Birthday party fun

We had another busy day today.  After church, we came home and quickly did some cleaning before heading out to Y's birthday party.  Another gymnastics themed birthday party,which was just super fine with Bug.  he loved jumping on the trampolines!!!! 

And doing front flips down the inclines

And riding the roller coaster

And JUMPING OFF THE VAULTING TABLE INTO THE FOAM PIT (yes, I meant that to be screaming).

The whole birthday group

He did the monkey bars by himself.

he did some walking on the balances

And he got to sit by his friend Y as she opened his present last.

And the day ended with a cupcakes, some ice cream and a BALLOON!  It was a great party.

Y has some awesome still ring skills

We had dinner with Mam and Pap again tonight as Pap is having surgery tomorrow morning to have his other knee replaced.  It will be about 5 days before he is home again and another 2-3 weeks before he is ready to actually do anything.  So Bug needed some time with his Pap.  I expect we will see him maybe once in the hospital and definitely next weekend to show him what Bug does this week.

Love and hugs,
Deb

Our first quilt show and other fun stuff today

Bug and I had a business day, but it started off good with a late start to morning. Both Bug and I needed the extra sleep.  so we slept in until 8 am this morning and then started our day. 

First on the agenda,  the Cincinnati Quilt show.  Since I am quilting again, I thought it would be fun to go and see everything.  Bug wanted to come along so he could see the colors.  the rules for posting pictures from the show is that I give full credit to the quilter/artist- so I can not show everything, but I can show you some of the highlights.

One of the first quilts we fell in love with is this one created using traditional fabrics from Guatemala.  The quilt is created from a picture of the flower market in one of the major cities- I know I am going to spell it wrong, so please see the picture below for all the info.  What I love about this quilt, is that this quilt showed me that I can quilt with traditional Guatemalan fabric.  So next trip to Guatemala, I am heading to the markets to get some traje and huipils to use in future quilts.

A close up of the quilt. 

The information on the quilt.  Meri Henriques Vahl did a great job on capturing the colors of Guatemala.

Bug liked this quilt. teal on black

This was one I like, the credit is to the right of the quilt.  It was a challenge quilt.  All the quilts in the challenge used the same colors.  It was incredible to see how differently the quilts looked.  the talent was incredible.

This quilt was stunning.  It is wedding ring quilt, made for the quilter's 30th anniversary.  In each ring is a picture of each year of the marriage.  Each photo was labeled with the date.  I loved this one.

This is the credit.  Harumi is just absolutely gifted.

The gang at the show

This quilt took our breath away.  The detailing around the edge is repeated on the back in teal thread. The checker board pattern around the edge is created by stippling.  It is unbelievable.

And it was from  Canada.

After the quilt show- we spent 2.5 hours looking at quilts, we had lunch at the show.  We ate with other quilters from Windsor Canada and Dayton OH.  It was a great day.

We went home to Mam and Pap's house, where I took a nap- or at least tried to.  I got about an hour of sleep.  Bug spent the time playing with Mam and then playing with Pap once Pap woke up.  We met up with hermano and his parents for dinner in the evening.  The story behind this is that Bug asked to go to Pizza Hut last night and when I told him he has never been to Pizza Hut, he reminded me that we ate dinner with Popi, Momi Mireya and the girls after seeing the zoo in Guatemala City.  He has an incredible memory.  He told me later, he liked the Pizza Hut in GC better because they let him hold the buzzer thing when you wait for a table.  There was no waiting today.  The other funny part, the family behind the boys just kept watching the boys and smiling.  They clearly were trying to figure out the family dynamics at the table, but were polite and never asked us any question, they just kept smiling at us.

the boys had a good time hanging out together for dinner.  We plan to see each other on Mother's day, but it looks like we will see them next weekend after I forgot to give Vaca momma the clothes Bug has outgrown.  Hermano has grown a bunch this winter and he will get good use of Bug's old clothes.  Bug has also grown a bunch recently, so I will updating with Bug's new stats this week.

Well, I am tired and we have busy day tomorrow too.

Love and hugs,
Deb

T-Ball season has started

Yes, this is my cutie!!!!  I wish he would stop growing up so much. 

first practice of the year.  let's just say I am currently underwhelmed by the coaching.  But it can only go up from here.  The actual coaching of the kids was fine, the interactions with the parents, less than fine.  But that is a story for another day.

Happy news, Bug and Little M were put on the same team- there was some worry about this as we were told when we signed up that it was not always possible to accommodate requests like this.

throwing practice- Bug has no issues with part.  Now catching is a different story, so we have some skills to work on over the next few weeks and months.

lining up for batting practice.  All Bug wanted to know today was when was he getting his bat and ball.  As you can see, he refused to give up his glove too.

Little M has a great arm too

batting practice.  The T holds the ball, Bug has a good stance, keeps his eye on the ball and has good power. 

Little M, he is getting there- his feet move too much.  but another skill to practice in the neighborhood.  I am seeing some afternoon practices in the front yard.

Bug, ready to field the ball Little M was hitting.

And contact.

uniforms arrive next week, along with a schedule. It is going to be an interesting Spring.

Bug is asleep, I am tired but have a meeting with my team in India at 10:30 tonight, so I am going to go relax for a little while.

Love and hugs,

Deb

I need a family calendar

Some days I know I am loosing my mind.

I told Pap I would come over and cut his grass on Thursday (tomorrow), completely forgetting that bug has his first T-Ball practice.  Now to my credit, the coach called last Friday and left a message that practices would start this week, but he would call back with details over the weekend.  he never called back.

So I called him today and left a message to find out the time and location of practice.  he called back and left a message that practice is going to be in one of 2 places, he never said the time. So the plan is that I will finish work ASAP  and go cut Pap's grass.  get the grass cut and take Bug to practice.  worst case scenario, mam is taking Bug to practice and I will get there as soon as I can.

But back to my original point, this would not have been an issue if I had a family calendar to put things on so I check before I add more things.  I still would have had this issue, but I would have been able to plan ahead and prepare for this.

So mam will do homework with Bug while I cut grass and then we will have a quick dinner/snack before practice, then practice, then dinner and bath and then bedtime.  I think I am going to have a tired Bug tomorrow.

Friday night is movie night at church
Saturday is the quilt show that I want to go to
Sunday is Y's birthday and dinner with Mam and Pap
Monday is Pap's surgery

And then some other things for the rest of the month.  I think we are pretty busy this month.  YIKES

Well, I am off to find my calendar so I can get things added.

Love and hugs,
Deb

The tale of 2 quilts

A few years ago, I told my friend E, I would make chinese Zodiac quilts for her girls.  It did not matter that at the time she only had one daughter, we knew daughter 2 would be coming home eventually.  So I swapped with other quilters for the fabric for the Chinese zodiac and the fabric sat until inspiration hit.

I quickly got the squares sewn and then hit the wall again. Becuase the plan I had to make the squares look like they were shadowed did not work out and then there was the request from my friend to make the quilts the same so the girls could not fight over the quilts.  First the shadowing made the quilts too dark in my mind (second picture) and then the whole idea of making identical quilts for girls who are 5 years apart in age - knowing that my sister and I did not want to be the same by the time we were in school.  So the quilts are different.  I like the one bordered in cream- it looks like a picture.  The shadowed one is still too dark for me.  Both quilts are going to be backed in the cream fabric.  And they will be made to be wall hangings.  I hope my friend likes them and the girls don't fight over them.

It is not that I dislike the darker quilt, it is just not what I envisioned.  I think if the squares were smaller and the borders around the squares were different, it might have worked.  But part of quilting, especially without a pattern, is learning new things.

So these are quilt tops.  The quilting will take the rest of the month (it is going to be pretty detailed).  More pictures once the quilting commences.

Love and hugs,
Deb

2 posts in a row- a record after this winter of illnesses

Here are the fish side by side.  In the blue aquarium, that is Blueberry the fish on the bottom of the tank.  He really does not like the temperature in this house.  He was very happy when I added some hot water (properly treated) to his tank today.  Hot Rod had his tank cleaned, and boy did it need it.  We have been over feeding Hot Rod.  No more of that.

The weather was beautiful today and Bug rode his bike for a while today.  None of his friends were available to play and that meant Bug was pretty much done in 15 minutes.  Evil momma that I am, I refused to allow him to sit on the porch with me.  If he wanted to be outside, he had to be playing.  Then I decided to seed the area that was dug up by the gas and electric company, so Bug helped me put down grass seed.  He was happy then

I ended up napping most of the afternoon, I am still not feeling 100%.  But I am feeling better.  I can at least breath and talk more than 2 minutes without coughing.  I could still sleep at least 2-3 hours extra every afternoon.

We made a repentance box - I love this idea. I have already put a few sins in this box.  Bug wants to burn it on Easter, so I will plan on building a fire in our fire pit- I might try to get him to allow me to build the fire on Good Friday or on Holy Saturday, but our sins will be burned away- forgotten and forgiven.  what a great idea.

I was even able to pull out some Christmas wrapping paper that speak to the peace that comes with having our sins forgiven. 

Happy Sunday to everyone.

Love and hugs,
Deb

family time

Today was just family time.  Pap and Mam came over.  Pap, to help me prepare the lawn mower for the cutting season.  Much like last year, Bug was the chief helper.  He has moved up to helping to add the oil.

After he got bored and he saw me digging holes, Bug decided to help me.  I was digging holes for the 2 apples trees that will be shipping to our house this week.  That will complete the apple orchard in our backyard- 3 apple trees.

Bug decided to dig like a dog.  The reason for the trees is the neighbor's yard next door which will soon have an above ground pool installed.  I have no desire to see them in the pool nor do I want the flood light shining in my bedroom.

One happy hole digger.

We also planted onions, 3 types of lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas and bush beans. I will have to watch the bush beans, because it is a little early to plant them, but I decided to give it a try.

after a change of clothes, Bug played on the swing set and practiced jumping like a bunny.

I cooked dinner on the grill- YUMMMMMMM

That was our day.  I am exhausted, but it was a good day.  Tomorrow, I need to cut the front yard.  With how I feel, there is no way I can cut the front and back yard on the same day.  It will Wednesday or Thursday before I can cut the back grass.

Love and hugs,
Deb