why chickens don't like toddlers

Our poor chickens have lately been subject to "Timber the Terror." She has been trying every chance she has to catch one- and she's doing a remarkably good job. I'm actually surprised that she can catch them. She must have some method of cornering them or something. I know that I wouldn't be able to catch one at all, unless it was in the coop. Anyway, one of our hens is actually very people friendly. She may in fact think that she is a person because if you leave a door open to the house she will gladly come on in and make herself at home. But chicken poop in the house is no fun, and really just gross, so we usually shoo her out.

Timber is quite proud of herself though every time she catches one....

And sometimes she even shares with Layton.

So you ask, when will the next quilting post be??? Well, I wish I had good news to share but the slump has hit again so I haven't been sewing anythign really new. Sorry 'bout that.

me (enough is enough)

I typically don't share photos of myself, usually because I'm the one behind the camera, and because when my husband takes photos of me (with his camera) they end up turning out like this...... me, still sick, very pregnant, no make up, in grubby clothes, in a messy kitchen.

My cold just will not give up. Yesterday my ears were so bad that just a raised voice hurt them. So by the end of the day, I was done. And yes, I put on ear muffs. Gavin thought it was hilarious and named the photo "Enough is Enough" so here it is...or should I say here I am, in all my glory! Enjoy- because it will probably be the last one for a while! :)

my sunshine

At 17mo old, she sure has the right idea! :)

what now brown cow?

I'm just getting over being sick with a cold. I guess that I'm not really over it, but surely better than I was this weekend. I was pretty much down for the count Saturday and Sunday and my absolutely AMAZING husband stepped right in and took care of all 3 kids for me! Thank you honey- you're the best! :)

But today is Monday, so it's back to work for Gavin and for me. The kids and I picked blackberries this morning and so I've spent part of the afternoon making canned pie filling. I am so grateful that none of our children have been born during canning season. Yes, I've been pregnant for the past 3 seasons (I think, wait, I've lost count now......) but I haven't actually had a newborn to care for during. It feels as though I do nothing but can all day. I know that's not entirely true but sometimes it sure does feel that way. I did 13 more jars of corn this weekend and just finished up 4 jars of the pie filling. Now I'm ready for my nap (yeah right, as if moms get to nap.) At least there was some instant gratification today- I pressed watermelon juice....mmmmmmmmmmm

free ship and fabric

I got a bunch of fabric in the mail toady. Most of it for upcoming Christmas gift projects but this one is for me and I am sooooooooooo in love.......

The new American Jane collection! All wrapped up in a ton of nice fat quarters!
So to celebrate how giddy I am over this fabric I'm offering FREE US shipping on all quilts in my shop for this weekend! Aug 14th-Aug16th! Woo hoo!

Now, what am I going to make?

carrots anyone?

I decided to pick carrots yesterday- with absolutely no intention of doing much productive with them. I canned spicy carrots last year from our garden but I ended up being the only one liking them and a quart sized jar of carrots was not consumed fast enough. So, I guess these will just be juice. That's o.k., I love carrot juice.In quilting news (which there hasn't been much of lately, I know) I have decided that I'm sick of making quilts for other people. Well, o.k., not really. If I kept all the quilts I made, our house would be busting at the seams with quilts that we'd never even have time to use. I appreciate that other folks want to actually buy the quilts that I make. But I am feeling a little left out since the last quilt I actually made for myself was probably about 5 years ago. So I'm doing something about it, with these.....Urban Indigo. Probably one of my top 3 all time favorite collections from Moda. I've got 7 more charm packs on the way and I'm going to make a quilt for our bed. I'd like to go all out and get really detailed in the piecing but to be honest, I'm way too lazy (or maybe just to busy) to do it so the disappearing 9 patch pattern it is.

kids

Have I ever said that I love, love, love and simply adore my kids??? Yep, I do. For so many reasons but here are two....

neigh neighs

Timber and I were out in the front the other day looking at the beans and the corn and Timber says to me, "Neigh Neighs" and points over by the grape arbor. I thought, what in the world is she talking about? When I rounded the corner I saw what she saw.

A nice little 3 point and a forked horn. I hope they're smart enough to NOT be around once archery season opens in a couple weeks......

i'm almost an auntie!

My sister in law is in labor! Woo hoo! They're at the hospital now and her water has broken. She's at 5cm dilated. My little niece is going to be here today and I am soooooooooooo excited. I can't wait to hold her!! I'll keep you updated on what's going on as we progress!

****Update: 12:40pm, A'Lissa is at a full 6cm and is getting a little bit of pain meds. Ugh, I so do NOT envy her right now. Anything after 6cm is so yucky (in my personal opinion) until you can actually push. I'm praying that the next 4cm will progress quickly for her and that our little sweet girl will be here this afternoon.

1:45pm- Wow, that was fast! A'Lissa is at 9.5cm and almost ready to push. I'm just waiting on phone calls so I don't know how timely the info I get is. Anyway, we're just waiting now!

3:30pm- Morgan Elizabeth is here! Weighed 8lbs 9oz and 20in long. Congrats to mommy and daddy!****

as american as......

well, apple pie of course! Our neighbor brought over a bunch of apples from her tree yesterday afternoon so naturally, I canned apple pie filling. Those pies will be so great this winter! I had a little help with the apples...Actually, I had a lot of help. Layton was a wiz with the apple peeler. I just stuck and apple on and he peeled them for me!And afterwards he got to eat the good stuff- the peels!

camping

Wow, what a great trip! The kids had so much fun this weekend! Everything went perfectly except for all the mosquitos we had to deal with. I think I killed about 50 in less than an hour. Yuck. But, bug bites and all, we made it through and had a great time. I have a bunch of pictures to share!

First let's start off at what we were doing at 7am when most folks should be sleeping......

Yep, fishing. Layton was at least.

Timber just liked to throw rocks into the river and scare any potential fish away. After she'd throw in a couple she'd lift her hands up in the air and say, "Splash!"

I guess she wasn't scaring away too many dinners because most of the fish in this river (where we were camping) were about this big.... No, really, there is a fish there. You have to look really hard! It's about 1.5inches long.

Layton liked throwing rocks too.

Gavin's parents came with us and brought their trailer. It was super helpful and I think Wyatt appreciated it the most since it then meant that he didn't have to sleep in a tent squished with 2 adults, one toddler and a baby in the pack and play.

Wyatt loved the rope swing.

The babies liked coloring.

Layton is a serious artist.

Timber ate more crayons than she did color with them.

Timber loves shoes.........

and pulling Papa's hair!

I think that may be about 1/3 of the photos I have but I really don't have time to load them all. And you may not want to see them all anyway. I'm off to do about 10 loads of laundry now! :)