Simply Charming

Simply Charming

 I've entered this quilt into a contest being hosted by Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild (I used to belong to it before moving to Italy).  They're hosting a challenge to make a quilt with a Dresden Ruler.  I'm most proud of myself because this quilt was done almost entirely with a charm pack (5 inch squares that are pre-cut from a line of fabric).  I used this charm pack, and a little tiny bit of extra yardage to finish it.  It's a 62 inch square.  I'm also proud of myself because it is square (and not lop-sided).

I'm also proud of myself because I figured out all on my own how to do the double circle.  On the outer circle I occassionally inverted a piece of fabric and was able to make a larger circle.

I was originally inspired to make this quilt by doing one very similar for Paolo's aunt and uncle's 40th Wedding Anniversary.  They are such wonderful people and have lost a lot of loved ones, including a daughter at the age of 19 in a car accident.  It had particular meaning to me because the significance was that circles give the idea of eternity and each piece of fabric represented a person in the family, linked or tied together.  Even though there are some family members gone, they are always tied to us- a part of us.  And those relationships last forever!

 Couldn't resist getting Isabel in there (even though she has a disgustingly dirty knee)/

 Here's the back

Voila!

And here's the first one that I did for Ivo and Ivana, that inspired this one.  The original was a 40 inch square.

End of the summer

I was trying to get my email time in and Jordan was wanting to take advantage of Aaron going back to summer school yesterday with getting cartoons that his brother doesn't get to watch.  I told Jordan that I had to do my exercise video before he could watch cartoons.  So he handed me my pilates band.  I put in the dvd in the hopes that I would get there very quickly.  While waiting for me, he started doing my exercises too.  It was funny so here's a little sneak video that I got.

 Summer is starting to wind down.  The last 2 weeks have been hotter than Hades.  No kidding. 40-45 centigrade (102-110 F) with humidity.  Plus air conditioning is considered "unhealthy" around here.  So of course we don't have it.  I feel like the witch from the wizard of Oz that yells "I'm melting, I'm melting!"  Fortunately the last two days it's started to cool off at night.  We're finally getting down into the 70's at night and we can cool the house off.

The angle of the sun has started to change and the days are getting decidedly shorter.  I can feel the change coming on.  And even though I HATE the heat, I'm almost getting melancholy or nostalgic for the summer that is promising to leave us soon.

And Jordan is our photographer for this picture!

some finished sewing projects

 It usually takes me FOREVER to finish a project.  I'm really good at starting them, and have a hard time finding enough time to finish them.  So here are two recently finished quilts.  The first one is for our little friend Lara that was born about 2 months ago.  Considering I've known since the 20 week ultrasound that she's a girl, it's taken me a while.  The biggest reason is that I'm not able to free-motion quilt my quilts right now.

 The second quilt is a surprise.  There's a quilt challenge being hosted by the Salt Lake City Modern Quilt Guild using a dresden ruler.  The competition starts September 1st, so I'll be posting pictures of my quilt on that date.  It's the first time I've finished something "quickly" relatively speaking.

 These are wonky log cabins, and I made one for Isabel and one for our friend.  Obviously I finished our friend's first.  Isabel has all smaller blocks, and this one has big and small ones.

E.R. nurse nightmare

As an E.R. nurse I have the paranoia of small children playing with balloons for the reason that if it pops and goes down their airway, it's really hard to resuscitate a child with an inflatable balloon in their airway.

That being said I had the following conversation with Aaron on the way home tonight.

Aaron: Oh Mom, this piece of candy, what is it like?

Me: What do you mean Aaron?

A: It's like a balloon!

Me:  How is it like a balloon?

A: You tell me mom.

Me:  Is it like a balloon because they're both round?

A:  No!

Me:  Then how are they alike?

Aaron:  You can break both of them with your teeth!

Me:  Aaron, you don't break balloons with your teeth!

A:  Yes you can!

me:  You can break balloons with your hands or your feet, but not with your teeth.

A: Yes you can!

Moral of the story, I still have some work to do when it comes to balloon safety!

Isabel's first birthday

 I think she realized that she's going to turn 1 and decided to start walking by pushing around our neighbor's chair the day before her birthday (the 13th).

We are having some work done on our house and I was gone all day with the kids to keep the boys from trying to play with the tools and trying to help.  They love to help, and as often as I can, I let them, but...   It's also hotter than Hades and  humid, and air conditioning doesn't exist in most households, so I didn't feel like turning on the oven anyway.  So we didn't make a cake or cupcakes.  I bought some waffles from our local discount store and put whipped cream on top.  She had fun anyway.  Chocolate next year my dear.

 Paolo got carried away with the whipped cream and wrote the number 1 on her head.

 then on me

 then on himself

 I can't believe it's already been a year since she was born (and therefore 8 weeks shy of when we moved to Italy)!  She is by far my most pleasant baby.

And finally one of the reasons that I really, really love having a girl is right here.... I get to be a girl too. :)

7th Anniversary

Well we made it to and from Bern, Switzerland safely.  It was a fast trip with little sleep for Paolo and I, but I'm glad I went.  Grateful to find some peace.

 Aaron was the family photographer.  :)

 We accidently took the long way home from the temple, and I'm so glad that we did!  We passed by a lot of gorgeous lakes and mountains.  We stopped at one and let the kids swim.  The water was probably about 70 degrees (20 C).  It was cool, but ok to play in for a little bit.

Today is our 7th anniversary.  It's funny how it seems like not too long ago, and at other times like forever ago.  Today we celebrate marriage, love, friendship, work, sacrifice, hard and good times.  I am personally grateful for all of them as they have helped us grow together.  I think marriage is very much a living thing that needs nourishing and love and lots of giving.  I'm also convinced that as we are required to give up selfish parts of us to make marriage work, that we become what we were created to become.  I'm grateful to not have to do this life alone and I love my sweetheart, Paolo!

The Temple

 We decided last minute that we're leaving tonight to drive up to Bern to go to the temple for 2 days.  It's going to a whirlwind, exhausting trip.  But personally I need the time to meditate and find peace.  As Aaron and Jordan were coloring this morning, I heard Jordan ask, "is that a boy?"

Aaron: "no, it's an angel."

This is what he drew.  He informed me that he wrote "angel" on the top of the page.  It made me smile that basically it's his name with a few extra letters.

Isabel

These are just a few pictures and a small video of my little Isabel.  In a little over a week she'll be 1!  I want to cry!  Most likely being my last one it's kind of sad to think about.  She's not as fast at her milestones, like crawling and walking as were Aaron and Jordan but she sure makes up for it in her interactions with us.

Poor thing lately as she's crawling (lopsided) she keeps falling and hitting one side of her forehead.  At the end of the video she does it again.

 Eating blackberries by our house.

 First bed-head ever for Isabel.  I made the mistake of feeding her watermelon after her evening bath and so she had sticky hair.  So she woke up with her hair all over the place!  When your kids wake up with crazy hair and bad breath then you know they're not babies anymore.  I haven't had the pleasure of smelling the bad breath first thing in the morning, but I think we'll be getting there soon.

And finallly the little miss has learned how to squak, cry, or yell when she is unhappy with something (like taking away something she wants), and she'll cry until she gets it back.  From my very pleasant baby into a normal one... :)

New Car

 We got a new (used) car.  It's a little bigger than the one we had and now I don't have to force the door closed every time we get in the car (because the car seats all 3 lined up in a row are just a little too big for the one we have).  I wasn't able to get great pictures and haven't had a chance to try again.  The kids have kept me busy.

It's a Peugeout 307.  It's a 7 seater, but the back two seats fold down.  So it's either a five seater with a good amount of trunk space or it's a 7 seater with no trunk space.  We got it at a great price and we're really happy with it.