Camp Maryellen

About a month or so ago, my Mom and I were out and about. I think she went to with me to a doctor’s appointment I had (I have “pregnancy brain”) and then we headed over to The Bubble. It was at that point that we decided to drop in on my God-Mother Jamie. Mom has known Jamie since she was 11 years old. That’s when she started babysitting for her, when the girls were just 18 months old. Jamie now has 5 wonderful kids of her own. I haven’t seen Jamie in forever, but it was high time I got over there to see her and ohh tell her I was a lil bit pregnant. Mom started talking about the quilt she was going to do for Lil Bit and Jamie told Mom that her youngest daughter has been wanting to learn about sewing and quilting and was going to look into a class for her. I could see the churns in my Mom’s head begin to turn. That’s when she decided to invite 11 year old Anna to her house for a week in June and they could do a quilt together. I think she made the child’s summer.

This past week, Anna came over and I came home to the ‘Ville to help where I could. I can’t sew at all, but I can cook, and could keep the quilters fed. Anna was so excited about going to Camp Maryellen for the week she told a friend (who happened to be named Anna too) from school about her plans, and turns out the friend is into all sorts of crafts and projects. She wanted to know if she could come learn too. Hey! The more the merrier my Mom said.

Mom cut out all the fabric blocks and the girls took the pattern and decided how they wanted their own quilt to look. They did this on the floor because it was the only place where they could lay the fabric blocks out and see their pattern. Apparently, Elliot got so excited about something being on the floor, he decided to attack the blocks, and mess up their patterns. I didn’t get a picture of this, thank goodness I wasn’t here when it happened.

While Mom put the rows of blocks together, the girls worked on two different coloring books. They watched Hannah Montana, they listened to Disney Radio, and would tell me who was singing. They swam like fish.



Thursday came and it was time for them to tie off their quilts. Their Moms came to help out.






And here they are, with one of the finished quilts. I love the colors. So bright, and fun, and girly.



I think this is a week they’ll both remember for a long time.

Conversations with Elliot

We recently got a Flip to save and perserve all of our craziness on CD. And since Lil Bit isn't here yet, Elliot has been our guinea pig. Emma doesn't like to be on camera so much.

Elliot and Robert have this nightly ritual. He jumps in bed hoping to get a bite or two of whatever Robert is eating. Usually it's yogurt. And they talk to each other. Except Elliot doesn't really talk back. But the looks on the cat's face are pretty priceless, and you have to wonder what he's thinking. I know what he's thinking. It has be to along the lines of "Dude, you are crazy with a capital C."

So last night, here comes Elliot, and Robert managed to get a conversation with him on tape. Some things I noticed while watching the clip:

1. I thought the clutter was much better around our TV. It's not, and the dresser needs to be completely cleaned off again.

2. We really need to paint our bedroom. And we need new interior doors that are painted white. But the fumes would make me throw up. Robert are you reading this?

3. We need some wall art in here. The walls look sad.

4. I apologize for my hackling in the background. I hate my voice, and my laugh. I have no idea how people on the news listen to themselves back.