Seven

Pookie turned seven.  Yes, seven!  Where does the time go?
She has become quite the little food critic lately and so I wasn't surprised at all when her birthday cake request went far beyond the normal flavor and color preference.

Yellow cake, with chocolate morsels mixed in, chocolate buttercream frosting, raspberries spaced evenly around the edge, one raspberry in the middle, and a mint leaf for every raspberry.  She planned it out, helped bake it, and decorated it.  It was beautiful and delicious!
I can't wait to see what plans she has for eight!

Quilts and Crawling

After many months, I finally managed to pick out fabrics for the girls' quilts.

After several weeks staring at said fabrics, I finally settled on a patchwork pattern.

After only a few days, I managed to finish almost one whole quilt top.

And then it happened.

The Little Guy started crawling!

Gone were the days of leaving him to play happily on a mat with toys, while I sewed away.  Now, if I put him down, he was gone!  And sewing during nap times was not an option as the sound of the sewing machine would immediately send him into screaming fits.

After a few weeks of hoping he would decide that sitting was preferable to crawling, or maybe learn to like the sound of a sewing machine, I finally gave up and figured out a system that works for the both of us--cutting, pinning, and ironing during naps and very, very, rapid sewing during the few brief moments when he is awake and happy and contained in his crib.  Phew!

I won't have these quilts done in time for birthday's like I had hoped (the last girl birthday is almost upon us), but they should be done before Christmas.  I've almost finished up two quilt tops,which means there is just one left to do.  And then, of course, there's all the backing and binding and hand sewing to do...  But I think I can get it all done, just as long as the little guy doesn't decide to do anything crazy.

...like learn how to walk or something.