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.