Bitty's Shower

I worked on a blanket with Sara, Christa and Maria. We each did about 6 squares each and I put them together. Each of our squares are different, so you can tell who made which one.

Sara's were basket weave. Christa's were loose garter stitch. Maria's a tight garter stitch and mine were mitered squares.

Here is the blanket layed out Tuesday night after Sara dropped off all the squares. The balls of yarn are stands in for the squares I had left to knit. A lot of work between Tuesday night and Sunday. I finished the squares by Wednesday and started sewing them together. By Friday I was picking up stitches all the way around and knitting the border. And mom suggested that we line it in yellow flannel. So Saturday morning my mom helped by cutting and pinning it to the back.

So in the car, on the way home, I sewed,

and sewed, until it was done.

In plenty of time for the shower.

It is in the box with the polka dot paper. The little box is my gift for her, three baby bibs.

As part of the shower, we were asked to give a children's book instead of a card. So I gave her "I Like You." Mike gave me this book our first Christmas. We still read it together everyonce in a while. I really like it, I hope they do to.

Rebekah's Shower was thrown by her sister Amanda and her mom at Amanda's condo.

It's beautiful and the decorations made it the cutest.

Yummy punch and fruit and cucumber sandwiches.

There were lots of places to sit and talk and eat the yummy food.

But there wasn't time for chatting, there were games to play!

Match the celebrity baby to the celebrity parents

(I didn't know a single one.)

Don't say "baby"

(I didn't say baby, but didn't catch anyone either.)

And How Big do you think Rebekah's Belly is?

There was special baby tape to measure hers.

And then use to compare our guesses to.

Most of us were about 6 in too long.

In the end there was a tie between two inches too long and two inches to short.
And who could forget.

Who Has the Stinky Doo?
(Glad I lost that one.)

Maria won it, and she shared her Jelly Bellys.

Enough games, it's present time!

There were two adorable little girls at the party, they liked opening the presents even more than Rebekah did!

Well, except the blanket, she loved it. I was glad.

And it had turned out beautifully.

She likes the bibs too.

This gift bag matched the invite we were sent.

We were all excited when gifts were done,

becuase it was cupcake time!

We all had a good time and it was nice to meet Rebekah's mom and mother-in-law. They are two special ladies.

But it was time for the fun times to end. The melting babies said so.

And the piles of opened gifts and crinkled, ripped paper.

A good day and thanks to good friends, a great time.

Ankle Warmers Rock

January has been interesting. Starting with two bouts of flu that kept us from going to our friends annual New Years party. So I am a little behind on the blogging. I'll post about Christmas soon, I promise.

But there has been a lot more to January than the flu. Like knitting commissions.

Tim asked for a pair of anklewarmers for his wife. Same yarn as his, but her pair needed to be a little longer. I tried something new with the elastic thread, weaving it into the stirrup.

I delivered them to the coffee shop where he is working and boy did I pick a day to go. Traffic practically stopped because of all the snow. Slow going on the bus and slow going walking.

But while waiting for the bus I waited outside the bar Quenchers and played with the snow, covering and uncovering the tile. When I finally go there, I had coffee and pastry and it was yummy. And Tim thinks his lady will want another pair in black. I told him I want major feedback for the second and to let me know. And it Tim gave me a ride back, so that was nice too.

And that night Brady came. There was MORE drama when Mike locked us out of the apartment and he had to break down the door.

But soon that was over and we got to just enjoy the big cuddly pooch that is Brady.

It took about a day for them(Stanley) to get adjusted and want to play.

And they had fun.

And so did we. What a big bundle of fun.

Christmas in Iowa

This has been a long time coming, but life post December 25th was a little crazy. More on that later, for now, the JOYS of Christmas.



Actually pre-Christmas had it's own craziness, starting with our rental car being cancelled 15 hours before we were suppose to pick it up. We were then very glad to have such great friends. We called Walter and Troy first (they let us borrow their car over thanksgiving), who were in Texas at the time. And posted on Facebook that we needed a car. We also called EVERY single car rental agencies in the greater Chicagoland area, none of them had cars.

This also made us realize that James, who was coming into Midway at 9pm Christmas Eve was not going to be able to rent a car and would need a ride if our friends could come through. Within two hours we had two offers. Maria and Diane offered theirs shortly after Troy called us back and said their landlord would let us in to ge the car keys.

So Christmas Eve, we drove out to Midway in our friend's car and picked up James. The weather wasn't too great and the drive to Iowa was a long one. We didn't arrive until 2am!

Char was very nice to leave on the tree and some festive music to greet us. Mike and I took turns stuffing stockings before falling into bed, glad to sleep.



In the morning we woke up to a beautiful white Christmas.




This was the scene out the living room window. We were glad to be there safe with family.

Christmas in Iowa was beautiful with snow.





Mike and I opened our stockings while we waited for the other families to arrive. I had lots of treats and a set of miso bowls. Can't wait to use them!



The Kublies were the first to get to Bob and Chars and we just couldn't wait for the first loaf of Santa Lucia coffee cake.

I'm sure it has a differant name, but the important part is that the eldest daughter bring the coffee cake to her family, as Santa Lucia. They don't go in for the white robe or wreath with candles on her head. Instead they put candles on the cake. Char got up extra early to make the two cakes for us and it was delish. We ate it so fast Bob didn't even get a piece of the first cake!

The Kublie Family sure are a handsome bunch. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, that's about 3.5 years ago. The kids have grown up a lot, but their parents haven't changed a bit.
Alyssa (now AJ) may be growing up, but Christmas made her like a kid again, begging to open the presents and wanting to guess what everyone got. And even though her favorite gifts were a purse and a watch, she still jumped up and down like they were the toy she had been hoping for.

It wasn't long before the Grudzinas showed up, they brought an instant party with their six family members. Dressed up cute, we felt silly in our pj's but were more excited to finally open our presents. When questioned about the hold up getting there, we were greeted with this look:

But before we couldn't open presents yet, there was another eldest daughter and another loaf of Santa Lucia bread to consume!

Bob got the first slice this time.

How great to have all of these kids together. I wish we had gotten a picture of all of them at our wedding to compare. There is the most change in Josh, he's growing into a handsome young man. With a laugh VERY similar to his Uncle James'.

All the gifts were opened and we were all grateful, for toys and fondue pots and just the time together. There was also a little jealousy of the gift given others too. Pretty sure Kim had an eye on the crocheted blanket Char gave me and Mike liked the look of the snuggly Char got and it looks like Grant liked the purse that AJ got!

Most popular gift?

Sportswear. Over half of us got a sports team item. Sorry I didn't get another pair of sweatpants, maybe packers. Cause I LOVE my hawkeye sweats. Maybe next year.

Stanley did pretty well with the kids, but when the gifts started,he got a little crazy. Well, not crazy, just excited. But in the small space with people that don't have dogs, it was a little much, so we put him in the room we slept in for the majority of the present opening. Afterward he came out again and sat with the chew toy. SO glad we brought it.

Later that night we went out to Marcya and Grant's movie theatre. The kids were happy to show us around.

The kids running around the theatre, the way they obviously felt ownership and proud to know things about how it all works was great. It reminded me of the inn and how important it felt to live there and work there and have a sense of ownership over the family business. It was nice to see Juliana at work, sweeping the floor.

Marcy then showed me how they thread the film into the projectors.

These huge tables hold the whole film. Which comes in much smaller rolls that they have to splice together on a splicing table. So cool.

There are a bunch of rollers and threading steps between the table and the projector.

Which has even more, some of which have very specific tricks like angles and pinky sized loops and such.

And I thought my sewing machine is complicated!

The theatre is great, they want to show mainly independent and foriegn movies that otherwise might not be shown in Dubuque, but they also show the major movies to get people in and pay the bills.

I really wanted to see "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," but we missed that one, so we saw "Marley and Me" instead. It is a very sad/happy movie abou the way a dog can enrich your life and even if they can be difficult sometimes, dog lovers wouldn't want to live with out them, even though they will eventually leave us.

After the movie we headed over to Joe and Jenny's. They have a new house. Well new to them. Well not even new to them exactly because it's her grandpa's old house. They have always loved it and so when he passed and his collective kids put it up for sale, Joe and Jenny jumped at the chance to buy it.

It has tons of space, in the finished basement there is a storage area, a large living room, with fireplace, a bedroom and a full bathroom. Upstairs there are three large bedrooms, two full baths and a living, dining and kitchen. It is spacious and nice and they had already redone all the flooring.

And what goes better with new flooring, but a puppy!

Seriously. Cute. Puppy. Atreyu. Anybody? Anybody?

I didn't get this, but it is a charecter in "the Neverending Story." I was more of a "Labryinth" girl myself.

Just look at him. A cute cuddly Great Dane pup. This little guy won't be little for long.

But he wasn't the only cute thing at Joe and Jenny's, their kids are pretty cool too.

Here's Logan sporting the two coolest christmas presents they recieved. Hulk gloves and Storm Trooper helmet. Both talk and were priceless together.

It was a night of fun. James was there too and it was Trivial Pursuit 80's time. I'm never good at Trivial Pursuit. The 80's wasn't much better.

Thank goodness there was an adorable pup to distract me.

Gosh he's cute.

But soon it was late and we had to get back to Bob and Char's and our pooch.

The 26th was family photo day. We had it taken by a friend of the family. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

After that it was lunch at Happy Joe's. Apparantly a Dubuque institution that Mike has forgotten to take me to all this time!

You order at the counter up front and then they call your order when it's ready. But the fun part is watching them through the window on the left here in the picture, where the two little boys are.

Everyone looked great in there jewl-tones. Which was apparently a new term for some members of the family.

Was glad to have lunch and spend just a little more time with the Kublie family. The kids here with their Uncle James.

But the highlight of lunch, by far, was the taco pizza. I have never had taco pizza before. Apparantly it is not exclusive to Happy Joes, but I hear they have the best.

And I believe. Kinda can't wait to go back to Iowa just for this pizza!

But there was yet another play date. Stanley was meeting the Grudzina's pup Pepper.

A year old, she is big and fiesty.

And really liked Stanley. Stanley kept running away.

And running.

So she stoppped to lean in for love.

But then more running after Stanley and more playing in the snow.

Stanley likes that too.

So does Sophia.

But eventually we all got cold and went inside. We played games and cuddled on the couch and Stanley finally got a good sniff of Pepper and realized she's a she. And he finally liked her too.

But the kids liked playing with their Uncle Mike.

But we had a dinner date to make.

Thad and Dawn.

Carrie and Aaron.

We had dinner at L May. Yummy food. Drinks. Friends. What more could you ask for. Perhaps running into a first kiss? There was a girl there that played opposite Mike in the Sound of Music. She sent a drink over and Mike went over and they chatted. Turns out their stage kiss was her first. Now she's married and has a baby.

But after dinner it was back to Joe and Jenny's. This time with Stanley and Todd.

Atreyu loved Stanley. Too bad the feeling wasn't mutual.

But don't worry little guy, you were the highlight of my christmas.

Hanging out with these guys is always the best part of our trips to Iowa. Mostly because it's our time to unwind. They are always welcoming and fun.

And willing to have all sorts of people over.

For more Trivial Pursuit, 90's this time. And even though there were maybe too many people and the girls didn't all play nice, we still had fun. Glad we spent the night that time and Stanley was glad to be with us.

We drove back to Bob and Char's early. We had breakfast and hit the road early for once. It was great getting home by 6pm.

Even if the following 24 hours were filled with the flu.