New Twist

We are now in the "paperwork" process of selling our house, so more waiting time. We had a full-price offer within a few days of listing on craigslist, so that was exciting! We had picked out the house with a barn that we really liked, and after looking at other houses to make comparisons and be sure it was the right one.... we changed our minds a bit. None of the other houses compared at all, but after considering all sides for a while we decided even though this is a great house in a great area with a great price; we would be strapped to the payments for the next 30 years, and that doesn't sound fun! It's no wonder our country is in the real estate trouble it is, the bank gladly approved us for the house even though it would have been very tough to make ends meet after paying for property taxes and insurance on top of payments every month! So while that house had everything we thought we wanted, we've decided that we can wait a few years to be in the "never moving again" mode. =) It is very important to all of us that I stay home with the kids instead of going to work, so this is worth it.

We actually made an offer today on a house that has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a large living/dining room area, and also a large family room. It's a split-level and very well laid out. You come in on the main floor (living room/dining/kitchen) and then go down a few steps to the family room and bedroom and bath; or up a few stairs to the other bedrooms and bath. We actually had a house very similar in Aloha while I was growing up, and Dad & Mom said it worked well. I didn't like the idea of a split-level where you go up stairs to get into the house, then come in on a landing, but this layout seems quite nice. It's an incredible deal simply because as we call it, it's a "smoke house". =) For quite a few years it has been smoked in, and also has the original 25-year old avocado green carpet, etc. Since the layout is so nice and it is so reasonable, we talked to our friend Zane who works for a home-restoration company about what it would take to make it nice. Sounds like it would require scrubbing down EVERYTHING with a strong citrus cleaner, painting walls/ceiling/floor with Kilz paint, replacing all outlets/fixtures/switches, and of course ripping out & replacing the flooring. If they accept our offer and all goes well, we should be able to move in with a "brand-new inside" in less than a months time!

The only down-side to this house that we couldn't move right into, is that we'll have to move twice. Tyler's sister, Clover, is going to come help me pack and move everything around closing time, so that will be greatly appreciated! In the end we'll have the same payments we have now, but with a very nice place that's more useful and bigger! Tyler hopes to add on a garage and possibly another bedroom in the next couple of years, but in the meantime we can just relax and enjoy our family..... and actually have some money to take trips to visit family and such! I'm am so much more comfortable with this situation, and we may just decide this is the place that will work for us too, at a much lower price! And if we decide to move again, we should have a tremendous amount of equity. Their asking price is $70,000 less than the other house!

Levi has taken to singing now, and it leaves us all in stitches! He often says "tell me tory..... Jesus" over and over, and he can almost sing the whole alphabet. It's hilarious to listen to him practicing while he's playing with blocks or cars, he's very serious about the whole thing. Once he gets to "W" he often repeats it over and over "dub-you" and can't remember what's next, so just keeps repeating W. Breanna can sing the old-testament books of the bible, and it's quite fun to watch her sing them on the phone to Grandma Maryn as she taps her toes to the rhythm. Such fun little bugs, I can't imagine not spending this time with them growing up! Clover had a hilarious blog posting recently, as to how her mornings go and why she doesn't go to work. I laughed the whole time while reading it, even though I only have 2 so far- it was all so familiar!! Check it out at: http://www.evanandclover.blogspot.com/ A couple of days ago when I was trying to get all the paperwork copied and scanned and emailed and figured out, Levi was climbing all over everything (and pulling things down), and suddenly the computer shut off because Breanna had crawled under the table and bumped the surge-protector. I just about exploded, and then thought "what was I thinking, and what am I going to do with another one?!?!?!?!"

This will be all for now, the kids are being way too quiet so I must go and inspect.... that is a dangerous sound! =)

Lots of "New" Happenings

Along with the new year, we are seeming to have quite a few "new" things come up in our lives lately! Most exciting, of course, is the looking forward to a new family member in August, although with morning sickness that lasts all day I'm not so sure this won't be the last new member! When mentioning the idea of twins (many have joked about that since it tends to sometimes mean multiples), I have gotten many "oh my, that would be a lot of work!" responces. While I'm sure this is true, I have always thought it would be fun to be a twin (although, luckily for you all there is only one of me! =} ) and it would be fun to have twins and get my four-kids done with in 3 pregnancies! Mom is adopted and so we don't know much family history, but there really is little chance of twins, however one can only hope! When we first told Breanna, she decided right away she didn't want a boy or a girl, but both! While I'm not expecting to see two little people on the ultrasound in a few months, one can surely hope? =) If nothing else it makes the morning sickness not seem so bad.

And with that being the most exciting new thing, the rest that is going on may seem overwhelming to go along at the same time; at least to me it does! Just 3 days before I found out, I ordered a long-arm quilting machine to start a small at-home business. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are sewing machines (with a large table/stand) for the purpose of "sandwiching" all the layers of a quilt together and sewing them together with fancy stitching. This is something I really enjoy, but the machine cost more than most of the vehicles I have purchased in my lifetime (for those of you who only know Tyler & his geo metros, I do tend to spend more than him on cars =}), so probably would have been better to wait had I known we were expecting a baby!

So with 2 new "babies" at our place, we decided "our place" was definately getting too small. (When completely set up, the quilting stand is over 12feet long by about 3 feet wide!) We've been looking for land & houses for quite a while, and happened to stumble upon a house that is looking promising! It's on just under an acre, with 4bed, 3bath, 2car garage, and a barn that has 2 horse stalls and a heated woodworking shop! There are wonderful mountain views, and it's in a great neighborhood that is close to Tyler's work, but best of all it's affordable. Actually a great deal from what we've seen, so after looking at it with the realtor- Tyler put a "for sale" add on craigslist for our place. The next morning we had an email from someone interested, and now there are 2 people coming to look at it tomorrow!

We are quite excited if it all works out so quickly, although I must say I wouldn't normally choose to move in this kind of weather! It's been just above and below -20 quite a bit lately, but the prospect of an attached garage and so much space is worth it! When we listed the house we were more hopeful than really thinking anything would happen so soon, so we have spent the last 2 days finishing things up and cleaning. I must say it's hard to clean when I have two little "uncleaners" working with me all day! =) I am just so excited at the thought of a finished house (yay!!!) way before the baby is born.... hmmmm..... not sure I'll know what to do with myself!

This had better be all for now, hope this finds you all doing well!

Sleepover

Last week I had Sheri's kids so she could have a break, and it was a treat for all of us! Kielan & Anelise came home from gospel meeting with us, and were delighted to share homemade pizza for dinner. Kielan said he wanted the spicey kind, and no mushrooms. Ha ha, kids are so honest! Breanna & Levi loved the extra kids around, and Breanna was most impressed by the extra help when it was time to clean up the toys! It was much faster, and more of a game; when there were more to help.

It was 11:30 by the time they were all asleep, and I was relieved at thinking they would be sleeping in. But oh no..... up well before 8am! I made dutch-babies, and they cleaned them up lickety split. Kielan wanted his topped with syrup, homemade jam, AND whipped cream.... it looked like quite the combo- but I figured why not for a treat!

It was quite a chore getting 4 little people fed, cleaned up, dressed, hair done.... and then Breanna asked me why I wasn't dressed yet....?!? It was a miserably cold and windy day out, and they agreed when seeing all the trees whipping around like toothpicks that they probably didn't want to play outside. So I promised to take them to Bouncing Bears, which is an indoor playpark with lots of blow-up slides and playareas. Kielan & Anelise had never been before, and were quite excited. I guess I didn't do things "up to speed", though, finally Anelise said "you sure are taking a long time to get us out of the house!" She was right, but 4 kids 4yrs. and under was quite the challenge for me! =) Our beloved minivan is still in the shop getting engine work done, so we are driving the F350, meaning Kielan was in the middle in the front, and it's difficult to reach to get them all buckled in. When we finally reached B.B., they took off and I got a bit of a break! Levi wasn't too sure about doing things himself at first, so I did a lot of climbing and sliding too. I was completely exhausted after the 2 hours were up, it was a great workout!

Everything went great and it really was fun for us all, but I was so tired once I was back home with only 2 kids. Then I found out the next day that we are expecting in August, so that would explain the exhaustion! I was really hoping that with Breanna & Levi I'd gotten my share of "morning sickness", but it's started again..... only the kind like Levi's that is more "throughout the day sickness".

I did really appreciate how well Kielan & Anelise just sat down to meals and ate up! My kids seem to drag the meals out forever..... any advise on fixing that? Sheri says she doesn't know how it happened, they've always been that way.

I also give a thumbs-up to whomever came up with Bouncing Bears, it's a great place for those of us who live in places where winter lasts over half the year- after a 2hr. session the kids are asking to go home because they are exhausted! Makes for wonderful naptimes..... often they are both asleep by the time I drive the 15mins. home. =)

Long-Arm Quilting Machine on the way!

As of Thanksgiving, we now have a 4-year-old at our house!

I did something very exciting on Saturday, I ordered my first long-arm quilting machine! It will take about a week to get here, and I have a feeling this is going to be one of the longest weeks of my life..... =) I've thought long and hard about this purchase, as it is a good business venture, but also a very expensive one. I want to be able to stay home and raise my children, and also help pay the bills. After talking with various people, I decided to at least try it out, and many have said they are easy to resale if I decide this isn't my thing. I love the quilting part of the process, though, so don't think that will be an issue!

What started me thinking more seriously about this, is when I tried to machine-quilt a queen-size quilt for my good friend, Marlene. By the time I was done, I was very frustrated at having to push & pull and fight all that fabric with my regular sewing machine, and vowed never to do a quilt that size again without an actual long-arm machine! The resulting quilt was fine, but not all that it could have been, had I the right equipment. I had similar experiences with Jared's graduation quilt, and the baby-clothes quilt.

The stand for this machine is about 12feet long and 4feet wide, so it is no small thing to fit into the corner of my sewing area! =) For now I think we're going to leave it in the living room (Tyler's idea, and many have agreed it makes sense- Sheri said just make a pretty quilt to put over it when company comes!) Anyway, Tyler is now drawing house plans again, and as soon as we get the trim finished and a few other things, we're thinking of selling and building another house. Nothing big or extravagant, but this place is getting a bit cramped for us. We have 2 bedrooms and one bath (which has obvious complications), and Tyler is tired of not having a shop or garage to work in. We don't really look forward to the building process again, but it doesn't make much sense to either of us to just buy, when we can get about twice the house by building. We'll see what happens! I also joined the Alaska Club fitness center last month to try and loose a bunch of "baby-weight", so with all this going on I should be a little busy the next bit!

P.S. I added 3 new albums in the Picasa photos. I have been slacking a bit on the photo-taking, There weren't nearly as many to post this time!

Venturing into the "selling" world

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I tried my first Bazaar for selling quilts and purses. It turned out to be a "skunk", none of the vendors were very impressed with the turnout of buyers! I did sell a few purses, though, and after the day was over; traded for some other craft items! There was a girl who had nice felted-wool purses and I traded one of those for a small baby quilt. Another lady had fun handmade cards, so I traded her a small purse for 25 handmade cards! I also put out quite a few business cards, and got lots of interest for machine quilting and some interest in the baby-clothes quilts; so in all I think it was a success. I only made $25 over the cost of my booth, though, so won't be trying that one again! I am signed up for some here in Wasilla that should have better turnouts, and the tables are much cheaper so I'm hoping that will work better. I am also making more quilted tote/purses- they are very well liked, and also some quilted hotpads, as they are smaller dollar items and should sell better. Many thanks to Lindsey & Tyler for watching the kids for me, Lindsey & Trisha for helping me do pricing, and Trisha & Tyler for helping out at the booth! I love to quilt but have a tough time in the pricing area, or selling- and their encouragement and help was much appreciated! And of course the most thanks to Tyler- for building me a beautiful rack to display the quilts, and standing behind me in all my new ideas! =) Note: Some small doll quilts are missing from the top racks on both ends.... somehow we got down there and accidentally left them at Lindsey's! She has a place in Anchorage not too far away, though, so I drove back to get them and it was a nice break from the "nervous excitement" of waiting for the bazaar to begin.

All done!

Today I finally finished the baby clothes quilt for Laura! The finished measurements are 67 x 81 inches. I like the results, but a long-arm quilting machine would have done a better job at the quilting part, as it's difficult to machine-quilt this size of quilt on a regular sewing machine. Breanna and Levi were impressed with the results, too, there are lots of soft fabrics to feel! Eg: fuzzy bath robe, flannel blankets, soft bibs, corduroy overalls, burpcloths, well-worn cotton clothes, etc. Breanna & Levi both took 3 hour naps together today, which was a big help in the process, but they are still up and it's 11:30pm~

Memorial Baby Quilt

A few weeks ago I replied to a wanted add on craigslist.org, and started the newest challenge in my quilting. The lady had a 7-month old baby girl that died of SIDS over a year ago, and she wanted someone to make a quilt from her clothes. I had never tried this before but Mom & Aunty Clariss made quite a few from grandma Hilton's clothes, so I thought I'd give it a try!

It was a bit heart-wrenching at first, because of the emotional ties; and there were such beautiful little dresses that I didn't want to cut up! I soon got over it, though, treated it like business, and started really enjoying my new project. I had no clue how long it would take, but so far I've spent 22 1/2 hours total, and still have probably 5 left. It's very time-consuming because I have to disassemble the clothes and cut and iron them just to get little pieces of fabric to try and work with. She wanted it to be log-cabin style, which worked well and I found a simple scrappy pattern online. I finished the top on saturday, and like the results! I emailed her photos (she lives in Anchorage), and both her and her husband love it. I searched online and found that there are quite a few people who do these sorts of quilts! I was so pleased with the idea and results that now I want to make one for Breanna and Levi out of their clothes when they grow up, what a bunch of fun memories. Let me know if you're interested, I'm enjoying this and thinking of doing more! Here are a few photos of what I have done:

I made the block centers from special bibs, pockets from clothes, or 4-patches.

Then I laid the centers out, made coordinating piles of the outer strips, and sewed them together. I found it challenging to keep the like fabrics apart and keep it scrappy.

This is the quilt top, ironed and ready to be sandwiched with batting and backing, and quilted.

I'm really having fun at this, but I realized that Levi & Breanna were watching the whole "dismantling" process with the scissors and seam-ripper, and hope they don't get any ideas with their perfectly good clothes!