Before I start this post, let me give a big THANKS to all of you who have left comments on the Ucreate guest blog post and on the giveaway! I felt much better after seeing some of the comments. If you haven't entered the giveaway, don't forget to do so, you still have time!
On the day of the post, my kids didn't have school, so I put them to work and we all cleaned the house. Christopher washed the windows, Michael vacuumed and mopped... Rachel, age four will sometimes make things more complicated than actually being helpful, so I gave her baby wipes and asked her to wipe the walls and the baseboards. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about chemicals or things getting damaged. They all did a wonderful job!!! What was I doing? I was sitting in front of the TV and eating Bon-Bons... NO, I washed all of our bedding on top of the regular laundry (6 loads!!), and did more micro-cleaning that I usually don't have enough time to do.
A clean house feels soo good! The kids were so proud of their work, and after that we had a fun time together.
After they went to bed, I made special cards for each one of them. They are titled "Fourteen Reasons I Love You". I thought about their good qualities and wrote them down. I am going to give them the cards with some special treats on Valentine's day.
Of course I have one for Mr. Tea Rose Home too.
If you are allergic to quarkiness, I advise you to stop reading here. Because, I am sharing the fourteen reasons why I love him below.
1. He makes the best scrambled eggs
2. He is knowledgeable
3. He is smart
4. He can play with the kids like he is one of them
5. He is very involved with the kids education and activities
6. He is very loyal and caring (How many times have I been in the hospital and surgeries ever since we got married?)
7. He is optimistic
8. He still thinks I am attractive. His eyesight is fine, just for the record. (It doesn't matter what others think, his opinion is the only one that's important!)
9. ...and he treats me as his wife, rather than the mother of his children
10. He is such a hard worker, always providing us with a roof over our heads and food on the table and beyond.
11. He happens to like my cooking. Thanks.
12. He is very supportive of the things I am interested in.
13.He has been keeping the promises he made when we got married to make me smile everyday of my life. Even the hardest days he manages to do so, it is amazing.
14.He has a big heart. Because of him I can be myself and not worry about the tiny things. He keeps inspiring me to want to be a better person.
There is more, but I guess I will save them for next year. I love Valentine's day. It is the day of love, I think I am going to spend quality time with my family.
Do you have "fourteen reasons" for your loved ones? Once you start thinking about them, it makes you feel happy.
Have a Happy, Happy Valentine's day.
I have talked about the quilts I have made for Christpher and Michael. Today I will do the same with some quilts I made for Rachel.
I made this one long before I had Rachel. My friend saw a quilt like this at a quilt shop and described it to me. I used my imagination and designed it on paper, and kind of made it my own. My favorite part of this quilt is the muted colors I chose, instead of going with pastels. It makes it a unique baby quilt that way. I was hoping that, someday I would be able to have a little girl so that I could give this quilt to her.
I call this quilt "Seaside Rose Quilt". I was pregnant with Rachel at the time, and went to a local quilt shop. When I saw the beautiful line of Seaside Rose fabrics by Moda, I seriously got goose bumps!
I decided to name the quilt after the fabric line. I love this one.
The next one is a blanket more than a quilt. I used very soft minky; I just had to make a blanket out of it for her! I added pom-poms to add extra character to it. This is also one of my favorite blankets in the house. I love to cuddle in this blanket when I read fairy tales to Rachel; I feel extra girly.
The last quilt... yeah, I can't call it a quilt yet, because it is not done. I finished all the applique in the middle part and added borders. Then, I was supposed to do more applique around the borders. I don't know what happened. I have to confess that I haven't touched this quilt top for about 7 years. I started making this when I was pregnant with my second child, I was secretly hoping for a girl and kept calling it "Ashly quilt". I wanted to name my little girl Ashly for a long time.
Well, we found out that I was having another boy. So, I started working on some boys quilts after that. I thought I was putting away the Ashly quilt forever. Then, I was blessed with another baby. Funny thing is, after I found out that I was finally having a girl, the name Ashly started to fade away.
My husband and I felt strongly that we should name her "Rachel".
Rachel means "beautiful favored one" and her Japanese middle name is "Kokomi" which means "beautiful heart". We wanted her to be a beautiful person on the inside and out. So far, she is living up to her name. I can say this because I am her mom!
I love designing the quilts and it gives me so much joy, but the biggest reason why I keep doing this (I mean all the quilting and crafting) is I want my children to know how much I love them. When they use the quilts I made; it's just like I am giving them a big hug. Also, I want them to realize that having something they enjoy and are passionate about, will bless thier lives so much more than just going aimlessly through life.
I really hope that I can be there to help them to find their wings.
