New Fabric

I got new fabric in the mail yesterday.  It is a fat quarter bundle of a  new fabric line from Connecting Threads, designed by Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts.  It is in the laundry now, because I am a pre-washer.  Hopefully it will be ready to use this weekend.  I can see a few oranges in there after all.  

While searching through my photo stream, I kept finding pictures of the kids.  This is Sydney on the school bus.

Here is Anna with her BF.  I wonder if they realize that I see all of their photos?

Vacation Play

 Kurt had to go back to work today, but the kids and I are not back until next week.  I am trying to put Jamestown Landing back together.  It was all laid out but I picked up the blocks instead of sewing them together.  BIG mistake.  Never pile up a stack of blocks and then try to reassemble them later.

 Sydney had a sleepover last night and has been playing with her friends all morning.  So far we have done video games, sidewalk chalk and board games.  I think dolls are next on the list.

Ryan has a friend over to play and he'll be here all day as his parents are both back at work today.  They have done video games, go carts, minecraft and movie making.  Hard to believe it isn't even lunchtime yet.
There is a calm moment now so I'll go and see if I can puzzle the blocks together before lunch. Wish me luck.

Busy Bees

 Anna sews a quilt she just decided to start which she will forget about by the end of the day. 

 Ryan programs his Lego Robot before the practice starts this morning.  The theme this year is elderly people.  Can you see the Lego quilts near the front of the board?

Mom quilts Smith Mountain Morning using freehand Baptist Fans. 
Sydney is sleeping off a sleepover and Dad is slow smoking a pork butt on the new grill. 
What are you up to this weekend?

Kid Stuff

 Check out the cool zebra curtain and matching valance.  I still need to add a bit of teal trim on the bottom and paint the brackets, but other than that, it is done.  I'll have to go up and put all the outlet covers back and clean up the debris after dinner.  I really hope it doesn't give Sydney strange safari nightmares.

While I was putting the bedroom accessories together Anna and her friend Alli decided they wanted to make quilts.,  They rummaged through the 5 inch square drawer, sewed them together and quilted them all up with minimal supervision from me.  Aren't they cute?  The next generation of quilters has begun. 

I'm Home!

 I had a great time workshoping.  This was a week long summer institute in preparation for a complete redesign of the AP Biology curriculum.  It was intense and full of good information.  See the adorable agar blocks we used to test the relationship of surface area to volume?  The pink is an acid base indicator which changes to clear as acid diffuses into the block.  I roomed with a teacher from our school who was there to do the calculus workshop.  Each evening, after dinner, I worked diligently on test questions, syllabi and such so that I could get up the next day and do it all over again. 
The first half of the week was spent in constant dampness as Debby continued to move through the state.  Those were the days when we were all disoriented and wandering lost around the second largest campus in the country.  It made me thankful to NOT be a full-time student anymore.  By midweek though, the storm had passed leaving BEAUTIFUL weather behind.  We had learned to navigate the campus and felt confident enough to venture out and explore a bit. 

While I was off at my training, the girls were enjoying surf and art camp.  Like me, they started out dealing with the storm, but were able to get out and enjoy the beach by the middle of the week.  Wednesday they started the day watching a nest of baby sea turtles hatching and Thursday they saw dolphins and horseshoe crabs on a kayaking trip.  Ryan was at Mr. Science again, this time doing a crime scene camp.  Their final day was spent analyzing an apparent homicide to figure out how Mr. Science ended up dead in a pool of blood.   Poor Kurt was just plain worn out after all the dropping off and picking up.  He had a lot going on at work, but had to squeeze it all in between his chauffeur duties.  They were all glad to see me, especially because I was able to drive straight to the beach when my class ended and see the girls surf while also saving Kurt from yet another car trip. 
Almost no sewing went on.  I did take my Dear Jane quilt to work on the hand sewing, but chose to focus on school work instead to get the most out of my time away.