Spring is here or is it?

The calendar says it is spring but mother nature does not seem to agree.  As always, in Salt Lake City she seems to want to delay it.  I have seen the crocus try to show off their beautiful flowers only to be crushed by the incessant snow.  On a bright sunny day when the temperature attempts to peak above 55 F, I have heard the birds congregate on one or two trees chirping their hearts out, only to be silenced the next day by another storm.  I too know how it feels to go out one day and feel the warmth of the sunshine only to wake up to a road covered in snow the next.  Sigh.  I believe that this year we may go from winter to summer in a week.  Maybe that will happen in May or June or possibly even July.  But luckily this spring the sun is coming from a different place.

Yes, let me tell you about Ethan.  If you don't want to hear my baby stories time to leave this blog now lol!  The more I see him the more I love him.  They say that grandchildren and grandparents have a special bond, a special understanding.  I believe it.  My grandmothers and I did.  My grandmothers cooked better than my parents.  My grandmothers gave me toys and chocolate Easter eggs.  My grandmothers defended me when I got blamed for stuff.  Yes and what happens and grandma's stays at grandmas just as the saying goes.  I also see that bond between my children and my parents and my children and my mother-in-law when she was still alive.  I know this will also happen between Ethan and I.  

The internet is the greatest creation.  Invented by God I am sure for the good (and bad) of his people. God knew when he inspired the creation of the internet that is would be used for the great joy of the grandparent.  There is nothing more wonderful than seeing little Ethan live in video I chat.  Well I did lie, seeing him and holding him in person would be better.  But I don't have that luxury so God blessed me with internet.  I have seen my little grandson several times. He looks like and angel when he sleeps.  He has the most beautiful face ever.  I watched him in my sons arms.  As my son put him over his shoulder, little Ethan just curled up in his arms and pulled his little legs up under him as if he was still in the womb.  I have not really seen his eyes open yet but I did see him stretch once and try to hold his little head up.  The name Ethan means strength and that little guy is strong for sure.  I also saw him stick his little tongue out.  My arms ache to hold him.  But I also remember being a new mom.  I remember being so tired that having anyone around other than my husband and my own mom was a total effort.  If I thought I was truly needed I would be on the next plane to New York.  But until then I will hold back patiently and just thank the Lord for a wonderful son, a most wonderful daughter-in-law, a healthy grandson and the INTERNET!

Spring is here or is it?

I'm a Grandmother!

Yes, the day finally came.  Little Ethan Michael has joined our world.  I wasn't totally conscious when I was called the morning of the fourth.  It is my understanding little Ethan took his time coming into the world.  She was in labor over 24 hours. But do you blame him?  There he was wrapped in a warm little place and then be pushed into a a freezing room.  It is kind of like being in a nice warm bed with the heating blanket on and having to get up into a freezing bedroom in the middle of winter and with snow falling outside.  I say the bed is better! lol  

The first pictures that were sent to me were of him just barely out of the womb.  Poor little guy he looked a bit distraught but he is definitely the cutest infant boy I have ever seen next to my own boys of course.  He looks a lot like the child I dreamt of all those nights before.  Only difference is that he had more hair in my dreams. I would give anything to hold him in my arms and tell him how much I love.  The pictures don't seem to come fast enough.  I am hoping that within the next two days or so I will see him on I chat.  My thoughts are a bit scattered at the moment.  When I look at pictures of that little one it is hard to believe he has a little part of me within him.  

By the way the name Ethan means Strength.  I pray that I can teach him to have love the Lord with all his Strength and to teach him what it means to be strong in the Lord.

 

Waiting Expectantly

This will be short and sweet.  As we await the birth of this new baby we wait in great anticipation.

The whole family is in on it.  The parents are preparing the house for him.  The family and friends are all pitching in buying everything this child could possibly want and need.  Everything is being organized.  This little unborn baby boy has put a bunch of people in motion and he doesn't even know it.  He doesn't know how much he is loved and wanted already.  He doesn't realize how many people are just waiting anxiously to meet him and love him.  He doesn't know he has two parents who are moving earth and sky to prepare for his needs. I realize this isn't the Christmas season.  But I have been thinking a lot about Jesus's birth.  We don't move earth and sky to prepare our hearts for him.  We don't wait expectantly like we should for his birth.  As Easter approaches and Jesus prepares to die for our sins , have we told him we are sorry?  Have we told Him we love him?  We don't spend as much time thinking of the sacrifice he made on the cross for us.  We don't even think about the fact that soon He will come again in his glory.  Our our hearts prepared to receive him in our final moments?  We don't know the time, or the place we will be when our time comes to meet him again.  I need to be as prepared for the coming of my Lord as I am for the coming of that little boy I call my grandson.  For the little baby boy I already love so very very much.  About one more month to go and he will be here among us.  One more month to go and Jesus will rise again for us all.

The Making of a Quilt

God has blessed me with many gifts.  I am a lucky woman.  But as I get older I realize that they aren't necessarily interrelated.   Let me explain.  He has gifted me with patience to do crafts. When I was in High School, I hand embroidered a tablecloth for 12 and 12 napkins.  Not only did I carefully embroider it all, I also did a fancy hem all around the edges.  I still can't believe I finished it.  When I was waiting to move to Utah I did a very elaborate counted cross stitch of a fall forest scene.  I had three small children then.  The cloth was 18 or 24 count which is very tiny. Again I don't know how I finished it.  It is definitely a masterpiece.  

Now you need to know the cross stitch was a kit.  The table cloth was virtually a kit.  I was in Italy one summer and my aunt took me to the store bought the cloth the pattern and the thread.  She ironed on the pattern and proceeded to teach me how to do the elaborate hem.  Then I was on my own.  I have tried many different crafts but have decided that quilting and machine embroidery is what I will settle on and try to perfect with the years I have left.  My eyes are getting a little worse each year and I can't see well enough to do the tiny stuff.

I know this was a long introduction unrelated to quilting but I am getting there.  As I get farther into quilting I realize again that kits are the way to go unless I am doing one with machine embroidery.  I have discovered that though I am pretty patient with a project I don't have enough color sense.  I can see what looks good in the end.  But it is the fine differences that I don't see until someone else puts them together.   Take blue for example.  There are hundreds of shades of blue.  The shade depends on how much of another color is mixed in to it to make it a particular shade.  Red and blue go well together if the right shade of blue and the right shade of red are put together.  I opened a quilt kit the other day and decided to make it.

I was overwhelmed by the many different fabrics.  They all didn't match.  The colors were so different I had no clue how I was going to put them together.  I started making squares.  None of them looked good.  I went into a panic.  I asked God why he didn't give me color sense as a gift. I think His answer was "I gave that gift to two of your friends".  So I proceeded to call one of them.  Unfortunately,  the timing was not good with one but the other was able to join me.  You should have seen her go.  It did take several hours but it was amazing how she had a knack for putting those squares together.  She tried to teach me and I kind of caught on.  I was able to put a couple together successfully.  I will now take the time to sew them all together and finish it.

If you insist on a point to this story, it is that we are not meant to be alone.  God mixes his gifts so we can work together to create something.  I had a lot more fun doing the project with my friend than I would have alone. 

One Of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you had never gotten out of bed?

Well this is one of them for me.  Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because I most of the time I try and treat myself to just doing what I enjoy.  But today all my well laid plans went array.

I had laundry to do which is no big deal and I have a massage this afternoon which helps the back pain.  My plan was to do some quilting and do some things on the computer.  That is when all the problems started.

Though the internet is working in the house and my husband's computer works just fine neither of my two computers were able to receive internet.  Our internet name just dropped from all three of my computers and I couldn't add them.  This is very frustrating to me.  I tend to flint from one thing to another.  I can focus on quilting for so long so I take a break check something on the computer and and go back to the quilting.  I will chat with one of my kids for a few minutes on AIM and then go back to the laundry.  This is one of my distractions.  So when I can't use it my day is turned upside down.  So today was one of those days!

Home Again

When I am at home I don't write much because everything seems so routine.  But I wanted to mention a couple of things.

On the way home from Lake Louise there was a lady at the airport.  She had been in our hotel while we were there.  She told us she was 74 and she came out to Lake Louise to ski.  She loves to ski she said and her husband hates it.  So every year she goes to a ski resorts alone just to ski.  I want to emphasize the word alone.  I guess what impresses me the most is her age.  I for one only enjoy traveling alone if there is someone on the other end I want to spend time with for example a friend or family member.  Though I have gone to a couple of sewing retreats that lasted three to 5 days.  But will I still be able to or want to do that at the age of 74?  

I finished the book Plain Truth.  It taught me a lot about the Amish Culture. I truly admire those people for how strong their faith is and how hard they try to truly live what they believe. The book did have a twist at the end that I kind of suspected throughout the book.  I think I watch too much tv.  Mike and I always try to guess who committed the crime and one of us usually figures it out about half way through.  

I have started to learn how to use my sewing machine.  I hope Bernina has another retreat within the next couple of years that I can go to.  That is the place where I learn the most.  Going to the sewing classes 45 minutes away is quite a chore.  I have a couple of quilt kits to work on so I may do that as I wait for Baby M to come.  M is the first letter of his middle name.  That is what I have been told.  I think I will work on his quilt after I meet him and get to know his personality.  Not sure yet.  I have been asking the Lord to inspire me.