greenclogs

knock knock.... is this thing on?

Umm, hi!! I've been gone for a while. Spent a week at my in-law's house where my computer had no internet, but Jeff's did (thanks to a fancy wireless work modem) so I had no motivation to take mine somewhere. Now to get back in the habit of the blogging. We're in Seattle until Wednesday and staying at my mom's house now, where there is wifi! Yay! Then we head for Montana for a few days before beginning the journey back home to the heat. 

Rather than trying to catch up everything, I'm going to just say "whew! we have had so much fun! trust me!" and move forward. However, I do need to share the day that we spent with Lecia because it was such a great day. 

We went to the beach, because Lecia is lucky enough to live across the street from the beach. Her older son and Annika are the same age, and they were two peas in a pod. All four kids played and played without a cross word for hours on end. So we talked and talked. Lecia is a thoughtful, funny and warm person - she's such a pleasure to be around. It was like being with an old friend. 

The kids played with sticks (why are sticks always guns? why?)

me: Annika, is that your telescope?

Annika: no, Mom. It's my bazooka. 

Lecia and I looked for pretties on the beach, and Gunnar helped. We found shells and beach glass and rocks. We speculated on how the tile and the brick got on the beach. Some things we left for others to discover as well. 

A really great day. Thanks Lecia!!

playtime

We had such a gorgeous day today - the weather is finally down in the low 80's and we're living outside again. I spent the morning tackling the pressing craft projects.

- second arm of Tangled Yoke? check. ready to join with the body.
- Annika's quilt pieced? check. ready to start Gunnar's.
- Tote bags moving along? check. 10 of them were cut out by the girls and are ready to sew.

See? I'm not ignoring things in order to chase after the new pretty project. At least not today.

This afternoon we spent the afternoon at the park with Annika's best friend (in Phoenix, Sarah. Tate is still "my best friend Tate").

I love watching these two together. They're such soulmates. They run around like crazy people and then they just sit and talk. They finish each other's sentences.

We found seedpods that rattled. I've been feeling seedpod deprived, but no longer. This baby came home with us.

We saw some really cool art in their neighborhood. They live right by ASU, which is an area shared by artists and by rowdy students. This house was clearly in a perpetual state of artistic renovation, as signified by this guy in the front yard.

The worker who never leaves. Love him.

Tomorrow, we're all about processing photo orders, sewing tote bags and hoping that Gunnar is back at school. I'd say he's only at about 75% still. That flu bug really kicked his skinny little hiney. We'll cross our fingers.

vacation at home day five - friends

We needed a much quieter day after Thursday's long drive and meanderings, so we stuck close to home. Gunnar and Lindsay got up at 6AM and went to hike up Camelback Mountain in the cool of the morning (still waiting for Lindsay's pictures). They went as far as the saddle, and came back down. Apparently Gunnar wanted to go to the top, but it becomes more of a climb up there and Lindsay didn't want to go that far with him before she had done it herself. She's responsible that way.

After they returned, Annika and I went to visit her preschool buddy and soulmate Gage. We had such a great time with Gage and his mom and baby brother. I sat there and chatted and took pictures of the kids. She's generously letting me post a few of them.

Annika with the rope swing

Gage is one with Spiderman

Noah figuring out how this toy works

These are for their parents, taken while they weren't paying attention. There's nothing better than being across the yard, with the kid not realizing what you're up to.

It's so striking how much they look alike, which you don't see so much as they go about their day. My favorite pictures of kids are taken when they're still and serious like this. Thinking. You see so much about who they are.

Annika and Gage had the best time and we realized how much we miss seeing him every day. Gage put it best when he said "Annika is my best friend. We can run around and be crazy but we can sit and just talk about stuff too." So wise for a 4 year old.

Now on to the weekend. Does that mean vacation is over?

vacation at home day two - Buckeye

Technically, we didn't follow the "explore our city" theme that we established yesterday, but we went where life took us. Today we brought some cinnamon rolls to a dear friend with a broken leg who lives out in Buckeye, about 30 miles west of Phoenix. Her granddaughter and Annika are great buddies, so we made the trek out to see them today.

I lugged my big bag o' quilting fabrics with me and we did more work on designing the kids quilts while the kids all ran around like crazy folk. I think I'm afraid of cutting into the fabrics, so I keep thinking these darned things to death and making other people weigh in. Because once I cut, then I can't turn back. Can't change course. And I love being able to turn back and change course. I love plan b. Quilting doesn't seem to have a plan b. But, I think we have a strong plan A now - one I don't feel inclined to turn back from. I'm going to use the Denyse Schmidt "What a Bunch of Squares" pattern for both quilts, but in different colorways (as photographed a while back). Annika's will be orange/pink with a shot of blue. Gunnar's will be green/blue with a shot of orange. The background will be off-white, to cool down the bright colors and patterns. This is the pattern and is close to the color of Annika's quilt plan. I think hers turned out beautifully. They will be 3 blocks across and 4 blocks tall, which will measure about 45x62. Just right for snuggling.

On the way home, we stopped at Hobby Lobby in Avondale. I had never been to Hobby Lobby. Wow. I think our heads exploded. Each of us had a $10 limit and we did quite well for our money. The best score was 10 sheets of shrinky dink plastic that was immediately ripped into when we got home. Good thing that place is 20 miles away, or I'd be in big big trouble. 10 minutes later, this was the state of my dining room table.

Please tell me this doesn't only happen to me. I'll confess that the stack at the far end was pre-existing and that the ball winder is mine, but wow. 5 minutes, people. Dinner? We ate on the couch.

Up for tomorrow is a trip to the farmers market, golf lesson registration and poking around the fun vintage shops on 7th Ave and maybe Goodwill. In the afternoon, we have a reorganization project. Good times will be had by all. 

happy happy Friday

After a VERY frustrating morning at work (don't ask), my dear friend Allison and I escaped and went to our favorite place in Phoenix, La Grande Orange Grocery, for lunch. LGO has been my grounding place in Phoenix, my reminder that this place is not just one giant suburb. I visit for coffee and a muffin in the morning and they know my name and my order. I go for lunch and they're happy to see me. I don't know what I'd do without LGO and am figuring out how to bring it with me wherever we go. My dream in life is to open a place like this place and be the center of a community in the same way. LGO, I love you.

Here's my lunch. Spicy Tuna Rolls. Yum, yum, yum. This is my happy food.

And here's my lunch date, Allison. How can you not have a happy day with this smiling face in your life?

Thank you, Allison for making today okay. Only you know what a feat that was. And thanks for that smiling face every day.

This weekend? New skirt! Seamed shawl! Dishclothes! New bag! Overreaching? Probably so. Stay tuned to see how much I can actually accomplish while still overindulging in kid snuggles.

Happy weekend my friends!

random summer activity

School starts tomorrow. Our summer just flew by. I can't believe that tomorrow we'll be getting up early, packing everyone's lunches, and heading off for the first day of school (touching first day of kindergarten post will be tomorrow). We've spent the weekend getting ready. School supplies are purchased and packed away in backpacks and binders, first day outfits are picked out, lunch menus made. All three of them picked out a fabric from the stash cupboard and I'm going to make new lunch sacks for each of them tonight that are small enough to fold up into a pocket or into their school totes. The excuse for not using lunchboxes has been that they're too bulky and too easy to lose, so we'll make these nice and easy to remember. We also needed new pjs for fall (even though it's currently 112 degrees outside). Gunnar's were made last weekend, so Annika got hers today. Here's an action shot.

They're made of Heather Ross goldfish fabric that arrived in the mail on Friday. Clearly I was awfully excited to make something out of it. My other pretty fabric requires more planning - it needs just the right project. But Heather Ross is perfect for jammies. Along with the goldfish came a bunch of buttons for fabric covered buttons/magnets. Gunnar got right to work.

We also drove out to Buckeye to see some dear friends for an afternoon swim and burgers on the grill. Betty worked for me until about a week ago when she wisely retired. I was a little behind on her retirement gift so I brought it with me. I hope she enjoys using it in her new life of leisure and knows that I appreciate everything that she has given me more than I can possible say. Here is the traditional "tote in tree" shot.

I turned Gunnar loose with my camera and he had a great time taking photos.

You had to know that if G is behind the camera, then Philip will be in front of it.

Overall, we had a lovely weekend that was a nice finish to the too-quick summer fun. Tomorrow we begin the last leg of Lindsay's journey through high school and of Jeff's through law school. Here's to taking time to enjoy each day's gifts while keeping an eye on the finish line.

shameless friend promotion

Just a quick post to send you over to see Sarah. She has opened a new ebay fabric store and is having a contest to celebrate the grand opening. So go see Sarah! Thanks!