Happy Father's Day!

Here are some fathers that are special in my life. Love you Dad, Guy, Mark and Charles!!

Dylan's Graduation

At the end of May Dylan had his graduation celebration from preschool. He will begin kindergarden in the fall. Can't believe it!



















The cake had blue frosting on it.

Update on Maya

Jeannine has been sending lots of videos lately. Her daycare babysitter says that Maya is about a year ahead of where other children her age are. She is 19 months old here.


Maya had earlier gone to a friend's first birthday.

Jeannine said that Maya has this book memorized. A bear sneezes when a bee lands on his nose. Somewhere it talks about a grandma, "where's the mousie", and at the end of this video, she says, "It will be hard to find."

Here is the little "drama girl."

They got some flowers planted in their barrels. She's got about 3-4 weeks to go her until her due date.


















She just practicing getting used to the potty.

Time to catch up....

I guess it is time to get caught up here since the break is over and I'm into the next break! During the break between semesters, I got a lot of quilting done. It was so weird to spend all day in my quilt room. I kept thinking I needed to work on something for school since that is all I had done for the last 5 months 24/7. I felt like a bird out of a cage. Here's is some of what I finished.


This is a nearly twin-sized flannel that came in a kit I purchased in Bozeman a year ago. It is pieced and appliqued. It is a lot prettier in person. I freehanded the squiggle quilting and the hearts in the inner border blocks.

The is a little gizmo to hand on the backside of the front car seat. The yellow pockets on the bottom hold larger toys, books, etc. and the elasticized pockets at the top hold the smaller things.


















This is called an I Spy quilt. Most of these I've seen I don't really care for because every square is just sewn together and it is too busy. I decided to "fussy cut" two of every square - two matching 3" sqaures in the center, and two matching 2" squares in the border. This is going to Maya, and she can play with it finding the two blocks that match. The boys have had fun playing with this since I finished it.














This next one, I had pieced and appliqued this top several years ago and didn't quilt it because I didn't how to quilt it. Every time I picked it up, no inspiration would come to me. A couple of times when Jeannine was home, she would see this top and tell me that someday she wanted it if I ever got it done. So I decided that I would sandwich the top, batting and backing and just start stitching. That is what I did. I basically quilted "in the ditch" and squiggled on the border. The qpplique on this one is fused with blanket-stitching. I much prefer to needle-turn applique, because I don't like the stiff feeling you get with fusing. I've now learned to not fuse the entire piece down, but just use a "rim" around the edge and that keeps it much softer.














The other project was the reversable place mats. You can click on any of these pictures to see the details. When I fly out to Bozeman next Tuesday, I'll have to take an extra suitcase just to take all the quilts.

Trying the cube

Trying something different. I found this new place on the web where you can post your pictures using the cool affects, and you can use the affect as a screen saver, too. It is free for the first month, and $19.95 per year after that. I'll see if I want to continue enough to pay after the month.

2nd week into the break....

Time sure flies when you are having fun. This week I've spent nearly every day in my quilt studio. I have the top for the flannel quilt completed; now I just have to quilt it. The part I dislike the most is sandwiching the top, batting, and backing together and basting or pinning it. I just want to get on with the fun part - the quilting! I also stuck another little project in the middle. I'm making place mats for the table in the kitchen. The purchased ones we have were very nice until we washed them. There is very little quilting on them, so the batting has bunched all up in places. It you set your plate just right, it rocks back and forth! :( Unfortunately I didn't go for something just simple that could be made in a day. They are made with a technique called Cotton Theory. You quilt them as you piece them, and they are reversable with one side being totally different from the other. I'll post pictures of them, too, when I'm done with them.

I did manage to get one thing done. There is a narrow strip of wall space between my living room door that leads into the kitchen and the door that leads to the screened-in porch. It was just the right size for a wallhanging I wanted to make. This fabric was purchased at a quilt show I went to in Paducah, KY a couple of years ago. I love the dyed gradations of this fabric. It looks just like suede, but it is cotton.

Sunday, Mark, Fernanda, and the boys came over for Mother's Day. Dylan carried a little gift bag to give me, but before I could even take it and open it, he had it out of the bag for me. He's so cute - he never can keep a surprise. :)














Today Fernanda came over to the house while the boys were in preschool. When she went to pick them up, I had to take Mom to the doctor for a check back on her hand. As I drove by the church where the boys go to school, Fernanda was still there. I pulled in by her car and waited for the boys to come out. As they did, I peeked around the end of my car, and when Dylan saw me, his face lit up like a Christmas tree, he RAAAAAN across the parking lot with his arms ourstretched, yelling, "Vovo Sheryl! Vovo Sheryl!" He leaped into my arms, and I thought, "I wouldn't take anything in the world for times like this!!!" I had talked to a lady earlier in the day who said how fortunate I was to have a relationship like this with my grandchildren. She said her boys didn't have any connection with their grandparents. That is so sad! I can't imagine having grandchildren and not being able to have a close relationship with them. Both the boys wanted so bad to get into my car and go with me. I had to explain to them that I had to take Great Grandma to the doctor, and Dylan said, "AGAIN?!" That cracked me up! I don't know where that came from. :)

I did take Mom back to the doctor today. All they did was take out her 3 stitches and tell her that the x-rays looked like her hand was healing well, and that took THREE HOURS! ARGH!!! It really irks me to go somewhere where no one thinks YOUR own time is valuable. NO one should have to sit in a doctor's office for that length of time! By the time we were there that long, we were both freezing, and Mom could hardly walk even though we got up occasionally and just walked around to keep our circulation flowing. They didn't do a thing for her that I couldn't have done myself. I certainly can take out stitches. I can't take x-rays, and if it hadn't been for that and wanting to be sure her bones were healing OK, I would never have stayed around that long. I think doctors' offices should have a policy whereby if you have to wait over a reasonable length of time, they should have to pay YOU! That seems only fair to me. I'll bet they would stop that over-booking. I hate feeling like I'm just part of a herd of cattle. That's what you end up being. Only cattle have it better - they can stand around a eat while they are waiting. All they need are a few blades of grass. You can't even take food or water with you in a waiting room. Thank goodness we each had a good book with us that we could read. But after THREE HOURS, your eyes are blurred, your seat is asleep and your bladder is bulging. Can you tell I got a bit irritated??? (Deep breath...)

Jeannine and Charles went car shopping today. She had planned to buy a car when I got there to help her, but with Charles' good job starting next week, they couldn't wait. They found a 2003 GMC Envoy (SUV) with 56,000 miles, a one owner car in mint condition. She sent pictures of it, and it looks brand new - has lots of bells and whisles. She is sooo excited and I'm soooo happy for them. They needed something that would easily hold two babies and be dependable during their snowy winters. They also needed something with air conditioning. Their temperatures have been in the 80s already. Since they have no air conditioning in the house, they can at least get cool in the vehicle.


After Charles' graduation, they had a huge cajun cookout at their house. Earlier in the week, she thought she might be going into labor. As it turned out, she was just dehydrated, and it made the Braxton Hicks contractions (those tightening feelings that occur during the later months) strong and painful. Throughout the whole weekend she didn't have a migraine or any more contractions. God is good!

Seeing that lilac bush at the end of their house reminds me of last year when I was there Mother's Day and had a bunch of pictures of Maya and I beside that gorgeous bush.

Jeannine, Charles, Maya, and Charles' dad all went to the park about 2 blocks from their house on Mother's Day. The day was warm and sunny. You have to listen close as Maya turns and walks away from the camera, but she does wish me a Happy Mother's Day.


She also knows her "flowers."

One week into the break...

I can't believe that my break is nearly half over! Where did the week go??? I had such big plans to quilt all week, but the best laid plans.....Mom took a tumble in their front yard, ending up with three stitches in her left hand to repair a pretty nasty gash and 3 broken bones in the hand. Amazingly, it has slowed her up very little! The wound seems to be healing nicely, and the swelling is going down in the hand and wrist.

I did start on a quilt for Sophia. It was from a flannel quilt kit that I bought in Bozeman last year and had never taken it out of the bag. I'm not overly fond of working with flannel (makes my nose itch!), but this is so cute! I'm anxious to get it done. I'll post a picture here when I get it quilted.


Maya had her 18-month checkup, and the doctor was totally amazed at her ability to talk - in complete sentences. She was amazed that she could put things together - like the little disposable black thingy that goes on the otoscope (the instrument used to look in the ear). The doctor said Maya was very very smart, and she was glad that she was born into the family that she has. She knows that Jeannine will provide the necessary stimulation to keep her challenged.

Charles had his graduation ceremony today!! Woohoo! I know he is soooo glad - and Jeannine, too! I wish we could have been there. His dad was able to come for a visit. Charles has a great job waiting for him. This will cause a change for them that they have never experienced in their almost 9 years of married life.

It won't be long until I get to make my trip to Bozeman. I've been watching for an airfare that I thought I could afford. So far, I've not found one. I hope I don't have to bite the bullet and just buy. I may have to get a part time job when I get there to pay for the ticket!

I miss seeing the boys. I tried all week to meet up with them after preschool, but things kept getting in the way. Hopefully next week I'll get to see them. Dylan keeps asking to come to Vovo Sheryl's house. When you think about it, our house was his house for about 6 months, so I guess he just wants to "come home" for a visit.

Here is a picture of them a few weeks ago when they loaded up the last of their toys to take to their house.