Lytro

Here are two little test photos taken with my new Lytro camera - fun!  You can click on different parts of the image to refocus the picture.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!  

Chase was up early this morning and was very excited to discover that Santa brought him an mini air hockey table!  There was a lot of jumping around and squealing as we opened our presents.

Later today we are off to celebrate with the family - I am looking forward to it!  I hope everyone else has a great Christmas too!

And because I am too unorganized to send out our holiday card here it is!

Done - Woohoo!

I am officially done shopping and wrapping for the year. Just in time right? Every year I tell myself I am going to get a head start and every year I barely finish in time.

The nice thing about being done with holiday chores is that we had time to bake some cookies, watch a few movies, and tonight we are going out with friends for a holiday get together.

The bad thing is that I am impatient and I want to give B and C their gifts now now now!!!!

Crocheted Scarf

My mom got me this scarf for Christmas - I love it and it makes me want to find a pattern for the tiny crocheted squares! What a fun idea, you could make so many things out of them!

Progressive Holiday Party

I absolutely love our neighborhood.  This year we did a progressive holiday party and it was amazing.  We had great turn out, yummy food, and Santa even made and appearance.  I am so thankful for our neighbors!

So True...

Ho Ho Ho!

A Boy and His Dog

These two were so cute this morning!

Also on a total side note Capricious and a neighbor introduced me to Gangnam Style and it is now Chase's favorite song. Ha. I told him he can only sing "heeeey sexy ladies" at home.

More Wonky Feathers

The feathers are starting to look mildly less wonky but I think if I were going to do a quilt I may trace a pattern first so it looks better... I don't have the hang of the freehand pattern yet as you can tell.

Musician B

Snow White

Chase was playing at a neighbor's house and decided to rest under their coffee table - very Snow White-esk of him.

Christmas Tree

We decorated our big tree last weekend. I love our tree - it is a mash of non-matching ornaments that represent memories from past years. Decorating the tree is one of my favorite parts of Christmas!

Tonight we put up Chase's tree in his room. He picked a red and green and white color scheme. It is adorable.

We are all starting to get into the holiday spirit around here.

Quilting Feathers

I went out with my sewing group today and I was inspired to try to learn how to free motion quilt feathers. I have done a million stippled quilts so I figured how hard could it be? The answer is: incredibly hard. I can draw the feather pattern beautifully with a pen but it is REALLY hard to get smooth quilted lines. Here is my test. It looks like a wiggly kiddo drew it. Apparently I need to practice a lot more.

Holiday Fabric

Love this Moda Holiday fabric! Can't wait to make something with it.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! Touch football with the neighbors and the usual giant family bash. Today we followed it with a second Thanksgiving with the other side of the family, Wreck It Ralph, and Christmas tree decorating. We are all in good spirits and enjoying the holidays already! Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year (family, friends, health, jobs, etc!) and we hope that everyone else finds themselves feeling as blessed as we do!

Gathered Baby Quilt

I just finished this fun gathered baby blanket. I wanted to experiment with my ruffling foot and I think it turned out well.

Art by Kendra Binney

Look what Santa is bringing this girl for Christmas! Hooray!

Stark

So cute!

Teapot Baby Quilt

I attempted to make a more traditional quilt but it still turned out really modern. I suck at traditional - but I do love this little quilt anyways. The teapot and citron fabrics are still one of my favorite combos.

Disney World

Yesterday we got back from our Disney vacation. We had a great time and managed to avoid most of the lines!

Chase's favorite thing by far was the Kali rapids water ride - we went 4 times (but if he had his way we would have done it all day long).

I liked the Animal Kingdom the best. The safari ride was cool and the grounds were amazing!  The light parade was also really cool.

Only downsides of the vacation were all the walking and trying to catch food...

Family Photos

Capricious and I tried to get some family photos today which was much harder then we thought it would be.

Here are a few of the shots (it is hard to catch Chase without a cheesy camera smile lately!)

The Twelve

I just finished The Twelve. It was good and it had a faster start then The Passage. Overall a good read.

Drunkard's Path Baby Superhero Quilt

A neighbor recently commissioned a baby quilt and I have been dying to try the Drunkard's Path pattern and this little beauty is the result. I did realize after the fact that it is rather modern and non-traditional and that some people may not like the idea of superheros for a baby quilt. Oops. Oh well I love it and am happy I made it -I'll try a more traditional quilt next.

Happy Halloween

We have the best neighbors - we had a costume pizza party before trick or treating - so fun!