3 More Days

Someone will be 5 in just 3 days. We can hardly wait.

My Turn!

Now that you've had a moment to take in the bald patches in my back yard, head over to The Quilted Fish for my tutorial. This quilt has become a much fought after quilt. Flower keeps stealing it from me! You'll have enough leftover to try one of the other tutorials that have been featured in the past few weeks. Enjoy! And if you try any of the tutorials, or just make something out of The Quilted Fish fabric, please upload your photos to our flickr group!

Tomorrow, for Real

Tomorrow is my tutorial. I promise. I also promise that I am in love with this quilt. I have snuggled with it every night for the past week. It makes me happy. It prompted Curly to ask where his quilt was. I told him to get in line. I'm supportive like that.

My new dishwasher is so pretty. So is my new toilet. My life has changed for the better since Tuesday. The kids even want to get in on the dish washing action. I am only too happy to oblige. We also moved some of the furniture around in the living room and dining room. Our house looks bigger. I like that.

Ginger

Ginger is mostly a sweet, gentle child. She loves to hold hands and give kisses. She repeats a lot of what I say and has a rapidly growing vocabulary. She also has the worst temper in the world. Case in point: On Sunday after Sacrament Meeting, I said "Okay, let's go to nursery!" She started to cry. She said "No!" as forcefully as she could. When she saw that she could not change my mind, she decided to lay down in the middle of the aisle, kicking and screaming the entire time. Several people took pity and the poor mommy who had a temper tantruming toddler and offered assistance. Like Cousin Eddie's dog in Christmas Vacation, I have found that when she gets in one of her moods, it's best to just let her finish. Her temper is one reason I love her afternoon naps. It's also why I'm grateful I don't drink.

My dishwasher arrives today. Could it possibly get any better?

The Pool

Our favorite summer activity is going to the pool. It's really awesome. Ginger is in and out, out then in. In this picture, she's making the mermaids "go nigh-nighs." There was lots of adjusting and kisses.

Mini-me passed the diving board test this summer. Her favorite part of the pool is the deep end. She has a pre-dive routine where she stands at the end of the board with the ladder and shakes each leg. She saw a big kid do it, and now does it every. single. time. Then, she just jumps off the end. She wanted me to take a picture of her practicing her dive, so here it is.
Patch is nonstop motion at the pool, as he is in real life. I love this picture because you can see every single muscle in motion.
Care to join us for a dip?

Wedding Gift

Curly's cousin's daughter got married in North Carolina. All of Curly's siblings pitched in on the gift. We gave the happy couple a picnic basket.

Inside were plates, bowls, a tiffin box, and silverware.
Oh, and a quilt. Made by me. I'm so nice.
Curly's feet are so nice, too.

Breaking News

Because Amanda is the bomb.

Because my computer is broken. Just like everything else that could possibly break in this house. Just put it on my tab.

Because I had to drive through a thunderstorm with cloud to ground lightning all around me and broken tree branches in the road in order to pick up Flower today.

Because I am so beautiful.

Because Elmo is the best babysitter ever.

Because it got to 106 today, but felt like 122.

Because I still have a toilet on my back deck and a fridge in my living room.

Because Mini-me spread her sickness across 3 states.

My tutorial will be next week.

Here's what we'll be tuting on:

That is all.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my turn to share my Quilted Fish project. It's not quite finished yet. Oops. I'm quite proud of my progress, though. You see, while we were on vacation, our basement flooded. Again. This time the culprit was a flash flood that raced down our street. Thanks to some good people, we didn't have to come home early. Also while on vacation, the floor renovation from the first flood began. To say we have come home to a mess is a little of an understatement. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Here are some other thoughts on this hot July day:

• It's too hot to go to the pool. Ginger is in and out too much. If she'd just stay in, I'd probably take the kids.


• Mini-me refers to "Nilla Wafers" as "Nillas." I don't quite know how I feel about that.


• I called the school yesterday to find out what time Patch needed to be there for his Kindergarten assessment test. The secretary said "You mean the test that was yesterday?" Yeah. It's been like that.


• Gracie returned from the vet and, like Tigger, has lost her bounce. I don't mind.


• In my head, I have been referring to my upcoming tutorial as "sick" and "stupid." I think I have watched too much "So You Think You Can Dance."


• I love Ikea.

It's That Time Again!

The O'Kigins are hitting the open road in the morning. Nothing is packed. Am I stressed? Heck yes. Our wonderful contractor (who I love like a brother in law) decided that today was a good day to start the post-flood work in the kitchen. I have a toilet and dishwasher on my back deck, and a stove and fridge in my living room. The last load of laundry is in the drier, and then packing will begin in earnest. I'll try to blog from our mountain oasis. We'll be somewhere in North Carolina, near Tennessee. It should be cool, temperature wise. And when I get home? I'll have a lovely new kitchen floor. I can't wait for the trip to be over.

Holiday Hangover

It's so hard to get back into things the day after a holiday. Sometimes all you want to do is wear your onesie and an eye patch. But not for us today. We have a lunch date. And perhaps an appointment at the doll hair salon. We'll lounge next week.

Happy Independence Day!

Every year, our family takes part in a very patriotic breakfast. Curly dresses up as a Founding Father. This year, he was asked to be Thomas Jefferson. Patch does not like it when he has to dress up.

He was also King George.

Our cousins are usually there with us.

This year, Curly was in costume as people came. He had everyone sign the Declaration of Independence. It was really neat.

The program was amazing. Our Congressman spoke, they honored those who were currently serving, and they honored the vets who were there. Several World War II vets were asked to share some experiences. The label "The Greatest Generation" is well deserved.

Thank you to those who serve. We are grateful.

Gratitude

Today during church, I felt an overwhelmingly grateful. I am grateful for my kids, who are hilariously adorable. I am grateful for my Curly, who works really hard but also likes to play. I am grateful for my Grandma, who reads my blog every day and gave me really good genes that allow me to look 20 instead of 33. I am grateful we had a flood. I'm just very grateful. Amen.

Wrap Up

A big thanks to everyone who participated in Halloween in June. Unfortunately, I didn't finish my project. So, we're going to continue all summer long. Sound good? Don't forget to head over to the flickr group and upload your projects.

Don't forget this week's tutorial over at The Quilted Fish. It Julie's turn, and she has come up with the cutest runner. It's perfect for this weekend. I need to whip one up! If you make any of the Design Team projects, or anything with this fabulous fabric, be sure to put your photos on The Quilted Fish flickr group!