Strep throat!

I must have angered the gods again. I have strep throat for the first time in my life and OMG does this suck. ( My mom says I had strep in high school but I swear I had tonsillitis... I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.) Not only do I have my big half marathon on Sunday but Dan is out of town today and tomorrow. He was very sweet to me yesterday while I wallowed in misery on the couch all evening. He even offered to cancel his trip but I knew I wouldn't die... I just felt like it.

Seth and I went to the doctor today and he was so good. We had to wait for freakin' ever to see the doc but when you are sure you're sick and you already paid the co pay, you aren't leavin' till ya see the doctor! I started on the antibiotics and here's to hoping I feel better for Sundays loooong walk! Luckily the big kids have Theater Week so they are staying after school all week long for 2 extra hours to practice for the Friday performance. I think we'll be having Mickey D's for dinner tonight. I can fathom standing in the kitchen to cook anything up tonight.

On to happier things.

Simon and Hannah at their performances.

For all of Simon's belt tests so far Dan has held the board for him to break. This time it was my turn. I was worried that maybe I'd do it wrong or it might hurt but all my silly worries were just that, silly. He broke the board like a champ and I didn't sprain a wrist or break a nail. :) He did a great job.


Hannah was so cute tumbling around. I shouldn't say cute anymore about her since she is beginning to look so grown up. She is only 9 so I can still call her cute for a while.

She is an novice gymnast but she is learning and loves it. She is so good on the bars. My mom was there and she got some great pictures.


Once I am all better I'll get some quilting updates posted. I got my huge quilt back and I noticed a few areas that had tension issues. I am trying to decide whether or not I should make her fix it or if I should live with it. It isn't a show quilt and most people would never examine it so closely.

The art of juggling

Wow, a whole week since I posted last. Oops, sorry 'bout that. Time just gets away from you sometimes. I've been trying to remember what's been keeping me so busy and it turns out it's nothing to terribly exciting to tell ya the truth. But since you are so kind to check in on all of us I'll share whats been going on.

Hannah and I had a fun time together on Saturday. We had a bit of mommy daughter time and had ourselves a little pampering. We each had a manicure and a pedicure. It was so much fun.


I have my big half marathon coming up in less than 2 weeks. To prepare for it last weekend we walked 10.2 miles! I think I can handle the 13.1 miles on the day of the race. I am excited to do this. I've never participated in a marathon of any kind. I know walking it isn't all that challenging but you have to start somewhere, right. Maybe I can work into running. Maybe.

I've also worked a bit more on the last Pay It forward that I have to do. I am not going to share pictures of it until after it's recieved. The two remaining ladies don't know what is destined for them. Will it be the adorable pin cushion or the mysteriously unrevealed project.... hmmm....

Also, there is a big yard sale going on tomorrow that I have been trying to get stuff together for. I am amazed that there is always more stuff that we held on to for no reason and it needs to be gotten rid of. Where do these things come from and why do we still have them? This isn't the Great Depression where I need to keep everything that could possibly be reused. I should let it go to someone else who could use it and make room in my house. Maybe make a bit of money too!

What else? Ah, Simon is testing for another belt today (The novelty has worn off for me. I think they are handing the belts out just to get you to fork over more cash every 2 months.) and Hannah has a gymnastics recital tomorrow. Tomorrow will be so crazy. I don't understand why things always have to happen on the same day. Not only is the yard sale and the recital tomorrow but Simon has a birthday party to go to! AHHHH!

Parenting is actually the art of juggling.

And lastly, I got to go out last night with the MOMS Club. We went to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was my first time going there. It was very yummy yet very expensive. I had lots of fun though. I mean really, spending a day with friends, food, and chocolate, it is always going to be fun.

There you have it. More than you ever wanted to know about my week. :)

Fire

Did that get your attention? I have been waiting for a few days to finally get some pictures of our field trip this week. I forgot my camera! We went to a Firehouse. It was so much fun to watch the kids trying on the clothes and pretending to drive the truck. I even put on the big hat to try and convince Seth he wanted to do it but he just said no. The hat was pretty heavy.


Simon looked so cute in full gear!


Hannah mostly drove and pretended she was on her way to put out fires.


Seth, well, he adopted a big fire fighter. He drug the poor man around and made him help him on the truck. The fireman was very nice to Seth. (Sorry the picture is blurry. I didn't take it!)


We all had a great time. It was so fun to take the kids there.

Other than that, I haven't done to many fun and exciting things this week. The weather has been nice so I've spent quite a bit of time outside with the kids. Seth loves his new sand box. It is actually a pretty sweet deal because I can bring a book out and sit with him while he plays with his dump trucks in the sand.

I have made a bit of progress on my last pay it forward I have to do. Once I am done with it I'm going to make the baby quilt out of the Dandelion Girl fabrics I bought, do a quick quilt for Project Linus, and then on to the big king size quilt for my aunt. If I keep up this pace she'll get her quilt by her 20th wedding anniversary (she only got married about 2 years ago). I'm quick like that.

Tomorrow I get to be really exciting and go pick up composters for my mom and I. I live life on the edge, I know. Actually it'll be neat to have a compost bin. Hey, free dirt, right?

Paying it forward

I made another of my pay it forward gifts. Just one more to do!


Yes, this is some funky and unusual fabric. I chose the frogs for my friend because she just recently won her first law case and her clients were well, frogs.

To add to this gift of a reversible cooking apron, and to have a bit of fun with Hannah, we made pot holders last night.


I like helping her make things. It's hard not to step in and do it myself though. She won't get good at things if I do it for her...

I got one of my quilts back last week ahead of another one that I am waiting on. I hate waiting.


I threw the binding on it. This quilt just makes me happy. I can't explain why I like, I just do. Is it the colors? Mellow and ocean like. Probably.

Farm animals and the ocean

Two posts in one day? I can't help myself...

Today is just gorgeous! Tiff suggested we take the kids to Atlantic Farms again and let them see the animals. Um, ok. Sounds like fun to me!

The office was closed so we didn't have to pay, of course that meant we couldn't get food for the animals, but we were able to walk around and see them. The kids had a blast.


We were done walking around the farm and not quite ready for lunch so we drove a few minutes away to the ocean. A little running around on the beach and collecting sea shells is just what we needed. There was a little bench with a great view of the water where we ate our lunch. Also added for Seth's enjoyment a new house was being built near by too.


It was such a lovely way to spend the day. Ahhh.

Now the little man is wiped out and taking a nap. Maybe I can get some work done with some fabric. I am very good at ignoring the sink full of dishes in favor of playing with fabric. Oh, I got some pretty fabric in the mail yesterday to make a baby quilt with! It's so totally girly and cute.

Disney

Here are a few photos of the kids at Disney World. Of course, Simon has to make faces. He wouldn't be Simon if he didn't.

Sandbox fun

Saturday was a beautiful day. Sunny and in the low 60's. I finally went to Home Depot to get some sand for the new sandbox. The kids all played in it for hours. It will be so awesome to have this summer. Seth has recently found a love for tractors so digging in a sandbox is right up his alley. Anyway, I took quite a few pictures of them playing.

Dump trucks are fun in the sand.

Bury those toes.

Goofy grin. (He has the remnants of a tattoo on his check from his trip.)

She was intent on her work in the sand.

She's beautiful.

Damn my kids are cute.

After my walk this morning (I am doing a half marathon in a month! Yikes!) and a shower we made some banana bread muffins. Yummy! Seth helped me out. The big kids came in looked around and left... but still wanted to lick out the bowl. I let them have it but geez, they didn't earn it. I forgot to get pictures of the big kids licking the spatula.

My babies and another baby

Where do I begin. First off the kids are home safe. Their flight ended up coming in 3 hours later than originally scheduled but they got here and that's all that matters. I heard all day from Seth, "Hannah, airplane. Airplane, Hannah." Their little friends (the hermit crabs) managed to make it through security. Of course in Orlando yesterday, that isn't the only thing that made it through security. Yeah, some guy tried taking bomb making materials on a flight to Jamaica. Does my family attract weird things? Are we prone to being around strange happenings? Do I live in the danger zone? (Who's singing the Top Gun song right now?)

After dinner the doula that I back up called to tell me that two of her clients were in labor. Of course, I jumped at the chance to attend a birth. Well, one of her clients contractions didn't really get going but client A's did. Since we weren't sure what would happen with the other mama we both went with A and her husband J to the hospital. She wasn't a candidate for an epidural due to rods in her back so she had two options, labor naturally or have a c-section under general anesthesia. With the help of her fabulous husband and two wonderful doulas she did it naturally. Woo, hoo! It's never as easy as it sounds for the mama but she was great. (The other client took a shower and went to bed... still haven't heard if she had her baby or not yet.)

I got home at 6:40 am. I took a 30 minute nap and got up to get the kids ready for school. Once they were off to school I stuck Bob the Builder on the TV and managed to nap for about an hour through Seth demanding, "Mommy, up!" We took a shower and made a run to Costco. I knew he'd fall asleep on the way home and was hoping he'd take a good nap today. Luckily for me he slept for almost two hours. I got all the food put away and laid down for a while. Not long after we were up it was time to get the kids from school. Simon was out about on time and Hannah was late... no wait, she wasn't late after all. She had Chorus and once I realized that today was Wednesday I remembered the had Girl Scouts too. I have no brain on a normal amount of sleep, I think I become utterly useless on roughly 4 hours. Such is life.

I made spaghetti for dinner because it's easy and then we took Hannah to Gymnastics for her make up class. Thank god Simon didn't want to to to Tae Kwon Do today. I think I'd have pulled out all my hair.

I am tired. Hopefully I can get some good sleep tonight. It was worth missing sleep to see another beautiful baby come into this world though. It's such a powerful experience and I always feel blessed to be a part of it.

Pin cushion

I made a pin cushion! It's so stinkin' cute. I am not a great photographer but hopefully you get the idea. I am going to use this as one of my Pay It Forward gifts. I had a bit of a hard time with it because I am not used to curve piecing but obviously I got it done. :)

Today is our last day with only one kid. Seth and I haven't done anything supper exciting. We went to the park yesterday and he wanted Hannah. He asks for the kids from time to time. It's pretty adorable how much he loves his older siblings.

Hannah and Simon are having a great time with their grandparents. They spent two days hanging out on the beach and learning how to use a boogie board. Somehow they convinced Gramma they needed hermit crabs! For only once in my life and I hoping that TSA decides something can't be brought on a plane. I truly can see the kids dropping their little cages and spilling the contents all over the inside of the plane! AH!

They also got to spend yesterday at Disney World and they'll be there again today. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to them so I am not sure how their day went yesterday. I assume since the didn't call that they were having way to much fun.

Seth and I will go get them tomorrow. Since I am not anticipating any more hostage situations I think the pick up should be rather smooth, as long as the flight is on time.

Three and a half hours

Ok, so today was supposed to be all about my kids and their big solo flight to see grandma and grandpa in Florida but that turned out to be the mellow uneventful part of my day. You see, after I left the airport, proud to have not shed any tears mind you, I got stuck on a bridge. For 3:30 hours. Why, because of a hostage situation! I shit you not, a hostage situation. Some guy had a woman and a kid in an SUV and after being chased by the NJ cops he finally stopped on the Walt Whitman bridge, halting both directions of traffic. It honestly took me a few minutes to realize something was going on. At first I assumed traffic was just heavy on the bridge and then I realized there were no cars at all on the other side..... and then there were police officers walking on the bridge! Holy crap! I called Dan immediately to find out wtf was going on!!!! Helicopters were circling over head, Homeland security even showed up! As Tiff put it, it's like something out of a movie. Except in movies, they don't have the reality of needing to pee and being hungry!

Nothing but cars in front of me.

And nothing but cars behind me.

The white SUV is what's causing all this mess. I hope he likes jail.

Nosy people and many, many policeman.

After a long, long, long time it was over. The mom and kid were safe and the man was arrested, The best part was we all got to go home! Ok, first I had to hit a Service Center off the Turn Pike and grab a bite to eat and pee.

Unbelievable.

How often does one get to say, "Sorry, I was late, I got held up by a hostage situation."

Well, my wonderful kids made it safe and sound to Florida before I even left the bridge. They were calling me to see if I was ok. :) Here are a couple pictures from the airport.

Waiting for the plane to arrive.

Off they go!

Break time

Well, it's Spring Break this week and I haven't had to much of a break yet. I shouldn't complain, I have been able to sleep in a bit more. Thank you all for the compliments on my purse. I am going to use the No Diamonds in the Sky quilt pattern. (The quilt on the web site isn't all that pretty, sorry.)

So far we've had play dates with friends, a long walk with my mom, and packing to fill up our week. On Monday Hannah and Simon went over the their little friends house for a few hours and the next day after we went to the park in the morning their friends came to our house. While we were at the park some of the grounds keepers were working on a small drainage pipe and boy did that get Seth attention. They had a small tractor so Seth sat down and watched them work. When they shut off the tractor he said, "More." Heck, I even got out the snacks we sat there so long. Why is it that boys are fascinated with tractors?


Any hoo, today mom came over with Paul and after a quick bite to eat we went to explore the Monmouth Battlefield Park. It was so much fun. The kids got to run a muck. We headed for the homestead house and were rather disappointed when we got up close. The windows are all boarded up and the house is in disrepair. Such is life. It was a good walk though especially coming back up that big hill carrying Seth.





This evening has been spent packing up the big kids. They are leaving on an airplane to go meet up with Grandma Stella. They are going to Disney World! I was nervous at first but I am ok now. I am sure tomorrow as I sit there in the airport waiting for their flight to take off, without me, that I will get nervous. I know they will be in good hands once they get to Florida. They will have a fantastic time too. I am not sure how much of a break I'll get while they are gone. Without Sissy here, who will get up early with Seth?

Purse and more fabric

Do you remember when I bought some fabric to make a purse with? Yeah, it was almost a year ago. I finally broke out the cool fabrics and set to work. The pattern wasn't hard to follow. I had to re-read things a few times to make sure I was doing it right but I got it. I started working on it on Thursday and mostly finished it yesterday. I still need to hand stitch the opening closed. Oh, I didn't make the little scarf thing. I don't wear scarves at all so why make one.


Today I got to hang out with my mommy. We went to Starbucks first because what outing is complete without a Chai? Then we went to two different gardening stores for her sake. I felt like I was back in a Tack and Feed Shop in Colorado in one of them. Kinda nice actually. The other one was very nice too. The best part is how close they are to the quilt store! Of course, that was our next stop.

I think I spent about an hour pulling different bolts down, laying them out, tossing half of them aside, and then hunting for more that matched. My mom was very patient and helped a lot. Mostly, she didn't rush me even though I was befuddled and confused. I hate to be picky but the fabrics have to work together whether their for me or for someone else.

What cha think?

Once I was finally done at the quilt store we had a nice lunch close by.

It was a wonderful way to spend part of my day.

Time for a change

I hung up a different quilt in my dining room this week. I felt like I needed to change it to something more spring like. And what could be more spring like than a quilt with butterflies on it? This is an old quilt. I guess you could call it an antique. I never had it appraised or tried to get it dated. I bought it at an antique store while my mom and I were in Kansas for my great uncles funeral. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted. It's worn, ripped, and stained. I hope some one loved this quilt a lot. I always hope when I give someone a quilt that they use it and love it. I understand that a quilt can't last forever if it is used daily but then it gets no love just admiration.


Anyway, this quilt won't be up for to long. For one it clashes with the green on the walls and for another pink isn't one of my favorite colors. I just like it though. It makes me smile.

I am hoping this weekend to get a trip to the quilt store. I have to get some fabric. No, really. I don't just want some I need some. How else will I make a king size. Here is my inspiration to begin the search for fabric in the burgundy and forest green family... I hope she likes it...


Since dinner is almost done I better go. To leave on a good note I give you an adorable little boy.

Top done

I got another top pieced. Ah, the satisfaction of another quilt being completed. I still need to get the backing pieced though. That always feels like a chore. Tops are much more satisfying. I really don't think I should be called a quilter though. Maybe a piecer or a binder but I don't actually do much "quilting". I like hand quilting but it takes lots of time and I am impatient. I should do some hand quilting sometime soon.

My next project will be the pay it forward ones. I am not sure what I want to make. I could make table runners, wall hangings, or even cooking aprons. I am at a loss and waiting for inspiration to happen. Once I complete those I want to get crackin' on a long over due wedding quilt for one of my aunts. I am also hoping to get a lap size kid quilt done for a wonderful new blogger who participates in making blankets for Project Linus. How could you go wrong making quilts for sick kids in hospitals!?