A Visit to the Grands'

Once again it has been way too long since I've visited my little blog...  I'm sure it is feeling neglected.  I went to Utah to watch the grands so their mommy and daddy could have a much-needed weekend away.  We had a blast.  Of course, there was our traditional breakfast at McDonald's.  (Britton is getting so that he actually plays on the equipment - which is really fun until he gets "stuck" and I have to send Abby after him.  Still, it's very fun to watch them!)

There were several trips to the park, which is only about 4 houses away, so it's super convenient!

It's really fun to watch them grow up!

One of my favorite parts of visiting is that Abby comes in every morning to wake me up and keep me company.  This little game usually involves Netflix or some other wake-up game on Grandma's Iphone.  Here, she's taking a selfie (how do they know about these things at such a young age?)

Grandma had the opportunity to make Abby an Elsa dress (from the Disney movie, Frozen.)

Which caused a huge mess - there were sparkles everywhere!

And the cape was perhaps the biggest hit of all...

But it was really fun to see how much Abby liked her dress - in fact, her mommy says she's worn it every day since it was finished.  Guess Grandma needs to get busy and make a couple more dresses and give this one a rest.

A bag of pom poms an a couple of embroidery hoops provided an entire morning's entertainment while Grandma was sewing (although I'm not entirely sure Britton was thrilled with the selection of "manly" colors allotted to him by his sister.)

It really doesn't take much to make these two happy.  I love that they just play with whatever's handy.  A cardboard box makes a great toy, doesn't it?  It was always one of my own kids' favorites.

And then there's just the way their little personalities are developing! 

He has so many words now - so many more than when I was there in November!!  (Can you tell we're having quite the conversation?)

This little guy is so fun!  And he's all boy!

Oh yes!  Grandma had a very fun time!

Home Again, Home Again, Fiddle-de-dee

After 9 days away and a  16-hour travel day, I'm finally home.  I had a wonderful visit with the grandbabies.  This is Abby, trying on the hats at Gymboree during our shopping expedition.   She is an absolute hoot.  Such a smart little cutie, with a definite mind of her own.  We had a great time together.

Britton is a happy little guy, always smiling, usually laughing, and great fun to be around.  His laugh could melt the hardest of hearts, I think.

And we had some great quality time together as their mama got ready for and attended Sewing Summit.  I had the occasional pang that I didn't go this year, but frankly, I only get 4 weeks vacation and I can spend them with the kids, or with the grown ups...  It's hardly even a choice.

And BD#1 took great care of me, sharing some of her goodies from Sewing Summit, which was very kind of her.  I have lots to show, but haven't had a chance to take pictures of anything yet, except for a couple with my phone.

Here's what I worked on while I was away...

(Sorry for the weird shadows, but it gets dark here early now and I haven't been home during daylight yet.)

I'm running a little behind for the DS Quilts Doll Quilt swap.  I thought this project would go much faster than it did.  Or perhaps I spent too much sewing time playing with the bebes.  If so, it was time well spent!

This hexie star was a great portable project.  Perfect for airports, airplanes, and days when the sewing machine was gone or in use.  In fact, I was warned ahead of time that daughter's {very cool} sewing machine was off limits.  And as I say, this project was perfect, except that it took much longer than I thought.  Luckily the star is finished now, and attached to the background fabric.  I need to drop by JoAnn's tomorrow and pick up some backing fabric.  It is just enough larger than anything I have on hand that I need to shop {oh, darn!}

Hopefully by the weekend I'll be back in the groove and ready to show some of my cool loot and maybe a finished doll quilt. Plus, I got a ton of fun mail while I was gone!  Stay tuned...

M is for MollyJolly Part II - The Reveal

If you read this post, you know that I played along in the Mini QT Swap where we were to make a quilt using items that used our partner's first initial.  I really struggled to get a theme for my little quilt.  In fact, I drew 4 or 5 sketches between the concept, and the finished quilt.  I think the only item that was in the original sketch that ended up on the final product is the moon.

Now that Maria has received her quilt, I can tell you about it.

Since my letter was "M", these are the elements of the quilt...

The moon, of course, and some mountains...

Some marigolds...

A little mushroom house, a mail box, and MollyJolly, written on the mailbox...

A monkey...

A mouse in a meadow...

A magnolia tree, a mockingbird, and a moth...

A mermaid, singing (music) in her little pool...

A melon...

And a macadam road.

If I've counted correctly, that's 16 "M" words. 

I actually thought up a little story about how MollyJolly invited her friends Mouse, Monkey, and Mermaid over for an early Morning waterMelon picnic... (or should that be Meal?)  Mouse tiptoed through the Meadow on his way to MollyJolly's Mushroom house, while Monkey came down from his home in the Mountains.  Mermaid provided the entertainment, singing Music for the event, while the Mockingbird in the Magnolia tree echoed her Mournful song.

Anyway, you get the idea. 

Meanwhile, I'm off tomorrow to see the kids and the grands.  I'm not taking the computer, so it may be awhile before I post again.  I'm so excited to see these little people!

Can't wait.