Jakey at the wedding

He was a little antsy during the wedding. The only thing that kept him occupied were the bubbles that were supposed to be blown AFTER the ceremony.

Our little ring bearer

There he is getting powered up with a Usana drink before his big job.

At first he wouldn't take the pillow, but once he got the idea, he started going like a champ.

There are the proud grandparents and parents of the groom.

Pillowcase apron

Here is an apron I made from a pillowcase, using this tutorial. (Thanks Jen) It was for my new sis-in-law's bridal shower. (more on that later) It took longer than 10 minutes for me to make, but it wasn't too difficult of a project. Nate helped me choose the pillowcase.

Here's Jakey in his gangsta shorts checking out the new apron. He has to wear these ridiculous shorts because 2T shorts don't fit over cloth diaper covers.

Fun times with Bonnie and her kids

We were so lucky to have a visit from Bonnie and Jeremy and their beautiful children a couple of weeks ago. Jakey was already in bed, but he had fun playing with the big kids. They had a lot of fun on our swing.

Madsen bike

Help me win this bike. You can also win a bike by checking out this site, but really I'm being selfish. (I want to win it) But actually, if you think it's cool, link it and let others know about it.

Refuge Quilt night

Here is a picture of Shelley on the sewing machine. I think this was her first time. Pretty good for her first time.

We are now up to 4 working sewing machines, 3 cutting boards, 2.5 ironing boards and 2 irons. We all work well together, but we also talk a lot and have a few laughs.

Here is the faithful core group with one of our most recent quilt tops. I can't believe we have been doing this for a year. It's been great. We've all gotten to be better at sewing, cutting and ironing. 15 down, 19 to go.

Mother's Day 09

Here are all the mothers. It is actually pretty tricky to get a shot where everyone is looking at the camera, including the babies. Jakey looks huge next to his cousin Trevor. We had a great time hanging out together the day before Mother's Day. Jakey was fascinated by Trevor and his tiny little fingers and toes.

Here is Jakey's new cousin Trevor.

My new (old) suede shoes

Here are the estate sale shoes that I was writing about on FB. I love everything about them--the slight lift of the heel, the suede texture, the warm brown color, the fact that they slip on even though they have a strap--and most of all--the fact that I got them for $2 at an estate sale.

Here's another view along with the crocheted rug I made from leftover scraps from our RH quilt sheets. I still need to perfect my technique. One side was a little wonky, but I was too lazy to rip it out and redo it.

After too many months of listening to a drippy faucet, we finally got it replaced. I love our new non-drippy faucet that actually fits our sink, looks beautiful and saves water. What more can you ask?

Job Interview

I just had my first FT ESL job interview today. It was at ELAC, the school where Nate works. It was fairly similar to a PT ESL interview, except that there were more people there, and it was slightly longer. I felt like it went pretty well. There was only one question where I felt completely tongue tied at first, but I think I managed to save it. We'll see what they thought about it. It was interesting to be interviewed by some of the people Nate has been talking about all year. I finally got to meet them in person.

Jakey's shoes

Cleaning the Shoes

Cleaning the shoes, the sneakers, the Payless gray-blue velcros
of my boy, my son, my Jakey.
We were outside in the garden watering plants,
planting seedlings in bigger pots, handling warm, loamy compost
spraying the hose to water garden vegetables
he followed me around, tried to wet his hands, his face,
slipped down the dirt bank on his butt, mud on his cheeks
We sprayed off his hands
I kept him away from spiders and rusty nails under rocks and bricks
water-stained wood planks and pallets
I had to remove his shoes
dirt between the grooves
what a joy to clean out with a toothpick and a rag
my boy’s favorite shoes

nate warner 5-1-09

Home Brew

Nate has long been a connoisseur of fine beer, but this is his first venture into making and bottling his own. He has a few friends who also like to do this sort of thing, and this is his first successful batch of beer. As you can see, he has a little apprentice, who is very interested in following in his father's footsteps. (hopefully not the drinking part for a while)