Look Who's Here!

Mr. Raine! He's back on the blog! And he brought one of his ideas with him. You'll just have to wait and see.

Mercy to Martha: "Since I gave you this, you need to give me a hug."

That was an actual quote, and this is the actual hug.

Conrad finally gets his "lessons."

Hmm... let's see... what could I convince Emma to buy today?

(Out in the store.)

Emma, this book is about dinosaurs big enough to eat you!! Don't you want to find out more?!

Emma's not buying any of this.

They actually got Emma interested enough to look through a photography book. Photography? Who would have thought.

Faith planning mischief with the label printer.

Mischief with a capital M. (Enlarge to read label.)

By the way, this is the first giveaway in the history of this blog; I'm giving away the Raines' camera. Wonder what they'll say? ;-)

This is just what I needed.

Let me introduce you to the pros, veritable veteran quilters.

These pros know exactly which finger the thimble goes on.

(Please tell me you can hear the sarcasm.)

They know which is the best "thread" to use and which "scissors" cuts with one clean snip.

They know which are the finest, most precise tools for measuring a single stitch.

"Quilters never lie... they just go to pieces."

I tell you, they could not keep straight faces. I have more pictures like this than I do of anything else...

The satisfaction of a job well done.

Talk about a job well done... just get us started. (Just boasting.)

Pride goeth before a bawl.

Mrs. Raine - one of the few sensible people in our two families. I mean, really, she uses a needle when she quilts.

Mystery Sunday

The mystery of what Mr, Jackson is talking about.

The mystery of what Kara is looking at.

And the real mystery - the mystery of where the Claytons (and everybody else) are going for lunch.

"To get to our house, you go down Schoeneck Road, you turn left onto Indiantown Road, then you keep going until..."

Dad draws a blank on what road we live on.

Mr. Einwechter knows exactly how to get to his house. I mean, nobody ever forgets such a thing right?!

Mr. Phero: Just so you know, everybody, I'm the one who put this whole thing together.

You mean they gave you the Einwechters and the Mills?? No fair!

Somebody told everybody to bring enough dessert for everybody that was going to be at somebody's house so that nobody would have to go without. In the end, everybody's dessert ended up being enough for eighty somebodies. It's amazing how much of of everybody's eighty dessert servings were eaten by only thirty somebodies. In fact, it's scary.

Showing the girls the store... "We have that one at home."

Abigail, you would have to say that; it's what everybody says that comes in here.

"And we have this one and this one and..."

*hopeless sigh* See. I told you. Everybody says it.

Well, uh... Hi yourself, Philip.

Scott is initiated into the mysteries of CatchPhrase.

Let me guess, Josiah. It's a three-word phrase.

It's more than a book; it's also a game.

Conrad searches the unabridged dictionary of the English language for a word he doesn't know. It took a long time. :)

And the word that Conrad doesn't know (and I'm guessing you don't either) is... Discobolus.

Discobolus - now what could that be? Probably somebody who throws a discus or something...

Scott thinks; Dad drinks.

"Discobolus - a society of agnostics." That ought to trick them.

"What's an agnostic?" (Told you it would trick them.)

All the way back to the O's and still no word that Faith doesn't know?

Some definitions take a little bit of clarification:

*whispers* "This word is pronounced hy-po-con-dree-ack. Now make sure you say it right."

Dad and his honey.

And so ends the Dictionary Game. If you don't know the game, in short it involves everybody making up a definition for a word no one knows. It was all new to Scott and here are his thoughts on the evening:

"I learned that it's wise not to impignorate the stola of anyone who is suffering from lyssophobia, especially since they wouldn't be among the hoi polloi. I wouldn't want a discobolus to come and get me!"

Nope. I'm not going to translate that into vernacular English for you. You go look up those words. (This is my way of encouraging independent vocabulary studies. :-)

A Quilting Day at Monique's House

"Fabricologist Resource Center"... Now does that sound more impressive than "fabric stash"?

Sew much fabric, sew little time.

Don't look glum, girls. Remember, "ask not what your fabric can do for you, but what you can do for your fabric."

We can start by reading the instructions...

...measuring what we have...

...cutting more...

...and stitching only to rip again.

"Quilting with friends will keep you in stitches." ...And all I have to prove it is a blurry photo. Too bad.

"Blessed are the children of piecemakers, for they shall inherit the quilts."

That baby of yours is going to be one blessed baby, Monique!

Crying over the prospect of more ripping?

Or could it be Monique's onion?

Oh, no! It couldn't be. I love onions.

"Hang on a moment, I'll get you a fork." Monique made us a delicious luncheon replete with soup, sandwiches, cheese, crackers, hummus, fruit, cookies... in short, everything - except forks. :)

"Friendship is sewn with love and measured by kindness."

<><><> <><><> <><><>

Best Wishes for the New Year to all my readers,
The Editor