Christmas Quilts

For the last 6 years I've made Christmas quilts for my siblings. Our family rotates names, so I made one per family and have now done all 6. This year I had my brother Von and his wife Emily. As with each sibling I've tried to make them a quilt that would be something they would enjoy, not just because it was a quilt made for them, but because it was in the color, or style, or pattern that they enjoyed, or some other meaning behind it.

Emily has a definite plan in mind for how she decorates her home. She told me once that her plan for their bedroom was to decorate in colors that would match any quilt they received. This plan includes white walls and black metal accessories. She also has Red candles to add a little color.
So I made their quilt Black, red and white.

One day Emily and I were discussing quilts and she asked why all quilts were one large pattern made from a bunch of smaller patterns. I told her that that type of pattern is just easier to make. She and Von also like Celtic stuff. So when I saw this pattern I knew it was just right for them.
Here is the final result:




They were absolutely thrilled with the quilt. They called me after they opened it and told me for at least 10 minutes how much they loved it. One of Emily's comments was that she loved that I remembered that she liked one pattern vs a bunch of little ones.

There are few things better than giving a gift you know will be loved and cherished for years to come.

Experiment

About 2 weeks ago I had parent teacher conference with Kaleb's teacher. She mentioned that he was having a hard time staying focused in class and got distracted from his work easily. That was the day after a study came out suggesting that tv shows like Spongebob can affect attention span. I decided to do my own experiment. Kaleb had been watching a lot of cartoons, not Spongebob (because I hate that show), things like Transformers, Iron Man and Voltron Force.
I talked to kaleb and told him that the shows he was watching were moving too fast and that it was making his brain have a hard time focusing. So we made a new rule that he could only watch 1 fast show each day.
I thought he would have a hard time, but he has been very good at following the rule, and most days he chose to watch PBS shows instead, or played outside, which he wasn't interested in before.
Yesterday I asked Kaleb's teacher if she had seen a difference. She said she was amazed at how much better kaleb was staying on task, and he was learning much better. She also said he had a better attitude than he had before.
So, our experiment was a success. Kaleb does better in school when he doesn't watch cartoons.

Fb post

This post is going around on fb and i really don't like it.

Don't like gay marriages? Don't get one.. Don't like cigarettes? Don't smoke them.. Don't like abortions? Don't get one.. Don't like sex? Don't have it.. Don't like drugs? Don't do them.. Don't like porn? Don't watch it.. Don't like alcohol? Don't drink it.. Don't like guns? Don't buy one.. Don't like your rights taken away??? Don't take away someone elses!! Repost if you agree.

The problem I have with this is that when others do these things they are taking away my rights and/or safety. For example:
If someone smokes around me, I get the 2nd hand smoke, which is worse than me actually smoking.
If someone gets an abortion, they are killing a child. I would be upset about the murder of any child, regardless of that child's age.
If someone does drugs or drinks alcohol, they are impairing their judgement, which could put others in danger.
Because people watch porn, it is available very readily and even though I try not to pay attention, I still see some.

I don't think it is right for the rights of the majority to be taken away because of the minority. The majority are just too scared they will offend someone so they don't speak up for their rights and it annoys me.

Bragging

I think it's time to brag about my kids a little.
Eddie is learning sign language. His favorite words are please, more and candy. He is also learning to speak, he can say Mom, Da, Mo (More), Go, and he can almost say done.
Von is learning his colors. He has down blue, yellow, green, white, black and brown. He still has some struggles with red and orange.
Kaleb memorized his first scripture. He can quote, "I will go and do the things the Lord has commanded". Every time he says it he gets a little more clear.

I'm so happy I'm their mom.

31%

I added up our debt reduction so far for the year and we are at 31%. Wow. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.