Put a Bow On It!

I first want to give a huge shout out and thank you to Julie over at That's Sew Julie!  I have been following her blog for a little while now and I was loving the newborn and preemie crochet hats she has been making.  I really wanted to make a few of my own to give away as gifts or donate to our local hospital.  Its been a while since I've picked up my crochet hooks, so I asked Julie if she could send me the pattern she used to create the beautiful little baby hats.  And wouldn't you know it - Julie was such a sweet heart and posted a whole blog tutorial on how to make these hats in both sizes and in the four different styles that she has created!  Oh than you Julie!! 

So last Friday, while I was in JoAnn's for a few minutes (waiting for the novocaine to wear off from the dentist), I picked up 5 skeins of yarn at 30% off!  Finally last night I had a few minutes - well ok, actually I was just too hot and tired to do dishes or fold laundry - so I parked myself in front of a fan and went to work.  About 45 minutes and a Master Chef episode later, I had made this little beauty!  Isn't it adorable?

 I had forgotten just how tiny a newborn's head is especially since my Little Bear isn't so little any more!  For size reference, I could put this over my closed fist and it doesn't quite cover my entire hand.  

So again - Thank You Julie!  This was the perfect simple crochet project I've been looking for so I could take a little break from my sewing machine.  But don't worry - more, well actually a LOT of sewing is in my very near future!  

Family Weekend on the Farm

This past weekend, most of my family converged on my sister Katie's farm for a family get together.  It was a great weekend fill with fun, laughter, good weather, tons of food, story telling and new memories.  Here are just a few of the many pictures I took of the weekend.  

Here is a picture of everyone who was able to come for the weekend:

Little Bear certainly had a lot of fun with his aunts.

And Little Bear had even more fun with his cousin Little Man. Not quite sure what they are conspiring to do here... mmm...

Little Bear and Little Man also had fun dragging Tim around,

and wrestling him on my newly finished quilt. 

And they both had even more fun getting wagon rides from their Aunt Sally.

They especially loved going fast down a hill. 

Since it was rather hot out, my mom brought out her water sprinkler for Little Bear and Fiona (Katie's dog) to cool off with.  

I think Fiona must have drank at least 2 gallons of water!

Here the cousins are back at the wagon having even more fun.  This time they brought along their loveys - Oliver and Piggy. 

Nothing quite like spending a hot summer weekend in the country with my family!!

Nine-Patch Jean Quilt - Finished!!

Have you ever had one of those projects where you feel like you have been working on it for simply forever?  I've had one of those and this summer marked 4 years since I began to make a "simple" nice patch quilt out of old blue jeans.   I would eagerly work away on it for a time and then for one reason or another, it would get shoved into the back of the closet and forgotten about for months at a time.  Well, over the past 2 weeks, I said "Enough!  This must get finished!"  It was just taking up too much valuable space in my closet which I could be using to store my ever growing fabric stash.  So here it is, all finished up and beautiful. 

We were down to my sister Katie's farm this past weekend and the split rail fence in her front yard made the perfect place to hang this quilt and snap a few pictures to celebrate its completion. 

I love the firefly/bug flannel I used as the binding and for a sash through the quilt's back.  It makes it so happy and gives it the perfect feel for a picnic quilt. 

My two sisters, Emily and Sally, were great sports (especially since its a very heavy quilt) and held it up so I could get a few pictures of the entire front and back of the quilt.

 My husband, Little Bear, and my nephew (Little Man) all had fun trying it out for me.  

 

Verdict - the perfect picnic and/or wrestling on the front lawn quilt!

Independence Day Camping Trip to Michigan

Happy Independence Day!  Ok, so yes, I know that was like 12 days ago, but hey, better late than never right?  We had a fantastic 4th of July holiday!  Both my husband and I had the whole week off from work, so we packed ourselves up and headed for a 4 day camping trip in lower Michigan at this lovely park called the Metamora-Hadley State Recreation Area.  The campgrounds were lovely and nicely shaded.  There were some nice hiking trails and a nice beach there as well.  And the best part - my husband's brother and sister-in-law joined us for our camping trip!  It was a really fun time.

Here we are getting ready to hit the road.  My sweet husband was such a dear to drag all of the stuff out to the car and then load it into our roof top carrier while I chase Little Bear around. 

 The campground was about a 5 hour drive away and most of that driving was in Canada since its faster to go through Canada than around Lake Erie through Ohio.  About 20 minutes into Michigan though, we had to stop and let Little Bear run around for a few minutes.  He was quite happy to have grass under foot and not be stuck in the car seat for a few minutes.  

We made it to camp in great time and went about setting up camp!  Little Bear was quite the helper when it came to setting up the tent.

The 4 days we spent at the park flew by.  We spent time at the beach splashing in the lake.

Oh and we spent more time at the beach building sandcastles and moving sand from one pile to another.  We took Little Bear on his first canoe ride too!  He spent 20 of the 30 minutes we were in the canoe expressing his dislike for being cooped up in a canoe.... 

We spent time hanging around camp as Little Bear played with his dump truck and red wagon.

We even went on several walks around the campground and a short hike through the woods.  (Disclaimer: these two pictures are the one two we took where Little Bear wasn't crying as he wasn't too keen on the whole hiking thing.)

On one side of the campground, there was a small pier that stuck out into the lake.  Early one morning Little Bear and I took a walk over to it to enjoy the early morning stillness over the lake.  And we also spent more time playing with the red wagon around camp (pretty sure you can figure out Little Bear's favorite thing to do around camp by now). 

I also learned just how fantastic an old, season, cast-iron frying pan can be for cooking over an open fire!  We had some of the best french toast, scrambled eggs and sausage I've ever had.

On the second day of our camping trip, our air mattress sprung a sizeable leak and since it has served us well on many camping trips over the last 4 years, we decided to retire it and get a new one.  While at the store, Little Bear was enthralled with the mechanical pony (which only took 5 pennies to operate!).  After much time spent at the beach and exploring, Little Bear just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Little Bear's favorite passtimes at the beach also included running away from daddy and to mommy and stealing all of daddy's ice cream. 

All too soon, it was time to saw goodbye and head home. 

If only every day could be spent camping.