Valentines Day fun

This year like most years we made cookies for Valentines day. I did most of the rolling and baking and Elsie did all of the decorating. We brought them around to a few neighbors to share. We got a cute package from our friends in Kansas for Valentines day it had candy, Valentines and a cute garland made of hearts! It was so nice of them to send us this cute package! The last photo is of Elsie's class party in Kindergarten. I got to go and help out. She is playing thumbs up 7 up or some thing like that. They also made cards, played bingo and decorated and ate cookies. It was a fun time.

Gymnastics Meet

We got a note home form school that would get us in for free to a local college Gymnastics meet! So we decided to try it out! I thought Elsie would like to see how many cool things there are to do with gymnastics. We got there late because of the bad weather but we saw the floor routines and balance beam or what ever it is called. It was neat to see all the twirls and jumps these team members could do.

Jump rope for Heart

At Elsie's school they all got the chance to raise money for Jump Rope for Heart and the American Heart Association. As part of the of this they also got to jump rope! It is a big competition in the older grades but in Kindergarten it is just jumping to music. Elsie is still working on learning how to jump rope. I got to go and watch. It was fun.

Having fun

We try to stay busy and have fun too. Here are a few things we have been up to. Elsie went out and build these snowmen all by herself one afternoon while I was cooking dinner! She came in to get the carrot noses but that is all the help I gave her! Elsie has been begging to make popcorn using the air popper so we finally did it. The next photo is Elsie by one of her many creations on the dry erase board. Last is a picture of Elsie and her dad building a tower right before it collapsed. 

Gymnastics...

...at our house has ended. It is sad but true. Our amazing teacher is starting a family and since it requires her being pregnant (which she is) she is unable to work with the kids any more. So these are some shots from the last day of class. We are now back at a local school taking group lessons from one of her assistants.

If that was not enough...

...here is some more! I made Flora (my mother in law) a stick wreath for Christmas to go on her condo door. To cover up the cardboard backing you are supposed to make fabric flowers. Well I made some of those and some hearts for Valentines day too. Now here are the St. Patrick's day decorations I made for this month. Then we made some eggs together too. It has been such a fun project and I almost want to do it for myself now!

The second picture is the back of a baby quilt I am making. The front is just one large piece of Dr. Seuss fabric with all sorts of characters from his most popular books. And the back is these stripes of fabric. It is also getting quilted by my friend right now and then I will bind it with different strips of the same colors of fabric.

All this plus I am constantly working on Activity Days projects and mending and gifts for friends.

Adah has been busy

I have been working on some memory quilts for the past 4 years! I know that is a long time right! Well I had to collect all the fabric cut it and make several appliqués and a print. So it has been a long prosess. I might have talked about this before I can't remember. The landscape applique I finished a few years ago and made enough for 7 quilts. The BSC print stands for the college my sister Maude (in whos' memory the quilts are being made) went to. The next photo is of the Newark Bell tower from my elementary school. I made 4 of these appliques... one for my quilt, my moms and 2 sisters quilts. Then you can see my mom's quilt all laid out and ready to be sewn. It is now sewn and being quilted by my friend as I type. I am so excited! I will move on to the ones for my sisters next then do mine!!

Field trip

Elsie went on her first field trip in January. I was able to go along to help with the kids so that was fun! We got to have a chance to touch a tarantula and a gecko. But I think both Elsie and I passed each time.  It was her first time riding in a school bus too.

Spiderweb

Elsie loves the PBS show Wild Kratts. It makes her think and learn about different animals. One episode dealt with spiders and their webs. So one day she grabbed the carpenters tape and went to town. I could not hear what she was doing (which is often a bad thing) so I went to investigate and this is what I found...a giant spiderweb!

Skiing!!!

Most of you know Will works for a ski resort here. So this year we have decided to take up skiing as a family. Will started skiing last year a little but has really improved this year. Elsie started a week or two before me and is way better then I am. To give myself a little credit she has had 5 more lessons then I have and they last all day! And has had more practice in general. I am happy on the easier slopes that are green. Elsie and Will can easily do blues and I believe Will can do double blues too. No black diamonds yet! It has been fun.

Adah went to Vermont

I went last minute to Vermont to visit my sister. I was happy to see my family but it was for a sad reason. My oldest sister had a baby who passed away a short time after birth. His name is Ezekiel Dominick. My sister is doing much better now but I went about a week after she had him and it was hard. I am so thankful that I was able to go. Elsie was off of school for a while so that helped. My mother in laws both stepped in and helped take care of her as well as her dad so I could leave her home. 

Building time...

Elsie got these amazing building blocks for Christmas and has really liked playing with them. The first creation we followed a picture for and work on it together. The last two creations Elsie did on her own.

The aftermath...

There is always a mess after Christmas and it is always hard to figure out what so do with all the new toys!

Christmas afternoon at Grandpa's house

After we played a few games and ate a late breakfast all us kids got ready and headed out to Will's dad's house. Great Granddad Shumway was there too. We started by opening all the presents. Elsie got lots of fun things including one of the things she wanted most, a music box. She was so excited! We had a lovely dinner prepared by Will's dad and Mary and then hung out for the rest of the day. It was a perfect Christmas.