This and That (including MACY JEANNE's ARRIVAL!)

My SIL, Amanda was induced on the 2nd...my niece, Macy Jeanne Chambers was born at 2:48am on the 3rd! She is BEAUTIFUL!

tired daddy

exhausted mama

PURE PRECIOUSNESS!

Proud Auntie! Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!??!

This week our family started a new devotional..."Focus on the Family's" study on patience. They have a whole bunch of four day topics....Kyle actually chose this one :) We have been enjoying making time for our bible reading, devotion time and blessing jar together.

This coming week is going to be CRAZY BUSY!
Kyle starts piano and art club tomorrow, science club Thursday and I am teaching a sewing class Thurs and Fri. This is all in addition to our normal life schedule (swim team for 2 hours/day, 5 days/week, church on Wed's, scouts on Tues's, etc.) AHHHH!!

We got a great deal on a keyboard, thanks to Detto helping us know what to look for! Kyle's been practicing piano ALL WEEKEND LONG....

 He taught himself The First Noel on his own! And he's working on Silent Night right now.
I'm excited to see how he does with professional instruction. He seems to have the ear for music like Ronnie does...  I DEF DO NOT! lol.

In the meantime, I am preparing to teach a Valentine's Day Quilt class.
 Here are a couple of the blocks I've made for it. (WE are doing a four block with sashing wall hanging).

I've started a FB group (Lisa's Quilt Circle-isn't it a CUTE name!) for local sewers/quilters and it is taking off! I am blessed by this! I had NO idea it would be so popular, but I am loving getting to "meet" new people with a mutual love for quilting! Just about everyday I am adding friends to my FB page b/c people I don't know are wanting to be a part of the group. I LOVE IT!

I went into our LQS yesterday because they were having a great sale! Here are some of the goodies I picked up:

2 yards each...these will make great blenders or backings!

4 panels and some correlating fabric! Quilts and books for Aria and Macy!!

Look at this BEAUTIFUL thread! LOVE it!

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Last night I made Beef Stew from scratch for dinner...man was it DELICIOUS! and I LOVE that there were NO preservatives in it and no sodium except for the dash of salt I tossed in!

 I sauteed some onion, garlic and the beef in coconut oil, then added some spices and 2 cups of water-I let it simmer for an hour and a half....then I threw in another cup of water and a carrot, a few bits of celery (shhh, don't tell Ronnie, lol) a potato and half a carton of mushrooms. I let it cook for another 40-45 mins and added a 1/4 of a cup mixed with cornstarch....TA DA! YUMMY wholesome beef stew.

I also tried my tea from England last night...I had actually forgotten about it! Lisa brought me some Earl Grey back from Europe. I love Earl Grey tea and it was neat to have some from it's place of origin...........it was really yummy.

I hope you all have had a fabulous first week of the new year!