Labor Day Weekend-The Parade

Little Man was so excited about the Labor Day parade that he literally hardly slept Sunday night. It could have been a recipe for disaster, but thankfully he had four grandparents eager to help entertain him, so we managed to get through with the smallest amount of chaos possible.

Eagerly waiting for the parade.

The fire trucks and horses seemed to be, aside from the candy, Little Man's favorite parts of the parade. (See the four windows directly above and just to the left and right of the fire truck's siren? They're some of the windows to the apartment that was our first home as newly-weds.)

Representatives of our church's music program formed a band which played on a float all along the parade route. Benjamin did a fabulous job leading.

I also played on the float (yes, that's me behind the microphone), fulfilling one of my long-cherished childhood dreams of being in a parade. It was just as fun as I thought it would be!

baby quilts

As my post-boys'-bedtime evening began last night, I did not plan on quilting. After all, I'm supposed to be taking it extra easy these days as I try to conquer a pesky cold that has been tenaciously hanging on for the last three weeks or so. However, the weather is rainy and autumnal--perfect for quilting. And as the evening progressed I found myself backing, binding and quilting first one than the other of the two baby boy quilt tops that had been pieced together from flannel scraps last spring. It only took about an hour and a half, and I was sitting down for most of the time, so it counts as resting, right? : )

This is Benjamin's favorite of the two. I can see why because the colors are more cohesive and the quilt as a whole is less busy.

I love the little truck, train, and excavator print. It's very boyish in a cutesy way. I thought the firmly masculine dark blue and brown plaid worked unexpectedly well in the middle of the pale blue gingham and cutesy trucks.

I might actually like this second quilt better. It is busier and the colors are less nicely matched, but the light-dark pattern is better preserved, and some of the fabrics in it were favorites in the past. Perhaps its very scrappy-ness is what I find endearing.

(As a side note, the more I do free motion stippling the more I like it. My stitches are becoming more and more even and hardly pulling in the back. Plus it is quick to do and adds such a nice crinkly texture to the quilt.)

One of these quilts is going to be given to friends who are having a little boy this winter. They are moving out of town at the end of this month, though, so that's why I'm working on their quilt now. The other quilt will be tucked away for future gift giving. I still haven't decided which one is going to be which, though. Ah, decisions, decisions...

Labor Day Weekend-My Fair Ribbons

As I mentioned in my previous post, I entered quite a few of my projects in the fair this year. I was pleased with how well I did.

The judges awarded my mixed-up-but-not-crazy wall hanging quilt the judges' choice fabric art prize which meant that it won a rosette and $10 prize money. It won a blue ribbon and a purple ribbon too, so they must have really liked it!

I also got purple ribbons for Benjamin's Fathers' Day handprint embroidery gift and for the set of two duck baby bibs that I entered.

My refashioned formal, original Elizabeth bag, mixed media shadow box, calligraphy cards, cup calligraphy, handmade soap, white peach jam, and pluot jam all earned blue ribbons.

The Irish flag quilt, happy accident quilt, free motion quilted baby girl quilt, Little Man's blue apron, Love Never Fails calligraphy, seashell necklace, and apple butter were awarded red ribbons.

My orange and blue tote bag, Brother's treasure bag and lunch set (similar to these), peaches, and tomato soup won white ribbons.

I don't think the judges knew what they were talking about with the tomato soup since it wasn't even opened and tasted, but other than that, I'm pretty pleased with how I did and hope to do well again next year!

Labor Day Weekend-The Fair

Labor Day Weekend in our town is named "Montana's biggest weekend" for good reason. We were crazy-busy all weekend, and I don't think we participated in half of the things that were going on! One thing, however, that we make a point of enjoying every year is the county fair.

This year I entered a sampling of the last two years' projects. (I didn't enter anything last year because Brother had just been born, and I was busy enough trying to get enough sleep without adding the pressure of preparing things to enter in the fair.) Also, Benjamin and I had a date night at the fair. We rode the ferris wheel, chatted with acquaintances, and looked at displays. Benjamin even spontaneously entered the town-wide karaoke contest (he was a finalist though he didn't win). And of course we took the little boys to see all the animals, eat kettle corn and free ice cream bars, and watch the cowboys and cowgirls compete at team branding (at least I think that's what it was).

I was too busy enjoying the sight and sounds and keeping track of my little guys to take very many photos, but I did get a few. Here are the best:

We happened to be admiring the sheep while one of the 4-H-ers was feeding her animals. She kindly let Little Man help feed the sheep. Both Little Man as well as the sheep were pretty pleased with the arrangement.

Little Man loved the rabbits (last week a rabbit was the first pet he ever requested). Grandma was so nice to lift him up so that he could see better.

Brother was a little more hesitant about approaching the animals, but he did enjoy seeing them. This little goat seemed to think that Brother's stroller would be an enjoyable lunch.

Tuesday Menu

Hello! I hope that you had a fabulous three day weekend! We had a very fun but very busy weekend and are having a bit of a hard time getting back into gear today. Yesterday we had hamburgers, sausages, pasta salad, salad, and chips for dinner followed by homemade cheesecake for dessert. It was delicious! Here is what I'm planning on cooking the rest of the week:

T-beef burritos (using left over steak)

W-spaghetti and triple batch of meatballs (didn't get to it last week)

Th-Brazilian-style chicken kabobs, rice, and steamed vegetables

F-leftovers or frozen pizza and salad

What are you making this week?

moments and milestones (late because of a full weekend)

Little Man has began thanking me enthusiastically without any prompting for food that I make. It's so rewarding. : )

Little Man found a puzzle of the different parts of the brain at his grandparents' house.

Little Man: "What's this?"

Me: "That's a diagram of a brain. [Little Man], you have a brain. Do you know where your brain is?"

Little Man: "On the porch."

While visiting the rabbit and poultry building at the fair this week, Little Man asked for a pet for the first time ever: "I like rabbits, Mama, can we get one?"

Little Man got to go on some carnival rides for the first time at the fair!

Little Man and Brother were sitting at the table. Little Man was singing and Brother was crying. Little Man looked over and Brother and said, annoyed: "Dude, I'm trying to sing a song."

We had a small family celebration of the boys' birthday while Benjamin's parents were visiting this weekend. Little Man enjoyed opening his presents: a toy doctor set, simple twelve piece jig saw puzzles, and a little ping-pong ball shooting gun. However, his favorite seemed to be the set of miniature tools Benjamin and I found for him. The look of speechless delight on his face after he opened it but before he managed to say, "A drill! I have my own drill!" was priceless. It's one of those moments I'm going to treasure for a long, long time.

[It seems that grandparents are much more indulgent when it comes to small boys and cameras than parents are.]

Brother is carefully saying "cahw" for car and loves jabbering on and on in babble only he (and maybe Little Man) understands.

Brother has been letting go of whatever is supporting him and taking 2-5 steps on his own before tumbling into crawling again.

He graduated from rear-facing car seats for front-facing car seats last week!

Brother seemed to like the fair animals but preferred them to keep their distance.

recent calligraphy

I have recently completed a couple of calligraphy projects and thought I'd show and tell. The first is a late birthday gift for a friend who is in the process of redecorating her kitchen in a coffee and coffee cup theme. I love how this little 5x7 piece turned out and hope she does too!

I think I will trade out the silver frame for a black one before I give it to her, though.

I loved drawing all the little cups and using my imagination to fill in unique details on each one!

My second recent calligraphy was another of my "Love Never Fails" calligraphies for a childhood friend who recently got married. I'm looking forward to getting it in the mail to her and her husband soon.
The only changes I made were the names (of course), the type of paper I used, and any small inconsistencies that are to be expected in hand made art.
The paper was a slightly translucent piece of almost-vellum that I found (I don't even remember where or when) and tucked away thinking it would be great for calligraphy. It proved to be a lovely writing surface just as I had hoped. I layered it over a royal blue scrapbook paper with off white patterns that just show through the top paper. I love the effect.

the finished mixed up but not crazy quilt

I did it! This year I finally finished my entirely hand sewn and embellished mixed-up-but-not-crazy quilt (pattern found in the quilt book Batiks and Beyond) in time to enter it in the county fair! I am very pleased with how it turned out though I still don't know where I'm going to hang it.

I had a very hard time getting the lighting right on this quilt. The fabric is in general so dark that the brighter colors in all of the photos are a little over exposed. I was in too big of a hurry to mess with my camera setting until they were just right, so you'll have to imagine richer, darker colors where the overly bright reds and oranges are and non-glaring whites where the laces are.

engagement photos

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking some engagement photos for one of my good friends and her fiancée. The combination of her abundance of artistic ideas, my excitement about taking "just a few more photos," and his patience and good humor (in spite of allergies) made for a long photoshoot and many great photos. They are an incredibly adorable and fun couple, and I thoroughly enjoyed the all time I spent capturing some memories with them. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Delayed Project Spring Clean: Boys' Room

Project Spring Clean went by the wayside after I was unwell for about a month and had a couple more months full of extenuating circumstances. By that time we were in the middle of remodeling the kitchen and it was pointless to try to clean because of the construction dust. However, I'm finally picking up this loose life-thread and continuing on with a much delayed Project Spring Clean.

Last week I tackled the boys' room. Little Man had been sleeping in the living room since sharing a room with an infant who woke up three times a night just wasn't working for him. The boys' sleep schedules are getting closer and closer to being the same, though, so it was time for him to move back.

Both boys have recently changed clothes sizes, so the clothes were already organized. All I had to do was a bit of dusting, hanging up already clean curtains (I should have ironed them too, but I was lazy), and rearranging the toys and beds.

No matter how many time I rearrange (which is frequently--the boys' room is the most rearranged room in the entire house) or how many clever new storage solutions I come up with, their room always seems so cluttered and shouts with a cacophony of colors. I think it's about as good as it's ever going to get right now, though, so I'm going to be content.

(Little Man was such a good help with lining up the shoes and picking up and sorting toys while I was cleaning their room. He's becoming such a good big boy helper!)