Benjamin's Quilt

Last week, as I was thinking about the kids' Christmas gifts, I needed to come up with something for Benjamin. As the poor fourth kid, there is absolutely nothing he needs, but obviously we want to mark his first Christmas with something special.

I decided to make him a small quilt, just as fast as I possibly could... And I busted this sucker out in just a few days:

Sunday, I bought the fabric,
Monday, I cut and began piecing it,
Tuesday, I finished piecing it and made the quilt sandwich,
Wednesday, I quilted it, cut the binding... AND.... My iron died. IRON FAIL.

We left for Brian's company meeting, and my sweet sister gave me my kids and her iron on the way home, so Sunday, I bound it.

The quilt is backed in a cozy flannel that I found on Joann.com on Black Friday for $1.98 per yard. Score!

Finished size is 38x48

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Isaac has hit that phase where every little thing that goes wrong, no matter how minor, warrants the Death Scream. He'll outgrow it soon, I'm sure; the others did it too. In the meantime, I have about three heart attacks a day, and inevitably, DON'T come when he's actually hurt.

On the other hand, Brenna has figured out how to make him laugh really quickly, and its such fun to see her step into that role on behalf of her pesky little brother.

In related news, last night, the kids were being SO LOUD in bed, what with the cackling, bouncing and merry-making, Brian made a sarcastic comment about it clearly being time for sleep. I responded, "yeah, but they really like each other."

"Yeah, I guess they do," he said, and we sat there for a bit and just enjoyed that idea.

Animals are people too, I guess.

"Benjamin, you have so many people who love you!" I told him.

"Yeah, you have me, you have Paisley, you have Brenna, you have the chickies...." says Nathan.

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, the blessing that stands out to me most is the gift of exceptional friends. While my friends have always been amazing, recently, I feel that we have turned our attentions to spurring one another on to holiness so much more than happiness.

Thank you, ladies. For helping me grow, for demanding it. For not being content to stay the people we are, but also for loving, unconditionally, the people we are. For turning my eyes to Him.

I am thankful for you.

Beards

Says Brenna:

There are two people in our family with beards now. But Paisley can't get rid of hers.

Fwends

Says Isaac: I wish daddy could be my age so we could be fwends.