California Dreamin'

We're having a wonderful time here in northern CA!! Sorry no pics because our camera battery died and we didn't bring a charger, so I sent it home with the hubs as he's back in GA now. I think I got a few pics in, but I can't remember! We've been enjoying the WONDERFULLY sweet cool weather, Nana and Papa, Abuelita and Grandpa, and all the aunties and uncles (the little one has many). We've been camping, swimming in cool (well, maybe freezing is more accurate!) rivers, shopping with Nana, taking long warm baths, getting Starbucks and going thrifting with old friends, knitting, going on walks with our new double Bob jogger (how the heck are we gonna get it home?!), fellowshipping with the community of believers, and just enjoying being with our families. I think the local zoo and Redwood-filled park are on the agenda for tomorrow....Happy 4th of July (we're going to my great-grandma's 90th birthday!!).   :)

First Quilted Project :)

I hope no one was expecting a quilt, or even a table runner....I only made some quilted bibs. Very exciting as my little one still wears them, and my next one will too, and I know lots of other pregnant ladies right now, so they are great for gifts. Pretty easy and satisfying since they only take about an afternoon (or a long naptime).
Here are some pics of my sweet bibs that'll soon be covered with food, drool, and spit-up:

Bib #1 being modeled:

Other side of Bib #1:

Bib #2:

Other side of Bib #2:

I could've made a bunch more, but we're getting ready to go to California TOMORROW (woohoo!!), so there is much packing and preparing to be done! :)

Fun Weekend

We enjoyed a fun, HOT weekend here at home....so hot, in fact, we had to bust out the pool:

Some organic, yummy bounty from our (Jonathan's) garden:

The little one helping Mama make zucchini bread:

Fellowship and dinner with friends, garage sales, making gifts for a friend's baby shower, date night with the hubband, church, pool, eating fresh produce....all adds up to a blessed weekend!

New Art

Last weekend, the fam went to a local art festival, and we brought home a few goodies to put on our walls:

I'm lovin' my new rooster friend on the wall in my kitchen! Jonathan's find is below:

It says "The mountains are calling and I must go...". If any of you know my hubband, this is HIM! This could be one of his life quotes. It was painted by a local artist known as "Cap Man". He drives an old truck around town that is covered with bottle caps. Almost every square inch of the truck is taken up by rusted, old bottle caps (people bring him bags of bottle caps). The cap on the bottom of the painting is his famous "signature".

For mother's eyes only

I knew I'd need a new breastfeeding cover-up/apron for the coming little one because my last apron (so generously made by a friend) had an irreplaceable broken buckle (unless I cut it and re-sewed it), and I think the boning broke (the part that holds the apron out and stiff so you can check on your hungry baby). I decided I wanted a new one anyways, so I used a pattern that I'd found at a fabric store for $2.50, and here it is!:

I made two little pockets on the inside, mainly for holding breast pads while the baby is nursing (I've had a few of those escape embarrassingly during a feeding!):

It was fun to make something for the expected babe (suitable for a boy or girl, in my opinion), and easier than I expected!

Little House on the Prairie...

My little one has since grown out of her sweet brown bonnet, so I used the same pattern (from Amy Karol- KingPod Patterns) to make her a new one:

So sweet!!

Try Clay

Over a month ago, my friend Kelly and I went to Good Dirt, a pottery place here in Athens which offers classes, camps, and studio time. We went to "Try Clay" night, where we had a few hours to learn the very basics of throwing and centering clay, attempting to shape it into a mug, and painting it. It's much harder than one might imagine, and I ended up with two bowls. One looks like a hamster food bowl (no pics of that one- ha!), but the other one I was pretty happy with:

I inscribed a paraphrase of a favorite verse along the outside-- "The fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (characteristics I pray for daily!) from Galatians 5:22-23. And yes, that is a luscious vanilla-yogurt covered strawberry sticking out the top of my little "fruit" bowl :)