For the good of udders

Hard Day

It has just become known to me this last month, that you have to clean under your table every night or it is DISGUSTING! Kenai has done this faithfully in every place we have lived, that I had no clue that this was a daily task that you parents were doing.
Today was a hard day for Blynn. She was really missing Kenai today. Again, very interesting questions come from a 5 year old. She asked this evening if we could pray to Kenai.

Business Time

Todd and I had a much needed vacation just the two of us. I can't remember the last time we did that. I think it was before Rusty was born. We went for one night to Las Vegas and saw LOVE which is the Cirque du Soleil's Beatles show. It was incredible and I want to see it again and again. Really, you all must go and see it. Only in Vegas would you be greeted in baggage claim with Lady Gaga's Poker Face blaring over the speakers and women in their 60's singing along and dancing. Love it! I will say that one night in Vegas was more than enough time for me in that city. I do not like being around crowds and I have determined that Vegas is where smokers go on vacation. Seriously people, do you know it is 2010? It still catches me off guard that other states allow people to smoke indoors.

This is the hallway leading to the show and we even got to see an OCC bike up close.

The second night of our trip was at home. I guess that is called a staycation. It was weird to be at home without the kids, but also a lot of fun. The last time we did that, it was 2004. I forget how fun it is to just watch movies and tend to nobody but yourself and do whatever you want. Anyway, Todd and I had a great time and I even limited myself to not calling my sister and I didn't talk about the kids, well for the first day at least.

Proverbs 12:22

I received my mini-Boden catalog today. Such great inspiration for sewing projects. But one of my favorite things they do is interview their child models. So I asked Blynn some of the same questions:

Favorite movie: Mary Poppins
Favorite book: Little Red Riding Hood
Worst food: "pickles, I do not like pickles"
Best food: oranges
Best present ever: my princess piano
Best place in the world: Papa Russ and Grandma Lou Ann's house
Favorite sandwich: hamburger and ketchup
Animal I'd like to be: "elephant, so I can eat peanuts all day"
Most ticklish: armpits
Collects: leaves
Favorite game: duck, duck, goose
Favorite word: Stephanie
Spots or stripes: "stripes. I changed my mind, I like spots."

January Wishlist

When I made my Christmas wish list, it was very cathartic for me, as I knew I wasn't going to get anything on the list, but it was fun to post the list. Well, I have a few things that I can't get out of my mind. I love them and stare at them frequently. Let me share them with you.

A reason to start crocheting
This chair is so sunny and cheerful. (West Elm)

I can't get these out of my mind. They are beautiful and should be sitting on our book shelves. Wouldn't it also be fun to read through all these literary classics in one year. (Amazon.com, Penguin Classics)

Haircuts

Rusty had his first real haircut. Todd and I have been cutting it up until this point, and it had gotten to the point where it clearly needed a professional. We took him to a real barber.

So handsome!!

Take it to the next level

Have you seen these blogs with these talented gals who embellish their ordinary tshirts. I love it. And I have been feeling in a crazy way the need to sew this last week, but because we are crazy busy (who isn't) I don't have time for a real project, so I took my sister's black shirt and bedazzled it. The more flair the better!

I was on strict orders to not take a picture of her face. It was early on a Saturday morning.

You may recognize this material from the bedskirt and shams I made for our master bedroom.

Quilts

Todd has an extremely talented Aunt Susan who also lives in Denver that we were finally able to go and visit on this last trip. She is a quilter and has made quilts for all of us. Such a fun tradition! We were able to see the quilts that she still has at her house, although the majority of her quilts have been given away. This quilt was one of my favorites, it was made from wool. I'll move in closer so you can see the detail.

_______________________
This one was my favorite I think. I'm pretty sure this is feed sack material. I remember making shorts with my mom out of some of my grandma's feedsack material. I'll zoom in on my favorite fabric.

And some more!

Stacks and stacks of them.

I didn't manage to get a picture of Aunt Sue with any of these quilts. Maybe next time!

Denver trip

We were able to make it to Denver to visit Todd's family before Blynn went back to school. It happened to be very cold while we were there. Have you ever experienced 1 degree weather in the middle of a sunny afternoon? We went to a Butterfly Pavilion that had tarantulas for the kids to touch. "No thank you" said Rusty--smart boy!

Even starfish need to hold someone's hand.

It has been Blynn's dream for some time now to make a snow angel. Check. We visited with a lot of family on this trip and our cousins from CA were even there, but apparently I didn't take any pictures of them. Guess I was just enjoying everybody.

Kenai

We said goodbye to Kenai today. This was much harder than I expected. She has been a great family member for the last 11+ years, but has not been doing so great this last year. Losing a dog with children present makes for some very interesting questions. We had a nice memorial service for her out in the fog by the kids walnut trees. We will miss her!