Monogram Subscription Delivery

The 2nd month of a monthly subscription arrived. Very nice tote. Big. Neutral color. Now to have a chance to use it. 

I'm liking my monthly surprise delivery box. 

Getting Clean

I spent a few hours helping to clean for my flooded Sissy's house.

Upstairs didn't flood, but needs cleaning and refreshed from all the moisture. A few hours spent upstairs helped to make a little difference. I took charge of one bedroom and bath. And took bed covers and things home to wash for her.

Her house has a long way to go to be back to normal. But the process has begun. With over 4 feet of water, every item in her house has been pulled out. Half stud walls are left. Serve pro is in and doing their thing for moisture and mold. 

It looks better than compared to 3 weeks ago. 

So sad for all my peeps in my hometown area. 

Dog Sitting

Not only has my time for the past 3 weeks been providing daycare services for my grand children while the parish schools/pre-k/day cares are all in flood disaster mode in repair and rebuild to hopefully resume classes next week, but I'm also obligated to provide services to the grand-dogs as well. That includes putting taking them out for bathroom breaks, feeding, keeping them quiet during quiet time, and referring between the human-grands and the grand-dogs.

First, there's Macy and me. She's stays by my side cause the kiddos are a little rambunctious and she's not too thrilled when all of them are at her house. Plus her barking will wake the dead. 

And there's Molly. She is just fine as long as you're eating. She's going to bug you to death till you share your food with her. And her bark is too loud, also. When the pizza man rings the door bell there is no conversation to be had. Just pay the guy,  take the food, and close the door cause she's not going to stop barking. 

I alternate days at each kids house with all the grands lumped into that house that particular day. One kid got a new puppy this week. So that means more outside bathroom breaks and more refereeing.

His name is Max. Don't know if he's a grand-dog or a human-grand cause they are playing house and he's the baby. 

So far he's playing nicely. 

It's either me and the kiddos or me and the dogs. 

They even come to visit me when I'm not at their house babysitting. 

In the meantime, my at home Poochie-dog is enjoying her vacation from me.

And I haven't mentioned the outside grand-dogs yet. 

Throwing in some Baby Projects

I'm still in flood disaster mode with my people. Week three had me throwing in a few projects here and there. The Tiger Rock outfits for a photo shoot in the previous post and then baby quilts for two that Jennifer requested are finished. One for her co-workers grand baby and one for her sister-in-law/brother-in-law's new baby.

She supplied the fabric and she choose the trim from my stash. The babies are hundreds of miles apart and do not know each other which is good cause the quilts are  going to be just alike except for color of trim and the monogrammed name.

An animal print top. A minky backing. One trim light pink. One trim light green. 

These were easy to make. 

 Cut the top, bottom, and quilt batting into standard crib size quilt which the internet tells me is 42.5" X 52".

Sandwich the 3 pieces in order, pin, and mark into sewing square sections. I measured every 10" to form equal squares to be quilted. 

Machine Stitch the ruffle trim around each four sides. 

They're the perfect size and weight to make a comfy play mat or cover in the bed or stroller. 

Projects finished and on their way.

Tiger Season

In between time while my people are still in flood disaster/assistance/rebuilding mode and I in emergency daycare mode because all the parish schools and the daycare was flooded and being repaired, I was given fabric to make outfits for a "Tiger Rock" photo shoot to kick off the football season.

 We're purple and gold and tigers. I ordered iron-on flocked appliqués found on-line. I couldn't decide on just one so I ordered two designs and will let the mom choose. 

Two matching sister outfits of a dress and  pantaloons are made. Now have to decide on which applique and which trim. The appliqués won't have the yellow background. It's just what it's packaged in until it's in its final state ironed on. And don't know yet if ribbon bows and ric-rac trim or  buttons and hem border panel. The dress is fully lined with the contrasting fabric. 

The decision is in. The mom choose the full head tiger applique placed in the center chest area and the border panel along the hem and buttons on the shoulder flaps in place of bow. 

Ta-da!!! The final look. 

Buttons on shoulder. Extra bows for shoes or socks. And Tiger hair bow.

Only one problem now. The professional photographer that had scheduled the photo shoot for all her clients was a victim of the 2016 Louisiana Flood disaster and had to postpone the photo shoot. But they'll be ready when the show goes on.

Emergency Mawmaw Daycare

The flooded disaster is still going on in my home area.

All public and private schools and school/daycares in our flooded areas, including the one my little grands attend, are still being repaired from the flood damage. Their parents are back at work and have no daycare open. So I'm the daycare. I stay all week and entertain the little ones during the day  and come home on weekends to the hubby and regroup for the next week. 

Nothing like a lot of mawmaw bonding. 

On week two husband-pawpaw brought the RV to a nearby resort and we did a mini-camping trip with the 3 grands and us.  But, close enough to the parents just in case.

They spent two days and one night away from their parents.  And we were all happy campers. 

Lakeside RV Resort was very close to home. It had not felt the effects of the flood. And we had been there before. It's clean, all concrete sites, large lake, pool, playground, everything we needed. Except for one rainy day.

Day one: 

Ice cream cone visit twice. 

Playground time with rock climbing, sliding, and jumping. 

Bike riding.

Bubbles and soccer ball playing. 

It was a scorcher of a day, everyday. Hot and humid.

Day Two:

Rain Rain Go Away. Spent most of the day inside with puzzles, fort building, made-up games as we went along, and starving so we ate a lot . 

I taught them the fun of puzzles. I find really cute puzzles of their favorite characters (like Minnie, Mickey, Paw Patrol, Lion Guard, Batman, Spider Man, Else of Frozen, and even Barbie) with the perfect amount of pieces for their age and the perfect size for them.

We even taught the littlest one to "like" puzzles and not destroy them as we put them together.

We had more than sandwiches to eat. We ordered pizza delivery for one dinner.  

Another week of mawmaw daycare coming up. 

Louisiana Flood 2016

The rains came down and the rivers topped their banks and flooded everything we knew. That was three weeks ago. 

Together. Tirelessly. Non-stop. Hard and Dirty. Before and During and After. That's the kind of WORK my hometown is doing right now. 

Three parishes have been running on adrenaline. Neighbors, volunteers, and authorities doing the work to save and rescue  200,000+ people during the flood. 

The work continues to repair and rebuild homes, feed and clothe people who lost everything they owned. 

Schools were damaged and there are no classes being attended. School had started 2 weeks prior. Students are scheduled to return to classes on September 12. School has been interrupted for a month. 

My kids weren't flooded. But close family members and friends and strangers were. Twelve strangers and one friend lost their lives.

Tho I live an hour and a half away now, it still hurts my heart to see and hear of the devastation of people's lives and homes. 

Work continues. 

# Louisiana Flood 2016

First Day

The first day of school for our Pre-K 4 year old grand.  I was as excited as he was. His mom sent me pictures. 

This smile may change a little as the school year goes along. It's always exciting at first. But then all the newness wears off and it's not so exciting, 

He was non-stop talking when I talked to him on the phone after school. He likes school as much as I do!

"My Zoo" Deliveries

The three My Zoo's we made for the little ones have been delivered and filled with their animal friends. 

Bears, and Mickey's and Minnie's were thrown in and landed how they may.

Owls and Lambie and Olaf, too. You have to know all about Frozen and Doc McStuffins to keep up with this. 

Green dragons and ducks and tigers and puppy dogs for boys. 

They actually like them. The best part is throwing the animal friends across the room into their cage.

What project is next? There's a few more projects lined up and in the works. Stay tuned. 

National Watermelon Day Yesterday

For me every week this summer has been National Watermelon Day.  A watermelon has just about every week made it to my kitchen either from the farmers market, the grocery store, or a farmers stand on the side of the road. Those you know for sure are local home grown and are the best. 

While eating watermelon everyday, all summer long, I feel like I'm doing myself a favor with a low calorie food that is good for you. The down side is a lot of bathroom trips. 

According to Medical News Today, watermelon is actually considered a nutrient dense food with a lot of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Random Facts:

1. Watermelon may help prevent or reduce asthma, high blood pressure, cancer, dehydration, inflammation, indigestion and muscle soreness.
2. Watermelon is considered a fruit and vegetable.
3. According to the Guinness World Record, the heaviest watermelon weighs 159 kg (350.5 lbs) and was grown by Chris Kent of Sevierville, Tennessee.
4. Watermelon boosts brain power – has a source of Vitamin B6, that is necessary for normal brain function.
5. Watermelon contains about 92% of water and 6% sugar.

In some weeks this summer I bought two watermelons. One to eat. One to carve into something. Like carving a pumpkin in the fall, I carve a watermelon in the summer. 

This years carving was an Angry Bird scene I made for a summer birthday party. 

I bought a four piece Angry Bird set. A sling shot, a watermelon, and a bag of key limes to make more pigs since the Angry Bird set only came with one pig. 

The cubed melon pieces were put together with wooden screwers and stacked up on the watermelon with loose melon cubes scattered around. The sling shot and birds set up on one end. Pig faces painted on the key limes and set around on and in the stacked melon cubes. 

Here's My Inspiration photo compared to My Version photo.

I've also carved a watermelon shark and a pirate ship in past summers. You can see the shark here.