Quilt Update

OK, I got a LOT of sewing done in the last week, and the quilt top is nearly complete! I just finished cutting the last few squares. I had miscounted somewhere along the way and was missing three background squares, but they are all ready to go now, so there's no excuse. I think I'll lock myself in the attic for an hour or two tomorrow and finish it. I built the top by building large blocks of about 20-30 squares each, so I just need to finish up those few squares and then sew the 12 big blocks together. Check back tomorrow night - hopefully, there will be a pic to greet you!

Community Day at school

All the 2nd graders at EJ's school celebrated Community Day today. Over the last two months, they have learned a lot about the history of our town. Today, the summed it all up by having a parade around the school (complete with a firetruck and police car), showing off their dancing and singing talent, and then taking us back to their classrooms to show off their projects. We got to see brochures they designed and lots of artwork, including sculpture, drawings of their neighborhoods, and even computer graphics of some of the landmarks in town. It was a really nice presentation.

For chorus they did a rendition of "This Land is Your Land" with the words "This town is our community":

Next up was a circle dance:

Doing her Vanna White impression to show off her sculptures (the one on the left is our house, and the one on the right is her):

Our seasonal resident is back

Here's a photo I took on Sunday of a red-winged hawk in our yard. Each year, in early- to mid-March, at least one of these guys shows up and nests in the tall trees in the front of our property. This one isn't nearly as big as the one we saw last year. We learned from the Audobon Society that they return to the same area each year, and that they have several nests - one for their young, one for eating, etc.

Let's just say that the local chipmunk population has severely declined in the last few years...

And here's a picture I snapped two years ago of one hawk swooping in on the other:

EJ's Leprechaun Trap

It all started in Kindergarten, when Miss Shannon, EJ's art teacher did a project where the kids created fairy houses outdoors. When the kids took their naps that day, the fairy came and left shiny stones in each of their houses. Every few weeks, EJ decides to build another fairy house and then it has to remain standing for days or even weeks until the fairies come and leave her a token. Sometimes, it's a pretty bead. Sometimes it's a coin. Anyway, Dad wonders when she'll outgrow this fairy thing, but hey, there are worse things than having an active imagination.


This week, however, brought on the idea of a leprechaun house, and then...a trap to catch the leprechaun!!! As you can see from these photos, the Welcome sign is to lure the little guy in. He's supposed to jump up on the butter containers, see the gold coin hanging from the straw and several more coins in the box, and when he jumps to get the coin, he falls in and won't be able to get out.


Unfortunately, the leprechaun hasn't fallen for it yet. He did leave a quarter when he visited the other night. Last night, as K and I were watching TV, the hanging coin did fall from the straw, but alas, he was too quick and got away before we saw him or could shut him in the trap. We reset the bait and went to bed, but no leprechauns again today.


I hope the leprechaun trap isn't a permanent fixture in my family room until the Easter Bunny visits!

Blarney, it snowed!

We had a whopping 12 inches of snow between yesterday afternoon and this morning. It might have been more had we measured before the sleet started early this morning. No dance class last night, no gymnastics class this morning, but we are going to venture out for some Italian food tonight (no corned beef for us)!

Anyway, here are a few shots I just took of EJ in the snow. She went down her slide to push all the snow on it into a pile at the bottom, then decided to take another plunge into the snow. These were taken with our new digital camera from our porch deck to the swingset - about 50 feet.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March Madness

March Madness is one way to qualify life in our house for the next few weeks. There are so many things to do before this baby arrives. And after nearly two years, selecting a name is still one of them.

Here is a grid you can use to select the name of your choice (note I said "your choice", not our choice)! These are all names that we've discussed in the last few months. I wouldn't say we're down to the Final Four yet...maybe the Elite Eight? Definitely the Sweet Sixteen. And I know the basketball tournament starts with 64 teams, but really, 32 names should be enough to select from, right?

Click here to get a copy of the grid. Print it out (just click the print button on your browser), and select your preferred choice from the pairs, until you have the final two, then narrow it down to one. Have fun. Please send us your final name in the comments.