A New Beginning

Ready or not, it was time to take Steven to college yesterday. His girlfriend Brooke went along, and Rachel brought a friend as well. It was a bit of a stressful day; I think everyone's nerves were a bit on edge. We got him settled in and saying goodbye was anything but easy! It was hard to come home and lock the doors and turn out the outside lights...I'm used to leaving them on for him because he usually came in after we'd gone to bed. A bit quieter around here, that's for sure. I know he'll do well, he's a good kid and I have every confidence in his ability to succeed!




Steven walking us to our car.....a funeral march couldn't have been any more somber!



Steven and his sweetheart!



Having Brooke along made it easier/harder ..... but I'm glad she came with us.



Here's the moving crew. They unpacked all his clothes into his dresser and his closet; I made up his bed and unpacked snack stuff and such onto his shelves. He pretty much got to sit back and supervise! I think he was in overload mode anyway, so it was all good!

Pretty in Pink!

I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with this little pink bundle; and I haven't even officially met her yet! My beautiful new grand-daughter Ryleigh Emma Nye.

And just when you thought it couldn't get any cuter.....look at this!!! What do you think is going through his little 15 month old mind?

Wendy's Quilt

One of the reasons I didn't blog this spring is that I was busy raising money for our Relay for Life team. I wasn't afraid to resort to bribery, so I offered to give a handmade quilt to a winner by random drawing from folks who donated to my effort. Then I got such a tremendous response from folks all over.... real life friends, family, and most amazingly, to me, at least, from "virtual" friends. My Farmville neighbors on Facebook that don't know me from Adam! So I decided I'd give away three quilts. One for each group. The first went to a virtual friend, and was won by my very first Farmville neighbor Georgia who lives in Arizona.



The second quilt was to go to a "real life" friend and was won by Wendy, a member of my monthly Wednesday night Stampin' Up Club (boy, we have fun!). My sister-in-law clued me in that Wendy loves Halloween, so I remembered this fun layer cake fabric pack I had been gifted and really never knew what to do with .... ta-da, perfect for Wendy's quilt! Just presented it to her last week and it was a hit!



The last of the three give-away quilts was to go to a family member and was won by my best friend and little brother, Jay. I haven't started this one yet but know exactly what I want to do. His birthday is in November and it WILL be done in time. (That is my new mantra!)

Well, how's that for trying to catch up: three posts in one day!!

Remember the baby bunny....?

Back in the spring, I had posted about my daughter bringing home a little black baby bunny. And that he looked lonely and I thought he needed a friend. So she brought home his brother. The Vo-ag teacher said it was a boy, really, she did !! They did get around to some antics that you wouldn't expect from two boy bunnies, but I did some research, and it said it was normal. I came home from work one day to find that the white bunny had pulled out almost all of it's fur and lined the sleeping area of the hutch with it..... hmmmm .......... what could that mean? The next afternoon, I got a frantic phone call from my daughter: "Mom, we have a problem!" (I love that "we", don't you?!!) "What kind of a problem?" I asked ... "We have baby bunnies!!!" she answered! Oh, my. Now what?!!

So the picture shows what you get when you aren't sure of the gender of your furry little friends. Daddy rabbit was immediately quarantined to his own hutch. Poor guy, he looks at me like "What did I do?!!"

So pictured are three week old baby bunnies, the two of the litter of four that survived. I'm not sure what their future holds. Daughter says that they're keepers but I am thinking not. We'll see. 'Cause if one of them is a boy, well, here we go again!

Ryleigh Emma

Wow, I can't believe I haven't touched this blog for over five months! Okay, I'll admit, I discovered Facebook and the rest is history. But doesn't the birth of a new grandchild certainly warrant a blog post? I think it does!!

So Miss Ryleigh Emma arrived Thursday night, August 19th, at 10:06 p.m. Pacific time. Which means a 2 a.m. phone call to the East coast. But that's okay; those are the BEST kind of middle-of-the-night calls. Her arrival required an emergency c-section but both mother and baby are doing great. They are expected to go home tomorrow morning. I'd give anything to be out there helping right now, as the c-section certainly puts a different twist on things; like no picking up the 15 month old. But my plane ticket says September 25th, my youngest son leaves for college next weekend and I'm needed here on the homefront. In the meanwhile, I hope they know I'm there in spirit and do what I can with diapers.com! (Shipment should arrive Tuesday BTW!)

Thanks for letting me share our latest addition. I know .... she's perfect!!

New family member!

My youngest child has the art of manipulation down to a science. I can count the number of times I've said "NO" to that girl on one hand and have several fingers left over! So she asked if she could bring a baby rabbit home from her school's
Vo-Ag class. My hesitation in answering apparantly spoke volumes to her because she immediately took it as a "yes"!



Now, mind you, I love animals, wouldn't trade my dogs for anything, and the little hamster we took in a couple of months ago is too, too cute...but another pet? She's only home one more year and then she'll be off to college and then who'll be taking care of these creatures of hers? Oh, who am I kidding, who takes care of them now?!!




And so, meet Fitzgerald! He is absolutely adorable. So, so, so soft...loves to be held and cuddled. Looked so lonely in his cage that I found myself asking her if he had a brother who might come live with him so he has a playmate! Lift my bangs...it says "sucker" across my forehead!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow and MORE SNOW!!!

Will it ever end?
The phone just rang...automated message from Upper Adams School District:
"Due to the weather, school will be closed tomorrow."
They were all ready scheduled to be off Friday and Monday, so they won't go back until next Tuesday.

DQS8

DQS8
Originally uploaded by A peek at Donna's World

Top is done so I'd consider this a bit over half finished. Will need to piece the backing as I started with a fat quarter bundle and none of them are large enough...decide on what to bind with, and how I want to quilt it. Probably just stippled; it's got a lot of seams! Mail deadline is March 1st, so I'm doing okay!

Boys will be boys!

Why do males constantly feel it's necessary to mark their territory or prove their masculinity or whatever makes otherwise normally sane people attack each other and threaten to drop the other to the ground?!!



Steven was humbly shown that 30 isn't old ... and that his big brother can still take him!

DQS8

DQS8
Originally uploaded by A peek at Donna's World

A sneak peek at what I'm doing for this round of the doll quilt swap. My partner (who shall remain a secret) indicated she liked contemporary fabrics. These are from the Amy Butler daisy chain line. A border tomorrow then I can decide how I want to quilt it. It was, all in all, a productive weekend.

Bee Crazy Swap Block

Bee Crazy Mary February
Originally uploaded by A peek at Donna's World

So I had a rare four day weekend....spent a good deal of it sewing. Had a couple of swaps to get done, and am happy to say, was very successful! This block is for the February recipient of our Bee Crazy Virtual Quilting Bee. March is my month; I need to come up with something soon and start preparing my fabrics to send out. What to do...what to do?!!!

Parker's baby quilt

This is the first baby quilt I've made using flannel. I always wash my baby quilts before I gift them, and it made this one all fuzzy and sooooo cozy.



I hope the recipient likes it as much as I liked making it!



Believe it or not, the pregnancy phenomenon continues at the office....oh, Britt, you should have seen it coming!

Stacey's Block

Stacey's Block
Originally uploaded by A peek at Donna's World

I have had the fabrics for Stacey's block for what, six weeks, and was too intimidated to even approach it. Templates? I haven't quilted using a template in 20 years! So I tried it. And failed miserably! Then I converted the center block (the part set on point) into a paper pieced pattern and then, and ONLY then, could I tackle it! All I can say is "Whew! I'm glad that's done!"

Doll Quilt Swap 8 -- Yah!!!!

It's time to start Round #8 of the famous Doll Quilt Swap ... I'm excited to see who I get partnered with this time. Last round will be hard to beat. I got an amazing partner who spoiled me rotten! Partners to be announced Wednesday night...anticipation, anticipation... I love it!!!