Story Time

I've had a bunch of different reactions to the fact we have two grown daughters and their families living with us. I've had the, "Oh, you are so blessed to have so many together like that!" all the way to, "I'd never let my kids move back in, you're nuts!" 

Honestly, things range drastically day to day. We have really sweet moments like this.

DH is reading four of the five grandkids living here a story. It was really sweet, and quiet for a few minutes.

Some days are more like this...

Overall, I'm happy things have worked as well as they have, and I know this situation isn't forever. 

I think the thing that's been most difficult is finding time for DH and I to spend quality time together. He's been working a lot, I'm being pulled in multiple directions, and when we are together, it's most likely a trip to the grocery store!

DH said he wanted a whole day with me, so Tuesday, we took a day trip, and had some real quality time together, with no one tagging along. We went to see the sandhill cranes that are wintering here in AZ. We went to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area south of Wilcox. There are thousands of cranes there, along with some snow geese, and multiple varieties of ducks.

I had no idea how noisy cranes could be, but in big groups like this, they make quite a racket! I heard the geese honking too, but the ducks were mostly quiet, just a bit of quacking as they took off in flight. DH took some great pics, but you are stuck with mine ;-) The birdwatchers there said there would be far more cranes there in February.

While we were out and about, we went though a bunch of little towns, cruised along the Mexican border for a bit, ate a fantastic lunch in Bisbee (dates filled with blue cheese and cinnamon roasted almonds, wrapped in bacon, AMAZING!) It was just a lovely day, with some much needed time to reconnect. 

On Wednesday, I finished the first project of 2017!

All those soft books I was working on are finished!!! I have one of each set aside for Mr. LJ, and the duplicates are in the gift cabinet. I try to keep baby gifts on hand at all times. 

Today is the twins birthday, I can hardly believe they are six years old! We already celebrated their birthday, and they are at school today anyway. I took the time to weed out some of their toys. It's time to pass some down the grandchild pipeline. Birthdays near Christmas can be pretty overwhelming, so regular cleaning out of toys they don't play with much is a must. 

Now I need to decide what to work on next! I have some placemats to make, but I wanted to piece batting scraps for those. I may just quilt the deadline quilt from 2016 that didn't get finished. If I finish it in January, that's not too bad, right?