String Quilt

Do not adjust the color on your computer!

There is no color : )

Well, sort of a color.

Mud?  Sepia maybe?  

Not black, not brown but somewhere in between.

I like the name "putty".

Done with the squares, done with the horizontal strips.

Just need to put the strips all together, make a quilt sandwich, quilt it, bind it and 

get it off to my son and new daughter-in-law...

I better get to work!

Oooo, pretty!

Look what came in the mail today!!!

Modern Affair Mango Flower Blast and Modern Affair Olive Fizz by Patricia Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics and,

Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms Cilantro Laurel Dots and Soul Blossoms Lemon Daisy Paisley

Two of my daughters were just here in D.C. visiting, and carrying an over the shoulder purse while navigating the metro, visiting the Smithsonian, the Capitol, the "Mall"AND walking 500 miles for a Georgetown Cupcake cupcake (a.k.a. DC Cupcakes on TLC) is nonsense! It adds at least an extra 20 pounds to your shoulders and always needs to be adjusted and monitored. We decided that a small cross-body purse is the solution. Soooo, I'm going to try to make a couple out of these lovely fabrics. Any ideas out there?

Happy Birthday, Karis ... part 1: The Cake

Turns out, there is one thing our girl who loves all things edible doesn't like. 

Cupcakes. 

We had a little birthday celebration for Karis while we were in DC with my parents and bought Karis a genuine DC cupcake complete with ganach and pink frosting.  Karis was very excited to see it! And, she loved everyone singing happy birthday to her.  But then, she got a taste of the frosting.

She gagged. Then signed, "all done, all done, all done!" (I'm pretty sure the raising of her hands like this means, "Get me away from this cupcake RIGHT NOW!")

So for Karis' real birthday, we decided to do something a little different.

(Can you believe this girl is ONE?!?!)

An adapted version of Southern Living's Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake. 

Made gluten free and with less sugar. 

3/4 stick of butter, softened

1 cup of  sugar

4 oz cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix (I used Pamela's bread mix.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup berry glaze (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to  350.  Beat butter and sugar together.  Add cream cheese.  Add eggs, one at a time.

2. Gradually add flour to butter mixture, beating at a low speed.

3. Stir in vanilla extract.

4. Pour one-third of the batter into a greased loaf pan.  

5. Make the berry glaze by heating berries over medium to high heat with a few tablespoons of water, add a few tablespoons of sugar if needed.  Continue to heat until syrup forms. 

6.  Pour a few spoonfuls of the berry glaze into the batter of the loaf pan.  Swirl with a knife to mix batter and berries together slightly.

7. Add next one third of batter and repeat.  Add remaining batter and repeat.

8.  Bake at 350 for one hour.  

We topped the cake off with the remaining berry glaze mixed with powdered sugar. YUMM!!! 

(Karis was more fascinated by the candle than the cake.)

And she was REALLY sad when we wouldn't let her touch the candle.

But, she LOVED the cake!

And, since no one year old should only have one or two birthday parties, we celebrated with some family and a few friends on Saturday.  For this birthday party, we decided to do strawberry shortcake.

Success! (Although, to be honest, the strawberries were a success. Karis wasn't overly fond of the shortcake or the whipped cream.)

Snow Day

In anticipation of the 4-7 inches of snow we are supposedly getting this afternoon, I thought I'd share some pictures from our last snow day.

Karis wasn't really sure what to think of the snow. Like she does with most new experiences, she studied it closely. I'm sure she would have loved to touch it, but silly mama, I didn't take her gloves off.  Plus, she was so bundled up, she could hardly move. I think I'll have to take her out again today and let her play in the snow without gloves! 

Seeing these pictures, I can't help but think how lucky we are.

We have warm clothes, a warm house, plenty of food to keep our bellies warm, 

and love of family and friends. 

The Stella Pixie Hat

We first saw this adorable hat on Meg's site at Sew Liberated. 

Isn't it sweet?

It has a little bit of a vintage feel. But most of all, it just looks adorable!

Of course, when we first saw it, we thought... someone has to learn to knit!

We picked up some needles, bought some yarn, and printed the directions!

Nana called Hot Mama a/k/a her sister, Linda, who is a wonderful knitter, and through the wonders of the phone, she figured out what it meant when it said, "knit two, purl two."

And now, Nana is a Stella Pixie hat making machine!

She has made one for all the grand-babies! I can't wait until we can get them all together for a sweet picture in their Stella Pixie hats! 

Me, on the other hand... well, I've cast on about five times. I've knit about two rows and had to take it out. I finally convinced Nana to cast on for me and knit the first two rows. Perhaps by next winter I'll have made a hat!

Meet a Mutt Monday

Happy Meet-a-Mama Mutt Monday Tuesday! (I meant to post this all day yesterday, and somehow did not get around to doing it!)

A few weeks ago, my sweet husband happened to mention that maybe, just maybe, we might be amenable to adopting another dog or a kitty. Once Mom leaves, we will only have one dog in the house- which will feel VERY empty after our current situation of two dogs, one cat, and one kitten (for a month while Aunt Jenny is here). 

Within a hour of him mentioning the maybe I had downloaded the Pet Finder app for our i-Pad, looked at all the local shelters, and researched various breeds.

A few days later, Mom and I were running errands and decided to just stop by a local shelter- Animal Haven. Just to see if they had any kittens. A cat, after all, would be so much easier than a dog.

They did have  some cats. 

But, they also had this sweet 6 month old puppy. 

She was found as a stray with her brother. 

Her brother had just gotten adopted, and this sweet girl was lonely. 

With a face likes this...

well, you can guess how this story ended.

Maggie is the sweetest dog! She pleasantly surprised us by being pretty much housebroken!

She is still a little shy around strangers, but getting better every day. 

She plays. She cuddles. Her whole body wiggles when she sees us. She is the epitome of a dog who will do anything to please you. And, oh! do we love this sweet puppy!!!

She is also famous. Before she was adopted, she was in a photo shoot for People magazine with Cindy Williams (from Laverne and Shirley). Cindy Williams was doing a show in Kansas City where, at the end of each show, they would introduce a shelter dog from Animal Haven. People magazine covered the story... and, voila! This week's issue has her picture!

There's more to our experience adopting a pound puppy, but that will have to wait  for another day. For now, I'd just like to say, I love the people at Animal Haven, and we adore our sweet puppy!

(Karis is trying to kiss Maggie)

I'm back! (again) 

Christmas hit this house like a whirlwind. It brought a new puppy...

who I will tell you all about in another post. But, our sweet little Maggie stole our hearts from the second we saw her at the rescue. She is loving, sweet, and PLAYFUL! 

Christmas also brought our favorite-- cousins!

Karis is so lucky to have cousins close in age. I am so lucky to have siblings who will make the 9 hour drive from Denver to our house so that we can all spend Christmas together. 

Almost everyone was together for Christmas. Craig and Holly couldn't make it out, but they were with us in spirit. For Christmas, they gave each of the girls a Sing-a-Ma-Jig.  If you haven't seen these funny  toys, check them out! You squeeze their belly, and they sing a note. Each different Sing-a-Ma-Jig sings a different note. So, when you put all four of them together, they sing in harmony. (They also each sing a little song, which is really funny too.)  Four babies. Four Sing-a-Ma-Jigs. Let the hilarity ensue! (You can see how funny Karis thinks they are!)

Christmas at our house also brings traditions. I have such fond memories of Christmas traditions growing up. Decorating sugar cookies at Grandma's house. Lighting the Advent candles in anticipation of Christmas Day. Eating homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Waking up to see that Santa decorated the tree in tinsel. I am excited to continue these family traditions in our family and make some of our own memories with Karis. 

Karis liked the tinsel.

One of my favorite traditions is opening pajamas on Christmas Eve. And, just in case you wondered, the tradition continues for all (including Nana and Pappy). 

Christmas also brought Aunt Jenny! 

Aunt Jenny is my youngest sister and Karis' God-mother. Almost as soon as she arrives, the house is full of laughter and fun. Karis is not necessarily a giggly baby, but she thinks Aunt Jenny is hilarious (and we all agree).  

As an older sister, I couldn't be prouder of my sweet baby sis. She is smart, kind, and such a strong Christian. Rustain and I are so grateful that she is involved in Karis' life. I love watching the two of them interact- they make funny noises at each other, read  stories together, and- of course- Aunt Jenny helps Karis ride poor Tucker around the house. What fun!

Christmas also brought family...

Just in case one Christmas isn't enough, our family gets to celebrate three! We celebrate with my family, Rustain's dad, and Rustain's mom. What fun! . And, of course, family means cousins! While Reece is a little bit older and mostly concerned with the baby girls not taking over all his stuff with all things pink, Karis's cousin is only a few weeks younger than her (even though she is at least a few inches taller). It's neat to see them interact and talk to each other. And, of course, it's special for Grandma and Grandpa Troutman to get to play with all three of their sweet grand-babies. 

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and is getting ready for a Happy New Year!