We skyped with Emma in California after the kids opened up their Max quilts, wrote letters to him (what we would say to him today) and took pictures in front of the yarn bomb trees. There are 4 (!) in front yard now. The tree with lights is the black & white yarn bombed one.
They are all very different-Roxie's has a bunch of "Roxy" brand t-shirts I have saved over the years for her, Sam's includes some of his school shirts, Stewart a GEMS program shirt they were both in, Suzu's foot and hand print hot pink shirt, so they know which one is theirs.
I yarn bombed the red bud tree this morning, after doing a neighbor's tree after she said her little boys had been talking about our yarn and wouldn't mind being yarn-bombed for sobriety....her tree was so big and wide around the trunk that I couldn't reach around it, had to run around wrapping the t-shirts and got dizzy!
We opened birthday presents today, too, (Mom, thanks for the shiny sparkly purple hat!) and my mom's good advice to "Be Glad" is a theme for me, a reminder. I am glad for these amazing children, their laughter, and support and hugs and tears. They are stronger, more sensitive to suffering and distress of others having gone through this hard summer of losing a sibling.
Emma is waiting for their Santas to wake up before she opens her quilt, and I hope she posts a photo, because I forgot to take one of completed quilt before I sent it off to her.
QUILT construction detail:
(these-above and just below-are from Emma's quilt in the making, auditioning position of squares) Smooth out t-shirt on cutting mat, use 12 1/2 clear cutting acrylic cutting square to cut front AND back of t-shirt. Sandwich a same size flannel square inside; sew X from corner to corner; determine order of blocks and sew generous 1/2 inch seams to FRONT of quilt; clip with scissors to create fringe. Remember to sew around perimeter to secure/stabilize outside edge of quilt. They were heavy with just the flannel "batting."
Back of Roxie's quilt, smooth edges on this side, fringe on front which looks better after each washing.
I didn't wash these yet, they still smell like Max a little. It was very emotional to make them, surrounded by the memories of him wearing the shirts, thinking of him, missing him, but glad for the project to give the other children a memory to hug.
Birdhouses will be added in gender appropriate color after baby is born and the suprise arrives!
Roxie received a baby pine tree from school on National Arbor Day. We planted it in the front yard, and she took this amazing photo. Most years we forget to plant it right away, and the roots dry out, and it becomes compost...This year, she marked it with a stick and bright ribbon, we explained to Max the Lawn Mower Man where it is, and it has survived a weekend! She is outside watering it this morning.
2. There are more bugs than I thought in Maryland. The high school student who displayed these caught them in MD!
3. Our state tree looks like this.
(I chaperoned 7th grade field trip to Aberdeen Proving Ground.)
4. Sam has some talented dexterous finger manipulating skills. One of the environmental science lab booths taught Sam how to change an air filter on a test mechanism. The head of the lab exclaimed that he wished he had some of his soldiers there to watch Sam do it easily the first try. They use 16 year olds as summer interns, and said he would hire Sam in a few years.
5. Smokey doesn't talk, but he knows ASL. I said, "I loved Smokey when I was growing up!" He signed back that he loved me, too. And I thanked him back.
6. My husband is shrinking and I look like I am growing...
