Gabe's birthday

Twelve years ago today we were blessed with our first grandson.  Twelve years!  How can that be?  He should still be a little baby.  Well, at least a baby!  He never was little.  He weighed almost 10 pounds when he was born and was the cutest chubby toddler.  Now he's skinny as a rail and in the 6th grade.  Did I mention that he's the reason I have the name Mama T?  All because he couldn't say Mama Teresa which is what I wanted him to call me.  And Papa Tim became Popple.  The rest, as they say, is history.

He has his own room now (no more sharing with brother Timothy).  So he has the bunk beds and only one bunk bed quilt.  His mom and I decided we should fix that problem.  His other quilt has a "space" theme so we used the scraps from it and added some more to make this:

Baby brother sneaked into this picture with Gabe.

Here's Gabe with the brother with whom he no longer shares a room.





Quilts and cats don't mix.  Neither do kids with shoes.  But this one is so cute he gets by with it.  The cat.....not so much.

This and That

Fall is finally here (although the temperatures are still above normal) and another grandson has discovered how beautiful my mums are.

Here's a close up of the yarn my daugher spun for the Sweepstakes Prize at the Tulsa State Fair.  She told me that the "stuff" she started with was quite ugly and greasy. (I know "stuff" is not the correct word but I'm not a spinner so I don't remember the right terminology).  She used her spinning wheel to spin it into something beautiful.  She added metalic threads and tiny, shiny beads.

This is another piece she won a prize on.  It's a collar, shawl type of thing.  The next picture shows it opened up.

And here are the latest of my applique blocks.  Right now I'm working on the last two and then it's on to the border.

36 years of marriage

Yesterday was mine and Tim's 36th wedding anniversary.  Our daughter, Andrea posted some really sweet stuff about us on her photography blog.  Thought I'd share it: http://www.amurphyphoto.com/blog/happy-university-mom-dad-tulsa-photographer

Kids, kids, kids....and a few other things.

Wow!  It's been a while since I've blogged.  I've been a little busy.  We've had a couple more birthdays, went to a funeral in Missouri, decided to buy some land, and I've been keeping my grandkids while Calista went back to her job of teaching Pilates.  And all of this in the middle of record breaking heat here in Oklahoma.  Oh how we're longing for the days of snow and cold!  Just kidding...but REALLY...we'd like for these 100 plus temperatures to break.  But alas, the weathermen are making no promises for any such thing to happen any time soon.

But life goes on, even when it's hot outside.  Kids grow...

...and kids like to play in the pool--even when it feels like bath water.

Here are all three of the young monkeys on one of the days I spent at their house taking care of them--or should I say being referee!

This little guy had a birthday (which he enjoyed very much)

This one's growing so much I hardly recognize him from day to day.

This one can be hard to please at times, but other times he's just the sweetest thing ever.  One night when he spent the night (just him) at my house, he told me it was the best day of his life.  Here he's helping me design a little quilt....

...which will eventually be for this little guy.  His name is Lenox and he lives in Kenya.  We've "adopted" him through Compassion and are enjoying getting to know him through his letters and helping him with his daily needs.

In the meantime, I've made a few more of these hand appliqued blocks. 

I've also been working quite a bit at the Cotton Patch, but during down times, I get to applique.

We recently celebrated Tim's birthday.  I won't say how old he turned.  I'll just say that the candles on the cake don't really represent the age.

I got him a new raincoat in anticipation of the rain that will surely come soon.  We'll keep praying and looking forward to the day when it's cooler and wetter. 

I'll end with just one more picture of the cutest little guy around. He's learned how to walk in the last 2 weeks.  He went from barely being able to stand to practically running.  That could explain all the bruises. Anyway, he's captured our hearts!

More birthday celebrations



Remember these?  I started them back in February using the tutorial found here:http://magnoliabayquilts.blogspot.com/2010/01/string-blocks-tutorial.html

Actually, I don't need the tutorial anymore since this is the 3rd quilt I've made like this.



Yesterday was my first born's birthday.  She knows she's loved since I made the quilt for her.  She even said that...."I know I'm loved 'cause you made me a quilt". (the quilt is much darker than it appears in this picture).

Here she is with the fam.  At least part of them.  Gabe is away at Boy Scout camp and we sure do miss him.  Everyone except Timothy.  He's having a great time without his big brother.

Here's a close up of the all over quilting done by Loretta Rogers.

And here's a close up of the label I made for the quilt.  I got it sewn on about a half hour before Calista arrived at my house.  She and Chris went out to dinner without any kids.  Tim and I kept the little boys.  Timothy spent the night and we're off to have some fun today (which includes Target and the swimming pool in our neighborhood).  Hope you go have some fun, too!

Daddy

Father's Day 2011

When I think of my dad (who has been gone since 1978) I see him on a tractor.  He could drive a John Deere like a guy rode a bucking bronco.  He would stand up as he drove past the house down the hill and wave as he drove.  He drove a Ford tractor, too, but for some reason I remember him mostly on that big green John Deere.

My dad was a hard working man.  He had an 8th grade education and did anything and everything to support his wife and family.  When I was about 4 we moved to a farm where he spent most of the rest of his life working for another man to put food on our table.  It was a good place to live and grow up.  He and another man managed almost a thousand acres and several hundred head of Polled Herford cattle.  He could scrub the dirty face of a white faced bull until it sparkled like snow to show it off in a big cattle show.  And he would come in the house as dirty as anyone could get, covered with hay seed and sweat.

In my mind, Daddy could fix anything.  He was a mechanic, a handyman, a tree trimmer--you name it--he could do it all.  Yet, he was gentle enough to sit down with me and help me build an entire miniature town out of toothpicks once when we were flooded in behind the creek for a few days.  He also made a wooden neck for one of my Barbie dolls once when my cousin ripped her head off.

We had a good relationship and I think I was pretty special to him (being the only girl between 2 boys--UNTIL my little sister came along! haha).  I could wrap him around my little finger and he would let me do things that Mom probably would not have.  I'm sure he knew my manipulation yet he went along with it.

Daddy loved music and made sure I loved it, too.  He made sure I learned to play the piano so I could play in church.  Church music was what he loved.  He sang bass and even though I can no longer remember what he sounded like when he talked, I can occasionally hear him singing bass in my head.  He and I would sing together and I would play for him and Mom when they sang in a quartet.

Our last Christmas together, Daddy took Tim and me coon hunting.  We walked and ran all over the side of a small mountain in the dark chasing our dog as he chased a coon.  It's one of my best memories.  Another best memory is seeing him out in the field plowing.  He'd see me in the yard and whistle for me to bring him a drink of water.  I'd fill a Mason jar with ice and water and go running across the field to take it to him.  He'd take a break and we'd sometimes sit under a shade tree and talk a minute or two.

On June 28, 1978 that tractor bucked him off.  He was hit by a round bale of hay that knocked him to the ground and broke his neck.  He died a week later in the hospital.  33 years later....I miss my dad on this Father's day.  I love you, Daddy and look forward to seeing you again in heaven.

Early Summer

Since last I blogged I found out that Sew Neat in Joplin (that I visited just 3 weeks ago) was destroyed by the tornado.  I've heard that the owner is not going to try to build it back.  So sad.  My quilt guild (Green Country Quilters' Guild) has sent 40 small quilts over to help those in need in Joplin.  If you have a desire to make one, I'd be glad to get it there through our guild or other shops in the area that are helping.  Joplin is only an hour and a half from my home and is located in my home state of Missouri.

In other news:

My tennis elbow was a good excuse to get my daughter over here to do some weeding and planting for me.  (That, and the fact that I hate doing it and she doesn't mind).  She got a little help from the youngest member of the family.

He started out on the blanket....

....but that didn't last long.

There's something about dirt that attracts boys.

He likes rocks, too.  It comes from being the grandson of a geologist and a rock collector.

He'll be walking soon.

Recently we celebrated my second daughter's birthday.  Since it's so unusual to wrap a present in this family (in anything other than a Wal Mart bag) we thought we should get a picture of it.

Yes, I AM still sewing.  This is the next to the last border of my applique quilt.  The last one is almost done, too and soon I'll be putting it together.

In the meantime, I started the quilt that I'll use for my bedspread.  Nothing else matches since we painted the walls this past winter.  3 blocks done....78 to go.

The flowers are blooming...

These lilies are doing well.  The ones in the backyard are being eaten by a family of rabbits.

Somehow they managed to bloom anyway, even though they have hardly any leaves left.

This hydrangea survived the winter.  It's partner 2 feet away did not.  Sigh.

Skippy, our cat watches tv...

...for hours sometimes.  She changes positions from time to time and gets up for a snack and a bathroom break occasionally.

woops...more flowers.

My oldest grandson "graduated" from 5th grade and will go to a different school next year.  The second one finished kindergarten and tells me he'll be skipping 1st grade.  Since I don't have a picture of either, I thought I'd post a picture of my high school graduation some....years....ago.  Thanks to Jeff Neier for posting it on Facebook for all the world to see. 

Tornados

Just in case anyone is wondering....we made it through the Oklahoma storms just fine last night.  Just fine....IF you think 5 of us crammed into an under the stairs closet is fun.  But seriously, we're so thankful that it wasn't too bad and that we had no damage.

My middle child and her husband come over every Tuesday night to watch Biggest Loser with us.  Last night was the FINALE and also was Andrea's (middle child) 29th birthday.  Biggest Loser never came on because of all the weather warnings.  Not only that KJRH is NOT going to replay it.  They put it on their digital channel and on a different Cox cable channel but that doesn't do any of us Sattelite Dish people any good.  So we're mad at them.  We'll have to wait and watch it on our computer later.  So don't tell us who won.

Anyway, with them here and Aaron and Tim and me we were quite a spectacle in that closet.  One report said we had 80-90 mph straight line winds.  It came out of the south and was pounding our front door which sits back a ways under the porch.  It hardly ever gets wet.  When we "came out of the closet", Aaron walked into my sewing room and announced that it smelled like a wet dog in there.  And he was right.  The rain had beaten so hard that it came through the window seams.  Not much got wet so it was easy to clean up.  Then we discovered that the same thing happened in the garage.  It came through the seams of the garage door and Tim's car was very wet.

I don't know how our trees survived, but they did.  And most of the flowers looked pretty good, too.
This morning Tim told me that right before he got in the closet he could feel the house "pulsing".  I'm glad he kept that to himself last night.

I'm wondering if the quilt shops that I visited in Joplin 10 days ago survived.  The entire city is so sad.  Let's all keep them in our prayers.  They have a long ways to recovery.

Happy Mother's Day to All

This is my second Mother's Day without my mom and without Tim's mom.  It's hard.  But thankfully, we have wonderful kids who helped make my Mother's Day great.  They were all here (in addition to Leslie and David) for lunch.  The boys grilled hamburgers, chicken and shrimp and Calista made a most delicious caramel filled gigantic brownie. 

And then....they gave me a present:

The present--in a pretty box.

The present...out of the pretty box.  The beads on this bracelet are my kids' birth stones, plus a few extras.  They'll be able to add on to it so I'll eventually have the grandkids' stones and the sons-in-laws, too.  Maybe more grandkids someday, also.

And here's the most special gift--my wonderful kids and husband.

Now on to other things:  Leslie had two birthday parties--one at the Cotton Patch where we both work and one at my house with our stitch group.  So naturally, I had to make her 2 cards.  Here's the first one with the envelope.

The inside of the first one.



And the second one.



I finished another border for the hand applique project I've been working on.
Unfortunately, it seems that I've developed Tennis Elbow--at least that's what I'm hoping it is.
My doctor also tested me for Rheumatoid Arthritis since my mom had it and Lupus since my sister has it.
Hopefully, it will just be Tennis Elbow and I can lay off some of my sewing and get it well ( and I can take drugs, too--I'd rather do that than stop sewing)  But I have slacked off some, so this project may not get finished as quickly as I had hoped.