The beginning of the quilts

Last year I took up a new hobby, despite Colin's feelings that I already have enough (sewing, scrapbooking, crocheting, reading, biking, etc.).  I enjoy sewing, so I thought it would be fun to be a quilter.  As is typical for me, I am beginning with an ambitious project, quilts for the girls designed by Colin and myself.

The original design we are working from.

A modification of the design.

What the pattern looks like after cutting out the pieces.

The fabrics

The piece behind the flower

This is difficult! I wasn't thinking and realized that to make this work I need seams that are straight across the fabric, not meeting in different angles. I am currently trying to fix this to make it lay flat.

Death at our House

We had a funny dinner conversation the other night talking about death and funerals.  Our children have had to deal with the death of their grandfather and their aunt, so it's not a scary topic at our house.  Sometimes it is serious, but this night it was funny.

They don't understand how people communicate about funerals, and are under the impression that they invite people to their funeral.  So Krynne said she wants to make sure when people are invited to her funeral that they are told to wear their pajamas. She wants her funeral to be fun, not sad. And then knowing how much Krynne dislikes dressing up, I said I wanted them to dress up in formal dresses with heels for my funeral. They decided they will dress up in formal black dresses as spies, possibly shooting people with water guns. So beware at my funeral, you never know what might happen!

Krynne would like to be cremated.  She would like her Uncle Tod to make a box, and realized she should ask sooner rather than later as he might die before she does. We are supposed to keep the box on a table in the house with a sign that says "Krynne Josephine Knopik - Rest in Pieces".

My sweet Aiden

This is the email I got from Aiden's teacher.  I know he is a kind hearted young man, and I'm proud of him.

Denise,
I have such a sweet story to tell you.  This morning, when I picked up the kids from specials, Aiden came into the room and he said, "(Name) did a very good job in art today!" (about another student).  This ignited a positive reaction from the class -- another student even got out of his seat and gave that student a pat on the back.  It was just such a wonderful show of compassion, and Aiden started it.
What a honey.

Christmas Family Pictures

We had a great time when we had our pictures taken for our Christmas card this year.  We did them at home and it was a riot.  The dog was going crazy because furniture was moved and someone else was over, and we laughed a lot at the craziness of it all.  But the result was fantastic!  I found a Santa outfit for Emmett to wear, and Colin thought it would be neat if we were all in matching pajamas.  Wilson even cooperated!

And then we had a nice picture taken in clothes, instead of pajamas.

And our Christmas card, possibly my favorite one we've ever had.  It was two sided.

I had never gotten around to sending out birth announcements for Emmett, so the back of our Christmas card was his announcement.