It's been a busy day. We started out early so that we could get Kris to the airport before we took Owen to school. As I'm getting the boys dressed Kris yelled up the stairs to tell me that there is ice on The Stones River Bridge on I-40 and traffic is backed up past Mt. Juliet Rd. For those of you who are not from Nashville...that just means we can't get to the airport in time. In all of the hurry that followed, I stripped Ivan's bed (he wet his bed again), dressed the boys, grabbed my glasses, got coats and shoes for the boys, a couple diapers for Aron, made Ivan go to the bathroom, burned breakfast and remembered everything. We took another route to the airport but eventually abandoned that because it seemed to be the popular alternative and we were inching our way to being late. We took a few back roads, got on the interstate right after the offending bridge and got to the airport right on time. I got Owen to school early, which was good because though I remembered everything, I did not grab the correct coat for the cold weather. A denim jacket would not be enough for outdoor play which the clear day would surely afford his class. We ran home, made another potty stop for Ivan and returned with the right coat.

So the morning was a marathon and I didn't even tell you about the stop at the grocery store and the fabric store. Good stuff. Kris e-mailed and let me know that he had arrived safely. The flight arrived 45 minutes early and then he had to sit at the rental car place for 2 hours. Grrr. He is in Southern California for the week so I expect if he calls tonight it will be pretty late. He and the guys he is with have about three weeks worth of work to do in 4 days. So I'm not expecting a lot of communication. I hope he can at least have a little time to relax and enjoy the climate out there.

All three boys took naps today and I started in a little sewing project that's been brewing in my noggin for a little while. It turned out better than I expected but it still isn't what I was imagining. She is hanging her head a little too much and maybe needs to be a little fatter at the bottom. Owen thinks she needs eyes too but I'm not so sure. He is of course worried that she won't be able to see without them. I'm going to tweak it a bit and see if I can bring the picture in my brain to life. I have already adjusted the lines of my pattern but have not cut anything yet. I'll have to find some more scraps. Maybe pink this time.

I purchased some really cute fabric to make this from, but what I used today was some older stuff from my fabric stash. I didn't want to make my mistakes on the good fabric. I worked for about an hour on a pattern and then started cutting and piecing until I made this:

When it was almost done, Owen was trying to help me and wanted to name the little bunny. I hadn't thought of doing that but once I had placed the final stitches in the buttons on her ears I realized something.

The flowery calico on the outside of the bunny is from the scraps that Reubmommy gave to me a few years ago. And the buttons on the ears were from the drawer full of sewing odds and ends in my Grandma Katie's treadle sewing machine cabinet. So with little tidbits of fun representing both my grandmas I had to name her after them. Mattie (after Reubmommy) and Kate (after Grandma Katie).

All bunnies following will be Mattie Kate bunnies...in case you are wondering.

And since I'm putting up a few pictures I thought I'd include this little indulgence that happened after Christy posted a toffee recipe on her blog. Naughty, naughty, naughty. Seriously delicious, and not nearly difficult enough to keep me from doing it again. I added some almond extract as you can see, and sprinkled half of the batch with almond slices. I liked it better without the almonds on top, but Kris liked the almonds.

And this has been my favorite thing of late. Kris' mom gave me a much needed tea kettle for Christmas. It is robin's egg blue and just so pretty. I have been making tea again and enjoying this Winter Time tea Kristy gave to me. Winter is much, much warmer with a cup of tea in your hand.