5 little eggs laying in a nest...

Today we didn't see any new eggs so it looks like June the Barn Swallow is done laying eggs. She and Johnny have been busy building another nest above the front door (near the hanging plant where the eggs are). It's kinda neat to watch but we're not so thrilled about the bird poop even though it is neatly falling in one spot! I am however thankful that they like to eat all the flying bugs at night! I guess it's a good trade although I am not sure if my dear husband is going to let them nest there after this batch...

Johnny and June

Our Swallows are named... Johnny and June!

The kids and I are having fun counting each day the number of eggs ... Sunday there were three eggs in the nest....

Then on Monday there were four eggs in the nest!

Now we have 5 eggs in the nest. We wonder how many more June is going to lay before she is done!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day 2009
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

The following is part of an article written in our post newspaper... I couldn't have said it better:

"Memorial Day is first and foremost about honoring those who gave their lives for the ideals we cherish. In our remembrance we are given an opportunity to reconnect to our national military history, and to renew our own commitment to the values and virtues of America.These heroes whose common bond was uncommon sacrifice must not be forgotten. There is no uncertainty about the purpose or the meaning of the lives memorialized at grave sites around the country. This is where we remember the true reason for Memorial Day.
Our Soldier's Creed says "I will never leave a fallen comrade." We all know this means more than never leaving a fellow Soldier on the battlefield. This statement also charges us with a commitment to remember and honor our fallen comrades. We must share the story of their service and honor the sacrifice that they and their families have made for our nation."Wreathes were laid at the grave of Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth. This National Cemetery is one of the 14 original National Cemeteries and at one time was the largest.After the ceremonies concluded we headed over to the section where the band played. Lydia and Cal enjoyed being up close. Some kids were even able to help the drum section!
The 21 gun salute and the raising of the flag at noon. By the way... the flag is lowered in the morning and then at the noon hour is raised again. If it is past the noon hour where you are, be sure to raise your flag again!

Lots of Updates!

Again, time has flown by and I am way behind on blogging! Since I last wrote we have completed baseball season, almost finished ballet/acrobat classes and school is almost done! Yikes! Allergies are in full bloom and the slip-n-slide has already been busted and a new one has been bought!

Lets start with Baseball. We moved Cal up to coach pitch baseball this year as we felt he was beyond t-ball and would be better off with the challenge. Chris was his coach and their jerseys were a light blue (Cal was #13) and they were the Eagles. Cal is awesome and the team in general were great athletes and if you were counting... won most if not all their games! Here are some pictures/videos of the season:

Of course all of this baseball has us spending some time in the backyard playing around too!

Well, that's it for baseball... lets see... what else has happened... Awana's... we had award night last week! Here are a few pictures from that!


We also had World Tai Chi & QiGong Day... I did Tai Chi and participated in a Dragon Dance. The kids got to help with the music!

Lydia and I have done a little sewing... I have wanted to make a simple summer dress for Lydia so we hit the fabric store and came up with this little number... Perfect for summer!

Calvin's 1st grade put on a Musical... The Dino Stars!

Cal's school also had a "Fun in the Sun" day... here are a few pictures of some of the 'stations' that they got to participate in! It was a beautiful day even though allergies were a problem!

We also enjoyed a concert by Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band via the USO show for Military Spouses Appreciation Day... here are a few photos of that. (yes, that is Cal in a velcro suit stuck to the wall...)

And last but certainly not least... we have some new residents at our home. My hanging plants have gotten a little fried (we've had a lot of sun) and so I brought them down to water and feed them and guess what I found!!

and here are a few shots of the parents... we will have to come up with names for them! Anyhow, I think they are some kind of Swallow.

If you look out the window above our front door at night you can see the tail feathers of the parents. They seem to stay here during the evening, just close enough to the nest.

This is one parent eating some bugs off the wall...

Here is the other parent... I took this from inside our house, below is the hanging pot where the nest is.

****UPDATE****

Another egg was layed this morning!

Well, that's it for this blog. I will post some more pictures later today most likely. We are off to attend the Memorial Day Service on post and then I promised Lydia I would take pictures of her on her bike... she ditched the training wheels on Saturday!!

A fabulous giveaway!!!!

You have to visit Suzanne at Just Another Hang Up! She makes these wonderful Totes (and more) and sells them on her Etsy site and if you're lucky you have the opportunity to win one of these beautiful Totes!!!! Visit her blog for the details! Here is a picture of Treasure Island... the Tote up for the giveaway!!!

Nora Jean's quilt!

A friend of mine is about to have her first baby and it's going to be a girl!! Nora Jean will be her name and since Bethany's (The Mommy) husband used to work with my husband in Germany/Iraq, I really wanted to make a neat quilt and hand quilt it for her.

So... I spent most of last Saturday coming up with a design (luckily I keep my quilt magazines!) and then started cutting and piecing on Sunday and then started hand quilting on Monday night and finished at 6:00 pm on Tuesday... the baby shower was at 6:30 pm!!! One of the themes for the nursery was frogs... so the backing had a panel of frogs framed with a pink border and then I machine appliqued a flower which I signed and dated. It was a hit and I was really happy Bethany liked it!

I have already started on another project (yes, still have a few others waiting to be finished...). This one is a charm quilt made from Moda fabrics (Kansas Troubles: Wildflower Serenade II). This one will be about a twin sized quilt and will be one that we can use when watching TV or reading a good book. It is already on my quilt frame and I am hand quilting this one. I am doing a simple X in each box... the very middle has different sized pieces... so I am still trying to figure out if I am going to stitch in the ditch or shadow box the odd pieces. Ok, I am going to post and then head out... our neighboring town is celebrating it's birthday and there are going to be some fireworks! The kids are on a total sugar high (thank you maker of pixie sticks!) and they need to run off some energy!