Photo session, errands and quilting

The other day we let Lily try to use my phone to take pictures. She chased Anna all over calling her name trying to take her picture. She had some difficulties, but I will show you what she was able to take. 

Maybe she isn't ready for a Canon Mark 5 yet like Aunt Becca's. 

Since yesterday was my weekly errand day, we ran all over town for 3 1/2 hours making 9 stops. This was Walmart.

Mom Bryan asked if she could use my machine to quilt her king-sized quilt. She had been hand quilting but has run out of time since she started working at PCC. She said she loved using my machine.

Dad Bryan played Catan with us while Mom Bryan quilted. 

Sewing Projects and Activities

I got to use my fancy sewing machine to quilt and embroider this bear quilt. I wasn't sure whose it would be, but Lily has adopted it and is actually sleeping under the covers with it!

I put in a couple of embroidered bears while quilting as well. 

We went to Joanne's Fabric in Pensacola Saturday. It was a hassle getting some simple muslin. I miss Mary Jo's in NC! I used to live across town from that fabulous fabric warehouse. 

James' work held a picnic Saturday. It included lunch and was beside a playground on the Navy Base. It rained almost the entire time, but Lily had a blast playing in the rain with Lexie, McKenna and Brennan. There was a most delightful puddle to splash in where the sidewalk used to be. 

The girls debuted their new matching dresses today. 

James played a cello solo this morning and did a great job! This was practice. 

We were given some coloring books at the work picnic and James helped Lily break them in. 

Update on the last week and the Great Mowing Adventure

I did not have to cook much last week because I was freezer cooking like a banshee before our Gatlinburg vacation. (Do banshees cook?) Thanks to FlyLady the house was staying relatively clean with morning routines too. So I went on a sewing spree.

My goal was to empty my pile of unfinished sewing projects. I mended a lot of things, sewed changing table covers for the nursery, sewed two crib sheets for Anna's over-sized crib mattress, edged a couple of cloth napkins, quilted and finished a baby quilt that was a gift from Mom Joyner when Anna was born, sewed together the church embroidered tile scene blocks, made a dress for Lily and one for Anna. I will post pictures of some of these things later.

Anna was sick with a fever for several days earlier this week. She had a 102.4 fever Monday night. That was scary for this young Mom. She was fever-free the next morning but was hot again that night. Tuesday it was only 99.1 and Wednesday she was better. I am so, so glad for that! I am also grateful for the joy of sleeping through the night again.

Now you may be wondering about The Great Mowing Adventure.

It has been raining so much that James wasn't able to mow the wet grass, and I was sewing so much that I didn't go outside - at all. Hence the grass needed attention. While Anna was taking her morning nap and Lily was playing in her swingset I did some mowing just now.

Our mower had to be fixed because of alcohol in the tank caused by turning it off and on frequently. If I am mowing while both girls are swinging, I frequently have to leave the mower and give them a push. It turns off by itself when the lever is released.

So I thought I would be smart and secure the lever so it would keep running while I went to push Lily in her swing this morning. I got a rubber band and a twist tie and walked over to give Lily a push. I turned around, and the mower wasn't there!

Our mower has a special self-propelled feature that I didn't think about. It had kept going in the direction it was aimed - over the garden hose twice, and was headed out to the edge of our property. You should have seen me running after our escaping lawnmower! Thankfully it didn't harm the garden hose.

Lily still had to be pushed, so I tried it again. This time I headed it in the right direction and ran to her and booked it back to mower. That looked pretty funny too.

My birthday and glasses

James took us to Red Rock to swim on my birthday morning. It was super nice to sit in the cold water on a hot day. Another benefit was no ants. James managed to haul my cheesecake to the river and serve it with lit candles and a song!

After we got home, before he left for work, James even made me a balloon. 

After the girl's Wednesday baths I just had to get a picture of Anna's curlies!

Right before church that night I took the girls to Target for diapers. We saw this lovely rainbow. It might even be a double rainbow!

Anna went with me to the eye doctor Thursday. She was very patient. James kept Lily at home that morning. 

Here is one pair I tried on. 

We had to try one on Anna too. :-)

Lily is currently saying, "tie loup and uh..." as she makes a harness on her baby stroller. Grandma Joyner told her how to tie a bow and she is trying to practice. 

Gatlinburg Vacation Part 3 of 3

Since I couldn't figure out how to add pictures in the correct spots on my last post, I am just adding them here!

Your eyes do not deceive you - it is built upside down.
You can't miss Wonder Works while driving through Pigeon Forge.

James' pictures of Ripley's Aquarium

A huge eel

The view from an overlook driving back from Clingman's Dome

The driveway up to our cabin and our
neighbor cabin. It was so, so steep!

I should mention that the two best parts of the vacation experience for me were the freezer meals I made ahead of time and brought with us, and the notebook I'd made with details about all of the attractions, prices, times, addresses, numbers, emergency information, food heating instructions, childcare tips, and pockets for local maps. It saved me so much time. Many, many times the family would ask me for information and I could point them to the notebook instead of taking forever to look it up right then. Thanks to FlyLady for the Vacation Control Journal idea!

Gatlinburg Vacation Part 2

We did so many activities in Gatlinburg! I will try to give you a quick summary.

Our cabin rental came with one Adventure Pass that gave us one free ticket to 9 different attractions each day. Unfortunately, they didn't accumulate, but we still got our money's worth by dividing and conquering. 

We paid for a few things that you simply couldn't skip for a true Gatlinburg vacation. One of those is the Dixie Stampede for the whole family. Lily enjoyed herself hugely and loved the "horseys." It was Dad and Mom's first time as well and they enjoyed it too. Anna was there, but she spent much of the time playing at my feet with Mom's sweater.

We got to go to Dollywood and Splash Country too.

Mom and Dad and James went to the Ripley's Aquarium by turns.

Rebecca, James and I toured the nearby Forbidden Caverns. It was so huge!

On Sunday we went to Freedom Baptist Church. I had been there before when they hosted WWNTBM's Candidate School.

We got one free ticket to see Wonder Works. It has 120 interactive exhibits and was very fun!

There was a three-level rope obstacle course inside
that was at least five stories high at it's highest
point. This is looking straight up from the line.

James experienced the "hurricane-force"
wind. It was unimpressive to him - it was
only 65 mph

The girls loved the light wall.

This flipped the riders upside down in
a circle super fast.

I watched the girls while they rode and tried to photograph
James on the ride

You could try to make a huge bubble.

We went out to eat at the Old Mill Restaurant.

We hiked Clingman's Dome.

Dad got good gas mileage on the way down the mountain.

Lily got to stick her head out of Grandma's car skylight

We had a free ticket for go-carts and blacklight mini-golf.

James and I were tearing down that hill. Double go-carts are
so much faster than single - just so you know.

We walked around Gatlinburg

A couple of people got the chance to take turns using our free daily tickets to see the Lumberjack Feud Dinner Show.

Running on a rolling log in the water!

Aunt Becca bought Lily a bear from the show