Eckenrode Family

Here, Right Now

The morning was beautiful, feeling so much like spring.
Continuing to put a serious dent in that pile of Loulouthi fabric, I finished a table runner. I made this one two sided so that when I tire of one side, I can turn it to the other. I added a layer of flannel and bamboo batting to the center so that it could double as a hot pad.



Here's a picture from our morning drop off at school. Miles has been rocking a mohawk lately.
And here is a picture of Ben which he asked me to take. He rocked his pajamas for most the day until he went to a birthday party in the evening. Lately he's been into basketball, doing art projects and today he did a lot of hula hooping. When playing basketball out front he asked me if I knew how to do a donkey. I said 'no.' He then showed me (on a low basket) a dunk. I asked him if that was a donkey and he said yes. Then later in the day he said "Mom, I have really been into two things lately: drawing and hula hooping." Awesome.

I Will Eat Green Eggs and Ham

My view going to the coop to feed the chickens this morning.

I have been patiently awaiting the first eggs from our Ameraucana chickens so I screamed with excitement when I discovered one on Saturday morning.
It is still exciting to go out and collect the eggs from the coop. It's one of my favorite chores of the day.

I have also been slowly making a dent in the Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi fat quarters that I got from Sew to Speak. At first I toyed with the idea of making a quilt but stuck with my original plan to make a wall hanging, pillows, table runner and tea towels. With the pillows and wall hanging crossed off my list, the table runner is next up. For the pillows I followed the basic instructions for a log cabin square from Patchwork Style and used a simple envelope enclosure for the back.

Patchwork

To stave off the depressing gloom outside the window I've done two things in the last week. Since Tim was out of town, I took the boys down to listen to some live bluegrass music while we ate dinner and I've been making things. Miles loved the music and I was delighted that he unabashedly enjoyed the music. He bopped around to the music and enthusiastically clapped after every song.

Aside from live music, nothing is better for my midwinter blues that some patchwork sewing. I recently got some fat quarters of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi line and just seeing them piled on my sewing table has brightened my mood.

I have been bothered by a large blank wall in a dark corner of our house for awhile. After trying a few things in that spot I decided to make a wall hanging and I very happy with how it turned out. I did a big log cabin square in the middle and since I didn't have enough long scraps of the fabric to continue it I did some random border pieces.

Here it is in it's dark corner.

While I was doing a patchwork project I deicded Ben needed a case for the Motorola tablet he carries around to play games on. I watched him walk around with it under his arm and knew eventually it would slip and break. So, I asked him to pick out his favorite fabrics from my scaps jars and I pieced them together along with some batting and fleece to make a padded cover.

I think we both like how it turned out which is important because I'm pretty sure I'll be the one to carry it for him when he tires of playing with it.

 

Around the Yard Just Before Sunset

Sun & Warmth

He really wants one of these since seeing it at friend's house. Here he is taking pictures. The entrepreneur that he is, he came up with an idea to take pictures of "beautiful things," print the pictures with the printer that is in his room, and then have a sale. He has been doing any and everything to earn money to buy this tractor. Every thing I do he is one step ahead of me, doing the job for me or Miles. In the morning he puts Miles toothpaste on his brush, runs water over it and sets it next to the sink along with his vitamins. If I am carrying groceries from the van, he takes them from me and puts the cold things in the fridge. He runs to hold the door open where ever we go and then will stand there and open it for everyone like it's his job.

For Christmas Ben got a magic kit. He insisted on taking it to show and tell at school. I worried about him while he was at school because he has a hard time performing the magic correctly without "an assistant." When I picked him up I asked him how it went and he said, "Not good." He doesn't seem upset with himself but rather with the magic itself. I think he believes in the magic and that whether or not the tricks work out has nothing to do with him.
Tim recently made this penny hockey game for Miles which Tim's dad made for him when he was a kid. As a reward to his class for good behavior Miles teacher allowed them to bring in a game from home. According to Miles most of the kids came with electronic games. I was so happy he chose to take this. He said the kids were crowded around him and one of the kids were exclaiming, "Miles dad invented this game!"

Christmas

Cousins on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Morn

DPP: Day 19

Today they played together better than they have in a long time. I think the break from school will be good for them.

DDP: Day 15

Today while baking turtles, Ben convinced me to step into a closet so we could turn into vampires. We then had to step into another closet to change back into humans. While in the second closet I tried the door only to find that the doorknob turned without catching. We were stuck. It was 11 in the morning and I knew no one would think to look for us until well after 3 o'clock when I was due to pick Miles up for school. There was no way I was spending 4 hours in the closet with the oven on. So, I sat on the floor of the closet with my back against the wall and pushed on the door until it ripped and I was able to stick my hand through the crack to reach the doorknob on the outside. We were free and no turtles were burned in the process.

December Photo Project: 11

Every time I walk into the coop I'm reminded of one of the reasons I love him. I love him because even when it is just a coop he's building; he puts his heart into it. He made a chicken coop beautiful. Not many people would care enough to do that.

Goodbye Grandpa

Dear Grandma,

I wanted to let you know that Grandpa passed away this morning. You are still here on this earth but were moved to a nursing home while Grandpa stayed at the assisted living facility. Grandpa still sat in the chair next to yours even though you haven’t sat there for a long time. I wonder if he thought of you every time he saw your chair. If he wondered how you were doing. He never asked. Not because he didn’t care about you I don’t think, but probably because he was afraid to hear the truth. He was used to you taking care of him and when that changed, it was probably hard on him. He was ready to go Grandma. He didn’t ask me about my kids or husband or anything about the outside world. I know he was ready.

I just thought you’d want to know that he no longer sits in the chair next to yours and that I know he loved you.