This and That

Today is a catch up day. I did some clean up at school - put things I never use in a storage closet and organized what I want out so I know just where to look. This all started because I am looking or a particular material I want to use for spelling. I can't find it anywhere and thought I had loaned it but no one seems to have it anywhere. I wish my rememberer was better - then I could reproduce it from my head. I'm not even sure of the name of it which doesn't help others look for it.
I finally can say I know my students pretty well and all the students in most of the classes now have names even if they change seats! A few still trick me up.
Found out that I need to make another baby quilt, one of the teachers I co-teach with is having a baby at the end of the year.
I have to make apple salad for last Sunday lunch tomorrow. The choir is going to get the proceeds of the luncheon for choir robe fund. I think I will make one up. I bought mandarin oranges, bananas, pineapple and apples. I have to make enough for 30 people - so I'm guessing on numbers of ingredients.
I finally am over my "cold" . Maybe it will be the only one this year?
I'm looking forward to babysitting for Em next weekend for the Iowa State/Kansas State game. I have been working on a really cute item for her from Christmas in my spare time but am waiting for supplies.
I'll try not to wait so long before the next entry -

Oh Wow! A whole month since I posted. I'll blame it on the back to school stuff. Let's see, in August I ... went shopping with my sister; sewed a bunch of things, worked on two baby quilts, one nearly finished today, also some Christmas gifts; school started, so I spent lots of extra time there; went to some parties; set up and ran a choir get together where we picked new robes; measured a bunch of people for those robes.
Dan and Ted have been working on the house. A new deck is in the works for the back door. Painting is nearly done outside, not started yet inside. We dug a hole which seemed to go on forever and ever. The back tree got trimmed and hauled away.
I've discovered some software for sewing that wouldn't run on the Mac but does on my PC so I've been making patterns - we'll see if Christmas presents evolve from that.
I ordered a new sewing machine/embroidery machine with my band $ with a bigger embroidery field. It should arrive by the end of the week. I nearly wore the little one out the last two days working on that baby quilt! I will do some pictures as soon as I charge the camera.

Emily's birthday

Em serves tea from her new tea set.
Emily likes to wear the size sticker from one of her new shirts.

Uncle Greg gets a hug where you can see Em.
Uncle Greg gets a hug from Em.
Uncle Greg building with Emily's new Lincoln Logs.


Emily and friends painting the driveway.
Lynne gave Em her old baby bed and one of her dollies. It was quite a hit.

Lazy Summer Time

It seems like summer has fully struck, it's hot, it's humid and nothing is getting done! I have been reading a lot. I am deep into a series of Christian novels about the Norwegians in North Dakota - written by Lauraine Snelling. I keep saying I'm not reading the next one because they make me cry. I've been sewing a lot - mostly baby items and table runners. I have pieced several table runners but have not backed or quilted them yet as I might need a trip to a "real" fabric store.

Our band concert got rained out Thursday night - who knew it was going to rain? We got several numbers in before we gave up. The audience didn't want to stay in the rain either. As it started to sprinkle and people started to move toward cars, a lady slipped or tripped on the square and we delayed while calls to 911 were made and the ambulance came. She was right next to the bandstand and hit her head hard when she fell. Hopefully she is fine.

Dan and I were working out in the yard today, using the hose and broke the faucet. This pipe actually had a shutoff valve, but too corroded to turn. The guys are in the basement right now trying to install a new one or cap the pipe so we can turn the water back on. The joys of an older house!

More on Emily at the zoo

We were very pleased to babysit for Emily this past weekend while her parents went to a wedding. We had not stayed overnight with her before so planned a trip to the Des Moines zoo (Blank Park Zoo) as a distraction. Emily walked nearly everywhere even though we had a stroller along. She knew most of the animals we saw. We saw monkeys, elephants, seals, tigers, lions, birds, airplanes, a train (rode on it), camels, cows, giraffe and zebra to name a few. We thought 3 hours was probably enough but didn't do the whole zoo. She was a delight, even entertained others with her marching and dancing. I hope her folks want to go away again soon!

More Em at the zoo

Dan and Emily feeding koi fish. I was afraid she'd fall in, Dan had a good grip on her. At first she wanted to drop in one pellet at at time. This was how we got her to quit sliding at the playground.

Emily at the zoo 7-12-08

Here is Emily looking at the zebra. Although she knew names for many animals, she seemed to like this one the most. This is my first time posting pictures, I don't have it quite down yet, so will try again with more photos.