Another Gift that Can't be Wrapped

As I told you in an earlier post, our house is in the midst of a construction project. This week has been filled with banging, sawing, and dust. I missed some of the activity by going to work, but there was plenty of evidence of the activity when I returned home.

The bathroom was moved and after the construction team left for the day, my 'demolition team' went to work. Matthew, Nathanial, and Jonathan had the walls and ceiling down and out into the dump truck within a few hours.Here's a picture of the original lath of the wall between the hall and dining room. The craftsmanship of this old house is amazing.

Here's a picture of the old stairs after the bathroom walls came down...

Here's a picture of our beautiful new, safe stairs...

What an amazing gift!

A Gift That Can't be Wrapped

I started a tradition many years ago of making each of the children a quilt every 5 years. This year Nathanial received one for his birthday. He didn't receive a finished quilt...just the top. For Christmas I wanted to complete his quilt and make one for Matthew. (Matthew didn't get one for his 20th birthday so I owed him one.) I also had seen a quilt kit in a catalog that I knew Jonathan would love. I've had the quilt kit for many months, but didn't get around to putting it together until this month. I also wanted to give a special gift to our friend Bob. He helps so much throughout the year, that I really wanted to make him a quilt. Two weeks before Christmas I found a flannel quilt kit at a local quilting store that was labeled "A 2-Hour Quilt". I figured I could find 2 hours within the 2 weeks. With some late night sewing I did finish the quilts in time for Christmas giving.

Christmas afternoon I had the gift of seeing my 3 sons enjoying their new quilts (Jonathan is underneath the solar system quilt)...
And I can't forget the dog...
One of the best parts of making handcrafts is seeing people enjoy them.

Christmas Day

It's hard to believe that Christmas 2010 has come and gone. We had a wonderful celebration starting with the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at our church. The girls both took part by playing their instruments. The 2 little boys went for the first time and enjoyed receiving 'glow sticks' for candles. (The church decided glow sticks are safer than open flames for the younger attendees.)

Rachael got up with Jonathan around 4:30 a.m. but kept him from waking us up until 6 a.m. Jonathan put his glow stick in my face and informed me that it was Christmas day and time to get up!

Each year we say we're cutting back on gifts, but there always seem to be a mound of presents under the tree. This year was no exception...

Jonathan was thrilled to get some Legos and Dad helped him put together his new sets.
This is what the room looked like after the exchanging of gifts...
One of Matthew's favorite gifts...a new nerf gun
I finished all the machine sewing of the 4 quilts before Christmas, but didn't get them all tied before putting them under the tree. Here I'm tying Nathanial's quilt...

Notice who's enjoying the quilt before Nathanial does! (Captain, is never far from a cozy sleeping spot.)

The Week Before Christmas

Life in the Jackson household is never dull, but it's especially busy this week before Christmas.

The boys are done with the semester of college and are enjoying having some time to relax and get together with friends to play computer games...

I'm finally getting the Christmas letter sent out. Wayne wrote it for me this year, which is why it got sent before Christmas instead of after.

It's been very cold the past couple of weeks and Katelyn decided to demonstrate just how cold it is...

(While doing chores they emptied a bucket of water that was partially frozen and she decided to see what it was like to look at life through ice.)

Our church has blessed us with the gift of having our stairs reconstructed to be safer (less narrow and steep). Wayne has tried to get the project accomplished over the years, but it's a challenging project and requires more experience...and better backs! The contractor and crew have time to do the work now, so in addition to the holiday activities, we have construction activity. Jonathan greeted the men this a.m. with a "Good-morning! Let's get to work. I'm ready to do teamwork!" Here he is discussing the plan of attack with the construction crew.

I've had a very productive day of sewing...I might actually get those projects done by Christmas!

The finished product

Here's how Wayne's macaw came out...

Putting the Pieces Together

It always amazes me to see how the raw bits of a craft come together to make something useful and/or beautiful. A dried old log can become a beautiful wooden bowl, as we've seen at the store, or a pile of glass scraps can become an attempt to freeze the beauty of God's creation to be enjoyed. I've been looking at bird feathers; seeing how imperfect each feather may be but it is a critical part of the whole. I'm amazed that no feather of any bird or butterfly has a pigment that can be used to reproduce the color. So I've been toying with the idea of this tropical bird for a while. Here are the results so far.

I start with scraps of glass, a bit with a certain "grain" or "imperfection" that catches my eye as it reflects or filters the light.

Then, apply the pattern and do a lot of cutting and grinding (trying not to include my person in the cutting!) then its assembling the pattern.....

and you'll have to wait for me to take the next step to see the process. But here's a sneak peak at what I'm aiming at.

So as you see the cardinal, jays and chickadees around, be amazed that each hair on the feather is actually refracting the light in a specific pattern that makes the color of the bird. Our God is so meticulous in design and we are all so very privileged to be either grateful or just plain amazed.....then be thankful.

December 'Doings'

So what have we been doing?

The Holiday Market that we've been participating in has been keeping us both very busy. A group of the participating members had a meeting today and voted to continue on with the shop into the new year. We'll be re-organizing over the next few weeks and moving onto the next stage of a year-round shop. Wayne is looking at patterns and has some great plans. I'm also searching for project ideas for the coming months. I'm hoping to develop a line that connects children's literature with fiber arts. Stay tuned as I try to work out the kinks. If you have any favorite children's book that features a fiber art in some way, please feel free to share the title so I can have a variety of fiber arts featured.

Wayne has been making tree decorations and bird sun catchers. Here is a sample of his birthstone angel order that he filled for the women who work at our family doctor's office...

I've been knitting socks, embroidering mitten decorations, and painting snowmen candy jars/candle holders and gift bags.

Each year we have a true sign that it's Christmas time. Nathanial helped an elderly woman do things around her home several years ago. One day when I went to pick up Nathanial, Mrs. Tama had a huge Christmas cactus in her living room covered with blossoms. I commented on it, and she told Nathanial to go into the basement of her garage and get a cutting that had been placed there. She told me that I might be able to salvage the cutting with a little TLC. Well, here's the picture of our piece of Mrs. Tama's Christmas cactus...

Mrs. Tama has passed on, but we think of her often as we enjoy the beauty of this little plant.

Thanksgiving Blessings 2010

I'm finally getting around to downloading the pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend. We had a wonderful day (weekend) with all the children home.

Nathanial caught up on sleep the first couple of days and then he and the younger ones did some heavy duty Lego creation building. We broke the turkey tradition by having one of our own farm-raised chickens (which was almost as big as a small turkey!). The kids love to have the treat of sparkling grape juice or cider. Matthew always adds a bit of acting to any event...

We enjoyed having our friend Bob join us for the day. He brought shrimp, which the adults and Marc found delicious.

Marc is very excited because his goat "Pumpkin" is pregnant. She's affectionately known as "Plumpkin" these days. This picture doesn't show her full roundness, but we warned Marc we better tether her down or she might start floating over the garden and then she'll be the "Great Pumpkin" of the Peanuts cartoon.
Jonathan's weekend was made when we had snow. It's melted now, but it won't be long before he'll have plenty to enjoy.