MN Quilt Show

Blogged over at bur oak life.

Sweet Potatoes, Barley...and a New Blog

While I was making a sweet potato and barley salad tonight Ada decided she wanted to work with me in the "real kitchen".  She took a few seconds to watch what I was doing, went over to her play kitchen to get her supplies, then climbed up on her stool and got right to work.  So glad I stopped to take a picture; it's already a favorite.

In other news - I have a new blog!  I'll be using the new blog for more public content (gardening, sewing, etc.) and keeping the family / kid posting here.  I already have a few posts up at my new site, so if you're looking for something to read, head over to check it out.

On the Fourth

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July.  We had a packed day!  Ada and I left the house super early (as in 6 am early) with my sister to go pick strawberries.

Ada was awesome.  She helped me put berries in the tray, picked a bunch on her own (ripe ones!), walked up and down the rows while we continued picking, and only ate 2 strawberries before we paid.  Not bad for a two-year old.

With my sister's help I ended up with around 15 pounds or so of berries.  The season's canning and freezing has begun!

Then we had family over for lunch and general hanging out.

This girl SO loves watermelon.  Pretty sure she ate at least 5 slices.

 After lunch the kids ran through the sprinkler.

Ada liked the sparklers last year, but this year did not like the fireworks in the yard as they are "too loud".  To cap off the afternoon we had root beer floats.  Ada was not interested in the root beer, but demanded to have her ice cream in a cup like everyone else. :)

Hoping to get my pics from Vegas up soon...

Wow

I'm in Las Vegas. All week.

You might be thinking this is going to be a post on all the great sights I'm seeing. Sorry, I'll write that post when I get home.

For now, my thoughts are too jumbled, my brain overloaded. I'm here for work, and the days are intense. I thought I'd spend time in my room each night having some alone time, reading or sewing. Instead I've been staying up way too late essentially doing nothing. Tonight I realized that's because there are so many things I'm thinking about related to work that I just need a lot of time to decompress at night. I really hope my brain is up to the task of staying focused for another nine hours tomorrow.

I brought along a new sewing book to read on the trip. I finally cracked open the cover tonight as a bit of escape from thinking about work. First page, second paragraph, I read the following: "Sewing can be such a balm for the busy soul, as long as you take the time to enjoy the process of creating and don't rush yourself to quickly churn out finished products." I had to stop reading right there. Too close to so many other thoughts that have been churning in my mind recently. Guess it will just have to wait until I'm back home and can re-focus.

For now I think I'll veg out in front of the tv, and then actually try to get eight hours of sleep.

IT'S HERE!!!!

My birthday present is finally here!

Good thing there are leftovers in the fridge, cuz ya know what I'll be doing tonight instead of cooking dinner...

Around the Web

It's cold and rainy today and we're all a bit under the weather.  So we've been sitting inside reading, watching movies, and snacking (some of us still in our pj's...).  Thought I'd take a break and share a few things I've been checking out online this week.

Favorite blog post of the week: Posie Gets Cozy's Man Sampler

Ali Edwards' newest Memory Keeping Q&A series

Sneak peek of Studio Calico's June kits

If you're looking for some quilting inspiration, check out the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, going on through the 20th.

And last but not least, people healthier and far more productive than I've been this week have been sewing awesome clothing for their children as part of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge.  One of these rounds I swear I'm going to participate...

What have you been checking out online recently?

A Good Birthday

Sunday was a big day, with three celebrations - Mother's Day, and birthdays for me and my sweet girl.

She was super excited to open her presents:

The things on sticks include a broom and rake for using outside.  She's been really into "dusting" the garage floor just lately.

Her big present was a kitchen.  The kitchen at daycare is a favorite so she was pretty excited about having one of her own.

She did a great job helping Papa put the kitchen together while I made some blueberry pancakes for brunch.

Normally she loves pancakes, but ended up being too excited to actually eat much. :)

She spent most of the day playing with her new kitchen - baking cookies, making soup, and of course making sure to give lots of helpings of each to Mama and Papa.  She even washed the dishes. :)

We also Skyped with Gramma and Grandpa so they could see Ada open her presents from them.

A new dress Gramma made her; perfect for the 4th of July.

And this sweet backpack.  She totally knew what a backpack was and put it on right away.  Looking all grown-up, she headed for the door and told me, "Gotta go now.  Gotta go to school." Woah. Totally not ready for that and nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Please don't grow up quite yet sweet girl.

To top off the day, we blew her mind by introducing her to ice cream cake.  She couldn't wait to eat cake, and she's definitely inherited Mama's love of ice cream.  It was perfect; she loved it.

Don't worry; I had a good time too. :)