Living, Loving, Learning

I usually try to keep it positive on the blog, but we've had a really hard weekend. No Easter pictures to post, no real Easter celebration happened here. It really was kind of a spiral that got bigger as the weekend went on. It started last Thursday when Lucy and Lottie busted through the back door and broke the screen. Then on Friday, in preparation for a weekend spent putting the new bamboo floors in the back room, we moved the washer/dryer into the middle of the kitchen. All the while, it has been raining hard for DAYS!!! Everything is wet, muddy foot prints and paw prints are becoming inescapable. We've had tornado watches and warnings almost every day for a week now. On Saturday we woke up to our basement being flooded and the pilot light out on the water heater - this is an especially big bummer because this happened a week ago and we spent a lot of money to have it fixed. Bruce had to scratch his plans for floor laying to spend the day working on repairing the sump pump ...

Nothing like a good quilt action shot. Had to share these photos that the Moms sent me.

A Lion easter egg.... RRRoooooaarrrrr! Griffin was using the same easter basket that Granny used when she was little. The handle get breaking, but we figured Lucy could use the advantage. Mormor has "houses" built in the woods for them. They were delighted to find eggs in their houses! Soooo hard to get a good photo of them together these days. ANYWAYS, they had a great time hunting easter eggs and can't wait to do it again soon!

The Moms' both have a super big birthdays this week....ends in an 0, if you know what I mean. With so much love and honor and respect we wanted to show them, Jessica and I decided to collaborate on making this throw quilt for them. I pieced the front of the quilt. I used a pattern called " Tokyo Subway Map ". I started working on it in August. It was hard not to talk about it at the time, it was so consuming. It has 986 2" squares in it. I finished the top by November and and shipped it to Jessica in the beginning of December. Jessica then worked her magic, hand quilting THE WHOLE THING. Each subway line is quilted in the same color, making the back super interesting against the dark fabric. She also embroidered a message and bound the whole thing. I really love the way it turned out!! This quilt has so much meaning for me. Not only as a gift, but it was such a cool project to work with my sister on! I can totally see us doing more things like this in the future......

No trip to MI would be complete without a trip to our favorite pub...DNO's! We were so happy to able to connect with the Marino's while we were in town. We left the kids with the Moms, so we were able to get some much needed "grown up" time! This time it included the finally 21 year-old Jessica. So excited to get to know her as an adult!! The Marino's can always be counted upon for gracious hospitality, warm hugs, fierce loyalty and deep friendships. Can't wait to see them again soon!

Isn't that a cool purse my Mom has?! It's totally vegan!

Our quickie trip to MI was fantastic and really whetted our appetite to spend a great deal more time up there this summer!!! Our first day back we met up with our dear friend, Vida. She was the person who introduced Bruce and I and has been such an important long term friend to both of us. It was great to hang out with her and her daughter, Julia. It was a beautiful spring day so after a fantastic lunch in Ferndale, we headed to the zoo. Griffin and I use to come to the zoo ALL THE TIME when we lived in the area. It brought back a flood of memories of my little guy as a toddler and all the amazing times we had there together and with friends. It was a fun afternoon!!! It was fun to also experience it anew with Lucy and Julia. Lucy is in that super animal obsessed stage right now, so everything from feeding the ducks to the huge rhinos were equally exciting to her. Those lumps in the grass behind the kids are kangaroos (Shout out Holly!!!! Made us think of you, big time!) Guess who...

Construction on the back room is well under way. The kids have been wanting to help, so their chance finally arrived. I can't wait until this room is done and we can use it. I love the light blue colored walls, so tranquil.

Griffin was so happy to place in the spelling bee and even more excited when he realized he's won a trophy!!! We are so super proud of him and how hard he works in school.

Poor Zed had been neglected during the time of the puppies. He is happily back on Griffin's radar, now though. He has decided he is old enough to start holding Zed. At first, Zed was not so sure about this plan, but he is gradually warming up to it. You can imagine, Lucy is eager to participate too! Griffin loves being "big" and explaining about reptiles and such to Lucy. He has been super curious about what Zed's heart beat sounds like. I think we are going to have to borrow a stethoscope to listen to it, though!

My Aunt Mollie, Mary Hawkins, recently passed away. At 89, she has lost her sight, but her mind was sharp. My cousin who let me know of her death, told me that her famous homemade gingerbread was mentioned at her funeral. LOVE that! I only met Mollie once. My girl Julie and I were backpacking through Europe. My Grandma had given me Mollie's number and I had sent her a letter of introduction before we went. We got to the bus depot in downtown Edinburough, Scotland and I gave her a ring. She immediately said to come on over and gave us directions to her house. Her hospitality was such an amazing gift to us. We were so dirty, so tired, so street weary. She and her son Walter, gave us such a nice place to stay, insisted we do our laundry there, made us some great meals and spent a mellow/wonderful night telling us stories about my clan, memories of my great-grandmother, and funny pictures of her recent trip to the baths in Turkey. The next day we explored the city with her. Seeing it ...

Lucy had an awesome birthday party with her friends on Saturday. Unfortunately, 3 friends couldn't make it, but I think, the ones who were there had a great time. Isn't this cake soooo cute. The lion looks exactly like the one on the napkins and plates. We were able to get it from a local woman who makes cakes in her home. It tasted delicious too. The party was exactly what we hoped. A loose structure with the kids able to participate in activities, or not, with healthy food and lots of treats....balance. It was hard to make any photos of the kids because they spent most of the 2 hours in motion, but I got Lucy to pause long enough to snap this one. I needed it so I can always remember that when she was little she let me make her skirts that would match the theme of the event! ;) I know that will not last forever!! Miss Deb, the owner of the gym, was so sweet and great with the kids. She had a little obstacle course set up for them that they loved. For sure, the adults h...

Lucy is having the best birthday week EVER! On Wednesday, the playgroup decided to have an adventure and we gathered up the carpool and headed to the CMOE museum. We all had a blast, the Moms as much (or even a little more) than the kids. I mean who wouldn't have fun with 5 amazing, smart, healthy, kind, fun 3 year olds!! There was so much to see and do there, and we had enough time to let everyone explore each area as long as they wanted. Curiously, their attention spans were very similar and they were all ready to move on at the same time. I love seeing their unique personalities and all their individual little friendships forming. This post is picture heavy, but as I was the designated photo maker, this is the best of the 180 photos I made that day. They had a room with a stage, loud music and a bunch of chairs. It took these 3 about 10 seconds to figure out what to do....Lucy and Myles are a tad bit more reserved, but they joined them on stage about a minute later. I...