Fabric, Books, and My New Stroller

 I ordered some new fabric.  I got an email from Connecting Threads not to long back and they were advertising a new line called Bookish by Jenni Calo.  Immediately I knew it would be the perfect fabric to use to make a cover for my new Nook.  So I ordered some :)  Taking pictures of my fabric is unfortunately the only fabric related thing I got done today.  I had planned to work on my daughter's quilt all day, but she worked all day (at two different jobs) with only enough time between to meet us for lunch.  My husband was supposed to take the boys fishing so I could focus on the quilt, but it was rainy this morning, so he suggested we go to some yard sales instead.  (Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Ha).  Anyway, by the time we had eaten lunch, we were all tired and took naps.  Then it was nice and my husband decided to go fishing ... but only wanted to take the 8 year old because of where he was going.  So I stayed home with the little boys and read books and played outside, and eventually took them to the park.  When the 3 year old realized it was just the two of us (while the baby slept) he became pretty needy - wanting to sit on my lap and have me read to him, so I figured that was more important anyway ;)

 Speaking of reading, here are a few things I've been reading lately.  This Cloth and Comfort book is just a little book with pictures of old quilts and sewing related items, along with quotes from women's dairies mentioning sewing and such.  It's pretty interesting and a quick read.

 This is one of the pictures in the book which really inspired me.  It's a "sewing journal" a lady kept - with fabric pages and bits of fabric cut into different shapes and sewn in, with writing next to it telling what was made and when.  Pretty cool.  I may just have to do that.  I have a craft photo book that I paste pictures into and write about what was made, but not the fabric itself.  Pretty cool idea.

The Power of Less is another book I've been reading.  I'm going through it pretty quickly because it's a lot of the same concepts I just learned in Time Management from the Inside Out.  The difference being that he advocates eliminating as much in your schedule and in your life as possible, in order to focus more on the things that are truly important, and therefore be able to do amazing things in those important areas.  Good concepts, though I don't agree with everything he says.

 When I was reading to the three year old, he had me read a book of nursery rhymes.  Let me just tell you, you know you've been misusing your kitchen utensils when your three year old sees a rolling pin and calls it a "cooking hammer."

 So I mentioned that my husband and the eight year old went fishing this evening.  They only came home with one little rainbow trout - quite a bit smaller than the fish he's been catching lately.  But he overheard some fishermen on a boat talking about all the monsters they've been catching lately, so I imagine he'll be getting the boat out pretty soon.

 While the guys were out fishing, and after the baby woke up from his nap, I took the two youngest to the park.  Actually we walked all over the place before ending up at the park.  There was a moose there, which I would have taken a picture of for you, but I was in the middle of a conversation with a Mom I had just met and we were having a good time.

 I finally got a chance to try out my new double stroller.  I love this thing!  Both seats can face either way, and they both have leg rests and umbrellas.  They can lay back or sit up straight, and the foot rests can also lay flat of hang down.  There is a safety bar, which I found works great for the three year old, but is right in the line of sight (and unnecessary) for the baby.  There is a ton of storage space underneath, a place to hang your diaper bag off the handle bars if you choose to, two cup holders, and a little compartment for my phone.

 Of course on our walks we always have to stop for the three year old to throw rocks into the stream from off the walking bridge.

It's amazing what a boy will do to get the exact rock he wants...

 All just to watch them splash into the water.

 We finally got him loaded up to head home.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the front seat is lower than the back seat - so they can both see well :)

I turned the baby's seat around for the ride home so the sun wouldn't be in his face.  I was able to do that without unloading him, but I don't imagine I could have done that with the three year old.  Anyway, if you're considering a stroller like this, I highly recommend it.

Stealth Mode ... or not

 So I got to thinking the other day that I better get to work on my daughter's quilt so she'll have it to take to college.  It kind of hit me like a ton of bricks when she bought her plane ticket for the first part of August, that that's only two short months away... and I still have to find someone to do the long arm quilting in that amount of time too!  I've never had someone quilt for me, but this is a really special quilt and I want it to be just right.  I also got to thinking that I could secretly finish this project while she is at work, take it with me to Colorado when I go to visit my Mom, and have it done there in time to get it back before she flies out.  But that would mean I have roughly three weeks to finish this quilt top.  And I didn't even have all the pieces cut out.

 So while she was at work yesterday, I got everything out and did a bunch of figuring, and came up with how many pieces I would need to cut (two thirds of the pieces are already cut - I just had to do the triangles.)  I even neatly packed up everything before she would be home, trying to be all stealth-like.  Then I got it all out again early this morning - her day off, when I knew she'd want to sleep in - and finished all the cutting.  I had even contacted a quilter in Colorado to arrange to bring it in. 

But then... this morning she gets up (after I had again hidden everything) and tells me she wants to help me with the quilt because she really wants to have it for college.  So I had to confess that I'm already working on it.  I should have known that she would ask about it.  But it's all good.  She's excited, and now she gets some input on the quilting design.  So tomorrow, I'm going to pawn the boys off on their dad... er... I mean, let the boys go fishing, while I get some serious sewing done. :)  It's all good :)

Speaking of the boys, they were into playing football this morning ... and being goofy, which is completely normal - ha. 

(I'm not sure how he managed to turn his head completely around in the helmet, or why, for that matter...)

It was a good Friday.  We picked up prime rib for dinner and watched a few episodes from season one of Psych, and enjoyed the last day off my daughter will have in awhile.  Tomorrow she starts a second job.  We're not going to see much of her this summer :( but at least she's saving up money for college, so things will go smoother when she gets into her classes.

Lots of New Tricks & More Family Get Together Photos

 The baby has been learning all sorts of new tricks.  He's feeding himself with his fingers now.  Just a couple days ago he would pick stuff up but not put it into his mouth (well, at least that's what he did with food.)  Now he can make a total mess all on his own - ha.  He has also figured out how to hold his own bottle.  He was refusing to even attempt to before.  Then one day I sat the bottle down on his tray and he picked it up to drink.  He wasn't getting anything out of it because he hadn't tipped it up, so I reached over to show him how to tip it up.  He immediately let go of the bottle and put both hands behind his head ... the pose he assumes when I hold him and feed him.  LOL.  So I sat him on the floor and handed the bottle back to him, and he figured it out :)
 

 Then there's this fancy trick.  He is up on his toes and hands - he does "plank" a lot, but this is more like a crawl without using knees.  He hasn't figured out how to move like this yet, but we're close.  He also gets up on his knees occasionally.

 He's mastered rolling and spinning around, so he can get pretty much anywhere.  He still gets frustrated because he ends up going backwards most of the time, but he's getting around much better now.

 He found the bookshelf the other day.  This is what I call raising readers - my kids love books, and it starts at a young age :)

 He wore himself out.  He had been so active, crawling around on the floor, then in an instant I looked over to see him like this. :)

(This part will only make sense to you if you know how to play pinochle :)

One of the games we played with Grandpa (which we always play when he comes) is pinochle - always double deck.  This time we were playing pass three cards - (the winning bidder and their partner get to pass three cards back and forth.)  This was my hand in one of the rounds.  Now which suit to call as trump?  If I called hearts, and my partner had the other ace, we would have 100 points meld.  If I called spades, I had a chance at a double run, worth 150 points.  If I called clubs, I had a chance at double aces around, which is worth 100, plus I was already holding all four jacks, worth 40 points.  I ended up calling clubs because I figured it was more likely he would have the ace of clubs, and I passed him my king and queen of spades and the jack of diamonds, which, combined with what he had, gave us a double pinochle (30 points).  He also happened to be holding a double marriage in clubs, which was another 30 points.  We ended up melding over 200 points!

 While we were playing cards, my daughter was messing around with the camera.

 I won't show you the picture she took of me.

 We had a big fish fry too - with my new favorite recipe of hushpuppies (which is all the three year old ate - but he had more of them than any of the rest of us.  These were the fish we have been catching in the last week or so.  I had frozen them and planned to serve them when everyone was here but forgot to get them out before my sister's family left.  (I'm sure she didn't mind though since she's not a big fan of fish :)  We sure enjoyed it though, and then followed it up with the traditional dessert we have when Grandpa is here - rootbeer floats!

 Thursday morning was Grandpa's last day in town, so my daughter and the three year old woke up early (sort-of) to go to breakfast with them.  The eight year old was already there.  He spent the last two nights with Grandpa at the hotel.

 Grandpa wanted to get a picture of the three year old in his cowboy hat, but he wasn't cooperating so we had to trick him.  He was pretty upset when Grandpa went to leave.  He ran to the door and blocked it, then begged Grandpa to stay.  After Grandpa left he thought he was going somewhere, so I had my daughter take him for a little drive.  Then he was fine.

 These next few pictures are ones I had forgotten I had - taken with a phone camera so I didn't have them in the same folder.  The picture above is our baby taking a bath in the hotel sink after swimming.  It was just the perfect size - he couldn't tip over, and it was shoulder deep and the faucet detached with a sprayer hose on the end for a little baby shower.  What a great thing to have for bathing babies!  This was in a bar area near the door, so he took his little bath while my sister bathed his little cousin in the tub.

 We took Grandpa out fishing, hoping he could catch some whoppers like we've been doing lately.  But the water was higher, and the rocks more dangerous, and it was hard to fish without losing a lure.  No fish, but we had a nice evening at the lake.

 It was about dark by the time we left, so we had the baby dressed warm.  Like his new hat?  Got that at a garage sale.

 I forgot to take a blanket along for him to sit on, so I put my extra coat down for him.  Now I need to wash it though, because he spit up on it.  lol.

 See how high the water is?  Those rocks they're standing on are the ones we were able to walk out to a week or so ago.  My husband and eight year old walked out on that log to get to the rocks.  My husband slipped once and stepped off into the water, but the eight year old made it all the way out and back without getting wet.  It looks more dangerous than it was.  The water under the log is just a foot or two deep.

 My three year old sure enjoyed playing with his uncle.  He's still talking about him.

 My little niece was trying to figure out the mirror in the hotel. The whole closet door is a mirror, so she could really get a good look at herself.

 We joined them at the hotel for an early breakfast before church Sunday. 

 The eight year old convinced his uncle to go to the park with him.  He got some great pictures from his phone.

Looks much more dangerous from this angle!

 I think my brother in law ought to consider a career in photography - he has a great eye for getting cool shots.

 Oh yeah, and a great youthful attitude.  Maybe daycare is the job for him lol.  Those are his legs.  He was riding the fire truck while my son drove. :)

Then when they got home, the eight year old snookered his uncle into playing Tetris Link.  It was a great weekend!