Bridger's and Taplin's (and Louie's) Weekend

Last week, my fun project was finishing two little whole-cloth quilts (not pieced, just two fabrics with batting) for Bridger and Taplin. Louie loves sleeping snuggled right next to me when I hand sew, so he enjoyed the two evenings spent stitching on the binding.
The bags were from Hobby Lobby and then embellished with ribbon on Taplin's and a strip of the quilt fabric on Bridger's, plus a label on each. It's kind of like Christmas whenever they come to visit. That's the fun of grandparenting: being able to do all of the fun things parents rarely have time and energy to do.
This is Bridger's "Time For" quilt made with Michael Miller ABC fabric and clock fabric.
Taplin's is fabric by the same designer, but polka dots. I had fun quilting this one by ironing on freezer paper circles and stitching around them. Louie would rather be on the quilt, but he is a good fellow to sit and watch the picture taking process.Saturday morning, Louie found Tap's pacifier and thought it was tasty......and Tap found Louie's squeaky hot dog and thought it was tasty...
and Louie's ball is fun too! You cannot take your eyes off of either Taplin or Louie!
We all headed over to the Dog Walk at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Louie and Bridger got plenty of exercise. Both of them were pretty entertaining and left us laughing. Taplin had a nice stroller ride and liked being outside, but the main objective was to wear Bridger and Taplin down by getting them to run outside, and it worked.

Aren't these three guys good looking?
Saturday evening, Meghan and Shannon went out together to a chick flick, and Grandma and Grandpa settled in with the boys to play in the family room and watch some TV.
See? The expedition to the Dog Walk paid off! Bridger crashed on the floor under Grandpa's quilt and was sawing them off when his mom got back.
Taplin and Louie are going to grow up to be great buddies, and it looks like Taplin could grow up to be a famous piano man. He sure loves music. The minute he hears any song, he bounces in rhythm. He likes to make lots of noise with two hands on the piano.
His newest acquisition is his Lightening McQueen car. He can push backwards, but he hasn't gotten the forward motion going yet. When he and Bridger both get on their ride-ons, won't that be fun! I'm impressed with how easy-going Bridger is with his little brother and how easily he shares his toys with Taplin.
Bridger just amazes us with his coloring and drawing and writing. He writes his name quite clearly and will ask how to write names to label his pictures. Bridger's level of concentration and his dexterity are pretty sophisticated. He likes to cut with scissors and do "trafts" (crafts) with his mommy. He likes puzzles and cars and movies and music and animals and books and best of all, from my perspective, he likes coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Winter Weekend in February

I've been working on a different little project this weekend, but during the week I finished the first eight of seventy two sawtooth stars for my BOM project. They turned out pretty well, and I am really looking forward to March 1 so that I can start on the next part of the project. Who knew this would be such a challenge and so much fun!Louie, did you do that??? Louie had fun most of the weekend, getting into trouble more often than not. He was unusually quiet Saturday evening, so I went looking for him. He had been happily chewing on a corner of the family room rug.

To stave off mischievouness, Louie had lots of walks. What's down under that monkey grass? Snakes? Moles? We have to have it cut back before the new growth begins.
Down the street we go. Trip number five million.
Ooh! Signs of spring...flowers on our neighbor's trees.
It still is plenty wintery looking and February gray, but the neighbor's tulip tree almost looks lacy against the sky.
Daffodils in our garden have already bloomed, but not all of them fortunately. It is supposed to be freezing again by the weekend.

Thinking Big

Louie, you are not all that tough. You think you are a mastiff, but you are a twenty-three pound sweet little pug. Pug thief. Pug pain in the neck. Pugnacious little fellow, but you are not tough. You just think you are big.
Home repair time. We had a little piece of paint missing on the corner of the hall wall, which is no surprise because it is the busiest, most bumped into corner in the house. When Bridger visited a few weeks ago, Allen noticed him (but did not correct him because, uh, well, that's his little grandson) picking the plaster off the corner. After the grandchildren were long gone, I noticed the six inch patch of plaster missing from the wall. The rest of the hall paint was filthy too, so we had a quick paint job in the hall.
You wouldn't think such a little project would make such a big difference. We probably should thank Bridger because the whole house looks better with the hall painted. These are my little elephants. Allen counted as he took them down: 101 elephants. My favorites are the little planters and toothpick holders that have holes on the backs, but the whole herd is fun. Bridger loves looking at my little animals.
Then there was bunco last week. This was my month to host, so I made shrimp casserole and tried a new (sinful) dessert -- almond tart. How bad can cream cheese, butter, and almonds be? Little dessert, big taste, bigger calories.
My personal challenge the last week has been adding the borders to this quilt beginning. It's February, and this is the second round for my block of the month quilt from thequiltshow.com. This quilt is probably just beyond my skill level; perhaps I think my skills are bigger than they are. However, I am thinking big, hoping I can go the distance. I have had fun picking out fabrics to fill in the gaps of my stash and following the pattern to the best of my ability. Next, I have to make eight stars (eventually a total of fifty-six stars) to be added to a border much later in the year. Shannon and I visited the Quilters Refuge in Decatur this last weekend, and she is trying out her own quilt! Go Shannon. I guess fabric shopping is fun, but not near as exciting as thinking big and signing a contract to buy a house though. Right, Shannon?