Allison LOVES the pool!!!!

Allison is loving her time at the pool. Today we arrived and she jumped right in and sat on the bottom!!!!

She goes right to the diving board with the big kids, and like the energizer bunny, just keeps on going and going and going off the board. Today she added a scissors jump and a pencil jump to her repertoire!!

She does not swim on her own - uses the swimmies - but if she were at a pool a couple times a week, she would be swimming by herself. She knows what she has to do....and tries......

We came home today, got dinner on the table, and she ate a large plate of spaghetti and melon......she works hard at the pool!!!

She has the Barbie dolls out all over the floor in the bedroom today - I hardly know she is here!!!!! She did come running out of the bedroom to tell me that me that it is raining...so I know she is alive!!!!! And we are getting a little much needed rain.

FLIP FLOPS

Allison is spending the week with us.

We did some foot prints to make flip flops.........Allsion did the stitching around this set of footprints. She was very proud of herself and her finished wall hanging.

I hung it in the back hall. Everyone can see it when they come in from the garage.

Allison went to the pool yesterday. She went off the diving board at least 30 times!!!!!

She did jumps, twists, twirls, legs spread out, cannonballs and had a great time.

She was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew is 1 year old!!!!!!!!!

Andrew celebrated his first birthday this past weekend.

Alexander and Allison made cupcakes and we had the greats join us for dinner and cake and ice cream.

Andrew enjoyed his own cupcake.

The Art of Music

The theme for the Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational is The Art of Music.

This is my entry......just finished throwing paint at it. Maybe it will need a little more.

The paintbrush is a well used brush from a visit to a Grand Rapids school last spring for High Scope. I had some time and was visiting the art teacher in her room. She was going to throw it away.......

Summer Reading Program

The library where I work has a Summer Reading Program. There are prizes for doing lots of reading.

The adults who finish are in a drawing for a $100 gift card from Meijers.

I have made these little wall hangings to add to that drawing.

The drawing may be "rigged" so that our friend Daisy will get the little house made of daisies!!!

National Quilting Association

Early in June, I went to Columbus, Ohio for the National Quilting Association summer show and convention. My friend, Cindy, went with me.

We took a two-day class with Laura Wasilowski and graduated with a degree from the Chicago School of Fusing. The class was so much fun - and such an easy technique.

The floral piece was the first one I did - create, cut and fuse.........

The ice cream cone was made by fusing a surface design and then cutting the shape you want.....the cone, the borders, etc. such fun!!! I did a little hand embellishment on the ice cream - and may do some more in the background.

I chose the ice cream cone design because we have lunch at the North Market followed by Jeni's ice cream in wonderful flavors after our meal.

Both pieces are ready to machine quilt - something I do more of when I can't be outside doing yard work or playing golf......

Summer Flowers

Many of my perennials are in bloom.

When Allison was here she had to go outside to the pot of petunias and say the pledge to the flag that is in that pot!!! And also her school motto......be respectful, honest, helpful, etc......

The area at the back of the house is supposed to hide the rusty wheelbarrow!!! Those tall Star flowers are a summer bloomer - and the tag said they would get 28 to 32" tall - why are they six feet tall????????? The beautiful pink hydrangea in there too.......

After working on the creek last summer - they came back to fill in the sink holes next to the creek in our yard - and now things will have to grow back after that little digger mashed the weeds that have come up. They were supposed to replant trees and wild flowers in the area...........don't believe that report!!!! This work was done by the County Drain Commission - government work at it's finest!!!!!

I don't want to post a picture of my vegetable garden - for fear that the deer might see it and come for dinner.

We have eaten peas and will have beans and the last of the peas today for dinner. There are lots of tomatoes - cherry, yellow pear and some big ones that need to ripen.