Hubbard Happenings: Quilting and Conference

It has been a good week. Last Wednesday we enjoyed being with the Cub Scouts for the Blue and Gold dinner. The boys decorated cakes with the theme of National Parks and did an awesome job. Spencer did a cake with Yellowstone and the mud pots. Neal helped him figure out a way to have real bubbles in his “mud” (which was Hershey’s syrup). Everyone was impressed he had bubbles in it. Spencer also earned some awards. He is very close to getting his Bear rank. He enjoys doing cub scouts. Last night he met with his den and did some wood working. His leaders said he did great with it and could tell he knew how to use a hammer.

Last Thursday we had the missionaries over for dinner. It was nice to have them here. In our conversation something came up with how to pronounce a word. Neal was teasing Caleb a little with tricky words. One of the Elders said we needed a dictionary for that. The kids got out our full sized unabridged Random House dictionary, it is huge, like you see at a library. We got it from Neal’s grandma, it was printed in the 1960’s but is still fun for the kids to look at. They set the dictionary by the Elder and he laughed and said something like “now that is a dictionary.” We enjoyed the evening with them.

I was able to borrow a quilting frame from a friend and neighbor and got it from her Friday. I set up my quilt and was ready to work on it while I listened to the church General Conference over the week end. I was able to do all the quilting during the week end. I am making a quilt to match the boys to have on the extra bed in their room. I have a simple block pattern, the squares are 10 inches and I just quilted around them. I used the same kind of batting I used before that is rated for quilting 10 inches apart. So it went pretty quickly just doing straight lines like that. I am glad I got it done in one week end because it took up a lot of space in the front room, mostly the frame with the long boards sticking out. Now I need to get it bound and then I can use it.

I enjoyed listening to conference. It was all uplifting to me. I loved all the messages about Jesus Christ, keeping our faith in difficult times and about God’s plan for us. The kids did well being quiet and listening to a lot of it too. It is nice we can watch it in our home.

Saturday afternoon, between sessions of conference, Ruth and I went shoe shopping. We ended up going to the mall and found what she was looking for. She wanted to buy a new pair of black canvas Converse. She was happy that we found them, in black, in her size. As we left the store I asked her if it was worth taking care of the chickens. She smiled and was happy to have bought the shoes. I am glad that she has earned money and can buy something she wanted. While we were out she also had fun trying on a skirt and looking at dresses at a store. She likes clothing and wants to look nice.

It was a pretty afternoon after the rain stopped. The boys had fun listening to their yells echoing in the open space.

Monday evening Andrew prepared a game for our family night. He had carefully counted out and bundled 20 slat blocks for each of us to use. Then he challenged us to build the tallest tower we could. We all enjoyed the activity. I thought it was a fun game. I decided to use it for Activity Days last night. I related it to President Monson’s talk from conference about reading the Book of Mormon and building our testimonies of the gospel of Christ. We reviewed his talk and then I let the girls play with blocks. They had a great time. I am always happy when I teach and they kids enjoy the time there.

Yesterday I got a hair cut. I have been thinking about doing something different for awhile. I did it. I had her cut it shorter, yet long enough that I can still pull it back. She gave me layers too. I like the way it turned out. Caleb was mad about me cutting it. After school when he saw me he threw up his hands and then hit his legs and yelled out “You cut your hair! I told you not to do it. Oh, I am having such a bad day.” He was in tears as he told me his bad day of having someone put some plant material down his shirt at recess and that I would cut my hair. He said how much he loves my hair and liked it long. I sat with him and talked until he calmed down. Even though he said I looked silly he decided it was okay that I changed my hair. It was really quiet funny that he was so effected by it. I wanted to get a picture of it and so I tried doing a “selfie” with the ipad camera. The picture turned out okay.

Today we have some sun shine. We have had some cooler weather and rain. It is nice to have the sun out. My flowers are blooming and it is a pretty time of year. Caleb also lost another tooth. He was happy that it came out. Now he has a big hole that he can stick things through. He likes eating craisins and said he can push one through his hole without opening his jaw. Caleb also did well with his first round of testing for the gifted program. He did well enough that he will have further testing. I am hopeful that he will get into the all day program.

Saturday evening Ruth had fun going to a birthday party for her friend Katie. They ate pizza, played games and watched a movie. I am thankful she has good friends.