INTRODUCING LILY MARIE FAITH

It's amazing how fast nine months go! It seems as though we just found out we were pregnant and now here she is. Truly an unbelievable blessing! So far she is sleeping and eating well. Double blessing for mom!Here are the proud big brothers! Everyone is adjusting well and loves having her home!

Here she is in the special outfit Daddy bought to take her home in. I think Dad did a great job! I love pink and she looks good in it!

All for now!

Lori

FUN IN THE LEAVES!

It seems that the leaves used to fall in late September and they'd stay crunchy for weeks. The last couple of years it seems that the wind and rain come together late October and the leaves never seem to get the crunch here that they used to. Well wet soggy leaves or not, you can't let an opportunity to jump in a pile of leaves pass you by so yesterday Dwain raked up the side yard into a pile and the boys proceeded to jump, dive and bury themselves in an enormous pile of leaves. The giggles and laughter shared by the four of us is sure to imprint a permanent memory even in our smallest little person. I managed to get a few shots of the fun. Have a great day!

THE QUILTS ARE ALMOST DONE! AND SO AM I!!

Well, I've been a busy girl. Last Christmas I posted a picture of the fabrics I got for Christmas. Dwain bought me fabric to make the boys Christmas quilts. I wanted to do something bright and cheery! Today I got them back from the long arm quilting lady. She did an awesome job! All I have to do is put the binding on them and they're done. These are my first professionally quilted blankets and I made them for the boys to use only for the month of December each year. They will be ready for their bunkbeds December 1st. I look ahead and someday see them on my own grandchildren's beds. It was fun because the boys are actually really excited about them. They have seen them transform from a bunch of fabric, to strips, to blocks, to rows and then a top of a blanket. They each picked their own flannel for the back. Lovella was kind enough to let me use her wonderful sewing machine she got for Christmas last year to monogram a special message on the bottom corner block of each quilt. "Handmade with Love for Ryan/Jacob From Mom, December 1st, 2007." Thanks Auntie! I actually have the 3rd quilt already cut out and ready to put together as I got enough fabric to make 3 quilts.
Go figure that one! Someone knew the family was going to grow!



Today marks my 4 week 5 days to go! The countdown is on. Lastweek I became a proud auntie for the second time. Check out Sweet Abundance in my favourite blogs to see my nephew Liam! He really is a little pumpkin!!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Well I survived!! My firstborn officially started school! This is Ryan on his first full day of Kindergarten. I had the same smile on my face as I took this picture but my heart was feeling a little different. I didn't have tears until I drove home by myself. The first couple of weeks were a little tough on me, yes me, but I am slowly adjusting to it. Ryan is loving it although sometimes he has had some anxiety he never complains and is doing well. I'm a proud mamma!! He is a very brave boy!

The month of September was a huge month of firsts for Ryan. He finally did it!! Ryan got on his old little bike without training wheels and rode for the first time without any help! The expression on his face was like he couldn't believe he was doing it himself. Look mom, no training wheels! "I can hardly believe it he says!" This time the smile on my face was as big on the inside as the out! Although I did almost shed a tear at the sight of him riding the bike too!

I'll see if I can upload the clip here.
I've missed alot of bloggin this summer. I wasn't feeling inspired or motivated to sit at the computer and write a post. But here I am now at the computer feeling driven to document my summer. I believe I am nesting as they call it!

We had a family holiday to Kelowna which was alot of fun as well as hosted two Japanese boys in August. They were totally awesome! They fit right in with us and the boys couldn't get enough of them. We are scheduled to host some short term students come the end of February but for now we are taking a break!

For Thanksgiving we made a thankfulness tree.

The boys each took turns saying what they were thankful for. Here's a picture of the tree! The list of thankfulness goes like this: Toy Cars (green ones), Food, Cookies, Sleepovers, my new fast flame bike, brothers, mommy, daddy, Ryan, Jacob, baby, cameras, blankies, and trees. Not a bad list. When Ryan was asked at school what he was thankful for he said BUNKBEDS!! I am so glad my boys love eachother so much! Sharing a room at 3 1/2 and 5 years old does not come without its challenges but so far it's working out to my satisfaction.

I also recently finished my fall tablerunner that I started before Jacob was born. 3 1/2 years sitting in my closet was long enough when I figured if I didn't finish it now it may well be another 3 1/2 years. So it is complete and on display!

Well I think I am caught up! That feels good! Have a great day!!

A GREAT DAY FOR A PICNIC!!

Lastweek we got our new camera so I've been having some fun
with it. I suprised the boys with a backyard picnic. Ryan and Jacob say it was the best picnic ever!
Our students are gone and we have the house to ourselves. How lovely to be just us again! I have posted a few pictures of the boys on their new bikes. They are mighty proud. We are hoping Ryan is brave enough to ride without the training wheels by the end of summer. He's gonna have to be cuz Jacob might be doing it himself! Have a great day!

SUMMER IS HERE!!!

So here I am again feeling guilty as I read everyone elses blogs and don't do a post of my own. Thought I'd give a quick update on life in what we call the fast lane. It has been quite a ride these past several months. Bringing on board 2 chinese students for a 5 month stay, starting a new job, discovering we were going to have another baby, 6 weeks of morning sickness (I'm not complaining cuz I have a friend who is just as pregnant as me and she is still soooooo sick), celebrating the last few days of preschool and meeting Ryan's new Kindergarten teacher, celebrating Jacob's 3rd Birthday and my 35th, quitting my new job, surviving the Fraser River NOT flooding, 10 weeks of learning how to grow kids God's way (7 more to go, yeeehaaa!!). There are so many inbetween things that I can't even think about it all.

Our chinese girls will be leaving us next Thursday very early in the morning. This will be a huge load off my plate! Friday I will get my UltraSound. We are quite excited as we anticipate what the sex of our baby will be. We should know in a week or two! We have decided not to tell anyone what we are having until later in the pregnancy. I think we will let our family know before the baby arrives but we really want to keep it to ourselves so I hope we don't get bugged too much. We want to just enjoy knowing for ourselves for awhile.

Tonite I did some sewing. I have started the boys PJ's that I make them for Christmas every year. I make them 2 pairs and they wear them all year. I'm going to attempt to make a pair of maternity capri pants this weekend. I hope it's a success. I'll post a picture when I've accomplished this task. I'll try to do it for my 20 week profile shot! Heehee!

Well gotta get to bed. Have a great day everyone!

ONE WHITE SOCK!!!

I had to just do a quick post tonite because Ryan made me laugh. The last several nights he's been going to bed with just 1 sock on. I wasn't aware that he was purposely doing this but lastnight again, I noticed he had just one sock on when I went to tuck him in before I went to bed. I pulled it off and covered him up. Well tonite after the boys went to sleep Dwain says to me, did you notice Ryan's been going to bed with 1 sock on at night? I said, yah, I take it off when I tuck him in a bedtime. We both chuckled. Dwain says, tonite he did it again, he says he wants to see if he can make it through the night! What a goof! Seeing as he doesn't know it's me that takes it off at night, I think I'll switch the white sock for a red sock when he's asleep tonite and see what he thinks about that in the morning!! Heeheee!

I'M WHAT?!?!

Oh people! Here I am totally dedicated to reading all my friends blogs and so today I run across my name on someones link list. So I thought, wow, it's been awhile since I even looked at my own blog so I clicked on my own link only to find 5 new comments. Too funny people!! Aunt Lovella, what could you possibly be waiting for me to say! Hmmmm I wonder!!!
Well I guess I can let the cat out of the bag!
The last 3 months have been somewhat of a blur. Getting 2 new 10 year olds in the beginning of February has proven to be more than I can handle. A new job with a month of full time work in training and all the other responsibilities that go along with 4 kids is really taken a toll on me.
Obviously God thinks I can handle a little more because what I didn't know when I started my job was that I was 3 days away from becoming pregnant! Yes I said it! The big P word! I hadn't even put in 3 days work! We only found out a few weeks ago because I was feeling so sick and it wasn't going away. I still feel green around the gills but at least I know why! I am hoping it goes away within another week! Today isn't such a bad day!
This morning we decided it was time to tell our boys. They have seen me laying on the couch alot the past few weeks and have been repeatedly told they can't hop on my tummy or come jumping at me while I'm laying down. So I got Ryan up on my lap this afternoon and Dwain had Jacob. I asked Ryan if he'd noticed me layin around alot. He's says "not really" . I'm thinking oohh good! He doesn't think I'm a lazy lump! Anyway, I told him that there was something very special growing inside of me and his face lit up like a firecracker! He knew right away what I meant and he just started giggling. He immediately started rubbing my tummy and was talking to the baby and telling it he loved it. It was sooo special. For the next hour he kept tackling me with hugs of excitement and has been including the baby in our activities today. I am sooo happy he was so full of joy! Jacob on the other hand is sort of oblivious but I think he knows too cuz he's watching Ryan.
So by the end of the first week of November we will have another addition to the family.
May we ask for your prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy. This baby has surprised us all and I was not exactly doing all the good stuff you should be doing before you get pregnant because we weren't trying to. I know that God's hand is in this all and today it really has sunk in and become more of a reality seeing how excited Ryan is about it. Please pray that I will be able to avoid or at least manage the Gestational Diabetes with my diet if it comes my way as it has with the last two pregnancies. I am getting an MP3 for my birthday in June so that I have something to listen to when I am on the treadmill but I haven't been on it more than once in the last 3 weeks because of the nausea. Please pray that subsides soon too!
So there you have it! God definitely likes to keep me on my toes. He's gotta be laughing to himself thinking, "And you thought YOU had it all figured out didn't you!!"
Yah, I guess I thought I did! I'm almost 35 years old and sometimes he still chooses to WOW me to get my attention! OK, You Got it Lord!!

WHAT WILL WE DO TODAY MOM?

So this morning I wake up to my 5 year old. He climbs into bed and snuggles up real close and says "Mom, it's still really early in the morning but you can get up now. So what are you going to do with me today? What do you want do mom? I love those moments. All he wants to do with his day is be with me. So it looks like my day is already planned.
I am hoping that the sun will peak out later this afternoon. I would like to get out in the garden and do some weeding and get the kids picking up the sticks on the lawn so that Dwain can mow it. I think I'll make it a game.

I wish I could take some pictures to post but our camera doesn't work properly anymore. We are hoping to get one in the next few weeks. I definitely don't want to go into spring and not have any pictures of the kids.

Yesterday I worked at the bank. It was very busy for a Monday! I was over .01 cent at the end of the day. I quickly found my mistake and corrected it but was a little annoyed with myself. It's the perfectionist in myself. It was worse that is was only a penny and not a larger amount.

This afternoon I will be taking the girls to the bead store. We plan to spend a couple hours there making some jewelery together. Bonnie wants to buy an MP3 player so we will probably be on the hunt for one of those also. The boys and girls went to gramma and granpas yesterday while I was at work and the girls picked allot of flowers. They brought them home and decided to make a garden in the sandbox. I wish I could take a picture of it . Perfect rows of flowers planted in the sand. Primroses of all colors, daffodils and even a maple tree twig. They spent a couple hours planting all these cut flowers. Lastnight they bought some makeup in the toy section of Walmart. I had to glam them up lastnight. Today they have their hair caked with sparkly glitter. They think they are models. I'm just playin along.
Well have a nice day everyone!

MOM IN TRAINING

Well it has nearly been a month since my last post. I'm sorry to say that blogging has just not been a priority the past few weeks. I tried to get into my blog earlier but I tried for 10 minutes and couldn't remember my own password. I don't know what the problem was cuz I had no trouble now.
It has been a long 3 weeks for me as I have been in training at my new job at the bank. By the end of this week it will have been a month since I started and I will have worked near 100 hours above and beyond my regular job as a Mom. Needless to say, I am extremely tired. Despite the fatigue, I know I am really going to enjoy being a teller when I go to 2 days a week starting next week. Codes and different kinds of transactions are really making sense to me now and I am happy to announce I have balanced at the end of every day! Yahooo!
It has been quite an adjustment for everyone, but with lots of help from Gramma, the boys fared well in the adjustment.
This past Saturday we joined an 18 week seminar called Growing Kids God's Way! We both think that this will be an eye opening and great learning experience for both of us. A definite worthwhile investment we thought. We were informed that there would be a fair bit of homework each week and practical application. Dwain's wasn't too happy about the homework part!!
Last Thursday we had a little accident on the farm. Dwain was lowering the lawn tracker from the second story of the barn and the steel forks that the tractor was sitting on folded and the lawn tractor fell from the second floor upside down on the concrete below. It made quite a mess and was very mangled. We think it is a right-off but we don't know yet. Insurance is in the process of assessing it. We are hoping so because even if it gets fixed it it will never run the same again. We're cheering for a new one. I am so thankful that Dwain wasn't hurt or that someone wasn't watching him from down below.
Well, gotta get to bed. I'm not the night owl I was a month ago. It's already past my bedtime.
Bye for now!

BOWLING AND A NEW JOB FOR MOM!

Well I thought I'd give you a little update on the whole bowling experience with Ryan's preschool. I thought it was fun although I didn't get to play. Ryan on the other hand, along with many other kids wanted to quit after 6 turns. We went 5 pin bowling and most of the kids couldn't really throw it. Despite the fact that my video camera had a dead battery after a full night of charging and my camera kept turning off on me after every picture, I managed to get these. Nobody focused on the score but I had to get a few shots cuz Ryan was winning up until close to the end. He quit trying and started to basically just drop it. I didn't tell him he was winning but I was feeling just a little competitive when I saw him get the pins down.

We all enjoyed some pizza afterwards and then headed home.

Tuesday was my first day of work at the bank. I think it's going to be great. The ladies there are so nice. The boys dropped me off this morning and it felt sort of weird. They rolled down the windows in the truck and were waving goodbye as I walked to the door. A few I Love You Mom's and I was off to work. It was different this time for me. When I went back to work after Ryan was born it was horrible. I cried in the morning and was sort of a mess. This time I was so okay with the whole thing. I was ready for this and really enjoyed learning today! I was thinking throughout the day that it was feeling like the beginning of a new phase in my life. A little tiny bit of something for myself. I have to say that I have a very thankful heart today. Thanks Lord for my new job!
My Supervisor seems to like me. She called me a nut a few times while we were laughing and figured I'd fit right in with my sense of humor. She said that I think like her. We'll see if that's a good or bad thing!!heehee. Well gotta run.

MY WORD PUZZLE

Here's my word puzzle. If you want to make one using words most frequently used in your blog click here http://www.snapshirts.com.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE!!

So here I am again! It's been two weeks since our family grew. And I am wasted! Sunny and Bonnie have proven themselves to be very energetic young girls. Overall I think the next 5 months should move along fairly smoothly. But please pray that I can keep my patience!
Sorry about the leaving a comment glitch! I chose to moderate my comments for awhile because I was getting some weird ones from people I didn't know. I forgot I did that and didn't check my dashboard to see if I had any. I assumed I didn't. Blonde moment!! Thanks for all the nice comments you left. You should now be able to read them all. So here's my life update in a nutshell.

I got a job! Yes, a job!! What am I thinking? Am I nuts! Well, sometimes I am but in this case I was pretty level headed. I wasn't looking for a job it just fell into my lap. Aren't those the best kind. I know that this is what God wants me to do because he made it fit into my schedule so perfectly and handed it to me with not really any effort on my part. I will be working Saturday and Monday at the Aldergrove Credit Union, Matsqui Branch as a bank teller. I am quite excited. It is extremely close to home also a big bonus. I start this week.

This week Ryan and Jacob got sick with a cold and then croup set in in the night. Not fun at all! Now I have a bad cold as well. I've been a mess the last 2 weeks with a bladder infection and 2 weeks of antibiotics cuz the first prescription didn't work. So if that wasn't enough already, my womanly monthly hit me hard for 5 days. Aycarumba!! I probably haven't been that fun to live with!

On a positive note, while I was at the doctor I happened to mention I was feeling a little tense in the neck and back! I wonder why??? so she referred me to a massage therapist. Thank you Lord!! I enjoyed a 45 min massage on Thursday! I already can't remember how it felt anymore but I know I want to go again!!!!Heehaa!

This Wednesday I took the girls to Kids Club at church. I was doing the craft so I hung around for the evening. We made a beaded cross necklace on leather rope. It was a hit! Tonite the girls are having 2 friends over for the evening and they are watching Princess Diaries. That will keep them busy for awhile.

On Monday Ryan and I are going bowling with his preschool class. He's quite thrilled. He thinks he's gonna beat me! Maybe I'll let him! Well, gotta have a shower and start getting dinner ready. Got 4 loads of laundry waiting and a dishwasher that needs to be unloaded and filled.

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

Poor Dwain, he's wishing I was sitting in the living room watching Criminal Minds with him but since he got me set up in this great sewing room with a TV well, this is my hideout. I"ll have to find a nice chair for him so that he can watch TV while I sew and cut out appliques. Here's one I did today.

I got out of the house for 2 hours of me time this afternoon to run some errands before I picked up my girls. It was a nice breath of fresh air. The girls had a great day today! Dwain made breakfast for dinner tonite. That's his specialty. The girls thought it was kind of weird but cool. They had never had a pancake before. They were surprised that it was soft. I don't know what they really expected!

Tomorrow Ryan has pajama day at school. He loves that. He's quite excited to wear his blue sleeper with feet. I wish I had PJ's with feet and a quick flap for nighttime bathroom breaks! I think I should sew myself a pair of those. I wonder if I can find a pattern for adult PJ's with feet.

Well I better checkout! I'm still getting used to being a sudden mom of 4 and I haven't got into a good routine yet. Have a great day!

RAINY DAY SUNDAY

Today was one of those rainy day Sundays ! One of those kinda days when you feel a short nap is needed. So I had one. Dwain went out this afternoon so the boys and I crashed and the girls stayed up and played cards. A quick pizza for supper so as not to make a huge mess in the kitchen and here I am. Sunny and Bonnie are busy with their next project. We stopped off at Michaels Craft Store on the way home from church and they bought some yarn. They are intensley knitting for the first time making a hat for themselves on a round loom. These girls are brilliant. Lastnight I had them playing the memory game. The one where you lay out 30 pairs of the same picture upside down and mix them up and then each player takes a turn and flips two over and tries to find the matching card. They had about 50 cards on the floor and I was watching them and once they saw where one card was they never forgot it. They would count how many spaces in the row the picture of the duck was and the next time someone flipped the other duck card over they new they'd go back to the other row and count in how many spaces flip it over and it was the duck. I was awestruck! Most of the time I couldn't remember that another duck card had even been flipped. I guess I'm getting OLD!!
Today was the last Sunday for me to teach Sunday school in the CBC Chapel. Next week will be our first Church service in our new building. We are all quite excited and looking forward to what God has in store for our new church.
Well gotta go!

A NEW ROOM AND A VISIT FROM CHINA

Surprise it's a new post!!! Wow we've had a busy month but it's been fun. Dwain and I have been getting our guestroom ready for our girls that were coming from China. The guestroom had turned into my sewing room and so I had alot of things on the go in there and no where to put them. Dwain said he would make the office into sewing room for me and he did just that. I am so psyched to actually use it but I can't seem to find the time to work on any of my projects. I have posted a few pics of my new pad! It's not too shabby if I do say so myself. Note the really cool bookshelf for all my Fat Quarters of fabric.

So this past week Dwain and I had a little getaway in Vancouver. We had such a great time. Gramma and Grandpa took the boys for us and we were off. 2 days away and it seemed like a week! In a good way! What an awesome break. We did a little shoppin. We both got a new pair of runners. Here's a pic of those! Dwain got 3 shirts and a pair of jeans at Old Navy for $25. That's crazy! So we came home Wednesday and finished getting ready for the girls to arrive. Thursday they came. I am so pleased with them. They are very fun girls. They are both 10 years old. Their names are Sunny and Bonnie. I took them to the dollar store in Mission lastnight and they had soo much fun. They came home with a whack of craft stuff. They have literally been busy all day painting, beading and one is trying to crosstitch. I showed them my quilts and now they want to make one. They are very enthusiastic. I think the next several months hold alot of fun for all of us. Here's a pic. Sunny is in the orange and Bonnie in the pink. Welcome to Canada Sunny and Bonnie!!

HE WAS A JOLLY HAPPY SOUL!!!

With the emphasis on WAS a happy soul! I've gotta be nuts to be sitting at my computer at 2 am in the morning writing a blog. I know I won't sleep now unless I write you all just a short note. I was on my way to bed when I looked out the window and saw this poor ole white man sitting slouched in my front lawn. This time I am not kidding you! I saw this man the other day and he was looking pretty happy. Every time I looked out my window he was there with a big smile on his face to warm my heart. Well, tonite when I looked at him sittin there on my lawn, well my heart went out to him and I thought I'd make him famous for a day on the worldwide web.
I'm not too worried about him though, I am sure he'll be back

Goodnite!!

JUST FOR MY BLOGSTALKERS!!!

Ok, to all you blogstalkers out there!! Although it is very late already, I felt I should leave just a little something for those of you who check to see if I've posted anything daily. I've been a busy girl and there is sooo much in my head right now that I can't sort it out to even blog about it! So I thought I'd fill you in on just one little incident I had the other day.

I was in WalMart buying a large bag of Purina Cat Chow for our barn cat and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a cat........ Duh! I was feeling a bit crabby so on impulse, I told her no, I was starting the Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms.
Her eyes about bugged out of her head. I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it. I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy behind her. Horrified, she asked if something in the cat food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital. I said no.....I'd been sitting in the street licking my butt when a car hit me. I thought the tall guy was going to have to be carried out the door.

Gotcha!!
Ok, it didn't really happen but I got you laughing right??
Have a great day!!

BEST FRIENDS!!

I remember so well what it was like growing up an only child. I so badly wanted to have someone to play with. All my friends had siblings and it almost would make me feel like I wasn't normal. (no comments from the peanut gallery on that one!) I did OK though. I had close cousins and they would come over often. My mom would make a huge meal and everyone would come over for a feast. And of course, dessert would always be cream puffs! She's famous in our family for those.
My cousin Christine was my age. She's the one beside me. She had a younger sister Diane. She's the one front and center. Jeanette is the cutie in the picture on the right in the middle. She came along after they had moved away so I never got to know her as well. But I love her just the same. I was always a little envious of Christine for having 2 sisters. I remember one day when we were about 10 years old we were talking about being auntie's. We soon figured out that I would never really be one unless I married someone who had siblings. I was very upset about this! Despite the fact that we were cousins, Christine told me that if she ever had kids she promised that they would call me Auntie Lori. This really made me feel special. She doesn't know this but I thought about that promise all the time. Literally a decade passed and it was still just as fresh in my brain as it was the day she promised me. I never knew if she would remember that promise but hoped she would. Today Christine has 2 amazing boys, Jordan and Dylan(with help from a great husband named Dan of course). She never forgot her promise to me, for when Jordan was born, I was immediately honored with the title. Thanks Christine for always sharing your sisters with me and for giving me the honor of being an Auntie.

I thought of this story today as I watched my own boys look out the window together at the falling snow. I could feel their excitement and was so thankful they had eachother to share it with. I pray that they will always be close like they are in this picture. Best Friends! I love you guys!

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

Hello once again to all my faithful readers! Do I have any of those! I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment sometime. Keeps me inspired to keep on bloggin. Call me crazy but it's quite exciting when I see that someone has left me a comment.
So what to blog about today! Well, we are finished our first week in 2007 and I was thinking about how old I was and it hit me. This year will mark the year that I have officially been out of school as long as I was in. I feel like I just graduated. I mean I totally feel that way! (But then, I look at some old photos and I am quickly brought back to reality!
Well, it looks like another crazy storm is coming in to greet us. We are expected to get 15cm of snow tonite. The boys are excited so I hope it's still here when we wake up in morning.
This morning the boys went for one of their immunization shots. Ryan chose Jacob to go first. Smart for 5 years old hey!! Well, I expected a little more drama from Jacob but he didn't even move. The nurse said it's just gonna be a little poke Ok Jacob?! He says OK! and it was done. Ryan on the other hand wasn't as calm. I am convinced all the crying out was all drama because when the needle went in he didn't even flinch and when we told him it was done he just stopped and looked like he felt a little silly. He didn't even know he had already gotten the poke. All in all they were brave. How bad is it when your kinda glad you yourself didn't have to get one!!

So we had a nice afternoon this week and Dwain's brother came by to burn his Christmas tree and a few things and decided to stick around for awhile and play with Ryan. Ryan got some sidewalk chalk for Christmas and was eager to try it out. So was Uncle Ken. They drew a race track on the pavement to ride bikes on and Uncle Ken continued to add a few artistic touches while Ryan rode around. Here is a picture

Well if you've read my previous blog entries you will remember that I started a quilting club as well as started teaching on the side. Well so far I have had 2 students and really look forward to getting more. My first student was my friend Fiona. I haven't been able to show her masterpiece because it was a Christmas present and I had to let her post it on her blog first so as not to spoil the surprise. I really enjoyed this project as it was my first time working with photos in a quilt. It turned out amazing. Well done Fi! You did the old "Friday night" quilters proud!! Here's a picture of the proud new owners and one of the creator! Fiona made this a rag quilt on one side as seen to the left and like a regular scrappy quilt on the right. Here's a close up of what the ragged side looks like.

My next student was a friend of my sister Tammy. Karen also made a beautiful rag quilt. She went with a woven cotton so it feels soft like flannel. Very beautiful! I'd like to have this one for my own! Karen got a new sewing machine for Christmas so I hope I'll get to make another one with her sometime. Well done Karen!!

This week we had a new addition to my extended family. Little Eligh Benjamin was born on January 7th in Texas. Congratulations to the proud new parents Ben and Romay! You have just received one of God's greatest gifts! May God bless you as parents as you raise this little man!

So that's what kind of week it's been. I hope you all had a fun New Years and pray that it will bring you all good health and happiness. My New Years challenge for myself this year is to remember to make more time and a solid effort to nurture the friendships I have with my loved ones and to try to create as many new ones as I can. I think I've got my work cut out for me!!

I love you all! TTYL!