11 September 2022

 The kids went to spend time with their Davidson family on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.  Phil actually won the "holiday lottery" at work and was able to take the day off.  The expectation for holidays is that if they're scheduled to work they can't take PTO; however, they do a lottery and offer a few people the opportunity to take PTO if they would like.  We spent the day working on projects around the house.  We are in the process of building new shelving for the girls' room and painting and redecorating.  It was nice to work together.  I finished my last block of my applique quilt this week.  I'm kinda sick over it though, I finished with the applique and embroidery and then I made a mistake when I trimmed it, I trimmed it 1" too narrow.  I just about cried.  So I sewed the pieces I cut off back on and re-trimmed, but I'm afraid it looks really tacky.  I also noticed my cat is a little crooked.  Ugh!  I'm hoping when I add the blocks together I won't be able to see the extra seams, but if I do I will just have to make a new one.  I've spent too much time on this quilt to not be 100% happy with it.  Now that I have all the blocks completed, I'll spend next week piecing it together.  I'm really loving it so far.

The kids did their thing this week.  Lots of band practice, football practice, homework, bickering, and church activities.  I swear we are never all home together at once.  I'm looking forward to fall break coming up at the end of the month.  Phil is guiding an elk hunt in the White Mountains for the next two weeks and while he was supposed to leave on Thursday morning when he got home from work his friend wasn't ready to leave so I got to enjoy him for one more evening.  He and I went out to dinner and had a great time.  I got all the kids out the door on Friday morning and then Phil left for his trip.  I am going to miss him!  I'm praying they get something this weekend so I get him back sooner.  Mid morning my friend Jen came over for a visit and I really enjoyed that.  I'm sure I bored her with all my 1/2 finished sewing projects before I sent her home with a gallon of milk.  

The girls were busy pretty much all day on Saturday with band things.  There was a parade in Vail and then they were home for a couple of hours and then back to school for another event in the evening.  I took Arlo to Mica Mountain for his football game.  They had a great game and won 36-0.  I'm so glad that Arlo is enjoying it, its fun to watch them play.  Since it was just Jude and I on Saturday I took him with me to the school and he was so good during the whole game.  

When I got home in the evening I was inspired to make a couple of shirts for Jude to wear to next week's football game to show his support of big brother.  And since I had the vinyl out I made him a couple of other shirts too.  I designed some other Avenger onesies that I will have to cut and make when I get some more blank shirts.  

The rest of our weekend was quiet and we're heading into the last couple of weeks of school before fall break.  I love this time of year we're leaning into.  Hunting, football, cooler evenings, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and getting ready for Christmas.  I may also have a birthday in there somewhere too, but they're less exciting every year.

A set of turnouts for each firefighter lost on 9/11

04 September 2022

I'm grateful this week was a little more low key.  Phil was working on Monday and after all our "have tos" Jude and I moved all the furniture we could move off the carpet since I had the carpet cleaning coming in the afternoon.  We desperately need new flooring (in my estimation anyway), but the next best thing is getting the carpet cleaned, and boy did it need it!  Jude's not going to like it, but he will be restricted to only eating snacks in his high chair!  The other kids too.  They did a great job on the carpets and when the kids got home they helped me move the furniture back, but not before playing Just Dance in the empty family room.  

Phil worked the first part of an overtime shift Tuesday and got home in time to teach a first aid class to the young men's class at church.  I have been working on a couple of baby quilts this week.  I used 5" pre-cut squares so these came together SUPER fast.  I also finished my second to last quilt block in my applique quilt.  I love how this farmer and his wife came out, they're so cute.  Phil said the farmer needed to be just a little darker.

Phil was gone most of the morning on Thursday helping a woman we minister to move items from a storage unit.  I'm so grateful for the example he sets for the kids of loving service.  I'm so lucky.  He watched Jude for me on Friday morning so I could take our neighbor to a doctor's appointment in Green Valley.  When we were done we took Arlo to football and went to see my mom.  She's made a tradition of setting up a grandkid "staycation" over the labor day weekend.  She rented a house in Rita Ranch with a pool and the grandkids come hang out, swim, and eat junk food; they have a great time.  The girls couldn't go on Friday night since they were playing at the football game.  Phil and Jude swam and Jude had such a great time.  We picked up Arlo from practice, but because he didn't pack his overnight clothes like he was asked he couldn't spend the night with nana.  

All the kids went to hang out with Nana on Saturday morning.  Arlo had his first football game in the afternoon.  They played hard but didn't win.  Arlo got to play almost the whole game.  I really enjoy seeing him learn and grow.  He has some great coaches, I love this picture I caught of the line coach giving him direction in between plays.

I enjoyed having a more quiet house this weekend with all the kids at Nana's.