Teacher gift

Since I have been doing some quilting lately, I decided to do a small wall hanging for Bug's teacher this year as an end of the year gift. She was gracious to give me some class time and I took some fabric into the class and had them write their names on them with pastel oil crayons. It's a version of a yellow brick road pattern, and I think it's a little busy. I love the colors though, so that's something. He was very excited to be able to present it to her. She was a great teacher for him during his transition this year and we really do appreciate all that she has done for this class, and especially our kiddo. We have used the same fabrics to make a small Sudoku quilt for his other teacher, but it's still a work in progress. Hopefully by the end of summer it will be finished. Will post that when we get it finished.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Mother's Day never was one of my favorite holiday's. Not that I don't love my mom, mother in law or grandmothers, and it's not that I don't love being a mom. I have had my fair share of over the edge and crazy days as a mom and times I wanted just two minutes without anyone needing anything from me. I do appreciate thoughtfulness and kindness. I just have issues with the whole thing. Father's day too. I am an equal Grinch on the subject.

Let's just start by saying I am pretty hard to surprise. (That's not a challenge.) At least my husband and kids have a hard time surprising me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are all "finding" challenged or that they just hate to keep surprises. They can't wait to see the look on the faces of their family members when they have a gift to give. This Sunday my rock star husband pulled it off though.

First on Sunday morning he let me sleep in. Late. And kept the kids out of the room. Heavenly. Then he made me breakfast. That was yummy. I got to read the parts of the newspaper I wanted all the way through. Then when I went on a bow making kick, I didn't even get the look that says "This mess is going away soon, right?" He helped get the kids ready for church and took steak out of the freezer for dinner. All awesome things that I really appreciated.

The kids and I left for church. In Nursery Meg's teachers had helped her make a lollipop flower that said Happy Mother's Day on it, and she insisted on eating the lollipop almost before the car was started to head home. No thought of sharing that at all. That actually made me laugh, more at the nursery leaders than at my daughter.

When we came back, he wasn't home. I got a call a few minutes later that was cut off right after I heard "How important to you is..." Is what?  4 more dropped calls and I still had no idea what he was asking.(grumble grumble ATT)  I made dinner wondering what he was up to. Finally almost an hour later he came home. He had a mother's day gift for me in the car. I wasn't expecting that. One of the kids then brought me the topsy turvey upside down tomato planter and gave me a hug. Thanks, I think. I wandered around a little confused for a while until Adam helped him carry in the real present. A new electric grand piano from Yamaha. I was floored. That wasn't even on my radar at all. Things have been tight since we have moved here and while I really do miss my piano, I wasn't expecting any kind of replacement for quite some time.

Turns out he's been looking for one for quite a while and found a great deal on it. It just took some time and negotiating to get it to his car. What a guy. I am feeling pretty blessed today by a wonderful guy who still cares about what's important to me and wants me to be happy. The gift was amazing, but in this case, it really was the fact that he was thoughtful and caring that made all the difference in the world to me.

Mother's Day never was my favorite holiday and whatever happens next Sunday is of little consequence to me. Yesterday was mother's day to me and I am so happy to have a guy who knows how to surprise me now and then.

Bag of Tricks

I am not an overachiever, let's just clear that up before I start. I did a comment the other day while browsing someone's blog about beginning of the year teacher gifts. What? I am lucky to say thank you at the end of the year for all of the drama she put up with. This year is different though. We are moving sometime during the year and I just wanted to say thanks ahead of time. So when I found a tutorial for these really cute pillowcase bags, I had to give them a try. Even a novice like me can whip these out in no time flat. Seriously, 30 minutes or less start to finish. And how cute are these? I put notes on them for the teachers saying "This is for your 'bag of tricks' this year. Have a great first day". Fun, huh?