Next Gen Readers

Bought joke books for my two little readers.

Big hits!

And Addy's mom is very happy the knock-knock book doesn't live at her house.

Budding Artist

Found a tutorial online for a fun art project, so today Leanne and I broke out the (bleeding) tissue paper, big girl scissors and spray bottle.

I thought she would be most excited about using the scissors, but I was wrong - her favorite part was definitely the tweezers.

Her patience and persistence (and hand/eye coordination) in picking off every little piece of paper amazed me.

Pop and I both think Leanne is going to be my crafting buddy as she gets older.

This project was fast, fun and messy -

and we'll definitely be doing it again.

A Day With Leanne

A day spent with Leanne is always entertaining, but she was really on top of her game today.

She started with hide & seek and tag with Pop, then freezing us in place with her "Elsa powers".

We progressed to making cookies - and licking the beaters, of course -

multiple games of Uno, using our scariest voices to ask questions of the Magic 8 ball -

Leanne couldn't remember 'Magic 8 ball' so she called it the "Magical ball of 8", which is now its official name;

plus lots

and lots

of face painting and picture taking.

And I wonder why I'm always tired when she goes home . . .

Happy New (Fabric) Year!

What better way to start the new year than a 50% off sale at one of my two favorite quilt stores.

 Bought 4 yards of the red and 2 yards each of tan and brown in the top right corner. Came home and found several yards of the brown already in my stash . . . 

Reyna drove down from Santa Barbara and we hit the doors about 3 minutes after the shop opened.

I have some of these already. I bought the rest of both bolts since I know where I want to use them.
 
I was a moderate shopper (yeah, right) with only 9 bolts in my "cut" pile. 
 Too pretty to leave behind - no idea what I'll use it for.

Reyna outdid me with 11 (12?) bolts - and a plan for a future quilt. But her self-restraint was more evident; she limited herself to one yard cuts on most fabrics. 
 I don't normally buy toile, but this is gorgeous. Can't remember if I bought 3 or 4 yards. 

I just went with what spoke to me - and I bought in quantity. 
 Bubbles! Backing for fabric that's in my stash. 3 yards of the blue and yellow; 2+ of the orange. 

Are there any sweeter words in a fabric store than, "I'll take everything on that bolt"?
Another 1-yard cut that was too pretty to leave behind. Reindeer!
 
Most of what I purchased is destined for backing fabric. And 22 yards (at an average of $6/yard) should back a lot of quilts.

Another Finish!

Have I ever mentioned that I'm a procrastinator? And that I'm really, really good at it? As proof, may I offer . . . .

this jelly roll, purchased in August 2010. Didn't know what I wanted to do with it, so it marinated for years in the fabric stash until July, when inspiration struck.

Quilt top and borders were done in two days, then off it went to the long-arm quilter, who had it finished and returned in less than two weeks. And then it sat. Again. 
 
Until this week, when I got off my butt inspired again. I finished hand-stitching the binding last night and voila! 

 
A beautiful quilt, ready for the washing machine and to be put into use. 
 
I love this thing. 

 
Caribbean Sunrise; begun in 2010, finished in 2015. Now that's procrastination.  

Better Finished Than Perfect

Look what I finished -
 
Shabby Roses, begun in a class at Quilt Ventura in September 2014 (!!!), 
 
is quilted, bound, washed and on the bed in our upstairs 'guest room'. 
  
It's probably a bit small for this bed, but Leanne and I love it and can't wait to sleep under it tonight.
 
And? A second quilt - another long time project - is almost done. Just need to finish hand-sewing the last two sides, toss it in the washer, and put it out to be used. Maybe I'll even get it done before the new year. Fingers crossed.

Note to myself: the tulip fabric in the border is "Botanica II - Spring" by Color Principle for Henry Giass; the backing fabric - that looks like one of my high school prom dresses (in a good way) - 

is "Marblehead" by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studio.  

Universal Birthday

I love going to theme parks with the little girls for my birthday. It's a present for me just watching how happy they are - especially when they get to take a day off from school. 
 
We decided on Universal Studios this year, in part because we hadn't been in a looooong time. 
 
And the other part? Harry Potter and Hogwarts are coming to Universal in April. By buying season passes now, we can come back in April for "free".
 
We also decided - since season passes mean we can come back as often as we like - to take just Leia on this trip and bring Leanne in January. More individual attention for them; less bickering competing for grandma's attention for me. 
 
The day was chilly but there were no crowds; we got on most rides within 10-15 minutes.
 
The characters were out in force and there was no waiting for photos with them either. Leia was thrilled.
 
We rode almost every ride in the park (except roller coasters; neither Leia nor I are fans)
 
and did Leia's favorite rides - Minion Mayhem and the back-lot tram - twice. We wanted to do the bug ride again too, but alas, it was broken. 

 
Was it worth the money for season passes? Heck, yes!
 
The rides were a lot better than I remember from previous visits. 
 
There's an emphasis on 3D/4D movie experiences, which makes sense for a movie studio. Play to your strengths, right?
 
The most amazing thing to me was King Kong 360-3D during the tram ride. It was AWESOME!
 
I hope it isn't too scary for Leanne 'cause that's the first ride I want to go on when we go back in January!   

Christmasing

The weather outside is frightful - temps in the 80's and 90's until today, when we got high winds, pounding surf and 3 drops of rain.
 
Which is about the polar opposite of what we had during our Thanksgiving week in Colorado.

We have, however, still managed to get into the Christmas spirit.
 
Santa has been visited -
Travis will be 4 on the 23rd!

and the girls made their holiday trek to Build-a-Bear, 
 
bringing home Clarice (for Leanne) and Princess Dancer (Leia). 
 
Mary and I took a fun wreath class
 
at the Christmas tree farm owned by one of my favorite former co-workers.
 
Addy decorated her tree while we were in Colorado,
  
(did I mention I taught her finger crochet - she's a natural! - and more embroidery stitches while we were there? Proud grandma!)
 
Yesterday we started a fire,
 
then got out our boxes 
 
and boxes 
 
(and more boxes) 
 
of decorations 
 
so the little girls 
 
could help us 
 
with our tree.
 
They even stopped bickering for 47 1/2 seconds 
 
so I could get a couple of decent photos.

Now that's what I call Christmas spirit!