She's Walking!!!....

on her 15 month birthday...
yes, it's true, our little Leah is finally walking! She just started on Wednesday. She puts her arms out in front of her like Frankenstein for balance, and thinks she is really great! I even got it on the video camera with the help of Eric and Bay.

and then she fell and broke her arm.

yes, it's true, on that same day, when daddy came home she was showing off and fell forward and fell in just the right way so as to break her little arm! We took her to get x-rays the next morning, and then to the orthopedist to get a cast on it this afternoon. She has been a real trooper. Although it didn't cause her too much pain, whenever she would put any weight on it, she would cry in pain and it would buckle under her, so we knew something was wrong. Now she has a bright pink cast that can't get wet (no more swimming for a while) and something to defend herself from her brothers :) J/K As you can see from this picture, she is doing just fine, and was enjoying a little bit of cartoons before bed with her daddy.

Sewing Projects

Heather has been doing a few sewing projects around the house lately. It all started with a foyer shoe bench that Dennis made out of our local black walnut. I made a cushion and slip-covered it, put in a zipper, and put on a few buttons. Not perfect, but it will do, and was really a test run for my next big project, slip-covering the couch!

Next I took some old pajama bottoms of mine and decided to turn them into pajama bottoms for Leah. The first pair turned out beautifully, only one problem, they were too small! Since it was my first time not using a pattern and making something without a pattern, I am not surprised. So, I increased the size, and made another pair, this time I sewed the fronts and backs together wrong and ended up with one skinny leg, and one fat leg, so I didn't include that silly picture! Nevertheless, Leah likes them since they are so soft and silky.

Well, now I was determined to prove to myself that I could make a pair of pants correctly, so I tried once again, and came up with the pink striped stretchy pair with ruffles.

Now that the pants issue was resolved, I went on to finish the curtains for Leah's play closet I have been working on for quite awhile. I got some really nice grossgrain ribbon on ebay for a great deal, lined the edges of some eyelet sheets I had with it, and put in a rod pocket at the top. Ouilah! Curtains! I always love making curtains because they are so straightforward, fun and easy.

Next upcoming project once I find some fabric I like is to make valances in the sunroom.

Click on the webshots link to "sewing projects" to see pictures if you'd like.

BLUEBERRIES and SUMMER FUN!!!

We went blueberry picking last night at a place on our road. The kids had so much fun, even Leah picked and ate when I parked her next to a bush! We made blueberry pie today and are looking forward to blueberry pancakes tomorrow. Want the blueberry pie recipe? I made it up myself, it turned out great! I'll share it at the end of the blog.

We had a swim meet this past week...Eric did a great job. It is a whole family operation...with Eric swimming, Mom and Dad helping out with concessions, Granni judging stroke and turn, and Gramps helping out with starting! Leah's favorite part is all the snacks and Bay just loves to get to play on the playground for hours!

Here is Eric before a race. He took 5 seconds off of his butterfly time and actually did it without being disqualified (he often gets the wrong kick)!! We are very proud of how well he is doing. As you can tell, he loves it.

Our last big bit of news is that Bay is fully potty-trained! YEAAAAAA! Day, naps, night, pee, poop...the whole nine yards. He really thinks he is something. He got all of the stickers on his chart on the first day we did it. I did the potty training in a day method, and as you can see, between all of the drinking, he probably went 20 or so times in one day. He got to call his favorite superhero, Spiderman (aka Daddy) on the phone, and really thought he was talking to Spiderman. It is so nice to have only one in diapers now, and so much cheaper too!!!

Well, our summer is shaping up to be lots of fun. We'll keep the blog updated as more fun happens around here. The garden is keeping Heather busy, weed, weed, weed. Some freezing of peas, and now the challenge is how to get rid of that pesky groundhog! He keeps eating the tops off the green beans and all the tomatoes!

Here is the blueberry pie recipe:

This makes a nice big 10" pie. If you want a regular 9" pie, just cut everything in half, except for the topping.

8 cups blueberries

6T. cornstarch

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 cup water

pie crust for 10" pie

Mix water, cornstarch & sugar. Heat till boiling, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 1 minute till thick. Remove from heat. Stir in blueberries. Pour into pie crust.

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix together and spread evenly over pie.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, keeping edges of crust covered with foil, and a drip pan under the pie in the oven for boiling over. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes until bubbly and browned.

YUMMMY!