Flour Fling 2012

Every year my Mom hosts a "Flour Fling" at which her grandsons (of which there are 8 between the ages of 25 and 12) and daughters (only 2... One 23 and one 15) gather together to make cookies for our families Christmas dinner.




Today my three, two of my little brothers, and one of my older brothers boys converged on Grandma's kitchen.




Noah and Aaron made "No-cal" cookies and brownies.




Ben, Ethan, and Aaron made molasses sugar cookies. They are great big cake-like cookies that my grandma used to make.




John worked on peanut butter cup cookies.




Ben and Grandma working on Turkish Hats, also known as Peanut butter blossoms.




Even Gilbert and Pete (my little brother) got in the action....
QUALITY CONTROL!
I took pictures of men cooking and Mom's decorations. I thought of all of you and how you would love her home. It is filled with needle work of all sorts.
I wish I lived further away so I could stay in her pretty guest room.












Or sit in the quiet and watch her tree lights twinkle. She had some special glasses that I took this picture through. Cool huh. It turns all the points of lights into rainbowy snowflakes.




Or be an imp and move her nativity pieces around. She has many....












This one is made from corn husks. (The big packages are embroidery that hang there year 'round. At Christmas time she "wraps" them in fabric to change the look.)




























I think this one is my favorite...it makes me laugh every time. And yes, those are rubber duckies!




Or maybe it is this one. It has sat atop Jesus's birthday cake for as many years as I can remember. (Anyone know where I can purchase one like it...actually....I need several. I think they would make awesome gifts for my brothers someday.)




At the end of the day the boys all reverted to themselves....back to football and video games....with great ease.




I hope your preparations are going smoothly.
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Not much quilting going on...

Although I did receive this lovely mini in the mail from Mamacjt as part of the latest Little Quilt- Sew, Vote, Swap on Flickr. It is fantastic....way better in person than in this photo. It is a much needed bright spot in my home.

My time has been spent trying to love on my boys...

the human and the fuzzy...

as we process the loss of our sweet Button kitty. My Tookie cat has been stuck to me like a big purring chunk of velcro.

Turns out God knew we would need some extra kitty loving long before we did and arranged for these babies to be born.

Meet Coco....as in the perfume...not the food group.

She is 11 months old and the daughter of Cashmire Mist and a handsome fellow named Velcro. (This might be an omen.)

Isn't she sweet? Turns out she has a scamp of a baby brother that also needed a forever home.

He is 3 months old. That funny little brown nose stole my heart.

They are both from the QT-Tonks Cattery in Groves, TX....5.5 hours south of where I live. Sounds like a good excuse for a road trip doesn't it. There is no way I can pick them up any time soon. It will be at least a couple of weeks before I have enough time to drive down and back. BUT remember how I told you that God had it all planned? Well the owners of QT-Tonks had been planning a road trip to Denver, CO. They left this morning...and are driving right through Dallas...in fact right by one of my favorite quilt shops not 20 minutes from my home. Oh yeah, my God is that good! The kittens are enroute as I type this. My boys don't know and I am just too excited to stand myself.

I was going to wait and share pictures of the babies in my own home....but I am giddy....I cant hardly wait to feel their yummy soft little selves and see the looks on my boys faces when they get home from school.

I don't have words to describe how awed I am feeling. I was given 11 years with the most extraordinary cat I have ever met. Cat is really too tiny a word to explain how large 9 pounds of fur and whiskers can be. Now I sit on the precipice of a new adventure, designed by God just for me and my family....

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

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Richly blessed....

Today is my oldest son's 20th birthday. If I knew then what I know now I would have been more excited about being pregnant. Noah has filled my life with love and laughter for the past 20 years....how amazing is that?!

Thank You God for making me a mom and for giving me this boy. I have been richly blessed.

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It is that time again....

I can hear the marching band practicing at the high school down the road.

John, my middle son, a Junior in high school, and a lover of football (American for those of you who are thinking Soccer) is up early (5:45 AM) and out the door for two a day practices.  He is taking his little brother along with him.

Ben, my youngest, is now a Freshman in high school and a member of the student athletic training team.  The teams practice in the wee hours of the morning to beet the Texas heat, a great idea, however, when I get up at 7:00, the house is quiet and empty.

Weird.

In another week my oldest will be headed back to college.  Noah is always a joy to have around...but he has seemed out of sorts.  Poor guy has spent much of the last month and a half with his mouth either numbed up or recovering.  Last Friday he had 5 teeth extracted (4 wisdom teeth and a molar that got in their way.)  That combined with suddenly realizing you are an adult makes life a bit different.  I remember the feelings and try to help where I can, but know it is his to figure out....which he will.  In the mean time I let him sleep and heal and dream of the day when he will not be my broken boy, but a man in his own right.  I can smell it on the horizon....or maybe that is just his dirty laundry.

Noah turns 20 in September.  That is weird too.

It has occurred to me that this will be the first time in about 14 years that I haven't gotten up with my boys to see them off to school.  I am used to them driving themselves...Noah drove his brothers for a couple of years and now John is.  It is the hour that they leave that has me balking.  Ya, I could get up at 5:30 in the AM, I could do a lot of things....like dye my hair orange and wear plunging neck lines....but I don't think it is going to happen...any of it.  I do however, look forward to greeting them when they get home in the afternoons.

Back to school has always been an exciting time of year for me.  I love buying school supplies.  I love organizing lockers and notebooks.  I love learning new things.  I LOVE the change in the weather.  This year I feel ambivalent.   I no longer look at those long stretches of time all to myself and think, "oh the things I can get done."  I am pondering what next.....

Hmmmmm .... maybe I should make a list.  What would you put on that list?

Schools Out

The boys are all home....

Noah - the oldest and a Sophomore in College

John - my curly headed middle child and a Junior in high school

Ben - my "baby" and a Freshman in high school



This is how they "play together".  Each in a different room, all playing the same game and shouting through the house - cheering and jeering each other on.

The dogs are all sleeping....no pictures...don't want to wake them.  My dogs bark at rain drops.

The rain is coming down, down, down making the world outside my climate controlled home green and steamy.  It almost looks like some place where it rains....often.  I think God has lifted the ban on watering.

I've been working on some projects for Moda Bake Shop.  In fact, there should be a very silly one on Monday next (June 11). 

I hope all of you are enjoying days that are just as peaceful.

Whats up with that?!!!

I can't believe this...

I'm actually thinking that I'd rather clean than quilt.  Something is definitely wrong with me.

For those of you who are unaware of my living arrangements...I am a stay at home mother to three boys.  Their ages are 18, 15.5, and just shy of 13.  They, my dear husband, two cats, two dogs, and myself live in a largish house in the suburbs of Dallas Texas.  The boys have been given the majority of the second floor of our home - four bed rooms, and two bathrooms, as their space.  My workroom/studio sits squarely in the middle of these six rooms.

The deal - keep your space clean and picked up, do your school work to the best of your ability, and you will earn various age appropriate rights and privileges.  Come "pay day" they all insist that they have done their parts.

I can tell from the stats feature incorporated into blogspot that my daily musings are read all around the world.  (I'm sorry, but I am about to subject you to horrors beyond measure.) The following photographs are of The Boy Zone.

The North Bathroom, shared by 18 and 15.5 year old boys - can anyone tell me how you could possibly come out of this room clean?

The Northeast Bedroom, on loan to 15.5 year old boy - I think he has a sock infestation problem.

The Northwest bedroom, on a short term rent free lease to the 18 year old - why am I wasting perfectly good furniture on this boy?  And really, if he is such a great athlete, can you tell me why the tissues are on the floor instead of the waste basket?  Am I missing something?

 

The Southeastern bedroom, a.k.a. The Game Room.  Does anyone else think that there has been a party in here?  I think I live in a frat house...only the drink of the day is bottled water.