1 1/2 Years Old!

It isn't possible, is it?  Our beautiful son is 1 1/2 years old today!  What a blessing he is to us.  We love him soooooooo much.  This is a picture I took of him in Bible class today!  He loves to learn about God and Jesus and sing songs. 

Thank You, God, for Zane!!!

Christmas, Christmas, Wonderful Christmas

2013 Christmas is in the books!  What a fun time with family.  We are so blessed to have a loving family that loves each other and wants to spend time with one another!  Our precious Zane did a great job and had fun playing with his toys.  He didn't always want to open a gift, but he did like tearing the paper off.  :)  Zane's great grandmother, Louise, came by airplane all the way by herself.  She is so brave and everything went smoothly with her flight.  It was so good to see her and visit with her.  Janie did an awesome job planning and preparing the food and playing with Zane!  Aunt Susan made outstanding pies and a wonderful upside down pineapple cake.  Uncle Travis is now known as "T" by Zane, and Zane really took to Uncle Dick.  He made him smile and smile and read books with him.  Zane gave Granddad a hug all by himself and got lots of tickles from Da.  :)

Here are just a few pictures from the wonderful day.  There may be another picture post when I go through more pictures.

 

Zane playing with his new jumbo crayons!!!

Handsome boys.  :)

Uncle Dick, Aunt Susan, and Travis

Pretty in red, Louise!

Grandma Janie and Zane

Hi John!

Whatcha doing Gra?  I am interested. 

Matching ties from Mary Beth!  Won't they look spiffy?

Day after Christmas-playing with his new toy!

Louise enjoying her chair.

Reading with Zane

We sure had a Merry Christmas!  2014, here we come! 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!  Like it says on my blog page, even though we are far apart my family and friends, you are all so dear to my heart!  I love you!

Amy

EIEIO

Little Zane was a little under the weather recently, but here is a video that was taken before he felt bad!  Please excuse the singing!

And a good title for this video might be "Wild Boy, Part 2!"

My Great-Grandmother's Quilt

My mom gave me a quilt top awhile ago that my great grandmother, Ysabel Amy Holmes Parker, pieced together.  As she got older, people would give her fabric and she would make a quilt top and give it to people.  I decided to give it a go and finish it.  It had been washed and several of pieces of fabric had torn and pulled apart, so it was in need of repair. 
I was pretty amazed looking at the pattern and color design.  If you look, she put the orange in the corners, and the greens, reds, and yellows are all placed in a certain way. Even the little pieces were placed in a certain way.  Each fabric from the circle had the same fabric opposite of it.  If she didn't have a piece big enough, she would piece the little pieces together to make one.  She made every piece count.

The colorful quilt top.

A quilt square in pretty bad shape.

The fabric that had pulled apart and ripped, I replaced.  I made a pattern and pieced some new red pieces together.

Replaced red fabric on the block.

Zane checking out the quilt top with the border on.  I thought peacock green brought out some of the green/blue colors that Granny Parker used in the quilt.

I decided to stipple the top after I attached the batting and quilt back with a million safety pins.  It took about 6 hours to quilt.  After that, I did the binding.
Here is the finished results!

I never knew Granny Parker, but she sure stitched a great quilt!  I was concerned when I started the project because I felt bad using a sewing machine, but there was no way I was going to hand stitch it!  :)  Then, when I looked further, she used a machine on the straight part, and hand-stitched the curved parts.  I also thought it was neat because it was something old and new coming together.

Amy Parker, 1880-1969.

 

Little Guy in the Garage

Ooooh, I don't know what that is, but I need it.

He couldn't get his milk on the tray, so he did the next best thing!

I was sewing while he was eating and it must have been loud because he put his fingers in his ears!

My two sweet boys.

Crab-like Spiny Orbweaver

We have at least two of these spiders in our backyard.  They make a small web that is attached to it's surroundings with loooong strings.  It's very interesting.
Here is the picture I took this afternoon of it's belly.  I couldn't get the back, but it is white.

Kind of creepy, I think.

I looked it up on the internet.  I think it's a Crab-like Spiny Orbweaver.  It said in one of the articles that their webs can be a nuisance (which is so true!) because they put them up in the most inconvenient places and you walk through them.  I was happy to find out they are harmless.  Does anyone know if this is a correct identification?

Baby Work At It's Best

It was surprising to see Zane trying to balance a clothespin on his milk cup lid.  He had such concentration.  Before I started to video, he did it twice, but when I videoed, he got frustrated and wanted Daddy to do it.  He has success though, don't worry!

Success!!!  He was so happy and so were we!

Crafty night

I bought this little block kit at Hobby Lobby last year after Christmas.  I had fun doing it today. 

Blog Special!

Today we are featuring the sounds that Zane knows!  :)  Enjoy!

Outside!

Yesterday was a gorgeous, no humidity, in the 80s day, so Zane and I had to go outside and blow bubbles at his request!

Picking flowers.

I found a stick.

Too cute!!!!

Zane kept telling me that he wanted to throw something away and I told him that we didn't want to throw it away and gave him something else to throw away.  So, he threw that away, plus the item he wanted to in the first place!  Check it out!

He tried to shut the door...

:) 

Butternut Squash Bake

This recipe is a winner!

Butternut Squash Bake
1 (4 pound) butternut squash-peeled, seeded, and cubed
1/3 onion, minced 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs with italian seasoning
2 t ground thyme
5 ounce container of crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs with italian seasoning (for top)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (220 C)  -for Amanda  :)
Saute onion. 
Toss squash, onion, olive oil, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs with italian seasoning, thyme, and blue cheese in a large mixing bowl.  Pour the mixture into a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the 1/4 cup bread crumbs over the squash.

Bake for about 45 minutes until lightly browned.

Original recipe is from All Recipes.  Find here.  I have made several changes.  The reviews said that lots of people used feta cheese instead of blue cheese.  -for Amanda.  :)  She loves feta cheese.  :)  Love you Amanda! 

Blessings from Today

Happy, happy boy eating his waffles this morning.

Beautiful, sunshiny, South Texas day!  Got to see bees buzzing the loquat tree. 

Ready to go!

Me and my Zane.

Easy to put on jogging stroller cover that Jeff made!  He made it out of my master's gown!  Worked great.

My precious love reading on the couch!

The World That God Made

This is a something that I made quite a long time ago I think when I lived in Midland.  My mom had made one for her Bible class and I thought it was so neat, so I made one for myself and I think I used it a couple times too when teaching.  I used it during our devo months ago and put it away, but got it out again recently and Zane really seemed to like it.  He even participated by saying "bird" when it was time for that part.

You add the pieces one at a time, starting with the world, and repeat it all again and again as you add each part.  It seems to be taken off the nursery rhyme, "This is the House that Jack Built." 

It's easy enough to make your own...my mom had hers out of paper with contact paper over it and a magnet on the back.  I made mine out of felt so it sticks to a blanket, couch, or carpet.

:)  The World That God Made

New Discovery!

Something new in our house has been discovered...the trash can!  We started teaching Zane to throw away trash a few days ago and today he's really taken to it, even learning how to open the lid by himself.  And because of that, the lid is now clean and sanitized!  :)  Since this though, I do believe we will have to be careful what we leave around because when he decides it's trash, in it goes!!! 

Zane multitasking.  Holding on to his Christmas card and pointing to the magnet and saying bird.  I was trying to get a picture of him with his Christmas card from his former Bible class teacher...and then...

He decided it was trash and was trying to get the pantry door open!

He needed help getting the trash can open so he could throw it away, but not for long...