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November 23

Would you believe our dog Sophie is 18 months old and we just took her to the beach for the first time yesterday? And that we live only 8 minutes from the beach? Have you ever heard of such BAD pet owners? I thought not.

She was incredibly well-behaved. Got pretty excited when she saw so many other dogs, frolicking and having a gay ol' time, but we've never taken her around other dogs very much, either.

BAD pet owners. I seriously don't know what we did to deserve such a GOOD dog, but we talked the whole 8 minute drive home about how that was a perfect way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning with the grandkids (and the dog) so hopefully we'll start doing it more often.

I wasn't going to talk about Madison's second birthday any more but now I have a cute story to share. Last night her mom Melissa threw her another party. At a pizza parlor. Why...I don't know. Seemed more for the adults than anything but I just take my camera and go where I'm told. So it gets time to open presents and she is handed a small bag (the one you sent, Erica). She takes out the first wad of tissue paper, 'blows' her nose on it, and sets it aside.

Takes out another wad, blows again, sets it aside.

Takes out a third wadded up ball of tissue paper, blows again,

At this point all she sees in there is MORE tissue paper, so; almost hyperventilating, she decides enough is enough and crawls down to go back and play in the video game room. LOL!

Her mother had to stop her and finish opening the gift "look! It's a fun new toy!" at which point Madison was like, "Cool. A gift. Thanks!" and she wandered off. Leaving all the other gifts unopened for the night. In a nutshell--exactly why I don't think little kids need big parties.

So, speaking of gifts in a bag. It just seems like hardly anyone wraps the boxes anymore. I do, because then  I get to buy wrapping papers and ribbons. :-) ONE of the presents was actually wrapped last night (the rest came in bags) and I simply have to show you the SWEETEST scoop o' cute that brought it.

gah! So cute I can hardly stand it. This little darling is 3 months younger than Madison. Their big brothers who are now 8 & 9 have been friends since age 1, and now the girls get to grow up together, too. One of the very best reasons for not moving all over the place any more in my opinion. :-)

November 20

We had a pretty important birthday here yesterday.

Our youngest grandchild, Madison, turned two. Yes, every birthday is important and special, but this particular one is quite possibly the answer to Grandma Jen saving her sanity.

Because now that she is two SHE GETS TO GO TO DAYCARE! YAY ME! oh sorry. got a little excited there just thinking about it!

Yesterday afternoon I went to a new neighbors house to retrieve Caleb who was playing with her son. I got one glimpse inside as she opened the door of a perfect, serene, Pottery Barn-ish home and just about cried right there and then. Waaah! Didn't MY house used to look like that? These days, as a result of having kids in here 60+ hours a week, it has gotten so bad I don't even want to open the door for the mailman bringing packages! waaah. Poor me.

I'll get it together again, I'm pretty sure. They are all awfully cute. I just look forward to leading more of a "yay! I get to be Grandma today!" existence.  Caleb makes me laugh...I think we have a budding Matthew McConaughey on our hands here. Every time I turn around he's losing the shirt trying to be all buff-like. :-)

 

They had these cute Radio Flyer trikes in both red and pink at Costco recently and I snagged one for her birthday. Every time we got a break in the rain today she wanted to take it outside. It rides so smooth on the wood floors in here that it almost reminds me of something a senior citizen would buy from The Scooter Store, but she sure does like it!

Have a happy weekend. jen

November 16

Hi! Well, since I said I'd show you a 3pt cheeseburger, I photographed it on top of the cutest pedestal plate. Found it in Target a couple weeks ago. I think I see a white cake in our holiday celebrating! (And it probably won't be only 3 WW points, either!)

Cute, huh? You just can't go wrong with red and scallops! Here's the burger makings, each with a WW value of 1 point

Pile on enough pickles and lettuce and onion and tomato and mustard...you can't even tell the difference from a 'real' burger! Well, maybe you could, but it's worth it. ;-)

I've been wanting to get back into garment sewing for quite a while now. I came across a line for girls called Matilda Jane recently and I find the styles very liberating and fun to sew. I really have NO free time to speak of lately, but actually have had a chance to put a couple things together. This I finally got on Madison and photographed yesterday

(it kind of freaked me out how she just stood and posed like that. Maybe she's growing up after all!)

 I can tell you that you're seeing a lot of the knotted shoulder straps on items like that for a reason, and it's not just what's in fashion. The difference between that closure and this

with nine covered buttons and buttonholes to boot is about three hours labor! sheesh. You'll probably see the front of this (I call it her Little House on the Prairie dress...NOT what I was going for!) when I photograph her wearing it on Thanksgiving, but I wanted to mention the buttons while I was thinking of it. Anyway, I truly do enjoy sewing clothes. Always have. I will never ever forget the first thing I made. I was taking Home Ec in 7th grade and just really wanted to sew something at home. I was scouring through my mother's scraps and came away with four different ginghams. I made a peasant blouse with the front one color, the back another color, and each sleeve a different color. All ginghams. I didn't do too bad of a job, either. If my mother had said anything along the lines of, "Good God, child; you're not going to wear that out of the house are you?!" my self confidence and the direction I went may have been completely stifled or even shut out. It's hard to say, but I'm just really glad to have that good memory and to have been left to learn my own lessons, you know? So last week I discovered a wonderful European cotton poplin for Spring/Summer tops and dresses. It was very serendipitous how I came across it. I was doing my favorite etsy search (cute, hard to find Japanese novelty fabrics) and was lucky enough to find a yard of this. In perusing the seller's other items (you know, since now she's shipping to me anyway!) I was curious about and ordered these fabrics. I'm sure I was thinking quilting fabric (especially for the dots) but between the 60 inch width and the lovely light drape of it, I think it's my new favorite garment fabric. So I've spent some time looking around online. There's not a LOT but google Stenzo and Stenzokids and you'll see some. I think it'll be lovely to work with.

Well, for now I can ONLY sew on Christmas quilts! I've got four completed but have to do that many more.  It's 4:45 and I'm just now heading out to the studio for my 'day off' from the grandkids. hmmm...somethin's not right with that!

talk soon. jen
   

November 6

Happy Friday!

Do you have a Kohl's dept store where you live? We just got one last month. yay! They have what I think is the most perfect $10 or less Christmas gift I've ever come across, for a boy or a girl, under the age of 10ish.

Super cute, huh? They also have a cat, a pig, and a moose. I think I need to go back and get one of each. Each book and each adorable animal is only five dollars each, and it ALL goes to children's charities. And if you don't have a store nearby you can buy them here!

Have a terrific weekend. :-)

November 4

Still quilting... I wanted to share how I used the Sheri Berry Holiday panel. The whole line of fabric is super cute...just enough pink and aqua and retro feel to make me smile the whole time I was working with it. Anyway, here's how I stretched out a pretty small panel to almost a twin size.

The brown pindot is regular stock at JoAnns.

We managed to snap a quick pic of Madison/Little Red Riding Hood on Halloween night.

They rushed straight over from dinner (hence the chicken fingers) so we could see the kids before we left for the movies. Lame pic, I agree, but I felt lucky to get one at all (she moves a LOT).  John and I went to see Michael Jackson in This Is It. First time I can recall  ever 'playing hooky' on the trick-or-treaters! I felt pretty guilty about it, as most of my block seems to check out, too, but things seem to be changing around that particular holiday whether I stay home or not. The MJ movie was a real treat. He and I were born the same year, so I'd been watching him since we were both 10. It was the first time EVER that we could just watch him act like a person. Was a nice way to be able to say "goodbye."

One other random photo I wanted to share. Oddly, a picture of what I eat most mornings.

 
I think a lot of people misunderstand Weight Watchers and the kinds of foods they can eat. It's the only 'diet' I know of where no foods are "off limits". It's just a matter of keeping track of what you eat, and stopping when you reach your limit for the day. The trick is to pack as much food as you can into your daily allotted points. I currently get 20 points a day. The above breakfast is green onions and two slices of turkey bacon, chopped (1 pt) cooked together. Add four chopped mushrooms, cover and cook a bit.  Add 1/4 cup Egg Beaters (1/2 pt) and top off with 1/8 c shredded fat free cheese (1/2 pt). One high fiber 100 cal english muffin (1 pt)  toasted and spread with 1 tbsp light faux butter (1 pt) and one serving of fruit (1 pt). That is a whole lotta food for only five points! And more importantly, it's real food. I won't get on my soapbox--just wanted to clarify for some that it really is do-able and you won't go hungry :-) Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about my big ol' two handed cheeseburger. Only 3 points!

November 1

And YOU get a Christmas quilt and YOU get a Christmas quilt and YOU get a Christmas quilt! I can almost hear Oprah as I survey this table.

Apparently I started buying clearanced fabrics on December 26 a couple years ago. Up until then it was giftwrap and ornaments. ;-) You can see in the forground that I've pieced four tops already (a fifth one tonight) but look at the rolls and flannels I've still got left! Yep, I'm thinking each kid and grandkid will get a quilt delivered in early December so they can enjoy it during the season. Added bonus; no comparing or "I like yours better!" on Christmas morning. :-)

I'm starting to run out of jelly roll pattern ideas. You know I get bored easily and don't want to repeat myself here. Any good suggestions?

October 31

Have a creepy good time tonight, and don't forget to set your clocks back!

(will this boy EVER get over scary and being scary?) :-)

October 30

I have a good excuse for not being online lately. Over a week ago I was sitting here working with six or seven programs open. John was wanting to replace a GFI outlet in the bathroom so he walked right by me and went out and flipped the main power off. :-(  Fried my computer. He spent the next few days dinkin' around here and there trying to fix it, finally accepted the "Revert it back to the way it originally was" offer, and there went every program I'd ever bought and loaded. I couldn't edit photos, print anything. argh. Finally upon my subtle suggestions he packed it up and took it to the repair geeks. While waiting for Photoshop and Publisher to arrive from ebay sellers I can't help but wonder if I'd be alive to share the story if the roles had been reversed. Anyway, it just really sucks when you've gotten so used to something being a certain way, and then it's just gone. Oh well--could've been worse, right?
Here's a pic I snapped today. I cropped and resized it at picnick.com. Pretty handy online program!

These went with Caleb to school today. I think Guittard's make THE best chocolate chips for melting and candy making EVER.  This green was quite a yummy mint flavor. And we always use the white chips at Christmas. Bonus: they're super cheap at the grocery store. And BIG THANKS to Jenny of Allsorts/Owlsorts who so kindly shared the little circles that we used to tie off the tops.

I'll try and hobble through another post tomorrow.

jen