ValerieDykstra.com

a wee safari adventure

One of the highlights of our visit in Arkansas was a trip to the Wilderness Safari. Here are some pictures from there. My favorite is the one with Roman covering his eyes. He wasn't comfortable with all the animals traipsing around the car so he covered his eyes. Surely if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him!

Conversely, Avery couldn't get close enough and is standing in the window not wanting to miss a thing. Those two are like night and day.

A funny memory of the day was Roman seeing the gazelle or ibex (or whatever it was) and exclaiming, "What is that freakin' horned animal?"

 

Thursday Thirteen

Greetings from Alberta.

1. I am home again, having had a wonderful trip to Arkansas to see the southern family. Deborah went with me, her first trip to Arkansas since she was four. Her highlight was spending lots of time with her biggest sister Stephanie.

2. I saw my precious grandchildren. I didn't just "see" them, I babysat them while Stephanie and John Mark took a little vacation to Cancun. (Sucks to be them, eh?) Babysitting Roman and Avery was amazing. I got really familiar with and fell more deeply in love with them. It was truly awesome.

(Memaw, Deborah and me, 2000)

3. There were a couple of unexpected turns during my trip that left me feeling extraordinarily blessed. My grandmother, the last of my grandparents, got very ill and the family was "called in" thinking she was dying. Because of this, I got to see extended family I haven't seen in 20-25 years. Specifically, I was very happy to see my cousins Paula, Vicki and Lisa. It had been so long. Without Memaw's illness, I wouldn't have seen them. Seeing them was a definite highlight of the trip.

4. My Uncle Corkey, on the other side of the family, passed away. It was very sad to see my cousins suffering, but I was so very glad that I got to see them. I haven't seen them in 20-25 years either. Seeing these cousins was another highlight.

5. It was great getting to be with my dad at his brother's funeral. All Daddy's kids were there and that was very very special for him.

6. My grandmother is still in the dying process. Her family is with her right now, probably singing and reading the Bible to her as I type this. That's what they've been doing over the past couple of days. They've expected her to die for several days now. All her remaining kids are with her and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren. I can't be there, but I'm so very very thankful I got my goodbyes in last week when I saw her. As I was leaving her bedside last week I told her I was going back to Canada and she responded with "When will you be back?" Then we exchanged I love yous. I'm so so thankful.

(Memaw last year when I was down there, 2009)

7. To be honest, I assumed my last three trips to Arkansas were my last time to see Memaw. But this time, I'm relatively sure was indeed the final one. She is 94. Thankfully she's been lucid up to now.

8. Deborah, who hasn't seen Memaw since she was four, got to sit by her bedside too. A couple times Deborah was briefly all alone with Memaw. When I walked in Deborah was stroking Memaw's arm. I was touched by her tenderness and sweetness. I was also touched by Memaw's gentleness. I'm sure she didn't know Deborah from Adam, but she smiled lovingly as if to tell Deborah she was special.

9. My book, which was dedicated to my dad, was a big hit with him. I just realized I've not posted since holding the first copy of my book, don't count the cows. It's a lovely little book, I must say. Chock full of mistakes though, typographical, grammatical, layout, etc. 66 mistakes. Yep, I counted 'em. And that's just the ones I caught. Very very hard on my anal retentive tendencies.

10. School's back in session and this mama is very very happy about that.

11. My work is going well. My friend Shelly pointed out that I never mention my job. That's because I want to keep it. Have you read about the people who've lost jobs because of saying things on the web? I don't want to be in that number. However, I love my job and am thankful to have it.

12. The sky was spitting white stuff today. What's up with that? It's September.

13. Rachael's boyfriend was over last night. He went into her bedroom. I jumped up and went in there and said, "Excuse me Rachael, is there a boy in your bedroom?" They both turned toward me as Rachael said, "He's just looking at my cds." I said, "So it's true, there is a boy in your bedroom? I thought we had some sort of house rule about this." While she and I talked around Scott, he left her room. I felt powerful and smooth.

bragging is what beppies do

Roman has grown since I saw him. It kind of hurts to look at pictures of the babies. Isn't he losing his baby look and getting all-big-boy-looking?

And here is his art work. I think his fine motor skills are really good for a two-year-old.

He loves his little toys and carries something like this horse and cowboy around most of the time. Christopher did some of this so this is sweet to me not only because it's Romie Boy, but also cause it takes me back to Christopher's young life. He was sweet, just like Roman.

 
And here's the little Avery Claire. Doesn't this picture scream, squeeze me?

And this last picture is of me. Just throwing that out for comparison. . . .

Avery and Roman pics

Roman's first time to play in the snow. Yes, snow in Arkansas.

And this little skinny-minnie is Avery. Don'tcha just love the gummy grin?

 

And here's one for Roman's wedding....

I miss these babies.

Lil' Miss Avery Claire

Howdy Ya'll.

I've been gone. Did you notice? I got home Monday morning after a glorious little holiday to Arkansas -- where I met my first granddaughter Avery. Needless to say, she stole my heart with her sweetness. She kind of liked me too.

In grandmotherly fashion, I have a few pictures to share.

I'm the first to admit this little picture isn't the hottest, but it captures Avery on the rag quilt I made her. Truthfully, she didn't seem too awed by the quilt, but maybe one has to be older than 6 or 9 weeks to fully appreciate it. You reckon?

 

Avery was considerate to reserve her first smiles for Beppie. She knew I came a long way to see her and she wanted to say thank you in her own special way. Her first smile was for Beppie. I love her considerate nature. 

Stephanie and John Mark had their 4th Annual Laney Harvest Party a few weeks ago. Avery was the resident Princess, all dolled-up and adorablish.

  
As in the above smiling picture, Avery is smiling for Beppie here too. Isn't she precious?

Here is a 5 Generation picture that we made at Memaw's house. Aren't we blessed to still have a Memaw and a Mimi?

Meeting Avery was the biggest highlight of the trip, but truthfully there were numerous highlights. Stay tuned and you'll be privy to a few more.

Little Miss Avery's Rag Quilt

 

A rag quilt is a super forgiving quilt to make. If you want to try quilting, this is a great type to begin with. Precision is optional {smiles} and that's a whole lot of freedom that most quilts don't allow.

Cut 35 seven-inch squares of adorablish fabrics. I used flannel.

Cut 35 seven-inch squares for the filling. I used flannel.

Cut 35 seven-inch squares for the backing. Guess what?, I used flannel.

Cutting the squares is the most laborious part of this quilt. Once the squares are cut, it moves very quickly.

Put a top, middle and bottom layer together, like a sandwich. Stitch an X over them. Do that 35 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrange the squares to make a design/pattern/statement you like.

Shoo the dogs off over and over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you've found a statement you like, sew the squares together in rows with the seam side up. Sew the rows together.

Then add your border, if you want one. Many rag quilts don't have borders and look beautiful.

I forgot to capture a picture of snipping the seams. Once you've got your quilt sewn together, have fun snipping seams for a couple hours. By "snipping seams" I mean cutting little lines in the excess beyond the seam. Do not literally snip any seams.

After snipping seams, throw the quilt in the washing machine and wash it, maybe even two or three times.

Presto! When you take it out of the dryer, your snipped seams will be ragged looking (hence, the name, rag quilt).

Doesn't this look fitting for precious little Avery?

 

 

 

Here's a view of the backing.

 

 

 

And a little closer up...

(My camera is on the edge of dying and my pics aren't as clear as I'd like.)

This was fun to make, and seriously, anyone could do it and have a lovely little quilt in the end.

My regret on this quilt is making it three layers instead of two. Three layers would be fitting if she lived in my neck of the woods. Two layers would suit her environment better. Avery's quilt is a little heavier than I anticipated.

 

 

This is my little love quilt to Avery who I meet in less than 48 hours. I can't wait to snuggle with her, feel her warm thick body, and teach her to say "Beppie". She's almost a month old, ya know,  and quite bright.

I crave holding her like you wouldn't believe.

Who in their right mind wouldn't crave holding this little bundle of preciousness?

Avery

And this is Avery, again. Isn't she so lovely? Three more days and I get to hear her grunty yawn. . .

:-)

Avery

I know you're super curious what Avery looks like today. Well, it just so happens that I have a few pictures. I can almost feel her, hear her and smell her sweetness. Especially when she yawns; I can hear that yawny grunt. Can you hear it?

Thanks for oowing and awwhing with me. She's beautiful, isn't she?

Sweet Sweet

A couple more photos of some sweeties.

Thursday Thirteen re Avery and Roman

  1. I have a new grand-daughter and can hardly wait to meet her. Avery Claire was born on September 1 and weighed 8.4. She is beautiful and perfectly charming -- all babies related to me are.

2. I will be with Avery and Romie Boy all of October. Isn't that so so special? I can't wait to play I Spy, have a picnic, bake cookies and go for walks with Roman. We will have so much good bonding time, because that's what Beppies do.

3. I can't wait to hold Avery and sit with her in the porch swing. She'll be one month old and plenty old enough to think I'm the softest Beppie going.

4. Roman was traumatized (in Beppie's sense of the word) in a church nursery recently. Not his church's nursery, but another one. Now he's afraid of his old fun, familiar nursery.

5. I'd like to visit the nursery-worker that traumatized him and give her a piece of my mind. Because I'm mature and grandmotherly, I'd weigh my words really carefully. I'd say something like, "I'm Roman's Beppie," and then I'd kick her really hard in the shin.  

6. But I won't be visiting her. And she can keep the shin guards at home.

7. Every day I'm getting closer to finishing Roman's I-Spy-With-My-Little-Eye quilt. I have to say it's not very pretty, but I'm hoping it'll be very fun.

8. Hannah's bedroom is right next door to my sewing room. We meet in the sewing room nearly every night to play like we're playing with Roman.

I spy with my little eye a donkey dressed up all snazzy-like.

I spy with my little eye a monkey with an umbrella.

I spy with my little eye a puppy.

If everything goes according to plan, this quilt will be Roman's forever-attachment to Beppie and give him hours and hours of fun. Lordy, I hope. I'll be sorely disappointed if he's not interested in I Spy with my Little Eye.

9. But I would never kick him in the shins.

10. It's been a long time since I saw Roman. The last time we saw Roman he was in the "whazat?" stage. He's long past that, but in our minds he's still there. In my and Hannah's evening I Spy game, we always point at something and whisper, "whazat?".

11. Roman is very loved.

12. He talks in his sleep. Isn't that cute?

13.  He loves Madagascar, the movie. He laughs in all the right spots. They went to the zoo on Sunday and instead of calling the zebra a zebra, he called him Marty.

I know I'm going past 13, but it's Roman...

14. Often when I'm talking to Stephanie on the phone, I'll hear John Mark and Roman playing and laughing in the background. I love John Mark for that. I really really love him for that.

15. Today at the hospital a nurse took Avery away to take her blood. Roman cried and said, "No no!" to her.

16. The first time he saw Avery he touched and patted her and rubbed his chubby little fingers on her head and said, "tickle tickle."

17. That sweetness is almost too much for this Beppie to contain in her heart. It makes my eyes leak.