Quilts

I have loved quilts for a long time and began collecting them after I got married. Both of my grandma's gave me a quilt when I got married so that got me started collecting them. I would always check at thrift stores and every couple of years I would get lucky and find one. Once in a great while I would find one at a yard sale. A couple I got from my parents antique store.  The craftsmanship is amazing. I have never made a quilt myself but I have plans of giving it a go one of these days. 

I have a glass fronted cabinet in my family room where I display some of my quilts I rotate them with other quilts I store elsewhere. These are my spring/summer quilts.

I just love the bright colors and patterns.

 My favorite patterns and fabrics come from the 1930's to 1950's. So wasn't I thrilled when I received a package in the mail from my Grandma Agle (my maternal grandmother) and in it was the most lovely little quilt she had made for Zaynzley. Zany was using an old queen size quilt on her bed temporarily until I could find something better. This quilt is perfect for her room.

Zaynzley with her new quilt.

Zany reading a book before naptime.

Look at those tiny perfect stitches, my grandma hand quilted the whole thing, the top is an authentic 1930's quilt top, not a reproduction, that she found at a garage sale. She redid the edging, backed it and bound it. It is a masterpiece of fine quilting!

My grandma also sent a darling scrapbook for Zaynzley telling the story of the quilt.

This photo is my grandma as a little girl. What a doll!

A couple pages from the scrapbook, she put pictures of Zaynzyley throughout it and didn't Zany love to look at this little scrapbook.

Here is the amazingly talented quilter, my grandma! What a treasure!!

Alamden del la Plata-100th post

Rhiannon's note: This is our 100th post of our blog! Ashlee is trekking through Spain enjoying the lovely architecture and surroundings. She posts as she has WiFi and takes pictures with her kindle which is a tricky thing as the camera faces you so to take a picture of  a landscape you shoot blindly and hope for the best.

A lovely scene of a street in Alamden del la Plata 

A vibrant flower.

Ashlee on a picturesque balcony.

The Sock Game

So I was sitting on the back porch enjoying my favorite time of day (twilight) reading a magazine or catalogs (have several catalogs [Pottery Barn {kids, teen, and regular}Land of Nod, Grandin Road, Anthropology] I love to look through and they are free!)  It is my goal everyday to just sit outside in the evening and soak up peace but sadly I rarely get to as to often it is dark before I realize it or I am busy at games or running kids to practice. 

This particular time I notice some strange activity going on the trampoline and I caught a few photos and then later asked the kids what was going on with them. Apparently, Quinton hates to jump on the trampoline without socks on and if he ever goes down on the trampoline by tripping or falling the other boys immediately pounce on him and try to take off his socks. They are fast too like hungry-boys-at-a-all-you-can-eat-buffet fast. 

Quinton hits the mat and in a second Archy and Coy hold him down while Declan gets the sock off. 

Quinton fights for the sock.

He gives up and jumps with one sock on one sock off, a few sock casualties lie abandoned.

If my kids are in the backyard then 85% of the time they are on the trampoline. They have a variety of made up games they play. I encourage them to be outside a lot even letting their chores slide when they are outside.  They know it too. It is a sad day when the tramp bites the dust as two have before. This is our third trampoline and the biggest yet. I never liked trampolines as kid because we never had one and the cousins who did have one would always double bounce you or steal your bounce both very unpleasant. Here's hoping for a long life for this tramp!

What They Wore & Belated Easter Linner or Dunch

We took a quick picture on the way into church but I didn't like how they were arranged.

So I decided to take one inside but it was impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time with a good expression on all their faces. 

 During the process, Zany who has had a cold wanted to wipe her nose on 

her hand which was holding Archy's hand. 

Archy didn't like that at all since everyone thought it was funny, it really upset him.

Archy turns away and Zany decides to really make him mad.

By licking him, which is Archy's pet peeve to be licked.

Siblings always know how to push the right buttons don't they.

Archy has total look of disgust on his face, Quinton of course thinks this is hilarious.

Zany couldn't be happier with the outcome. We gave up on getting a good picture.

It was a good day to be a Carlton as we had our belated Easter dinner after church. Eddy and I prefer Turkey to Ham so we decided we will have turkey for our Easter dinner. 

Our menu was a simple one: 

Citrus Turkey, Garlic Golden Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Gravy, Mixed Vegetable Medley, Creamed Spinach and Cloverleaf Rolls. The turkey & gravy turned out really good but the rolls weren't very good. I will have to try a new recipe. I informed everyone that this meal was lunch and dinner (3:00 p.m.) and not to bug me about what was for dinner. No sooner had I said that then Quinton asked if we could have popcorn for dinner. Boys they are always hungry!

Belated Easter Dinner

Troubling Times in the Kindle Kingdom

So I haven't had WiFi until today. Everywhere said there was WiFi but didn't have it. Very small town it's been good,hopefully. At ruins in Italica, Spain under the stadium as it was to shady to take photo.

Rhiannon's note: Ashlee has traveled to Spain where she will be doing a pilgrimage walk for five weeks. She will be posting as she has WiFi available. We skyped briefly and she is doing really good and looks happy. I got a brief glimpse a very beautiful church. Lucky girl!

My little buttercup!

In our primary school, each grade does a yearly musical performance. McCoy's first grade did a vegetable inspired program. McCoy was chosen to be in the pepper family but you could pick whatever kind of you wanted. I picked Jalapeno because I knew I had this sombrero. McCoy, being of a shyer nature, did not want to have to wear the giant sombrero as he does not like attention brought to him, at all. So I had to turn to my mama playbook and threaten, cajole and in the end bribe to get him to wear it. His price--getting to go to the new frozen yogurt place.  He was a man good to his word as he wore it without complaint and even let me give him a mustache. They had to put him on the back row to accommodate his hat and the girl next to him kept knocking it with the hand motions but he took it good naturedly. 

The teacher announces the program.

McCoy goes the front for his dancing part.

McCoy and other peppers.

A dancing Jalapeno!

I took McCoy to get his froyo, as he calls it, and Eddy went along. You don't want to take Eddy to a pay by weight frozen yogurt shop. He happily filled his dish and when we heard the price of fourteen dollars I staggered back and really looked at Eddy dish. I weighed his solo (1 lb 7 ounces) then to see if he was the culprit for the high price--guilty. He did make a pretty desert though and in his defense it was his first time in a pay by ounce frozen yogurt shop. I guess McCoy earned it for both of them.

Track Meet for Declan

Sometimes when you move to a small town it takes a few years to figure out the local traditions. The locals don't think to tell you about them because they just assume everyone knows. In the primary and elementary school, they have a long standing tradition of holding a grade wide track meet. So all the fourth graders compete against each other in track and field events and the parents attend to cheer on their children. Each child gets to participate in three events or races.  After the track meet ALL the parents take the kids out to lunch and if a parent can't attend they make arrangements for someone else to take them out to lunch. Poor Quinton his first few years, I would go and watch his track meet and then leave and he would be the only one left at school in his class; I had no idea I was suppose to take him to lunch.. I would have happily taken him out but no one told me I was supposed to do that.  It's the learning curve I guess. I haven't made that mistake with my other kids. For the kids, part of the fun of the track meet is getting to go to lunch. 

Declan chose to compete in the fifty metre dash, high jump and sack race. He has done the sack race every year, it's his favorite.

Declan in orange sprints to the high jump.

Getting closer.

He jumps over with out hitting the bar.

In between, events there is a lot of time to kill the whole meet takes about two and half to three hours. To keep from getting bored I took some photos of my kids playing.

Teddy and Zany best friends sitting in a truck tire.

My best friend Annie has two kids the same ages as mine but different genders. They are all great friends and play together often since we live just around the corner from each other.

"Hey get out of our photo!" 

Martha, Archy, Teddy & Zany

Declan

Zany was a bit grumpy so she would hardly look at me much less smile. It makes for a nice pensive photo though.

Zaynzley age two.

Zany standing among morning glories.

(I just love these vintage styled dresses)

The sack race ran a few heats. Declan made it to the final race where he lost but had fun doing it.

They were allowed to wear sunglasses and Declan was one of the few who did.

Pretty intense jumping.

Declan, in orange, he got sixth place in the sack race.

Declan the track star with Archy

After the very long track meet, you have to stay until the end because they do a class relay race, we went to lunch at Declan's choice Carl's Jr. I was fine with it because they have a indoor play place for kids. After lunch, I took him back to school and Archy and Zany were so exhausted (due to their simultaneous crying fit  in the car that lasted a good fifteen minutes) they fell asleep on the way home. Happy sigh!

Meet Declan

Declan's name (pronounced DECK-len)  is the first to follow our naming pattern which is the first three letters of the first name are also their initials so Declan=D.E.C.=Declan Eugene Carlton. When I was pregnant with boy #2, Ashlee was in Ireland and I asked her to find me a cool name for a boy that had third letter of C. She suggested Declan and I really liked it Eddy took a bit to warm up to it.  His middle name comes from his maternal great grandfather Dennis Eugene Agle. 

He can raise an eyebrow (left only) like no other except maybe 

The Rock

Declan tell me a little about your self: (typed word for word)

I like batman and my family of course, the thing I do not like is when girls chase me to the end of the world. I like my fourth grade teacher, I like to read books my favorite sports are baseball, basketball, football. My favorite type of music is rock and roll. My favorite song is "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie. I also like Thor and Superman. My favorite books to read are Nate the Great, Batman Comics, I Survived (series).

Declan's crazy face

How about some Questions?

Me: What would you do with a hundred dollars? 

DEC: Make a company and get rich off that company and have a mansion with a bat cave under it.

Me: What's the worst thing that has ever happen to you? 

DEC: I tripped and fell in Duncan and really hurt my leg when I was three.

Me: What's your favorite color?

DEC: Purple and Gold

Me: What college do you want to go to?

DEC: ASU then a doctor/scientist school

Me: What is your favorite food? 

DEC: Carrots, Cake, Healthy Stuff

Me: Where is your favorite place to sit and read a book?

DEC: Play room window seat

Me: Where would you want to go on vacation and why?

DEC: Hawaii-for the beaches, ocean, and sharks

ME: If you could meet one person in history who would it be? Why?

DEC: King Arthur because then if he died and didn't have any kids he would pick me and then I would be king and make it a free country.

Declan doing a Trampoline Trick

Declan has always been very animated, imaginative and creative. He took a little longer to speak (after he was three years old) but once he started he hasn't stopped. He worked really hard in speech and he just graduated from the program; he started when he was three years old. It took him a while to get the "R" sound down but he persevered and finally got it.  When he was little, about three, he had an incredible sense of direction and memory for where things where. We would be at a store like Super Walmart and he would disappear. It was really scary as a mother but I would usually find him soon after as he decided he needed to go to the bathroom and would take himself there without telling anyone.

Declan sporting green hair for Homecoming

He was know as a wild child but he grew out of that into a very responsible child. He gets himself up early every morning even weekends. He likes to write things on the calendar and reminds me incessantly of upcoming events and needs. He like to get his chores done quickly and efficiently. He really likes to please people and loves to be helpful. Declan has a lot of personality and is a kid you won't miss in a class due to his size (tall) and volume. His handwriting is very sloppy which is perfect for the career he has been planning on since he was four-doctor. Declan can be very dramatic and isn't scared to talk to anyone including waitresses (more chips please).  He spends most of his time at home playing outside on the trampoline or playing with toys. Declan is a real fun guy that we love having in our family!

Arizona – A Bird-Watcher’s Paradise

Ashlee and I are both interested in birds but you can't even call us amature birders because we know so little. Everytime we see an unusual bird we say we have got to get a birding book and learn more about it. While we were sitting on the front porch of my parents Antiques store, across the road I spotted a Cardinal in a Cat Claw. Ashlee took my camera and got several good pictures. I told her we should do a Big Year but just between the two of us. We live in one of the best birding areas around. To Quote from a website "Southern Arizona has some of the best birding in the world. People come here from all over to see many rare species found in few other places. Most of these areas have confirmed sightings of more than 200 species of birds. Some have as many as 300." Where we live has a confirmed 300 different species, we even have a local bird brochure. Let the count begin!

Cardinal in Cat Claw

I decided maybe it was time to get a kid pen so we went to a local store that carries them and tried a few out I think this one was the best fit. It allows them room to play but keeps them in a safe contained area. Does it come with a lock?

Zany was really tickled to have a balloon that floated she kept looking at it with a smile on her face until sadly it came untied and blew away.

 One of my favorite things as a kid was to sit on the front porch and watch monsoons (summer rains) we arrived at my parents store during a nice storm so I got a chance to watch a quick shower. While there Quinton asked what this machine was for? Anyone, Anyone?

It makes brooms, can't you tell. We were shocked Quinton didn't know.

Sitting on the porch blowing bubbles while Quinton leaps over a puddle and Declan looks for ancient coins

Just had to pop that bubble oh sorry was that your eye! Declan still looking for ancient coins.

Who doesn't love a good bubble popping session.

Declan finds his ancient coin worth millions only to discover it is just a bottlecap. So disappointing. 

Here's wishing a Bon Voyage to Ashlee who is off on a Europe Adventure. I think this occasion call for a re-reading of one of my favorite books Our Hearts Were Young and Gay: An Unforgettable Comic Chronicle of Innocents Abroad in the 1920's. It's vintage book from 1942 but so funny it is even available in audio form.