The Things They Say

Nathaniel: Me push you?

Edmund: No! This isn't a slide.


Nathaniel: Not a playground?


Edmund: No, they're stairs.




Oh, my.

Good thing Nathaniel thought to ask if Edmund wanted a push first, instead of just doing it!

Elaine Marie Hall

Elaine Marie

July 21, 2011

5lbs. 5oz. 18.5ins

This little lady came earlier than expected. Her due date was August 11th, so she is early, but not premature. Labor and delivery went smoothly. It was approximately 12 hours from when my water broke (before labor started) to when Elaine was born.

She is adorable and we all love her.

I hope to get back to regular blogging soon, so check back to hear about our vacation as well as more sewing projects and summer activities.

Our Part-time Summer Boarder

Meet Maggie. She is a Bull Mastiff, about two years old, I think. Maggie belongs to Jaired's sister Ellie. With Ellie working at Camp David this year we are watching Maggie during the week starting back on Memorial Day and going pretty much every week until the middle to end of July.

Flannel Pajamas and Quilting

There aren't as many clothes patterns for boys as there are for girls, so I don't sew for the boys very often. I sew costumes for them, so far Robin Hood and simple surcoats. (I can't believe I don't have any pictures of them in their Robin Hood costumes on my blog; I'll have to look into that.)

One thing I like making for the boys is pajamas, especially nice warm flannel ones for the winter. I wonder if my in-laws would recognize these flannels that used to be button down shirts? :)

Edmund is always interested in what I make and gives me his opinion on all the things I turn out. Of course he likes it when what I am sewing is for him.

So there is one sewing project done. I have finished most of my mending pile as well. I still have a few things left in that pile, but I have moved on to some new projects that I really want to get done before the baby is born.

Here is the beginnings of one of the new projects. 64 blocks (composed of 9 3" squares of fabric each) to be made into a new, larger picnic blanket. As of the writing of this post I have pieced about half of the blocks. Now to do the rest and then join them all together and find a good backing.

I love to quilt. It is kind of addicting for me. :)

Speaking of quilts, did I ever show you the one that I made with my mother and sisters-in-law for a friend's wedding?This Log Cabin quilt is between a typical king and queen size. We used mostly fabric from our scrap box (we always save every bit of fabric from other sewing projects for quilting). It was so much fun to compare fabrics and figure out the diamond pattern.

I quilted it on my sewing machine.

Then I tried my hand at embroidery. On top, the couple's monogram (AHR) and wedding year. On the back is our signature.

A Weekend in St. Louis

This past weekend we went up to Saint Louis for a family reunion/great uncle's 95th birthday celebration.

A good part of Friday was spent at the zoo. Last time we went to the zoo we stopped to see each animal we passed and consequently weren't able to see the elephants, hippos, or rhinos. This year I had the boys make a list of the animals they wanted to see and we were able to see everyone that was on the list.

It was a pretty hot day, so we really enjoyed getting to cool off while visiting the penguins and monkeys. We took both of our strollers (a double and a single) and I am glad we did.


Waiting to go into the penguin house. As I said, it was hot. Jeremiah was really flushed; he probably drank a gallon of water and iced tea that day.

Nathaniel.

The boys did really well wearing their hats the whole time.

Somehow I never took a picture of Edmund, so instead here is a funny elephant showering itself with water.

Our great uncle paid for everyone's lodgings for the weekend. We got to stay at the Ritz!

The whole Hall contingent at the big birthday dinner.

Left to right, Glenn (Pop), Justice, Kimberly, Mary (Mom), me, Jeremiah, Nathaniel, Jaired (oblivious to the picture taking), Ellie, and Chava. Edmund is sleeping on Chava's lap.

Our Summer in Pictures (So Far)

Mr. Toad (named after Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows). This fellow provided Edmund with amusement for a long time. As did a turtle Edmund found and carried around for quite some time, hoping it would come out of its shell.

Mr. Toad doing Jumping Jacks.

The three boys are finally starting to play well in the pool together. Nathaniel actually likes being splashed now (at least most of the time)!

Jeremiah bailing water for all he's worth. I don't think he ever made much progress. :)

Jeremiah seems to take the heat worse than the other two boys. This is how he sleeps pretty much day or night. (Though he usually does have a pillowcase on his pillow.)

Another way Jeremiah stays cool. This is also yet another example of Jeremiah being different from the other boys. Edmund and Nathaniel are terrified of showers, but this guy loves them!

Where's Jeremiah?

Peek-a-boo!

Cicadas

This year the Magicicadas emerged. The link will take you to Wikipedia's page about these interesting insects. A couple things I learned by reading the article: 1) the adults don't seem to eat anything, their sole intention being reproduction and 2) the adult life span is only a few weeks, so they will all be gone about mid-July.

I don't know how it is in other states, or even in the bigger cities compared to where we are, but there are so many cicadas everywhere the noise is terrific!

We first noticed the cicadas coming out about two weeks ago. It was a pretty much overnight thing, one day none, the next day they were everywhere. Then they kept coming for three of four days, I think. What seems really strange to me is that at our house, as I said, they are everywhere, but just about half a mile through the woods at the family's house there are very few. In fact, the family didn't realize until the second or third day that the cicadas where emerging.

The first day, Edmund was a little wary of these scary looking insects. He said they looked like red-nosed dragons. After a little science lesson, during which he learned that the brown skins where empty, he began to inspect the cicadas more closely. It started with collecting the skins and looking at them and how they where open on the backs for the adult to climb out. Then he started using leaves to pick up the cicadas (similar to how you would use a pot holder to pick up something hot). Now he is very free with them and likes to collect them in buckets, or even just care around one or two and let them crawl on him as he plays with them.

Nathaniel is not nearly so friendly with the cicadas. He likes to look at them (and squash them), but is almost paralyzed if one gets on him. He will pick them up now, but very gingerly, and he doesn't hold them long.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, has no fear whatsoever. One of the first things he does when he goes outside is pick up a cicada. He carries them all over the place. The poor things get somewhat tortured, but not on purpose. He has put one in his mouth before, but didn't eat it.

I like this little picture sequence from one of the first days:

Nathaniel watches nervously as Jeremiah touches a cicada.

Then, just as nervously, Nathaniel finally touches a cicada.

Finally, for whatever reason, Nathaniel feels it necessary to help Jeremiah touch the cicadas, though Jeremiah would rather do it by himself.