Bye Bye Crib

Wade is excited about sleeping in his new bed, Mommy is sad to see the crib taken down.  It was bought for me and also was used for my two sisters. By today's standards it's a death trap for a small baby so I will repurpose the ends into a bench someday (I saw the idea on Pinterest) and surely I can figure out how to use the sides to display quilts. 

The ends still have the marks where I teethed on it many years ago. 

And with this transition it's goodbye to the rocket ship quilt that traveled to China with us and moving on to his eye spy quilt!  In another year or so it will be time to move up to the twin bed and the Peanuts quilt. But let's not rush things...he is already growing and changing so fast theat some days it stops me in my tracks. 

Beach and Tractor Ride

Wade wasn't as brave this year at the beach, this is him running away from the waves.......

But pushing a dump truck around is fun anywhere

And, Daddy (with help from our neighbor Derek) got Poppy's 1954 Farmall running again so Wade got his first tractor ride. 

Who is having more fun you think?

I hope I never forget....

....that my little blessing is another's loss. Wade's birth parents probably had no choice.....no insurance and no ability to get him the medical care he needed although so minor by our standards. 

Oh how I wish I could show them how he has blossomed and give them comfort that the sky is the limit for their baby boy now growing up as an American.  And most importantly how he is loved. 

http://video.theloop.ca/news/watch/orphaned-by-desperation/3626087865001/#.U6MNRDe9LCS

Fathers Day

Wade took a good long nap after church on Sunday which let me get a little quilting done!  Once up we headed out to Stone Mountain to see what Wade thought of a hike under his own power since he is way too big for the backpack now. 

He loved the stream and wanted to stop and toss everything he could find into the water. "See water, see water?"

We hiked to the old homestead so he could see the mountain!

Daddy carried h back along the road. Then we went and ate Mexican food!  Hopefully a nice afternoon for Wade and his Daddy  

And here us a throwback of my own Dad. I think this is still in our Amarillo house so I  probably in kindergarten  look at the black hair and 30" waistline ; )

Little Wade sure loves Grandaddy Wade...or Gray Gray and we are looking forward to our next visit in August!

The weeks are moving so fast....

Granted we stay very busy but it's amazing how fast the time is going by. I look at Wade at times and swear he has just grown another inch and learned five new expressions. 

Mike and I took Friday off to get some things done without Wade....like looking at new cars. Both my Explorer and his mail car have over 200,000 miles so we wanted to at least narrow down our options. I want a car that gets 40mpg, is big enough for Wade and a friend in the back seat when they are 12 and has some zip with sporty styling. Well nobody can meet those requirements so I will have to probably compromise. The current front runner may be the 2015 Subaru Outback (not out yet). We drove a 2014 and the new one will improve the highway mileage to 33 highway. I really thought I would like the smaller Subaru XV for its sportier styling and handling but it is even more underpowered than the Outback. Here is the back side out the Outback in blue and the XV in white next to my Explorer. I hate this whole process. 

Mike was told if he put a right hand drive kit on a new Subaru it would negate the factory warranty, so he may have to work on his 99 until he retires. Which was the subject of our next stop, the financial advisor. 

We then set up the camper and had Alden and Landon join us for a overnight at Tanglewood. Wade was us at 6:15 but we had to stay inside until 7am to abide by the quiet hour policy. They all had fun I think. 

Not sure I could get them along for a big trip. The idea of no tv is too scary!

Then Saturday night Max spent the night with us. Putting two boys to sleep at the same time in the same room proved to be a little challenging but other than that we l had fun!

And after we had lunch on Sunday we took a photo for CCAI. They celebrate 11,000 kids placed this week and requested photos for their website. So here are our two out of the 11,000 blessings they have helped create. 

Visit to Grandaddy's

Wade is all about trying to repeat names right now which makes everyone tickled. He couldn't quite get Grandaddy, it sounds like Gray Gray but that's ok. 

Here they are discussing Wade's college options. 

We also to a stroll across the dam at the pond scouting a place to build a small dock. It will be nice to be able to leave his little boat down there or just fish fr the dock. 

There are lots of memories still to be made at the pond as it's ready to now host the fourth generation of little fisherman. 

And we can't leave out Norm!  Unlike Banjo he let Wade pet him!

Another quilt show comes and goes

They are every two years but it was easy to see what dominated my last two years. Anticipating Wade's homecoming we started reaching out to family and friends for his 100 wishes quilt. I can't wait to see the corresponding scrapbook my sister and niece have been working on.  Gina Allen custom quilted this for me and Mrs Goodneedle taught me how to add piping to the border. These two things really enhanced this quilt and it received an honorable mention.

I also entered the eye spy that his quilting "aunties" surprised us with after he came home. This one will so be on his toddler bed. I am sadly going to have to soon take down the baby bed. 

Ohio quilter has never entered a quilt show but she pieced this one And Mrs Goodneedle quilted it (even using glow in the dark thread). Quiltkeemosabe did the great Peanuts embroidery and Muriel embroidered his name. Others all contributed the fabrics.  All together they got a blue in the group category and Wade loves it too. 

It won't be long before he can scramble up a ladder and help take a show down. There will be many car and quilt shows in his future I am sure.