a little bit more

I am so loving this project! There isn't a pattern, my only restraint being not using a certain color. I sneaks in there occasionally but all in all, not much. This is about half done, best I can figure. The downside being, I have to quilt it to a batting and backing then do a binding. I am not quite as scared of the binding as I was but not looking forward to the stippling (quilting it together). My lil ol arms get tired, ya'll!

sneak peek

This is the start to a lap quilt I am making for a certain artistic friend of mine....

winding down

so, all my trips are taken, all the company is gone, and school is starting soon. Matter of fact, I have to register my children on the 5th. It just gets earlier every year. Then we have to get school shoes/clothes/supplies. Let the fun begin.
Chick is ready to come home. She goes to her dad's family every summer and they spoil her rotten. She is treated like visiting royalty then comes home and is grouchy when reality comes crashing in. Apparently, she is not liking her visit this year as much because within 2 weeks she was ready to come home. She hasn't even seen everyone yet. She is fifteen now so maybe that is playing a part too. Fifteen, wow, how did that happen? I know, there is lots more to come, it takes me by surprise sometimes. I mean, yesterday she was wanting to go play with the 'germs' (German children in the neighborhood when she was four) and now I have to get her homecoming gowns and class rings. AND I have three more people to make this journey with.
My mother is getting ready to move. She was living at my grandmothers house and now that she has passed, mom is ready to get out of there. I am ready for her to get as far away from Missouri Valley as she can. Probably not very mature of me but I do not like that town. Lots of shady politics. So I imagine I will be enlisted, no, not imagine, I KNOW I will be enlisted to help. And I do so gladly.
Bubba went to the prostedontist (sp?) yesterday to get impressions for his over dentures. Poor kid, he is 11 and will have to wear them because his permanent teeth will never come in. He has 2 permenant teeth and has no molars, I feel kinda bad I hadn't noticed that till the regular dentist pointed it out. They are a little different from regular dentures in that they go over his existing teeth. They don't want to pull teeth unless they have to because without the teeth there, the jawbone starts to shrink and that will cause problems later in life. He really fought it, was kinda depressed about the whole thing. I think once he gets used to them, he will wonder what the big deal was.

Ed Freeman

I recieved this in an email and checked it out on Snopes.com. It is a true story and one that I thought is pretty damn cool.

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world-12,000 miles away-and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac; so, it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses. And, he kept coming back, 13 more times and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died August, 2008 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID. May God rest his soul.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/freeman.asp here is a link to check out the whole story.

What I have been up to..

Stocking for Aubree, I have had it done for weeks now, just now getting it sewn.




















From this....






















to this.....






















This is the quilt I am donating for Hadleigh's benefit dinner/dance/raffle.




















This is the back, it is much more burgundy in person but I like the effect of the white herats regardless.

pix!!

I finally got my camera and my puter communicating again. Here are a couple of shots from the party Saturday to welcome BEB back to the states.....

Quiet

So all my company bailed within an hour of each other today, like within an hour of each other. SO I have a few hours of relative quiet. I pulled the quilt I have cut out and got that laid out. I have four rows done and six more to go. I think it is going to be cute, hopefully help Hadleigh's benefit!

Which, I spose, I should share info so ya'll are not lost. My niece Hadleigh, who is a year and a half old, needs a heart transplant. She was born with HLHS which roughly means her left half doesn't work. There is a three part surgery to work around it, she has had the first stage. She developed pulmonary hypertension to add complications. She went in to see if she was ready for the second stage and ended up hospitalized for the last month. At one point the doctors said her only hope at living was a heart transplant, her body won't handle anything else. Then the specialists that would be doing the transplant refused her saying her antibodies are too high and she would reject a new heart. SO now she has had a pacemaker implanted till they can do the second stage surgery. A heart transplant would still be the best option but with all the other complications, this is what the doctors feel is her wisest course at this point. With all that being said, her mother can't work due to Hadleigh needing constant care, her father is out of time he can take off at work, they just bought a house a couple of months ago and the bills are piling up. They are a young couple who are doing the very best they can in an extremely frustrating situation. They have a three year old as well and just found out she is pregnant again. We are having a benefit to help them out financially because, honestly, all they should have to stress about is whether their little girl is going to live. There should be an easy button for situations like this. There isn't so we are doing what we can. There is a poker run , a scrap booking night, and a dancing/dinner/raffle. That is what I am making the quilt for. Local business' have donated cash and prizes to be raffled off. One lady on Whimp's message board sent a gorgeous prayer blanket and a box full of donations. Mike's work is matching employee donations dollar for dollar. I am amazed at the generosity of the human spirit sometimes. I have seen some of the stuff that is going into the raffle, I am saving my money to buy tickets! So, if you are in the southwest Iowa portion of the country on the 25th of JULY, come on out to the Mineola community center around 6 and help out a good cause!!

The Fourth

I am so boring, my company just snoozes...














I love the skeptical look on RJ's face. She KNOWS Mikey is full of it!

















Sitting relaxing with the in laws.
















Everyone needs a good campfire.

















Food? Check. Fireworks? Check. Seeing how many cousins we can put in a hammock? Check!

Welcome home BEB!!

Mike and G'Pa Gleichman on the bus
















Me and G'ma Gleichman waiting for the yelling to begin...

















There he is, our BEB, in the right country at last!


















And just for Shawna....