travel

The last couple of weeks were a whirl

of spontaneous travel plans,

fighting the flu,

packing and organizing,

and travel.

For the first half of last week we went camping

in Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park.

We left home at 6:40 on Sunday morning

so that we could go to church with friends who live two hours away

before making our way into the park.

I drove the fully-packed van

while Benjamin enjoyed the trip from his motorcycle.

Little Man was fascinated by the geothermal features

and had a million questions and observations

about what we got to see.

Brother was just excited to be in a "bow-ca-no" (volcano).

And Sweet Pea was pretty much unimpressed.

We set up camp near the lovely Lewis Lake

and were relived that the temperatures didn't dip below freezing

(Tent camping in mid-September at almost 8,000 feet elevation

is a risky business.)

The boys slept like little camping pros

even though we were serenaded

by elk bugling all through the night.

(What a crazy-fabulous experience that was!)

The autumn colors in the foreground of the majestic Tetons

were truly spectacular.

Little Man said that his favorite part was

"the beauty all around."

It was by far the best camping trip we've ever had,

and the time we spent as a family was truly refreshing.

We returned home on Tuesday evening

just in time to do a little laundry and pack up again.

My parents watched all three children

while I accompanied Ben to the "big city" of Billings

where he had a work conference while I relaxed.

We left on Wednesday morning

and returned Friday evening.

I didn't take any photos, but the highlights include

going shopping all by myself,

Hobby Lobby,

a massage and pedicure (my first ever!),

Benjamin winning a Kindle Fire,

and fillet mignon.

It was a wonderful, wild week,

but I am quite happy to be home again,

settling into my semblance of routine.

I'm even almost caught up on the laundry.

: )

little square skirt

Okay, yes, my sewing machine is still broken.

BUT that hasn't kept me

from sewing up a small project or two

on my mum's machine.

(Just one more reason to be grateful they live nearby!)

I'm calling this Sweet Pea's little square skirt.

All it is

is a circle skirt

(this is a good tutorial)

that I made out of a fat quarter of cheery fabric.

Instead of trimming the outside edge into a circle,

I simply kept it square.

It's kind of the easy way out.

A square is, after all, so much easier to hem.

Plus I love how it adds interesting dimension

and extra swing to the skirt.

linking up with Jennifer's studio sneak peek

beginning

My sewing machine may be broken,

but that doesn't keep the urge to sew and quilt away.

Lately I've been wanting

to quilt again

so much.

So I raided my stash

and pulled out

a collection

of two-inch-wide strips of fabric

that were given to me by a lady who is like a grandmother

when she was going through her deceased mother's treasures.

They are mostly dusty blues and rosy pinks

with a few greens and a couple of subtle purples

thrown in for good measure.

I am guessing that they are scraps that range

from the 40's or 50's through the 90's.

So pretty!

I chose a few additional coordinating prints from my stash,

cut them into more two-inch-wide strips,

arranged them all by length,

and rolled them into my own "jelly roll."

I think this will end up

being Sweet Pea's new quilt

when she moves into her big girl bed.

I'm having a horrible time deciding on a quilt pattern.

One, two, three, and four are my current favorite inspirations.

Which is your favorite?

Maybe it's a good thing my machine is down

so that I have some extra time to decide. : )

gifts

I mentioned in my last post

that Benjamin

spent a week in Chicago for work.

Being the sweetie that he is,

he brought back some oh, so thoughtful gifts for me.

a Voseges Gourmet Chocolate

cherry rooibos bar

(so, so delicious--milk chocolate that I actually liked!)

and a charming teapot

and some loose rooibos chai tea

(also super-delicious)

from argo tea

The chocolate is all gone,

but I am definitely still enjoying

the tea and sunny teapot!

He has good taste in gifts. : )

~~~~~~~~~~~

Unrelated note: My schedule isn't really slowing down as I expected even though the summer is coming to a close.  Combine that with the fact that both my netbook and sewing machine are currently broken down (lets hope that my camera and Kindle don't follow suit!), and my blog posting may continue to be infrequent.  I have plenty to say, but my blogging rhythm has definitely been thrown off!  We'll see what happens over the next couple of months.