Grandbaby Update

Latisha is doing great as she progresses in her first pregnancy through her first trimester.  She has moments (some quite long) of nausea but she just keeps going and going.  Usually her nausea come after she eats.  She keeps up with the meals, house work, and helping with Isabella as normal.  Unfortunately, Isabella shared an awful cold with Latisha and being pregnant there was little Latisha could do to find relief.  It was a long and miserable cold but she fought through it and is doing much better.  It is such a joy to watch the pregnancy going well, my daughter doing so good, and our first grandbaby growing and doing well.  We pray over our new little one every day and look forward to meeting him or her.  Hope you are all having a great day. God Bless
Alicia

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Bibs, Bibs, Bibs

In my last post I mentioned Christmas pajamas.  It is a tradition I started when Alex and Latisha were little.  I make Christmas pajama's for them to open Christmas eve.  I just got started on this year's jimmies, and it is going well.  I always wonder what to do with the left over material.  Generally I put it in a box and think, "I might need it for something later."  Sometimes I do use it, but the other day I thought of a good use for it.

We are frequently looking for a decent bib for Isabella and Aidric.  Isabella is quite a messy eater and still needs a bib, but she has learned how to take them off and Aidric is following her lead.  If it is a velcro bib they just pull at it till it comes off and if it is one that goes over the head they slip it off.  So I decided to make some that tie.  They are unable to take them off.  I also make them big enough to cover most of their outfit.  I dug through my material to find big enough pieces to make bibs.  Here is how I did it.

First I cut out two layers of material to the shape I wanted it 13 1/2 inches by 14 1/2 inches.  I then used it as a pattern for the other bibs.  I made a total to 10 bibs (which means 20 pieces)

 Next, I sewed together 2 layers of fabric, around the bib leaving the neck area open

 Then I clipped the corners close to the seam

 Then I turned it inside out and sewed around it.

 I cut the double sided bias tape into 2 foot segments

 I pinned it into place and began sewing at the end of the bias tape (holding the thread so the bias tape pulls through) sewed down and connected it to the bib, then to the end of the bias tape.  I then went back and did a zig zag stitch on the part that connected to the bib to hold it securely.

Here is Isabella in a blue one from Christmas past

and here is Aidric with his bib from another Christmas past.

Just a easy project to make life a little easier.  Have a blessed day. 

Alicia

Let is snow...

I do so enjoy the beautiful snow.  Such excitement flows through our home when the snow begins to fall.  It is a bit earlier than normal this year but here is is and so fun.  It has increased us in the Christmas spirit and inspired me to get going more on our Christmas pajama's.  Thursday morning we woke up to a skiff on the ground and then it snowed all day.  This was great except it was moving day for my parents.  They hired some movers to move the big things and the movers were having difficulty getting up and down the ramp to their truck.  One guy was getting quite frustrated and ready to call his boss but his phone was dead.  Hind sight, I thought I could have shared my phone but I just oversaw their work and offered to help where I could.  I asked him what is worse, 100 degree weather or the snow?  He said definitely the snow.  He was not enjoying the snow as much as I was.

At lunch time Cassandra and Aidric decided to play in the snow.  At the time there wasn't much. Cassie was teaching him how to make snowballs.  It was so cute to watch and Aidric was thrilled.  The snow got thicker and we hoped the next day to be able to make a snowman.  Latisha came over in the afternoon the next day and helped the kids make a little snowman but we will have to wait till the snow softens a bit to be able to make a good one.  Now today it is a lovely snow covered day with beautiful sun shine, but ohhhhh so very cold.  When we woke it was a brisk 1 degree.  Yikes.  Well, hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather.  Have blessed day.

Alicia

Snowball making lesson

The girls covering Latisha in snow.

Cassie thought it looked like so much fun she had to try it also

European Vacation Part 5

The next day was a sea day.  David and I took part of a miniature golf competition.  Unfortunately neither of us won but it was fun.  After that I decided to try out the rock climbing wall.  It was fun and challenging.  Before my turn I watched a couple  little kids climb to the top, I was afraid I was about to humiliate myself.  Thankfully the lady before me did not make it very far.  Then it was my turn.  My heart was beating a little too fast but my spotter was very encouraging.  I climbed right up to the first bell and rang it.  Then I continued to the next.  When the wall arched out I couldn’t figure how to hold on and pull myself up.  I was a little disappointed but my legs were getting quite shaky.   I came down.  David applauded me and explained that as I was trying this poor boy next to me was having a terrible time.  So, next to him I was great. 

Then it was Saturday.  We arrived to France where we loaded a bus for Paris.  What was true in London was similar in Paris.  There were many, many tourist and time was so limited.  The problem with going to see all these different cities is that there is not a whole lot of time per place, but I am glad for what we did get to see.  Once in Paris we got on a hop on hop off boat on the Seine River.  Our first stop was Notre Dame.  The architecture of the building inside and out is absolutely amazing.  I was also very impressed by the stain glass windows.  We got there just in time for mass, which meant the bells were ringing and the incense was burning.  It was another beautiful cathedral. 

Next we went to the Louvre.  I was not prepared for the immense size of the Louvre.  The Louvre was originally a palace (way more impressive in my opinion then Buckingham Palace) that is now a museum.  We did not have time to go inside but what we saw out side was spectacular.   

Our final stop in Paris was the Eifel Tower.  Once again, I was quite impressed with the massive size of the tower.  The lines to go inside were very long and we still wanted to do some shopping.  Another problem we kept facing on this trip was finding time to shop.  We did not find any real nice shopping by the Eifel tower, but that may have been because we were so low on time.  We did find a couple treasures and headed back to the boat. 

All in all, our trip was absolutely wonderful.  The best part?…  well the best part would have to be the reason for the trip, David and I, 25 years as husband and wife.  I was so glad we got to see the wonderful sights and explore a little more of Europe, but the best part was that we are celebrating the gift God has given us of 25 wonderful years together.   I am blessed and thankful for my husband, kids and home.  It is so wonderful to get to see all that we saw, but it just helps me to appreciate my family, and America even more. How wonderful to get away but we missed our children terribly and are ready to be home and with them again.  God Bless America.  Thank you to my husband and God for the trip, and to my mom, daughter and Brent for taking care of things while we were gone.  Have a wonderful day!  Alicia

Getting ready to rock climb

Notre Dame

Standing in line for Notre Dame

Amazing stain glass windows 

at the Louvre 

Eiffel Tower

Autumn in Paris

The sun setting in Paris

European Vacation Part 4

Our first full day on the ship was a day at sea.  This was good for relaxing and gearing up for our first stop.  The boat was a little rocky but we were still able to play ping pong. The added rocking of the boat, made the game just a little more exciting. 

The next day we were in Vigo, Spain.  We ordered breakfast to our cabin, and this made it easier to get to our tour on time.  We took a tour to Santago    There we saw the Cathedral of St James.  It is believed that the Apostle James’ remains are in a tomb there.  The cathedral was lovely filled with the strong scent of incense.  We then got to walk around and see the city.  The buildings are very close together and the streets are coble stone.  There was also a lot of granite used in their construction.de Copostela.

The next day we went to Gijon, Spain.  We took a transfer to the city and saw the military monument that stands on the hill. It is a lovely town with a lot of very old churches and buildings.  We got to enjoy kabobs and pastries.  We also spent some time at the beach.  There was a old Roman bath house, but unfortunately we got there 15 minutes after it closed. 

Our last day in Spain was in the city of Bibloa.  Bilboa is in Basque country and our tour guide was very proud of her Basque heritage and not so fond of the Spanish. We took a tour to old town, seven streets, and Guggenheim museum.  In my opinion the building of the Guggenheim is much more interesting then the artwork in it, but it was a good experience.  The highlight of our day was that we finally found Gelato.  A few years ago David and I got to visit Rome, where there are Gelato stands in abundance.  So seeing the Gelato was very exciting and I was happy to purchase some. 

Scallop farms

Old buildings

The cathedral was getting clean but still was interesting to see

walking down the narrow streets

Putting my feet in the Atlantic

Military outpost from 100 years ago

I found some yummy pastries

David found some yummy kabobs 

Basque country in Bilboa

Loved seeing the baby shops, I'm excited to be a grandma

town square

Guggenheim Museum

European Vacation part 3

The next day we had a hop on hop off, open top, two tiered bus tour of London.  The desk clerk at the hotel had pointed us off in the wrong direction and we got to explore more of London before finding the bus stop.  We traded in our voucher at the bus and off we went.  

Our first stop was Buckingham Palace.  It was very fun to see but extremely crowded. I would not advice touring London on a Saturday.  Everywhere we went was packed and hard to get around.  I thought we should take a nice “little” walk around Buckingham Palace.  There is nothing to see around the palace except a fence and barbwire, so not the best use of our time. 

We hopped back on the bus and headed around some more.  We thought we would go into Westminister Abbey but there was quite a line and I had wasted too much time at Buckingham Palace.  I really wanted to tour London Tower.   So we hopped back on the bus. 

London Tower is the oldest standing palace in London.  It was built by William the Conqueror of France.  We purchased our tickets at the bus and that saved us a little time.  Inside we got to see the crown jewels, the torture room, the different kings armor, and walk around.  I recommend that if you would like to see the crown jewels you save it for the last stop at the tower because the line was 1 ½ hours when we were ther e but when we left there were very few people. 

Next we took a ride on the Thames.  Our bus tour included a boat ride down the Thames.  I really enjoyed the ride.

The next day was the cruise day.  So before the bus picked us up at the hotel, I went for a lovely morning walk past the Abby and to Big Ben, and got a little shopping in.  Then it was on to the boat.  The boat had had some illnesses on it’s last cruise so the were doing a deep cleaning.  It took quite a while before we could board but then we were off for Spain.

Here I am at Buckingham Palace

Looking at the London Eye on our hop on hop off bus tour

Tower of London

Can't take pictures inside

Torture Yikes

Cute little taxi in London