May, So Far

The rose bushes in front of our house are blooming again. We can take absolutely no credit here - they are part of the pre-installed shrubbery and are maintained by all the busy bee law mower and landscaping people. In fact, every March these guys come through with one of those chain-saw-style pruners and whack this huge rose bush practically to the ground, and ever year it responds with even more vigorous growth and blooms. All. Summer. Long. So much for a delicate touch when pruning roses.

Here's a picture from our pool opening last weekend. This started out as a hugely cranky morning for Amy and me. Most of the crank came from spending a very hot and sticky Sunday morning at Walmart with everyone else in town - buying vegetable plants, and this pool, only to get out to the car and realize that the Subaru was not going to be quite as accommodating of awkward cargo as the Explorer is and consequently driving home not being able to see out my rear window.

THEN thinking it would be a great idea to get all my plants to the backyard in one trip by loading them in the pool. Then having Amy do nothing but get in my way and make the walk around the house the most sweaty, annoying, pool-bending 50 yards I have ever experienced. This is the sort of thing that happens when Don works on the weekend. Anyway, we recovered, and later in the afternoon Amy had a lot of fun scooping things out of the new pool with her butterfly net. Day salvaged.

Last week Amy had her first "real" haircut at the salon. She's had little trims before, on her bangs and to even up some ends, but she's never had enough length to really get a style going. Above is a before picture - if I could get her to keep pigtails or barrettes in it wouldn't matter so much, but as much as she likes wearing "pony hair" she can't resist pulling them out inside of an hour.

So I made her her very own appointment where I get my hair cut and she made it through the experience without any meltdowns. The lollipop won her over from the beginning. She got some better bangs, and a nice amount off the back so now she has less of the "baby hair" look and a little more going-on-3-year-old style. Oh, and we capped off that experience with a special mother-daughter lunch at Panera Bread. She and I can pretty much have a real conversation over a meal now, and being out at a restaurant with her, just chatting over lunch was a huge flash into the future and how much more fun such outings are going to be with every little bit that she grows up.

And what general update would be complete without a shot of a cat in the middle of something?

Still to come, some pictures of this quilt, all finished at last. In the meantime I've got to put on my bookkeeper hat for a bit, then get to bed at a decent hour. Happy Month of May!

Sewing Again

This is nearly old news now but I must take a moment to share the excitement over my NEW sewing machine. I certainly have spent plenty of air time here hinting at how much I would like one, and how my machine was no longer functional, woe is me, etc.

So I think Don was simply tired of hearing me talk about it as I shopped around, and he pretty much told me to just go buy something. I had done so much deliberating up to that point and had decided on what I wanted, so before I lost my nerve I went to Joann Fabrics and dropped a couple on a Singer Confidence 7469Q. I couldn't be more pleased. I had seriously considered an entry level Pfaff because I was intrigued by their sturdiness and reliability... but when I really thought about the type and amount of sewing I do, it became clear that it really made sense to spend far less money on a machine that actually did more.



On sale for a neat $299, this machine has so far proven to be the perfect compromise - it is fully electronic and very well-built but without the fancy computer screen or any of the embroidery bells and whistles that really don't interest me. It has almost 100 stitch functions and can do button holes, drop feed, free arm, etc. The "Q" designation means it came with an accessory kit of goodies for quilters, including an extension table and several extra feet - a walking foot, darning foot, and 1/4" foot among them. Another feature that I did not realize would be so handy is a button that can switch between automatic needle up and needle down - both extremely useful in different situations.
It is a sturdy and smooth machine and it is incredibly pleasurable to sew on a machine that simply sews without jamming, bunching, or otherwise complaining. So nice.

Two completed projects:

One pretty tote bag for me...

And one for my mom:

Both used fabric we already had (amazing, I know) and were quick and easy to make. And of course, who doesn't need another tote bag?

The other project that I FINALLY finished had been hanging around much longer, and really deserves its own post. Not to mention that I haven't taken pictures of it yet...

So that's what I've done in the last month. I'm not expecting to get much more done between now and Baby Time as I have a list a mile long of other "nesting" things to get done. As of today I am officially full-term (37 weeks) so I'm shifting into waiting mode - and hoping I won't be waiting too much longer!

Connecting

I am almost a year into the world of blogging and, like most things I do, I tend to tiptoe in and figure out how things work before anyone notices that I don't know what I'm doing.  So apparently blog hop/sharing parties are a way to further link up one's blog to the greater blog world, and since my dear friend Melissa has charted the waters for me I think I can take the plunge.

 

While I don't usually write about military life issues on my blog, I do feel the need to get some publicity for Coast Guard spouses who are often left out of the military circle, so here I am.

My name is Susan and I have been a Coastie Wife for four years now.  My husband, Don, is currently on active duty and stationed at a USCG Small Boat Station in Southern Maryland.  Just like all the other military branches we deal with lots of uncertainty in both our day-to-day schedule and the path Don's career may take.  We have a lot of "whose idea was this?" moments and a lot of moments where we can't imagine not being a part of the military.  The Roller Coaster is certainly a phrase we can relate to.

Don and I are both University of CT alum (where we met) and have been married for almost five years.  We have been blessed with our beautiful and amazing daughter Amy, currently 2 1/2, and we are expecting our second child this month.

I am a stay-at-home mom and in my scant free time I love to quilt, sew, crochet, and dabble in any number of other creative projects.  I always have something in the works.  I really do enjoy keeping house and get a lot of satisfaction out of those small victories in everyday life ("ahha, I found the perfect basket to keep those toys in!").  We also have two feline-types, Juliett and Ollie, who get frequent cameos in my blog as they are in the middle of EVERYTHING.

And with that I will finish up, link up, and see what happens.  Thanks for stopping by!

Amy

Thought I'd mark my 50th post with some thoughts and pictures of my beautiful, nearly 2 1/2 year-old little Amy.

These days she loves:

:: dresses
:: pink
:: winnie-the-pooh
:: listening to stories (the non-book, all-about-our-family, told over and over kind)
:: fabric
:: birthdays
:: when Daddy comes home from work
:: dressing up
:: taking care of her dolls and animals



These days she hates:

:: admitting that she's tired
:: slowing down
:: shoe shopping
:: the vacuum
:: cheeseburgers (pronounced "chub-a-googers")
:: going down the slide



She imagines, pretends, asks, describes, wonders, and can jump up and down really well.

Sometimes to me she looks so tiny; other times she looks ready for kindergarten.

She has more flair and drama and exuberance than I have, yet she is also quiet, focused, and contemplative.

She's endlessly patient in the car, in the store, in restaurants. She's maddeningly impatient when I'm in the bathroom, when I'm cooking, or when she wants us to come play with her.

She has so much energy that I am exhausted by the end of the day.



She amazes and delights me all the time, and reminds me that I'm the luckiest Mommy in the world.

We Did It!

We bought a new car today! This was our third annual spring "we need a new car" exercise, only this time we actually made a purchase. I'm glad it's taken this long; we both feel very confident with the car we chose, we financed a comfortable amount, and now we have two vehicles capable of transporting all of us at once - and the 13-year-old, 100k mile car is no longer our primary family car.

Details: We traded in Don's 2005 GMC Canyon (2-seater pickup) for a 2010 Subaru Forester, special edition. Don will take over the 1997 Explorer. Parting with the truck was the hardest part - it was our first big joint purchase, just before we got married. A good amount of newlywed, foot-loose and fancy-free memories involve that truck. And the sight of it has always been my "Yay, Donny's home!" association - whether it was watching him back into our parking spot at our little apartment in Cheshire or seeing him turn the corner onto our street here in Maryland.

So, here's to fond memories and to new wheels. And many new adventures and memories to come!

Tag Sale

I am quite happy to report a very successful tag sale this morning, hosted by yours truly. And made possible by my dear husband, who clothed, fed, and entertained Amy for the entire morning so I could focus on important things like placing little green 25 cent stickers on all our knick knacks.

Among the first customers to stop by shortly after opening at 7 am was a gentleman who happily purchased Tigger for $1. Within minutes Amy came outside and asked where Tigger was; I said he went off to visit Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood, and she suggested we go there to look for him. So I started out the day feeling pretty much like The Worst Mother Ever. But Tigger is quite large, and our house is rather small, and her interest in him has been intermittent at best. Besides, I got him for free at a tag sale last year, and it seemed like it was time for him to go visit another family.

Speaking of "tag" sales - our neighbor asked me what "tag" stood for - said she googled it and everything. Seriously? I was told that the names for an event selling one's junk tended to be quite region specific (yard, garage, rummage, moving, etc) - but I thought that Tag Sale was nevertheless self-explanatory. Apparently I was wrong.

We packed up after 1 pm and happily counted over $100 in sales - quite a bit more than I was hoping for. That plus the dramatically smaller pile of stuff in the garage made all the hours of standing, bending, hauling and sorting more than worthwhile.

Oh, and Don and Amy spent part of their morning fishing at the Station pier. Both had a wonderful time. Amy had so much fun she even took a nap in the afternoon. It was a good day for all.

Easter

Despite my initial moping about Don having to work for most of Easter weekend, Amy and I rallied and I can now say it has been a joyous Easter indeed.

Saturday morning we colored eggs. Amy was all excited about the process, but was happy to take a hands-off role: "No, Mommy, you do it"...

And of course Ollie was on hand to supervise.

Saturday afternoon involved a drive around town on the quest for an "Easter Book." We finally found The Easter Egg and, while not a religious story, it satisfied both of our needs to read something to get us in the spirit.

This morning we went to church, participated in the church's Easter egg hunt, and returned home for a visit from the Easter bunny, lunch, and another Easter egg hunt in the backyard. There really is nothing like a young child's enthusiasm to make holidays feel special and traditions seem fresh and new.

We capped off the day with dinner at our friends' house and returned home in time to get in pajamas, read our Easter Book, and talk about all the fun things we did before Amy fell fast asleep with her bunny and all her little yellow chicks.

Hope your Easter has been just as full of sunshine and blessings. Christ is Risen!