Finished

I started this a few years ago and just made it up as I went along. It was my first experience with half-square triangles and I kind of taught myself. It's not perfect. I made the tree, then waited a while to see how I wanted to finish it. Now it's finished. I put in the trunk and quilted it and added some hand quilting. It's a nice wall hanging, I think. It's a first attempt :) 

Happy Christmas!

Our Christmas card  - our family completed! I got them blown up and on the walls so Millie really feels like a part of us. (I know, she doesn't know any better now, but she will eventually)

t

Baby's been sick, but she loves getting into stuff.

Grace with Santa at our city's street fair.

Millie and me.

November update

Well it's only been a month since I've updated. Things are busy here. Or they're coming off of being busy. Millie is now 6 months old and is almost crawling. Gracie full of first grade attitude. We're off for the week, so that's a nice break. Grace spent the weekend with Mawmaw, so that was nice. Craftwise, sewingwise, the only thing I've done is make a baby sling for my cousin's baby shower. I have a blanket started for her, but I haven't gotten to finish it yet. Millie is totally awesome and I love holding her, but it limits what I can do with my hands - and I'm sure she'd love to get her hands on yarn. 

Since there will be no more babies, I've turned my attention to sprucing up the house a bit. I'm starting with the bathroom because it's small and I can probably get it at least painted this week. I'm going for a darkish gray on the cabinets and a light gray on the walls because the tile is a greengray and pink. I can't do anything about that, but I can paint walls and cabinets. I'm going to make a curtain for the faux window thing in there. I'm going to try to find a frame for the mirror to make it look better. Wait for the dog to die to replace the bath mat. Replace the ugly cheap faucet with something prettier. Not sure what - I'm really bad at decorating, so I'm doing one thing at a time to see what goes. I have big plans for the kitchen - all summer vegetable colors. Yum! It'll be a while, money and time being what it is.

Pre-family pictures pictures

We went to take Halloween pictures for our family pictures this year. This is our pre-game pictures ;) Millie didn't do well, so these are the ones of her and Gracie.

Soccer

Beach weekend

Nephew

Beach baby

Sisters chillaxing

my mom, dad and miillie

When I was little, my extended family used to rent a beach cabin on Crystal Beach and go up for a week. A few years ago, my uncle was dying of cancer and we did it again and it was very nice and made some good memories. After he died, we did it again to spread his ashes there. Now it's a special tradition in our family to do it every September. It's nice to spend time together watching football, shooting the shit and letting the new cousins play together. It's fun. Several generations together.

Conflicted

It's a first world problem, so I'm not take this too seriously. Grace went to a one-morning cheerleader clinic last week. They are having the opportunity to cheer on the sidelines tonight. They have the option of wearing whatever cheer uniform they have or the camp t-shirt.  Grace has been wanting a uniform for a long time, but we've (I've) resisted because it's silly. And expensive. And I didn't want to be one of "those" parents, which are famous within my district. BUT. I don't want her to be the only one down there with the t-shirt on. And she didn't have and shorts or capris to wear with it, etc, etc. So I spent my whole afternoon yesterday seeking out and acquiring a uniform, tank top to go under it and some shoes. She's thrilled - not smug or bratty - just thrilled. I'm the best momma ever - which I should be after getting soaking wet visiting 4 different stores just to get the uniform. I consulted my husband, who is a hard-ass as far as she is concerned, and he encouraged me to do it, so she has good memories of us during this time in her life, as we spend a lot of time getting onto her for one thing or another - just her age, really - but there's a lot of correction involved. So someone else's kid may be the only one down there with just the t-shirt. BUT I know she'll wear the uniform every Friday to school until it's too small, which should be in a few years. Anyway, I'm going to take her to the game tonight to watch her cheer. Her and Millie, by myself and they don't cheer until the 3rd quarter. Lord, help me! And Gracie and Millie and I have to go today and find something spirity for Millie to wear, since she's going too. It's just ridiculous. You know what else is ridiculous? I saw a baby A&M cheerleader (not authentic, since A&M doesn't have cheerleaders) for $5 that I'm going back to get today. I have to. It's too cute. It doesn't matter that she'll never wear it anywhere near a game. She's going to have it :)

Lord, help me. Hopefully I'll update later with some pics of this awesome sight. The whole family -minus Scott, since he's working - is going to the beach this weekend. We can't go until Sat afternoon because of soccer, but I can't wait. Though, I'll be grading papers that I didn't get to grade yesterday afternoon. Maybe someone will hold my baby for me. Worth it? Probably. I need to chill. :)