Repair work, county fairs, and block parties

I have spent a large portion of the week fixing a quilt. Cynthia's adorable quilt. It was the first time I had ever worked with charm squares. The edges have been cut with pinking shears (or a machine that makes them look that way). I apparently didn't set my seams in far enough so when she washed the quilt some of the seams came apart! I've never had that happen before! I felt pretty bad about it. When I went out to see her (yes, it was all the way back in June) I took along supplies so I could fix it. I could tell that I needed to take it apart and reinforce a lot of the seams. Anyway, I had to wait to work on it until I had all the quilts done and off to the rightful owners in Denver. Wow, riping out seams is a b**ch! Had to be done. I am hoping to get it all fixed, put back together, washed, and shipped off next week. Hoping anyway. Then I can begin on my next project. Two quilts for a friends expected twins. One boy and one girl. I'm going to use the County Lines pattern again.
I took the midgets to the Monmouth County Fair on Thursday. Tiff and Chloe came with us. It was fun just like last year. I failed to take along my camera but Tiff had hers. If she passes along any cute pictures I'll share them. I think fairs are a fantastic way for you and your money to part ways. Everyone eats, you let the kids go on a few rides, and you have to get a little treat since you are after all at a fair. Hannah got cotton candy, Simon got funnel cake, and I got a root beer float. Ok, I bought some kettle corn to take home with us. That stuff is so good! The kids also got to go to the petting zoo. It was neat to watch Chloe and Seth enjoying it so much. Last year they had no clue what was going on since they were such little babies. Chloe was quacking at the ducks. It was very cute.

Today we are going to Tiff and John's block party. I think it will be more like a big BBQ but I like hanging out with friends and BBQing. It should be fun.

I better go get ready! Hope you all have great weekends.

Picnic and Quilts

We had a pretty good time last Saturday at the company picnic. Ok, Dan would have had a better time if he hadn't gotten a headache but otherwise it was fun. The kids are big enough now that they can run around and go to all the little rides and games with trips back to check in from time to time. Our last stop on the way out was to get their faces painted. What cute little puppies I have!

I forgot to mention my lovely quilts I took to Denver made it safe and sound. I ended up having to take them on the plane because I didn't get them done until the day before we left and I didn't want to pay for next day air to ship them. So, I stroked the bag and told them to not get lost on the way and checked the bag! Gasp.

The quilts were all well received. (I haven't heard from Brian and Rhea but I think they'll like theirs.) Ben and Susan love their huge quilt (It's actually to big for their bed! I am waiting for a picture of it because I forgot to take one. Oops.) Sheri loves her quilt too. My favorite part was giving Coni her quilt. She had no idea she was getting it. They never had a ceremony or a big party to mark their wedding but Ron and Coni are married. They quietly went to the court house and made it official a long time ago and for those of you who know them they have been a happy couple for many, many years. So, I decided to make them a small quilt. She gushed about how much she loved the quilt from her Ellen friend and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy. That is what gift giving is all about! Making someone else happy.

Here they are all ready to be packed up!

Here is a picture of Ben and Susan's quilt while I was still working on it. Seth was such a helpful little bugger to climb right in the middle of it!

Oh, I finished the latest Potter book. Don't worry I won't spoil it. It was a fantastic book!!!! I loved it, loved it, loved it. I hope Rowling will write more stories from the magical world she created.

Settled back in

I enjoyed my whirlwind trip to Denver. We got back in just fine yesterday but I never managed to get to the computer long enough to blog. I had a great time seeing all of our family and friends.

As of Friday the house in Denver is no longer ours!!!! Hurray!!! It was a bit of a snafu trying to get the closing done on Thursday because their loan info didn't come in until rather late in the day. Ben went back in on Friday and finished closing for us. Again, Hurray for Ben! If you know anyone who is looking to sell or buy in Denver just let me know and I'll send you his info.

Here are a few pictures of our trip...

Seth enjoying the music on the plane. It's very difficult to take a picture of someone sitting on your lap.

Hannah playing dress up with her cousin Makenna.

Seth conquering the cereal bowl at the Cherry Creek Mall.

Yummy ice cream on a hot day. Don't ya like the bit on Hannah's nose? Simon's chocolate beard is just fabulous.

Cousins- First, second, once removed... so many cousins! In case you care to know from the left- Sarah, Nick, Ashley, Hannah, Danielle, Romy, a happy Simon, and Seth's head because he wouldn't stand with the other kids while they played follow the leader.

Ah, a trip to the un-food capital of the world, McDonald's, with Cade and Aunt Linda before swimming and a movie. Seth hit his head on the floor within seconds of this picture being taken. He again didn't really want to be part of the picture. He'll ham it up for some pictures and then flat refuse to be put in a spot that he didn't pick. Darn kids. But hey, while we were in Denver he was able to share with many people his incredible talent of fit throwing. He is quite the champ. Aunt Vonnie got down on the floor and kicked her feet with him. Boy did that piss him off. Embrace toddlerhood or start dyeing your hair to cover the gray. Maybe they should send all moms home with a prescription for Valium when their sweet babies hit one.

I sucked at taking pictures on the trip. I forgot to get pictures with my brother (He's doing very well mom!), or any group family pictures for that matter like grandpa Jim with the kids. Next time, right. We are there so often too!

I miss all of you terribly and hope you'll come see us in our wonderful new home someday. Don't forget, we aren't all that far from NY!

Hot!

Well, it was only supposed to be in the 80's this week while I was here visiting in Denver. Boy were they liars! It's about 100! I am hiding in the basement where it is cool having some Jamba Juice. Hannah, Simon, and Cade are off at a movie with Aunt Linda so Seth and I are just hanging out. He is enjoying some of his favorite food right now, Gold Fish. I think he'd eat his weight in them daily if we'd let him. We have already had a busy, fun kid day. We had Mickey D's for lunch and went swimming. I knew Seth wouldn't let me sit and enjoy the movie so why waste the money.

As I was surfing the web visiting some of my favorite sites I thought I'd share a few things. Amy had posted on her blog a while back, Notes from the Trenches, and once I started reading it I really enjoyed it. Also I found this pro breastfeeding ad on a blog I frequent.

Excitingly we get to close on the house tomorrow!!! Yippy!!!! A year after we moved out we finally are done with it. Obviously the major flooding is the biggest delay in getting the house taken care of but a year! Seriously? Thankfully Ben got our house sold!

I'll share photos once I get home. We fly back on Friday.

Hello from Denver

We are back in the mile-hi city. We've done a lot since we arrived here on Friday. I got to have dinner with a wonderful friend, get my hair cut (Thanks Aunt Vonnie for making me a blond again!), went to a fun wedding in Evergreen that got rained out (had to move it inside), we had family pictures taken this morning, and we BBQ'd with some of the family this afternoon. Phew, it's a lot to cram into one weekend but Dan was only out here for the wedding. There is lots more to do this week!

I probably won't get back to the blog until we get back to Jersey.

Down the shore

Let me say this Jersey style, "We went down the shore."

We went to the beach this evening for our neighbor Maria's birthday party. Amazingly it was hot as all get out here in town but almost too cool to get in the water at the shore. I am a nervous wreck while my kids are in the water. All I can think of is a big wave knocking one of my kids down, pulling them under and then they'd be gone! Neurotic? Yes, but only a little. Thankfully there were many moms there. Nichole (she's 18) held Simon's hand, I held on tight to little Seth, and fearless Hannah had to continuously get yelled at to back up!

Seth actually liked the water which I think is impressive. The water temperature was probably in the 60's and it just rushes right over your legs. He'd gasp, smile, shake from being cold, and squirm to get back down if I attempted to pick him up.

I wish I had some pictures to share but I am also glad I didn't take my camera to get it all wet.

They had pizza delivered to the beach. Somehow I only ingested a bit of sand. Seth, well he ate a lot of sand.

There is sand everywhere! I tried to wipe the kids off before letting them in the car. It was in Seth's hair, even in his diaper. Simon let the other kids bury him so I knew he was hopelessly coated in it. Oh, there was sand on everything. We were all pretty darn cold too. Cool temperatures, wet swimsuits, plus a breeze equals cold people.

I sent them to the tub once we got home. I swept a pile of sand up off of the floor after Hannah and Simon showered. Once Seth was done with his bath I had to rinse the tub to get the sand to go down the drain. The best part is as I walk through the house I can find little areas that have sand deposited on them. ARGH!! I love the beach but I wish we could leave the sand there where it belongs.

Oh, we weren't cold anymore once we got home. :)

It's gonna be a hot one

We're looking at 96 today! I know that for those of you in CO you are shrugging and saying, "So, what." None the less, I am going to whine about how hot it already is and how hot it will be. WAH! Ok,I am better. It was already 80 when I got home from my walk this morning. I closed up all the windows. Batten down the hatches!!!

We had a great weekend. Saturday we went to Doorbrook Park for Marlena's birthday. There's a huge playground and a spray park. This is the same park where my kids have been taking their swim classes. One of the things that I actually like about being out here is all the neat parks and farms they have. Anyway, I didn't get a lot of pictures since my memory card disappeared and I was using the one that came with the camera. I knew it wouldn't hold a lot of images but it only held 8. Really, 8? Golly, isn't it nice of Canon to give you a good memory card to go with the nice camera.

I digress again... Marlena's party was lots of fun for all the kids, big and little. Misty has more pictures on her blog.
Yesterday Tiff and I went to the dangerous place... Ikea! Oh, I drool so much over all the cute stuff while I am there. I have been eyeballing a TV stand for some time now and usually it is out of stock which is very frustrating. Yesterday it was there. YES! I had to get it (and a coffee table to match). I'd like to get a couple of the book shelves that go with the Markor series.

Well, I have a lot to do today so I better get a move on. Seth is napping and I still haven't gotten a shower in.

Been a While

Where have I been? Busy, busy, busy.

Mom came for a visit on the 4th. We had a great time. The Raceway (they do horse racing there) has a little free thing on the 4th for the town where they have some bouncy castles, food vendors and booths selling stuff. It turned out to be pretty lame but what do you expect when it's free! The firework display they put on was fairly good. Since the Raceway is so close we were able to walk about a half block over to the field and watch them from there. Seth didn't seem bothered at all by the loud booms. He was bothered by the fact that I wouldn't put him down. They have no sense of safety: it's dark, you move fast and I've already lost one kid on the 4th of July!

Yesterday we attempted a trip to the beach even though it was cool and raining off and on. I don't think we were there for more than 10 minutes before the rain picked up again. Mom has some great pictures on her blog though. Of course, it's all sunny today and it's supposed to be in the mid 80's.

I have plenty to keep me busy over the next week before we go to Denver. I have two quilts to pick up today and I want to get them bound before we leave. I have officially completed Ben and Susan's quilt, label and all! I hope they like it. I realized I have 4 quilts to take back with me. I'll need an extra suitcase just for quilts! I am worried something could happen to them. I wonder if I should ship them or trust that they won't get damaged or stolen?