Easter Egg Hunt

Eli had an easter egg hunt / party on the last day of school before Spring Break. There were 12 eggs per kid to find on a very small playground, so it was a little crazy trying to get pictures! I did manage to get a few! Most of the eggs were pretty much in plain sight....
But that just made it more of a race, rather than a hunt!
I felt bad when Eli beat Alyssa to this egg on top of the house. Alyssa cried (& Eli didn't feel bad at all, I don't think!) He showed off his eggs...And here is his friend, Kensey. She is so cute & she reminds me so much of my friend Meredith's little girl, Hailee. She is petite, blond, & soft spoken....
After the hunt (er, race) was over... we headed back inside for a little party! There were yummy cupcakes & snacks to gobble up! And Alyssa's mommy sent me this picture she took of me & Eli..
I was apparently having a better time than Eli, wouldn't you say?!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you find a fun egg hunt to attend! I have a feeling we will be having one in our yard, too!

Sweet Little Sneaky Boys

Today is the first day of spring break for the boys. I had an amazingly fun day planned in my head for them that included their cousin Kaleb spending the night last night. All started off well... we picked up Kaleb in time to head to evening services at church & afterward hit the newly opened Krispy Kreme in Fuquay. Yum!

All that came to a screeching halt once Eli began throwing up at our next destination: Walmart. Clean up on aisle 5!!

Just a few hours into our fun sleepover, Kaleb had to go home - because let's face it- no one wants to catch a stomach bug! The boys were devastated & I have to admit, so was I!

No more vomiting has taken place but we have laid low today just in case. So the boys have played with tractors & trucks, played store, wrestled, and other boyish things!

Here's a few pics of them playing store:

At one point, Eli was looking around for something else he could hand to Jackson to "buy." Well, he took the dogs bone right out of his mouth! Zack decided it wasn't for sale during the pass off to the cashier!
{Side note on them playing store. This is a new favorite game that they play together & the other night in the car they were playing it somehow in the backseat. I overheard this conversation:
Jackson (to Eli): "Name?"
Eli: "Zurg Randy"
Jackson (writing down the name, goes to question 2): "Phone number?"
Eli: "8788"
Jackson (again writing this & then tapping his fingers on the car door as if he is computing a total):" Ok, your total is...... $1 and 225 cents. "
Eli: "Okay, Here you go!"

I just love to hear their funny little conversations! But I had to make the point to Jackson that $1 and 225c was really $3.25 (which he assured me he already knew!)}

Anyway, back to today. After some play time & lunch, I deemed it time for "rest." (Translation: Eli, you will be napping & Jackson, you will be reading or having quiet time so E can sleep!) I was just down the hall in my craft room working on a small project when I heard Jackson say, "Eli, I wish we could nap together." I quickly send word down the hall that that wasn't going to happen (there would be NO resting!) & all was quiet. A little while later, I decided that maybe they were sleeping because it was really quiet. So i checked on Eli first & found this:

Then I checked on Jackson & found this:

However, I could hear slight whispers. So I quietly followed the sound of the whispers & while they weren't being very obedient, I couldn't resist how sweet this was when I found them (in Jackson's closet!)....

I went ahead & let them finish that same old seek n find book before making them disperse to their own rooms! Plus this gave me enough time to finish my quick project: A camera strap for my new (to me) camera! I made several of these at Christmas for a few friends, so I remembered how to make them & whipped one up for myself! Here is a (not so good) picture of it!

Canon D10

I know you've already heard me say before that I have the best in-laws ever, right? Well, it's true, I do. They love me & welcomed me into their family with open arms not quite 10 years ago & have been nothing but supportive & loving ever since. They would do literally anything for us that they could. And sometimes they do things they are too tired to do (like take care of my kids when I work). They are a blessing to us in more ways than I can even begin to describe.

But today's blessing I can describe... because it is a material blessing.

I have been wanting a nice DSLR camera for awhile. I had contemplated saving my money for Christmas upon Christmas to get myself one, but I never committed to it because I was overwhelmed with even thinking of trying to learn. But I want to be able to take good pictures of my kids. Usually, I get my father in law or brother in law to do it for me (which is where all our family portraits come from)... But I wanted everyday good photos, not just posed ones.

A few weeks ago, Dwight (my FIL) told me that he was looking into getting a new DSLR and that if he did, then he would give me one of his older ones. I was floored. At first, I was thinking he was kidding or that he wouldn't really get another DSLR... he already had 2 for heavens sakes!

Then last week, he told me to come pick up my camera (& 2 lenses!), he had gotten a new camera!! He gave me his older Canon D10. It is heavy, let me tell you... but so far, it has taken some great photos for me (which is great considering I don't even know how to take it off of auto flash yet! LOL!) I see a lot of fun in my future! 'Cause you know, I needed another hobby, right!? Here are a few pics I took so far that I like... (and I know, I have a lot to learn!!)

{love the bokeh in this one... unintentional, of course! These are my candytuft blooms in my yard}

{More flowers in my yard... and when this one is full screen on my computer, I can see pollen specks on the far right flower! Crazy!}

{Here is a the pup peeking out the dirty front door!}
{And one of sweet little Sara Beth.... love those blue eyes!}

I can't wait to get more fun pictures! I am going to the air show with my dad this weekend, so maybe I can take it & fiddle with it some more there!

Thanks, Dwight! You are awesome & I love you dearly. Not just because you give me awesome gifts, but because you have such a giving heart!

Tyler!

This past weekend, Tyler was home for the first time since starting Tarheel Challenge Academy back at the beginning of January. The boys have really missed getting to hang out with their cousin. So when we met up for dinner on Saturday night... each one got a few snuggles in.

Tyler looks awesome! I love his hair cut this short. It is soft & fuzzy & he just looked more mature! Of course, that doesn't mean he always acts it, right.....??

Eli let him help him play on Kaleb's nintendo DS. That's love right there!

We miss you Tyler & can't wait for you to be back home for good in June!!

My first quilt

I have been wanting to attempt a real quilt for awhile. However, I have been very intimidated by it & this made it hard to get started. When i made tee shirts quilts for Christmas gifts, there was no batting or binding required, so it wasn't a true quilt in that way. So, when I was at my friend, Joye's house, and i spotted her quilt - I knew it was the one! Her mother had made this amazing circle quilt for her & i just loved it! She was gracious enough to get the pattern from her mother for me so I could give it a shot.

I had decided I would work on the quilt on the annual spring craft retreat that I go to every year with the awesome ladies from church. I usually scrapbook & I think they were all shocked that I didn't this year! :) But I knew that I wouldn't be able to get it all done in a weekend, so I did a lot of prep work before going. All in all, I think this quilt has taken me about 2 months to complete.

The first thing I did was make a short table runner from my scrap pieces in order to practice top stitching (quilting) and binding. I did this all in one Saturday & I was glad I practiced the binding in particular because it was not my forte! And quilting in the ditch (in between the seams) is not easy either!!

After I finished this up, I went ahead & worked on cutting out & attaching all the circles for the actual quilt to white muslin squares in order to be ready to piece each peice together on the first day of the retreat. I broke this into about 4 nights. On the last night, I laid them all out on my living room floor to decide where I wanted each to be in the quilt. Once i decided, I took a picture of it for reference later & then stacked each row & put each row into it's own gallon ziploc bag (labeling which row of course!) for transport to my retreat!
Having each row separated made it much easier for me to see my progress as I worked! And having the photo came in handy so that I knew which end was which of the row when it came time to piece each row together to make the top. So Day 1 of the retreat went off without a hitch! I got the top pieced together & called it quits for the day. My plan was to piece together the top on day 1, put together the top/batting/backing & quilt it all on day 2, and then work on the binding the final day. I was apparently in La La Land because things started to unravel on day 2! I got the layers all put together with a basting gun (& i thought it was pretty smooth) which took at least a couple of hours. And then after I quilted 2 rows in the ditch, I turned it over & realized there were large puckers everywhere on the back! Argh!!! Why did i wait until i sewed 2 lengths of the quilt before I checked? I have no idea. Stupid, I tell ya... stupid.

I spent the next 24 hours with my seam ripper until my eyes were crossing. Several ladies (thanks Jana & Randi!) had pity on me (I think they could tell my mood was suffering just a smidgen!) and they each took a turn ripping out the seams to give me a break. By day 3, the quilt was ready to start again. But after chatting about it, we decided that maybe the basting gun tags weren't holding the layers tight enough together. Soooo, that meant cutting all 1000 of those out (not literally, but it felt like it!) and smoothing out all three layers again & rebasting. This time, I used basting pins. They are like safety pins but they are shaped more like a jelly bean which is supossed to make it easier to get them in/out. The second time I was basting, those same ladies helped me out by smoothing & pinning with me & of course, giving me a pep talk the entire time. I was quite ready to throw it all out the window at this point!
Here they are (along with Sherri) hauling it back down the stairs again so I could get started on the quilting again.

They were so supportive & helpful. Even when they weren't down in the trenches with me working on the quilt, they were trying to brainstorm with me or keep me excited about the project! So i spent that last day getting about halfway through with the quilting in the ditches. I got about halfway through the quilt before my last, yes LAST, needle broke. Arghhh. At this point, I just packed it all up & called it quits.

It took me several days to figure out that my bobbins were the wrong bobbins which was causing a lot of needle breaks (& jammed up stitches). I broke a whole pack of needles on this trip! Once i figured out this issue after getting back home though, things were smooth sailing. I worked on finishing up the rest of the stitching in th ditch one Sunday afternoon & then debated with just binding it from there.

But after deliberation, I decided I wanted to look back & know I didn't take any shortcuts. So I finished the quilting by making diagonal lines across each block on another weekend day. Of course, then I began to procrastinate on binding it. I let it sit there for about 2 weeks before I even got started on that part! I worked for 2 separate nights on my own (while watching a movie) until my fingers were practically numb from the handstitching . Then my mama came up for the weekend & I took it over to my sisters to work on while they worked on some projects. By the time I got there, they were done with their projects already! So, my mom (being the gal that she is) got right in there with me & asked for some thread & started to stitch on the other end! Whoop! In 2 hours or less, we were done!!!
It feels soooo good to be done with this project! And so many thanks to everyone who helped me whether it was words of encouragement, getting in the trenches with me by basting & rolling it up, or even binding it with me. This quilt has a lot of memories already attached to it! And I am loving how it brings all the colors in my living room together! (Not to mention, it will be laid across Randy's late grandmothers very green chair as soon as we can haul it over here from his parent's house! I am talking 1970s green! I am so excited!) For now, the rocking chair will do...
She's done! My very first quilt! My Memaw would be so proud (regardless of all the flaws!!)

And here's a peek at the backing fabric....
Thanks for hanging in there with me if you have endured this very long post! Randy told me that this blog has turned into a craft blog. :( Sorry if that bores you! I hope not because if you are here then that means you must be interested in what I am up to, whether that is tending to the kids or neglecting them in my crafts! Lol! The blog is for all of that- the good, bad, & the ugly!

This past week, the kids had a teacher workday. It was a nasty, rainy day too. So, we invited Emma & Leah (& Sara Beth of course) over for a playdate.

The girls brought the movie Andre & it was a great movie! So cute & you can't help but love that seal! And it was based on a true story which of course made it even better. The only downer was that there were a few bad words in it. Really?! I get so tired of kids movies with language. It was rated PG, but even so, the movie would have been just as great without the language. Rebecca had seen it ahead of time so thankfully, she coughed when the words were coming out! lol!

Anyway, after the movie, the kids played a little Wii together before the girls headed out. Although, they didn't play long enough for everyone to have a turn. So Aunt Becca graciously offered for us to borrow Mario Kart for a few days. In return, they took our original Super Mario Bros home. And this is what my kids have been doing ever since! (Can you tell Randy is stressed!? lol! You may not even notice him in the picture!) They love this game & it is the only game other than bowling (wii sports) that they have played together & not about killed each other! Today, I decided to video Eli because he can NOT sit still when he plays this game. His whole body drives, not just the wheel! (It gets better around the 56sec mark). And this video also shows the differences in my two boys. Jackson is totally relaxed while playing & Eli is totally uptight the whole time!

Project: Garden

Those of you who live near us (or have been to my house), know that we have an incredibly sloped back yard. This really was the only downer to this house when we bought it. We loved the house in every way, but knew the yard was going to be tricky. But we decided that the house was worth the headache of the yard. It has been two years this summer since we moved in & after 2 attempts at planting grass, we still have a very patchy yard! Think: more red clay & less grass! And we hadn't even attempted the back yard yet (because of that tricky slope!) Last year though, we did create a small garden area in the back, remember? But next to the garden is our trouble area- all red clay (not even any weeds!) and a lot of erosion each time it rained. Boo!

Well, my friend, Theresa has an awesome garden! She is a fantastic gardener & it is a hobby of hers. I will be honest & say i wish it were my hobby. Pretty much everything I know about plants & gardens I learned from her & my father in law. And what i know is nothing to write home about! But i digress! Here is her garden area:

Beautiful, right? Well she also has a sloped back yard & she has made a great yard despite that slope! Randy & I had been talking about making a garden area similar to theirs for about a year now, specifically, THIS part of their garden:

So, when it came time to plant the grass in the back yard, I decided it was time to make the garden official! Why plant grass before you define your garden area? You will just be digging it right back up! Randy obliged me, even though he knew it was going to be a lot of work for himself! Red clay is killer to dig in, trust us!

Here is garden side of our yard the morning before getting started:

We took the end off of the fence & added our first row to the end of the raised garden bed, so we didn't have to pull that back up.

The second row is parallel with the first, so we will just add another raised bed to the second row to make them match.

Oh, the digging! To make matters worse, the weather was horrible. The first day was cold & overcast, & then the second day, Randy went out on a Sunday afternoon after a big rain to complete the next row! It was wet, soggy, & in the 40s. Brrr!

We still have to cut off the tips of the posts in the second line & then add the last row of timbers to make two rows of garden. (As Randy explained, we used the "cut" method rather than "fill" which meant we had to make an extra row from the landscaping timbers!) But you get the idea! Hopefully by this weekend we will be done with the digging & creating! (Who am i kidding, RANDY will be done. I just barely helped)

A little of the everyday...

I have taken so many random shots with my camera phone that I decided to share them with you. This is a little of the everyday around the Moss house:

Eli has totally begun to get imaginative with action figures. I should video him without him knowing because he drums up these really elaborate stories & changes his voice for each character! It is really fun to listen to & watch. Here he is lost in the world of transformers one morning while Jackson was at school.

{Is it scary that i actually know the names of all these transformers?? Whoa, has my life changed since having boys!!}

He also loves to read. He has always loved to read. A few of his favorites are the Llama, Llama books (especially Llama, Llama Misses Mama and Llama, Llama Mad at Mama. Sound familiar??) Anyway, he also loves I Spy books & he is really good at them! In fact, Nanny bought Jackson an I Spy game for a birthday one year & Eli totally rocks on this game. Beats Jackson every time (which Jackson hates, of course!). Since he loves these so much, I bought a set from Scholastic at the beginning of the year that had two titles: 1001 Pirate Things to Spot and 1001 Bugs to Spot. They were a hit! Check out the concentration: (and i just love to watch his feet when he reads! They constantly rub together!

Jackson has made me very proud lately with his homework. He usually grumbles with homework, but in the last couple of weeks he has been doing awesome. He hopped in the car last Monday & casually said, "Mama, I think I want to do most of my homework today." I replied, "That sounds great! That means that the rest of the week you will have more time to play outside." Of course, he already knew that because that was what i had been preaching for months! And it finally sunk in! So he got busy....

And then he entertained himself outside, right by himself until his Daddy got home from work. This is definitely an area that Jackson is so different than Eli. Because Eli doesn't like to play alone so much. He prefers company!

With the nice weather we have been having (excluding the last week of course!), it has been great to see everyone outside having a great time. I think Zack would agree!