Day with the In-Laws...

Our Daughter & Son-in-Law invited us to their home a few Saturdays ago...
along with his parents.  

The guys went golfing...no one took pictures, can you believe that?!  

And the women stayed home and CrAfTeD ALL DaY!!!

While the guys were gone...we had three sewing machines humming 

and 2 mommas & 1 momma-to-be chatting up a storm!

Lo worked on burp cloths,
 Paula made bibs and I worked on a hooded bath towel.

 The men had a successful day of golf...not sure if that meant golf was good, 

or the fellowship...but I'm sure they had fun!

Then it was time for some presents...Lauren's 25th b-day was the week before,
but none of has had gotten to see her then.
John's mom made this for her...the jar & cracked marbles were from
John's Grandma Walter who died in a car accident last summer.

His mom put a glass in the middle of the container to hold the candle and 

surrounded it with marbles that his grandma had cracked years before.

I had never seen cracked marbles before, I have looked it up on the internet

and will be creating something with them soon!

Such a clever idea for a gift!

And filled with memories of a wonderful woman!

John's mom made this baby quilt from fabric that his

 Grandmother had in her stash.

Time to clean up the sewing and get ready for lunch.

With both dads there, let's just say there was a little supervision!  

He didn't need it though, chicken was wonderful!!!

Here's the whole gang...

Don't worry, we aren't done crafting!  After we cleared the dishes, 

John's mom brought out a quilt made with pictures that had been stitched

 by Grandma Bennett.  These pictures had hung in John's bedroom

when he was a little boy.  I think the fabric was from Grandma Walter's stash also.

We all got to tie the quilt, even the Dad & Grandpas!!

After this, the guys made a quick exit to Menard's.

Wonder if they thought a sewing lesson was next???

Lauren's turn...

These are the hands that cared for John growing up and 

crafted many things for Jelly Bean with Love!

These are the hands that will soon care for Jelly Bean.

She's gonna be a great mom!! 

Lauren left me one to do, actually we had to rip one of hers out so I could do one.

She really got into it!  I LoVe seeing her get into sewing and cooking.

Two things she wasn't all that interested in when she was a teenager.

Now, we have so much fun working on crafts together.

There is my stitch, right above Humpty's head!
***Edited - This is Hey Diddle, Diddle...so it's Diddle's head!***

The quilt that 3 generations made!  And in-laws too!!

Here is the hooded bath towel that I made.

The kids each had one when they were little.  I think my cousin made Lauren's.

I have kept & used that tattered towel as a pattern every since.

They are great towels, but so big.  So Paula & I decided

to try to make an infant sized bath towel.

We took a regular size bath towel, cut it in two then used

a wash cloth folded in half to make the hood.

Paula had a great idea to use bias tape to cover two edges of the towel.

We embellished the washcloth with ribbon.

Two infant towels out of one bath towel!

I also embellished 2 hand towels with ribbon.

Bibs made by Grandma Paula...that woman can do some damage 

with bias tape!  She was much more comfortable (& fast) than I was with it.

She said she had been using it since she was 8 I believe!

Burp cloths made by Lauren & Paula.

We had a fun & productive day!

It was such a fun day!  I got to thinking about our day, how unusual it is to spend a 

whole day with the in-laws.  It wasn't a holiday, birthday...just a 'fun' day!

John & Lauren are very blessed and so are the rest of us.

How often does it happen that when two people marry

 the in-laws LiKe to spend time with each other...

and not just during the wedding prep.

I not only gained a son-in-law when Lauren got married...

I feel like we all gained some extended family too!

And the best part is...no jealousy or competition!

Just two sets of parents loving their kids!

And each other's kid!

We saw this cute bunting in a baby store downtown...it said it all!!

We were all tired after the full day and headed for home & our beds!

Thanks for the wonderful idea John & Lauren!!
Was good to spend time with you, Dan & Paula!!
We had a great day!!
Can't wait for Jelly Bean to join the party!