Cannon and Henry. My Buddies.

I just finished a disappearing 9-patch quilt. My first one ever!  (Side note- I made a quilt for Lily when I was pregnant with her, but it was basic squares with appliqué and I didn't follow any rules. The binding was hilariously awful. 

This quilt is much the same- there are many, MANY mistakes in it and I machine bound it because I was afraid it would fall apart in the wash. BUT, I am SO proud of this darn thing. I'm even taking a quilting 101 class at our local quilt shop this month to improve. 

Anyway, it has been hanging over a chair in our living room lately and I just looked over to find Henry had pulled it off the chair and snuggled up with it. The corduroy backing is definitely snugglicious. So is Henry. 

And sweet Cannon, whom I will miss terribly when he goes to first grade next year, built this Lego set completely by himself! 

Things That Make Me Really Happy

Alice & Chloe at ward choir practice. 

(I was released on Sunday - replaced by Brother Alan Hastings, about whom I am SOOOO excited. He is going to be so incredible). 

These two helped sing the children's part in the last number I'll lead- "All Creatures of our God and King" for Thanksgiving.  Their voices, Lily's voice, the other children's voices. Gracious, it's beautiful. 

Lily had a tummy ache and when I went to tuck her in, I found her asleep with  Cannon's minion- he had lovingly given it to her for comfort when she wasn't feeling well. What a sugar boy. 

While I was at it, I took pictures of my other darlings asleep. What is it about sleeping children?  They are precious. I didn't dare sneak in on Henry to snap a picture of him. 

I did snap a picture of sleeping Charlie--- because I tripped over him in the hallway. 

Chloe and Alice again. Oh gosh, I love these two. Please be best friends forever. You'll be better young women for it. I love you!!

The finished product of that crafting session above.  Their turkey disguises for school. Chloe's words to Stanton when showing it to him, "I guess it's pretty obvious I would make mine a gymnast, huh?!"  Then that cute laugh face. 

For the record, I thought her disguise was very creative and well executed. 

Sweet Lily, who is LOVING tennis. LOVING. IT. 

Cannon was doing a page in his kindergarten summer bridge book. The instructions were to draw your favorite foods and drink. He drew a tomato, corn on the cob, red peppers, and orange juice. I mean, seriously. Is this kid for real???  He is and I'm so thankful he's mine. (Also, he has a hair trigger temper, lest I make him appear ready for translation). 

Turkey Tumble Meet, Nov 9, 2013

Chloe competed in the Academy West Turkey Tumble on Saturday. Her goal with this meet was to score a 31 All Around in order to advance to Level 5 without spending a season at Level 4. She rocked it!  She ended up with a 34.05 AA score. Her floor and vault were both in the low 9s and her beam was an 8.15. She has had MUCH better beam sets (ones that easily could have been low 9s) before, so that one was a disappointing score. Her bars were also a bummer. She only score a 7.8 on them. The judges were tough, but Chloe also knew every single mistake she made and where her deductions fell. She has done 8.7 bar routines in practice, so she knows she can improve there- especially as she adds the new skills for Level 5. 

She was very happy with the overall results of this meet, though, especially considering that she's only been working these routines for a little over a month. 

I didn't get the video of her bars, darn it. 

Erg. Can't post videos from my phone. 

On a side note, and the most important part of the whole experience, in my opinion, Chloe's teammates didn't have quite as successful a meet at she did. Beth, the darling brunette there, barely edged out a 31.957 to move up. Ellie, however, missed it by 4/10 of a point, getting a 30.575 AA. It was so heartbreaking for everyone. 

As we were leaving to say goodbye, Chloe took off all of her medals from the awards ceremony, put them in her gym bag, and only then went to give Ellie a hug. Her sensitivity to the situation and the struggle that Ellie was having was so meaningful to me. She is becoming a Christ-like young lady in so many ways. How we love her.