look what kayakknitter sent me!

and what took me forever to blog about! sorry mia!





Aren't these wonderful! Kayakknitter and I were partners for the June mini quilt swap. And she was kind enough to send me two. They are both wonderful and so tiny. Thanks Mia! Here is what I sent her:


"starbursts" get it? starbursts?!

Remember the frogs? Now we have baby Monarch caterpillars. We have a milkweed plant right outside our sliding glass door to the backyard. It is supposed to attract hummingbirds to the hummingbird feeder that is hanging above it. Which is does - yay! But it also attracts Monarch butterflies. We have had this plant for three years, and we have had caterpillars each year. They chew it to the ground, and it just keeps growing back. Gotta love a plant like that. We are able to see the butterflies lay the eggs, watch the eggs, and watch the caterpillars grow. We have only found a few cocoons over these past few years, and we were able to watch one hatch once. It was a little tramatic because a wasp came along and stung it to death.

my how the time flies!

The summer is passing so fast! I can't keep up! A few things have been put to the side these past few weeks. Blogging, reading blogs, flickring, sewing. We are still doing school a few days a week, and we will be for a few more weeks. I've also been going to the gym, mowing (and mowing and mowing) the yard, walking the dog. The kids and I are enjoying catching up with friends this summer - going to friends' pools, visiting the springs with other friends and lots of play. But it will all calm down in a few weeks. We will take a few weeks off, and then we will start school in September. It will be here in a blink of an eye.

All that to say....I have missed you friends! And I have a few things to share with you:

1. Look what the fabulous Calamity Kim sent me! just because!



fun stuff!



and even more fun stuff! Thanks Kim!



2. I've been in the card making mood lately. A friend and I get together every Monday night at her home. We play scrabble or we make cards. Lately we've been making cards. Here are a few. I'm not showing some because they will be sent to you or you or you...



3. I did a tiny bit of sewing. One of Marguerite's friends had a cowgirl birthday party with pony rides! I made a kidlet (free pattern provided by JC handmade) for the birthday cowgirl and tucked a few books inside for her gift. I plan on making more of these for my nephews' birthday presents. I used bottomweight material plus stiff interfacing and it holds it shape well.

4th of July weekend

How was your 4th of July? For all my non American readers, I hope you had a nice friday. For all my American readers, I hope you had a wonderful holiday! We went to a neighboring city for their annual fireworks display. They put on a really good show. Last year was the first time we went. We went earlier in the day and hung with the masses. Not so fun. Too many displays of behavior that I don't want our children to see let alone imitate, too much cigarette smoke, and too long of a wait. So this year we pulled in at 8pm, made our way through the crowd, plopped down our chairs, a family of friends found us by chance and sat with us, chatted for a few minutes and then the fireworks started. Afterwards we waited for the crowd to thin and our kids ran around like nuts. Much better, but still too much cigarette
smoke : P

Since the fireworks were so loud, Marguerite sat in my lap almost the whole time. She is mommy's girl through and through. As she was sitting there, I was thinking of just how long we actually have our children before they leave home. Sometimes it feels like eternity, sometimes it feels like it will be over in a blink. We homeschool our children, so they are with me almost all of the time. I'm grateful for that. Yes, they do get on my nerves sometimes, and yes sometimes we snap at each other. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I have many reasons why we homeschool (I call it my 1001 reasons why we homeschool). And one of the top reasons is that when they look back on their childhood, they will have so many memories of time spent with me and with each other. When I was a child, I went to school, my mother worked, and life was busy. I'm glad and thankful that I get to be with them and they get to be with me.

Back to the fireworks and my thoughts. Yes we have our children for another 10 years give or take a couple. But I will only have a few more years of my daughter sitting in my lap. That, my friends, will be gone in a blink of an eye. Sometimes it takes all my strength not to suffocate my children in love - kisses and hugs and squeezes and back rubs and cuddles and....


my two sweets