May 8th

Could it really be May already? And mowing the lawn already?! I love spring and the green grass, but I'm not ready to start mowing often! However, Mallory loves to be right out there with her own mower

Tony mowed the 1st cutting of the season, I can only hope his hours stay somewhat short so he can help out mowing more this year. He can mow the yard in about half the time I can. Why can't we have the muscles like men~
Mallory was right in step with him

She took a break and thought she needed to push Mason around on his little scooter.. and she did it! Thats my girl!! Mason had better watch out, cause when she gets a little bigger, she is gonna hold her ground and I'm sure give him a piece of her!!

The kids had a ball playing in the fresh cut grass, and all the grass stains even came out!! Not sure how I got so lucky there though
The 3rd weekend in April I was able to attend my 3rd Circle of Friends (COF) retreat in Manchester, NH. It was so much fun being able to meet old friends I'd met the last few years, and to meet all the new ones that were able to come this year. I arrived on Thrusday and stayed til Monday. The 5 days went by very fast, yet I learned so many new things this year!!! My roommates this year were Bonnie and Mikol, two girls I'd never met before this retreat. We are all about the same age and all have young kids, so I knew just from that we would get along great, and we did!! I had the best roommates and the best time getting to know them a little better. THANKS GIRLS for being the best roomies I could have ever asked for. While I was gone, the kids spent their time with my mom, my mother in law, and tony. They got to spend a little time with everyone which I'm sure made the caretakers happy, and the kiddos even more happy!! They were happy to have me back home and I was happy to see them. The trip refreshed me and made me appreciate my kids so much more.

As I was packing up to go, someone thought they wanted to come along....and heck, she even fit *S*


The following are just some random photos taken during my stay...

This quilt was quilted by Thearica (left) and pieced by Joan (right). It was BEAUTIFUL!!!


This is the back of it which shows the quilting. AMAZING. If you click on the photo, it will make it a little bigger so you can see the details a little better.A few of us went out for dinner on Saturday night at Famous Dave's BBQ (ok so 6 of us had eaten at the same restaurant on Friday for lunch.. but it was so good we didn't mind going back the next day)
Christine was kind enough to teach a class on how to make the Miranda bag, a lazy girl pattern. I took the class, ok, i really hijacked the class and took Christine for myself, but I was bound and determined to get the bag done before midnight when we were kicked out of our community room. I loved learning the new method, however, I think I'll be sticking to my old method. But love the look of premade handles and might have to start incorporating that into my bags. THANKS Christine for putting up with me *S* . I now use this as my diaper bag, as its huge and holds all the little things and then some I'm needing to carry around. Course I didn't take a picture of it before I stuffed it full, so bear with my 'junk'


We were all given a Fat Quarter (18" x 20") of the blue cow print(that is used as the cows over coat in this photo) and were told to make something with atleast some of it. We didn't have to use the whole piece, however. Thearica made this ADORABLE cow sitting on the pig, and she gifted it to ME!!!! How sweet was that?!?! Thearica is a HUGE pig collector and loves anything 'pig', so for her to give this to me, touched my heart. I too have quite a few pigs in the house, but this by far will be my most treasured. THANKS Thearica for the thoughtful gift, and it even made the plane ride home in one piece!!

I'm still in the process of rounding up some sighseeing photos of the Manchester area. When we took our one day bus trip to Keepsake Quilting, I didn't take my camera!! DUH!! The only time we went anywhere out of the city in which I could have had great photos, I didn't bring my camera. So I'll post some photos later when I get them from some friends!!

This coming weekend is Mothers day. We will be spending some time with both mothers and some extended family and the weather is supposed to be nice to boot. Wishing all you mothers out there a wonderful weekend. What a blessing it is to be a MOM

April 2009

Its been a busy last few months.. not sure exactly where the time has gone. Kids have been sick off and on. Mallory had an ear infection for about a month, and i'm hoping when we go back for recheck this week, its actually gone. If not, not sure what the next step will be!!!
One of those nice days back in March, Mallory had a run in with the driveway.. I don't ever remember Mason hitting his nose on the ground.. wonder if she is gonna be my bruiser?!?!

She loves her glowworm and goes to sleep with it and is usually playing with it when she gets in the morning

So the kids were wrestling and playing and Mason was a ball of sweat, so he took off his shirt. Not exactly sure what that face is on Mallory

We had a really really nice day in March, and we actually got to be outside. I got a little pink on my arms, which means I should have put some sunscreen on my kids, but I didn't! Thankfully they didn't get pink... but then again, they both had on hats like this.. Mallory actually leaves the glasses on her face, unlike Mason who still doesn't really like to wear sunglasses

We got together with Corey and Roxanne (Tony's brother and his wife) and kids at Granny B's house . The kids always have a ball together and it will be a lot of fun watching them grow up together. The twins turned 2 in January, so they are 10 months older than Mallory.

It only took about 30 photos to get one decent one of Aunt DD and the kids!!!! But i finally did!!! The last good photo of me and the kids was taken, well, who knows when!!!!

And Aunt DD thought it would be fun to ask Mallory where her nose was... yep, she found it alright!!!

She's ready to go swimming or is it shopping?

Her hair is finally long enough for piggies, but she does not sit still to put them in , so it takes atleast 2 people to put them in. Needlesss to say, she usually just goes around here looking like a mop top!!

Finally a decent photo of me and mallory taken on my birthday. Course it was with a cell phone, so the quality isn't near as good as it would have been had it been on my camera, but I'll take it!!! My little girl is getting so big!!!

Who ordered the 6" of snow in april?!!?

Easter weekend Tony spent some time in the field planting some oats. Course Mason wanted to help. He sat on the edge of the field and dug in the dirt and 'supervised' daddy.

Hunting eggs on Easter sundy was a little chilly.. and I didn't even put Mallory's dress on her, as Mallory and I didn't go to sunrise service. Hopefully in the next couple years, she will be well enough behaved that going to church won't stress me out.So inbetween the kids being sick and having a spring break and spending time with family and friends, I've been making a few bags. This first set was a custom order for little girls for Easter. They only measure about 9" x 9", and look so cute sitting all together

The next few were some orders. Most of the time, people just tell me what they are looking for, what colors, what size.. and I try to make a few up that they can choose from. So far that is working pretty well. I have a hard time putting my likes and dislikes aside and picking out fabrics that I think someone else will like. But I am getting better.

Now I've got to get myself in gear to get ready for the Quilting retreat I'll be going to on Thrusday April 23rd. I am going out to Manchester NH and meeting up with 69 other ladies, some of whom I've met before, and others whom I'll be meeting for the first time. I'm so looking forward to this time away, but I've got a HUGE list of things that have to get done before then. Not exactly sure when I'll get it all done, but as long as I get my bags packed and to the airport on time, everything else doesn't really matter!! And between now and then, we are meeting up with my mom's brother and his family for the weekend. I believe it has been about 8 years since we have seen them. So will get to meet their kids for the first time. I'm sure all the kids will have a good time, and us adults will have a great time catching up!!!

Some videos..

Over the weekend I uploaded a few videos from the past month or so to You Tube. And instead of downloading them here, I'll just give ya the address and you can go there and see them if you so desire.... Some are cute, some are funny, but most of them are of our Australian cousins seeing snow and sledding for the first time in their lives!! That was so much fun!! And I'm sure they are enjoying the 100 degree days they are having now while we still sit here in the deep freeze!! Right Zewes?!?

Videos

Our current dilemma is what to do about our kitchen. We need to do a little work to it for sure, but we are trying to figure out what is most cost effective in this housing market. We hope to put the house on the market in the spring. Not a great time to be wanting to sell a house, but atleast we don't HAVE to move right now and can just see what happens while its on the market. In the mean time, we've got a list of things we need to get done other than the kitchen, but the kitchen is by far the biggest decision we have to make.

Mason has been on a kick lately where he wakes up about 6:30am, comes to my bed, wants to watch tv, and when I tell him no to sit still and rest, he can't! He is all over the bed. And then he proceeds to ask me where we are going today? He has been wanting to go places lately, which is so not like him. You can tell this not being able to be outside everyday is getting to him too. He really wanted to go out there Tuesday, but with the negative windchills , I told him no. But its sunny out there mommy. Yeah its pretty but not fun to be out in. We are definitely ready for some warmer temps.

Mason's new phrase is 'okey dokey artichoky '... course it comes out more like 'archichoky archichoky'... if you can read toddler talk :)

Mallory thinks she has to go somewhere daily too. She goes and gets her coat and brings it to me. Mon, Wed, and Fri we do have to take Mason and get Mason from preschool, so that is where she gets wanting her coat on. Guess every day is preschool day for her. She does truly miss him when he is gone, and when I tell her its time to go get Mason, off she goes to get her coat. What a smart little 14 month old I have!! (I might be a little biased too I suppose :) )