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.

Christmas Video

I spotted this on a friend's blog. Go to this site and play the video. It is lovely! Thanks, Bonnie!

http://www.joytoeveryone.com/

End of the year with Sunbeams

The year is coming to a close. All good things come to an end, right? One of those "good things" involves the class I teach at church. They are all four years old now and in January, will move up to the next class. I'll be getting a new group of three year olds, fresh from the nursery, and starting all over again. Back to the "sit on your chair, please." "no..with your bottom, NOT your face!" Sigh. While the new Sunbeams are cute, I always feel a bit sad at this point. For one thing, by the end of the year, the children are doing so much better at sitting and listening! And...for another...the biggest reason...I've gotten attached to them over the months, and really have grown to love them. Yesterday I told the children I'll miss being their teacher, but anytime they wanted to say hello and give me a hug, I would be happy for that. Lucy, who was feeling particularly grumpy since her best buddy, Cameron, wasn't there, stood up--hands on her hips and declared she didn't want to be in another class--she wanted to STAY IN THE FUN CLASS! How about that? Lucy usually acts like she doesn't want to be in my class at all, and here I find out she thinks we have fun! That's good to know. While secretly pleased, I assured her that her new class would be fun too.

Here are the Sunbeams, with Evelyn, the other Sunbeam teacher, but minus Michael (who was home sleeping--they have a new baby at their house), Treavor and Cameron. Can you spot Lucy The Cranky? ;-)

Gumby Tom

Before Thanksgiving, Tom flew to Anchorage and took an arctic wilderness survival class. Since he has to wander about in the Alaska wilderness at times, working on the FAA radar, they decided it was prudent to have him know what to do if faced with bears, moose, or snowstorms. One of the things demonstrated in the class was a winter survival suit, which Tom, of course, volunteered to model! He went outside in shirt sleeves with the temperatures in the 20's. Very cold at first, but once he got into the suit, he was "toasty." As you can see, it isn't a suit you can walk around it, but rather wear while you wait out a storm or wait for rescue. When he took it off, he found he was cold again by the time he got into the building. Brrrr! Everyone at work decided Tom looks like an orange gumby, hence the title of this posting.





aha! Liz told me that the suit actually IS called a Gumby suit. So there you go...but isn't Gumby green?

50 Fat Quarter Quilt

On a quilty note, here's the latest quilt finished. For the last two Christmases, one of the gifts Tom has given me has been a box with fifty fat quarters in it. For non-quilters who might be reading this, a "fat quarter" isn't a body part. ;-) It is a piece of fabric that is 18 inches by 22 inches--a more useable shape than a quarter of a yard of fabric (which would be 9 inches by 44 inches) I think it's pretty impressive, that Tom would go to the quilt shop by himself, wander around, and pick out fabric! Fat quarters are already cut and ready to go, but still, for a man....a non-quilter...that's pretty good! Ahhh, but here is a man who knows what I like! FABRIC! The first year, I used up the fat quarters randomly. One here, one there, until they were all gone (sigh!) This last year, though, I decided to use them all in one quilt. I got the pattern from Fon's and Porter's "Love of Quilting" magazine. It is in the January/February 2004 issue and is called the Barbara Frietschi Star. It actually calls for fifty fat quarters. I added a neutral for background in the stars, but other than that, the top is made only of those fat quarters--including the borders and the binding!

Thanksgiving in Utah

We got back on Sunday from a long Thanksgiving holiday in Utah, with Jeff, Frieda and Aurora. This is the first time we've gone out of town for Thanksgiving in...I can't remember when! We had an early Thanksgiving with Jim and Sheena, so I actually didn't get out of cooking a turkey--but we did send most of the left overs home with them (I kind of miss those left overs--but Christmas is coming, so here's another chance for left overs!)

Tom got to meet our granddaughter for the first time and as you can see, he is smitten. Yes, another big person Aurora has wrapped around her wee finger!

The weather was wonderful; no snow. They "always" get snow for Thanksgiving, but not this year. That made traveling the 800-some miles very easy, though, so I'm not complaining.

Frieda cooked the whole meal herself. Oh wah, poor me--I didn't have to do anything but cuddle Aurora! heh heh heh

Here are some more photos from our holiday:




Frieda is blessed with a nice family--brothers and sisters that actually get along!

Here are photos of Aurora with the stocking I made for her. Well, she is IN the stocking! Also the redwork quilt I finished in time to deliver in person.




Aurora was blessed at church while we were there. Which, of course, meant a family gathering.


More baby photos, in case you haven't gotten enough yet! (I haven't! lol)







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