A Night on the Plaza

DH and I took our son to the airport and then decided to enjoy the 55 degree day here in KC. It was still the middle of the afternoon and the lights wouldn't be on yet at the Plaza so we headed down to Westport and had a beer at McCoy's brewery. YUMMY!!!

We watched some soccer on the TV there and then headed to the Plaza. It wasn't completely dark yet but the lights were on. We were shocked at how many people were there for a Monday. I guess the warmth paid off!!! Here are some of the sights...

Christmas fun!!!

It was a different Christmas...my first in 48 years without my siblings and dad. Sad yes, but I was not as despondant as I thought I would be. We had a lot of fun...just the 6 of us here in KS...probably our last in this house! SO...new memories were made!!! And they were great!!!

Joe and Kevin volunteered to make dinner for Christmas Eve. It was AMAZING!!! They did an awesome job and the food was devoured!!! Thanks Joe and Kevin!!!

There was a lot of serious game playing going on as well!!! OH we are all so competitive so it gets interesting!!!

And then there are the traditional pics by the tree!!! Gotta love 'em!!!

The kids and DD's dog!!! Another great memory made! We are blessed!

I hope your family had amazing memories made during this Christmas season!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

May your day be blessed with love, laughter, and hope!!!

A little quilty something happened today!!!

I wanted to stay home ALLLLL day in my jammies!!! And that is EXACTLY what I am doing! I decided to make a postcard for Christmas bridging our lives in MN to our lives in KS. It's ok...nothing super-duper (KS is a boring shape!!!). I put a white bead where we live(d) in each state and just strung a string of Christmas lights around it...I'm OK with it.

It started out raining this morning. Dan (our fireman) came home from his 24 hour shift around 8:20 or so this morning. Within 20 mins his pager went off and his depts. 4 stations had responded to 4 accidents within about 5 miles of each other on one single stretch of road. Dan was glad he was off duty! The rain has turned to ice and while Dan was out getting his haircut and a few groceries for me. He called while at the grocery store and ALL firefighters were called back to the station because they were overwhelmed with calls. Pray for their safety and all people on the roads today. It's supposed to warm up and turn to rain so hopefully he won't be gone too long.

Now to go upstairs to the sitting room, turn the fireplace on and read a book! AWWW...life is good!!!

Christmas in MN

We celebrated Christmas with DH's family this past weekend. It was fun and we had a great time. We missed Dan though cuz he had to be a firefighter! Here is our fam pic without him!

MIL wanted to sing Christmas Carols...the boys hate to sing Christmas songs so they played the accompaniment on their beer bottles! LOL...it was AWESOME!!!

Here is DD opening a gift that contained $40 but you had to play pinball in order to open the "tray" that contained the money!!!

The 2 boys and the DD drove home today in HORRIBLE conditions throughout southern MN and Iowa. The roads were dry but the blowing snow was AWFUL at times. We made it safely and Dan opened his gifts from my in-laws.

All in all it was a good time!!!

*S*N*O*W*

Well...3 of the kids and myself drove to Rochester last night...arrived at 1:30am!!! The weather forecast for today's planned drive was for a LOT of *S*N*O*W* from the MO/IA border all the way to Rochester. We chose to do the late night drive instead and I am sooooo glad we did! It is gorgeous here but conditions are to deteriorate rapidly throughout the day. Tomorrow is supposed to bring blizzard warnings until we hit the Iowa border...I will NOT be looking forward to that! UGH...but for now...it's time to enjoy family and Christmas early!!!

This isn't our snow now...but our dd's dog in her first snowfall last year!!!

Have a great day everyone!!!

Christmas...I might have a hint of the spirit!

Here is Dan putting the tree in the stand! Isn't he a doll?

Dan and I ALWAYS put the lights on the tree together. We've done it since we moved to KS 7 years ago! I'll miss this tradition with Dan!!!

Here we are...lights and all! No ornaments cuz I can't/won't dig them out of the storage room (it's full of storage stuff from decluttering in this impending move. SO...my other DS, Kev, said he'll make popcorn strings and a paper star for the top...a Real Charlie Brown Tree he called it! We'll see about that!!!

And, last but not least, the last wallhanging for the JCFD station #3. Dan will deliver it tomorrow!!! I really liked how this one turned out!

Have a great week!

The quilts were a hit!!!

The banquet went well on Sunday night. Jessica seems pleased with her gift!!! She's such a cutie and works so hard for the men's soccer team!!

Here is my dh in the background watching Coach Born read the label. People who call quilts "blankets" *SHUDDER* don't realize there's a label! LOL...I had to point it out to him.

Her is my son Kevin, helping Coach Born hold up the gift. THE QUILT!!!! Coach was so very impressed and said that gift cards are great but that this "blanket" is the most special gift he'd ever been given! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Soccer Quilts are DONE!!!!!

The quilts for my son's college soccer banquet on Sunday are DONE!!! The first one here was actually made in 2004. I hung on a quilt rack during soccer seasons. Now it is going to be given to Jessice, their team manager/stat girl! She DESERVES it!!!

And here is the finished product of the star siggy blocks from this post. (scroll down to see the signing part) Remember that?

I did a meandering star pattern on the borders.

The background of the center medallion was done in swirls...kind of a water/wind looking fill. I used a blue/yellow variegated thread on the whole quilt.

And here is the backing. I did manage to get rid of quite a bit of my soccer ball fabrics! WOOHOO!!!

I'll take pictures at the banquet and post an update next week! Have a good week everyone!

SURVIVOR...

Today marks the 10th anniversary of my diagnosis of breast cancer. I HAVE KICKED CANCER IN THE ASS...and I am proud of it! (here is my story In honor of that I had my last tattoo done today. I had a breast cancer ribbon done with some music notes around it. The music notes were in honor of my dh's love of music. I am not one to have his name tattoed on my body but music notes works! It was kind of creepy cuz I told the l) ady tatoo artist that I wanted the BC ribbon with some music notes around it. I also said I want it smaller. She said no problem. I hemmed and hawed about telling her how many notes I wanted but decided against it. The notes were my love for dh. I was STUNNED when she showed me her drawing...there were SIX notes...as you look at the pic you will see that I feel the top 2 notes are dh and I and the bottom 4 are the 4 kids. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was a SUPER day!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and post #400!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!! I hope you have a day full of family, food, laughs, good health, and gratitude! In this day and age we are living in, I have a LOT to be grateful for. I wanted to share a few of the things that I am grateful for.

First is the love of my life, Steve!!! Over 26 years ago he asked me to dance at his sister's (my best friend) wedding and we've been dancing ever since!!! I am thankful that he has a job and one that provides well for us. He also LOVES his job and enjoys going to work! I love you Steve and am thankful that God gave you to me!!

I am also grateful for my only daughter. She is working hard to be self sufficient and is pretty successful at it! She is a CSR for Staples Promotional Products and she LOVES her job!!! I love you Sarah and am grateful that God gave you to me!!!

Then there's these two yahoo's! LOL...my oldest and the 3rd child. Both are great kids. The oldest struggles but is working hard at living on his own! The 3rd guy...well he'll be our only college graduate in May! It will be amazing!!! I love you Joe and Kevin and am grateful God gave you to me!!!!

Then...there's Autumn! She's my DD's dog and I just LOVE her to tears! This is a picture of Autumn when there was a thunderstorm going on. She is a scaredy pants during storms and you can see the fret on her brow...just LOVE this one!!! I love you Autumn and am grateful that God brought you into our family!!!

Then I can't let this post go without a picture of my AWESOME girlfriends!!! I'm gonna miss the daily contact when I move! LOVE YOU GALS and am grateful God gave you to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOW...last but not least...I saved the BEST part of my thankfulness for last!!! Dan, our youngest, has been a part-time firefighter in Johnson County. He applied for a full time position last week and it has been tense waiting to see who got the job. It came down to him and a guy named Mike. Mike is about 8 years older than Dan but Dan has logged more hours than Mike. Dan also has been dedicated to the JCFD since he was 14yo. He found out at about 4pm yesterday that he GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH it was such a HAPPY day here! LOTS of hugs and tears (my tears) that his hard work paid off. Chief Johnson told Dan it was close and he almost flipped a coin to decide. But instead the Chief went through both of their work records and he told Dan he chose him because of his part-time hours logged and his dedication to the department. Chief Johnson did tell Dan that he wants him to work on his maturity! LOLOL...I can't tell you how many people tell me that Dan is the most mature 19yo they've ever met...and they are right. That comment stemmed from Dan getting a page an hour before he was told to meet with Chief Johnson for a second interview on Monday. Dan said he was so nervous that he stuttered a bit! GOSH...I would too given an hour to prepare for something you hadn't anticipated! But anywho...Dan is now a full-time firefighter and starts work on Sunday! SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is selfish about this for me is that since DH and I are moving back to MN (dh is already there for his new job), I have peace of mind knowing that Dan is employed full time and will be OK without his mom nearby!

SO...here are pics of Dan as a little guy who knew then he wanted to be a fireman, him going to work at JCFD, with a firetruck at the department, and lastly, his helmet!

I love you Dan and am grateful God gave you to me!!!!! Stay safe and thank you for being a public servant!!!!!

SO...there ya have it...my 400th post and why I am thankful!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post #399

Not a lot going on...just wanted to get this one out of the way for the big #400!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thought I'd share this silly picture of my BIL from last Christmas!!

North Park Coach's gift

WOOHOO!!!! I was able to cut the center medallion to fit the borders! WHEW!! I am very pleased with how this turned out so far! I wanted to have the top assembled before my son came home for Thanksgiving and I did! I am going to wash this now to get rid of the glue. I didn't want to use fusible web so I used Aileen's glue to hold the pieces in place so I could do the zig-zag stitching on it. It worked pretty well...so the quilt will not be stiff now! WOOHOO!!!

Now for the backing........and then load it on the machine and bind it! I am well ahead of schedule...it needs to be done by December 5th or 7th...whenever the banquet is...I haven't heard yet!!! Stay tuned!!!!

Quilt progress!!

I have gotten a couple of great days in on the quilt for DS's college coach! I am VERY pleased with how it is turning out. All of the zig-zag is done and all that is left is to assemble the siggy blocks and figure out how big to cut the center medallion! (the quilt isn't hung on the design wall very well so the letters look a little wonky. I believe they are balanced better than they look in this pic! (fingers crossed) I hope to get the siggy blocks stitch together tomorrow! It sure felt GREAT to quilt today!!!

QUILTING!!!!!!!!!!!

I am working on this!! The zig-zag stitch is being done around all the pieces! UGH...then I will work on the letters that I need to put on there. WOOHOO!!! It feels SOOOO good to be quilting!!!

Catching up...

I was gone for a week and could not upload any pictures. BAH...so here is my week in a nutshell!!!

Last Wednesday, our son Kevin and his college soccer team had their first conference playoff game against the #1 team in the conference. We managed to score first and that was AWESOME!!! Then our luck turned, starting with a bogus red card against our top defender. SO...for 3/4 of the game we played a man short and were down 2-1 at half. Do you think DS is a bit upset at the start of the second half????

The boys fought hard...very hard and ended up losing 4-2. DANG...this pic tells it all...no words necessary. The Gathje soccer era came to an end that night...my heart was aching as well. *sigh* I've been a soccer mom for 21 years...this transition will be hard. I am SOOO very proud of Kevin though!!! (the athlete with his head down is the one who was kicked out of the game...his last game as a North Park Viking as he is a senior.)

I drove back to MN with dh and was bored silly! LOL...on Saturday my niece got married. Here is my sister (mom of the bride) and my dad walking her down the aisle.

And...introducing Tricia and Ryan...the newlyweds!!! Don't they look happy?????

Then on Sunday, DH and I drove around a bit looking at condos. I think we might've found something in Minneapolis that we both like. It would be new construction and I would get to pick out all the "stuff"! Time will tell...I waver between being excited about condo living and wanting a house with a yard. This is a huge decision and not one to take lightly.

I drove home today...sleeping in my own bed will be super. Also...i need to get my eating habits back...I've gained at least 10 lbs since this whole move stuff happened. I HAVE TO GET CONTROL BACK!!!