Friday, June 4, 2010

Kick Off of Summer

Seeing all of the happy schoolchildren being released from classes this week makes me realize that we have already experienced the kick off of summer vacation.  I remember those days and what a joy it was!!!!  How did the saying go??  It was something like, "School's out. School's out.  Teacher let the monkeys out.  No more school, no more books and no more teacher's dirty looks."  Does anybody else remember that?

Meanwhile.....we celebrated Memorial Day with a family BBQ in the backyard.  It is always wonderful to have everyone over and the kids just enjoy hanging out with each other.  It is so interesting to see the girls all congregate in one event and the boys in another.  There was lots of jump roping and I truly wish I had some pictures to share.  Unfortunately, I was jumping and I was the one with a camera.  NOT a good combination!!!!  Isn't it funny how the cute jump roping songs come back to you when you're participating?  The girls heard a few new ones and so did I.

The girls getting ready to "perform" for us.



Big guys vs.


Little guys vs




Half anf half!!!

DIL, daughter and my mom.


The tractor remains a hit at parties.


Wednesday was #3 son's birthday and his family got him all sorts of backpacking gear.  I guess that means he will be heading off to the unknowns and doing a little roughing it.


Gotta love the mosquito net!!!!


A hummingbird feeder too.  I think that is staying home.

I have been playing around a bit with making fabric flowers.  Have you noticed that flowers seem to be the big rage this year?  I am loving the idea.  First I tried a flower that was in this month's Quilting Ar*ts magazine.  It was a fun one to do and I can definitely see using it in different projects.


A luscious hand dyed fabric that a friend made me.

The next one was one that I sort of "winged" it on my own.  It was much less complicated and added a bit of whimsy to the bag that I made from a placemat.  I think it looks "summery" and will do a tutorial on it if anyone wants me to do so.





I have to share a picture of one of my orchid plants that bloomed this week.  I just love the color of it.  I wish I knew the name of it.




Today I went out and got a new summer hairdo.  I was so bored with my "old" hair and decided I needed a change.  For some reason my gray hair turns yellow - unlike my mother's gorgeous color of gray.  Every hairdresser I have had thinks they can get rid of it either by using special shampoos or whatever.  It never goes away and only gets worse during the summer.  I decided to give up on it and added some brown highlights and that makes it look a LOT less yellow.  I am happy with it.  Now I will await the opinions of the rest of the family.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend topped off with a Pinot and Paella in the Park event on Sunday.  I hope all of you will also be enjoying a summery weekend.

23 comments:

  1. All the activities with the young ones, oh I do miss those days. Happy summer - Hugs Nat

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  2. What a lovely family.....looks like you all have alot of fun together.

    Love the flowers

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  3. Looks like another great family event.

    I love your fabric rose and the green daisy(?). Yes, please do a tutorial. The flower adds such pizzazz to the purse.

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  4. NOw...so many photos but none of your new hairdo????? As for school letting out....OUR sing-song rhyme used to go: No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" (Guess we are dating ourselves, huh?) LOVE all your family photos and love the flowers you made. I like the second one YOU designed better than the one you made from the magazine pattern!!!

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  5. Thank you for sharing the photos of your delightful family. You always have such great get togethers.Wish I could have seen a photo of you skipping WITH the new hairdo.

    Love the flower you made, yes a tutorial would be good, I'd like to know how to make it.

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  6. I love the flowers you made! Just got my copy of QA magazine and I was thinking about trying to make the flower too....was it hard?

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  7. Love and happiness is oozing from those photos!! A lovely family! and your home is obviously set in some gorgeous country!!

    Fantastic flowers and bag! I made a tea towel bag some time ago, lots of fun. The flower you invented is perfect and yes, I'm with everyone else... how do we make it???

    Happy Sewing!

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  8. Looks like you all had a lovely day and you have a lovely garden too. Thanks for inviting us along.

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  9. What a great family you have and such a lovely granddaughters.
    I love it to see that your mother was also with you.
    The Orchid......
    Louis thinks it is a cross between the Laelia and the Cattleya. Her name is than Laeliocattleya.
    I hope you will enjoy your weekend with your DH. The flowers are great I think they were nice to make.
    Big hugs Dorine

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  10. Beautiful photos of your family! Oh yes, I woudl love a tutorial on the flower you made - it is gorgeous!
    I honestly think I would be mesmerised by the tractor too - what fun! And as for the skipping, I remember it well. there was one where you had to recite boys names or girls names, but I can't remember it at the moment.
    I want to see the new hairdo too! Please!

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  11. Your backyard gathering looks awesome! Many smiling and happy faces for the fun together time! Welcome Summer!!

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  12. The yard, the tractor, all the happy family members.... what a blessing!

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  13. Looks like fun times at your house as usual. Love the fabric flowers and would love a tut.

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  14. Oh what fun!!! I love when they put on "shows"
    Your flowers are looking great!!

    Excuse me. new hair-do?????

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  15. What a beautiful family you have! The flowers are lovely ,but I truly loved seeing your family together!
    Micki

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  16. Sounds like you had a great time! Love your flowers, and orchid, too!

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  17. I do love your fabric flowers !

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  18. The big girls have become quite the rope jumpers, too. I love to watch them. Miss Feisty will be using the tooth fairy pillow soon, and is quite excited about that!

    Love the flowers - and the purse.

    We need a picture of your new "do!"

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  19. Ahem...where's the photo of your new hairdo??? lol I've had long hair for so long, I sometimes feel like cutting it but then I change my mind. It's usually up in a ponytail when I stay at home:-)

    I always love seeing the photos of your family gatherings, so many smiling faces and everyone looks like they're having so much fun. The kids must love getting together like that. Love the scenery you have as well, those mountains look gorgeous in the background.

    Happy belated Birthday to your son! Looks like the kids were enjoying watching him open his presents:-)

    Omigosh, those fabric flowers are simply beautiful and I love the way you put one on the purse you made. I've noticed as well how popular fabric flowers have become, just the other day there was a girl in the mall who had one in her hair and one on her purse:-)

    Your mom looks so lovely and I love her hair as well. Everyone thinks my mom dyes her hair because it's dark with some gray at the front but she doesn't! Her mom was the same way, always had the dark hair with gray streaks, even in her 80's.

    Your orchid is gorgeous. I wish we could grow them here outside but they would never survive our winters.

    Hope you have a wonderful week and know that I think of you often:-) xoxox

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  20. How blessed you are to have such a large family that get on so well and enjoy each others company Mary.

    Love the flower with the green petals.

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  21. wow! love the activities, pics etc etc!
    So fun!

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  22. what a great day.....family is the best...

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  23. Catching up with you is always so interesting and lots of fun. I love the family photos, as always, especially the one of your mom with the girls. Her silvery gray hair is beautiful!
    All your sewing projects are very clever and beautifully done. The girls matching dresses are so sweet.
    You're a lucky grandma to be able to sew with them during the summer, and they are lucky girls.
    Those fields of glads are a wonderful sight!
    Much to my disappointment, my Clivia seeds haven't sprouted. I wonder why. I'll have to do some research. The Plumeria haven't started to show growth but they look like they're still alive.
    I enjoyed the glimpses of your beautiful garden in the background of some of your photos. Your roses are spectacular!
    It would be so lovely to have you stroll around my garden right now to smell the peonies and a few other scented beauties :)
    We had gloomy skies and showers all day, after yesterday's sunshine, and a big wind/rainstorm this evening. I'm so looking forward to a sunny day in the garden!

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