Goodbye Sunbeams!

One more post today and I'll be caught up! I just wanted to post these photos of the cute 4 year olds in my Sunbeam class at church. Next week they move up to the next class and I'll get a new fresh-from-the-nursery group of three year olds. They will be cute and wonderful too, but I will miss this bunch. They have been a source of much amusement to me--the things they think up! I know sometimes they drive their parents crazy, but being "of a certain age" and not usually having contact with 4 year olds, I've found them nothing but delightful and funny! Some of them were upset at the thought of not being in my class "the fun class" anymore (thank you! how sweet was that?) so some of my lesson yesterday was geared towards trying to make them feel better about it. We talked about how much they've grown and all they can do now--compared to when they were babies, for instance. Life is change. Nothing stays the same. But that's part of the adventure! We have SO much to learn before we get back to Heavenly Father. I explained to them that I have taught them ALL I know--so they have to have a new teacher now! ;-) That seemed to make perfect sense to them and I think...I hope...I helped them get excited about the change next week. Oh yes..I did tell them I'll love them forever and they can always say hi or give me a hug when we see each other. I hope they take me up on that...sigh!

Extended family gathering

I like Tom's side of the family. Liz referred to them as "normal" but I'm not sure I'd go that far. Who is normal, after all? And do you want to be? But I suppose, compared to MY side of the family, they are. At least they aren't "psycho" like my sis and others. Ahh well. I'm not even going to address those issues here. I am just grateful we have such a fun and loving family. Not all of them could make it, but we had a pretty good turn out anyway--in spite of the weather and work conflicts. The gathering was here, for lunch Saturday, before Liz had to fly back to Alaska. It was the attraction of seeing Liz, of course, that got people to come! Her Aunts: Pam and Sue, her uncle Karl, and cousins Kristi and Sean,all came over for some Liz-time.


Taz was intrigued by all the company, particularly Sean who is 6 ft. 8 inches tall and has feet bigger than she is (especially in those boots!) She was circling him, wanting to go and say hello..but hesitating. Perhaps she was worried he would accidently crush her! Not an unreasonable fear. I finally picked her up and put her on his lap. She felt better being formally introduced and discovered he is a gentle giant. After checking everyone else out, she finally collapsed on the rug, the center of attention, showing everyone her tummy. Anyone foolish enough to rub it was met with the usual: claws and teeth! HA! But that was her evil plan, of course. She is a real people-cat and enjoyed all our company too.

Next month there is a family wedding, then another in August. 2009 will be a good year for extended family gatherings!

Christmas 2008

It was a lovely Christmas! Liz managed to make it here from Alaska, after having her first flight cancelled due to weather. Weather HERE, not in Alaska! Seems SeaTac was low on de-icer, so the airlines was hesitant to fly in planes that might not be able to fly out again. Christmas morning, Tom headed off to the airport to bring our girl home for her way-too-short-visit. She still had to leave the 27th. Ohh well. Any Lizzie-time is better than NO Lizzie time. Jim and Sheena came over for breakfast and stayed for Christmas dinner...with present-opening time in between.




Jim and Sheena got a new quilt for Christmas. The pattern is from "Quilt In A Day" (deceptive name, like it REALLY would only take a day? HA!) It's called Tennessee Waltz. I really liked the fabric in the border. The rest of the quilt evolved from that. Jim confessed earlier that Sheena...sweet petite Sheena, is a quilt pig and takes all the covers at night! That's why they got another one for Christmas. It is 90 inches wide and 120 inches long. The BIGGEST quilt I've done yet (although...I think I can go bigger, what with the HQ Sixteen having leaders 106 inches wide. Hmm!) It wasn't until they pulled the quilt out of the bag and laid it out on them, that it struck me how pretty it turned out. I think it just looks good on them!



It would have been a perfect Christmas if Jeff, Frieda and Aurora had been able to make it here (it was Frieda's side of the family's turn...oooh well! NEXT year we get 'em! Aurora will be 14 months old then. What fun that will be!) Both Frieda and Sheena are gluten-intolerant. Frieda worked very hard, complying containers of rice flour, baking mix, and other goodies for Sheena. The package was so heavy, I had to drag it across the floor to get it to her. Jeff gave Jim a bit of nostalgia, with Transformer toys--the best of all was a vintage one (don't ask me WHICH one!) It turns into a gun and kept Jim amused while he tried to remember how to transform it.


Liz was thrilled with her new video camera. She's going to South Africa in March so I'm expecting to see some movies of lions and elephants--and the Dutch Verbaan cousins!


Santa gave me the traditional box of 50 fat quarters of fabric (at least I hope this is a tradition!) Think of this as the "before" photo. I hope to turn them into a quilt before Christmas 2009!

Poor tired Lizzie! Taz was glad to have her here too.

Playing in the Snow

Today, while I was slaving away in the kitchen--doing some pre-Christmas dinner preparation, Tom decided to play in the snow! It started out innocently enough, with shoveling, yet again, the walkway and driveway---but see where it lead! (Tom is the one in the cowboy hat, btw)


Here are some more snow photos:

Cat in a Hat for Christmas

Taz posed for these photos, modeling a Christmas hat. You can tell by the look in her eyes, that if she were REALLY the fierce savage lion she imagines herself to me, I would be her mid-morning snack for subjecting her to this indignity.

Home for Christmas

Funny how the snow started out looking pretty and now has, at least to my mind, turned evil. Yes, EVIL! Because of all this dadblasted annoying white stuff, daughter Liz is stranded in Anchorage, instead of in our guest room! She was supposed to fly home for Christmas yesterday....but now it looks as though she'll be lucky to get here at all. She's got a seat on a flight landing at SeaTac on Christmas morning, but will still have to leave on the 27th. Ahhh well...any Liz time is better than NO Liz time.

Hittys in the Snow

When I was a little girl, I read the book, "Hitty" by Rachael Fields. It's the story of a small wooden doll and all her adventures. That Hitty was quite the world traveler. Now, eons later, having fallen in amongst a group of Hitty-fans, I have my own Hittys. One in particular, Hitty Elizabeth, has gone on trips with me. Here we are today, snowbound, so I decided to take Elizabeth and her friend, Emma, outside to play in the snow. As usual with Hittys, there was trouble...


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Watch out for that bump, Elizabeth!


Don't worry, I'll get you out!

More Snow

Last night we had the Pacific Northwest version of a blizzard. The snow wasn't drifting down from the sky gracefully and gently...noooo, it was coming down in sheets, buffeted by strong gusts of wind! BRRRR. Church was cancelled today (no wonder there) which is kind of sad, not only because the Sunday before Christmas, there always is a special program in Sacrament meeting, but also because now I only have ONE Sunday left with my current batch of 4 year olds. Oooh well. I was glad I gave them all their Christmas gifts at the Christmas party on Friday night.

3000 people were stranded at SeaTac airport last night. Some of them are still there, waiting for flights home for Christmas. Hotels near the airport are all filled up, so those poor folks had to sleep in those uncomfortable airport chairs. I've done that. It's not a good time.

This morning Tom and I ventured out to explore the frozen wasteland of our neighborhood. We saw a couple cars going by but most of the inhabitants were staying inside. That is where we're going to stay now. The weather forecast is for more snow. Liz flies in tomorrow from Anchorage. Hope she can get here!

Christmas Quilt

At least not being able to get out of the driveway because of the ice...I've been getting things done around the house! Here's a Christmas quilt I just finished up yesterday. It's from a pattern at Bonnie Hunter's website www.quiltville.com. I think it's called Bricks and Stepping Stones. Joan, if you are reading this, yes..this is the same pattern as the quilt I made for Neal. This one is just bigger! It's a great pattern for using up scraps; in this case, lots of Christmas fabric! It's on the bed, ready to welcome Liz home for the holidays next week. :-)

BRRR!!!

Like most of the U.S., we're also in the midst of a deep freeze here. Usually our winters are rainy, with maybe a dusting of snow now and again. Here is my front yard on the left, and a photo of the garden and Tom's shop in the backyard. As you can see, there isn't a lot of snow, but it is cold. Very very cold! Temperatures are below freezing and will stay that way all this week and maybe most of next week as well. We're due more snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday, with the roads all icy, I thought church would be cancelled. But no...it wasn't. Tom thawed out the car and off we went, slipping and sliding! Tom likes to "test the road" and see where it is slippery, so riding with him in this kind of weather is an adventure, to say the least! I just hang on and hope for the best!

Someone made a snowman out of the snow that had blown up against the church.


Four of the children in my class were there, so I was glad we'd made the effort. However, they were SO wound up from the snow, that I didn't actually teach them the lesson ("How we can help at church") We did make a thank you note for the bishop and I tried to talk with them about how they can keep the church clean, and how they can be reverent when they walk down the hallways, but I don't think anything sunk in. They were too excited about SNOW SNOW SNOW and that's what they wanted to talk about. Sammy, for instance, told me how there had been a car on the hill on the drive to church and it was having trouble in the ice and snow. So his dad made their car "jump OVER the car in front!" Jump? Uh huh! This from the fellow who said his name isn't going to be Sammy when he growns up. And what is it going to be, I asked? ROCKET SAMMY! Well, of course! I should have known....

Mostly I entertained the children by drawing a snowman on the chalkboard (see? I made a snowman and didn't even have to wear mittens!) I had a craft for them to do: a wooden snowman ornament with a photo of each of them inside. They colored their snowmen with felt tip pens and had a good time doing that. Cameron said it looked like the snowman had eaten them because (giggle, giggle) they were in his tummy!

All of the children said they'd be making snowmen after they got home from church, but the wind was blowing, it was bitterly cold, and the snow is really too dry to pack. I hope they all stayed inside and stayed warm! BRRRRR! That's what I'm doing today!

A lion and a lamb

I've heard that Manx cats are like dogs (no offense to any Manx cats out there reading this), but the characteristic they share is that they like to be with their people and follow them around. This is definitely true with Taz. She trots after us, from room to room, wanting to be in the same room we're in, even if she is napping while she's there. Yesterday she was in my sewing room with me, as usual, but in order to keep an eye on what I was doing, she got up on the ironing board...where I'd set a stuffed toy lamb. The lamb became her pillow. Was she dreaming predatory dreams of lamb chops for lunch? We'll never know, but here are a couple photos of our resident "lion," lying down with a lamb.