Thursday, December 5, 2024

Getting a Jump on Christmas

 I'm not organized enough to even post, but I don't want to forget things. 

This is the earliest I've done my "shopping," which is just opening my computer and ordering, but the decisions I made earlier I'm already second-guessing.  I have to stop that.  I'm not sure why we keep on doing it anyway.  There's nothing the girls want except the one thing they are asking Santa for.  I'm going to get some Starbucks and Swirl gift cards for them in addition to their few surprises and stop fretting about it.  

One afternoon Graysen begged to learn to crochet, and we tackled it.  I'm so not a teacher, and she's left-handed, but she was pretty willing to try it and thinks she'll be okay doing it right-handed.  One reason I don't like teaching children anything is their lack of patience.  I want them to learn one skill and perfect it before they go on to the next, but GG was in a big hurry to go from learning to make a slip knot to making a chain to doing single crochet before she really knew how to hold the yarn.  We laughed about it, and she didn't lose patience with me.  She found a friend at school who takes her crocheting to school, and this might give her the incentive to slow down.  Or go even faster, since Mia is making a scarf!  




I started this scarf for Ryan because someone was mourning the fact that you can never find anything he wants or likes, and we drive ourselves crazy trying to find one gift to give him.  Some comment was made about knitting a scarf, and I just did it.  It's totally half double crochet, but the yarn is so soft that now everyone who sees it wants one - except probably Ryan!  He'll like the fact that someone made it for him though, and he knows he on the list for a quilt in 2025.  

Speaking of quilts, our closest quilt shop is closing, and it's so sad.  I don't go places much and have not been quilting very much at all, but it was such a pretty and friendly place.  I hate it for the owners.  They're still going to do online sales but not in that beautiful shop.  



Knowing I didn't need to add a thing to my overflowing quilting area, I still looked through a few pages.  One thing that I wasn't looking for but caught my eye was this fabric.



I made Elise a quilt many years ago.  Fifteen years ago?  I really can't remember.  She liked it, and it was fun to do, but she could never find a backing she liked well enough to use.  And then we folded it up and put it in a box and forgot about it.  Now she's decided that just because she can't find the perfect eggplant shade of purple, something else might do.  



When I saw this, I sent it to her and asked if she liked it.  She answered back, "I love it," and I was thrilled.  I'll have to go back and find out the name of it.  It's already off the web site.  With it being 108 inches across, I could have made do with 2 yards, but I went ahead and took the whole 3 yards they had on sale.  At least, I paid for it and asked them to hold onto it until Emily could run by and get it to save shipping costs.  Emily wasn't sure she was going to have time, and I know how rushed she is going back and forth to Bellevue and Issaquah, etc., so I decided to travel the few miles and get it myself.  I really am still not loving driving out of town, but I'll do it if I have to.  I called Ryan to see what child, if any, I would have after school so I would know when I needed to be back.  When I mentioned I had something to pick up in Issaquah, he immediately offered to pick it up for me since he was there right then.  I don't usually have nice things like that just fall into my lap, but that was NICE!  The girls didn't come here after school, but Graysen ran down and delivered the fabric to me, and I'm really excited about moving on with that quilt.  


A few more pictures I've taken or received this week.



I've been told these look really nice from the front, but I haven't walked out to see.  


Noreen started it with her window snowflakes, and I had to have something similar.    She did her dining room window, which I can see from my dining room. 


This is all I did to my dining room window.  I found these little mitten lights from last year that Elise brought and popped them over my plants.  It's looking more like Cinco de Mayo.


The Win-Bins and Wheats at the Nutcracker.






I've run out of energy so will finish later.  Graysen had her first band concert last night, and they just did such a good job.  It was their first time playing as a group, and they were perfect.  The seventh and eighth grade groups showed what they have to look forward, and I was amazed at what a year can do. 


 She and her dad had an indoor soccer game tonight out of town while Katherine and Emily went to martial arts.  Such busy lives, and I think I'M tired.


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