other two were in lessons. He didn't like it much at first but now he loves going.

There was a vacation bible school at the church where Kennedy went to preschool. Kennedy and Tristan were able to attend that. I had never heard of vacation bible school until last summer when a church by our house had one and I took Kennedy. She had so much fun she talked about it for months after. I think she and Tristan really enjoyed it this year too. Every once in a while Tristan with break out into, "Jesus in my heart, Jesus in my heart".

Jack turned one on June 10th. He is just growing up. He's a busy little guy. I can't keep up with him. He will empty a drawer and while I'm cleaning that up he's making a mess out of the toilet paper or something.

We are still trying to get Tristan fully potty trained. He has had such resistance to #2 for some reason. We are at our wits end. If anyone reading this has any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them. I feel like we have tried everything. He doesn't respond to incentives at all. At this point I am wondering if he will just have to wear diapers for the rest of his life!

Happy 4th to all. Be safe and have fun.

Busy Spring, Busy Summer

Kennedy has her last week of preschool this week. I have a pretty busy summer planned for her. On top of company and traveling she has two weeks of swim lessons, three summer camps, tap lessons and horse riding lessons. She has had a wonderful preschool year but she is excited to start kindergarten. She is doing well with her writing and she is starting to read well too. Last week they had dress up days at preschool. One of the days she was supposed to dress up like a character in a favorite book. She thought of Daisy Head Maizy. You can see her in the orange dress in the above picture. There is also a picture of her playing baseball. She is also enjoying dance and her recital is in two weeks.

Tristan is excited to have his sister home more. However, I wonder how many days it will take for him to realize that he had it pretty good while she was at school. (He gets a whole three hours to himself with no siblings (Jack napping) every day). He is a busy three-year-old. He enjoys playing outside and with his trucks still. He is starting to write his letters. He'll take swim lessons with Kennedy and also a tumbling class this summer.

Jack's new nickname is tsunami Jack. He destroys everything in his path. His favorite things are emptying any cupboard (see picture above) or drawer, lifting the toilet lid and seat, climbing the stairs, and unrolling the toilet paper. Chris and Christi work too hard, are exhausted at the end of the day, don't get enough sleep and can't wait for a vacation.

Tristan's Birthday

Last Friday my little Tristan turned three. He is such a sweet boy. He asked me if we could go on a picnic for his birthday. I made us a nice lunch and we picked up Chris from work and drove over to Duke Gardens. It was quite busy but we found a secluded spot and spread out our blanket. The kids enjoyed biscuits and jam, fruit and chips. I let Tristan pick out some cupcakes at the store. We had a few presents for him to open, one being a soccer ball that he and Kennedy were able to kick around after lunch. Later that day we colored Easter eggs.
Tristan was a little confused and wasn't sure why he was getting so much attention and why he is three now when he just started to understand that he was two.
Jack turned 10 months on the same day and I think we are in trouble. Check out this picture and imagine what kind of mischief he will be into when he turns two!

Hair cut

Kennedy has had long hair for quite some time now. She has been throwing out comments lately like, "I want hair like yours, mommy", "when will I have short hair?", etc. So we took her this weekend to have her hair cut. It looks pretty good on her. I wish it would have been long enough to donate because she has really good hair (besides the cowlick b

ut she kept that!). She seems to like it. I think it will be good for summer. What do you think?

In other news, Jack is now 8 months old. He is crawling all over the house. He loves that he can do this and his favorite place is the vents in the floor. He moves himself over them and pulls them out of the floor--I think we're in for it if he is doing these kind of things already!
Jack has two teeth now and he loves to use them. He loves eating. His favorite things to eat are crackers, especially graham, cooked carrots, and anything mom will give him that's homemade, like pancakes, muffins, waffles, etc.

I guess I better report on Tristan too. He is such a sweet little boy. We started potty training him when Mom and Dad were here in December. He has done pretty well so far. He still has some learning to do but that will come with time. He is registered to start preschool next fall at the same preschool as Kennedy attends. I can hardly believe it. His 3rd birthday is in April and he has grown up so much in the last year. A few weeks ago we had to speak in church. I was the first speaker and Chris sat in the congregation with the kids. My topic was "teaching your family reverence for the sacrament." As I was giving my talk Tristan came up onto the stand. Daddy couldn't get up fast enough so I just kept on with my talk. It was mere coincidence that my very next comment was, "Children learn by example". I probably had 20 people tell me how funny they thought that was and wondered if I had planned it. Tristan is always keeping me on my toes.
Chris and I are managing to keep busy. We are painting our bedroom this week and having a playset installed in the backyard for the kids. We are excited for these changes.

Balsamic Roasted New Potatoes

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 TBS minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary*
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme*
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds small new potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, optional
Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add potatoes and next 4 ingredients. Toss. Remove skillet from heat; place in oven.
2. Roast potatoes, uncovered, at 425* for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar, toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered 6 more minutes. Serve immediately.
*1/4 tsp. dried herbs may be substituted for fresh herbs. If you have to choose between the two herbs, use rosemary.

Seven Months Old

Jack turned 7 months old on Saturday. We got some pictures taken at Target but this one is just one I took at home. It seems to me like around 6 or 7 months my babies all change drastically. They turn into different babies--not infants anymore.

On Saturday morning I noticed Jack's first tooth finally poked through. He's been working on that for over a month now. Finally. . .

Jack can now sit up. Each day he is able to sit up more and more. We had pancakes for dinner last night and I gave him a few nibbles (well, more than a few--he ate at least one whole pancake) and he loved it. He gets cuter and cuter every day.

I know it's just a matter of weeks before he is crawling. Poor kid doesn't get as much floor time as the other two had. He spends more time in a car seat than Kennedy and Tristan did but we're working on it.

Kennedy sure loves her little brother. She likes to take a blanket and make a little "tent" over Jack and they play and giggle under the blanket. He knows when she walks into the room. We sure love him too.

3 Kids, 3 Messes, 3 Minutes

For some reason I find being a mother of three young children completely draining. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?

This morning was just a typical day, nothing unusual. Breakfast was served and all was calm and then all of a sudden. . . . . .

Mess #1

Kennedy decided to feed Jack some puffs--I was ok with this because it allowed me to eat my cereal in peace. Kennedy turned to put away the puffs and the container spilled on the floor and Jack started crying.

Mess #2

Tristan leaned over the table to look at the puffs on the floor and spilled a full cup of milk all over the table which then spilled onto the floor saturating the puffs.

Mess #3

I picked up the crying Jack and leaned over to pick up the puffs container and inadvertently pressed his "spit-up button" and he barfed all over the floor.

Yep, just a typical morning!

Good bye

We said good bye to Grandma and Grandpa today. It was nice to have them here for a few weeks. We enjoyed having family around for the Christmas and New Year Holidays. I think they are probably pretty tired considering what we have put them through.

We started potty training Tristan and he has been doing ok. The first two days were pretty intense and then we were all so frustrated that we decided to put the diapers back on and forget about it for awhile. Then we discovered that he didn't want to go in the diaper anymore. He is really good at holding everything in but getting out is another story. He did a little better today but I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him. I pray this will get better each day!

Cornucopia Salad

¼ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbs. sugar

1 head green or red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces
1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
2 avacados, cut into chunks
2 apples, diced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:
½ cup sugar
1 tsp grated onion
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard
¾ tsp poppy seeds

Combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use. Caramelize slivered almonds by mixing with sugar in a small skillet and stirring constantly over low heat until lightly browned. Spread on foil to cool, then break into pieces. Toss salad ingredients, almonds and dressing just prior to serving.

Hung by the Chimney with Care

The week before Kennedy was born my mom and I made this cute Christmas stocking for her.

Last year (just after we found out we were expecting Jack but before we had told anyone) my mom and I made this stocking for Tristan. I tried to convince her to make another one, "just in case." But she just kind of chuckled.

This year I thought I better make a stocking for Jack and I thought that since the other two kids have a snowman on their stocking I should do one for Jack with a snowman. However, I didn't have a pattern or an idea to work from. Then I saw an ad from Pottery Barn with a stocking decorated with a snowman. I decided to copy the pattern. I thought it turned out pretty nice. What do you think?

This was the one I saw at Pottery Barn.

Getting older. . .

Yesterday was my birthday. We had a busy weekend. As any December-born knows, birthdays are more likely forgotten that remembered during the holiday rush. I'm used to it and it doesn't really bother me anymore. I did get to speak to some family members and that was wonderful. However, I did get to celebrate a little this weekend. Friday night Chris took me to a really nice restaurant which is something we rarely do. Neither one of us can justify spending a week's-worth of groceries on one meal--very often. The menu was pretty exotic. Chris ordered the wild boar but I stayed close to home and ordered a steak. It was really good too. Saturday we hosted a dinner party at our home. We have a group that we get together with every month or two. We all bring part of the meal and have a nice time chatting. There is always one story that brings a good laugh. My friend who brought the dessert knew it was my birthday and her husband's birthday was Friday so she wrote, "Happy Birthday" on the cake and the rest of them sang to us. Sunday was just Sunday. What more can I say? Jack tends to be a little fussy at church because he won't sleep. I rarely get to sit through any of the lessons. One highlight though was that Kennedy sang for the Christmas program. She and one other little girl sang, "Picture a Christmas". She was asked just a week ago to sing this song and she had never heard it before so we had to practice really hard all week. She did really well though. Today I had a pretty strange day. About half way through the day I started feeling really dizzy and nauseous. It was so bad that I had to call a friend to come help me with my kids. I spend the rest of the day lying in bed. I think I'm a little better now so maybe I will go have some cake. . .

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice meal with friends on Thursday. I sure miss family around the holidays but I am so thankful to have good friends here. After the meal all the gals hit the movies--Twilight.

On Friday Chris and a friend went fishing. I spent a whole day taking care of the kids and doing the usual thing--yes, I'm bitter. Not really, Chris deserves a day like that every once in a while. I was just hoping to do some fun, festive activities with the kids. I find it overwhelming taking three kids out by myself right now, with one being a baby and the other a two-year-old.

Chris came home with a hurt back and a head cold so we didn't get our Christmas tree this weekend like we had planned. We did, however, put out our Christmas decorations. Bring on the holidays. . .

Annie

I was just a little girl when the movie "Annie" hit the big screen. I loved it and remember singing with verve, "The sun'll come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun." There was a whole generation that looked at red hair with admiration and fascination for some time. It's been a long time since I thought about little Annie.
A few weeks ago Chris and I were discussing possible birthday ideas for Kennedy's 5th birthday. We decided that instead of buying her another toy that we wanted to "buy" her an experience. We started searching and saw that the musical "Annie" was playing in Raleigh on Kennedy's birthday. I pulled up some clips of various Annie musicals on youtube. Kennedy seemed to really enjoy it so we bought the tickets and wrapped them in pretty paper when they came in the mail.
Tuesday was the big day (birthday and the musical). When she unwrapped the gift we told her that our gift to her was that she and mom were going to get dressed, stay up late and go see Annie.
Kennedy was a fun date to this musical. She went in singing "The sun'll come out tomorrow. . .". She was excited from the very first note. There were a few times that she got a little bored but all in all I was impressed with how well she did. The musical was good too. The woman who played Ms. Hannigan was so good, hilarious.
At the end of the musical Kennedy asked me if she could give Annie two thumbs up. During the curtain call she kept asking me if it was time. Soon Annie came out and I held Kennedy up so she could see (everyone else was standing by then) and she held both her thumbs up high so Annie could see. She's such a cute girl (Kennedy, I mean).

He Likes It. . . .HE Doesn't

Jack turned five months old today. Last week he had his first cold and was miserable. We gave him rice cereal for the first time yesterday and guess what? He likes it!

Whenever Tristan doesn't like something or he is scared he puts his hands overr his ears. He spent a little time on the potty this weekend and guess what? He DOESN'T like it!

Windows

We've had some fun making changes to our home. We've painted Kennedy and Tristan's rooms. Tristan finally got his "big boy bed", bunk beds. We also took down the privacy blinds that we put up when we moved in a year and a half ago and put up real window treatments in their rooms. It's coming along.

We've just about got our dining room finished. We got this rug a few weeks ago and our window treatments were hung yesterday. Just in time for me to host a luncheon with some friends today.

Blessing

Today Jack is two months old. It was also his blessing day. He did well. When I got to church he was fussy so I worried he would cry during the blessing but he was a champ and didn't make a sound. He looked so cute in his little white outfit. He is two months old now and changing daily. His face gets more and more animated every day.

We still have some construction going on in our neighborhood. Tristan--the little BOY that he is--just loves driving past the digger every day. Chris took him and Kennedy down to see it the other day and let them take a turn "driving".
We have been enjoying having Nana and Poppa Kelsey here the past few days. We took a picnic to Duke Gardens yesterday and we couldn't have asked for better weather. The kids enjoyed running around while the adults sat in the shade to relax. This is the last fun thing for summer for us. Kennedy starts preschool in September. She is excited to be going every day.

A few words, pictures and a recipe

I know, I haven't posted in a while. What can I say? I'm busy. I love my job though. Last week Kennedy had a camp at her new preschool. I got a taste of what it will be like driving her to preschool every day. I burned through at least half a tank of gas. Not only that but in five days' time Jack got used to falling asleep in his car seat and sleeping there. Now I'm not sure if he remembers how to sleep. The last two days, especially, have been trying. I literally held him all day yesterday, except for two 45 minute breaks. I can't say I enjoy this stage of infancy. I know I should enjoy these times of holding him, but the truth is, I don't. I want to just be able to lay him down awake in his bed and walk out of the room. Four months is when the "experts" say you can train them to do that--seems so far away.

Yesterday I was really glad that I planned ahead a little bit and had a meal in the freezer I could pop in the oven. I did make some muffins to go with it though. They turned out really good. This is the recipe I used:

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
PREPARATION:
Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 12.

I had to take a picture of Jack's feet. With all of my kids I have been amused by their feet when they are nursing. Maybe it's because it's the only think I can see but they are just so relaxed. I never took pictures of the other two but I had to capture Jack's feet before it's too late. Soon he will be moving around too much.

Five Weeks and Smiling

Sunday was a depressing day for me. After five weeks, my mom left. Help! To make matters worse Chris left for a business trip in Rhode Island. Talk about being drop-kicked into reality. I was determined to take my kids to church even though I would be doing it alone. Happy to say I made it with only a few outbursts in sacrament meeting. It was a little stressful at times but we survived.

When I got home I called Chris on his cell phone. We talked for a while then he instructed me to go out to the mailbox where I would find a surprise. I took the phone with me and we kept talking. The mailbox was empty. I was then instructed to look east. Oh yeah, a treasure hunt! Just then our little tan Corolla came up over the hill and Chris was driving! Turns out his flight was cancelled and the next flight would not get him to the meeting in time for it to be worth it so he decided to stay home.

This week has been extremely busy with the three kids. However, I have been ok. I have just been pretending that having three kids is no big deal. Fake it 'til you make it, right?

Jack turned 5 weeks on Tuesday and he greeted me that morning with his first smile (this is not a picture of his smile). He smiled at me about half a dozen times. So cute. It's nice to get some feedback.

Juggling Act

Jack is a week old. It makes me laugh to think of myself as a new mom with one child. One seems so easy now. When I had Kennedy I stressed over everything. I called the nurse advice line at least once a week for several months. I remember calling one time about her sucking her thumb and she had a sore on her thumb from the sucking. Who calls about things like that? A crazy, stressed-out first time mom, that's who.

Two was ok to manage and it got pretty easy as Tristan got older. It was nice for them to start playing together. It would have been easier these past few months had I not been pregnant. How funny I must have looked at 8 months pregnant running down the street after my toddler who could outrun me by a mile.

So far having three is like a juggling act. One is always up in the air. . .at all times at least one of my kids needs something right now. I wonder how I will manage when my mom leaves. . .

So far though, Jack has been a heavy sleeper. I have to force him awake sometimes just to eat. He was gaining weight really well at first but the past few days he has slept almost the whole day. And, in spite of a rough first night home from the hospital, he has done really well at night. I feed him before I go to bed and he wakes up half-way through the night and then again in the morning when it's time to get up. I take him for a weight check tomorrow to find out how he's growing.