Febs

February has been a crazy busy month in my sweet little household.  We have been putting my little organization station to WORK.  Wait, I haven't told you about our little organization station.  Well, that's a good place to start.
Having four children is a total blessing, the paperwork that comes along with them...not so much.  There is classwork, homework, permission slips, reminders about author visits, invitations to orchestra performances, announcements about awards assemblies, yadda, yadda, yadda.
In December, I decided that I was tired of cleaning things from our dinner table and then experiencing the inevitable mad rush in the morning to find {insert name of paper here}, so I created a little station on a wall that was begging for such a thing.
Each child has a hanging organizer where they put homework, papers to be signed, and things of this nature. Inside the organizer, there is also a weekly pill box that holds their daily vitamins and they can always find pencils to complete work in one of the pockets.
There is also a check-off sheet for things that they need to have completed in the morning before we leave.  I'll admit it is a little bit of overkill, but I can't tell you how much easier getting out of the house in the morning has become!  I also made a weekly calendar out of picture frames with patterned paper behind the glass.  I stamped the days on the patterned paper so that they are "permanent" and we just use vis a vis markers to add events.

Ok.  What's up next?
Jake continues to rock middle school.  He received an award for having a 4.0 GPA.  Now, reminder, that is with the kid taking Geometry in 8th grade, which is two years early.  He is the only eighth grader that had an A at the end of the first semester.  Woot!
Here is a picture of him at his awards assembly.  I love the way the principal is greeting him.  Do you think she likes him? :)

Yeah.  Yeah.  He needs a haircut.  (He has since had one, but he was experimenting a bit with the long hair.  I pick my battles.  Not sure why his hair looks so red in this picture.)

For Valentine's Day, my hubby hit another home run.  He bought me another fabulous Dolce & Gabbana scent that I have been eyeing and he bought Just Dance 3 for the family.
Holy crap, that game is all kinds of fun...both for the person playing and those watching.  I present to you, exhibit A:
  
Daniel and Gaby dancing to Apache.  Love.
I gave him the wheel set that he had been wanting for his road cycle and all of this candy that the kids brought me.

...which he promptly took to his school to get it the heck out of our house.  :)
Also, during this month, Cristina had her very first orchestra performance.   Check her out in the front row with her  viola.  Sweet little thing that she is.

Jake also turned 14 this month!!!!!!!!!  (Where does the time go?)
I remember when he was this little baby-just home from the hospital!  I can still smell his little baby smell.  *sigh*

Finally, I have been taking a course through SDCOE, that has been really interesting.  It is a course to become certified to teach online.  I am the only elementary school teacher in my school district selected to participate in the course.  It has been really stimulating, but very time-consuming.  I love being busy, but I haven't been this distracted from my family since the National Board Certification, which was crazy.  Luckily, my family, especially my husband, is fabulous and supportive in this endeavor.  Luck...I have it.  :)

Serendipitous Countdown to Christmas

I finished this quilt top in November at our Cabin Fever Friendship Group retreat and finished quilting it over our Christmas break.  As per usual, I am just getting around to posting it.  Life has been very busy...  More about that later...  Ellipsis overload...  Seriously...

I used Moda's Countdown to Christmas fabric line. 
One of the cool things about this quilt is that there is a second quilt that can be made simply by using the scraps from this quilt...thus the "Serendipitous" reference in the quilt name. (I haven't finished the second quilt yet.) I stippled the heck out of this thing.  
The back is super-snuggly flannel and that makes the kids VERY happy.  AND that makes ME very happy!

Maci's McBaby Quilt

(Home with a sick baby girl today, so I am trying to catch up a bit.)

Here is a quilt that I made for a friend of mine from high school, Jima Jenkins McCarrens.  Her beautiful baby is named Maci and her nursery colors are camouflage and fuchsia.

Did I mention that I went to high school in Mississippi (and Maci's dad Rick likes to hunt?)

I made most the quilt top at my Idyllwild Quilt Retreat, but had to put a rush on it when Maci made a surprise entrance on November 19, 2011.  Maci has had a rough go of it as she was born with kidney failure.  She is a beautiful baby that has blessed Rick and Jima beyond measure.  You can read more about Maci's growth and progress at the blog that Jima started to keep people informed:  Day by Day with MaciMoo.

The back of the quilt is a super-snuggly camouflage flannel.

I can't wait for Maci to come home from LeBonheur so that she can put this quilt to use.  I hope it provides the comfort that sweet baby deserves.

Fall Bargello

Ahhhh, see how behind I am?  

I completed this Bargello quilt in early October, using the most beautiful batik fabrics.  It was so easy to piece and it looks great in our front room, all year long.   

 The back of this quilt is reminiscent of stained glass.  I may have to post better pictures to show the depth of the colors.  Love.

What's that?  You are wondering if I stippled this quilt??  Hell, yeah.  Did you really need to ask?
:)

Santabulous!

Wow, I really suck at this blog thing.  We have just been so busy that I find myself writing far more "catch-up" posts, than real posts.  Prepare yourself for a jumble of information that is in no particular order.  I do have a few quilt related posts to enter, but first let me post about Christmas...

This is the first Christmas ever...EVER...that I have been without Jakey.  It has been pretty hard.  It is all I can do to not call him incessantly.  Instead of the mom-call-apalooza, I have settled for texting regularly and a few "face-times" thrown in for good measure.

My sweet, 13-year old Jake also met another milestone.  For the first time, he flew across our country, unaccompanied.  Holy cow!  I can't think of one thing that was harder as a mother to do, than to watch my 13 year old man-boy board a plane alone and watch it leave the gate.  My heart.  Ugh.

But, I digress.  He is having a great time with his new little brother and his dad and he'll be home soon.  So, that makes me happy.

Here he is walking through LAX like he owns the place.  As we were going through TSA, I reminded him of the time (before 9/11) that we were flying home (or perhaps back) and he was carrying a lunchbox full of his hot wheels.  When the lunchbox went through the x-ray machine, the security had the strangest look on his face.  I explained what the heap of metal was and he had to see it for himself.  We had a good laugh over that.

We had such a busy holiday that I didn't get a lot of pictures this year.  (Crazy, huh?)  I do have a digital version of our Christmas card to share.  This year, I made a flip book that included a stack of eight photos printed on card stock.  It turned out fairly kitschy and cute.  :)

The kids were cooperative; however, I wasn't feeling well so I didn't stick around to get the best photos.

Also, we were very sneaky this year and actually caught some photos of the fat man as he dropped off his Christmas booty!
  
Busted!
Once in the front room....

 
AND we caught him again in the family room...

Apparently, we have been very nice this year.  OR the right kind of naughty.  I'm just sayin'.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.  I hope that your holidays were beautifully blessed.  :)

Snow Many Friends

Ok, I am pretty sure that I have already posted a picture of this quilt, but I am unable to find it.  If my memory serves me correctly (which it probably isn't,) I posted the quilt top and not the finished/quilted project. So, in the spirit of catching up, I want to post the finished product.

Just a little reminder...

My friendship group exchanged snowman blocks earlier this year.

In case you are unfamiliar with a block exchange, let me give you a quick explanation.  Each member of the group completed eight of the same blocks.  (The only requirement was that they had a snowman included.  There were no size or style parameters.)  So, when we met to exchange the blocks, we gave away all save one of our blocks and then received seven different blocks (one from each of the other members) that we could use to create our friendship quilt.   In order to complete the quilt, I created one more block to have an "even 9" (quilters will probably understand that...others probably not.)

So, here is my little sweetie:

This is one of the four quilts that I entered in the Fallbrook Quilt Show.  It was great to have them lined up with other quilts from my friendship group.  I think that I took some photos at the show, let me see if I can rummage them up.
Well, shucks, I think I may be missing someone's quilt.  We didn't all enter them, but I thought more did.  Below are photos of my quilt, along with Sue's and Linda's.

These were super-fun to create and will always have a special place with my Holiday quilts.  :)

More time (less garlic) on your hands!

Just had to share this tip for peeling garlic in less than 10 seconds.

This will change my kitchen routine tenfold! Woot!

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.
Vampires, beware!

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Snuggly Snowmen

On the first day of fall, I am happy to present a quilt with which you can get downright snuggly!

The quilt is made of flannels with some chenille thrown in for good measure. I bought this kit at Road to California Quilt Show. My friend, Linda, and I couldn't quit gushing over how fun this quilt was. The pieces of black simply make the quilt striking! (That is my sweet hubby holding the quilt for me, sporting his head full of curls and no shoes.)


It is, by far, the easiest quilt I have pieced together. What could be easier than piecing square blocks together???? The only issue was in the quilting. It was nearly impossible to quilt over the chenille due to its bulkiness. I simply quilted around those blocks and then just used an old school tack with embroidery floss. Problem solved!

For the back, I used a flannel that I bought on clearance at the Quilter's Cottage. (I got it for a steal!)


The kids love this one! It has been getting much use and I see that it will continue to be a favorite.

San Diego County, Unplugged

What a crazy afternoon/evening yesterday!

After walking my students to the front of the school yesterday afternoon, I returned to my classroom to find that there was no power. The kids and I waited a few minutes to see if it was a quick interrupt of power or something larger. Well, I think that we know the answer to that, now. Apparently, all of San Diego County and parts of surrounding counties were affected by an unprecedented power outage.

Regardless of our perceived plight, my family had one of the best nights! Around dusk, we took a long drive on one of our favorite roads. (Sleeping Indian from Oceanside to Fallbrook is this amazingly circuitous road that Rene loves to ride on his road cycle, but it is also fun to drive. Sidenote: He actually hit 52 mph on one of the downhills. I don't even like going down the hill going 50 in my Odyssey.)

We laughed and played games by candlelight and it was pretty fabulous!
There was a spirited game of charades. We made shadow puppets by flashlight. It was nice to be able to enjoy each other without other distractions.

After the youngest kiddos had gone to bed, Jake and I sat on the front porch and read by candlelight and Rene enjoyed a little nappy.

Close to nine o'clock, the whir of power startled us all. It was almost as if it had broken the magical spell of quiet.

We did, however, get an unexpected surprise. During the outage, all San Diego County public schools had canceled schools on Friday.

Hello, 3-day weekend brought to you by SDG&E! :)

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Go Rebs!

Love this!

Game day in Oxford Mississippi from scottburtonphotography on Vimeo.

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Rain falls in real time....

Except when it simply threatens to fall and it doesn't. Today was such an odd day, but absolutely beautiful. The cloud cover and breeze were such a fun change of pace.
Things have been so hectic, recently. Between our last minute summer "daycations," Vegas, my sister coming to visit, and getting ready for school to start, I feel like we have been whirling dervishes. Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way, but it can get a bit chaotic. Heck, just getting the four kids out of the house might be considered a feat of strength. :)

So, without further delay, here is the next quilt I have to share. I titled this quilt "Bloom Where You are Planted." This quilt is the result of a block exchange with my Cabin Fever Friendship Group.

When we were on our last retreat to Idyllwild, Marian suggested that we each complete a raw-edge appliqué flower block to exchange with our members. The fun thing about raw-edge is that the edges will "rag" up when the quilt is washed. (Marian completed her blocks for everyone before we left that weekend!) Since I have never attempted raw-edge appliqué, my interest was piqued.

I decided to use poppies as my flowers in a little galvanized steel water can.


(Sorry that the picture is such crap.)
When I received the other blocks, I realized that I was going to have a pretty big void. I thought that I might do an embroidery block with a quote, but struggled to find a quote that was apropos.

Instead, I chose to create another block (oversized) to fill the space.



(I love the way that this picket fence turned out.)

I wanted to add sashing between all of the blocks and then bordered them with a green floral that I used on a previous quilt.


I finished using a meandering stipple pattern to quilt. J'adore.
My friendship group is so unbelievably talented. I am fortunate beyond measure to be amidst such fabulous women!
:)

Viva Las Vegas

I promise a quilt post in a few days. I wanted to take a moment to post about our family's quick little jaunt to Las Vegas! Now, Vegas happens to be a favorite getaway for Rene and me. However, we have never been with the family, for obvious reasons. :)
Well, my dad told me that they could get a pretty cheap fare to Vegas, if we wanted to meet them. He didn't have to twist my arm!
We rented a beautiful home that would hold us all and it had an outstanding backyard. *love* Take a peek....

The pool had four waterfalls, diving platforms, and a rock slide. What was not to love?







We took the kids over to the strip for some family-friendly, touristy sight-seeing. The big hits were the Bellagio and the Venetian.
Here are some shots from the Bellagio:











We stopped to watch the fountains at the Bellagio and had this great view of the Paris.







The kids LOVED the fountains.

Stunning!






Daniel (and Rene) were immediately distracted and sucked into the Ferrari Store.







The Gondolas were a hit.






While waiting by this Oxygen Bar, Jake asked why anyone would pay for oxygen. I tried to explain the concept and he scoffed and asked if there was also a place in the mall where they sold a penny for $50. My cynical, little son.





We did a little shopping. Rene kept tempting me with some Jimmy Choo shoes. He knows that I have a tremendous weakness for cute shoes. I was seriously proud of my will power.






The weather was perfect, but it was seriously hot! That's right 111 degrees and that was at 5:30pm.






So, we did an awful lot of this.
(Gaby-jumping, Daniel-sliding, Jake-cannonballing, and my dad-floating...He will kill me when he sees this shot.) Ha!
P.S. This was filmed with my iPhone using the new nifty underwater case that I bought. *awesome*

It was fabulous to see my parents and let them get some grandkid time. Of course, I always love a little Vegas time with my husband. *wink*

It's a Jungle Out There Baby Quilt

Bittersweet.

Sweet-I was so happy to make this baby quilt for Derek and Tina's baby boy (due in October.)

Bitter-the reminder that Derek and Tina will be leaving the first week in August for Beaufort, South Carolina...Derek's new duty-station.

Well, here we are. The end of July. Sigh. Derek and Tina will only be here about two more weeks. :( Jake is used to Derek being gone. He has been deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan five times since 2001. However, this is different. But, I digress.....

For Baby Cooper's quilt, I chose to use Hoffman's "It's a Jungle Out There" fabric line. They actually have three versions: one featuring primary colors, one using neutral tones, and the one I used. :)





Hoffman has a free pattern on their website that I tweaked slightly for this quilt. I will be honest. It turned out a little too busy for my tastes. If I were to do it again, I would probably use more solids within the quilt to add more definition. Maybe????
I decided to use this as the backing fabric because elephants (especially cartoon ones) make me ridiculously happy.





Well, I hope that Baby Cooper enjoys snuggling, drooling, and crawling all over this quilt. <3 <3 <3

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Sunkissed Sherbet

Yes, this post is brought to you with a side of "catch-up." As per usual, no?

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that I had completed my first donation to Kaitlyn's Promise.

Well, I finished my second donation about a month ago and was able to send it off for donation, as well.

I finished most of the quilt top of this quilt while at our Idyllwild Cabin Fever Quilters' Retreat. I loved how easy this was and it really came out pretty nicely. I plan on making some similar quilts to use up some of my fabric rolls, that truly seem to be over-taking me.

For this quilt, I used Moda's Sunkissed line. Love it. It reminds me of sherbet with its oranges and greens, thus the name: Sunkissed Sherbet.
I used a stacked coin idea, but combined it with a bargello technique that I had recently used. I really liked the outcome.



The backing fabric is from the same line and is super-cute.


Another thing that I loved about this line is the "dictionary" entries that were incorporated into the fabric. I used one of these as the binding, as you can (kind of) see in this close-up.


This quilt, along with the Letters to Paris quilt, were both raffled to benefit the Kaitlyn's Promise Memorial Scholarship Fund.
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A Night of Favorites....

Ok, I am behind again. I have a few quilts to post, but before that I wanted to share my night of favorites.
Recently, I got to share a night with my favorite guy: my husband, Rene. We went out to celebrate our anniversary. :)
My favorite guy made reservations at what is now my new favorite restaurant: Paon Restaurant and Wine Bar in Carlsbad, California.
I love this place! The location is fantastic (downtown Carlsbad), the ambiance is perfect, and the food was scrumptious. (Rene had the veal sweet breads with smoked pancetta, braised endive, and black truffle sauce. I can't remember what he had for the main dish, but I had the provencal herb-crusted colorado rack of lamb with porcini mushrooms, red plums, spinach, and potato puree. Rene had to finish it off for me.)
Now for my last favorite....
I have a new favorite wine that I thought I would share with my wine-loving friends.

It is delicious. We liked it so much that we had to go to the wine bar to bring a few bottles home. :)
Happy anniversary, sweetheart. Thank you for making my life perfect and our future bright! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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