Crazy Days...

Well, I haven't had much computer time, lately. imagine that. There's just all kinds of things to do. I have been cooking...a lot. We've had stew, and soup, and spaghetti, and beans, and 4 pounds of french toast, and 3 pounds of barleymeal, and 2 lemon pound cakes, and a huge batch of cinnamon rolls, and a pineapple upside down cake, and 10 boxes of cereal. I've made 2 dresses- and mended another. Leandra scooted down my stairs and hooked a nail on the back of her dress- a hole that needed immediate attention. And so, while we were at it, we made her a new jumper/dress. It is a very warm flannel. (We've had some very chilly weather, here- expected to get colder yet. See the sun shining in the picture? Cold is quite OK, when you have lots of sunshine.) And then her sister "needed" a new jumper/dress- with a built-in apron. Stephania is a cleaning wiz. She even moves things off the counters to clean under them. Amazing. I've quilted 2 quilts, also. This one is for their oldest sister, Amy, who had to work and couldn't come for a visit. I had these crazy squares (stack the deck) left over from a quilt that I donated to an auction about a year and a half ago. 8 sqaures. A difficult number to work with. If ya had 9, you could place them 3x3. That'd look OK. As it is, I just threw in some busy alternate blocks- yep, leftover from the piecing, and quilted it up. It's kinda off-balance, but... well, it matches it's maker! She has a new home and her sisters think it'll look nice on her couch. I have a lot of green and brown binding scraps and I think I'll just throw them together and bind it with that- she'll appreciate the frugality of the whole project. I am also 97% done with one of my Mom's quilts. Aunt Isobel donated most of the red fabric and Mom supplemented it with more red and white. It's very cheery. I am trying to get it done in time for Valentine's Day. Just for the fun of it. My Mom lives beyond the boonies and I am pretty certain that Valentine's Day would pass her up unawares... but it's a goal to keep me moving forward. We took all of the children to the movies, the other night. Tuesday is half-price-day. $8.50 for 17 people. Total. Not bad, huh? Drew got in free 'cause he's only 1. Then we went to McDonald's- it was late, but we needed a snack. Everybody got one item off the dollar menu. I think we all got a kick out of that. It sounds kinda simple, but it was a real treat. All 16 of the kiddos have been just lovely, especially considering that the extremely cold weather has kept them cooped up, inside. The only fatality has been the hamster, Zam. Poor dear, we were all rather attatched to her, but she died quietly in a clean bed of wood shavings... a rather romantic way to die, for a hamster.