April has been a whirlwind. The day before Easter, Gabe had planned a lemonade stand. The afternoon was warm, and with help from Grammy, the stand was located in the park near her house. From what I hear, sales were good.
Easter brunch was at our house, as it has been for the last several years.
I thought I took pictures of the tables on Easter Sunday. Levi helped put together the new pop-up tents and helped with the set-up the day before, and apparently this is the best picture I have.
It takes a lot of crepes to serve that many people! Mark begins cooking crepes right after the first church service, and even with two pans going, it takes quite awhile. This year we hosted 21--with ten of them being kids 11 and under.
Family pictures...
And a couple of candid shots.
I was pleased to do another quilt presentation--invited back for the second time by the Sierra Mountain Quilters in Oakhurst. This time I did an informative presentation on my solid quilts, along with information on different types of fabric--quilting cottons, cross weaves, shot cottons, solid batiks, linens, hand dyed, etc. This is the first time I've done this particular presentation and the feedback was positive. I hope to be able to share it again. How I wish I had taken some pictures! Once again, Mark came along with me as quilt holder and confidence booster, and I was thrilled with my friend, Janice, walked through the door. She helped Mark as a quilt holder as well.
The next day I taught My Swedish Ex. Such a fun day. The women in the guild there are so very nice.
I finally was able to meet Sinta Borland after reading her blog and following her on Instagram for several years.
Everyone did such a great job with the blocks--and it was fun to see the different versions.
As we were packing up at the end of class, one of the students, Wendy, started speaking in a fabulous Aussie accent. Turns out...she grew up in Australia. Her blocks (the purple and green ones above) were so pretty. We hope to have a sewing day together soon.
Early the next week I saw that two of the students had made more blocks.
Sally's blocks:
Sinta's blocks:
And in fact, just yesterday one of the students, Sue, sent me a picture of her quilt, completely finished! She quilted it with metallic thread and backed it with Minkee. I love the gradation from pale pink to purple.
The MCC sale the next day started out with a rainy morning. Ella loved standing in the rain and didn't mind being soaked. Especially when you can eat a nice warm fritter.
Mark and I had our usual verenika dinner--something we always look forward to. It may not look all that appetizing--but trust me, it is delicious!
Levi might have gotten some free homemade ice cream--it's a bonus that comes from having your Gramps working in the ice cream booth!
Levi even worked on the quilt turntable (he's the cute one in the orange t shirt on the left).
My brother, Jeff, was here briefly. Very briefly. But long enough to have dinner together with Nana and Papa.
Last year, Mark and I got Levi a basketball goal for his birthday. This year, Aaron wanted to paint the lane. So one morning, Mark and Aaron measured and marked the driveway. It was labor intensive, including doing the radius. Aaron painted it that night and it looks great--very official!
It's tee ball season for Gabe, the first year he has played a team sport. I think his favorite part is running through the tunnel at the end of the game, along with the treats.
It's baseball season for Levi. Crossing home plate.
And pitching.
One of his games was rained out, and they played the make-up game under the lights. That was really fun. Crossing home plate...
I completely cleaned up and reorganized my sewing room. I went through every shelf, bin, box, and pile on the floor. I got rid of two inadequate storage shelves, and purchased matching industrial shelving, one for each side of the armoire. Everything is labeled with the project inside, and for the most part, things are no longer stacked in piles on the floor.
Some purple irises bloomed this year--I was caught by surprise because I didn't remember that we even had purple irises!
Look at the size of these lilies from the bouquet Mark bought me from Trader Joe's.
I taught My Swedish Ex locally. It was another fun class.
Gabe had kindergarten open house.
Saturday, Levi played in the All Stars game. His team won the tournament. Great hit--can you see the ball just to the right of the player in red?
Gabe and Ella weren't really interested in the game so much...so they just spent some time chillin'.
After Levi's game, we went to Selma to watch Charlotte in her basketball tournament. We missed her first game, but watched her in two games back to back with a three-minute break. She was exhausted by the end of the second game.
Sunday at church there was a fundraiser for camp scholarships. The children's minister chose a baseball theme, so everyone had a popsicle stick with their face, along with some random team uniform.
Levi wasn't thrilled. His face on a Giants uniform??
Gabe lucked out--go Dodgers!
I don't think Ruby, Ella or Amelia really cared that much.
Charlotte, however, was
not happy--she refused to pose with her stick figure. Although she was happy to smile for the camera.
We were surprised when this happened--there is a new puppy in Aaron and Christa's household, a fluffy little fur ball named Rosie. They think she is a lab/huskie mix. Whatever she is, she is adorable and has captured everyone's heart.
And just last night, I was happy to watch Gabe at his game.
The great thing about tee ball is that even when you are on third base, you can take the time to pose for a picture for Grandma.
As usual, I need to leave you with something to think about. (Note: Sure hope there are not any typos in this post!)
