My Final List of 40 Things in My 40th Year

These are things that I have experienced and am grateful for.

Some of them required nothing on my part, others did. In some ways it's my year in review.

1. Published an article (In The Wyoming Woman Summer Edition)

2. Made Lip Balm Today (New Years Eve Day)! (After having the stuff for at least 6 months)

3. Made a quilt top of my own design that isn't squares--rectangles, but not squares. (This is the ocean quilt for Tiny inspired by The Q and U).  The finished quilt:

4. Completed a quilt top from a pattern. (this went off with Granny before I remembered to take a picture, but 2 years into it it's done!)

5. Took a trip to the Northwest to be with my youngest sister on a special day for her and her husband. As a side (and amazing gift) I got to visit with most of my family. Thanks Sean, Mom, Dad and Om for that gift. Better than London. :)

6. On the above trip reconnected with an old friend. What a wonderful time that was!

7. Recieved a silver bracelet as an early birthday present. This is a carved bracelet that has the two love birds (Eagle and Raven) and Raven has a  bentwood box containing light (he is the light bringer). I still can't believe that it's mine. Someone I know carved it and that makes it even more special. To top it off it came from my folks in a wonderful little ceremony that involved my folks and kids. Everytime I wear it I think of them. I see my mother's hands in mine when I look down at it.

8. Drove a 4 Wheeler for the first time.

9. Heard a pack of coyotes singing in the night for the first time. (Even if I mistook them for yipper dogs)

10. Went camping and fishing as just our family for the first time. Memories!

11. Caught a fish and remembered why it was so fun. ("Just one more cast")

12. Started making vinegar (first time and I'm very excited.)  It worked!  Thanks to my sister-in-law for "THE MOTHER".

13. Made a pair of pants!  They didn't fall apart with the first washing this time either.

14. Transitioned baby chicks from their box (in the mail) to their new home. (Thanks to another sister-in-law for the help with all of that!)

15. Held a grown up chicken for the first time (finally getting a handle on the freakiness of it).

16.  Made my way into the murky world of e-readers.  I'm still not too sure about it all--but I'm  learning a lot.

17. Volunteered at a Co-op once in my own town and once in another one.

18. Watched the fireworks from a place where I thought for a moment I was celebrating in Alaska with my little family enjoying it too. (Tiny's "bread" making aside--this included tossing dust into the air or our eyes depending on your point of view)

19. Watched two wild mountain lions cross the road and climb a cliff.
20. Made two bucket hats for my kids.

21.  Bought alcohol for the first time (I know this might be a big deal to most people, but it took me a while to get my nerve up so I'm counting it.)   It made vanilla.

22. Learned how to pressure can and canned 53 pints of beans--among other things this summer including 8 quarts of Turkey.

23. Wrote another article--it will be published next year.

24. Listened as Mowg truly read a book for the first time.

25.  Thanks to a gift from one of my sisters I was able to talk face-to-face to every member of my family.  Technology, though I curse you frequently, you can be an amazingly wonderful gift.   Thank you too dear sister for that beautiful gift!

26. Finished 3 year old Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

27. Spent Thanksgiving with one of my sisters and one of my brothers and got to "see" everyone. Greatest holiday of my life--despite the sickness that confined me to my nieces bed.

28. Started reading stories at the elementary school library once a week.

29. Watched my son and daughter get acquainted with my family this year. Delightful. (Did not get pictures of everyone--at least I can't find them right now.)

30. Helped butcher chickens for the first time--mostly I was the chicken scalder along with the drop-the-chicken-in-the-chicken-plucker person.  I did get to do some of the gutting/cleaning/final inspection/bagging parts too. It's such an interesting process. I still have some squimishness when it comes to the live ones though.

31. Milked a Cow for the first time ever and wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I'd be--it was fun!

32. Made cherry pie filling for the first time AND made a pie with it. I mean I really made a pie.

(picking the pie cherries here)

33. Picked huckleberries in the mountains--my first time for huckleberries, but a delightful flashback to childhood for berry picking and we were able to share that as a family.

34. Took the kids to the Rodeo for the first time.

35. Took a child to school for the first time.  Oh my!

36. Got to visit with some other old friends and learn the reality of what I suspected was my memory starting to go. It was great to see them and meet their kids!  And I'm glad they remembered...even if I couldn't.

37.   Had my first CAT Scan (nothing fell off and they found nothing wrong--great on both counts!)  Part of my gratitude in this one is the display of concern and care my kids showed to me.  It was a last minute thing so they had to be there and when the nurse came in to put an IV in my arm they advanced on me like an army and held my hand to help me get through the "poke". 

38.  Spent a magical day at the eternal edge of the Salt Lake with two mostly naked children (who had arrived in their footie pajamas), their Dad, and myself playing games, running, writing and reading words in the sand and never quite making it to the lake itself.  Proof to me that you can turn a frown upside down and smile that frown away. It also reminded me that sometimes not having the camera with you is a good thing.

39.   Watched the Lunar Eclipse--most of it.  I didn't get to see the full exclipse as it was obliterated by clouds, but it was so fun to watch and think about my dearest watching it from where he was.  Thanks for giving me the moon Babe!

40.   Bought a Christmas tree from a store for the first time ever.  We also had it down and to the city's "chipping pile" by the day after Christmas (Boxing Day!)--a very first for me.  In the past the earliest it's every come down was New Year's Day and often not until February.

Happy New Year's Eve!

We have quiet plans tonight--celebrating perhaps closer to Greenwich, England Time

Before Christmas we had a wonderful Hoar Frost. 

I love the bitter coldness required for the frost

and the way it decorates everything so beautifully.

Here's a crabapple that looks like it's going somewhere fast!

Dying leaves turn out in their best trims

Simple grasses and weeds shine!

Letters appear, even if they're sleeping sideways.

Pinecones seem to nest.

Doesn't this look like a frosty gentleman?

Happy New Year to you and yours,

From Me

and Mine

And that's the closest we've come to a family picture this year.

(By the way, that's Super Why in the picture--not Batman) 

Unless you count this one:

(Huckleberries it turns out stain almost exactly like blueberries)

Merry Christmas!
I had bigger plans for this post but that will have to wait.
Merry Christmas!

Some Christmas Conversations

A conversation between Tiny and Mowg:
Mowg:  What do you love about Christmas?
Tiny:  Stepping in Snow!
Mowg:  No.  What do you really love about Christmas?
Tiny:  Watching the penguins jump in the water!

We've been trying to figure out what Tiny wants for Christmas.  Recently at a work Christmas party for the kids Santa came.   She ran up to him when he walked in the room and gave him a big hug.  When he sat down she was a little more timid, until she saw that he was handing out gifts.  After she'd visited with him and she'd gotten a little stuffed snowman I asked her what she wanted for Christmas.   "A Snowman!"  I asked again and she said, "I wanted a snowman and I got one for Christmas!"


On the way home from school one day we were discussing Christmas wishes again.  Mowg and I asked Tiny what she wanted for Christmas. 
Tiny:  A rock! A pink one!

That's what she wants and she's stuck to it regardless of who asks her.  Today a saleslady asked what she was going to do with a rock she said, "Make it cute."

I know Christmas is coming and I love it, but Remember my celebration of 40 Things I'm Grateful I've Experienced/Done this Year to honor this my 40th year?  I need to share my most recent list--when I sat down to do so I thought I only had 20 things on my list.  I still have a few things left to add--not sure what they will be yet, but I have a few weeks.  Any suggestions?

1. Published an article (It came out this Month! In The Wyoming Wyoman Summer Edition)
2. Accepted an opportunity to sit on a teacher interview board (even though stepping into a school makes me slightly sick to my stomach).
3. Made a quilt top of my own design that isn't squares. (This is the ocean quilt for Tiny inspired by The Q and U) This is finished now and awaiting Christmas.

4. Completed a quilt top from a pattern. (this went off with Granny before I remembered to take a picture, but 2 years into it it's done!)
5. Took a trip to the Northwest to be with my youngest sister on a special day for her and her husband. As a side (and amazing gift) I got to visit with most of my family. Thanks Mom, Dad and Om for that gift. Better than London. :)
6. On the above trip reconnected with an old friend. What a wonderful time that was!
7. Recieved a silver bracelet as an early birthday present. This is a carved bracelet that has the two love birds (Eagle and Raven). I still can't believe that it's mine. Someone I know carved it and that makes it even more special. To top it off it came from my folks in a wonderful little ceremony that involved my folks and kids. Everytime I wear it I think of my Mom. I see her hands in mine.
8. Drove a 4 Wheeler for the first time.
9. Heard a pack of coyotes singing in the night for the first time. (Even if I mistook them for yipper dogs)
10. Went camping and fishing as just our family for the first time. Memories!
11. Caught a fish and remembered why it was so fun. ("Just one more cast")
12. Started making vinegar (first time and I'm very excited.)
13. Made a pair of pants!
14. Transitioned baby chicks from their box (in the mail) to their new home.
15. Held a grown up chicken for the first time (finally getting a handle on the freakiness of it)
16. Bought alcohol for the first time (I know this might not be a steller thing or something that would be a big deal, but it took me a while to get my nerve up so I'm counting it. Just in case you're worried it's for making something on the below list...can you guess?)
17. Volunteered at a Co-op once in my own town and once in another one.
18. Watched the fireworks from a place where I thought for a moment I was celebrating in Alaska with my little family enjoying it too. (Tiny's "bread" making aside--this included tossing dust into the air or our eyes depending on your point of view)
19. Watched two wild mountain lions cross the road and climb a cliff.
20.  Made a couple of bucket hats for the kids
21. Made Vanilla
22. Learned how to pressure can and canned 53 pints of beans.
23. Wrote another article
24.  Listened as Mowg truly read a book for the first time.
25. Bought a Christmas tree from a store for the first time ever.
26.  Finish 3 year old Hungry Caterpillar Quilt
27.  Spent Thanksgiving with one of my sisters and one of my brothers and got to "see" everyone.  Greatest holiday of my life--despite the sickness that confined me to my nieces bed.
28.  Started reading stories at the elementary school library once a week.
29.  Watchedmy son and daughter get acquainted with my family this year.  Delightful.
30.  Helped butcher chickens for the first time--mostly I was the chicken scalder and drop the chicken in the chicken plucker person, but I got to do some of the gutting/cleaning/final inspection/bagging parts too.  It's such an interesting process.  I still have some squimishness when it comes to the live ones though.
31.  Milked a Cow for the first time ever and wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I'd be--it was fun!
32.   Made cherry pie filling for the first time AND made a pie with it.  I mean I really made a pie.
33.  Picked huckleberries in the mountains--my first time for huckleberries, but a delightful flashback to childhood for berry picking and we were able to share that as a family.
34.  Took the kids to the Rodeo for the first time.
35.  Took a child to school for the first time--I still don't like that much--where did all our time go?!
36.  Got to visit with some other old friends and learn the reality of what I suspected was my memory starting to go.  It was great to see them and meet their kids!
37. 
38.
39.
40.

So really--any suggestions?

I've been doing a little "making" of late too.

This is Tiny's corner where she is "making"

(I couldn't catch her in it as her process entails substantial gathering.)

Here's a block I made for a quilt group.  I had something else in mind, but then I saw a two scraps together.  So I tried.  It's too small.  So now I'm not sure what to do.   Any ideas?

It's about 3 millimeters too small too--OK 1/4" really.  I'm thinking about cutting it down and adding a border in another cream colored fabric.  Note to self--don't think you can experiment when you have a limited amount of fabric.

Now the big deal.  It's done, it's done!  This quilt was inspired by a quilt posted here.  I love how it turned out.  Don't tell Tiny it's done--it's supposed to be for Christmas.  We'll see if I can keep it away from her.  The back (which I forgot to take a picture of) is in the "lellow"  and blue seahorse fabric.

I had it quilted (my first time having someone else do it)

Can you see the seahorses she quilted in the "lellow" stripe?

I'm so excited about it.  Now I can't wait for Christmas either!!

Mowg made a "gingerbread" house at school

Here he explains its finer points to Tiny

(OK so it was more like, "Do you like this kind?  We can eat it later.")

Hamin' it up for me

The Creation

We tried to wait until Dad came home to eat it, but we just couldn't.  He did get a taste though.

Yesteday I was looking at fabric swatches with Mowg.  He saw a solid colored swatch and was puzzled by it.

"What's that Mom?"
"That's called a solid."
He looked below it and pointed excitedly to a floral print.
"And I know what that is!  It's a liquid."


Tiny was dancing and singing in church yesterday.  I explained to her that we needed to be quiet and not dance at church.  She said, "It's OK Mom.  I'll just dance quietly."

December is here and with it comes the return of the deer.

And a new holiday tradition:  One Christmas Book a night until Christmas

I've read about lots of folks who wrap each book, but I didn't want to use the wrapping paper.

That and then there's the time involved.  That's truly the clincher for me.  So I decided to make a fabric envelop and just switch out a book each day.  I started look around for Christmas fabric.  Then I found this bag I'd made some time ago and decided if I added a decoration to a hair band I wouldn't even have to make the envelope.  Here's my bag

(There's a notebook inside that also has a story for each night--a tradition from my childhood.  It will stay in there and a new book will accompany it each night)

I'm pretty pleased with my rummage-through-my-button-box decoration.

Christmas is coming!

Thanks Welch's.  We spent some time with a mad lib like activity on the back of a carton of juice.  Here are the three different versions:
Dad:
Harvesting fruit at just the right time is sweet.  One way to tell if a cup is ripe is to look at it in your candle.  Bright colored, yellow and a little cold means it's probabgly ready.  Another way to see if it's ready is to eat it.  Lots of farmers like to taste their crops.  That's why their snowmen are so full.

Mowg:

Harvesting fruit at just the right time is tasty. One way to tell if a house is ripe is to look at it in your evanston. Bright colored, blue and a little pretty means it's probabgly ready. Another way to see if it's ready is to run it. Lots of farmers like to taste their crops. That's why their penguins are so full.

Tiny:

Harvesting fruit at just the right time is orange. One way to tell if a dog is ripe is to look at it in your Grandpa.   Bright colored, yellow and a little cold means it's probably ready. Another way to see if it's ready is to dance and sing it. Lots of farmers like to taste their crops. That's why their catfish are so full.

You can see a little bit of each of them in it and what was around us.  Granpa is definitely on Tiny's mind.  Last night she burst into to tears.  When I asked her what was wrong she said, "I'm sad because my Grandpa isn't coming."   She's missing you Grandpa, just so you know. 

Today I'm especially thankful for my husband.  I've watched him work so hard he can barely move and still find time to help with domestic chores and spend time with our kids.  I've followed him around with papers in hand asking for writing advice and he always takes the time to give it.  He teases me about my fabric obsession/illness, but kindly supports it.  He discusses ideas with me and exposes me to things I'd never really paid attention to before.  He's cute.  He's funny.  He's smart and dang it I like him!

Last but not least we traveled to my sister's for Thanksgiving for the first time in 7 years.

Lots of playing, eating, laughing and generally just being together

Not many pictures (that's a good sign)

Can you tell who is being thrown off balance?

The whole gang

I look my best and do you know why?  Wet hair that gets slept on, just never quite recovers.

Here we are Mom:  The "big" kids. :)

That's it for today.  Promise.