Reindeer Games

The weekend before Christmas (also know as MY BIRTHDAY!), we went to Bethany for the "Barber" Christmas.  Melinda got her picture with the second cousins, Carter, Sarah, and Jackson.

And boyfriends and girlfriends are becoming part of the mix, so Aaron and Carmyn were added to the photo............

Sarah and Aaron had driven up directly from St. Louis, so her kitten had to make the trip as well.

And more goofing around with Debbie and Carter.

Sister/twins.  Deb got me this shirt last year and we both happened to wear them the same day!

And a photo with Aunt Carol Ann and her great niece and nephews...........Jacob had made it there by then.

We don't do a gift exchange, but play "Reindeer Games" instead.  Deb was in charge this year.  Of course, we had the ever popular saranwrap ball.  We had such a big crowd this year that we divided into teams and had 2 balls.  (We kept telling my Dad that he had the "Party" house.)

This was a new game this year.  It can be difficult to hook candy canes with the candy cane in your mouth.

There were lots of other games involving balloons, red solo cups, ice cream cones, and lots of mini marshmallows.

This was Aaron's first visit to meet the family.  I don't think we scared him too badly with all the weirdness.

 
Christi

Christmas Decorations

 Well, Christmas is over and I'm way behind on the blog.  Not because we were so entirely busy that there was no time, but technical difficulties have caused delays.  My laptop doesn't want to stay connected to the internet for any length of time, so this will be a relatively short post, just in case.  (There is a new modem sitting on the desk, so maybe that will solve the issue...........once it's installed.)

This was our one and only tree this year!  I could never get a picture with the beautiful tree skirt not rumpled.  This was a wedding gift (30 years ago).  The cats love to snuggle in it, so I'm always straightening it back out.

Right before Christmas, the railroad closed our road into town for some repairs, so we had to drive around.  This brought us into town on Eastwood Street which is lined with trees and big old homes.  We were quite taken with the deer in one of the yards.

Looks like he's getting ready to eat out of the gutter in this pic.

We were quite taken with the large deer (we grow 'em BIG in Missouri!).  So taking the long way wasn't a great hardship since we got to see the deer.

I made pillowcases for some Christmas gifts.  

Starting from the left, the Snoopy pillowcase went to cousin Melinda, a Snoopy fanatic.  The half naked cowboys went to cousin Pam (couldn't resist this fabric on our trip to Hermann).  The floral was for cousin Susie.  I have to say, I really liked this print.  I have since been shopping the sales online, and there is a layer cake that I keep looking at and then I realize this fabric is in it, so I must love the whole line.  And the last one was a dinosaur pillowcase for Sarah.  These are so fun and easy to make and so fun to give as gifts.  

The blog wouldn't be complete without an animal photo...............

David let her in when he left before 5 this morning to load hogs.  I was trying to read in the recliner.  It's really difficult to read with an 80lb. dog on your lap.  We snuggled there for almost an hour before she moved to the couch.  

Also wishing a belated Happy Birthday to Aunt Judy!  I was going to try to post this yesterday, but there were internet issues!

Christi

This and That

 I didn't really know what to title this post, as it's a hodge podge of lots of things.  I'm still so happy to have the Scrap Happy quilt top finished.  I have even picked up some backing fabric for it...........just need to piece it together.  The batting is already cut for it too!  Do you suppose there could be one more finish in 2022?  Let's not get too hasty, there's lots to do for Christmas yet.

Oh, and all those stars in that quilt.............

Well, they yielded (I feel like I'm talking about the crop harvest here) 200 little half square triangles that need to be squared up to 1.75".  I'm planning some sort of pillow from them.  But the trimming is gonna take awhile.  I counted these on December 5th, so decided that if I trimmed 10 a day they would be done by Christmas!  So far I'm on track, but it's only been 4 days.

My little block loc ruler comes in handy for this process.

And I have been quilting for others............some lucky folks will be getting quilts for Christmas!

I really enjoyed quilting this Dauphin Island quilt in patriotic colors.  There is a Hedge Hog baby quilt on tap for today.

Of course, Esme has to "take one for the team" on a quilting day and spend most of the day "working" in the sewing room.

Obviously it's time for a belly rub...........

A sewing day usually means that Willow stays outside.  We keep trying to make the bed big enough for her but it never seems to work.

I volunteered at the local animal shelter with a young person from church.  It was our job to interact with the animals...........  after some extensive dog belly rubbing, we made our way to the cat room.  There was the cutest litter of kittens..........meet Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma.  At least they hadn't named one of them Scooby Doo!

I also spent a day making stuff for Christmas in the KITCHEN!

Some sweet chex mix.........

Christmas mints - a favorite of my sister.........

Spiced pecans for David.........

I also made his haystack cookies, and the peanut butter bon bons that Sarah loves.  I'm totally out of Christmas tins and there is still stuff to make!

Willow found the sugar high exhausting..............

If you look closely, you can see that one of these furry things has not had a bath...............

Did you figure it out?  It's the reindeer toy at the top of the photo.  The other 3 are nice and fluffy and smell good for a change!

Well, the day holds much promise.............some sewing and quilting, maybe some peanut clusters, the list of house cleaning chores is long, and the only presents that have been wrapped are the ones David has done.  AND, my nephew Carter is starting his indoor track season today, so I'll be checking the link to the scoring app that they sent me.  The day holds so much excitement!  Hope yours is wonderful.

Christi

Thanksgiving Time Travel

 I realized that I had never completed my posts about Thanksgiving week.  We fixed Thanksgiving dinner for David's family.  The star of the day was Miles, David's great nephew who is now a one-year-old.

This was our Thanksgiving meal.

Miles got to entertain his great grandma..........

and his great grandpa............

The grandparents with their grand children and great grandchild.

and the grand kitten got into the action.......

Miles got a Christmas quilt as an early birthday present.

Sarah's kitty found a place to hide out from the one-year-old.

The next day, we worked on getting out the Christmas decorations.  Sarah's kitty had to try out the Christmas blankets.

And then she had to try out the Christmas tree skirt........

It had good snuggle-ability

But Cici reminded us that she is the true gift by claiming her spot on the Christmas tree skirt.

Esme was content to keep her place on the couch with the snowman pillows and quilt.

We also baked some sugar cookies.

And TODAY, FINALLY, I finished my Scrap Happy quilt top.  I had been working on it since the late summer.  I did make mine larger than the pattern by adding 7 more blocks to make it 4x4 instead of 3x3.  The blocks were designed to use 64 two and a half inch squares.  I thought this would be a great way to clean out my 2.5" square box.  I also tried it with 1.5" squares, making four 256 patch blocks.  It did empty the 1.5" square box.  

I shared the pattern with my mom and she has made 5 of these already and one table runner from the pattern.  I have already quilted the table runner and 3 of the quilts for her.

I need to get some Christmas gifts finished and have a couple of quilts to quilt for other people.  But I'm really glad to have this top complete.

Christi