Court of Honor

Scout Oath (or Promise)
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
Luther was advanced to Second Class! He is working hard to reach Eagle by the end of his senior year.
Unfortunately Pop couldn't be there. He was watching baby Peter who was very sick with an ear infection. Peter is doing much better now.
Here we are congratulating him and clapping. Am I getting shorter or is my son getting taller?

Our Kitchen is Done!

We are excited about the kitchen being done so soon. It took a little less than 4 weeks. We are pleased with the results and are looking forward to adding some nice touches like curtains, wall hangings and some homemade hot pads and trivets. The kitchen feels twice as large now and is larger since we moved the sink out of the way.

Tom keeps asking "Do you think it really does look nice?" I keep saying "Yes, it's wonderful!"

I think he just wants to make sure I like it and I do like it alot. It's lovely!

We both look forward to entertaining and making lots of yummy meals for all who come to visit. So come on down your northerners!

I am looking at fabric for the kitchen valances. Any ideas? Please email me some fabric ideas and colors. I think I could throw some red in there with the curtains to give a pop of color, what do you think?
Yes, the countertops are granite!! Thankfully they were on sale and could fit our budget!

This is our tile backsplash with one inch glass tiles as accents. The colors of our kitchen are also the colors we had at our wedding which were sage green and ivory. I think of our wedding day often when I look at the tile work!

SNOW?!!!!!!!

We are supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow today starting at around 11a.m. PST. I will definitely post pictures of this unusual happening if it happens. The last time Montgomery had snow was Jan. 2, 2002, when 1.8 inches fell, NWS records show.

Right now it is raining and 36 degrees and the temperature is dropping.

Getting Crafty

Here are some of the latest projects I have worked on since Nov.07. I am currently working on a baby quilt for my newest nephew due in April.

18 inch quilt pillow made with beautiful Heather Bailey fabric.










Reversable baby blanket with ribbon edge. I made two of these. One for Peter and one for youngest nephew Giovanni.











Patchwork purse I made for Sara for Christmas.










Purl frogs I made for the boys.

Kitchen Renovation

Here is our kitchen before the remodel began. Notice that the sink area divides the kitchen almost in half and added no real usable counters or cabinets. (1st picture). It had a sort of bar area behind the sink that was useless to us. The tile in the backsplash was poorly installed and we had a strange cabinet that stuck out of the wall. (see second picture). Also, the vinyl tile floor was installed very poorly and would wiggle.

Our kitchen has been getting renovated for the last two weeks and all is going well. We have no kitchen use, no laundry use, but we are surviving. I plan on going to the laundromat tomorrow to catch up. Hence very little blogging lately.
The guys working on our kitchen are super friendly, hard workers, and they seem to be working fast. They don't bother me and I don't bother them :)

Here are some photos of our kitchen down to it's bare bones.












Here is a close up of the tiles that have been put in. They will be grouted later.










Below you can get an idea of what it will look like. They installed the cabinets yesterday and today and are reworking some of the outlets. Above the sink area there will be a tile design with one inch glass accents. The glass is green and will match the walls. Anthony is posing :)

Now we just can't wait to get the finished product in a few more weeks! We just hope it's done before Nanny and Aunt Lori come for a visit in Feb.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Like Thanksgiving day, it was quiet around our house. We had an enjoyable Christmas day listening to Christmas music, opening presents, eating and making merry. Well, as merry as you can when you are so far away from all your dear family and friends up north. The children seemed to really enjoy their Christmas gifts and didn't seem to mind it too much that there was no snow.

This year was also touched with some concern and sadness for our nephew Chris. Please say a prayer for Chris and his family, as he was hit by a car and is in stable yet critical condition. For his privacy I will not say too much but he really needs your prayers for a full recovery. We are grateful that he is still with us, and pray that he will continue to strengthen and improve.

I am ending the year with a lovely full blown cold. UGH! It's the kind of cold that knocks you down and drags you out. So I had to take a nap today. Naps for me are like 20 minutes, lol!

But they are helpful and refreshing.

It's 70 degrees out today and cloudy. I really must say I like the winter weather here in the south. It is so nice and mild. We have a possibility of tornadoes from now until the spring. We had watches all day, but nothing came, thankfully. Anthony gets very excited about tornado watches and warnings. He keeps us posted everytime he hears something on the radio or t.v.

One of my favorite gifts was this lovely craft book. I have enjoyed getting back into sewing and making a few things. My first project from the book was this cute pin cusion made out of scrap material. It was "sew" easy. This book is great because it separates the projects by the estimated amount of time it will take, such 2-4 hour gifts, 4-8 hour, etc... If I start now, I should be able to make everyone a little something for Christmas 2008!

More Snapshots

Now that's what I call a Jaw Breaker!
"I wanna play Wii!"
"A box makes the bestest toy!"
Getting back to sewing. Criss Cross coasters in Anna Maria's Chocolate Lollipop fabric.