What I did with my summer vacation

I can’t believe that the summer is almost over already!  Alex starts school in just two and a half weeks – where has the time gone?  We didn’t do a whole lot this summer, but we did take a trip to Pennsylvania for Independence Day.  The small town I grew up in usually has an old fashioned Fourth of July celebration, complete with swimming races in the lake, bike parades, egg tossing, and a HUGE fireworks display to end the day.  Sadly, the down economy affected this too, and the fireworks didn’t happen.  They still did the races and parades, though, so all was not lost.

The drive to Pennsylvania from Alabama is not a quick one.  It usually takes us 13ish hours, but with a baby this time, it took a bit longer.  Alex was able to make himself quite comfortable with his iPod, though.  One good thing about the long drive is it gives us a chance to stop at some Chipotle restaurants along the way.  We LOVE Chipotle and impatiently wait for the day when they finally open one in Huntsville.

This year, we had more downtime than usual and took the opportunity to visit Niagara Falls, Canada.  It’s only a short drive from Erie and Alex hadn’t ever been there.  When I was growing up, Niagara Falls was our yearly summer vacation destination and I was perfectly fine with that.  I had a blast there every year.  There were a ton of things to see and do.  It seems now that it’s a bit more tourist-y, but probably is still a good choice.  I say probably because I don’t think the city got a fair shake on our visit this year.  We got there later in the day than I had intended, so we were all a little tired and cranky.  Oh, and it was Canada Day.  We got to share the falls with about 20,000 other people enjoying Canada’s birthday.  (Note to self:  check the Canadian holiday calendar before planning the next trip to Niagara Falls.)  Regardless, we had a good time and Alex said more than once that he wasn’t ever going to forget this day.

The highlight of the trip to Niagara Falls for Alex was probably his ride on the SkyWheel.  There are a lot of places in Niagara Falls to spend money on games and trinkets and normally Alex would be all over that.  For whatever reason, the only thing he asked to do was ride on this gigantic ferris wheel.  It was pretty expensive, but Rod pointed out that this was the only thing he had asked to do and it would probably be what he remembered best.  So, we bought our tickets and waited in line.

I’m happy to report that we were not disappointed with our ride.  We were rewarded for our long-ish wait in line with a terrific view of the city and the falls.  Our timing was perfect for a great sunset view, though I didn’t manage to get any good photos of that.  The photo of the city and Skylon Tower above was taken from our completely enclosed and climate controlled gondola.

There’s the whole happy family.  Not the greatest photo, but it was hard to get the camera and self timer to work well on the tiny ledge of the moving car!

All in all, it was a great trip and I think we all had fun.  Next time we might spend a night or two in Niagara Falls so we don’t have to do so much driving all in one day.  I think it’s safe to say that we won’t be doing that on Canada Day, though…

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Summer Update!

Time for a summer update – if anyone still bothers to check in here for my infrequent posts…

The last time I checked in, Declan was about one month old.  He’s nearly five months (and twenty pounds!) now.  He very much wants to crawl around, which is not something I am at all prepared for.  Thankfully, he can’t get his little body to do what he wants it to do quite yet.  It causes him quite a bit of frustration at times, but I’m glad for the extra time to get the house ready for a crawling baby.

He and Alex are the best of buddies.  Alex absolutely loves his little brother, and Declan adores Alex, too.  Alex can always get Declan to smile or laugh.

Alex graduated from his Montessori preschool in May.  He’s been at the same school since he was 18 months old, so this was a big deal for him.  It hit him harder than I thought it might.  The first few days after school got out, his behavior was totally out of character for him.  He finally asked me if he could go back to his school for elementary school, too.  We compromised by writing his favorite teacher, April, an email telling her how much he misses her.  It was incredibly sweet.  Here’s a photo of Alex and Ms. April on pajama day.  He will start kindergarten at our local public school in August.

In house news, things are growing outside.  We bought our current house just over a year ago, but the summer last year was a record drought year and nothing looked very pretty.  I’m ashamed to admit that now that things are growing well, I don’t know what is a weed and what was once a well cared for piece of the landscape.  These, however, I know are hydrangeas and they are staying.

I’m also trying to do a lot of clearing out and organizing, so I should have some giveaways here soon.  Keep your eyes open if you like fabric and notions!

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Meet Declan

I’m almost a month late in posting this, but I hope you’ll forgive me. I have a good excuse. Here he is.

This is Declan Thomas, born January 28th. Life has been an adjustment since then, but the real reason I haven’t posted is that I can’t seem to get a good photo of the new boy! He has a head full of strawberry blonde/red hair and the natural light to really highlight that has been scarce in these parts lately – or at least during the hours that I have two free hands…

We are all doing well here. It started off a bit rocky, what with Declan losing “too much” weight during his first week, but that has more than reversed itself and we now find ourselves needing to purchase the full size bottles because the small ones just don’t hold enough for each feeding. I’m very curious to see how much he weighs at our next visit to the pediatrician. We also had the pleasure of dealing with the worst stomach virus to hit our house in the last seven years exactly 2 days after we brought Declan home. One week after that, Alex came home from school with pink eye. Needless to say, it was a fun few weeks. Thankfully, things seem to have settled down and everyone has been healthy for a couple of weeks now.

Big brother Alex has been an incredible help. I was a little worried about how things would go down when Alex realized that Declan is here to stay, but he has been great. He wants to help with diapers, pacifiers, picking out clothes – all of it. Alex reads stories to Declan, teaches him math, and sings lullabies to him when he cries in the car. I underestimated the love that a 5 year old could have for a baby. Here’s some photographic proof – just look at the love in his eyes!

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Pottery Love

There is an incredible potter in the town next to the one I grew up in. His name is Bill Campbell and he produces Campbell Pottery. His pieces are just beautiful. I also appreciate that they aren’t all just nice to look at – most are quite functional as well. For example, my mom’s everyday dishes are Campbell Pottery. Just eating your average pasta is a more beautiful experience because of those dishes.

I love to visit the studio and store, which are in an old house and barn that they have converted into an awesome space. You can see (and purchase) any number of Bill’s own pieces, but he also showcases the work of many other artists and craftsmen in his studio/store. When we visited in November, they had the most amazing miniature quilts available and I’ve been saving my pennies ever since!

We were also able to pick up a few new pieces at our November visit, thanks to the gifting generosity of some family and friends. The one below is my favorite, though my photos don’t even begin to do it justice. I’ll try to get some better photos of this one and the others and post those later.  Enjoy!

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Exhale

So the Christmas festivities have ended…finally. It feels like we’ve been “doing Christmas” since mid-November, which I guess we really have. It’s nice to be able to relax and exhale a bit – at least for a moment. I know there will be all kinds of excitement to come in the next several weeks as we await the arrival of the new boy, but for now I’m enjoying just sitting in this comfy chair and looking at the mess that needs to be put away…

Here are Rod and Alex enjoying a laugh earlier this week. That boy just will not smile a “real” smile if there is a camera around. Anyone else have that problem?

Finally, earlier today there was an attack at Playmobil International Airport. It seems that the pirates from Skull Island really wanted to get on a plane bound for Tokyo, but they didn’t have proper identification. They used various canons and shooters, according to Alex, and were finally allowed to board the flight. As you can see below, peace has been restored. It’s a good day.

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Bless the Japanese

As a crafter, I am in awe of the crafty things produced by the Japanese – the fabric, the notions, the magazines and books, the fabric (did I say that one already?). All of these things provide me with endless ideas about how I can make my world a bit more beautiful with things made by my own hand. I’m not ashamed to say that – more often than not – the things made by my own hand only bear a passing resemblance to the original inspiration. I usually enjoy the creating as much as the creation, so it all works out. Usually.

One of the areas that I have been very reluctant to venture is to wool felting. I absolutely love the look of things appliqued with felted wool accents. At first I told myself my hesitation was because it is quite difficult to find wool felt around here. While that is still true, I have put together a list of online resources, so I can’t use that excuse anymore. When it really comes down to it, I think it’s because my artistic skills are seriously lacking. When it comes to drawing for embroidery or embellishment or whatever, if there’s a pattern, I’m all over it. If I have to do something free-hand, forget it. It will likely be completely unrecognizable. The good people at Clover, though, must know some other people like me.

That is a felting template, I think. I don’t read Japanese, but that’s what it looks like based on the photos. It will allow you felt that adorable hedgehog and the mushrooms, too, using the Clover felting tool and mat, along with the template thing.  Here’s one of the projects they suggest – just too cute!

The people at Clover are also very generous with their project ideas and patterns. Check out this page, which is continually updated with great stuff. Each of the Lessons has at least two projects, so it’s not just whatever they happen to have in the photo. My seasonal favorite is Lesson 42, which has an awesome wall tree and decorations. They are all in Japanese, of course, but the diagrams and illustrations make it all very easy to figure out.

Enjoy!  I’m going to try to find that template somewhere that ships to the US…

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Holiday Craftiness

I had some grand plans about holiday crafting this year. I was going to make some autumn-themed coasters for several family members to be delivered at Thanksgiving and thought I would make something handmade for everyone for Christmas. Oh, I was going to make entirely new decorations for the house, too. Uh-huh. Can I blame those crazy thoughts on pregnancy brain? We’ll go with that.

I started out well and had several projects cut out and ready to go when I got a call from my mom that one of my great-aunts had died unexpectedly. The three of us were planning to make the drive to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, but Alex and I ended up making the trip about a week earlier than planned for the funeral. In the span of three days, I packed up everything we would need for the duration of the trip (including all fabrics, notions, and my sewing machine), drove 15 hours in one day to eastern Pennsylvania for my aunt’s funeral, and then drove 6 hours the next day to my mom’s house in western Pennsylvania, where we would be staying for the Thanksgiving holiday. Whew! That was quite a trip for a 4 year old and his 30 week pregnant mama! I’m glad we were able to be there for my uncle and family, though.

Since my family lives so far away, we alternate holidays between Pennsylvania and Alabama. Since this year was our Thanksgiving year, that also meant we were “doing Christmas” that week, too. I managed to get the Christmas gifts done for everyone, but had to drop my plans for the Thanksgiving gifts. Maybe next year. Using the awesome tutorial from Moonstitches, I made several owl garlands. Some were family names, but most were the basic (and short!) NOEL greeting. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo – natural light is limited these days and I never seem to remember to take photos during that 20 minutes of the day.

As part of the Christmas gift-giving this year, my grandmother got me some things I’ve been looking at for quite awhile. I’ve been waiting for them to go on clearance, but Target doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. Meet The Ducks.

I just love how the little ducks are all chatty, but the big one seems to have a look on her face that says, “These are *not* my children.” The little guys came decorated for the holidays, but I still think I need to supplement their wardrobes in some way.

There is still more crafting to be done before the actual Christmas holiday, so that’s my plan for today while Alex is at school. I guess I’d better get to it!

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Why?

So many people signed up for that post-every-day-in-November thing that I decided to try something different. I posted never-y day in November. I know that’s not really a word, but it worked best here.

I plan to post an update soon (we may have decided on a baby name!) and show photos of some crafty work, but for now I will leave you all with a question.

Does anyone know why Ms. Vega might be doing this? I’ve always thought of her as the smarter one of our two cats, but she’s not doing a lot to solidify that in my mind…

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New Favorite Music

Ever since Megan (such a great name!) posted about Brooke Fraser, I’ve been hooked. Every now and then some particular artist will really just click with me and I’ll find that I want to listen to their music all the time. This certainly was the case with Brooke Fraser. The only trouble was that it was a very difficult task to actually get my hands on any of her music in the US. She’s an artist from NZ and her CDs are only available in the US as imports. I am very happy to report, however, that you can now purchase both of her albums on iTunes. I’m sure that has something to do with the US tour that she’s going on in November and December, but I’m just happy to be able to get the music! I’m also happy to see that she’s coming to Nashville, which is only a very short drive from here.

One particular phrase in Brooke’s song Albertine really sticks with me – and has since the first time I heard the song. She says “faith without deeds is dead.” I’m really trying to work at incorporating more deeds in my life. I don’t always succeed, but I’m working on it.

If I can get it to work correctly, I’ll post the video here from YouTube. If not, click on the link above to Albertine. All of her stuff is great and I hope you guys enjoy it, too!