Every Trip Outside Ends Like This...

Ah, Spring

Last week there was a full page in the newspaper devoted to ideas for enjoying the spring weather. The headline was "Get Outside Before It's Too Late". I love living in a place where it's so sweltering that even the newspaper recognizes that soon we'll all be sitting inside in the dark because using a light bulb would only make the room hotter. We're taking advantage of the weather now because I do remember sweating every minute of last summer. Every free moment is spent outside: playing in the backyard, going to the park, checking the mail, cruising around the cul-de-sac. Rush is getting worn out but he's loving it. I'm loving it too - I can still remember wearing long sleeves in July and sitting in my windowless office.

Trent built a raised bed for vegetables, which will hopefully get planted this weekend. Gretchen and Penobscot (our adoped outside cats who actually belong to someone else as they have collars naming them Smoky and Silver) will be using it as a giant litter box unless we cover the top with wire or something until the plants get established. Other than the wire, it's ready to go.

Our friends Gordon and Ivana came over on Saturday with their daughter Ema. She's adorable. Rush is adorable. There was a lot of cuteness.

Rush took his first trip to the zoo on Sunday. We just purchased a family pass, so unlimited admission for a year! The zoo is right across from our church, so as long as we throw the stroller and extra shoes in the car in the morning we can walk over after the service. Rush was pretty tired and spent most of the time zoned out or sleeping in the stroller, but we could tell we're going to have some fun trips ahead of us. There was the most awesome sea turtle in the aquarium, which I think was Rush's favorite section.

One of the elephants at the zoo is pregnant and there was a baby shower for her while we were there. This isn't the pregnant elephant, but doesn't he or she look relaxed? I did the same thing when we got home.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Well, our first ever garage sale was a good time for all involved, including the shoppers, who received some fabulous deals. We had the "Is anyone going to come to our party?" experience at 7AM when we had everything ready to go Trent and I were standing alone in the driveway. Apparently we don't live in a town of early risers. Thankfully people finally started showing up and we were able to make a little cash. It's funny how Trent and I reverse roles at the oddest times. Trent took care of Rush while I walked around making change and giving people the best deals ever. For example, actual conversation:

man: How much for this shirt? (all clothes were $2 each)
me: $1. Or you can have all the clothes in both boxes for $10.

pregnant woman with substantial pile of baby stuff: How much?
me: Hmmm...$3?

12 year old girl flipping through a magazine
me: You can just have that.

In the end, we sold more than we took to Goodwill, so mission accomplished. Goodwill took everything we had left except our old kitchen sink, which they refused (?). So hey, we have a sink available for sale...or for free.

Quilting Sweatshop

A few months ago, my dear Aunt Betty-Ann was looking for bedding for her new beach cabin and asked me how long it usually takes me to make a quilt. I told her about 6 months, which I thought was accurate for my leisurely pace, but it also turned out to be a lie since I started the quilt I'm currently working on in 2007. Obviously I'm not making the quilts for the bunk beds in her beach house because she really couldn't wait until her four year old was in college to get them.

So I am really beyond sick of this quilt. Granted I did take a gigantic break from it when I was pregnant and for most of Rush's first year, but still, it's taking forever. For some reason after one male child I feel that the colors are totally irrelevant to my life, even though I could follow in the footsteps of the Frisco branch of the Williams family and have three girls after the first boy. But for now, I've invested too much time in it to quit, so I'm going to push through and get it finished as quickly as possible so I can move on with my life. Which is why last night when Trent and I settled down to watch a movie (The Informant - I liked it) after Rush went to bed, Trent lounged around in his pajamas eating ice cream and I got to work.


Because it obviously takes me forever to finish a quilt, I've already started working on a quilt for Rush when he moves into a twin bed. I'm still just cutting out pieces, but yesterday I decided to add some meaningful fabric by cutting up a pair of my old pajama pants. On our first date (10 years ago - wow), Trent was telling me some long story about these pajama pants he had with fish on them. I really don't remember the story and looking back it seems like odd first date conversation. But I had the same pair of pajama pants (why did I have a pair of men's pajama pants with fish on them?) and when I told him that, Trent said -on our first date- "this could be long term." Apparently so. He's going to freak out when he finds out I cut my fish pants, which I never wear and was only keeping for sentimental reasons anyway.

Looking at this picture, I realize that my handiwork might be better if I sat at a table instead of the floor, but I was trying to see the tv so I could watch Little Miss Perfect. And while some quilters try to be precise with their cuts and use actual measuring tools, I use a piece of cardboard labeled "blue", which means "cut all the blue/green/white fabric this size." I like to think it adds character to my work.

This really doesn't look like enough fabric for a twin size quilt, but I'm not sure what I did with the measurements so I'm not 100% sure how much fabric I actually need. It's another trial and error project that will hopefully produce something wonderful in the end. Thomas Edison was really into trial and error, and he invented the light bulb. I should be able to finish a blanket by the end of the year.

Fix It With Waffles

First of all, we've been spending a lot of time lately doing this:

When we're not climbing the stairs, we're outside enjoying the great weather. When it's this nice outside I can't imagine it being at least 20 degrees hotter this summer. Rush loves being outside
and it was a nice distraction for the little guy today, as he was feeling a little down after four shots and a blood test at the doctor's office this morning. We couldn't stay outside all day, but we ended up with Rush's perfect inside activity...

If I had a wagon big enough, I would settle in with a sock monkey, milk, and waffles as well. It looks like a good deal to me, and Rush certainly seemed to enjoy it. That's the life.

Summer Garden, Take 1

Trent and I are really into composting, but we're also really lazy about it. Our old compost pile wasn't actually creating any good soil, even with an abundance of worms, mainly because we rarely turned it and consistently forgot to add dry ingredients. It wasn't for a lack of dry ingredients either; in the spirit of our grandfathers,we drove around and picked up bags of leaves from our neighbors' yards. Of course we forgot that when we finally raked our own yard we would have our own piles of leaves, so it became time for a compost upgrade. Trent whipped up a "fence themed" box and installed it last week.

Rush was spending some guy time in the backyard with Trent, and he played in the shade (the little shade that palm trees give) for a few minutes before finding the bird bath, which was in two pieces on its way to a new location in the yard. Rainwater in the bird bath is not only fun to play in, but it's also apparently fun to drink.

While we're getting a late start, we're hoping to have a summer garden planed soon. Our tomato plants are still enjoying the greenhouse-like environment of the bathroom and will hopefully make it into the yard this week. Our loyal jalapeno plant looks like it survived multiple freezes this summer and our new cilantro is growing in a pot, so there could be fresh salsa in the future. Or there could be jars of Pace and fat, happy bugs living it up in our yard again.

One Singular Sensation

Rush is one! Our charming little guy is growing up so quickly. It's hard to believe that a year ago we had a tiny (hmm...smallish), snuggly baby and today we have a little boy eating Freebirds and stuffing his face with cake.

Between a family dinner last night and a party with family and friends today, Rush celebrated his first birthday in style. We had just enough family and friends over to really celebrate, but not so many that Rush was overwhelmed. I'm pretty sure he would have been content to stay in his new wagon all day, being pulled around by Aunt Kim and eating all the goldfish that he hid by his feet for future snacking. Even though the spring weather disappeared and the cold, rainy weather returned just as the party was starting, it really didn't stop anyone from enjoying their burgers or playing in the bubbles in the backyard...

...nor did it stop me from eating four cupcakes...

Thanks to everyone who brought diapers, which Rush and I will be taking to the Brazoria County Women's Shelter this week. We are so thankful for Rush and are looking forward to the next year of his life. Walking, climbing the stairs, throwing food all over the kitchen, bring it on. Happy Birthday Rush!

It Starts

The Williams family has finally entered the blogging scene. It took us years to get started, mainly because every blog name we originally wanted was snapped up by someone in 2004 then never updated again. So here we are, ready to bombard you with menial life details and photos of our cats. Oh, and we'll be posting Rush pictures as well. So if you're almost ready for bed but feel like you haven't wasted quite enough time on the internet, let us be your last stop.