A Girl and Her Dogs

While visiting my mom in Silver City, she captured these photos of me snuggling with Shelty and Max. This first one shows one of the best things ever. It's a Miwa sandwich with Shelty and Max for the bread. Snuggling like this with Shelty has always been one of my favorite things. While I was pregnant she slept with me and was my body pillow. During the winter she used to sleep with me under the covers. Truly delightful.





As many of you know, Shelty recently passed away. She had been sick since before Christmas. Struggling to breathe and fighting a ghost. The vet did lots of testing and it looked like everything was fine, but she still fought to breathe, lost her appetite, and couldn't get enough air to go on walks. At the time that these photos were taken, I knew her time was likely limited. I am so glad that my mom took the time to take these picture of us snuggling. Sadly, on February 15, I just couldn't let her suffer anymore. I realized that her quality of life was really gone and that it was only my attachment to having her around that was keeping her here. She felt she had to hold on for my sake--she has always been so tuned into me and my emotions. I was terrified she would suffocate while I was at work and that she would die alone. I knew I would have to face losing her someday and the least I could do was to stop her suffering. We had to put her down. It was so difficult to let her go, but seeing her finally able to lay her head down peacefully and relax was actually quite healing for me.
I have always said that Shelty is my angel girl, she always has been and always will be. I take comfort in knowing that the 11 years we had together were full of amazing memories which are mine to cherish forever. I am now taking time to try to build my relationship and closeness with Max. Hopefully, if he and I can build more closeness and trust, he can attain more "normalcy."

Soccer Dude

I have officially become, dah, dah, dah...a soccer mom! Isaac has been wanting to try out soccer for a while now. We stumbled upon a team that practices about half a mile away and we could sign up for just 2 months. Done deal! So 2 days a week we head down to the park and Saturdays he has a game.
As many of you know, I have never been a fan of running. However, I recently decided to try it again. I have been working out for a year now, and felt that maybe I would feel differently about running at this point in my life. I don't *love* it, but I do like it, especially when I see the heart rate monitor telling me the amazing number of calories I just burned running. While Isaac is practicing, I run around the park. It works out well and it's nice to get done with my workout earlier, leaving the evening to relax. So for the next month, at least, I'll keep running 3 days a week. As for Isaac and soccer...I don't know if it's a love affair. He usually doesn't want to go to practice, but by the time he gets there I can see that he's really excited. And when we leave, he is pumped up. We'll just have to see if he ends up wanting to go another season.

Silver City and the Giant 7 Year-old

So, in September, as I usually do, I went to Old Navy and bought Isaac a whole winters worth of the next size (the one he's growing into) of jeans. In December I noticed that he was struggling to get them on, up, boxers tucked in and snapped. Then I noticed how the hem had crept up onto his leg. Okay, so I went to Old Navy and bought him another set of jeans in the next size, size 8 (he's still just 7). I figured they'd be big, but that's what adjustable waists are for...They fit him perfectly in length and waist. Geez! About 4 weeks later, it was deja vu--difficulty getting the pants on. Ummm...seriously? Two sizes outgrown in one season?
I was, needless to say, shocked, for about a week. So naturally, I had to weigh and measure him. Yeah, 70 lbs. and 51". And that was at the end of January, who knows where he is now.
Anyway, Isaac has been skateboarding since the beginning of the school year. Every week he seems to improve and is trying new tricks. Luckily, he isn't too much of a dare devil. He tries new things that are a realistic stretch of his skills. The mom in me says "Whew!"



Toward the end of January, Isaac and I made a spur of the moment trip to Silver City for a few days, where my mom has recently moved. Silver City has an amazing skate park, which Isaac got to visit a few times. I included a picture of him practicing going backward. He has been practicing going down and up in a bowl, back and forth so he is going forward then backward. He also tried out the tunnel into a lower portion of the park's bowl. If you know skate parks, the last picture will show you about half of the park, and you can see how awesome it really is!

Gift Card Cupcakes

Ok, I'll keep it to a minimum. I have been super lame about updating this thing, and for those of you who check in and wonder what happened to me, sorry! I've been busy, and honestly it's much easier to just throw some pictures up on FaceBook and not have to deal with lots of silly Blogger issues I don't know how to fix--Blogger never acts the way I want, I really want it to look a certain way, but know no HTML and therefore have to try to force Blogger to play along.
Anyway, my friend Heidi saw these somewhere and I had been looking for an excuse to make one (or some). Christmas for the nieces provided just the excuse I needed! No they are not edible, but they do hold gift cards in them and I think are super cool. Once I get through quilt-mania, if I get through quilt mania, I might just have to make another one. Here's a link to the video on how to make them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkVm1Tif6gI

Cousins

One of the coolest parts of Lorrie's wedding was that all the kids got to be in the wedding. When the fun dance music started, the kids were the first to get out there and start boogying down. Here they all are strutting their stuff. From left to right: Stephanie, Ashly, Samantha, Isaac, Sarah and Daisy. I'm so glad that Isaac has such great cousins, even if they are *all* girls! He sometimes complains about being the only boy, but I remind him that being the only boy on either side of the family has its rewards, too. Being the youngest doesn't hurt either. After I remind Isaac of the benefits, he remembers being the only boy can be pretty good!

Handsome Gents

Here are my guys! What more can I say? They are handsome and I love them!

Proudest Boy

Isaac was SO excited to be in the wedding and to get to wear a tux...he was only disappointed that he didn't get to keep the tux, that's my boy! At the wedding he caught the garter and this is the blissfully proud face I snapped afterward. Way too cute. When he told Uncle Brian that he caught it, Brian told him he had caught four garters. Then Isaac told Brian "You should really get married." Then he offered some advice about going to a restaurant to meet a girl, or Target. There you have it single gents, if you're looking for a wife all you need to do is catch a garter (or two, or three, or four) and then take a trip to Target. You'll be hearing wedding bells in no time!

Still In Love

At Lorrie's wedding we let Isaac be the photographer and he got some amazing pictures. He captured this one of Paul and I dancing. We were all in the wedding, hence the fancy dress that you can't really see and Paul's tux. We look pretty good together, I have to say. Cheers to many more years!

Rockwell Wedding Quilt

Paul's sister Lorrie recently got married. I have always wanted to make someone a quilt for their wedding. Thanks to Lorrie, I had the chance! Since she was going with a fall theme for the wedding, I decided to go with that for the theme. It was the largest quilt I've ever made and wasn't the easiest to get a photograph of the whole thing. As it was, I had to hang it sideways and it still wanted to drag on the ground. Had to put chairs under it to hold it up, hence the lopsided look to the right.
This is a little closer and shows some of the squares. The pattern was for a quilt half this size, so I had to double it to make it king-sized.





Here is one of the "double" layer squares, they kind of look like a square within a square. I had so much fun picking out all the different fabrics for this one.



And as always I included a shot with the back folded over. The quilt was so large I had to add in some extra fabrics to make it big enough for the quilt top.

Skateboarding

Right near our house is a high school with a smooth rink area. Sometimes we head over to let Isaac skate. We snapped a few pictures recently and here they are. I can barely stand on a skateboard, so Isaac must get his "mad skills" from his daddy.
He totally loves skateboarding and it's really exciting to see him try something, struggle, and keep at it.
















His school has a skateboarding club and every other Friday they go to a skate park. The other Fridays they go to a park near the school and practice.
Isaac claims that skateboarding is his "thing" right now. Interestingly, just like he swims "left-handed" by breathing on the left, he also skateboards left-handed--by pushing with his right leg instead of the left.

Seattle Sky

Once again I am miserably behind on blogging. Sorry, it's so much easier to just throw pictures up on Facebook than to make Blogger do what I want it to. But I'm going to try to catch up some. This is a quilt I made for one of my dearest friends from way back when. She had her second little one earlier this year. Since I made her a quilt for the first one I couldn't very well not make one for the second...at least that's the excuse I used to justify making it. The first picture shows the whole thing.


Next up is a little closer to show some more details.











A closer look to show the fabrics. Followed by a look at the border and quilting.








Lastly, part of the back folded over the edge so you can see it with the front.

Molly Ringwald's Butterflies

My friend Julie had a baby last August named Athena. Julie loves butterflies and Athena's room is all pink and green. Being me, I wanted to make her a quilt. I bought all the stuff and then while I was at her house, found out that her family had already made her a quilt in all the same colors. Darn! So I decided to make the quilt anyway and then donate it to Quilts for a Cause. They auction off the quilts and donate the money to cancer research in Southern Arizona. But when Julie saw the quilt top, she wanted the quilt. How could I refuse? I recently got it back from the quilter and now that I gave her the quilt today, I can post pictures and not ruin the surprise. To the left is the whole thing.
Here is a close-up so you can see some of the fabrics a little better. I found lots of fabric with butterflies, but also some flowers, polka dots and fruit.





The next picture shows the quilting. I don't do this, I pay someone else to do it as I don't have the skill or the several thousand dollar machine to do it.



Last is a picture that shows a little of the back--pink with green polka dots. I actually made her a French memory board out of the same fabric. I couldn't help but name it Molly Ringwald's Butterflies because the color combination reminds me of all of the great 80's movies with Molly Ringwald that I grew up on.

Solo Kayaking

Watching his cousins go on their first solo kayaking tours this summer Isaac told me "Daddy is never going to let me go by myself ." But what do you know, when it was Isaac's turn, he, too, got to go in his own kayak with Paul nearby on his kayak. He was so proud of himself. I got lots of pictures, but this one shows him paddling in through some rocks as he gets back from his trip. As always, looking forward to next summer!

The Lake

Um, so do I need to explain why we drive 13 hours, plus stops, every summer to and from this place? I kind doubt it. Shaver Lake.

Rock On!

Isaac and I rocking on in the Lake. Need I say anything else?

Karate Kid

Every year the water level at the Lake is a little different. That means every year there is some new "it" spot to hang out and play. This year the water was pretty high, but just low enough to reveal the top of a long granite rock. My brother, in all his genius, did a karate kick off the rock into the water. I saw Isaac's face go from hanging out to complete and utter awe. I knew Isaac would just have to try it! In fact, it became the "it" activity for the whole week. We got a few pictures, and here are a couple of them. The first one is one of those pictures that I see Isaac and think "he's not a teenager yet, why does he look like one?"
This one gives an idea of what it looks like after the kick is executed. It looks like he is jumping right on my brother and niece, but actually he's not. Can't wait for next year's trip!

Max Snorkeling

You may or may not know, but Max isn't the biggest fan of swimming. He doesn't mind getting wet up to his chest, but feet leaving the ground, actual swimming, is something he has basically avoided all three summers we've taken him to the Lake. This year, his 3rd year, he was a little more brave. He did a little intentional swimming and as you can see here, decided he needed to see just what was under there. I saw him doing this and Paul was quick enough with the camera to capture it. Too funny!

Isaac's Eye

While out on the patio at Pineridge I managed to snap this picture of Isaac's eye. He thought it was so funny that I took it. Paul noted that you can see me holding the camera reflected in his eye. Just a cool picture I wanted to share.

The Wiggle

I am still behind on blogging...but I'm working on it! Maybe I'll be caught up by the end of the day. While we were at the Lake, Isaac's other top front tooth got really loose. Here he is in Paul's hat from childhood--now it's Isaac's--wiggling his tooth with his tongue. The tooth actually fell out about a week later while we were in the car. Uncle Brian took a picture on his phone, but I don't have that one. Regardless, I really like this picture, it shows the Isaac that I see every day: a happy smile, enthusiasm, and to be a mom...I see sweetness. That's my boy.

Worm Farm Fun

When Isaac found out that my grandparents had sent Grams a worm farm he hoped with all his might that it would arrive before we had to leave. Lo and behold, it came and he was there to help build it. Who knew that shredding paper and moving worms from my mom's compost pile into her new fancy worm farm would be so exciting to him, but it was one of the highlights of the trip! Had to capture the moment...so here they are shredding newspaper for one of the layers of the farm. Good times to be had by all!