Happy Birthday Twins!

33 years ago, I gave birth to a set of twins 11-1/2 weeks early.  That night they were given a 10% chance of survival.  And today they turn 33.  Raising twins has been a really great experience.  To see two little ones who were so alike, and yet so different.  They cut their first teeth on the same day and walked within 20 minutes of each other. This picture was right after they came home.  They had finally reached 4 pounds.

This was the day of their baptism and they were already 7 months old. Pam is on the left and has the fuller face.  But they were gaining weight and were quite healthy.

And here they are today at their favorite place on earth.

Happy Birthday, Pat and Pam.  Hope you celebrate many, many more.

What to Buy

photo from Amazon

When my girls were little, birthday gifts were no problem.  But now that they are older, I have a horrible time deciding what to buy for birthdays. The twins will be 33 on Friday, and I had no idea what to get them.  But, at dinner the other night they mentioned that they needed to buy a bathrobe before our next trip to Disney so that they could cover up when leaving the hot tub.  So, I went in search of bathrobes.  This is the robe I chose since I liked the look and the price was right.

But I felt it needed something.  Pam and Pat aren't fancy people, so flowers were out.  But they love their dogs.  Pam has a black lab and Pat has a chocolate lab.  So I went in search of a really nice machine embroidery design for a lab. At Embroidery Designs.com, I found a beautiful lab.  

My sample 

When I stitched my sample of this design, I didn't have the picture of the design in front of me (big mistake)  nor did I have the color list (another mistake).  I didn't care for the result.  So when I put the design on the bathrobe, I will use a darker grey and keep the website open so that I can see their colors.  And I need to figure out which colors to use to make this design into a chocolate lab.  Again, I think it's in my best interest to do a sample before putting it onto the bathrobe just to be sure that I like the colors.  I don't have the kids tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping to get them finished in time for their birthdays.

Christmas Quilts

The grand kids' Christmas quilts are finally ready to sandwich.  I finished Bubby's yesterday, and it was a relief to know that I finally accomplished something constructive.

This is Kristina's vinylmation quilt.  She collects Vinylmation figures from Disney, and I used a basic shape and various Disney fabrics to put this one together.  She has seen it and loves it.

This is Izzy's Princess Quilt. It is very similar to the other princess quilt that I did, except I took out Tinkerbell (who was very tiny) and added Rapunzel from Tangled, and Merida from Brave.  Izzy is anxious to be able to use it.

Next up is Jake's Bubble Guppies Quilt.  He saw it for the first time last night, and cried because he couldn't cover up with it.

And last, but certainly not least, is Bubby's Mario Brothers quilt.  I was so reluctant to even start it.  I don't know much about the game, but did my best and Bubby loves it. Thanks to my hubby for being my quilt holder so that I could snap the photos.

Today I finished cutting all the bindings.  I have two to put together and then I will iron the bindings and give the quilts a final press before pinning them to the fleece.  Judging from their reactions to the quilts, I better get busy finishing them.

Mario Brothers

I finally feel like doing something besides sleeping, and started working on the kids' Christmas quilts. Bubby's quilt was the only top that wasn't put together.  And, this morning I made up my mind that it would be by the end of the day.  It's another one of my appliqued character quilts.  Bubby loves Mario Brothers games for the Wii, and this is my adaptation of the major players.  I couldn't find any Mario fabric in the United States, but by searching eBay, I was able to find this fabric available from someone in the Phillipines.  Shipping was free, and it arrived quickly.  Wonder if the kids appreciate how much thought as well as effort go into these quilts.  No matter, I do.

Wrap Up The Week

After feeling poorly for what seems like an eternity, I am finally feeling like myself.  After learning that my stomach pain was the result of gall stones, the doctor has put me back on Victoza and my blood sugar numbers are returning to normal.  This alone makes me feel so much better.  I did have a bad gall bladder attack on Monday night, which was most definitely a wake up call.  I had it into my head that I could control my problems with diet, but I now know that if the doctor says it comes out, it is going to come out!  And I've been watching my diet much closer, which is a good thing for me.

I'm planning on spending tomorrow in the sewing room.  But you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men!  I have so much that I want to do, and I'm so relieved to finally feel like beginning again.

The Saddle Up is approaching in May, and I've been considering what quilts I want to make.  It is possible that this will be the last one since the coordinator is starting the feel his age (don't we all!)  and so I'm trying to come up with ideas that will use up some of the western fabric I have accumulated over the years.  I've found one that I can cut with my AccuQuilt GO cutter.  It was a major investment, and I have to admit that I've never really given it a chance to be a major part of my sewing experience.  That needs to change, and there's no time better than the present.

I've recently joined an online community called Craftsy, where they offer online classes in various crafts.  They are offering a class on quilting a large quilt on your home machine.  The class is $30, but if I can learn how to quilt Mary's king size batik quilt myself, it will save me the $200 which I would spend to send it to a longarm quilter.  So I think it's probably a no-brainer.

Have a great weekend, and stay warm.

HELP???

Today I am feeling a little out of sorts. I am feeling better physically, but we still have no hot water and it's been a week.  Hopefully that will change tomorrow when Rod installs a new hot water tank. But that's not the problem.  I feel like I have lost control of my household.  I have no idea what's in my freezer which is in the basement, and I can't go downstairs to find out what's in there.  I don't what all is in my pantry because it's so jumbled that you have to search every shelf before you can find what you are looking for.  And it's driving me crazy.  Tomorrow I will rearrange the shelves and threaten bodily harm to anyone who messes it up again!  How do you keep track of all that in your household?   My grocery bill goes higher and higher, and I don't know how to cut it back.  I'm thinking that I need to start planning my menus around the sale ads and what coupons are in the paper.  I run out of ideas of what to fix the grand kids for lunch, which should be healthy, inexpensive, and easy to prepare.  I need to find some way to bring down our debt.  I pay extra on each credit card each month, but still it doesn't seem to make much difference.  Lately, Rod has been talking about retiring in six years, and it terrifies me.  I don't know how I will pay bills on a retirement income.  I am afraid that hitting the lottery is the only way to bring down our monthly output, but even that doesn't make sense since we never play.  There has to be some way to regain control of all that I feel that I have lost control of.  Any outside help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

R.I.P. Houdini

Can't say that I'm sorry to wish Houdini a long rest in peace.  Yes it's true.  Last night the little sneak died, perhaps of natural causes, because he was found dead but outside the trap.  I had heard him chewing on a wrapper from a pack of cheese crackers that had fallen out of the trash can.  And then he was dead.  Perhaps he couldn't breath after eating the cellophane, or maybe he just choked on the peanut butter he had been stealing.  But whatever the cause, the annoying little varmint is dead.  Rod is the king - Long Live the King.