last leg of the marathon

tomorrow:: the last day of the marathon aka my crazy June/July. sewing camp, camping camp, beach trip with in laws, girl scout camp....whew. Makes me tired just typing it. Next week I would like to sew, embroider and read a good book. And do laundry, dishes and feed my kids. (only because I kind of have to do those ones)

This year, our venture into the world of girl scout camp was done with a little bit of hesitation. I had to volunteer to garauntee a spot for all of the girls. I had to sweet talk my mom into coming down to play with Elise and Lilly while volunteering. It just seemed like a lot. I have had a slight change of attitude as I plan on volunteering forever more (as that is how long it will be before all of my girls have gone through camp there). A fun time was had by all and it was wonderful experiencing it with the girls instead of just hearing their summaries each evening. I'll post pictures....when I finally get pictures up from the beach. Can I tell you how pooped I am? I just remind myself that next week=sewing, embroidering and books. (and maybe some potty training? Dang. Mom lists never stay short. )

beach trip numero dos

We are back from beach trip take 2 of this summer, although this one included a house instead of a yurt and more importantly, a washing machine and dryer. (Oh, and a mother in law cooking yummy Korean food 24/7) I haven't had time to upload pictures yet, but here is a breakdown of our trip:

Day one: tillamook cheese factory, clamming, eating seafood

Day two: Newport Aquarium, crabbing, seal watching, clamming, getting large fine for

naughty clamming activity, eating clams, sleeping very well

Day three: crabbing, blue heron cheese factory, hike/pick salmon berries, tillamook cheese

factory, home

So, as you can see from the above itinerary, this trip was pretty much all about seafood and dairy products, although mainly about seafood. I hate seafood, but I am convinced that this makes me a formidable adversary of the clams. I do not smell of seafood so they do not fear me. Sorry for betraying you, little ones, but you make my husband and my kids so very happy.

(which is why we managed to clam beyond the legal limits and not enter one antique store or flea market. Clams bring more smiles than antique stores do. Dang.)

the infamous zig zag quilt

{a las, the infamous zig zag quilt. stripes of blue, green and white.}

If you are new to quilting, this is the quilt for you. If you have a one year old who likes to toss quilt squares around while you are doing quilting yoga (aka: laying out many, many squares), you might want to lay this out during sleeping hours.

Did I tell you how much I love fabricdepot.com? This quilt did not require a single trip to the fabric store. I even used batting from a garage sale! Thanks to Bend the Rules, I never prewash my

quilting fabric. This leads me to my favorite part of making a quilt. I love to pull the quilt out of the dryer, finding all of the cute puckering magic from the fabric shrinking that gives it that vintage feel. Sigh.

I can't believe that I neglected to give Amanda credit for this beautiful pattern, even if it did take me 3 months to make it a reality! (beautiful and easy....a winning combination!)

house guests

Instead of cleaning my house in preparation for our barrage of house guests this week, I decided I would spruce up the guest room for them. (See? Doesn't that sound like more fun?) This room was originally supposed to house the royal Lilly Lu, but seeing as she has shown major preferences to the closet, I thought I should change things up for our guests. The quilt was from sewing camp (for moms), as Lia and I had a little quilting class that included us both making a simple quilt from Material Obsession. And then there is where Sarah went a little crazy with her can of Cherry Red spray paint, painting anything that came too close while the can was in her hand. frames. (lots of them) a shelf. a chair. I'll call it quits for now, but I really am liking the room. You'll notice the chair has all of our Portland touristy books on there. In the nightstand, we made up a basket full of those things you might forget. (besides underwear. don't forget your underwear!) We also put a bird feeder outside the window and have a bird book in that nice little stack. Our guest room is now open for business. (if only those naughty girlies would stop unmaking the bed to cuddle up and read. and no more leaving your toys in there!)

our frumpy date night

What do you do for a hot date after 12 years? Thai food and a stop at the garden of Eden (aka: Forest Grove Community Garden) for a little weeding. And no, that isn't some crazy code for make out lane.

If anyone is out on this side of town, let me give you a tour of our amazing community garden! It is lush and bountiful and every day that I go to water, it seems like things have doubled in size. Although I love having the kids there to get excited about all of the vegetables that are growing, it is much more peaceful to go there with just Chris and me. I am also enjoying the social aspect of it all, talking with our garden neighbors about what they're growing and gleaning all of their gardening secrets. Yes, my garden at home is much more accessible but I will still be doing the community garden next year. (that full sun is making those veggies look like they are on steroids!)

Oh, beautiful...

Being out in Forest Grove made us have to shake up our Fourth of July traditions a bit. When we were in Portland, our celebrations included a ward picnic and a killer fireworks show that night. I guess we could have done the same thing, but what is the fun in that? This morning I took the girls to the Hillsboro Parade and then we just had a nice family bbq. I am not sure if I went to 4th of July parades as a child as I don't have a stellar memory, but I am pretty sure that

this parade will always hold a special place in my vast memory tank. (I remember a lot of things,

just not always the most important things) We got there right as the parade was starting and with all the chaos of parking and unloading 6 kids, we got their feeling a little hurried. All of that disappeared as one of the 1st floats was full of veterans. You know those chills I talked about? This was beyond chills. My eyes filled with tears as my heart was overflowing with gratitude for these men who gave such a priceless gift to our country. It seemed like for the 1st half of the parade, every other float was honoring our veterans. And like clock work, the crowd would stand to honor these wonderful men. And I would start crying again. No, I am not pregnant. I am just feeling extra appreciative for the sacrifice so many make for us.

{note the skirts that made for a sleep deprived mom this independence day. I am grateful for a land that allows me the freedom to make such a bad decision.}

red, white and blue

I am a down right proud American. Every time I drive into Forest Grove and get a glimpse of our oversized (to some) flag, I get chills. Singing a patriotic song (especially with a large group of fellow patriots? chills. I will always remember the day that I got to see a navy ship roll into the Puget Sound, lined with sailors in uniform, standing at attention. I am off to finish up Lilly's red, white and blue skirt for our 4th of July happenings, but a big thank you to all of you brave service men that have helped protect the freedoms that my family enjoys everyday and to their families that sacrifice a normal family life.

{and shame on you politicians that are so darned set on taking so many of those freedoms away!}