JUST PLANE CRAZY

Ellis is crazy about airplanes, and can hear and spot them very quickly. I think it's one of his favorite pastimes. Jennifer said that she would like to have a quilt for him that had planes on it. They are hard to find, so David and I decided we would get one for his 2nd birthday. Our only real option was to make one. So I decided it would be a project I could do while we were in Colorado. Jennifer and I

went to Colorado Springs before Emmett was born and got the fabric.

Ellis knows his colors pretty well.  

I decided what the planes would look like
I'm not much of an airplane drawer, but I did ok.
I decided to make 6 airplanes. I would reverse the colors on 2 planes of the same pattern.
We went with the basic colors. I appliqued them onto a piece
of fabric so that it would be easier to get them sewn onto the quilt top.











I think this is my favorite

He kind of went crazy when he saw it the first time.

 
He jumped and squealed and pulled it over his head.
 
He liked it.
 
He said thank you to us both, not only in words but actions.

 

The finished product ended up with a hot
air balloon too, but that is another story.

What's Going On

Saturday night we had 4 visits from bears, and they made a real mess. Joel and David went out to pick it up. We have had quite a few bears in the neighborhood since the fires. They are looking for food.


Monday 7-23-12, in the morning at 7:30 and 59 degrees.

This morning at 2:42 Joel's camera took pictures of a young bear in front of the garage. There was no trash for them to get into, so didn't have to clean up.

I was typing for our email when I saw a bear down the road by the house next door. I told David and we went to see where he might be. A neighbor was out putting his trash out so we visited with him for a while. He said he saw the bear grab a pizza box out of a trash can across the street and take off with it. His wife came out with more trash so we met her and visited some more. In a few minutes she said there he is. He was standing there behind a house looking at us. He took off and went back behind the house. In a few minutes we saw him down by the end of the road going across and before he got back behind that house a little dog came out barking like crazy! The bear kind of reared back and then took off with the little dog barking at his heels! I got a picture of him close across the street, but wasn't able to get one of him leaving with the dog.

It's Monday evening at 8:45 p.m. and 66 degrees out. We went to see Aunt Shirley yesterday at Buena Vista. We were about 25 miles from there when the van started acting up again. We had to open the windows, because the systems shut down when there is a problem. Luckily it wasn't too warm. The voltage on the battery was low, but we decided to go ahead and go for it.

 Aunt Shirley misses Uncle Philip, but is doing pretty good. She is very skinny as usual, but she says she eats well, and she thinks she is starting to put on some weight.



Uncle Philip and Aunt Shirley have watered their lawn by flooding it with water that comes through town from the Arkansas River. It runs through a ditch and they block it off for a time and then it goes right back to the ditch and on through to the river.

David, Ellis, and Joel were looking at the ditch and Ellis fell in the water. He gasped cause it was really cold, Joel had ahold of his hand. We had a nice visit, and Ellis got to play in the water in the lawn, just like our kids used to do.


On the way home the battery started out fine, but as we got going it started loosing voltage again. We turned off all the extras and the lights that are always on and that did the trick. This morning I took the van back to the shop where they had replaced the alternator on Friday. They checked it and the alternator was not working.  It will be ready on Tues sometime.

The therapist was here for Emmett today and they are keeping him on the oxygen for at least another week. They did decrease the output, so he is doing better.

Tuesday Evening.
This afternoon the garage called and said they got the alternator back in and everything seemed to be fine. However when he tried to start it up the second time, the anti theft system kicked in and it wouldn't recognize my key. He had me bring in David's key, and it worked. The mechanic wasn't quite done making sure everything was in working order, so I came back to the house. They called again around 6 and said it was ready, but we were getting ready to eat, so will pick it up in the morning.

Big Sister

The other day we got an email from Piper.  Her shirt told us the message.  It said Big Sister!  Yeah!

Emmett

Emmett had his first checkup on Monday. He has had to go on Oxygen for right now. His oxygen levels were lower than they would like to see, but nothing dangerous. Part of the reason is the c-section birth, and part because of the altitude. On Monday they sent out a company with the oxygen bottles and all the equipment they need. Yesterday they sent a therapist with an oxygen machine. He set everything up and instructed them about all the different things. Although it is a little bit of a worry, they are adjusting and he is doing good.

Jennifer and Ellis have been going to MOPS (Mothers of Pre Schoolers) and yesterday she let David and I take Ellis to a movie for MOPS. It was ICE AGE Continental Drift. They give them a small bag of popcorn and drink for their admission price. Ellis loves popcorn! He started in on it as soon as we sat down, and it lasted the entire movie with some left over. He had a few sips of his sprite, but mostly drank his water we took. He was very good and watched the whole time. Every once in a while he would say BIG! or UH OH! It was enjoyable and in this case kids talking and crying was acceptable. I took the camera, but forgot about it after we got there.
We got a visit from a bear last night, but he didn't stay long. He tipped the trash can over, but it landed with the lid against the ground, so he wasn't able to grab and run like usual. So that means no one will have to clean up after him this time.

Playing with Flowers and other Misc Things

Happy 11th Anniversary to JD and Soni! Wish we could be together to celebrate. Hope your days go well.

Well yesterday was pretty non-eventful. I took Ellis out to play. I got him a bucket and he picked up sticks, pinecones, and rocks and put them into the bucket. We wandered around in the front yard for quite a while. I did go into the fabric shop in town to get a little more of the red and blue fabric I needed to finish Ellis' quilt. They had the red, but didn't have the blue to match. I figured if I had to make a trip into Colorado Springs for the blue, I might as well save some money by buying them both there. Just plain old solid cotton fabric is $10.98 a yard at the fabric store here. After all it is a quilting supply shop, so they have to charge that much right? I know it's probably better quality, but wow.   Today I got the fabric at a Wal-Mart in Colorado Springs that still carries fabric. It was $2.97 a yard.

Ellis and I played out in the yard for quite a while. He loves to swing in his swing and would probably do it all day long. We walked around the place out in the aspens and he picked flowers. He was plucking them off and throwing them. One of them went between my toes, so he decided that the other foot needed one too. He chopped at the tree trunks with sticks, and had a good time just wandering around.

Home with Emmett

Jennifer, Joel and Emmett got home yesterday afternoon around 4:30.  We spent the evening just relaxing and they got settled in.  Joel went to town and got some things for Jennifer and brought back Taco Bell for supper.  We have the pack and play in our room so that if they aren't getting enough sleep they can bring him to us for a while.  He didn't come visiting, so I guess he did ok.

Ellis meets Emmett July, 11, 2012

Emmett and Ellis met for the first time last night.  He kissed him, but the camera and photographer were too slow to get the picture.  He had gotten a sticker from Aunt Shelby, and put it on.  A little later he took it off his shirt and put it on Emmett's blanket. 

We got to hold Emmett for the first time.  What a precious Gift from God.  He is a sweetie.  Jennifer was feeling pretty good and got up to sit in the chair.  Ellis decided to watch Over the Hedge, on her bed.  We didn't stay too long.  Before we left Ellis took his sticker off Emmett and put it back on his shirt.  We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and got supper.  Ellis ate supper when we got home, he's not much on fast food.  Grandpa read to him and put him down for the night.  The air was really clear when we got up past Woodland Park, and Pikes Peak was beautiful in the setting sun.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it.  Hopefully Jennifer, Joel, and Emmett will get to come home today.

July 10, 2012 Emmett Riley Marshall Has Arrived!

Emmett Riley Marshall has arrived. Born at 7:58 am 8 lbs. 3 ozs. 20.5 inches long

Here are the first looks I had at him.  He is in NICU right now.  The dr. said it is common at this altitude to have them on oxygen for a day or so.  Jennifer should get to go and see him and hold him later this evening.  She is doing great and is ahead of schedule as far as that kind of thing goes.  Joel got to hold him a while ago and rock him for a bit.  He is a cutie and looks a little bit like Ellis.  Everyone in the surgery room commented on how big his hands and feet were.  We were able to go in one at a time with Joel to see him, but no holding him until he is in their room.

July 3 to Present

Good Morning!

We are at Jennifer and Joel's house awaiting the arrival of baby boy 2. The weather has been awesome. Since they have come back home from being evacuated for the fire, they have had mild temperatures and since we have arrived they have had 3 rains. Yesterday's was pretty significant. It rained into the night and we actually had to close our window. This morning everything is still wet and dripping. Right now the temp. is 54, the humidity is 93 and the high for today is supposed to be 67. I actually brought clothes for the right temps. Before the fires the highs were in the upper 90s.

We celebrated Ellis' 2nd birthday and the 4th of July together. We made a flag cake for the 4th and a birthday cake for Ellis' birthday. We went to the celebration down at Woodland Park. They had booths set up from different vendors and organizations. As you can imagine, the firefighters was one of the popular ones. There were signs everywhere thanking them for what they have done for the town and the individul homes. There were bands that were playing in the park gazebo and in a few other places. We got a snowcone, and Jennifer got a red, white, and blue bracelet. We went home and fed Ellis and then put him down for a nap. While he was sleeping we decorated the house with balloons and red, white and blue everywhere. He was so thrilled with the balloons. He is still playing with them. Great Grandma Holloman and Tim sent a toy for him. It's an old fashioned rocket ride wind up toy. I was not quite what we were expecting. It says (on the box) "For adult collectors only". But he really likes it and is patient to wait for someone to wind it for him.
Last night Jennifer and I went to Walmart and got a pedicure in preperation for the new baby boy! We both got blue polish! That wasn't planned but it was fun.
I am working on a quilt for Ellis. He is moving into a toddler bed, so we are getting his new things ready. It is an airplane theme. When I get it done I will put a picture of it on email or our blog.
We haven't seen any bears yet. I did see a trash can they had gotten into down at the end of the road yesterday morning. Green Mountain Falls wouldn't let people back into town for a while after the fire evacuation was lifted because of the bear problem they were having. I'm not sure what they did to get them out of town, but they are back to the normal now.

Well, I will close for now. Have a blessed day!

A Little Garden Produce

Before we left for Colorado, I picked all the garden things we could pick.  The beets weren't very big, but I picked them and cooked them.  I pickled them and put them into a pint jar.  Those that wouldn't fit we had for supper.  We had all the beans that were ready from the last several days, it was just enough to go around, they were delicious.  Cucumbers from JD and Soni's garden were good and ripe, as well as their tomatoes.  They were delicious.  Our carrots looked more like large toothpicks.  Most of those got eaten by something in the night.  The peas we planted were a favorite of rabbits I think, (were) being the key word there.  The corn got a late start, and the deer munched on it.  They are doing ok now, and the tassels are showing, but we now have a ban on watering them and no outside water used on anything besides animals.  Anyway that is the extent of our garden produce for now.  Our tomatoes got a late start as well as the corn, but should yeild some nice tomatoes for whoever goes and picks them.  Our peach trees gave us about 2, 2 gallon buckets full.  They are very small and kind of wormy, but next year we will be more prepared and get them sprayed on time.  The apple trees are very full and there are 6 or 7 trees to be picked.

Aunt Annie

Aunt Annabelle Mae Smith went to be with the Lord on Sunday the 8th of January. She is gone, but to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What a blessed promise that God has made to all who will call upon His name for Salvation. What a blessed hope God has given to us.

Us girls spent a week or two several different times with her and Uncle Ivan at their house in Oklahoma City during the summer We always had a great time, they were great hosts. Aunt Ann took great care to keep us entertained, and took us on new adventures too. We will all miss her, but Uncle Ivan will miss her most. They were married for 56 1/2 years.

A little over 6 years ago we had the privelge to arrange a 50th Anniversary celebration for them. We enjoyed making plans and doing the decorating for it. I used some of their wedding pictures to get an album together for the occasion. They really enjoyed themselves, and we really enjoyed doing it for them. Aunt Ann never forgot that small kindness, and mentioned it almost everytime I saw her.
We sure miss her, but look forward to seeing her again.