could this be fall?

my little tree hugger....
smelling the pretty flowers


doing a little yard work
marley with chunky monkey and elmo. this elmo was mine from high school when i used to drive elmo jane around. marley was beyond excited when my mom showed up with him...


well, i am over the crud and even have most of my voice back. finally. that was a rough week. this morning we started our day with a nice walk in the park enjoying the nice and cool weather. then of course, we went outside to play. great start to what will hopefully be a great week!

picture pages

yummy! more snow cone please!

posing with granny and the cows at the fair
at the petting zoo. she wasn't afraid of anything. she wanted to give them all kisses
even the llama is smiling for this one

this little guy was too sweet.
this is the baby quilt i am working on. i call it a peek a boo quilt, but i think i just made that up. if you look at the center square on the bottom, you can tell how you can flip open the flaps to reveal a surprise. i'm pretty darn impressed with myself on this one. it's up on the design wall still, but i'm working on getting it all sewn together.
marley's response to: what does the elephant say?
she did not want her pizza cut up. she's a big girl and she will feed herself thank you very much.
ben made me homemade mac n cheese last night to help me feel better.
marley sporting her (dad's) combat boots.



well, it has been a week. and what a week. i can't claim good or bad. last sunday ben's grandpa elmer passed away. he had been in the hospital for a couple of days and seemed to be doing very well, but during the last procedure he just didn't wake up. elmer was an amazing man who we will miss very much. he never met a stranger. marley and i were both blessed to have met him and to have loved him. mary ann and elmer were married for 60 years. they had their share of hard times, but anyone who met them loved them and knew they loved each other. ben and i would be very lucky indeed to have a long and loving marriage like theirs. please keep elmer's family and loved ones in your thoughts. on a lighter note, i got to go to the endodontist this week. that's always fun. it was the second half of a root canal that i was having redone b/c the dentist in ohio was a con artist and not a dentist. he drilled on my for an hour and 45 minutes. half way thru the anesthesia wore off. it was the stuff nightmares are made of. but he quickly solved that problem. and i should be all done with that tooth. i went and got the permanent filling on thursday morning. my friend kelly (jude's mom) and i have started working out and walking together, so that's been nice. it helps to keep me motivated. and of course this week was the washington county fair. marley had a blast. and now i am sick. sick sick sick. i spent last night alternating between soaking the sheets with sweat and huddled under blankets freezing. the cold meds seem to be working now, and i think i am on the upswing, but man have i felt like dog poop. louie sized dog poop. we also have FINALLY gotten started on the workshop/crap holding place. it's looking more and more like ben's man cave. we had five bags of trash. FIVE. just think, we moved that crap across the country. and then a couple more times just for kicks. oh well. better late than never. and of course today is marley's unbirthday. she is 19 months old today. such a big girl!

finger lickin good

today marley is a cowgirl

big smile playing on her jungle gym outside

yesterday marley was a kitty cat

ben, aka toddler whisperer, at our play date
marley finger painting

silas and jude would rather eat the paint.

jude chowing down

measuring marley on her new measuring stick made by dad

playing at the park

marley had her two friends over for a play date and we made home made finger paints. no one was especially impressed. the two boys wanted to eat it and marley didn't want to get her fingers dirty. she's taken to wearing headbands just like granny. yesterday was kitty cat day and today she is a cowgirl. she is 31 and 3/4 inches tall. such a big girl.

quilts and such

marley and i with the quilt i just finished (with the help of my wonderful mom)
marley needs to test each quilt for cuddlebility


i went to put marley down for a nap and came back to this...maybe ben needs more time off
a self portrait on our anniversary
marley with her new mimi doll, which helps her learn how to dress herself. she loves it
on the way home from the quilting adventure. marley offering jude some comfort
on our way to the quilt store. marley is very excited. jude is apprehensive.

so yesterday marley and i introduced my friend kelly (jude's mom) to the world of quilting. we had high hopes and were very excited. we decided to drive to giddings to the shop there. it's the closest that has a decent selection of material. well, unbeknown to us, it was their birthday sale. and it started that day. there were cars around the block and a guy in a golf cart gave us a ride to the shop after we parked. he was very nice. and that is where the niceness ended. some of the helpers were pleasant, though i assume they were more frazzled than anything. but the customers were pushy and mean. it was WAY overcrowded in there. we could hardly walk and no one was going to budge to let us through. and while we were waiting in line to get material cut, two ladies cut in front of kelly! it was very traumatic. mostly for jude. but we survived and kelly got some cute material. so now i get to try to pass on the love of quilting. for those of you who don't quilt, a lot goes into a quilt. at least for me. it starts with a person. i always decide who i am going to make the quilt for first. and then i think of them as i shop for material. and i fall in love with something and start the process. an average full size quilt takes me about a year to finish. but i am slow. you know, i do have a toddler to run after(although i was slow before). so it is a year of laboring over something with someone special in mind. it is therapy. it is love. it's me time. it's me thinking of them time. when i finish a quilt, i am so proud. the hours upon hours have finally turned something out, and usually so much better than i originally thought. a quilt is a work of art to me. it is a little piece of me, given to someone i truly care about. i treasure all the quilts that i have been given, all made with love for me, for ben, for marley. so as i attempt to instill the love of quilting in someone else, does anyone have any pointers? i'm a terrible teacher, but i am patient.
on an all together different topic, we are doing boot camp potty training in our house. no more diapers at home or granny's unless she is sleeping. and so far so good. we really don't have that many accidents. primarily when she is getting tired or i am too slow to respond. she has even pooped in the potty the past couple of days. so, woo hoo! we are nearing the end of diapers. i hope. fingers crossed.
this morning it is not ghastly hot, so we are headed to the park to play a bit.