With or without you!!

Recently, 2 of my SIL drove out from Minnesota & South Dakota husbandless

with their several children.

Inspiring to me. Jared has been crazy busy

with a chemistry summer class & work.

We had not been able to do much for vacation this summer.

So I pulled together my courage to do things my pregnant self & 3 kids.

As a side note, I do not do well driving long distances.

I fall asleep in car rides, you can see how me driving would not work.

I try my first go as a camping trip.

It was with my parents, not completely by myself,

but I did drive 4 hours. We went up to Sly Park.

It was gorgeous.

A good friend has a small cabin in South Lake Tahoe.

5 minute walk to the beach.

Jared was able to come up for one night,

but I did the drive myself! So proud.

There is a section of road where I swear cars fly right off the

edge to burst into flame 500 feet down.

Never to be discovered. I've always had a hard time

even when others drive it. But I did it.

The kids & I went to the beach for hours by ourselves.

This is a great feat for me for many reasons:

1. I hate taking my kids to the beach.

The sand gets everywhere, too much mess.

2. The sun & the smell of sunscreen.

3. The pictures of my children drowning the moment

I turn my eyes away from them.

4. The ducks that tried to eat us the second I ran out of grahm crackers to give them.

I had to swat them with a towel to get them to go away.

But I did it. It would have been better with Jared of course.

But now I feel a renewed sense of adventure.

Maybe next summer I'll take a drive out to South Dakota.

Just me & the kids.

When Mom ain't lookin

Enough said........

Shout out Friday

Hurry Hurry Rush Rush

Speed to that red light fast

Whew..... don't let that mini van beat you

Hasleton quote

Jared is such a loving father.

He thoroughly enjoys trying to stick his large fingers

up the kid's small nostrils to show them how much he loves each child.

So last night, he is showing this endearing affection:

Jared: Gross Grant. I got a bugar on my finger.

Grant: Well Dad, that's where I keep them.

That's what you get my love.

(I'm still laughing while I write this)

From bleh to refreshing

I have a wonderful SIL who gives us her hand me downs.

They are not just any old scrubs for kids,

but nice, name brand, well taken care of clothes.

Boys & girls. Not a stain in sight.

We were talking about what I could do for her in return

of the bags & boxes of nice kids clothes

when I pulled out my 4th of July quilt for the fireworks display.

She says, "I'd love a patriotic quilt."

Woo Hoo. How I love to make blankets.

I've been on a hiatus from sewing due to morning sickness.

But I was ready to get back to work.

I start searching for a red white & blue quilt pattern when I found this:

pattern

It's gorgeous. I went out & got fabric super fast. Too fast.

This is the top I ended up with. (below)

I don't like it. So disappointed.

The red white & blue that I chose for some of the star backgrounds

are just yucky. I should have spent my usual hour deciding on what to use.

Unloading everything from the shelves & making a mess.

Since I'm not known for my perfectionism,

when Jared asked if I was gonna take it apart & change it, I laughed.

Nope, I said. I'll fold it up unfinished & put it in the closet.

Something else is already in mind for my SIL. Much better fabrics.

Feeling frustrated about that star quilt.

I started on another for a friend (above) who said she liked "oceany" colors.

These are my pieces so far.

The dark border & outside are not so visible in the pic.

But I am LOVING THESE COLORS!!

A refreshing change. Now just to put it together & quilt it!