Taking a break.....

After another fun week of Jessi being here, we are preparing to leave in a few days on a vacation for a couple of weeks.......housesitter arranged and packing is in progress.  So.....I won't be reading blogs or posting (which, admittedly, I've not been doing much lately anyway).  When I get back, I'll post some photos from the trip.....this will be the first Disney trip for two of the grandkids, so we are all very excited about that!  This photo is of the Halloween-ish wall-hanging Jessi made while here with us last week.  She is very determined when selecting fabrics and also when picking a design to make.  This time, she chose a directional print (the jack-o-lanterns), so I had to deal with making sure those pumpkin faces ended up "looking" the right way!  She does seem to have a good eye for color and contrast....and I'm so thrilled she continues to be interested in doing this. (And yes, her two front teeth are missing!)

I'm a bad blogger......

Okay...so it's obvious I am a bad blogger.  I can't seem to post very regularly and my schedule doesn't permit me to read blogs very regularly, either.  So...I am sorry that I'm not commenting on very many of your blogs lately.  (Also...like so many others, I find it faster to use my limited posting time doing posts on Facebook, where I reach many of my quilting friends AND other friends as well as family.)  Anyway.....here is a brief "catch-up" for you (details below the photos).  Photos should show in greater detail if you click on them.

We had a great 10 days with Jessica and can't wait for her second of three summer visits (coming up in a couple of weeks).  She did soapmaking (which I showed in the previous post) and she also did chocolate candy-making as well as making another small quilt to hang on her bedroom wall.  Her goal is to make 3 of them this summer, so she can change them out with the seasons (along with the "anytime-of-the-year" one she made with me awhile back).  She loves using my GO cutter and my sewing machine set on "turtle" speed. We went to the beach and the pool and she saw two movies while here.  One was Madagascar 3 with "Grampy" and the other was "Brave" with me.  We did some of her summer schoolwork packet, she lost another tooth (and the tooth fairy visited here...lucky she could find us after so many years of not coming here!!!).  We also got to see the animals a family from our church raises on their multi-acre "ranch".   THAT was a lot of fun.  They have:  6 alpacas, 2 miniature horses, 3 goats, 1 donkey, 1 rabbit, 4 dogs, 1 micro-pig (litter box trained), 2 pot-belly pigs, 2 chinchillas, 1 gecko, several birds of various types, 12 cats, and 1 monkey (that is being raised to be a "helper" monkey for paralyzed people....he will go to Boston for the final training of that once he is no longer a "baby"),   Yes...they do have a permit for exotic animals...for any who might wonder.  Anyway.......I am petrified of birds (any animal that moves quickly, actually).  One of the birds flew and landed on my head, but I managed to maintain my "cool" and even smiled so I'd not frighten the kids from church who were there that day to see the animals, although I really wanted to yell, "GET THAT BIRD OFF MY HEAD!!!"  As you can see, I have posted some photos here of the fun times with Jessica.   (Well...the bird on my head wasn't exactly fun, but......you can see I survived to tell about it!)

Busy days continue.......

I'm not getting to read blogs nor post comments to them with Jessi here.  We have been super busy. Besides regular swimming, we have done sewing, soapmaking (Jessi was taught by a neighbor and was given some start-up supplies that we are enjoying using), and chocolate making (with her grandfather...I'm on Weight Watchers now and doing well, so steering clear of THAT activity). We have all been having a wonderful time with her here and are happy she will be with us three times this summer for long visits!!!  But...please forgive me for not knowing what has been posted on your blogs.  Jessi likes to work on her "Webkinz" when she has a chance and she uses my computer for that.  (If you are out of the loop on that one....Webkinz is a line of stuffed critters and there is a website on which you can do all kinds of games and activities and set up a house for your critters....really cute...even fascinates me!!!)   Here are a couple of photos of Jessi with some of her homemade soaps as well as unmolding seashell-shaped chocolates. (Say THAT 5 times fast....LOL!!!)  She will be here through Thursday and then I'll pick up reading blogs wherever they are.....I know it will be hopeless to try to catch up on what I've missed on them.  :(

Fun weekend and fun days ahead....

We went to NJ on Father's Day weekend. Our daughter was singing with the Tim Keyes' Consort in a classical music concert.....TeDeum.  It was done Saturday night at the Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. What a beautiful, classic, old building that is with amazing acoustics!  Here are a few photos from that night........the Consort when performing (our daughter is in the bottom row of singers.....first one on the left...she has done flute with them in the past, too....been with them for 15 years now...very proud of her musical talents)......then a photo each of hubby and me with her prior to leaving for the concert.....the last one is a photo of the exterior of Richardson Auditorium.  We should have taken more inside photos, too, as it is a wonderful place.  (Of course, what else could we expect of Princeton? LOL)  I think a couple of the photos might be able to be clicked on and viewed larger....but not sure.  Tonight we get our granddaughter for a 10-day visit here, so lots of fun days ahead. She also wants to make another small quilted wall-hanging for her bedroom at home.........love that she is interested in sewing!

Love my hydrangeas......

I really enjoy my hydrangeas!

A follow-up.....

Just a follow-up to tell those who wanted to know.....this photo taken by my husband of Mennonite gals at the beach (with their shoes lined up neatly in a row) did win as the best Visual Vacation Image of the first 10 years of Delaware Beach Life magazine and is now part of a ten-year commemorative collector's edition!  Thanks to all who were so supportive of this!

Soon to be a "birthday girl".....

Our youngest grandchild will be 8 tomorrow. Where does the time fly?  These are some of the photos taken recently of her by a photographer friend of my daughter.  (If any of you live in the south Jersey area....suburb to Philadelphia and would like someone to take special pictures for you, let me know and I will put you in touch with this gal. She does a terrific job and has a dynamite personality, too.)
By the time of the last of several photos, Jessi had enough......put her mom's sunglasses on and showed some "attitude" and the photographer realized that was a great photo opportunity, also!  I agree....don't you?   LOL