Surprises

When I was a child, I hated waiting for surprises (who am I kidding?? I'm still like this). Christmas and birthdays were always very difficult for me. I'm very impatient by nature and waiting for something that's bound to be good is a trial. Even in my married life I struggle. Our first few Christmases were a big letdown for Chris because I guessed what he was giving me. It wasn't until a few years later that he brought this annoying habit to my attention. Sorry!!!

When we found out we were unexpectedly expecting that was a big surprise. I have since surprised myself by committing to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. I never thought that I would be able to do that. However, in this situation I think it's appropriate.

We had our ultrasound about two weeks ago and were successful at not finding out. There's no turning back now unless the tech wrote it down somewhere and one of the doctors accidentally blurts it out. The ultrasound showed that the baby is healthy. I do have to return in a few months for a follow up ultrasound because my placenta has not moved up which could mean placenta previa. I hope it all resolves. I feel confident that things will work out as they should.

Here are a few pictures of the little tyke:

My New Computer

This is my new computer. Yes, it's red. I'm so excited. I hope I can be a better blogger now that I don't have to work on my dinosaur. It should be easier for me to upload pictures and that's more fun for a blog.

Wonderful Weekend

I had such an awesome weekend! I took a four-day trip with some quilting friends to the beach. We rented a beach house to accommodate all nine of us. We went with one mission in mind. . . .quilt, quilt, quilt! And quilt we did, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. I felt like a college student again! We did do a few other things too like eat, watch movies and listen to music, all while working on our quilts of course.
As I packed for the trip I wanted to make sure I had plenty of projects to work on. I planned on making a quilt for our baby and I had a few projects that had just been sitting in my closet. I didn't have anything pressing to finish besides the baby quilt. I packed material and fabric for five quilts plus a felt book that needed to be cut out for the kids. I knew I was grossly overestimating how much I would accomplish in four days.
Taking inventory at the end of the trip, however, there was only one project I didn't touch. I finished three quilt tops, started another and finished the felt book. Combined with my other friends we finished 15 quilt tops in the four days we were there. Not too bad! It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have to make dinner, bathe children, clean the house, shower, get dressed. . . .oh, just kidding I did the latter two.
I'll be posting some pictures soon. I forgot to take my camera but a few people had them.

Dirty Days

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins: That was my latest great find. Crispy sweetness on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. The flavor of fall.
The weather has been really nice lately. We have finally cooled off to the 80s! I took the kids outside to play. My neighbor is having some landscaping done around her yard. The workers dumped a big pile of dirt in the cul-de-sac. Tristan spotted it first. I tried to deter the kids but then one of the workers suggested they go get their buckets and shovels.
Both kids had a blast but they were covered from head to toe with dark brown dirt. It was fun to see them play in it. I didn't even mind so much when Tristan ate a few handfuls of dirt. He seemed happy. If it wasn't for our dinner meeting with Daddy it would have been even more fun. I had to take them in the house and give them a bath before taking them to the hospital so we could have dinner as a family.

What You've Missed

I just wanted to post this picture of my friend Rachel. I wrote about the quilt I made for her several months ago. She is seen in the picture with me. She tied it with her mother and I finished the binding for her.


Life has been busy lately but I thought I better blog so I can get some of it recorded anyway. I don't know why it's been so hard for me to blog since we moved. I am blaming it on the fact that our computer is in a different place and not as accessible.


Kennedy started preschool at the beginning of the month. She is so cute and loves it. I am enjoying the one-on-one time with Tristan but it seems most days are filled with naps or busy errands. I have managed to take him tot he park a few times though.


Last week was our women's conference. I was in charge providing two quilts for the service project. My mom donated two pieced quilts and made it that much easier for me. We had an activity where several women from the ward showed up to help tie. I had two more quilting sessions at my house. They are done and they were the cutest ones (if I do say so myself, thanks, Mom) of the group.


We have finally saved up some money to buy some new furniture. Our first project is the dining room. We purchased a table and some chairs last weekend and look forward to their arrival. It will be nice to start decorating our new home that we've lived in for almost six months now!
The furniture doesn't look very exciting from a tiny picture but in real life it's really nice. Simple but elegant. I am going to have a deep red and gold fabric on the seats. Fun stuff.

Serendipity

Today I had to run some errands near the mall so as a reward for my children's good behavior I took them to the mall play area then we had lunch at Chik-fil-a. Soon after we arrived at the play area Kennedy walked up to a little girl and started talking to her. It was too loud and she was too far away for me to hear what she said but the two played together happily for some time. Once they came close to me and Kennedy was excited to tell me she had met a new friend. I asked the little girl, who was wearing the same skort as Kennedy, what her name was and she said, "Kennedy". I thought she misunderstood. Soon her mother came my way and I asked her what her daughter's name was. She said the same thing, "Kennedy". Oh! That's my daughter's name too! It turned out they were the same age--give or take a few months. After a few minutes the girl's mother asked me if I'm LDS. She said that she, too, is LDS and they are not in the same ward but go to the same building. Just a funny coincidence.

The Cooking Club

I went through a cookbook-collecting phase when we lived in Denver. It started with one of those mail-order things where you get so many cookbooks for $1 then have to buy so many at regular price. Then a lady at church cleaned out her cookbooks and gave me some very good books. It kind of snowballed from there. I have kept most of them.
About this same time I had an idea to start a cooking club. My friend, Liz, helped me get it going. We invited some of our friends and we met once a month or so. We always had a theme and a little lesson with several dishes to taste at the end. We took turns hosting, teaching and providing the food. Now that I think about it it kind of sounds a bit silly but we had so much fun! When you combine women, food and conversation you can't go wrong.
Some of the themes I remember are fondue, picnics, bread and eggs. I also remember having a little demo on napkin folding. I still have a lot of our handouts and refer to them from time to time. I really did learn a lot.

This recipe is one of my favorite desserts. I like Oreo desserts. This is not related to the cooking club but I thought I would include it because I was talking to my mom about it the other day.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake
2 cups (24) crushed Oreo cookies
6 Tbs butter, melted
Combine crumbs and margarine, press onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of spring form pan
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 1/4 cups (10) chopped Oreo cookies
Soften gelatin in water; stir over low heat until dissolved. Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Gradually add gelatin, and milk, mixing until blended. Chill until slightly thickened but not set; fold in whipped cream. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cream cheese mixture; pour remaining cream cheese mixture over crust. Top with chopped cookies and reserved cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm.