Counting crows

Got this email from Rene:

So I come home for lunch, and am sitting down at the kitchen table, eating some of that leftover chicken.

Daisy is out on the deck. Something catches my eye....its 2 incoming crows flying at 60 miles an hour flying in to steal my chicken. They slam into the kitchen window, and immediately drop dead on the deck.

They fall on either side of daisy, both quite dead. Daisy yelps in mortal fear, and leaps backwards, keeps glancing around fully expecting to see more dead birds being hurled at her.

Baby names

Lauren decided that when she grows up she would like to have two baby girls. She wants to name them Claritan and Fessa.

Jake

Congratulations Rene!

Well, it's been a pretty tough week for Rene (and us), especially with us losing Jake, but I'm happy to report that Rene became a US citizen today! Hooray! He went for the interview in the morning and they told him to stick around for the swearing in ceremony in the afternoon. I felt bad that we couldn't be there, but glad that this is all behind him.

Congratulations, Rene!

Farewell, sweet Jake

It's been an emotional day. The girls and I are in NY visiting my parents. Rene is in Augusta, leaving for Atlanta tomorrow. The folks at the kennel where Jake was staying called this morning and said Jake had a minor seizure. Late in the day, Jake was having a few seizures. Rene and the nice man at the kennel got Jake to the animal hospital, and sadly, we had to put him down. Jake was 12 1/2.

I haven't told the girls yet, but they know he's sick. Tomorrow is our big day in the city and I want them to enjoy it.

Jake was a sweet, sweet dog. He loved to eat (and eat!) and play. He loved to swim in the ocean and the lake. He was sweet to our girls from the moment they came home.

Jake has been with Rene from when he lived in Calgary. Moved with him to the San Francisco area and then of course moved with us to Georgia.

Farewell, sweet Windy River Jake of Riverbend.

Getting ready for the masters

The girls were in two performances of the Roar of Love on Friday, and they did a wonderful job. It is quite a production! I think they were both very excited to be a part of it. This is the first year we've been here that the show was not immediately before Masters week.

The Roar of Love is over, the azaleas are blooming, folks are putting fresh pinestraw in their garden beds, and the prisoners are out cleaning the sides of the road. It's springtime in Augusta. And I must get my house ready to vacate and rent for the masters.

Erin the pony and Lauren the cherub

Once again, Erin is in the ballet the Roar of Love, and this year Lauren joins her! Last year Erin was a firefly. The year before she was a cherub. Click on a photo to see it larger. Use your browser back button to return to blog.

Be prepared.

Lauren had a great birthday with her party at Monkey Joes. Her only requirement was that Monkey Joe did not visit us. Lauren doesn't like costumed characters. We figured this out at Disneyland last year. This was the first time we had a party outside of our home. And while it was a noisy crazy two hours, it was contained. It also allowed us to invite all of Lauren's classmates and other friends and some siblings as well. A great time was had by all.

The afternoon brought present opening, playing, and then Erin had her piano festival at Augusta State University. As my neighbor said, there's nothing festive about it. We went, she went in a room with a judge, and played her two songs, Ode to Joy and Mary's Little Lamb. I couldn't go in, but I think she did fine.

We returned home to tornado watches posted for our area, which turned into a tornado warning at dinner time. We reviewed our plan of going into the pantry if we needed to. We did not need to, but we did lose power for a while. We got to use our emergency crank radio (after we found it, that is). We listened to the weather forecast and A Prairie Home Companion. The radio has a light, siren and a cell phone charger (which we need to get).

In other news, I have lost my voice.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

4 years old! I can't believe it. Happy, happy day!

Crazy busy March

Here's what's keeping us busy in March:

Girl Scout cookies! Yesterday was the first day I did not have cases of cookies in our dining room.

Ballet! Rehearsals have started for the Roar of Love! This year Erin will be a pony and Lauren will be a cherub.

Piano! We've decided to cut back on some of our activities. Although Erin likes piano and is doing well, it's taking up too much time to devote the practice we need to. We decided to take a break from piano after Saturday's piano festival.

Birthday! Getting ready for Lauren's 4th birthday party on Saturday!

Masters! Are we rented? Maybe, maybe not. Hopefully next week we'll know for sure. In the meantime, I'm trying to clean and declutter when I can.

Citizenship! Our plan was that if our house was rented for Masters Rene would join the Girls and I in New York. But on Friday we got a letter that his citizenship interview is in Atlanta that week. There is a chance he could be sworn in and get his citizenship that very day! This has been a long time coming. Rene is now studying up on his civics, although he probably knows more on this subject than most people I know.

Yard is complete

Well almost. They need to roll the sod today or tomorrow, but then we're done! We're so happy with the results. We feel like we have a yard we can manage. It still is large and a lot of work, but it's cleaned up and we feel like planting and can easily see what needs to be done. Here are some pics.

The shrubs in the back can grow to 15-20 feet tall and should grow 4 -5 feet a year, which should help to block the house in the back. Note that these pictures are all pre-bloom season. Will post pictures when everything is blooming.

Click on a picture to see it larger. Use the browser back button to return.

When your dog eats an entire package of sugar free chocolate chips...

Don't panic! Called the vet and she said to expect tummy distress from Daisy, but actually Daisy did pretty well. Note these cookies were sealed in plastic, in a sealed cardboard box, inside a larger cardboard box. Of course it might have helped that Daisy is a large dog, but still I was predicting a messier outcome. Most of the girl scout cookies should be out of the house by this weekend.

I guess this incident, combined with the gingerbread house incident, proves that Daisy has a tough gut.

Erinisms and Laurenisms

From Erin recently:

Clouds are like nature's sunglasses. (How very Jack Handy of her.)

"Lauren, your artwork is abstract. That's just another way of saying it's scribble scrabble."

Lauren reciting the pledge of allegiance (that she hears at Erin's brownie meetings):

I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States
of brownies
and to the ocean of America,
for brownies and girl scouts forever.

Inside mess, outside mess

The inside mess is due to GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! And lots of them. 864 boxes to be exact. As cookie mom, I get to pick them up and store them. And they are here!





The mess outside is due to the ongoing yard work. Today they are putting down sod. I took this picture two days ago from my bedroom window.

Visit with Kara

Kara and family came to visit Saturday through Sunday. We went to Fort Discovery on Sunday and took a walk by the river (that would be the Savannah River) Sunday morning. Kids played a lot, grownups got to watch Walk the Line (ie the Johnny Cash movie).

Here's some pictures:

Garden overhaul

We have a large yard. A large front yard, and a large back yard. It's a lot of work, mainly for Rene. The backyard came with a charming, but slowly decaying vegetable garden, complete with 16 raised beds. And while this might be a dream for some, we just don't have the time to maintain it. On top of that the wood from the beds was rotting and the fence was starting to fall apart. It was becoming an eyesore. In other parts of the yard grass wouldn't grow and there were drainage issues.

Which leads us to our garden overhaul. Hopefully by next week I will be able to post the "after" photos. For now, you can view the before and demolition photos.

Note: I'm testing out embedding a Flickr slideshow with instructions from here.

Inspiration link roundup

Teacher's quilt from Pink Chalk studio.

Mini quilt featured on Sew Mama Sew.

How to make a new ironing board cover.

How to make a rice pillow at Wise Craft. I need to make some of these. When Erin had an ear infection I put some rice in an old clean sock, tied it up and warmed it up in the microwave. She drew a face on it and calls it her "Socky". A pretty rice pillow would be nice.

Cute bunny pillow pocket tutorial. You could adapt something like this for the tooth fairy. I was lame and didn't create a cute tooth fairy pillow or pouch for Erin's first two teeth, but we've got lots more to go, so there's still time.

The bunny pillow reminded me of the cute felt mice I had seen a while ago at Molly Chicken. Mine came out a bit funny as I was very new to sewing, I used "fake" felt instead of wool felt, and I probably should have enlarged the pattern a bit. Here's a cute version done at Pink Chalk Studio.

How to recycle old crayons. Just got one of these silicone mini heart pans at Michaels. Read the comments on this one. These would be cute birthday party favors.

Portrait of Lauren in her monkey pajamas

By artist Erin.

Inspiration link roundup

Too many creative people out there. I'm not worthy (bowing in submission).

I Heart Linen posted a checkerboard mini quilt with buttons as checker pieces!

Fabric pinwheels at Chickpea Sewing.

Fabric balls at Grand Revival Designs. Pattern and tutorial here.

Finally. Bunting flags tutorial from Whip Up. These would be fun for a birthday (hmmm, we have one of those coming up, don't we?)

I think the bunting, fabric balls and pinwheels would be fun for a girls room. I have done a poor job of decorating Lauren's room, and maybe it's time to put a little effort into it!

February is quilting month!

Sew Mama Sew will be posting about Quilting Month and Block-Along Kickoff!. I may be inspired to make a doll quilt. Maybe.