I get to be their mom

It's Saturday morning and our oldest has just left for an early shift at his job at In N Out.  Our younger son is asleep, and will stay that way for a few more hours.  Our daughter is watching TV on her tablet in her room.

After a trip to the store this morning, I sat down for a second cup of coffee and an overwhelming sense of gratitude came over me.  I get to be their mom. And, Doug gets to be their dad.

As I write this, Jackson is 19.  Nathan is almost 18.  And, Gianna is 12.  They are at such a fun age.  I've felt this way at every age.  As they grow, more of who they are is revealed and Doug and I get to watch from the best seats in the house. It is fun to see them....be...to see them be and embrace and walk out whom God created them to be.

On Thursday I got to watch Jackson trade Pokemon cards with a group of kids who seemed to be around 7 years old.  He may as well have been hanging out with a group of friends.  It was so easy for him to be kind to and even enjoy these younger people.  I got to see that and chuckle with him later about how cute they were.  I got to enjoy the moment again when I told Doug about it.

After spending weeks looking for just the right one, Gianna ordered a swimsuit online that arrived in the mail yesterday.  It fit!  She liked it! I got to celebrate with her.  Then, I got to celebrate with her and Doug when she showed it to her Dad when he got home from work.

Nathan has been trying to get his schedule at work adjusted so he isn't working so much.  This has involved him having some not so comfortable conversations with his boss.  At age 17, he has dealt with conflict with courage.  Doug and I get to be in awe of his maturity together.

These days, parenting feels easier.  It seems like the really hard work of parenting is more behind than ahead of us.  You always hear how quickly it goes by...the time that you get the best seats in the house.  It really does.  But, it is as it should be and I get to bask in the deep sense of gratitude that comes from getting to be their mom.  If I could give one piece of advice to moms who are early on in their journey of motherhood, it would be to not worry so much about your kids' accomplishments...what they do...and focus on your relationship with them and who they are.

Bottled Rainbows Quilt:: FINISHED!

I'm very excited to show off the first quilt I've made in 8 years:  My Bottled Rainbows Quilt!

And....I may now be hooked on quilting for a while.  

I first came upon the bottled rainbows quilt on Maureen Cracknell's blog.  She followed the pattern, designed by Rachel at Stitched in Color, but added a bit of a twist, sewing her scraps into cool shapes in each block.  

Well, right away I fell in love with the bright and bold colors of this quilt.  I decided I must make a bottled rainbows quilt!  It has been so much fun to make.  

Admittedly, it took me longer than I had expected, but, then, everything takes me longer than I expect!  But, though it took a long time, I just love it!  Who can resist all of those bright colors?  

I purposely left out the light pink that Rachel suggests and used another color.  If I had it to do over, I would have left out the lavender and made more blocks like the tree in the middle.  

One of my favorite things about this quilt is the linen border with the pieced binding. 

 I really felt like the organic linen look would be a nice complement to the bright, bold colors of the quilt blocks.  I don't think any other fabric would have done for the border.  

And, now, I have fallen in love with linen.  Uh-oh...it's quite a bit more expensive than cotton.  

I took the quilt out into the desert to take pictures.  I love the vibrant colors in the quilt against the subtle browns and greens of the desert.  

Asking my kids to hold up the quilt and NOT show themselves while I took pictures was, as I discovered, too much to ask.  

BUT, it made for a fun 15 minutes.  

 I learned so much making this quilt.   I now have 3 quilts in progress!  And, yes, they will take longer than I expect, but MUST be finished by Christmas!

What projects have you recently finished?  

Do you take photos of your finished projects?