Projects and More

I finished up this little quilt just in time to visit a very expectant mama who felt very ready to meet her third baby girl. Just a week or so later, she did! I'm thankful I got to spend an afternoon with her and the other little ones, trying to fill the time and keep her mind off her uncomfortableness. Now, I need to find a time to meet the new little bundle of sweetness!

Well, I didn't get a product knit in time to put it on Caelan's first craft fair, but I did make a hat! I'm looking back at G$'s graduation pictures and realizing I made hats for pretty much everyone exactly a decade ago . . . 10 Christmases past! How has that much time gone by? And NO WONDER I don't remember what I'm doing with knitting needles, lol!

One fun weekend activity was attending the baby shower for Gabby's nephew-to-be. His first-time mama taught piano to 3/4ths of our Crew and accompanied Caelan during her vocal classes in college--which BTW--she finished in September! Her diploma arrived via email (the hard copy to follow) and she's got a Bachelor of Science, debt free! She and Noah drove (through the remnants of Hurricane Helene) to Smoky Mountain National Park to celebrate! Noah is planning a multi-day hike next summer and they wanted to check it out. Much of the park was closed, but Caelan said what was open was wonderful. They saw bear cubs in a tree! They also visited Gatlinburg and Noah's sister at college. Pretty nice way to celebrate a big achievement!

Back to the party . . . finding fabric featuring cute bugs was a challenge. Most bug fabric is cheesy or creepy, but this was THE CUTEST lil bug fabric I ever did see :) Finding coordinating fabrics proved a bit tricky, but Buck helped me pick out a polka dot that features all the bug colors. I think it turned out pretty cute! The ladies passed it around at the shower, and one of the grandmas' (or maybe aunties?) gave it a hug as it went by. That was sweet :)

It was such a nice baby shower, fun to hang out with Gabby and my NGFs girls. There are so many cute baby things and smart baby things that have been designed in the past 17 years--I definitely took some mental notes for future babies :)

Buck's latest project also has to do with babies. The company wanted a more welcoming nursing moms' space, so Buck and I picked out a paint color, and then he pinked the walls, arranged the furniture, and put some art on the wall. It turned out really cute! He said there are ladies saying they thought they were done having kids, but that room looks so nice that they may just have some more. Lol!

How's this for a project? Our every-couple-of-years quest to find a different space to live. Whew!! That's a project and a half and another half! But I did like this house a lot. It had a great lower level that would be perfect for short or long term guests, a nice circular main floor with a main floor bedroom, and a couple extra bedrooms upstairs. The yard wasn't super great and it is in town on hills still with no chickens allowed . . . so not the one for us, but I'm glad we got a chance to tour it and get some ideas for the future. Now, we have a couple years to downsize our collection of stuff so that moving to a new home wouldn't be an absolute monstrosity of an undertaking. Turns out our next door neighbors also looked at a property and also asked a realtor for an assessment of their potential sale price. There may just be a domino affect around the old cul-de-sac!

I'm jumping around a bit upon review of my saved bloggable photos . . . in exciting news, we got to see the Northern Lights! Barely discernable to plain sight, I didn't hope for much when I took the photos (after researching the process after missing the last round), but WOW! Buck came out on the back deck and saw the faint beams on the horizon, too. He was impressed with what the camera could "see" better than us :) I definitely need a trip to Norway or Iceland or wherever it is you can watch the Lights dance without the assist of night vision. That would be an amazing aspect of Creation to see!

Other weekend events included . . . watching my nephew's impromptu flag football season's last game, seeing K's family from AZ, and cheering while baby H stormed the field after the last play. Clearly she wants to join the league :)

Directly after the football, Buck and I joined quite a bit of the flag-cheering crowd at church for a fundraiser. K was serving pancakes, and Buck had the day off because we hoped to take the boys to a college football game, but couldn't get tickets. We put in a couple of bids on the silent auction (this time fighting Lyme disease) and won a jerky basket as our prize! My bro donated one of his giant paintings from the storage locker he bought a few years ago. Mr. M was keen on a signed Chiefs football (until my bro realized they were printed signatures, not fresh ink). I chased baby H around for a bit while her dad chatted and her mom served. Pastor N came over to sit with Buck because he was feeling bored waiting for the auction to end and thought he'd pass the time catching up with Buck. Mr. D's treatment is like $8k per week, not covered by insurance, and that doesn't cover living expenses far from home . . . hopefully the fundraiser provided enough to give them (husband and wife) a boost to stay as long as they can to complete the regimen. 

After the benefit, we decided to make the drive to wander through a museum that's been closed for a couple of years for renovations. We were very impressed with the addition (although it's not as pretty as it used to be from the outside), but we did not care much for the art they chose to fill the new wing with (give me a talent-filled portrait over toddler-could-have-done that modern art piece ANY day!) I accidentally saved some stickers over one of the original pictures we took, but decided it improved the experience, so thought I'd share. Lol! (The first two pictures are button sculptures, btw--this is probably why Hobby Lobby didn't have any left for the shirt I was making Graysen . . .)

Looking back at my calendar, there are a few other big happenings. I attended a mission trip meeting at church to figure out what next year's plans look like. I'm trying to talk my librarian friend into going to Africa, so we can put books on the shelves together when they build the new library. That would be so much fun! No actual plans to go, just wanted to be in the loop :)

Brennen and his friend K decided to stay just such. G$ helped out at an exclusive showroom for a recent fundraiser at K's invitation. He was amazed by the host's private collection. I appreciate how K liked to get to know each person in our Crew while she and Brennen were deciding what God did or didn't have in store for them as a duet. She and Gabby still connect, so that's sweet. Teen relationships are challenging to navigate, we think Brennen did an honorable job caring for this one.

Choir continues to music along--I'm afraid I've put very little time into practicing this round. Where does the time go?? I think our concert is next week. My oh my!