Some picture from when everyone was back in NY!

Somebody forgot to sleep the night before getting here. Hmmmm!

But Wade was back in action in time for bowling with the gang!

Only Daniel! Love it!!!

On to the "No- it's not Mom's birthday" party...

Yummmy- chicken! No, I'm not talking about Nick!

Wow- it's been awhile since all of these girls have been together- like 21 years! No- we're not old enough to say that, are we?!?!?

Long lasting friendships are the best!

Ok, now, everyone smile and look at the camera- Yeah right! HA!

The Caves bunch!

Poor Johnny! It's not easy being the youngest!

In the woods at Aunt Tam and Uncle Nicks house

I am MAN!!!!!!!!!

Oh, ain't that sweet- they're all smiling!

Amber's High school Graduation 6-24-11

Nick is happy to be at Amber's graduation ceremony in the North Collins HS Auditorium


Amber on her way in to the aud.

Amber looking thrilled to be there
Hmmmm....

Amber's senior class on stage

Amber (in the center with black hair)- still thrilled

After the ceremony on her way out of the auditorium

Amber and her dad

Tammy and Amber

Finally- she looks happy that it is all over.

Congratuation Amber!!!!!

Now on to college.....

Amber's Senior prom 5-13-11

Adam abd Amber
I love this picture with both of their reflections in the mirror!


When did Amber grow from the 5 year old I first met into this young lady?
MAKE IT STOP!!!!



Nick, Amber, and Adam.
Doesn't daddy look protective over his daughter?
Notice he has ahold of Amber, not Adam! Funny!!!


Amber and Nick

My first quilt is done

OK- so quilting classes finally started again and I have learned so much more about quilting. If you compare the previous quilting pictures to these this one shows 2 new borders with the batting and backing pinned to the top. You pin it in a lot of areas to secure it when you are sewing all the layers togteher. You use a walking foot to make all the materials move together.


This shows the final border (I don't think it is actually called a border but I can't remember the correct name right now). Anyway you sew a 2 1/2 inch wide folded piece of material to the top side using the sewing machine and the flip it over and hand stich it on the bottom side to make what is called an invisible stitch.

This is the underside of the quilt- I used the cream colored material called muslin because I think it gave it more of a country look compared to the printed materials. See the way the stitches are? That's called stitching in the ditch. Basically you follow the seams already made from sewing the top pieces together. That way it hides the stitching on the top of the quilt and makes this pattern on the bottom.

Another stitch in the ditch picture

.
And TAAAAADAAAAAA:The end result. Not bad for the first one I ever made but don't look too closely or you will see mistakes! Did anyone think I would actually make it that far on the quilt? I know I had my doubts. Time to start a new one!

Again...

Just wanted you to know that we are still enjoying our snow shoes! Now that there is finally enough snow to use them that is.

Learning to Quilt

So... since I have been known to be somewhat crafty with smaller projects (right Mom?) I decided it was time to learn how to make something that might be around for awhile.
I am not a knitter, nor am I interested in being one, so I decided that trying quilting would be cool. You know you're old(er) when quilting is cool. Anyway there was a class being taught locally so I signed up. After the first few classes I decided that this was something I could do and I asked Nick for an early Christmas present- a sewing machine. This one has all the bells and whistles needed for quilting- start to finish. Cool, huh?


This is probably hard to see but it is the first pattern I am learning- it is called "split rail".


This is the mat you cut fabric on. It provides multiple measurements and is cut proof- even with the sharp razor edge.


That is the razor you cut fabric with (also known as a rotary tool) and a ruler that provides more measurements and a straight edge for cutting with the razor. No scissors needed for this type of quilting!


This is 4 pieces of fabric sewn together with 1/4 inch seams. This is the back side. It is called strip piecing- or if you are saying it too fast as I have done in the past strip teasing- LOL. Every time you finish a piece like this they all need to be ironed. There is a LOT of ironing involved in quilting. That's the part I would be happy to skip. BUT my instructor is teaching me the right way so....... I iron.


This is after ironing- back side again.


And this is the front side of it after the strip piecing has been cut into 8x8 subsectioned pieces and then sewn together again- see how the blocks are going in different directions now?


More ironing after those sections are sewn together.


Then you sew all of those pieces together and guess what- iron it again! Looks like Boomer was taking credit for making this quilt! Hmm..


But it is all mine. Look at the maroon and the darkest green- see the steps the patterns makes- thats split rail.
TaDaaaa!


I still have to make the border, add the batting, and do the backing but due to winter weather and holidays quilting class has been on hold. I don't know enough about it to try it on my own.
And that is why I will be taking a trip to JoAnns soon. I will pick out new fabrics to start a new quilt with the same pattern but different colors. By the time I have that together quilting classes should be going again and I can learn the rest of the process. Cool, huh?
Thanks again for all the JoAnns gifts cards for my bday! More quilting to come........

Time for some holiday family fun!

So Aunt Tam decided that it was time for some holiday family fun. In the beginning it took some convincing to get John, Allie, and Nick to join in but then they decided it wasn't so bad- I think.
I already did one ginger bread house by myself so I decided to recruit help with the second one I had.


And then they took over and all I had to do is take pictures. Johnny had a hard time getting the shutters to stick but they eventually did.

I think they liked to taste the house decorations more than using them on the house.

Hey- is this a picture of all three of them smiling together? What's up with that?

Team work made the roof like great- both sides.

And the end product

Like I said- tasting is more fun! and then Nick took off with a GIRL so the rest of us went outside to make a snowman. Too bad the snow wasn't packing so we had to change plans. After a quick snowball fight we went...

sledding on the hill out back that we used when we were kids! There's Allie

I think the hill is smaller than I remember because they kept landing in the prickers and trees- no major injuries though!

The end result

And here comes Johnny

Johnny in the prickers and trees

But going up the hill for another run!

Grandma- where's the hot chocolate? John got us some from Tim Ho's because Grandma needs to stock up!
They were all good sports for putting up with Aunt Tam- we lacked boots, gloves, ect but we made what we had work. And we had a good time doing it!