Videos of Isaac

I am so fortunate to be able to watch Isaac on occasion. He makes me smile.

Of course, he just loves me to death which makes it even more enjoyable.

Isaac also is very intrigued with Yogi. He likes to chase Yogi around the house.

Yogi is very intrigued with Isaac. He licks him furiously but always manages to keep a few steps ahead of him when the chase is on.

I couldn't resist taking a couple of small videos of Isaac.

The first one is Isaac chasing Yogi. He has a hold of Yogi's leash and he knows that we clip it to Yogi's harness and take him for a walk.

Isaac moves by army crawling. I have never seen a child army crawl as fast as Isaac. This video shows him army crawling in warp speed to catch Yogi and put that leash on him.

Click here to watch.

He also likes to climb the stairs at Grammy's house.

It might be a little dangerous to have him learn on tile stairs but there are only three of them and I stay close by.

Take a peek here.

Isaac's First Birthday

Tuesday was Isaac's first birthday.

It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since he was born.

Kalie invited us to a special birthday party just for Isaac.

She had a grilled cheese bar, strawberry banana smoothies and cups full of mandarin oranges and strawberries.

We put whatever toppings we wanted on our buttered wheat bread and then popped it into the panini press.

The sandwiches were amazing!


Kalie made cupcakes for Isaac. They were adorable. She decorated them with the number "1" and birthday hats made out of piped chocolate.

Don't you love the lime green frosting?


We ate outside in Kevin and Kalie's back yard. The weather was perfect.


Alyssa and Isaac.


Isaac is getting so mobile. He is standing up to whatever he can.


After dinner, Isaac opened presents.

This one is from....ahem...grandpa and grandma.


Boy! Once that paper was ripped off the top of the gift Isaac immediately reached inside to play with the top of the present.


It's a riding train!


Daddy helped Isaac figure out how it works.


I think he likes it!


Mom and dad got Isaac lots of fun presents including a wooden puzzle.


After gifts we went inside to eat cupcakes. A lot of my pictures turned out super dark so I'm not posting them but I do have this picture of Isaac devouring his cupcake.

Yeah. He knows which side his bread is buttered on.


I got a short video of Isaac eating not one, but two, cupcakes.

Click here to watch. Oh and please don't mind my creative videotaping. I thought it might work to turn the camera so we could get a better view. Um, it didn't turn out too well.

Sorry.

Happy birthday, Isaac! We love you!

Shower Power

So. I decided that it would be a good idea to change out the tap and shower head in the kid's bathroom.

The tap has been changed once but it never fit right. It was always wiggly and I started to get worried that water was getting inside the walls.

I bought a tap and shower head set and then called the plumber.

He came, looked at the tub and informed me that with this tap, we would need to change the pressure regulator inside the walls. I gave him the go ahead. After all, there are few things more annoying than the water going super hot when the toilet gets flushed, or super cold if someone turns on hot water elsewhere in the house.

It took him half a day to change the regulator and this is what I was left with:


The plumber did put the tap back on so the kids could have a bath.

Yes, they bathed for a really long time.

We called Boyd's brother who used to tile for a living and asked him to look at our tub surround and see if it was something he would like to do.

He came and gave us a list of supplies to purchase and then we waited for him to come and do the work.

First of all he cut the sheetrock around the existing tile and took out large pieces of wall.


Then he put up some hardy backer to adhere the tile against.


And lastly, he put up the tile.

We picked out travertine stone with 1 inch travertine squares around the edges of the tile and as an accent in the middle.

I love the way it turned out. It is so lovely and looks so warm and inviting
.

The best part of all is that the kids have their own shower again.

No more showering in our bathroom.

Hip, hip, hooray!

Barrett Annual Quilt Retreat

This summer my sister, Mary, hosted the 8th annual quilting retreat.

Everyone who comes looks forward to it for months.

This year was no different. I could hardly wait to be there and be with my family and sew all day.

This year we all worked on a quilt called Mumbo Gumbo.

Basically, every block begins with the same center...a yellow and black triangle sewn together to make a square.

Each of us were told to bring our own strips of varying sizes to sew onto the beginning square of yellow and black.

We each had to sew four blocks.

Here am I industriously ironing my blocks.


My siter, Rose, taking a picture break.


Another sister, Heather, is working diligently on her blocks.


My mom is trimming her block so the edges are even.


This is a close up of a finished block.


This is closeup of another finished block...done wrong. Can you see the difference between the two blocks?


I must explain. You are supposed to do two strips of the same fabric sewn on two sides of the yellow and black square. And continue until you have an 11" block.

Guess who did all of hers wrong.

Yep.

Me.

I was so careful in making sure that my strips all sort of worked together and then discovered to my dismay that all my blocks were WRONG.

However, at the end of the retreat my sister, Mary, held a drawing.

The lucky recipient would receive all 48 blocks as a prize.

She would be able to sew them up and have a quilt to remember 2011's retreat by.

Guess who won the blocks.

Yep.

Me.

Basically, it was the best part of the day.

Here is a sample of what some of them looked like:


I have taken them home, trimmed them all up and repaired all of my stupid mistakes.

Now all I need to do is sew them up.

Can't wait.