Small Show

Jason was supposed to put up a show at the skate shop this month, but he isn't quite done with a piece that he really wants to put up, so I offered to buy him some time. My few pieces are going to be up there for about 3 weeks. It is a strange venue for quits, but who cares, right? It's up and people are going to see it. My thoughts are it will make a lot of moms happy to have something to look at other than skateboards when they are in there while their kid gets new grip tape or new wheels. Really, it's a treat to get to put it up anywhere, so here it is. If you are on the east side you should drop into the skate shop and check out the cool graphics on the boards and the quilts on the wall.

Also, on August 10, the Lyndon House is having its Full House show, the opening is that day. Not sure if I will be there or not yet, hoping to figure that out in the next few days, but I have 2 pieces that are going to hang there as well. It is always a fun show. The Full House show is where anyone who is in an association or guild that is connected to the Lyndon House can enter work. There is always a lot of great art to be seen there year round anyhow. They work hard at keeping things interesting over there.

tired of pool pics yet?

Back at the pool again on Sunday. We got super lucky this time and Jason came along for the fun and thankfully, it was hot, but not unbearably hot and boy does my family love that diving board (Austin does too - he's even trying to do flips these days off it).

India just looked incredibly happy in this pic and I couldn't leave it out - not to mention she's just beautiful...
Kalib swimming on Daddy's back!
Singing into the pipe.

Off the diving board for like the 1000 time!He's still got it and he managed to get all the way around before hitting the water.
I'm not sure who likes the diving board the most!
India's big focus for this summer - dive and dive well. She's just about got a really good looking dive off the side of the pool, now she has to learn to do it off the diving board. She keeps lifting her head and hitting her chest and belly when she does it off the board, but she's definitely getting there.

Austin making an attempt at a flip off the board. He makes me so nervous. Not because he can't do it, but because he can't get all the way around yet and every time he hits his back so hard. On Sunday when we left, his back was red from trying and trying again. That kid has serious determination! I love that about him and talk about being proud of himself...

Hubb was in the paper today!

Hubb was on the front page of the paper today about the stream bank restoration. http://onlineathens.com/stories/072908/uganews_2008072900108.shtml There was also an article in the flagpole a few weeks ago, but this is such a great picture of him doing another of the things that inspire him... I cut and pasted the article for you all below.

By Lee Shearer Staff Writer Story updated at 11:31 PM on Monday, July 28, 2008
University of Georgia workers have revealed a little piece of Athens history, restoring a stretch of a small stream that flows from the spring the city's founders built the town around.
The spring itself remains underground, buried beneath a University of Georgia building just off Spring Street, which may have gotten its name from the little spot that still pours out clean, cool water.
But along a stretch of stream beside the street, workers have cleared away a century's worth of debris and ballast to reveal a sliver of rocky outcrop and a miniature wetland where hardy crayfish still live.
Where the landscape once was littered with beer cans, workers have planted more than 1,000 individual specimens of native grasses as well as plants with names like spiraling ladies' tresses, monkey flower and meadow beauty.
The exposed and restored section of the stream, pressed between the street and an asphalt parking lot, flows only a little more than 100 feet. But one day, much more will emerge from under the asphalt, hope UGA officials like Dexter Adams, head of UGA's grounds department.
Years probably will pass before the project reveals the spring and more of the stream, said UGA Campus Architect Danny Sniff.
But one day, Town Spring will take its place beside such other iconic UGA landmarks as the Chapel bell, the Broad Street Arch and the iron fence around UGA's North Campus, Sniff said.
Adams, Sniff and others for years have wanted to restore the area, at least the little stretch of stream that was not covered with asphalt long ago.
Like many downtown streams, little Town Stream mostly is hidden from view now, covered over and pushed through pipes, effectively a part of the Athens storm sewer system that catches runoff from downtown concrete and asphalt.
But when Athens first was built as the home of the University of Georgia more than 200 years ago, the area was a rocky outcrop that may have looked something like Rock and Shoals, a granite outcrop on the edge of Athens that's considered one of the premier natural areas remaining in the state.
The spring was Athens' primary water source for decades after the city was founded, according to a report the Nutter & Associates consulting firm prepared for UGA four years ago, long before the Town Spring restoration project began.
The area once was a campground where visitors to Athens parked their wagons and spread tables laden with mouthwatering food for sale - watermelon, chicken pies, fried chicken, ginger cakes and lemonade, according to Augustus Longstreet Hull's Annals of Athens.
But in the latter part of the 19th century, when Athens had other water sources, the spring and the area around it were lost under asphalt, concrete and business buildings.
UGA planners did not try to map out the entire restoration before they started, said Jennifer Perissi, the landscape designer in UGA's grounds department who has coordinated the restoration.
Instead, Perissi, Adams and others have taken it one step at a time, waiting as the stream revealed itself as workers removed the decades of debris that had accumulated in the area.
"We knew the (railroad) tracks were under the sod, and we wanted to uncover that just to show the cultural and industrial cycle," Perissi said.
But no one expected to see the rocky shoals that emerged beside the little stream as they cleaned the muck away, she said.
On the other side of the stream from the shoals, workers uncovered part of a cobblestone street now overlaid with about six inches of asphalt.
Perissi, Adams and Sniff said they've been surprised by how many people have stopped to ask questions and share stories during the restoration.
Sniff said one story he's heard is that legendary UGA Dean William Tate used to come down to the spring once a year to fill up a cup and drink the clear water.
"It seems to resonate somehow with people," Adams said of the spring restoration.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 072908

Sundays

Sundays are my favorite day of the week. Since I was little girl they have always meant a day with family in one way or another. Now, in my own family we have set this special time aside to be with each other. In the last few months (since Kalib really started skate boarding) Jason has been taking him to the Skate Park of Athens if he wants to go. What that means for me, is I get to spend my morning with India just us girls and Kalib spends the morning with his dad, just the boys. Assuming Kalib goes to the skate park, India and I try to go eat at mama's boy (her favorite place to eat breakfast - she loves the biscuits a true southern girl). I love the uninterrupted time we have together, we get to catch up on everything going on with her and I get to hear all about what she's reading, we talk about animals, books, art projects, ideas... It is such a bonding time for us. Then, when we all get back home home we are all 4 home together on Sundays. Those are truly my favorite times. We don't have to be interacting with one another, I just love when we are all home and I can see any one of them by simply walking to where they are. This is when we get to do family projects or we read together or curl up on the futons and watch movies, or we go see movies. No matter what we are doing, we are together in some capacity. I love my family. I love being with them.

Monkey Seeds

A good friend of mine who only recently returned from India stopped by my house to visit. He told me his tale and exploits of his journey with all the energy and electricity you would expect out of a westerner in a strange land doing strange things eating strange foods and the such. Upon his departure, he with only the best intentions stowed upon a small brown bag of monkey seeds. I was both grateful that he thought so much of me to smuggle such a contraband through customs and god knows what hiding places and also a bit puzzled at why he would go to such great lengths. "Thank you," says me, "Bright blessings on your house this day."

I should not bore you with the planting and germination process that goes into monkey seeds, but it is not complicated as monkeys are not complicated life forms.

Moving on to the now. In this now, I have a life. I say life because they are present in the yard and in the house. They stow away in the cars, in bed themselves in every aspect of our life. I'm sure there is a Buddhist lesson on compassion or impermanence somewhere here, but for the life of me, I cannot see it. All I see are monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys.

They all didn't seed out at the same time. No, there are monkeys of all different sizes and more possibly still in a state of germination. The small ones mostly fell pray to the cats, but cat tummys are only so large and can only hold so many monkeys. The small ones quickly grow to become big ones. If you have never been in the company of monkeys or heard the myth they throw feces. Well, it is true to the fullest. It is true monkeys love nothing more than hurling feces at just about anything moving or stationary. I think there is no evolutionary mechanism going on. It is just good fun to throw feces and not just their feces, but all feces; dogs, cats, and even your feces if you are not quick with flush and disposal. I would make here a reference to monkeys and bad room mates, but I will leave the bad roommate reference to children. Children even though messy have a redeeming quality about them. Monkeys do not. You would not have this many roommates at one time and let us hope not this many children.

Given our families spiritual and moral philosophy we don't kill. We eat meat, but we don't kill. I now realize the hypocritic aspect of this philosophy, but none the less, we don't kill, except scorpions and mosquito's.

So with natural selection and time and patience our only tools, we persevere alongside the monkeys. I guess there is the Buddhist lesson, patience....

HUBB

some of the new photos

I got some of the pics last night. Chad came over to skate. I have to say. He really did do a jam up job. I am beyond happy with these and this is just a few of the many great pics. We still have another day in the studio of finishing up the other quilts, but I just couldn't wait to show you guys what a fantastic job he did.

This one is called "I'm ready" It's obviously a new mama looking up ready to birth her new babe. There are 2 flowers behind her and 3 flowers ahead of her as her family goes from 2 to 3. The butterflies are representative of the metamorphosis of motherhood. Again there are 2 butterflies behind her as she faces 3 butterflies. As she changes and life becomes something new.
A detail shot that really gets what I like most about this quilt which is the quilting and the energies of the great sun merging and crossing into the energies of the mama.
This one is "Lord I Love to Dance." Named appropriately after the Langhorne Slim song. She is sassy and magical dancing among the flowers and glitter. And who doesn't like to dance in glitter?
This is a shot of the flowers. I sewed silk flowers down, and quilted over them in varying shades of thread to give them more texture and then added beads to some to give it even more texture.
This piece is me branching into new ideas and techniques. You can see the wavy background, all the stripes on the dress are individually pieced and quilted. The texture in the moon is quilting.
My favorite piece so far that I have made. "Sophia" Goddess of Wisdom. I made the angel twice. The first time it just wasn't right, so I made it again.

Here you can see the quilting of her hair and my favorite thing about this quilt is her face. Her skin is made of spider webs because she is the web weaver, the weaver of life... Here her mask is a spider web and just where her eye should be there's no web.

Here you see her belly with the colors of rainbow surrounded by clouds - infinite possibilities...

Lastly, the wings... Each feather is a separate fabric, and one of the most fun things about quilting is the never ending quest for just the right fabric. I love to make fabrics work. My favorite one in the wings is the green bumble bee fabric. Can you find the bumble bees? There are also lemons in there too somewhere...

Again, thank you so much Chad for doing such a great job.

photo shoot

I'm really excited that I am getting the very first professional shots of my quilts ever. It feels like a really big deal to me. A next step in the process of getting my work out in the bigger world. I have a dear friend who has written a book and has ask to use my ladies in it, so they will be published there for the world to see, and I intend to send some of the pics off to the we'moon calendar for 2010. You'll have to wish me luck, and hopefully, they will get in. This is a photo of our friend Chad doing his thing. It was a lot of fun for me to watch him make it all happen and as he got more familiar with the quilts and what to look for, the pics just got better. I'm not going to lie, it was also exciting to see the lights and the big camera so close to my work. Makes me feel like I'm doing something. Definately makes me want to produce more work. Thanks Chad for doing this for me. Hopefully, I will have the new pics up on our website, but in the meantime you can still look at my less than professional pics there. It's www.laughingstararts.com

Clan mothers

Well, it is official... We got together for the first time last night. There were 10 of us around a sacred fire sharing and relating our lives to the lessons given in the July story. So beautiful. So sacred. We gathered at Madrona's and shared our intentions for the coming year and the night and then we shared how the story touched our hearts and then we opened the floor for dialogue about integrating the message of the story into our lives. We all have work to do to practice unconditional love, but the journey there is so much sweeter when shared with sisters. We howled at the moon sending our prayers of hope and love and belief in the power of our commitment to our walks out into the universe. I am reminded that my community is strong and vital and there is much wisdom all around me. We don't have to always look to ourselves for our strength, we can lean on our community. The women here are rich in love and wisdom and what a great joy to celebrate the turning of the seasons with them and deepen my own walk with wise words and lessons. I feel the tides turning and know that as we all journey deeper into ourselves the earth is renewed and refreshed and that all things are possible through love. The medicine we receive through love is unimaginable. How lucky to be part of a community where it just oozes out of everyone. Thank you wise women of Athens.

My mantra for this month is the prayer we howled to the moon... I love all things, I love myself, and I cut myself from the strings of judgement.

Happy Birthday Hubb

Yesterday was Jason's birthday. I have some pictures from the family party, but I like this one the best because it embodies what this birthday and year has been all about. I met Jason when I was 16 he was 17. Holy cow! Over 1/2 my life I've known this man and the one thing that I love the most about him is NOTHING holds him back - it may take him time to figure something out, but he passionate and expressive and he is who he is and no one can change that... I remember his 18th birthday (probably more than he does), I remember being so jealous that he could go to clubs and I still had another year to wait, and I also remember worrying that he would get bored with me because I couldn't go out to the places he could go. Funny thing, he didn't get bored with me - here we are 16 birthdays later (he's 34) and we are still having a great time together. The best part of all is that I love him more everyday. When I see him on his ramp, I feel like he has arrived, that we have arrived. All the things we have worked for in our lives is paying off and he can experience his taste of freedom everyday of his life now if he wants. We were riding in the car the other day, I realized what it is about skating that I just had not gotten. When he is skating his mind isn't on anything at all except staying on his board. He's not thinking about what tomorrow holds or his responsibilities in life, he's simply looking to where he is going to roll next. That is how we should all be perceiving life. We should just be trying to stay on our boards and only being focused on where we are rolling next. Even things that seem like they are just awful eventually can bring us joy. Each step is just another part of the greater path. I'm thankful to understand this about his skate boarding it is how I feel when I'm quilting and the world is just shut out for a short time.

Jason is an amazing father, husband, and friend. I count my blessings everyday for having him in my life. He is my greatest teacher and mentor. He keeps my cup full and forces me in his own unique way to be the best I can be. He believes in me and I believe in him and I know together we CAN do anything. He inspires me to be the change I want to see in this world and to be my best at everything I do. He isn't perfect, but even his imperfections are lessons for me. Someone once ask me if there was anything about him I would ever want to change, and I don't really think there is. All the little things that annoy me, like him leaving socks or shirts all over the house, are all part of who he is and that is something I never want him to change, though I wouldn't mind if he started picking them up and putting them in the dirty clothes, but I want him to do it because he wants to, not because I'm nagging him. I want him to be true to himself before anything else. Really, that is what I want for everyone. He makes me laugh and I'm never bored when he is around. That is all I can ask for and that he love me back, and I know he does with every ounce of who he is.

Happy Birthday Hubb. You complete me and I love you! I can't wait to share many more birthdays and experiences with you. You make my heart feel full and blessed. That day so many years ago when we first met, was the greatest day of my life because it has led me to this moment of sharing my life with you and the beautiful beings we created through our love and our love shines through them as well.

July Trail Keepers

This month was awesome! The trail had almost no trash on it. It looked like it had been freshly mowed which meant that the trash had also been picked up when we got there. The weather has been muggy and hot, so we were sort of anticipating lots of mosquito's and sweat, but what we found were the ideal conditions for MUSHROOMS (and very few mosquito's and the trail is so shady it wasn't terribly hot). These were the first ones we saw. The kids are always more interested in running on ahead and picking up the trash, so they missed these, but they certainly got our attention and from then on my mind was on finding more! I love mushrooms. They make me think of fairies and pixies and the magical world. I wonder who lives under these?
Here is Sarah C the mushroom master explaining all about how to tell which ones are poisonous and which aren't, but I think it is probably wise to just not eat mushrooms in the wild unless you know for absolutely sure what kind they are. A lot of mushrooms look like other mushrooms and you can be easily tricked if you don't know exactly what you are looking for. It doesn't make them any less intriguing though.
Don't kid yourself, but my dear friend Sarah C is a unicorn at heart... I couldn't not put this one in for everyone to see.
Some of the kids pushing Lyle. I always wonder what they are talking about.
Here are the adults checking out some mushrooms Sarah had picked up. They were examining how easily these mushrooms bruised and all the parts of them. It's almost too bad the kids missed out on this, but when they are interested in mushrooms they will learn about them.Here are the mushrooms she was holding. They turned blue where ever you touched them. You could watch it happen. It was really cool to watch the transformation happen.

These last two are my favorite pics from the night. I just love the world of mushrooms. You can stomp on them and you can spray them, but they are always there under the soil awaiting the right conditions to coming out and creating a world unto themselves. We take mushrooms for granted, we think they are awful because they are poisonous and they destroy yards, but they are doing what they are supposed to do. They are such a part of the decomposition process which is what provides nutrients to the plants we eat and the energy they put off into the air for us to breathe. The process of things breaking down would be slower were it not for mushrooms. Instead of stomping them and being afraid of them, we should celebrate and imagine what all is going on under there that we don't know about yet or that we can't see. Isn't it just fascinating to think that there are 1000's of other mushrooms simply waiting for the right conditions to come out and that this is only one of the many possibilities for the spot it emerged from?

Once again, I am humbled by the beauty and creativity of our magnificent planet and I am thankful for being aware enough to look down and notice these little treasures! Go out and see if you see any mushrooms and what might be lurking under them and tell me if you see any fairies!

To see the rest of the pics from the night you can go to our web album here. There are more of the kids (all of them, I think).http://picasaweb.google.com/quiltingearth/71608TrailKeepers

slides and things

We have been swimming a lot this summer, thankfully. What that means for me is chilling by the pool either with a good friend or a good book (which I also consider to be a good friend at times). Here we are at Sarah Cooks Aunt Mariannes where there is the super fun water slide. We went both Tuesday and Wednesday. Hazel, Stella, Lyle, and Jennifer were able to be there on Tuesday. Wednesday it was just us and the Cooks and Daisy. It is very hard for me to decide which pictures to put up, but as I told Jason last night at least their lives will be well documented. I prefer pictures to video any day. Almost every picture I have taken I can tell you where we were and what we were doing and how I felt when I took that picture. I think that is what I like most about them is they bring back that very feeling. Anyhow, here are some more pics of our swimming - as if you haven't seen enough already, right?

Yes, his middle name is Danger

Hazel and India - I can't help but wonder what they are talking about and goggle faces are my favorites!
The slide is fast and fun. I guess Elijah's going to high five Kalib or something!

AH! It's a yellow inflatable Elijah monster!

Not another picture! I have to say I really love the look on India's face!

Check out that huge smile! Water slides are so fun!

Get ready, set... (everyone but Kalib)

GO!

Now, just the girls and a tired Kalib on the slide!

Hubb Cap City

The ramps got a name! It's official on Georgia Skater.com! Woohoo!!!! Here's the link to the pics... Hubbcap cityhttp://www.georgiaskater.com/pix/thumbnails.php?album=186 and here's a video made by Patio on Thursday of last week.

going to the lake - again

We were lucky enough to spend the day at the lake yesterday. The kids spent the whole day jumping in off the dock, climbing on rafts, swimming, playing mermaids, building clam shell stores and rooms, eating good food, and just having an all around great time!

Here are the kids and Hazel climbing on the raft (obviously). This raft is pretty cool because it can be tied to the doc and they can go way out in it and if it drifts off it's not a big deal because it can be tied to the dock. There is a pretty decent current at Lake Oconee and most anything that floats will float away if you don't keep an eye on it.

Here is Luke and Kalib searching the shallow waters for clam shells.

One of my favorite things about Lake pictures is that all you really get are heads. The girls are working hard at swimming and talking. Girls, always talking... It is definitely genetic.

I love this picture because India is out of the water examining a clam shell so closely and I love her hair! She just looks like a mermaid and her skin is wet even though she is above the water and it was freakin' hot outside. Swimming makes their hair look so funny and the best thing is how oblivious they are to it. They don't think about it how they look, they just swim and have fun. Kids are so cool. There is a lot we adults could stand to learn from them. I wonder what she discovered in that clam shell.

swimming again

Diving boards are just the coolest. Here's India getting ready to jump off. I love this picture because her feet are just off the board enough that you really have to look to see she is actually in the air. This picture would just be too perfect if her feet were just over Kalib's head. It would look like she was squashing his head.

I almost don't know what to say about this one, but he was having a blast!

Austin. Today is his is birthday and he not only went off the diving board for the first time this year today, but he got brave enough to do it without a noodle! You rock, Austin! Happy Birthday!

Duck Duck Goose at a non-run fast walk when there is thunder... This game didn't last long because who can play duck duck goose without running? And the thunder rule? I understand the reasons the rule is there, but is it over used? Maybe? Maybe not? Guess that's why I am NOT a life guard.

Thoughts...

I don't know what the laws state on me typing out someone else's words, but these really spoke to me last night as I was reading from Eckart Tolle's a New Earth, so I wanted to share with those of you who read my blog.

The world will tell you that success is achieving what you set out to do. It will tell you that success is winning, that finding recognition and/or prosperity are essential ingredients in any success. All or some of the above are usually by products of success, but they are not success. The conventional notion of success is concerned with the outcome of what you do. Some say that success is the result of a combination of hard work and luck, or determination and talent, or being in the right place at the right time. While any of these may be determinants of success, they are not its essence. What the world doesn't tell you - because it doesn't know - is that you cannot become successful. You can only be successful. Don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment. And what is that? There is a sense of quality in what you do, even the most simple action. Quality implies care and attention, which come with awareness. Quality requires you Presence.

I love this because yesterday was NOT a stellar day, but this shifted how I was thinking about my day and how I've been seeing my life this week. I'm needing my home to be a little more tidy than it has been being, the dogs have been bringing in mud on their feet and Stella won't stay pinned up in the back, I didn't want to make dinner, but we can't afford to eat out this week, I had to do my paperwork which constantly reminds me of the person at my office I don't like and how she affects my attitude towards my work, and most of all I wanted to work on my quilt, but there just wasn't time even though the kids had gone to church with my mom. I felt frustrated and crabby. I realized how often I let myself slip into not getting my way mode and how I think to myself if we had more money I could do this, or if we weren't so broke, I wouldn't have to cook or I could hire someone to clean my house (how cool would that be?). I get hung up on wishing we were more, but the reality is we have great lives and we don't go hungry and when we are present in what we are doing and we see it for what it is how liberating that is. We are all successful if we believe we are successful in everything we do, both the good and fun stuff and the un-fun stuff like cleaning and cooking (I need to find a way to see that as fun stuff - I could make it into a game). I have a home to clean, there are plenty of people out there who do not own their own home and I have pets to love and take care of that only want the same from me, I have locally raised food to consume if I have more I have more to take care of. If I put quality into these things they suddenly have so much more meaning. To me success is really not measured by dollar signs or rewards it is the fruits of my labor, so I guess in that I have re-realized this I'm back on track and feeling my own personal success... my own presence with all that is and somewhere along the way in the next few days I will squeeze in some time to work on that quilt and I'll really appreciate it when I get there, but in the meantime, I'm going to appreciate what I have to do and that WILL provide me with the space and inspiration to be creative and to have creative time. The ultimate in success.

Once again, touched by this mans wise words.

Happy Birthday Tracey

Last night was Jason's older sisters birthday. I won't tell how old she is. You know, there are people in this world that are just inherently good and Tracey is one of those people. There is no doubt it rubbed off on Jason. I have considered myself fortunate to have Tracey as my sister in law. I love to watch her mother and her ability to almost always say yes to her children when she can. She puts everyone ahead of herself and her sister in law is always trying to remind her it is also important to take care of herself in there. I admire that in her because I am not like that all the time. Tracey is one of those rare people you can count whenever you need her and she very seldom meets you without a beautiful smile on her face. Sometimes, I feel sad that we aren't more connected with her like we used to be. Children change things and as we get older what free time we have we just want to spend at home in quiet bliss. Both our children and hers are involved in so many activities that it is hard and then when you throw in work and our own adult activities there just isn't much time left. I know there will come a day when we are freer to be more connected like we once were and I know our relationship will have evolved into even more as our respect for one another grows as we age. Tracey, I feel really lucky you are my sister in law and even though we don't see as much of each other as we would both like, I'm glad you are a big part of my family. Happy Birthday! We love you!

stichin'

My other baby... My sewing machine... Where I go to clear my mind and tap into my personal creative space... Thankfully, I have 2 wonderful friends who are fellow quilters that I get to enjoy simply talking fabric and thread a quilting styles and share in ideas and revel in those ideas with. Unfortunately, I don't get to do it often enough. Yesterday, I went to my good friend Terri's to do some stichin' and bitchin'. I must say, I am always so productive with Terri and Deb and it is a joy to spend time with them and just work on quilts. We share ideas, techniques, fabrics (Terri even let me take a couple of snips off some her fabrics as I was a little disorganized). I love to see what they are working on. We are all such different quilters and our styles are light years apart, but I gain so much from what they do and create that it just feeds my own creations.

This is what I am working on. It's a long time coming. I've been trying to work on this for over a year and it is finally happening (it's a barter/commission). So far, I'm pretty happy with how it is going.

Terri... quilter extraordinaire... Her piecing just blows my mind... and her dedication... she's my hero! I'm super glad we are friends and that she will share what she knows with me - I couldn't have made it this far without her.

Here's Deb working on her little piece - the squares were so small - people often say things to me about my small pieces, but they don't have to match in the corners. Another quilter extraordinaire and wonderful woman full of quilting wisdom. I learned how to do wavy borders thanks to this lady! A big step in my quilting (at least for me)!

Thanks ladies for a great day of quilting and chatting!

A 3rd Layer

On Friday, it rained and it rained and it poured all before Hubb could get the ramp painted, so the wood buckled and got bumpy - not good for skating... after some serious deliberation as to what to do, we decided to go ahead and sink the money into the third layer which is supposed to be the bomb - he also got a very large tarp to help protect it from the rain. It is the biggest one I have even seen. It would have to be big to cover this ramp...

So here I am, being the supportive wife, no one was here when Jason started laying the 3rd layer except me and Kalib, so I got out there to help (let it be known I love physical labor when I don't HAVE to do it!) It was fun, but when the guys showed up I made dinner... (chicken legs, squash, potatoes, and collards - yum yum) and got out of the way and just watched the action. India went to the grandparents for the night.

Here we have our little man still working on getting all the way up on the other side and then back down. I have a feeling he will have it within the week. He is super determined!

Here's my happy Hubb. All he likes now really having the ramp finished is priming it and painting it. Have I mentioned how cute he looks skating? I LOVE IT!!! He's still punk rock after all these years.

This is Alfredo. Now he can skate. He was the 2nd person to get here and I would say they started skating around 6 and he didn't stop even to rest until 9. He is fun to watch and his stamina is just amazing.

Another pick of Alfredo. Kalib took this shot. He gets lessons from Chad. Before long he's going to be taking better picks than me and skating better than Hubb.

Chad... He's usually the guy with the camera taking shots, so here he is sweaty and skating it up! Most of the folks Hubb skates with will never read this, but I appreciate all the help they have given in the last few days to finish things up. I know they all benefit from helping in the long run, but it is much appreciated! We have a finished 1/2 pipe in our yard and it IS super cool!

Kalib drops in

I know I haven't posted in days, and now I've posted 3 blogs in one day. There's just so much excitement going on this weekend!

Kalib was eager to get home today to try out the ramp. As soon as he got home, he headed straight out there. He got his board and his helmet and put on his skate shoes and was ready to drop in. He rolled around in the bottom for a minute and he was ready to go. Here is a picture of him setting himself up to drop in. It's pretty scary. I tried rolling around on it, but I'm afraid of falling, so before you scoff at him for falling as he goes down, you should come and try it yourself it's pretty hard to stay balanced while you are moving so fast. His lack of fear in skate boarding impresses me as well as his focus. He was built to skate. There's no doubt in my mind he will be showing Jason up in no time.

Here's the quick video I took of him it's his first 2 times of dropping in on this ramp. Wish I had a video of his first time ever.

the ramp is finished!

Just in time for the fourth of July and Hubbs birthday... A childhood dream come true. It was awesome to see him drop in for the first time on his very own 1/2 pipe. Jason deserves all the great things that have happened for him this year. Last year was my year, and this is Jason's... So, here are some pics from last night...He had some of the guys he skates with come over to help him finish it up.

popping the last line - so close...

Jason wasn't the first to drop in, Wesley wezeled his way in, but it doesn't matter because Hubb's got a ramp in his back yard and can drop in anytime!

The line up. I've never been to a private ramp session, so I was pretty amazed at how quickly they take off after someone has their turn.

Here's a quick video of Jason. I'll have one of Kalib before long. I also think there will be more exciting pics because Chad took way more than me, I'll just have to get them from him.

Harry and the Potters

On Wednesday we went to the 40Watt to see Harry and the Potters, Uncle Monster Face, and Math the Band. Not necessarily kids music, but as the singer from Math the Band says Music Kids can listen to. It was a blast! The kids dressed up like characters from Harry Potter. Grace was Harriet Potter. I expected there to be just tons of kids there since it was Harry and the Potters, but we were pretty much it. There were a few more kids, but not many. The kids had so much fun. India told me it was more fun than her birthday, so that must be pretty fun! We enjoyed Uncle Monster Face the best, then Math the band. You can check them out on their myspace and math the band .

Here the kids are playing along with the song Dinosaur vs Dragon. This was too fun! Giant balloon figures battling girls vs boys!

Here are the kids watching and dancing. I tried to take a video of them, but it was too dark. Talk about worn out. We were all super tired when we got home, but we can't wait to see them again!