Saturday, February 25, 2017

Boy Howdy's First Quilt

Boy Howdy and I were supposed to have a date to a place where children of all ages can go and create art. He was so excited (he's currently going through a very artistically creative period). But then we all got sick this week and I didn't think he was well enough to go out in public. So we stayed home. In the afternoon I showed Cheeks the fabric I bought her for her big-girl bed quilt I am going to make her. Boy Howdy looked genuinely heartbroken when I told him he couldn't help sew it. In a moment of inspiration, he and I went on a date to the basement for his first real sewing experience.
Boy Howdy picked out some material from my stash, cut, pinned, sewed, ironed and quilted his very first quilt - all square foot of it. This boy's enthusiasm was completely endearing and my mother heart melted as he exclaimed again and again that this was "the BEST DAY EVER!"

 I may not be very good at selfies. But my sweet boy is good at smiling!


He got bored with quilting after a couple of minutes, so he let me practice my free hand quilting. We put in his name and the date and some other random doo-dads. I'm curious to see what he thinks of this in twenty years.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Staycation

For Christmas my sweet, darling sister gave Matthew and I two weeks babysitting. We picked our Metaversary as a good time to use up some of our gift. Our initial thought was to rent a room on the coast' but then we remembered that we are trying to pay off our remaining student loans this year. All of a sudden, it didn't seem fiscally prudent to spend $1000 on a weekend away. But then Melissa reminded us that we didn't need to go anywhere to have a vacation. Huh - novel concept.

She picked them Friday afternoon and we will pick them up tomorrow at lunch time. We are an odd couple so we haven't been as crazy occupied as others might be, but we have gone to the temple, eaten out, seen a movie and shopped. We've also slept, not put children to bed, and enjoyed partaking of the Sacrament without monitoring a 3-year old's touching every single piece of bread or taking 20 seconds to drink a small cup of water. It has been heaven.

But here's the thing. Spending a weekend away is totally different than spending a weekend at home sans children. I have loved spending time with just my husband, and am beyond grateful to my sister and her sweet family for this opportunity. But hanging out just the two of us, makes me remember what it was like before we had children and, honestly, I like our lives better now. I love our children and while they may not be ready for me to take them away from their cousins, I am excited to pick them up tomorrow and have my babies back with me. What a wonderful weekend! I am ready to be a mama again!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Boy Howdy is Thoughtful

Maybe it's because I really only see him interact with his little sister, but I've never pegged my sweet Boy Howdy as the most thoughtful of children. High-strung, yes. Smart, obedient, and passionate, yes. I'm sad to say that Boy Howdy was my obedient child and Cheeks was my kind child. And they still are those labels, but in the last month I have started to see a different side of my sweet little boy. He found an empty envelope and wanted to make a special card for his best friend, Charlotte. For Valentine's Day, he wanted me to read all the notes written on the Ninja Turtle cards he had picked out so he could make sure to give each person just the right card. He wanted to give extra valentine's cards to the children in his primary class and to other friends. Cheeks had no similar exacting intentions for her cards. She was actually pretty laissez faire about it all. Now it could just be because she is a year younger than her brother or maybe she is just sweet in her own special way, but I have LOVED seeing this other, tender and thoughtful side of my sweet little boy.