Mom & Me...and other stuff

Cole had Mom & Me day at school last week.  He looked forward to it for weeks.

First off was a play called The Mitten.  Cole was an usher along with his friend, Brady.

We had to wait in the hall until one of the ushers came to get us and direct us to our seats with a flashlight. 

 Once we found our seat, the ushers got to recite their lines, "here's your seat.  Enjoy the show."

Then we got some popcorn, "here's your popcorn.  Enjoy the show."

Then came a program, "here's your program.  Enjoy the show."

After the play, we got to do Centers with the students.  

Cole and I are working on a pattern worksheet.

Then we got to have a cup of hot chocolate.

We could drink it plain, with marshmallows, or with whipped cream.

We had to color a paper cup of hot chocolate and then place it on a paper graph on the wall to be used for a Math project later in the week.  

Cole hasn't stopped talking about hot chocolate with whipped cream.

The next project was creating a Snowman S'more.

 I love the look of concentration on Cole's face.

He did not want any help.

Cole and his teacher, Mr. Kay (who is from Nephi, went to SUU, and likes NASCAR.)

Can you believe I let Cole wear his purple moon boots to school on the day of the big play?

Oh well, 3 other kids were wearing moon boots, too.

Cookies in the oven for some RAOK.

Sierra was talking to me on Monday morning.  

She said that she thought maybe she could be more productive at school. 

 I was hoping that by being more productive, she was considering learning how to spell.

But instead, she said that she could use her time better at school by taking her knitting to school.

I let her take it to school but I told her that if it got in the way, her teacher asked her to put it away, or kids started calling her "Martha", then she would have to not knit at school.

This is a project that she finished a few weeks ago.  

She got a book of patterns for knitting monsters recently and I think she is going to create every monster in the book.

This is the project that she took to school this week.  

She's almost done.  Some of the kids in her class have requested that she knit them a monster.

I told her to just teach them all how to knit their own monsters.

project 38 (42)

This was a project that I've had in the works for a long time.

The squares were leftover ones I had cut when I made my first quilt for Cole years ago.

They were taking up space and bugging me so I finally sewed them into a square, added the red, and found some brown to go on the back.

I wanted to try to learn how to do machine binding so I tried it out on this project.

It's not the best.

I thought it looked terrible.  It looked much better after it was washed but I could still see the mistakes.

Today I donated it to the Humanitarian Project for our ward.

They are collecting new/gently used blankets for the Women's shelter (?)  

I might not have given this quilt away if it weren't for the project 38 (42).

Even though I can see lots of mistakes in my little red quilt, I'm hoping that it will keep some young boy warm for years and years as the edges wear down and the batting falls apart.

And hopefully nobody will ever care that the binding is crooked and the edges didn't match up.

(another view)

Basket Weave Afghan

I took this to Hawaii when we went in March last year.  

I thought it would give me something to do on the plane.

It took a lot longer to do than I had anticipated.

I think I barely made it through 2 of the 9 skeins of yarn on that trip.

But I was really glad that I had it.

I sat and crocheted for hours while we watched TV/news waiting for information about the Earthquake and Tsunami.  So, I call this the Tsunami Blanket.

I bought all of the yarn at the same to time so I wouldn't have issues with different yarn die lots.

But, one of the skeins of yarn was off just a little bit.  

I noticed it before I even started using it.  But I used it anyways.

That makes it an intentional design feature. or something.

I leave this on the chair in the front room where I can wrap up in it and watch the kids go out to the bus stop every morning.

Here is the free pattern that I got from craft passion:

Basket Weave Afghan
[with yarn 1 (blue)]

Starting Row: ch156, turn.

Row 1 : sk 3 ch, dc in the 4th ch from hook, ch2, turn. (Counting the first sk 3 ch as 1dc, there is 154dc on this row)

Row 2 & 3 : skip first st, hdc1 on the next st, *FPdc3, BPdc3* repeat 25 times until last 2 sts. hdc2, ch2 (deem as first st for the following row), turn.

Row 4 & 5 : skip 1st st, hdc1 on the next st, *BPdc3, FPdc3* repeat 25 times until last 2 sts. hdc2, ch2, turn.

Repeat row 2 to 5 until row 85 or until the blanket measure about 30″, ending with either row 3 or row 5 pattern minus the ch2 st.

BorderDetermine which side you want as the front of the blanket to crochet the border. 

There is no turning on the border, all stitches are done on the front.[with yarn 1 (blue)]

Round 1 : Ch1, 3 sc in the same corner. sc1 on every st around the entire blanket, with 3 sc in each corner. slst to the beginning ch. fo. Don’t turn.[with yarn 2 (brown)]

Round 2 – 6 : Ch1, sc on back loops only around entire blanket, with 3 sc in each corner. slst to the beginning ch, don’t turn. fo after finish row 6.

Weave and hide all yarn ends.

2 funnies...

I had to drop Summer off at BYU yesterday for either 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes.

Not sure which one it would be when I dropped her off.

So, it wasn't really enough time to shop someplace fun go to Cabela's to see the fish.

We ended up at Arctic Circle.

I chose the back booth by the playground.

Cole asked why and I told him that that was where my Dad always used to eat his lunch.

He asked why and I said that it was because you could see everything from that spot (the counter area, the dining room, the drive-thru) and Cole added:  the playground!

He sat there for a minute and then he said, "Mom, it's so cool how when you used to work here you could just take your break and play on the playground.  That would be so awesome!!"

yep, Cole, I totally did that.

Then he said, "Man, I hope when I grow up I marry someone who works at Arctic Circle so I can have her bring French Fries home for me to eat every single day!"

That's totally how it works, Cole.

I just had to laugh about the way his little mind works, but I will take it as a compliment...

He does believe that his own father married well...and he did.

I'm behind on my ROAK...and by behind, I mean that my mom is still feeding the masses without being asked (mostly) and I am doing all I can to keep ahead on the laundry at my house.  

But, the weekend is coming up and I will be ROAK-ing all weekend long. 

Watch out mom.

Update 38

Update....

on the Chevron Quilt:

I love it.  Summer loves it.

Here is a view of the back.  Pink Floral & Grey Polka Dots.

I was just a few inches short of having enough polka dots for the whole thing, so I mixed it up a bit.

 

It was a pretty easy quilt to put together. It looks great on Summer's bed.

Once she cleans her room I will get some pictures of it.

That will be about the same times she graduates from high school and moves on to college.

The update on the Star quilt is...26 stars.  only 54 to go.

But it will be awesome.  I am just trying to do 5 stars a day.

Update on the ROAK's...

Mom called this morning.  She had 2 cakes in the oven.  Chicken in the crock.  Salad in the fridge.  I think she is trying to feed the entire neighborhood one meal at a time.  

She is kicking my RAOK butt.

Yesterday was a killer for us on the errands and commitments.

For my ROAK for day 35:  I let someone go in front of me every time I made a purchase yesterday.  Even though I had Cole with me and he hates to shop more than Sierra does.  

Bad News from my Mom

She called today.
She had bad news.
It went like this...

"Kelli...you are not 38.  I don't know if you know this...but you will be 42.  Sorry to bring you that bad news.  I remember when that happened to me one year."

OK, so here is the deal.  I know I'm not 38.  The reason I know I am not 38 is because everything fell apart when I was 39 and that has been about 3 years.  I'm not super great at math but 39 plus 3 years is 42.

But...the girl whose idea I am copying is 38.  And I figured it out 38 days before my birthday.  I decided that was more than just coincidence.  So, I figured that as long as I was copying someone else's idea of 38 Random Acts of Kindness, I might as well following it EXACTLY.

Here is the line up so far:
Day 38:  made treats for someone that I normally wouldn't
Day 37:  supposed to help Sister M. figure out how to read her scriptures on her Nook, but she was sick and didn't come to church so had to go with a backup plan and write a thank you note.  (maybe I can ROAK her next Sunday).
Day 36:  Made some taggies...one for Lillie and 2 to give away.  I was going to make one for Lillie anyway, the 2 extras were the ROAK.

And when I cleared up the number thing with mom, she told me to chalk up a few RAOK for her:
she led the music in RS at the last minute, she is finding dinner for the multitude of sick and needy people in her neighborhood, and she is deciding to do some family history which she will begin immediately.

So, if you want to join in...please do some ROAK.  one or many.  maybe some will pay it forward.  Leave a note for me to keep track.  or just do a little anonymous ROAK.  either one.  it won't hurt.

Unbroken

I haven't written lately about any of the books that I have been reading, so here goes...

This book was first recommended to me last summer by the RS pres in my ward.

They were reading it for the book club that she was in and she invited me to participate.

Unfortunately, the book club was in 5 days and I had a conflict that evening, so I skipped out on the fun.

Fast forward to a few months later.

I was looking on my ipad for a book to read. 

Rick and I share a Kindle account.

I looked to see if there were any books that Rick had recently downloaded that I would be interest in.

I started reading this book before I even realized that it was about.

Typically this subject (WW2, war, fighting, POW) turns me off completely.

But, before I realized what I was getting myself into, it was too late--

I was hooked.

I read this book rather quickly.  It moves quickly.

Her writing is very precise.

She includes just enough detail to paint a seemingly accurate picture without being too gory.

I think everyone should have to read this book.

So many lessons to learn.

Would I recommend this book?  YES

Would I recommend this book to my 14 year old?   maybe a little young, but by high school, YES.

5 1/2 stars

Project 38

This idea is completely NOT original to me.

I saw this on Pinterest a few months ago and I pinned it.

Here are the details...

This girl wanted to celebrate her 38th birthday in a special way, by doing 38 random acts of kindness for each year of her life on her birthday.

She asked friends, family, facebook friends, etc. to join her throughout the day to perform Random Acts of Kindness and to let her know about them.

She planned out 38 things to do throughout the day, but also took advantage of opportunities to present themselves throughout the day.

Her husband, 3 daughters, husband and husband's parents joined her.

She took pictures throughout the day to document their Random Acts of Kindness.

(they returned stray grocery carts, loaded groceries into cars, dropped coins on the playground for chilren to find while playing, fed parking meters, paid for cars behind them on the toll bridge, walked up to a family eating at Chili's and gave them a gift card for their meal, gave donuts and thank you notes to policemen, took a bag of clothes to the homeless shelter, taped coins to vending machines, left quarters at a laundromat, delivered handwritten valentines to an assisted living facility, mailed a letter to an old friend, brought in neighbors garbage can, left a thank you note for mailman and more.

At least 38 people joined her on her birthday in Random Acts of Kindness.

How fun is that??

Well, that sounds overwhelming to do all in one day, especially since Rick works on my birthday this year...

But, since I, too, am turning 38 and it's exactly 38 days until my birthday,

I thought it would be fun (and easier) to do one thing each day for 38 days.

I started today.

I made a treat and took it to someone that I normally wouldn't have taken a treat to.

It was her birthday.

I didn't get a picture--darn.  But I have proof that I made the treat!! (witnesses)

If you want to join in celebrating my birthday (which is on February 27 for the forgetful ones out there)

do a RAOK and let me know (here, facebook, email, or snail mail)

Your participation is optional, while my children's participation will be mandatory.

I will make a list of all of the RAOK's (is the 's grammatically correct? I think not)

Ready

Set

Go!!

My birthday, last year, with my vintage Pyrex that my girl's thrifted for me!

There may be one little, tiny fact in this post that is not entirely true but will not in any way hamper the effectiveness of this celebration.  38 days--GO!

Star Quilt

the 2 pictures above are stacks of fabric that I will be using for my start quilt project.

Sierra chose the color scheme.

I had all of the fabric except 2 small pieces of orange and the creme colored background fabric which I picked up at CornWagon.

Here is a stack of the cream sitting by my sewing machine.  waiting.  just waiting.

And here is a stack of the cut colored pieces.

It takes 4 background pieces (above) and 5 colored pieces (below) to make 1 star.

Except that one you have the star components sewn, you leave it like this:

(you don't sew them together...until you have all 80 stars prepared)

Here is a little sample of how it comes together.

Because they "nest" you do  not sew them together until you are all the way ready to sew the quilt top together.

I just had to lay them out and get an idea if I am really going to like this before I make 72 more of these.

So far, so good.

This is in no way meant to to give any instruction whatsoever.  

Mostly just for mom & BK to see what I am talking about.

if you really want to see the tutorial go here oh, fransson (sparkle quilt)

one less thing to worry about...

Well, the day has finally arrived...my kids can now say that they have an H family cousin.

This is what I was thinking about yesterday while I waited for the news to arrive (which it didn't until this morning):

I remember this topic when I was a kid:  Carrying on the family name.

Background:  My dad was the oldest child, followed by 4 girls and then one more boy.  My dad's 4 sisters all had children before he did.  So, there were lots of Grandchildren, but none to carry on the family  name.  So, when my dad became a parent it would have been cool to have a boy, right? to carry on the family name.  Didn't happen.  And then my some more girls were born and then my Uncle Dell had a child and it was a girl (hi, jessica).  So, no family name...My sister was born...still no family name.
Then a few more boys joined the family, including my brother.  Hallelujah. We got one kid to carry on the family name.  And then a couple of boys were born to Uncle Dell.  The Robison name will continue on.  And my brother was born near the end of the grandkid line to bring number of Robison grandson count to 4.  Out of 23 grandkids.
And now Lanny has single handedly taken it upon himself to keep the Robison grandson count at 4 for the next generation as well.  Good job, bro.

What this means to me is that unbeknownst on April 8, 1995...the pressure would be heavy on me and Rick to help carry on the H family name.  And, of course, child #1, Summer--a girl.  Child #2, Sierra--another girl.  It was starting to look like it might be the end of the H family name on this branch of the tree.  Then...finally Cole joined the family and there was much celebration.  The H would continue on.  I did my part.
But, that was only half of the story.  The red headedness needed to carry on, as well.  While I was trying to contribute my part of the recessive red head gene to the next generation, I think Rick was secretly doing everything he could to NOT contribute to another generation of red heads.  And, as you can see--no red heads in our little family.  (for which Rick is enormously grateful)

So, when Jon and Teresa announced that they were expecting, that took a lot of guilt off my shoulders for not producing a little freckle-faced, red-headed grandson.  Although, it looks like Cole is still the only little one to carry on the H family name so far...the prospect for a freckle-faced, red-headed granddaughter is looking really good.  Maybe Jon and Teresa will get it right next time around, but for now we have a H grandson, and a red-head granddaughter.  I'm not sure what to call Summer & Sierra (besides spoiled!)

Congrats, Jon & Teresa...Lily was born this morning weighing 8 lb. 15 ounces and is 22 inches long.   I hope that red fuzz doesn't fall out and she really is red!  (maybe she'll be athletic and coordinated so that she can carry on the athleticism in the family since Rick and I seemed to have not produced any world-class athletes in our procreating efforts)
pictures to come.

B & W

This is a little quilt that I recently finished.  It was a project that I was kinda doing with my mom.

She has one that is exactly the same, just a little bit bigger and a slightly different boarder.

Here is a close up of the quilting.

This quilt is a lap quilt size which means to me that it is perfect for watching TV (which I don't do much of) and snuggling on the chair with Cole in the mornings while we wait for him to go out to the bus.

Here is a view of what the back looks like.  I just sewed a white strip down the middle of the quilt to break things up.  Kinda unpredictable, like I tend to be sometimes.

I also did the entire binding on the sewing machine on this quilt so I could practice before I did it on something big. 

 It's not perfect, but I get better each time I do it.

I didn't like the way it looked at first, but after it's washed and dried and shrinks up a bit, it looks pretty good.

Plus, it saves so much time.  Hand sewing the binding takes forever.  at least for me.

I don't know that I will do machine binding every time, but at least now I know that it's an option.  

And who is really looking at the binding on the backside anyway?

More to come...Summer's finished quilt and Sierra's beginnings of a quilt.

8 years ago and a Tender Mercy

Last week marked 8 years ago since my dad died.

My sister wrote about it on her blog here Papa Kent

My brother wrote about it on facebook.

Cole and I went to the cemetery to take flowers (he kept referring to him as "Uncle Kent".

oh well.  He'll get it one of these days.)

But, there's a story that I feel that I need to record about my dad and this is as good a time as any.

I did share this a few weeks ago at YW, but I wanted to make sure that I had it written down...

It's really kinda 2 stories that work their way together at the end.

Lots of years ago at Christmas time when Summer was a baby we were visiting Utah from Missouri.

Rick's family is small and so is mine, so even though it was a "H" family get-together, my mom, dad, and Bryan came as well.  Rick's mom had put together a little program for Christmas Eve.  

One of the things that she did was give us each a little slip of paper where we could write down a gift to give the Savior that we could work on throughout the year.  After everyone had filled out their slip of paper, we gathered them all up and put them in a box and Rick's mom wrapped it all up.

The following year, the box was opened on Christmas Eve.

However, Sierra was a newborn and we were living in Michigan and couldn't afford to come to Utah for the holidays.  So, Rick's mom took the little slips of paper that belonged to me, Rick, and my mom and dad, and Bryan and put them in an envelope and mailed them to us.

I laughed when I opened them and read them.

Bryan's said that his gift for the year was to help get his very recently returned missionary brother married (which did happen in August of that year).

I don't remember what Rick's or my mom's slip of paper said.

But, I kept my paper and my dad's paper.

I tucked them away in a box with sticky notes and stationary.

(Pause for Story #1, begin Story #2)

Last Summer/Fall, I was troubled by some things in my life.

I tried to talk it out on several occasions and with multiple people, but it didn't really seam to make a difference.  And then I was called out by some of those people in that the very thing that I was having a problem with, was a characteristic that I wasn't necessarily exhibiting myself (sorry if that's complicated. because it is).

I was so confused.  

So, (plug for Personal Progress) since I was working on Personal Progress for Young Women, I looked at one of the goals that I still needed to accomplish.  

There seemed to be several that could help me, but Knowledge #4 stuck out to me:

Select a gospel principle you would like to understand better (for example, faith, repentance, charity, eternal families, or baptismal covenants). 

Read scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets that relate to the principle. 

The subject that I was researching was actually quite broad and it took me a long time to read enough about it that I thought it would do me any good...more like a 10 hour value project than just a value experience!!

I finally felt like I had come to terms with this thing that was troubling me and I was starting to get a grip on it when I was looking for some stationary to use for a Young Women's Lesson that I was preparing.  

I had completely forgotten about those little slips of paper that I had tucked away so many years ago.

But, as I was looking through the box, this little slip of paper fell out:

It was like my dad was right there, giving me advice and telling me what to do.

If you know my dad, he was always a man of few words when in came to serious stuff.

Never one to preach.

But, this is exactly what I needed to hear to figure out a way to deal with the thing I was struggling with.

I just read that little slip of paper and cried.

Then I put it on my bulletin board by my desk where I look at it every day.

Right below it is a picture of my dad.

How could those 3 words + my dad's name written 12+ years ago be the answer to what I needed to hear.

I have to admit, that I do not think that I would have understood the message if I had not been working on Personal Progress and making an effort to learn more about certain principles.

Thank heavens for Personal Progress.  And Tender Mercies.

Miss you, dad.

Dinner with Elaine (Neon Trees) & Sabastian

So, Rick was working the other night...

and there was a (psych) patient in a room that was listening to Neon Trees.

One of the nurses said, "Oh, my friend is the drummer for the Neon Trees."

One of the rotating paramedic students said, "oh, my wife is the drummer for Neon Trees."

(I later found out that my friend, Jill is in the same ward as Elaine.  Isn't it funny what a small world it is?)

Rick was impressed with this student already, so he later talked to him about his wife & her band.

Rick asked if he could meet them sometime for dinner and bring his family.

Sabastian said that his wife was just getting ready to record their second album and then go on tour so it would have to be soon.

He and Rick texted a few times and were able to set up a dinner date at one of their favorite eating establishments:  TACO BELL.

We arrived at about the same time as they did and introduced ourselves.  

We walked in and the kids are like, "what is this place?"

Elaine and Sabastian are laughing at our poor, sheltered, naive children that have never eaten at TACO BELL. 

(little do they know that Rick survived on Taco Bell while in college, don't tell the kids)

So, Elaine orders as we are explaining the menu to the kids and then she turns to me and hands me these $5 gift cards:

They look like hot sauce packets, but if you look closely you will see that it really is a plastic card.

I was kinda embarrassed taking her gift cards to their favorite restaurant, 

but she said that her bands gets them all the time and she's happy to share.

Elaine and Summer are talking about music.

(I was secretly taking pictures with my phone.  hehehe)

First of all...this girl is SMART.

You can read more about her here:

LDS Living

and here:

mormon women project (not working right now, ugh)

ps. she is a return missionary, as are all members of the band.

She was so cute to talk to Summer and Sierra.

Her best advice was...

 don't compromise your standards for those around you, 

or in other words...surround yourself with others who share your same ideals or standards.

Her example was don't play music because to look cool, or to get chicks.

Play music for the sake of music.

Here is a video of their single that came out in December:

(kinda reminds me of the Killers)

Everybody Talks

a quilt top and a Cole-ism

While we were in St. G last week, I worked on some projects.  This is one of them.

It's just the quilt top, bit I love it so much I had to share.

I worked on some other projects, pictures to come later.

 I made Rick take the pictures.  Out on the front lawn.  In January.

I was waiting for the bus to bring Cole home from K and it was all I could do to NOT get out the lawn mower and mow the grass/leaves.

It's kinda weird.  I might go out and plant the tulip bulbs that I didn't get planted last fall.

 More pictures of me.

And my hair that I had done yesterday.

 I wonder if the neighbors would think I was more crazy for

*standing on the front lawn, posing for Rick in my quilt top

OR

*mowing the front lawn??

I'm off...

to plant tulips, quilt, and a special dinner (pictures of THAT to come also)

Cole-ism:

We were at music class yesterday.

The kids had a pass-off.  The name of the song:

Seasons

Miss Laura, the teacher, is so darn adorable.

She asked the kids if they knew what season it is right now.

Cole's hand immediately shot up:  "Spring"

Miss Laura:  "Well it feels like spring but do you have another guess?"

Cole:  "Christmas is over and there is no snow.  That means Spring."

Bless her heart, Miss Laura knows not to argue with that logic.

Spring it is.