Keowdie Knits

"Sew and Tell"

2011-08-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

I guess that technically every blog post could be titled, "Show and Tell," since the whole purpose is to show you pictures and tell about what's going on. But I am thinking about doing a semi-regular feature wherein I can show off some of my recent crafty goodness. Or "amazing feats" of cleaning and organization. Or (if I can figure out how to post videos) some of my recent educational music videos or podcasts. Or whatever I've recently done that bears mentioning.

I have to give a special thank you to my G-ma Alice for this one. She taught me how to sew. Thanks to G-ma, I understand the basics of sewing and construction and can usually find my way around my sewing machine. I am by no means good at sewing, but I can make basic items, Halloween costumes for my kids, and mend some things.

I don't have a permanent home for my sewing machine; all the stuff that seems to follow it around, so I usually wait until I have a list of things to sew. Then I haul it out and it lives on the end of my dining room table until:

I am completely stuck on a project and can go no further...
I am completely frustrated with a project and would rather eat it than try to finish it...
I can no longer stand the mess on the end of the table...
I have company or host dinner for one or more persons.

This go around, I've made sachets, worked on a quilt for Riley, and made laundry bags for our pop-up trailer.

Whenever we go camping, we always end up with no place to put the dirty clothes. Matt's clothes end up in a plastic shopping bag, mine end up going back into my bag (where I make a futile attempt to keep the clean ones separated from the dirty ones) and the boys' clothes end up in the strangest of places (like in the refrigerator, under the mattress, and mixed up with the pop tarts and cracker boxes).

My solution was to give everyone a dirty laundry bag. I went looking, but didn't find any that were priced an amount I was willing to pay. So I made some.

I have a big box of fabric scraps downstairs and actually found four pieces big enough for bags. Then, just for fun, I personalized each one. They are by no means fantastic, but aren't bad for my limited lessons and experience.

We ended up with fun laundry bags that cost me nothing, and taught me a bit about making up my own patterns and embellishments.

Visits in the Snow

2011-01-20T09:18:00.001-08:00

When the snow falls quiet,

we put out the tray of seed.

And a host of God's small creatures

come to visit for a while.

Thankful for what they receive,

they commune with each other,

with God,

and for a few moments, with us.

Winter is for Knitting.

2010-12-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, well, thr truth is that as far as I'm concerned, every season is for knitting.

But winter is especially good for knitting because your hands don't sweat on the fiber.

And knitted items make great Christmas gifts.

And somebody always gives me a gift certificate for my favorite local yarn store.

And everybody knows that yarn store gift certificates will certainly burn a hole in the pocket or bag in which they are stored if left there too long. So they have to be used quickly.

I did, actually use one of my certificates today, but that's a post for another day. Today, I'm sharing pictures of the slippers I made for Riley (age 2).

I call them the Tweet-Tweet Slippers:

I knitted them with a strand of Splash and a strand of Encore worsted. The splash makes a great effect for a kid-project, but it was not very fun to knit with. It's hard to see the stitches, and Lord help you if you have to rip it back for some reason.

Now I'm working on some blue dog slippers for Tyson. I had hoped to finish them this year, but the knitting is slow with the novelty yarn, and I'm quite certain that I couldn't finish them by Friday night... even if I did absolutely nothing bu knit between now and then.

What?

2010-10-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted here since July!

Has it really been that long?

Well, I guess it has something to do with me misplacing my knitting mojo.

Again.

I think it must have something to do with having kids. My opportunities (and desire) to knit were seriously curbed when Riley became a toddler. He was toddling all over the place, getting into everything & I needed to be alert & ready to move at any second. I had to have both hands free so I could lunge across the room & rescue Riley/the dog/the furniture/etc. from those little fingers.

Now he's two, and I still need to be alert & ready to spring into action at any given moment. I still need both hands free to rescue Riley or the dog(s), but now I also need them to soothe tantrums, bring the independent determination down to a safer level and empty the little potty.

Thus, my knitting is often limited to knit night. Since I am a slow knitter & knit night consists of only three or so hours, that equals very little progress to share.

I had gotten out of the habit of posting progress pictures because I thought they were maybe a little boring. (You know, serving as a non-narcotic sleep aid.)

But given the fact that progress is all I seem to have lately, perhaps I should reconsider. I miss my knit blog, and I miss keeping up with the blogs of other knitters.

Yes, I think I shall set a goal for bloggy goodness.

Henceforth, I will do my best to post some sort of knitting content to my Keowdie Knits at least once per week.

And I will hope I still have at least one or two readers left who might enjoy it!

13 Years...

2010-07-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

A guy rang my doorbell today.

It was the FedEx guy, and he brought this:

I haven't received a box like this before.

This is what I found inside:

Beautiful

Delicate (and perhaps suffering from a touch of heat exhaustion... but they're already looking peppy-er)

Gorgeous.

And the card?

13 years ago today, Matt I promised to love each other in sickness & in health, in good times & bad... as long as we both shall live.

Thank you, Matt. These flowers are beautiful.

I love you!

Rocks

2010-07-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite outdoor activities is chucking rocks.

We find a place on a gravel bar where there aren't any other people. Then we wade in a bit and start letting the rocks fly. What boy (old or young) doesn't want to here the words, "Well, for pete's sake, throw that rock!" I think it's interesting to watch my boys approach this activity in their own ways.

There is some tandem wading,

...usually at first as everyone gets used to the cold river water.

And then they sort of do their own things.

Tyson enjoys the feel of the water on his feet:

He likes to search for interesting rocks and share them with us:

He is fascinated by the skipping of rocks, and he both loves to watch Matt & my dad...

...and "teach" his little brother how to skip rocks:

Riley takes a completely different approach.
He loves to watch the boats go by:

And other than that, well, Riley just loves the

pure...

...and complete...

...joy...

...that comes from chucking rocks.

The Family That Camps Together...

2010-07-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

...stabs eachother with hot dog sticks.

I'm just kidding! We love camping, and every camping trip is a happy one... with no stabbing of anything other than hot dogs & marshmallows.

Summer is for relaxing, slowing down and recuperating from life's crazy pace the rest of the year. The best way we know how to unwind from the hustle & bustle is to grab the pop up trailer and head into nature.

So, what do we do while camping? Well...

We relax. I know it looks like a whole lot of nothing, but there is some serious rejuvenation going on here.

We read. A lot. This is my dad. What you don't see in this picture are Matt, my step-mom, my step-grandma and myself, all reading while the boys chase bugs nearby.

We eat fabulous summer foods. Watermelon, foil dinners, hot dogs roasted over a fire and s'mores are our favorites.

And we sleep. All that fresh air makes for some tired boys and long slumbers.

And yes, sometimes one of those tired boys leaves the campfire (on his own) to commence with the slumber... with unbrushed teeth and s'mores still on his cheek.

We also enjoy chucking rocks, but you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what that looks like.

What do you do to relax in the summertime?

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2010-07-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, we didn't go all the way to the center, but we were pretty deep:

Last weekend, we went camping at Onondaga Cave State Park, in Leasburg, MO. This was our second trip to this particular park, and this time we decided to take the tour of the cave.

The tour was 90 minutes, and took us very deep under the park. Despite the fact that I'm not crazy about small places, and I might be a ~~complete sissy~~ little afraid of the dark, I love cave tours.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I love nature. I love anything that has to do with the outdoors (or in this case, the most natural of "indoors" possible).

My love of the outdoors is closely related to my relationship with God.

When I am out, in the parts of the world that have hardly been touched by humanity, I feel the closest to Him. I feel free to marvel at His power, His grace, His love.

I love that He put in us ~ as part of our humanness ~ curiosity, wonder, and appreciation for beauty.

I think that when God created this earth, He delighted in leaving for us interesting places to explore...

...interesting treasures to discover...

...hints of His power...

...and beauty to stand in awe of.

I found comfort in that big, dark space.

Because looking at these wonders, I was faced with the reality that God has always been here...

...and that He left his footprint, this beautiful reality of His power & might, for us to find.

And I'm certain that as I delighted in each new sight, He delighted in my curiosity, awe, and appreciation of the beauty He put there.

Knit-serverance Pays Off... Maybe

2010-06-29T13:38:00.001-07:00

I have been knitting the same "quick" project for what seems like for. ev. er.

It's a baby sweater for a friend. The baby was born a while ago and I am still knitting this sweater. In all fairness to the sweater, this particular version is not the first of it's kind here. This one is actually my third, third attempt.

The first time I cast on too many stitches. Okay, that was my fault for trying to cast on, watch TV, and prevent a cranky two-year-old from destroying the ~~world as we know it~~ house, all at the same time.

The second time I cast on the right number of stitches, but I neglected to swatch. The ~~dreadful~~ thing was nearly 7 inches long before I realized that my gauge was horribly off, and that sweater would probably have fit a preschooler. I'm all for making baby knits that babies can grow into, but I like for that to happen before they start kindergarten.

I have finally finished the body...

It's a little wonky, I know... but it is knit beginning at the bottom of the front side, up, over the shoulders, and down the back side.

And I picked up the stitches for the sleeve:

This was no easy task, since even though I swatched and got gauge, ~~it lied as gauge swatches tend to do because they are pointless and evil~~ my gauge is off anyway. This sweater is still too big, which made the measurements for the picking up of the sleeve stitches way off.

Argh! I did a little knitmath (ugh...) and I think it's going to work. Of course, it did involve math, so there is a chance that this sweater will only fit a baby that is shaped like a bowling ball with pencils for arms. Whether it does or does not, I will finish this ~~stupid~~ precious sweater soon. I need to get this thing off the needles. Need.

In my frustration, and with a road trip coming up this weekend, I might have caught a small case of startitis. There is a chance that I might have sort of cast on a pair of socks...

This was another risky move. This particular yarn has been started into four other pairs of socks, and has been ripped back each and every time.

The colorway is lovely, but the changes come up so quickly that I'm having a hard time finding a pattern to compliment it. So, the four failed attempts were really due to my own pickiness. That, or this yarn is cursed.

In Which Keowdie Dreams...

2010-06-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Since I finished the Bible in 90 Days (...in 143 days... ahem.) I've been looking through my book shelves for books to read. I've got a couple of new ones to read, but they are all pretty long, and... well, I just don't think I'm ready to commit to another long read yet.

So. I'm re-reading some of my favorites. Last night, I spen about an hour reading this book before bed:

Don't "click to look inside," by the way. That came with the image I copied & pasted from Amazon.com .

Anyway, the past part I read was her brief story about the woman who knitted plastic grocery bag strips into bags.

And then I had vivid, colorful dreams about knitting bags from bags all night long.

I really must be more careful about what I read before bed. Maybe I'll crack open that new Stephen King novel after all.

Happy Summer!

2010-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation is finally here. This means homeschooling with the boys, a (hopefully) large garden and lots (& lots & lots) of time for knitting! Also, it means that a few of my creative monkeys can be used for writing blogposts.

It's an odd paradox for me. When I was self employed & had much more time on my hands, my knitting tended to drop off in the summer months. If you've ever been to St. Louis in July, you know why. It's hot. It's humid. It''s not at all uncommon to have many consecutive days with highs in the upper 90's and humidity at 80%. That doesn't exactly make one long for wool. Or cotton. The only thing those conditions make a person long for is a pool (we don't have one) and a cold, fruity drink (alcohol optional).

But now that I am employed by a local school district, just about the only time I have for knitting is during the summer. There's no stress from work. There is a lot more free time. These are things that make me want to knit! Even if the air conditioner has been running all day and the shingles on my roof are melting.

In this last week alone I've made more progress on the baby vest I'm knitting that I did in the last month of school. It's a gift. A gift for a baby. A gift for a baby who is now nearly a month old. That's okay. It's never too late to welcome someone to the world! Here's what I've got so far:

I know. It doesn't look like much right now. I had the hardest time ~~figuring out this completely wonky pattern~~ wrapping my brain around the general workings of this unique pattern. This is my third attempt at this pattern. The first problem I had was that the pattern called for "Number 10 needles." So, although this seemed awfully big for a baby sweater, I hauled out my US 10's. Three quarters of the way up the front I realized that this sweater would fit my baby. My baby is two years old. So, I hit Ravelry & found that most people had knit this pattern on 4's and 3's. I ended up on US 5's. Then there were other issues. I couldn't find the instructions for knitting the back. I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to attach the left front yolk. I wasn't really understanding the sleeves from just skimming over the pattern.

Then, yesterday, the light bulb went on, the heavens opened and angelic choirs sang a perfect G-major chord. I realized that I knit up the front, cast on a bunch of stitches for the back neck, attached the two sides at the shoulders, and am now knitting down the back. I think the sleeves start with picked up stitches & are knit down from the shoulder as well, although I'm not there yet, so I'm not entirely sure.

This is what it looks like if I fold it at the shoulders:

It still looks like an amoeba. But an amoeba that resembles a sweater. Sort of. If you squint at it. A lot.

This is what it is supposed to look like:

Of course, if I get frustrated with this ~~wonky~~ pattern, I can always work on a sand dollar for Riley's blanket that was supposed to be done by Christmas...

I'll be posting much more frequently now that I'm knitting more. And now that all my creative monkeys aren't completely preoccupied with writing songs about money, letter sounds and toilet training. It's hard to write blog posts when all your creative resources are focused on work.

The Illusive FO

2010-04-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

FO's are very rare creatures in this part of the knitosphere. They can be quite illusive and may be difficult to spot. This particular specimen is quite intriguing, as it took a ridiculous amount of time to emerge from it's natural habitat (the knitting bag). Some in this region even speculated that it had curled up and died inside its bag, but, alas, it has emerged!

Moving very cautiously, my team and I were able to get close enough to actually take a photo of this rare find.

You can see how the stripes on this magnificent creature do not match bilaterally. This asymmetrical display may be related to some mating ritual, although we cannot be certain without further study.

Here are some additional observations we were able to make:

Name: Granville Mitts (So named for Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia - where the wool was originally found)
Pattern: Kid Merino Fingerless Gloves by Cathy Campbell

Yarn: Maiwa (hand spun)
Needles: 1.5 DPN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. The stripes are meant to be random and mismatched. I am quite certain they will improve my performance at work next winter (since it is very difficult to play a guitar with fingers that are frozen stiff!) The only problem I have to solve is the scratchiness. Yes, it's wool, and sometimes wool is scratchy. But, ya'll, I have to tell you these things could be used as a means of torture at Guantanamo. It's like wearing a hair shirt from the middle ages. It's like wearing a pair of porcupines... inside out! I'm thinking a good washing & a dip in some Soak might help. If that doesn't work I will attempt to line them with some soft, stretchy fabric.

I am so happy to finally have these off the needles! I finished them just in time for 80 degree temps! I started them in December... just before I lost my knitting mojo. Well, it was partly a missing mojo, and partly because the Bible in 90 Days started January 1. The challenge involves a lot of reading, which meant cutting back on a few other activities... activities like reading other books, watching TV, knitting and showering. (I'm kidding about that last one!) Despite giving up so many other activities, I am actually on day 97, and I'm still in the book of Mark. But I'm still trucking along.

And, since the reading is so much quicker and easier now, I went ahead and cast on for a baby knit. (No, I'm not having a baby.) It's for a friend who is expecting her first. I'll post some pictures of it soon.

A Toddler, a Tub and a Tur....

2010-03-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

It rarely happens, but with Littles, there is an occasional... um accident... in the tub. In fact, it happened just this evening. So here are my steps to taking care of the situation:

Get everybody OUT OF THE TUB! As quickly and calmly as possible. Please do avoid gagging, shrieking and general freak-out behaviors.
Calm toddler, who is nearing hysterics at the horror he is experiencing over his accidental, um... deposit. Wrap in a towel and hold close while making "shushing" sounds.
At the same time, calm seven year old who is nearing hysterics at the horror of being in the tub during the accidental pooping. Reassure him that nobody ever died from a little poo.
Once everyone is relatively calm, put the toddler into a diaper and have the seven year old put on some undies. (Wait. Strike that. I was strictly informed this evening that boys do not wear "undies.") Decide that this is definitely blog-worthy.
Get children involved in playing or looking at books. Go to kitchen to get paper towels and disposable shopping bag. Trust me. Do not skip this step. Consider whether to grab camera... blog posts are always better with photos, right. Decide against it. Probably too graphic.
Return to bathroom. Assess damage. Procrastinate using one of the following strategies:

Call husband (who is conveniently out for the evening)
Tweet commentary on the incident (in 140 characters or less)
Check email on iphone. Email friend about incident.
Run out of "legitimate" reasons to avoid the bathtub.

Steel yourself for what comes next. Submerge hand in water to pull the plug. Shudder.
Pull out toys and place in tub-toy keeper. (See WFMW for more on this.) Shudder again.
Wait for water to finish draining. Briefly consider whether it might be easier to set tub on fire... Scrap that idea on the grounds that the insurance agent would not likely understand.
Use paper towels to pick up the... offensive deposit. NOTE: You will be tempted to use toilet paper, but I strongly urge you to use paper towels. The tub will be wet; the poo will be wet. Toilet paper does not hold up in very wet situations (unless it's that very thick, scratchy notebook-paper-type stuff they use in public school restrooms). Trust me. Use the paper towels. Place the um... waste... in the bag. Shudder again.
Take bag out to garbage can; grab cleaning bucket on your way back to the bathroom.
Check on children.
Return to bathroom knowing that the worst part is now behind you. Scrub (and I do mean scrub) contaminated bathtub with Scrubbing Bubbles, Kaboom! and bleach. Please be sure to rinse after each chemical so as not to fill your house with toxic fumes (even though you might wish for a little something to take the edge off right about now...)
Repeat scrubbing. Seriously. It might not be necessary, but you'll feel better.
Start shower, gather children and put them back in shower. Reassure toddler who is less than excited about returning to the scene of the crime.
Give everyone a good scrubbing. (Ignore temptation to use bleach and steel wool.) This part should be quick and as happy as possible. Try singing a song.
Remove children from shower - use clean towels to dry children. Don jammies and settle in for a bit of extra snuggling.
Place children in bed. Pray, give kisses, turn lights out. Return to bathrrom. Realize that as long as you've got the cleaning bucket out you might as well give the whole bathroom a once over.
Gather all towels. Consider starting a bonfire in the back yard. Think better of it as the fire department would likely not understand. Start a load of towels (even though it's not towel day), being sure to use extra hot water and non-chlorine bleach if you've got it.
Collapse into chair. Knit. Or read. Or blog about the entire experience in very graphic detail.

And since blog posts are, in fact, better with photos, I will share with you this photo I took this evening... post cleaning.

Shiny! (and completely poo-free!)

Secret Decoder Ring...

2010-03-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie A Christmas Story? Remember how Ralphie ran home from school every day to check the mailbox? How he waited with bated breath for his Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring?

I've been just like Ralphie for the last 11 days.

Every day I race home from work to check the mail & see if the thing I've been waiting for has come.

Every day for 10 days I was disappointed.

And yesterday, on the 11th day, it was there. In my mailbox. We were very excited.

Hmm? What's that, darling? Oh! You're wondering what on Earth could be so exciting?

This:

This is our new sponsor packet from Compassion International.

I posted a link to this fantastic organization a few weeks ago. I heard about them when this blogger and this blogger went on a fascinating journey called Blogging Through Kenya. I watched their journey through terribly impoverished areas. I read the stories (and watched the videos) of young adults who were sponsored as children, and the difference their sponsors made in their lives. I studied their photos of the landscape, the conditions and - most importantly - the faces. The children, living in slums, hungry, and... smiling.

My heart was moved. I wanted to do something. How could I not? I saw those faces, the hope... and I was moved. Matt & I talked at length. He had all kinds of very logical, manly questions. Why help a child in some other country & not one in the U.S.? How do you know this is a reputable organization? What percentage of the money we send monthly goes to actually helping the child? (It's a little above 80%, by the way, which is a high percentage for international aid.) I anticipated these questions, and had done my homework. I also prayed for my husband's heart to be moved the same way mine had.

And so, we decided that we would sponsor a child. God has blessed us. We felt compelled to give something back. So, we went to the Compassion International website to find a child to sponsor. I must admit that this part was a challenge. How could we choose just one? Also, it felt... odd... to look through all those photos of children in need. It felt a little like "shopping" for a child. But we prayed for God to show us which child He would have us support. We knew we wanted to sponsor a child who is about the same age as Tyson. We knew we wanted to sponsor a child from a relatively small family so that we could be sure to send enough stickers, etc. for all the children in the family to share. We hoped to find a child who's profile would suggest that we could find something in common, something to share.

And then we saw her. Her name is Michelle. She is seven years old. She loves to sing. How perfect is that? When I looked at her eyes, I couldn't help but think that I was looking at an "old soul." We felt pulled to sponsor her. And so we did. And I waited with bated breath for the new sponsor packet so that we could send her our first letter.

So, what does it mean to sponsor a child through Compassion?

Sponsorship means sending $38.00 per month to Compassion, who in turn sends it to the mission project in that child's community. The workers in that community act as case managers. They work with the child's family to determine what is needed. Food, clothing, a home, vocational training for the parents, etc. In addition to this monetary support, we also get to send letters to our child. Our plan is to mail her a letter, plus photos, pictures from Ty & Riley, stickers, etc. once each month. As sponsors we are encouraged to share with Michelle encouragement, stories of our faith and prayer requests. The program is one of discipleship, and although the children and their parents are never required to choose a walk with Christ, they are given opportunities to attend church, learn about Christ, and develop a relationship with him if they choose to do so. We started raying for Michelle and her family the same night we made our commitment.

There are many opportunities to help this organization improve the lives of these children. From one time gifts, to child sponsorship, to being a correspondence sponsor (which means you sponsor a child with encouraging letters), Compassion makes it easy to make a real difference in the life of a real person. A real child. I hope that you will visit their website. I hope that you will pray. I hope that you might be moved, as we were, to give something of ourselves to help a child in a place where help is so scarce.

Turning Two!

2010-03-26T21:23:00.003-07:00

On Wednesday, my Baby...

...turned TWO!

He's such a big kid now...

He can open his own snack baggy...

...and then shove his snack into the cracks in the driveway.

He's a busy guy...

..and always on the go!

He loves to run around like a Wild Thing...

... and play with the big kids...

...and do everything that his Daddy & big brother do!

He's silly...

...and snuggly...

and

We love him!

Ahhh... Life With Boys!

2010-03-12T15:20:00.001-08:00

Here is a conversation I had with Tyson today. We had just left the book store, where he spent a gift card from Christmas (Thanks, Grammy & Pappy!). We were in the car, and from the backseat I heard:

Ty: Mom, why did that boy have the diarrhea?

Me: (thinking some poor kid had to leave school early today) Who had diarrhea?

Ty: That boy.

Me: Honey, I don't know which boy you're talking about. Did someone get sick at school today? (And also wondering why on earth bodily emissions are so fascinating to little boys.)

Ty: No Mom. You called him the "diarrhea kid" at the book store.

Me: Tyson Norman! I am quite certain that I did not, in fact, would not call anyone a name as offensive as that! It would be very rude and hurtful and I am pretty sure that particular phrase would never, ever cross my mind. (Thinking that we might have to pull a consequence from the jar when we get home)

Ty: But, Mom. You kept saying that about the boy on the book. That red book I got. I showed you the book and you said you heard of this diarrhea kid book.

Do you want to know what he was talking about?

My very sweet son didn't hear "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." He heard, "Diarrhea the Wimpy Kid!"

I laughed so hard I nearly had to pull the car over!

And then I wondered: Why on earth did he want to buy a book about a kid with diarrhea?

I think the answer is probably: Because he's a boy.

Crafty Creations - a Carnival!

2010-03-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

This post is a lot later in the day than I had hoped. I had planned to write it right after breakfast, but then my dogs did battle with a groundhog (& lost) and there was blood to clean up, wounds to attend, and a vet to go see.

Thankfully all is well. Just a few scrapes. And two bruised K9 ego's.

And I have a few minutes to share with you something that is totally cute and crafty!

Over at MADE, they do some pretty amazing stuff, and last month they celebrated the BOY. It was all boy craftiness all month long. (If you have a boy, then you know that sewing and crafting projects for them are usually in short supply.)

My favorite thing of the month was freezer paper stenciling (which really could be great for a girl or a boy, depending on whether you go with something like frogs or something like flowers).

Here's the link for the original freezer paper stencil post.

And here's another example of the same idea.

(photo borrowed from MADE)

I cannot wait for the school year to end so that I will have a little more time for crafty stuff. I really think this is a great idea that could save us a little money on clothes and would definitely be a fun activitiy for my 7 year old. I'm sure he will enjoy making requests for various sayings & pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to deliver!

Plus, who knew freezer paper could be so very awesome?

For more Crafty Creations, visit the very sweet Maddielynn!

KidSpeak

2010-03-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

One of the most amusing things about being a mom is the amazing (& sometimes strange) running dialogue in our home. When we were a young married couple with no kids, the house was filled with talk of politics, weather, funny friend stories and where we should eat out (Because, dude. I seriously could not cook).

Enter the children, and even the grownup conversations seem to center around snot, school kids, bowel movements, who put which new scuff mark on the previously freshly painted walls, and oh-my-gosh-how-can-we-be-out-of-milk/bread/toiletpaper-already?!?!

The best stuff is what we hear out of our kids. So, without further ado, I give you some of the strange things we have heard around our house this week:

From Tyson:

"I hate to tell you this, but..." (this is his new catch phrase, and it could be followed by anything from "these bananas are squishy," to "Riley is stuffing buttons up his nose.")

"That is soooo inappropriate" (uttered to his little brother)

"He's not making good choices. Again." (uttered about his little brother)

"Mommy, what does your colon do?"

"Everyone needs to be quiet, because I need to tell everyone this...." (this preceded a big announcement at dinner - see the next in the list)

"...we made a home for worms yesterday!" (Worm homes are apparently quite important..)

"Mom! You just said the 'Nerd-Word'!" (I admit to needing an explanation of what exactly a "Nerd-Word" is...)

"Wow! Mom, you have got to come here [to the bathroom]. I just dropped a BOMB in there!" (Do I really need to elaborate? Suffice it to say that boys are strange, and sometimes icky, little creatures.)

From Riley (with translations)

"Momma! Rotcoe [slurping noise] [licks hand] Ewwwww! [touches face]" (Mom! Roscoe the dog just licked me all over the face when you weren't looking and it was gross, but that won't stop me from going back over so he can do it again.)

"Uh-oh. Momma! Uh-oh! Wiwey may mess meowk. Momma! Meowk coe!" (Uh-oh! Momma! Uh-oh! Riley made a mess [with] milk. Momma! Milk [is] cold!) (Uh-oh! Mom, you're not gonna like this, but I just spilled an entire cup of milk all over myself, the cabinet front, the floor and the dog. Oh, and the milk is cold.)

"Wiwey no yike Daddy caw rrrmmmmmmm." (Riley no like Daddy's car [that goes] vroom.) (I do not like Daddy's Mustang Cobra, as it is quite loud, and the emissions from the tailpipe could easily kill an elephant unfortunate enough to be behind it.)

"Momma! [grins] Wiwey oohh. In oohh." (Mom! Riley ear. In ear.) (Mom! I have stuck several peas into my ear. Good luck getting them out because peas are really squishy and I have the smallest ear canals ever seen on a human toddler.)

"Jfjiilllll. Wiwey fhfhfhpplththth." (I have no idea. Seriously. Sometimes he just lets loose with a string of very excited, but completely unrelated phonemes, then nods his head as if he has made his point. He then waits for us to give some sort of appropriate response. Thankfully, a "really?" or "Oh, I see" from us is sufficient.)

"Momma! Wiwey weh. Neenee. Wiwey wike neenee. Weh."(Momma! Riley wet. Candy. Riley like candy. Wet.) (Mom! My diaper is wet. It's barely wet. Okay, maybe it's not really even wet, but you've been giving me a mini M&M every time I come & tell you that I'm wet. I really like candy, and we hardly ever get any at all, so I'm gonna go ahead & cry "Wet!" so that I can get a little candy. By the way, we both know that you will give me the piece of candy, and then take me to the bathroom to change said diaper. And that's when I'm planning to make my escape. The minute my feet hit the floor, I'm going to do the "wet noodle" & drop to the floor, then I'm going to do a "triple sow cow with an extra twist" to wiggle away from you. I'll finish my program with a full on naked-from-the-waste-down sprint around the house during which time you'll be thinking about how my diaper wasn't really that wet & I'll probably end up peeing all over the house as you chase me. Good times, Momma. Good times.)

What kinds of things do you hear in your home?

Valentine's Recap

2010-02-24T19:38:00.001-08:00

We here at Purple Brick Road were all about the Valentine's spirit. From the songs we sang (Skin-na-ma-rink-a-dink....) To the foods we ate (peanut butter & celery with pink sprinkles anyone?) to the paper we used in our crafts... we were all about love.

Even our peanuts got into the spirit. Tyson found this while he was eating one of my "quix mix" snacks (which is basically a trail mix that I throw together with whatever I can find, then serve in coffee filters because they are oh-so much cheaper than paper plates and so much easier to clean up than real plates - Thank you for the tip, G-ma! Wow. Run-on sentence much?) Anyway, he looked down & said, "Hey, Mommy? This peanut is a Valentine's peanut." I said, "Um, okay. Whatever floats your boat. I guess we can call this the 'Valentine Mix'." Then he said, "No, no, no. I mean, it has a heart on it." I said, "No way." And lo & behold (don't you just love saying that?) it actually did have a heart on it. Cool.
(Please try not to notice my terribly dry and ugly cuticles. If you played guitar and washed your hands about a bazillion times every day your cuticles would be crying out for help too. For the record, I often paint my nails on Fridays, so they can look pretty until Sunday night...)

I came home from bootcamp Saturday morning to find my boys gone to tennis, and this waiting for me on the kitchen table:

This was the cute card that Ty & Riley picked out. I suspect it was more Riley's choice since that boys does love a rubber duck. I won't share the message they wrote inside, but it was super-sweet, and bears Riley's first-ever signature. (which he had a lot of help with, but still.)

Aren't these beautiful. I'm so sad that my camera couldn't accurately capture their beauty.
It sort of chugs & chokes along when I'm trying to photograph anything up close. But I promise that now, almost a week later, those roses are still gorgeous. I think they might make it the whole week!

And, in the fridge was a tasty treat:
Strawberries! (Since I am trying in earnest to dump the junk food.)

Oh, but these are not just any strawberries. These are ginormous, mutant strawberries that must have been grown near a nuclear power plant, or Bruce Banner's gamma lab, or something.

I really must say that I noticed some interesting things this Valentine's Day that I had not realized in Valentine's Days gone by.

#1. Even the craft-foam hearts at my son's school speak "tween." At this point, I'm just thankful that I knew what "LOL" and "BFF" meant without asking. I feel so out of touch sometimes...

#2. Valentine's Day with boys is weird. Little boys are not into cute cards, sparkly hearts, and fluffy bears like little girls are.
Apparently, boys are into eyeballs. Gummy eyeballs. Which are meant to be eaten.
And also, little boys are into cows. Oh, yeah. I can hear you saying, "What? Cows? That's a cute cow. And very appropriate for Valentine's Day if you live on a dairy farm."

Well, here's the thing. We do not live on a dairy farm (although ironically, both my maternal and paternal grandmothers grew up on dairy farms... but I digress). Also, this cow is noisy - it moo's anytime you pick it up, bump the table, or cause a slight breeze to brush past it's general vicinity. And it is full of candy. "What's wrong with that," you ask? Well, true to the interest of adorable little boys, one must lift the tail of the cow to get the candy out, if you know what I mean. (For those of you who don't know what I mean, the cow poops out the candy!) Which boys apparently think is hilarious.

Who knew that living with boys would be so... unusual?

Hello? Are You in There?

2010-02-15T19:48:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm in here. [waves] I'm still here!

And I have been knitting, but not very much.

As per usual for this time of year, life is interfering with my knitting. Mostly, my job is interfering with my knitting. I've hardly had time to knit a row here and there.

Another thing that is interfering is actually something that I'm okay with.

This year I am reading the Bible in 90 Days. (Well, I'm a bit behind, so I hope I'm reading it in only 90 days!)

But the stress of balancing work and a family with two young boys is sucking all my knitting mojo out of me.

But, not to worry.

Because it will be back.

I'm revamping a few things. I'm changing some stuff. I'm shaking my proverbial tree to see what falls out. The stuff that falls out will stay out so that I can make more time for my Bible, my family & my craftiness. I think the one thing that will be out is wasting time on line. All of this social networking is taking a surprisingly large amount of time. I'm still going to read my favorite blogs, and I'm going to continue to post on my blog(s). But other stuff is going to have to take a back seat.

So, for now, suffice it to say, I am still here, and I am still knitting (sort of).

All Aboard!

2010-01-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

We made good use of MLK Day last week by going on a GoSeeIt with Ty's Cub Scout Den. We went to the Museum of Transportation (because, really, what boy doesn't love trains & planes & cars & stuff?).

Did I mention that we are beginning to enter that phase where Mom & her camera are not always entirely cool? He humored me, anyway. Sweet boy.

Our whole family went, which is something I love about Cub Scouts. When one kid joins, the whole family joins too. It's fun.

Of course, Riley absolutely had to do everything that the big kids did. Here he is, trying to ring the bell. (Sorry, Sweetie! You need to gain a little weight first... so eat those veggies!)

They have some pretty cool trains there. I believe this is the one they called "Big Bertha." It's ginormous.

This was an old passenger train.

This is what they used to use to clear the tracks (of snow, & other debris). It's quite large.

They have a bit of risque St. Louis history inside the auto museum. In case you're not familiar with it, this is an actual piece of the Coral Court Motel. It was the last motel in St. Louis to rent rooms by the hour. Ahem.

We ran into my step sister there, too! She was doing some extra credit for school (way to go!).

And, there were two signs I couldn't resist sharing with you.

The first is an advertisement that was on the side of a very old delivery truck:
So, apparently, if you take this all-vegetable laxative, your blemishes will disappear over night. I wonder where they go? Hmmmmmm....

And this... well, it pretty much speaks for itself. Although I'm not sure why they needed to attach it to the back of a train.
Words to live by, my friends. Words to live by.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

2010-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

This guy:
had his first Pinewood Derby on Saturday.

Here was the field he raced in:
Can you guess which car is his? I'll give you a hint: It's third from the left in the middle row.
And it has his name on it (although it's upside down).
He (& his Dad) worked very hard on his car last week. His Pappy cut it out on one of his big saws, and Matt helped him with some of the harder stuff (like making a cavity for the weights, attaching the wheels & using the electric sander). Ty did all the rest of it. He designed it, hand sanded it, painted it & attached the decals.

That's his on the second lane from the left (Lane 2)

In this picture it's neck & neck:
but Ty's car won this heat. (Each car races 4 heats, one in each lane)

And Tyson was very excited when his car won that heat! ( I really think he couldn't believe it!)

In the end, his car finished first in two heats and last in two heats. They determine the overall winners by the average time from all four heats. In his class (Tiger Cubs) Tyson placed 5th out of 24 cars. We were really proud of how hard he worked on his car, and he was just really excited to get to see it race.

And, of course, no matter where he placed in the pack, he always places 1st in our hearts!

Halfway Done

2010-01-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

I finally got on of my Granville Island Mitts done. It took me three days to weave in the many, many ends I had. Some were from the stripes (I didn't want to carry the red across those longer spans of tan), and some were due to the fact that it's handspun wool & it broke several times in the beginning stages of the mitt.

It's a little more scratchy than I had hoped, especially on the inside of my wrist. Hopefully some SOAK will help with that a little.

If not, I might be asking for advice on softening up slightly prickly wool.
Notice the little green arm in the background? Riley & I were home for two days last week (due to a mild case of hand-foot-mouth, I think), and he saw me "modeling" my new mitt.

Ever the imitator, he wanted to get into the act.

But then he wanted to play with his car, and I think he wondered how to accomplish this while wearing a much-too-big, slightly prickly mitt.

He figured it out pretty quickly. There's not a lot that stands between this little guy & play.

I'll hopefully be casting on for the second one tonight. I must admit to having a bit of SSS (SMS?) and realize that I really should have cast on immediately after binding off & save the weaving in for another day(s).

Happy Knitting!

Come Out, Come Out Whomever You Are!

2010-01-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

I stole this post, almost verbatim from my dear friend. Thanks!

My first stop on the blog trail this morning was Idgie's Place, where I quickly learned it was Delurking Week! How fun!!! An entire week dedicated to simply stepping out from behind the screen and saying “Hey there, I’m reading you”.

In the spirit of delurking, I hope that anyone that is reading this silly old thing will pipe up and say howdy! Feel free to tell me about yourself and how you found my blog. Or if you’re the shy sort, just a simple “Hi, I’m with you” will do.

And in the spirit of conversation, I’m opening up the Q and A for delurking week. I’m an open book, so if there is anything you’ve ever wanted to know, now is the time to ask. Just leave your question in the comments section and I will collect them and answer them in a post later this week.

I'll also hopefully have some progress to share on my Granville Island Mitts! I'm on the thumb gusset, and cruising right along!

New Year's Knitsolutions, 2010

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Another year is upon us. This means a perfect opportunity for a fresh start, turning over some new leaves, blowing the dust off, etc., etc. After spending more than half of last year without my knitting mojo, I am determined to make this year a great year for knitting. So, here are my 2010 New Year's Knitsolutions (i.e. KNITting reSOLUTIONS):

1. In 2010, I will make 2010 the year of the ME. I looked back through my blog & Ravelry, and I discovered an extremely disturbing thing. The last knit I finished for myself was the Lattice socks. I finished them in 2007. (And, consequently, pests have eaten little holes in them sine then...) I will have a few knits for others (e.g. a new toy for Ty, a knit for a friend's new baby in May, a blanket for Riley), but I am determined to make lots & lots of knits for ME!

2. In 2010, I will dye more yarn. I did this at Christmas for my knitterly friends in 2007. I loved it! I gave away all the yarn I dyed. I will keep at least some of my own hand painted yarn.

3. In 2010, I will spin. I enjoy it, but I haven't even plied the stuff I started. This has been for 2 reasons. 1) I do not have a niddy noddy to make winding the yarn easier, and 2) I am deathly afraid of failure. This means that I have a hard time trying new things because I might mess it up. Why does it matter if I mess up in my spinning? The answer is this: I have no idea. But the idea of turning out yarn that is not as perfect as if it came from Rowan makes me twitchy. I will just have to get over this. Because, gosh darnit, I am going to make yarn in 2010!

4. In 2010, I will finish my Branching Out scarf. It's a lovely pattern in a lovely color, gifted by a lovely knitter. I can't wait to wear it, so even though the whole lace knitting thing still stresses me out (that chart makes me feel cross eyed!) I will conquer it!

5. In 2010, I will knit a sweater for me that I will actually wear. I picked a pattern (it's cabled & ribbed) and I bought the yarn (it's much more pink than this picture suggests). I am going to cast on as soon as I finish my current WIP. I will make it long enough in the torso & generous enough in the sleeves so that it fits me, and it will be a sweater that I will want to wear. I might even make another sweater after this one is finished!

6. In 2010, I will make myself a pair of fingerless gloves. I have wanted a pair for years. More than that, I have needed a pair for years. My job has me running in & out of buildings and playing my guitar all day long. My hands get cold, and I want something snuggly to keep them warm while I play guitar. (I actually already cast on for these. I couldn't wait until Jan 1!)
7. In 2010, I will do some color work. I have said this for years, and this is the year I actually do it. I love this sweater (below), but I know I will need to do something more basic to learn before I tackle it. I am currently accepting suggestions for basic color work projects, and any resources anyone cares to share to help me learn how the heck to do it!
So, there you have it. I've got a full plate this year, but I'm excited & ready to cast on! So, do you have any New Year's Knitsolutions? What will you tackle in 2010?

2009, The Year in Knits

2009-12-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

Overall, my knits this year was quite unimpressive & lackluster. I spent the first two thirds of the year trying to get my knitting mojo back after I misplaced it. Let's see what I did accomplish this year:

First up, is a WIP that is still hanging around. Branching out is my first serious attempt at lace knitting. It's still unfinished because I found that I must have complete quiet & no interruptions to keep track of the pattern... and those conditions are rare in our house.

T2 ~ Early in the year I knitted a baby blanket for some friends. It was the second time I knit the Trinity pattern by Indigo Muse (Hence the name "T2"). I still love this pattern, and may find myself making another one in 2010.

Pretty in Pink ~ If you've read my blog recently, you'll recognize this knit & the last knit of '09 as the most recent FO's. This dress was knit for my darling niece. She's still really small, but she should grow into this dress just in time to wear it this spring.

Black-N-White Blob ~ So named because that's what it seemed to be as I knit this blanket in the round. I loved how it turned out, and so did my niece's parents. It wasn't what I would call a quick knit, but it was super easy.

I think I may have located my knitting mojo, as I am back to knitting every single chance I get. I've also been inspired to make a few New Year's Knitsolutions. Check back tomorrow to find out what these are.

For now, I wish you all a Happy New Year! Please celebrate responsibly and be safe tonight!

Christmas & a Few FO's!

2009-12-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We sure did! I'll post some photos another day. Matt took most of the pictures on Christmas morning, so they are all in his camera. I do have one photo, though. Just in case you were wondering where Santa hid the presents for the boys... he hid them in the trunk of Matt's Cobra. Since it is tucked away for the winter, it was the perfect hiding place.
What's that? Oh yes. It's a landmark day. For the first time in about 10 months, I have some finished knits to share.

Ahem.

First up, we have the OpArt blanket (AKA "The Black-N-White Blob). I am so, so, SO happy with the way this turned out.
Here are the specs:
Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez
Made for: My baby niece, Claire
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish in Coal & White; Cascade 220 in a bright pink
Needles: 2 Size 7 DPN's
Modifications: I knitted this in stockinette stitch, instead of the recommended garter stitch. I
also omitted the last two color bands (partly because I ran out of time, partly because I
wanted it to be a good "Linus" size), and I added three rounds of a pink border in garter
stitch.
Reflections: I loved this project. Although it became a little tedious (I couldn't see it getting
bigger because it was knitted in the round), it was so simple! I hardly had to pay attention, so
it was a good project to knit while watching TV and attending to my children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up was the project I named "Pretty in Pink:"
Here are the details:
Project: Dress with Eyelets, by Debbie Bliss
Knitted for: Baby Claire
Yarn: Phildar Plaisance, in Camelia
Needles: Size 3 straights
Modifications: Um, yes. When I was working on the back, I realized that the opening for the baby's head was going to be quite small, so I omitted the single button closure on the back and knitted one shoulder so that it overlapped and could be tied with a bow. This way, my sister in law can open the entire shoulder when dressing the baby. Also, I had a wee bit of trouble getting the eyelet rows to match up on the sides, so I tied one bow under each arm instead of the one bow in front.

Here's a picture of the shoulder:
And here's a picture of the two bows:
I am so relieved to have these two projects done. I loved knitting for my new niece, and both projects were fun, but after a few false starts and a bit of tinking... they sucked up most of this year. I feel really good about them, and have no doubt that Claire's parents will save them for her for many years.

So, what's next for this knitter? Well, it's time to make my New Year Knitsolutions. I didn't really make any last year, but I do have a couple in mind for 2010. I'll be working up a list of knitting goals for next year... and I'll be sharing them later this week!

The Family That Hunts Together...

2009-12-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

Despite my best intentions, I am still terribly behind on the blog. These are about a month late, but here they are, nonetheless.

The second weekend of Deer Season was a HUGE first for us. It was the boys' first weekend in the deer woods. Neither has ever gone during deer season. We said they could go when they were (much) older, but finding a babysitter was a problem, and Matt had already bagged his deer, so we thought it would be easiest to just shlep them along.

One of the first things Riley learned was to warm his hands by the fire. You hold them out to the fire, then rub them together....
...then hold them out toward the fire. Repeat until summer weather returns.
Tyson loved hanging out with "The Girls." The twins are my step-sisters, so the boys' aunts. For some reason, Ty just calls them by their names, sans the "Aunt" title. I think this is due to the fact that they were only about 9 years old when he was born.
He just loves hanging out with them.
And of course, there was quite a bit of horseplay in the evenings. Here is my Dad (AKA "Pappy") goofing with Riley.
Despite missing a couple of people, we still had a pretty big group. (My step mom was taking the photo, so you can't see her...)
And here are the hunters. We call the non-hunters "Campfire Girls," though that wasn't quite right with the boys there this year. They tag along, hike, hang out in camp, keep the fire going and often cook meals for us hunters. (Thanks, D!)
I am no longer the only huntress in the family. My step-sister, J joined in the fun this year. (If we look like we're faking smiles for the camera, it's because this picture was taken at about 5:00 am. And it was cold. And dark. And we were at the point where we were sort of wondering why this is fun...)
The boys really enjoyed themselves. The slept in, played in the dirt and ate way too much junk food. Riley averaged about one tantrum per day. You would be surprised how far the sound of his shrieks will carry through the forest.
Overall, it was a super-fun weekend!

Belated Halloween Pics

2009-11-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

Here are my lovely boys on Halloween:
Ty was Super Mario, Riley was Luigi & Matt was V (from the movie, "V for Vendetta." If you haven't seen it, it's an excellent movie, and quite appropriate for our times.)

I made the boys' costumes the week before. It was quite a bit of rushing around, and I officially vow to have the boys costumes complete before we go back to school next year. It's just too difficult to sew two costumes while settling back into a school year routine. I was terribly short on sleep that week & nearly stitched my thumb the Luigi's overalls!

Riley had his first Trick-or-Treat experience. This was the first house, and clearly, he wasn't shy about picking out some M&M's.
Before Trick-or-Treating, we carved our family pumpkin. Tyson & I worked together to draw the face. He took out the guts (ew!) and I did most of the carving.
Overall, it was a nice Halloween. I love watching my kids enjoy this stuff.

Pumpkin Painting

2009-11-24T13:43:00.001-08:00

I know I'm behind, again. I'm going to try to get caught up on the Halloween & hunting stuff this weekend... since I have a 5-DAY WEEKEND!!! (Insert Happy-Dance here.)

A couple days after the pumpkin patch, we painted the pumpkins the boys had picked out. It's a great way for even the smallest of kids to decorate their own pumpkins, since they are so often left out of the whole carving thing.
Ty set to work on his like Da Vinci on the Sistine Chapel.
While Riley preferred a less structured approach.

At one point their Daddy got involved, chasing the boys around the kitchen with his own paint brush.
Ty's pumpkin actually got several layers of paint, which required drying time in between. He worked on his for several days. This was only the first layer.
There was much helping and sharing. We are blessed to have 2 boys who get along really well (so far, anyway...)
The end results were spectacular!

The works of pumpkin-art:
... that are actually going to be cleaned, baked & pureed this weekend for future use in pies, muffins & chili.

It's the Great Pumpkin...

2009-10-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we didn't find the Great Pumpkin, but we did go to the pumpkin patch. This was a new one, and there was so much to do!

Ty started with the giant, bumpy slide. It was made of PVC pipe, and he thought it was funny.
Then we did some swinging. Riley liked the "pony" swing...
...while Ty preferred the more traditional variety.
We did the see saw (Riley needed a little help, since he now weighs exactly half of what Ty weighs).
Then we went over to sit under the pavilion.
To eat Kettle Corn and this:
That there is a deep fried Oreo, and it was heavenly.

We listened to some great music while having our snack.
See that skilled musician sitting in the front there? That's my Grandpa.
He plays the steel guitar, and I'm pretty sure that every last drop of my musical talent came from him.

When we had eaten, sang ("... Rocky Top, you'll always be...!") and danced a waltz or two, we watched the chickens & turkeys.
Then we went over to the pumpkin patch.
Riley was impressed with the very big pumpkins that people were carrying around. He tried & tried to pick this up. He even made some interesting grunting sounds (imagine the Incredible Hulk)...
... but ultimately decided on a more manageable pumpkin.
Ty picked out our family pumpkin, in addition to his own personal pumpkin.
When we were paying for the pumpkins (which were quite reasonable) I noticed a wall that had rows & rows of preserves. We also got some wonderful apple butter, which tastes just like fall, in convenient, spreadable form!

We painted the pumpkins the next day. Check back tomorrow, when I will post those photos. It was a blast!

Spring Cleaning. No. Wait...

2009-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

It's not spring, but I'm definitely in spring cleaning mode. Maybe it's because I'm feeling the need to "feather my nest" before winter. Probably it's because I couldn't possibly spend an entire winter cooped up in this house with it being such a mess.

Either way, I've been busy. My plan is to spend one day each weekend & really deep clean a room. I'll just work & work at it on that day until that room is cleaned to my satisfaction, or until the day comes to an end.

Last weekend, the boys played quite nicely for a long time while I cleaned the kitchen.

I decluttered the counters, threw "stuff" out, and wiped everything down. Everything is sparkling. Well, almost everything. I cannot get those drip pan thingies that go under the burners on my electric stove to come clean:
This is the nicest looking of them. Stuff boils over. I can't clean it up right away because it's too hot. By the time it's cooled, it has hardened into an ugly mass of charcoal (it's like the stuff God uses to make meteors!). I soaked them in hot, soapy water for about 30 minutes, then scraped them with a table knife. That was followed by some serious scrubbing with vinegar & a Scotchbright pad. When that didn't work, I resorted to Soft Soap and steel wool. Nothing worked (except for me... I worked up a sweat.) I guess they're stuck this way forever.

The thing I found that worked best on getting the grease & grime wiped off the back of the stove (& the microwave) was the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Holy grime buildup, Batman! This thing is amazing! Now, anyone who knows me very well at all knows that I prefer to not use chemicals to clean my house. I *heart* vinegar and lemon juice. I do have a few leftover cleaning agents (a half empty bottle of 409, a half jug of bleach, a now almost empty bottle of Soft Scrub...) but my "old fashioned" cleaners were just not cutting it. But the Magic Eraser? It worked like, well... magic!

I highly recommend this product, even if you just keep this thing for cleaning up the serious crud... I used it to clean the fronts of my cabinets, the backs of the counters, the stove, even scuff marks on my floor. It really was like magic!

Of course, when I had finished the entire kitchen, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was ready for retirement. But, it was a pretty big job.

And now I have a lovely, sparkly, organized kitchen. Here's a picture of "the bridge." (Just like the Starship Enterprise, my house must have an area from which I can run things.)
And here's my very shiny sink area.
This weekend I will be tackling the upstairs bathroom, which I'm sure you can imagine can get quite icky (given that I am the only woman in this house). In addition to general cleaning, I will be changing the shower curtain liner, disinfecting the tub toys, washing the rugs and hopefully decluttering the counter.

I'm still here...

2009-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

and I've been knitting!

Okay, I haven't been knitting as much as I would like.

I'm a little dissatisfied with whole "having a career" thing. It's seriously cutting into my knitting & blogging time. And that is simply not acceptable.

But there has been progress.

Here's a photo of the nearly completed back of the baby dress:
It's the one in Debbie Bliss' "Baby Knits for Beginners." The dress is adorable. The pattern is atrocious. I actually finished the back of the dress today, and I had to make some modifications. I'm not sure where I (or the pattern) went wrong, but if I had continued with her directions, the neck hole of the dress would have comfortably fit a navel orange-sized head. Of course, anyone who has ever given birth or attempted to dress a baby in a turtle neck will know that babies' heads are not that small. So we shall see if my modifications work out.
~~~~~~~~~~~
And in other knits, I got one row of the hexagons stitched together...
...and about 12 more of them blocked. Again, these pictures are a week old, and I've since stitched together the second row, and that one is almost completely sewed to the first row. I'm happy with the way it's coming together so far.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And in other news, I had a garage sale 2 weeks ago. It rained Saturday so we opened up again on Sunday, when the sky was a gorgeous blue.
We had a LOT of stuff. I got together with my aunt and cousin & together we filled their 2-car garage and almost their entire driveway as well.
I sold some baby stuff, and also finally got my Total Trainer out of my basement. I hadn't used it since I joined the gym, so I had to find it a new home.
That's about it for now. Other than that, life has been super busy/hectic/stressful/butalsoblessed.
Happy knitting!

Apple Picking

2009-09-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Eckert's Farm for some apple picking yesterday! We went with Matt's parents, and although the sky threatened rain all day, not a drop fell.

The day began with a tractor ride. Ty loves this kind of thing!

They dropped us off in the orchard, where the rows seemed to go forever.
Ty found the smallest apple ever. It was perfect, and so small. It looked fake.
He loved picking apples from the low branches...
...and from some pretty high ones.
Riley got into the apple picking as well.
It took a few minutes for him to understand that we weren't picking them up off the ground... we were actually supposed to pick them off the tree. Once he got the idea, there was no stopping him!
After we picked two mostly-full bags of apples, we got back on the tractor. Riley was far less impressed with the tractor ride than Ty. He seemed really nervous the whole time. He also kept shaking his head, "No," and signing, "All done."
After the apples were picked and the shop had been raided (I got a new apple corer, and the boys got some candy and apple cider), we went to Fort Eckert. Ty loved climbing all over the place.
We also played some games, like this ring-toss game. Ty was pretty good at it.
It was such a fun time that someone didn't want to leave.
We went back to Matt's parents' house, where we played with toys, baked an apple pie (of course!) and discovered that Riley loves corn on the cob!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the knitting front, I'm still working on the same projects with little progress. I accidentally knitted all but 20 stitches from one needle onto the other one, so I've got to rearrange about 250 stitches. Argh! I started yesterday, but I only succeeded in putting them on the correct needle - backwards. So now I have to take them off (again) and put them on (again), hopefully the right way.

I'm having trouble finding time & energy to knit around my work schedule. Hopefully I'll have the house & schedules in order by the end of this week, and will be able to wedge in a little fiber time.

MIA

2009-09-01T05:50:00.001-07:00

Hi all.

I have been missing from the blogosphere for at least a week now.

My hands are beginning to shake, and I'm seriously jones-in for some blog-reading time.

I just wanted to tell you that I'm still here. The beginning of the school year has proven to be quite hectic. I've hardly had time to knit (which is bad, because my carefully laid out Christmas Knit timeline is deteriorating before my eyes)...

So, if I'm a usual reader/commenter on your blog (Becca & Leah!), I'm sorry I haven't been around. I do miss you and your wonderful knits & crafts!

I'll be back soon, just as soon as I get my house & my schedule into some kind of order.

Happy Kniting!

Knitting, Knitting, Wherefore Art Thou?

2009-08-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

School has started.

Knitting has pretty much ceased.

This is not a happy situation for me.

Isn't it so annoying when things like your job interfere with knitting?

Ugh. I think I'm having withdrawals...

And I can feel my carefully planned Christmas-knits-schedule deteriorating.

Right before my eyes.

Must. make. time. to. knit.

What To Do, What To Do

2009-08-23T13:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been thinking, pondering, and most importantly, praying about what to do. I've felt God pulling me in a direction that I have not been certain I was willing to go. I know, this sounds ridiculous, since I try so hard to just go where I am lead... but every now & then, He points down a path, and I stop & say, "Are you sure you want me to go there? I don't know if I want to do that..." and then I sit right down in the middle of the path to ponder. There are just so many reasons I can think of NOT to share this "religion-stuff."

Not very faithful or trusting, is it?

This summer has been an incredible experience for me, and I have definitely felt the Hand of God at work. If someone had told me in June that I was about to embark on a life-changing journey of faith, I would have said, "Yeah, right. I'll be lucky to retain my sanity after a summer of staying home with my kids! 'Life-changing' this summer will not be, unless it ends with me in the asylum."

And then an amazing thing happened.

I tripped & fell face-first into the blogs of some. amazing. women. I did not know that women mothered their children and cared for their families and lived their lives, walking each and every day, hand in hand with Christ, the way that these women do. Each of them inspired me with their "radical" (um, yeah...) ideas. I learned (and continue to learn) daily from their wisdom. And I've never actually met any of them!

I suddenly felt a strange calm come over me. Seriously, strange. Like, I always hoped this kind of feeling existed, but never thought I would be blessed to feel it.

I think they call it "Intentional Living in Christ," or something like that (hey, I'm still learning), and I thought that sounded interesting. I read on, and learned more about how they live their lives.

And so my journey began.

And little by little, I have felt this calm creeping in around the edges of my life. It's not here all the time, or even most of the time... yet. But I catch glimpses of it almost daily now. And it rocks. I want more.

And I want to share it. I want to thank those women, and I want to share what I have learned, what I am learning.

But where should I share it? This blog? "keowdieknits?" Didn't seem quite appropriate. It's a knitting blog. And although I could quote several scriptures about people being "knit" together in love, and God having "knit" us together in the womb... well that feels like a bit of a stretch.

And then I remembered: I have another blog. I started it a while ago. I had intended to document my struggles & triumphs with depression & anxiety disorder. I didn't really keep it up because when I triumph it's hard to describe, and when I struggle, it's not easy to share.

It's called My Purple Brick Road.

I called it that because I think of my life as being like Dorothy's journey in The Wizard of Oz. It has triumphs & tribulations, friends & foes, sunny meadows & dark forests (and maybe even apple-throwing trees & flying monkeys) along the way. But I have God with me. He is ever present. He puts up road signs pointing me down this path or that, and sets up obstacles deterring me from going this way or that. (I don't always listen, of course...)

This seems like the perfect venue to share this new journey. It encompasses my journey into true faith, my family, and my struggle to manage the depression & anxiety.

So, over the next few weeks, I will be working to return this blog to a knitblog, suitable for sharing all kinds of crafty goodness. And I will be working to transform the other blog into a place for me to share my posts that are more faith and family oriented.

If you are one of my knitterly friends, I hope you will stick around as I share more of that part of my life.

If you are one of my Christian or mom friends, I hope that you will come on over & follow me in my amazing journey to be the wife, mother, and woman in Christ that I know I can be, as I answer His call, and learn how to truly walk in faith every day.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-08-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

This will be our first full week of school, so I'm hoping meals go well this week. It's such a bumpy transition from SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) to WOHM (Work Outside the Home Mom). From now until June the afternoons & evenings will be like a horse race and Wild Rumpus all rolled into one. (I will be running the race to get dinners cooked & eaten, kids bathed and in bed, and still have some family time, while my boys will be engaging in the Wild Rumpus, thus making my race almost impossible to complete!) I'll be doing at least one crock pot dinner every week (this week I've got two!), and will likely spend most of every Sunday prepping ingredients & baking for the week.

Here is the menu for this week:

MONDAY
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, crackers, fruit, a cookie
Dinner: Venison-sausage quiche, Raw veggie tray

TUESDAY
Lunch: BLT Wraps, crackers, veggie sticks, a cookie
Dinner: Grilled cheese sandwiches, leftover sides (veggies, baked beans, fried okra)

WEDNESDAY
Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, crackers, fruit, a cookie
Dinner: Venison stew (crockpot, I love you!), sweet potato rolls

THURSDAY
Lunch: Leftover stew (always better the next day), fruit, crackers, a cookie
Dinner: Leftovers

FRIDAY
Lunch: PB&J rollups, crackers, fruit, a cookie
Dinner: BBQ Chicken in crock pot, Baked Mac-N-Cheese, frozen fall veggies

Weekday Breakfasts: Fruit salad, bacon, homemade cinnamon-raisin bagels

SATURDAY
Breakfast: Pancakes, fruit, bacon
Lunch: Cheese & crackers, fruit (This will be for me & Boy2 - Hubby & Boy1 will be golfing)
Dinner: Spaghetti, veggies (undecided), sweet potato rolls

What do you think?

2009-08-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

I am contemplating much lately. I have many questions floating around inside of me. Some of them concern this blog and what I want it to be.

I have been thinking about Mary Poppins' line, "I shall stay until the wind changes."

She stayed until Jane & Michael didn't need her anymore.

I think that if she had come to live with me, she would not be staying with me much longer.

Perhaps.

Because I feel as though the wind is changing here.

And I don't know how much I should share. Honestly, I feel like I want to share deep contemplations and personal stories here. It's just that I'm not sure I've ever shared anything that was truly personal in nature here. I share stories & photos of my family, my crafts, my growing skills as homemaker... but it's been sort of superficial sharing, hasn't it?

Perhaps I've been holding back. Perhaps I've not truly been sharing me here.

Maybe I'm a little afraid of who might be lurking (i.e. reading but not commenting), and what they might think or say. I might be related to some of them. I might be friends with some of them. I might work with a few. They might not approve, or might not understand this stuff. They might judge me. It could potentially make family gatherings and meetings... odd.

This started as a knit-blog. Just a place to share my knitting adventures. Then I let a little of the family stuff leak in. And as I (and my life) have changed, so has my blog... superficially, of course. I think I'm experiencing a pretty big change, and I'm wondering if I should go ahead, open up and let it all fly here, too.

I'm not saying I have any deep, dark secrets to hide. I don't have any significant skeletons in my closet. No, I'm not pregnant, divorcing, changing jobs, moving out of the country or running away to join a cult of wool-worshiping knitters.

But I have embarked on a journey of discovery, faith & family this summer. And I've pretty well kept that to myself until recently when a little of it began to leak out at the seams.

Maybe it's supposed to. I don't know. What do you think?

My Creative Space

2009-08-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

My creative space still covers the dining room table... I got all the applique's stitched on the quilt! I'm ready to start cutting flannel squares, I need a couple more yards, so that's on hold until I can get to the fabric store.

On the knitting front, I have another batch of hexagons ready to block. In the face of 21 almost-complete hexagons, I decided that perhaps it is time to start connecting them. I'm not sure I could handle having all 42 pieces waiting to be attached at the same time. It took 4 tries to figure out how I will attach them.

Oh, what's this?
It's pink.
It's going to be a baby dress. (for someone else's baby... I have no tiny ones in my forseeable future!)
For more creative spaces, visit kootoyoo; thanks for hosting, Kirsty!

Word Filled Wednesday

2009-08-12T06:45:00.001-07:00

This is my first time doing a WFW... I'm still not familiar with a lot of scripture. Hopefully I'll get better with practice!

Click here for more Word Filled Wednesday.

A Parenting Success!

2009-08-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

We had the most amazing experience this evening.
Here's a little back-story for you: Every evening, Boy1 (6yo) and I (or his Dad) pray before bed. We say the "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer, and then we take turns thanking God for things that we are grateful for. We have been doing this ever since he was old enough to speak (or sign) words for things in his life.
Over the course of this summer, we have been working to make sure that God is truly at the center of our family. This means that we study the Bible together (I didn't even know all of the Ten Commandments), pray before every meal and snack and read and discuss the lessons from this book. When I have to correct the boys' behavior, I try to do so with patience and "faithful instruction." I have also been stressing to Boy1 that he can talk to God anytime, and that he should especially feel like talking to God when something is bothering him.

I have to say that I have suspected for a couple of weeks that it is working. It's definitely working a lot better than losing my cool and yelling. [Ducks head] Boy1 is much more accepting of the faithful instruction than he was of the ranting. I still have to take a breath once in a while and remember not to lose my cool. (My personal Bible study is turning toward "patience" lately...)

This evening we had what I consider to be a huge breakthrough.

See, Hubby has been working a lot lately, leaving early and getting home late. He hates it, but sometimes his job requires crazy hours. Boy1 was really tired tonight and whenever he gets tired like this on a night when his Daddy isn't home by bedtime, he tends to get a little weepy. So, we called Hubby on his cell and then settled in to read a book and say our prayers. After we said our thank you's we had a brief exchange:

Boy1: Wait, Mommy. You can't go yet.

Mommy: Why, *Monkey? Did you lose one of your sleepy friends [stuffed animals]?

Boy1: (with tears in eyes) Can you say the other prayer?

Mommy: Which other prayer? We said both of them.

Boy1: The one where you tell God I'm sad?

Mommy: You mean you want me to pray for God to comfort you because you miss Daddy?

Boy1: Yes. So He will make my tears stop?

*I sometimes call Boy1 "Monkey" because he has always been my little snuggler... my "Snuggle-Monkey" if you will. I also sometimes call him "LilMan," because he has always been like a little Man.

And there you have it. For the first time ever, Boy1 asked for help in turning to his Heavenly Father for comfort. I honestly didn't think that part of what I've been saying and demonstrating was sinking in with him. Apparently it was. That's quite a bit of validation, and confirmation to me that we are definitely on the right track with our family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, I started back to work for another school year. I'm almost excited to get back to my job, back to answering my Call. I will be happy to get back... right after I get over the overwhelming guilt over leaving my children. And the disappointment over not being able to spend every waking moment with them. And the stress over trying to balance my work responsibilities with my home responsibilities...
...but as soon as I get over all that, I will be 100% back in the game and ready to answer God's Call with joy and love in my heart. I just have to get over myself first. Geez. Why is that so hard?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boy2 went back to day care today. He had a great day(!) so at least that is one thing a can let go of a bit. He had no tears, and seemed to enjoy getting back to the business of playing with his friends.

My Creative Space

2009-08-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is my first time participating in "Creative Space!"

This week, my creative space has taken over the dining room table. Half of the table (the half we don't use for meals) is covered in this:
Cabins and trees and bears, oh my! These are the applique's I made for my littlest one's quilt. This project has me VERY NERVOUS. It's my first try at sewing a quilt. My sewing skills are not the greatest, since I'm almost completely self taught. Cross your fingers for me!

And as usual, my creative space is full of sticks & string. Here's a baby blanket I'm working on:
...and a few dishcloths for our trailer.

For more Creative Goodness, click here.

Weedless Wednesday is Back!

2009-08-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Despite my initial concerns, much has been growing in the garden! I picked all of this early this week: 5 (small) ears of corn, two handfuls of green beans and more leaf lettuce than I know what to do with.
I've also been picking lots of okra, which, as it turns out, should actually be picked while it's relatively small. (Hubby says okra is NOT supposed to be crunchy. I don't eat the stuff, so... live & learn!) I also picked three roma tomatoes, but they were consumed before I could snap a photo.

Also, despite my concerns, one of the broccoli plants just started bearing its fruit:
Oh, and the pepper plants my dad gave us have been really busy!

Unfortunately, not everything has been growing so well. The pumpkins, zucchini, watermelons and gourds I planted in the middle of the lawn on the hill have not been doing much. All but the watermelons won their battle with the grass, and we've had several flowers, but no fruit so far. I think maybe they are not being pollinated & therefor are not producing? I'm not sure, but I am a bit disappointed.
Oh well... it was an experiment, after all. I really had no idea if they would even sprout up there.

The garden has finally begun to fill in. I do have some problems with weeds, and although I continue to try to control most of them, some areas are beyond control. I really need a good herbicide to get rid of them, but I'm not sure I'm willing to go there right now.
The okra is much taller and fuller than I expected.
And the corn is doing pretty well.

Inside, the oregano is struggling and the strawberries are brown.
But the basil is taking off! I hope to be able to make some pesto in another couple of weeks!
Happy gardening!

2009-08-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here is our menu for this week, the last official week of our summer vacation.

~Dinners~
Monday: *Brinner! (Eggs with sausage & toast)
Tuesday: Crazy Crust Pizza, salad (mostly from our garden)
Wednesday: BBQ Beef Pockets, corn on the cob (from our garden), salad
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Roast chicken (in the crock pot), carrots & green beans, mashed potatoes
Saturday: Homemade chicken soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
Sunday: Leftovers

*Brinner: BReakfast + diNNER+ BRINNER! (We love to eat breakfast for dinner, but Hubby does not, so we usually have this on Mondays when he's playing tennis after work.)

~Breakfasts~
Yogurt with granola, pancakes, fruit

~Lunches~
PB&J wraps, leftovers, crackers, fruit, whatever else I can dig up

We went grocery shopping this morning instead of yesterday. I just couldn't get the planning & clipping done before today.

I spent a lovely bit of time yesterday with this:
I ended up with quite a haul of coupons!
I LOVE to clip coupons. I clipped about $11.00 worth from the paper and printed another $4.00 from various websites yesterday. I know it's fully legit, but I always feel like I'm cheating the system a bit... and saving money at the same time!

For more Menu's, visit the Happy Housewife.

Creating

2009-08-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that lately all my posts have been about the boys, our family & what we've been doing together. I can't remember the last time I wrote a post that focused completely on what I've been doing... about what I've been creating.

Because one of the most remarkable things about staying at home with the boys this summer has been all the creating I've been able to do. I've still had to wedge my creative time in between changing diapers, cooking meals, doing chores and doing the occasional piece of paperwork, but I've still been able to fit it in, much more so than during last school year.

(I think it also helps that Riley is old enough to go & play by himself or with Ty, and no longer believes it is my duty as his mother to carry him around on my hip every moment of the day.... not that I minded having him attached to me like a little baby monkey, but let's face it: some things are easier to accomplish without the extra load!)

So, I have been creating. This week, Ty & I created some yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:

And I hauled out the sewing machine last weekend after a MAJOR trip to the fabric store. I'm not quite ready to share the products of this endeavor yet, but soon. Very soon. I'm hoping to channel my Granny this week & get it all finished up.

And I have definitely been busily creating with my knitting needles. I have three WIP's (Works in Progress for you non-knitters). The first is a baby blanket for my little niece (who should arrive sometime in early December.) I worked on it after my tennis lesson, while watching Ty have his tennis lesson, on Saturday.

I'm also continuing to work on the hexagon blanket for Riley. I'm planning to give it to him for Christmas. I've completed and blocked ten hexagons, and have ten more ready to be blocked. This puts me at the half-way point. I'm thinking it's time to start stitching them together. It's in this bag, which is currently hanging on my bedroom door because I knitted while watching SNL last night.

The third project I've got going is a set of dishcloths for the new trailer. I know I could go out & buy some for cheap, and with much less trouble, but here's the thing: 1) I've got all this Sugar N Cream sitting in the stash & I need to use it for something; 2) I'm enjoying some new stitches. I'm working all of these in stitch patterns from my Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns, and it's nice because it's no big deal if I mess something up; and 3) I really like using knit dishcloths. They hold up really well, are super-absorbent, and the textures are great for scrubbing stubborn stuff off our counters & dishes.
So there you have it. Lots of creating going on around these parts. And hopefully some FO's (Finished Objects) soon!

Wow. Thatsalottaphotos!

2009-07-28T18:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, Okay, I get it, I know. It goes against some unspoken "good-blogging" guideline to post eleventy-trillion photos in one post. But I have a lot of photos from our vacation, and I don't want to break them up into two separate posts... and gosh-darnit, this is MY blog & I will do as I please.

So, for our vacation we spent four luxurious nights & nights in St. James, Missouri. We stayed at Maramec Spring Trout Park. Four days of camping & fishing in the Middle-of-Nowhere-Missouri. Aaahh... I can't think of a better way to spend our vacation.

Every morning started with a scene similar to this:
And every evening ended with a scene similar to this:
And in between, we did lots of things. We walked through the Agricultural Museum, which was much more interesting than it sounds.
There was a big, grassy field across the road from our campsite. Throughout our stay, they cut it down and made hay bales. I always wondered how that happened... it was interesting to watch.
The bales were huge...
... and the cut field provided a great place to find bugs & stuff. It also made it easier to see the herd of 11 deer who came through every morning & evening. I tried to get a photo, but couldn't get close enough.
We did lots of fishing (as one would expect at a trout park).
Tyson loves to fish. He's pretty good at casting, too.
Matt & Ty tried to catch the big one, but didn't have much luck.
Riley enjoyed hanging out on the bridge. We actually fished off the bridge, but didn't catch anything. It was more like feeding the fish; I think they were toying with us.
We fished here...
... and here...
...and here.
Tyson was always ready to scoop the fish out of the water.
And Riley was happy to keep track of the bobbers.
When we weren't fishing, Tyson kicked my butt at washers (seriously... it was painful)...
...and we had plenty of time to rest & relax.
It was a great week. It was quiet and peaceful, and wonderful.

The park is also the sight of the Maramec Old Iron Works. They made all kinds of things out of iron at this massive forge around the turn of the century. We walked around the area, and I snapped several photos, but this one was really strange:
I'm not sure I could have planned this any better. Honestly, I took this on my iPhone and I couldn't really see the screen on this sunny day. Doesn't it look like God is shining his light right down on Riley? If I had noticed it, I would have tried to get Ty in the same light, but I didn't see it until after we got home.

Check back again later this week, when I'll be unveiling my most recent BIG project.

Super Sunday

2009-07-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day yesterday! Although Matt & I had many things to do around the house after our trip, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine & great weather.

We took the boys to Powder Valley Conservation Center. It has lots of educational activities & information. Ty enjoyed the Kids' Corner, where he made leaf rubbing, and felt the fur of several different kinds of local animals.

Riley really enjoyed watching the many birds and squirrels that were snacking at the feeders.

We took a 2/3 mile walk on one of the many trails. They are very nice, paved trails.
Along the way we spotted these two deer. It was a Doe and her fawn.

A few feet away we saw this little one; the doe had twins this year! They are somewhat used to people, and so we got to watch them for several minutes (despite Riley's constant chatter!).

I took this on one of the bridges.

After our walk we drove across the street to Laumeier Sculpture Park for a picnic.
Nothing fancy, just ham & cheese sandwiches, crackers & apples.
We ate under some lovely trees, and when we were all full, we decided to lie back & enjoy the view...

...well, some of us did, anyway. Riley only lies down voluntarily at nap time & bed time. Instead, he decided to sit on each of us as we tried to relax.
And then Ty decided to tickle him...
...and after that, it was time to pack up and go home.

It really was a lovely, relaxing afternoon. Be sure to check back tomorrow, when I will hopefully have the photos from our trip uploaded. Also, I've been working on a big project... that should be done by the end of the week, so stick around for the grand unveiling!

Going Back a Bit

2009-07-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I said I was back to blogging, and then Hubby surprised me by taking us on a four day camping/fishing trip! Although I don't usually like surprises, this one was definitely wonderful! Unfortunately we rushed a bit to pack, and forgot the camera. We did get a few pictures on our phones, and I'll try to post those later this week.

For now, I thought I'd go back a bit and share a couple of fun events in our recent past.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had a great Independence Day! We celebrated in a way we haven't before: We took the boys and met some friends at the St. Louis Tea Party. Believe it or not, the people who attend these protests are not radical freaks. We had a lot of fun.
It was held in Washington, MO. We were at a park between train tracks & a river; it was really lovely. The weather was great; a little soggy, but not too hot.
Riley rode around in his tricked out jog stroller. He's a very patriotic toddler, you know.
Tyson was also decked out in much red, white & blue. (I made matching shirts for me & the boys... Matt's not very into the matchy-matchy thing, so he just wore his American Flag T-shirt.)
Afterwards, we went back to our house, where our friends, family & neighbors joined us for our annual 4th of July BBQ! We had burgers & brats, fruit salad, corn on the cob... the works. The kids did sparklers while the dads set off a few small fireworks in the street. Later, my friend Steph, Matt & I settled in to watch a movie (while Steph & I knit, of course!). It was a long day, but very much fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was also the day my mom flew into town from Phoenix. She comes for a visit once a year, and this visit is usually coordinated with the visits of my grandparents (mom's parents) and my big sister.

Here she is with Ty.
Mom's usually here for a week or so, and she has a lot of people to see & much to do. She usually manages to spend one day with each of her daughters. This year we got to spend a day at the art museum with her!

She snapped this picture of the boys and me under one of the All-Star Arches that were scattered around the city. (The MLB All-Star Game was scheduled for the following Tuesday.)
This was one of Tyson's favorite pieces. I think he likes the colors.
After we went through the museum, we walked a bit in Forest Park...
...and then ate a picnic lunch under the shade of some lovely trees.
And here is just one photo of my collection that proves that my mom eats her way through St. Louis every year. (Honestly, I'm not sure there's any other way to experience out fine city. Visitors are encouraged to eat Steak & Shake, White Castles (AKA "Whities" & "Belly-Bombers"), toasted ravioli's & Ted Drewes (frozen custard).
Now that we've gotten past funerals, reunions and fishing trips, I pledge to get back to blogging. I've got photos from camping, the garden, knitting. Yes! I've been knitting like a mad woman!

...back to this regularly scheduled blog...

2009-07-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

...already in progress.

I'm back. Hopefully we can get back to our routine this week, and get back to getting things done. I can feel this summer slipping through my fingers, like a clock that keeps tick-tick-ticking the seconds away.

It's been a while since I last posted. A little over two weeks ago my aunt passed away. She had an 11 month battle with cancer, and although we knew it could come to this, I think it still took us all by surprise. I am sad, but I have strong faith that is carrying me through this time.

A week later came Independence Day, and the arrival of my mom from Arizona. Since then, an astonishing amount of my time has been spent with my many family members who have converged on the St. Louis area. My mom, my newly married sister & brother-in-law and my grandparents have all been in town. They all begin leaving tomorrow, which means that things will begin to settle down again. Bummer. I love their annual visits. Although I guess it will be nice to get back to relaxing & having my boys all to myself...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been knitting throughout the last two weeks. I've been working on a blanket for my soon-to-be niece or nephew. My brother in law is an artist, so I thought he might appreciate this OpArt blanket.
~~~~~~~~~~
Since my sister was in town a short time, I was very lucky to get to spend a whole day with her and her new Hubby. We did a little hanging out at my house, then went to White Castle for lunch. After lunch, we decided to go to the World Bird Sanctuary.

Tyson really enjoyed spending time with Aunt Heather & Uncle Miles. They talked...
...and looked at birds...
and provoked a huffy attitude from the cranky resident turkey.
Tyson was also really excited to see the bald eagles, which we recently studied in our National Treasures unit.

Riley enjoyed the noisy parakeets & parrots, and loved the opportunity to run & walk all over so much space. (I think he also enjoyed picking up rocks. What is it about kids & rocks?)
Here's my sis & her new hubby. Aren't they so cute together?
Everyone was very interested to see the different kinds of hawks they had.

After the sanctuary, we decided to take a drive through Lone Elk Park. It's a park that you drive through, and you get to see all kinds of animals: elk, deer, even bison. I took this photo while we were n the bison area... that's Heather & Miles in the rental Prius in the side mirror.

Unfortunately, that's about all we saw. It was a hot, muggy day and apparently all the animals were off keeping cool. Away from the road. Out of view.

It was a busy day, and Riley ended up taking his nap in the car. I was lucky to snap this picture of Tyson stroking Riley's hair to help him fall asleep. (Ty is not wearing his seat belt in this picture only because we were still driving through the park... at about 5 mph. He buckled up before we got back onto the real road!)
After our uneventful drive through the park, we all went back to my house where we were joined by my dad & stepmom for a BBQ.

It was a great day, and I am really happy we all got to spend that much time together!

Just Popping In...

2009-07-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

...to say that I'm still here. The last two weeks have been challenging & busy.

Last week my family suffered a sad loss when my aunt passed away after an 11 month battle with cancer. Life was odd for the week, with lots of praying and contemplating deep thoughts & such between services & family gatherings.

This week, all of my normally-out-of-town family members have converged on St. Louis. It seems that we are going, going, going all day, every day. The house is a mess, I'm behind on my housework and summer projects, and we haven't done any summer homeschooling sessions in a week.

I have promised myself that I will get back on track with our routines & activities next week. The summer is quickly fleeing, and I'm running out of time to get things done!

Also, I have much to share here on my blog... my camera is almost FULL of photos!

So please check back again after Monday, when I will be back to my normally scheduled life, already in progress.

Weedless Wednesday

2009-06-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Despite the teeny tiny plants in my garden, I am beginning to get some actual veggies! I picked these just this morning.

I also noticed that I have tomatoes growing, as well as some flowers on the cucumber plant.

So far this week, I rearranged the soaker hose so that it now follows the rows, and also Miracle Grow'd everything. That's all the goo news.

The less than good news is that I'm having some trouble getting ahead of the weeds... and also Matt saw a squirrel in the garden this morning. We've never had squirrels before. Rabbits? Yes. Squirrels? No. It would figure that I finally put in place a relatively permanent solution to keep the rabbits out... and then the squirrels move in.

Happy Gardening!

2009-06-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... what could this be for? Is it possible that we made a recent purchase of something awesome for our family?

Yep!!! We bought a pop-up camper! We here at Chez Keowdie love to camp.

But... in the last couple of years, some of the camping has been a little less fun. Camping in a tent is difficult with 2 young boys. Sleeping on the ground is difficult with a thirty-something-year-old body. Sleeping in a tent when the temperatures are chilly (like, 30's) at night is difficult when you're not an Eskimo.

So, after a little cranking, chocking and popping...

We figured it out, popped it up, and started making a list of everything that needs to be moved into/purchased for our new home away from home.
Here's another picture of the interior:

Riley couldn't wait to explore.
We have to get license plates for it before we can take her out on her maiden voyage. I definitely forsee some more camping trips in our future!!!

Fiber Friday

2009-06-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

I finished the last pair of Soldiers Angels socks! In case you missed the story about these, I'll put it in a nutshell. We adopt soldiers through Soldiers Angels, and the soldier we are currently supporting will be coming back to the States in August for the birth of his first child. Since he is currently deployed in a still-active part of Iraq, he will have very few (if any) opportunities to shop for a gift for his baby girl. So, I knitted two pairs of socks for him to bring home. They are small & portable, and will be easy for him to bring home to his wife & baby.

Here's the first pair:
The pattern is my own, and is a great stash buster. I don't even know what yarn I used, although I think the bright pink was some that I dyed myself. This first pair turned out slightly bigger than I planned, and are actually too big for a newborn, so...

...I made a second pair:
These are much smaller, and I think will be perfect for a newborn baby's tiny feet. I guess they'll have a pair for now and a pair for later!

I have another quick project I hope to cast on today, before beginning another baby blanket for my niece/nephew who will be born in December.

In addition to knitting, the boys & I have been spending most afternoons (which are now 90+ degrees) in the back yard. I toss the kids in the pool, pull up my lawn chair, stick my feet in the water... and relax.
It's a great way to kill an afternoon and unwind after a day full of housework & running around.
Ahhhhhhhhh. Happy knitting!

Weedless Wdnesday

2009-06-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

You can tell from the following picture that I've been busy, weeding the garden. I weeded for about an hour & got two rows done before I had to quit. There's still a lot to be done, but it's a start.

I also picked up some gardening shoes today. Now, I am generally against the whole idea of Crocs (except for the little baby ones - those are so cute!) but I needed some shoes that I can just hose off. These were $9.00, so I gritted my teeth & bought them.

In general, I'm not too happy with how things are growing so far. The veggies in the garden are growing painfully slow, and I think it's because of the really bad soil we got. Matt picked up some Miracle Grow yesterday, so I'll be dousing the garden this week. Maybe that will help.

We had our first garden casualty already. The sweet peas didn't make it. I think they got too much direct sunlight, and not enough water. Even though it hasn't been too hot (until today), it seems that the direct sun for most of the day was too much for them.
Yellow/brown pea plants = not a good sign. It tried to move these guys back under the porch, but it was too late.
I'll be pulling out the deceased peas & replanting them... in a better spot with more water & less sun.

Happy Gardening!

Tidy Up Tuesday

2009-06-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

Much has been going on to improve and beautify our home. First up, I finally made some time to hang up my cross collection. (I know it's not very big, but it's a start. The big one was a gift from my MIL, who made it in ceramics class a long time ago; the smaller one was a purchase during my recent trip to Phoenix.)

I also rearranged some of the baby gates & barricades on the first floor. The top of the basement stairs was really cluttery. The whole area had been blocked off, so we had kind of started lobbing things to go downstairs over the gate... where they sat & sat. It's nice to be able to get to the window again.

The same thing happened with the entry table. It tends to collect stuff to go upstairs, but the stuff sort of sits there longer than it really should. I purchased two small baskets at Walgreens that now sit on the stairs. The baskets collect the stuff to go upstairs & are emptied several times each day.
I wish I had thought to take before photos so you could see the great improvements that were made.

Much of the tidying that happened this week was of the organizational kind. I reorganized Tyson's control journal...
...as well as my own. We needed to accommodate for summer break. I love this idea, which I got from the FLY Lady. Having my routines and daily to-do lists helps to keep me on track with the housework, and spreads it out. We do a little each day, and then on "Home Blessing Day," we've only got about an hour worth of cleaning to do. We use the timer method FLY Lady recommends, and amazingly, it all gets done (when we stick to the program).
We've got a lot to do this week. I'm trying to tear through all the hidden spaces this week (closets, cabinets, etc.). Once the nooks & crannies of our family living spaces are clean & organized, we can move on to cleaning up the basement & decorating the bedrooms.

Have a Tidy Week!

Flag Day Weekend

2009-06-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Flag Day!

Well, Flag Day was yesterday. We are a patriotic bunch, so we celebrated with some patriotic activities. The first order of business was for Matt to hang up our new flag pole. Our last one broke in the fall & we thought this weekend was a good time to hang up a new one.

Tyson baked some cookies for the soldier we adopted. These Flag Day cookies will be going to Iraq, and will conveniently arrive to our soldier by Independence Day.

Ty & I also baked a Flag Day cake. It's a yellow cake with white icing. We used blusberries & strawberries to give it the stars & stripes.
Of course, Matt & Riley helped with the cake a little, but mostly they just ate the leftover icing.
After the baking was finished, we worked on weeding the out of control garden, inflated the kids' little frog pool and watered all the plants.

The day ended with a Flag Day BBQ - grilled chicken & veggie kabobs, baked mac & cheese, and (of course) our Flag Day cake!

Other fun parts of the weekend included Ty's tennis class...
...and my tennis class on Saturday...
...as well as a short road trip to IL to look at something. More on that later.

Guest Post

2009-06-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, Ya'll! It's Riley, here... I'm posting for my Mommy today. She says she's too exhausted to post. I have no idea why. She claims that she is tired from keeping up with me, but I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about.

In my own defense, I have put together a photo montage I have entitled "A Day in the Life of a Wild Thing." ("Wild, Thing," indeed... again, I don't know what they were talking about when they slapped that nickname on me, but for some unknown reason it has stuck. I'm trying to embrace it.)

I'm just like any other kid. I love a good snack, and I can eat it all by myself. Nothing for Mommy to do here...

After a good snack, I like to spend a bit of my day helping my mom. This morning I helped with her spinning wheel. There was all this wool hanging out of it, so I relieved said wheel of said wool.

I like to stay near my mom, especially when she's working on the computer. Pay no attention to the dog's legs next to me. I most certainly was not under the table because the dog was napping there & I was curious about how he'd respond to being bludgeoned with my toy.

Okay, occasionally when something doesn't go my way, I have to lay down the law. I have to show them who really wears the pants in this family.

Anyway, I do my fair share of helping out around here. I'm constantly running the Swiffer around, and I keep all my toys in constant circulation around the entire first floor... you know, to avoid dust build up.

I am very good about using my words. I have about 15 signs I use on a daily basis, and I am never impatient or demanding about using them. I mean, come on. I understand that it could take as many as 2.5 seconds for Mommy to respond to my request for cheese and juice. (Any more than that & the woman is just being lazy...) I'm a patient man.

And, here I am trying to clean the lense of Mommy's camera while she tried to take a picture of my big brother. Since my fingers are usually a little damp & sticky anyway, I just thought I'd help out. I also help my family kep their eyeballs, ears and nostrils clean by frequently poking them with my damp, drooly fingers as well. What can I say? I'm just doing my part.

And, sure, I might want to be carried around nonstop, like every minute of almost every day, but that's just so that Mommy doesn't get lonely. I know she must miss me terribly when she's cooking dinner, changing the laundry around and going to the bathroom. My cries are simply to remind her that I'm still out here and will never leave her alone. Ever. So that she will be comforted. And not lonely. And not afraid that I have suddenly disappeared.

I like to work on my skills whenever possible, too. Learning to do things like dump things out, open gates and climb will undoubtedly benefit me later in life. And I'm fortunate, that opporunities to practice these skills seem to build on one another in this environment. For example, I had to learn to dump out that big hamper my mom put in front of the gate so that I could then learn to open that gate she put in front of the stairs so that I could then practice my skills at climbing to the top of the stairs to declare myself King of the Mountain.
And of course, there's always time for a little goofing around.

I also enjoy the outdoors. Mostly I enjoy overturning the still-empty flower pots...

...and rearranging the furniture...

...and sometimes digging in the sand. Although it's a lot more fun to watch Mommy get grossed out when I eat the sand. Her reaction is well worth the price of gritty teeth!

And who doesn't like to kick back at the end of the day with a cool beverage? I pilfered this particulr gem out of the recycle bag the other day. Too bad my Daddy had already finished off the contents and rinsed out the bottle. Otherwise, it would have been a great night!
All in all, I'd say that I'm the one who should be exhausted by the end of the day.

I mean really, I'm the one who is constantly in motion, all day long, from the time I wake up until the time I fall asleep without ever stopping or slowing down for even the briefest of moments.
So why is Mommy too tired to post today? I still don't get it.

Tidy Up Tuesday

2009-06-09T11:55:00.001-07:00

Well, last week's Tidy-Up projects were a bust. I just can't seem to motivate myself to clean when I'm sick. Actually, it's all I can do to motivate myself to feed and clothe the children and myself when I'm sick.

So this week started off well. I have managed to clear the clutter from my kitchen, and to stay on top of the dishes. Inspired by my dear friend, Becca, I also cleaned out the fridge (including wiping down the shelves & drawers!) And, thanks to this program, I am much better at keeping a shiny sink than I used to be!
Next, I tackled a job that has been building up and making me crazy for weeks: the dining room table. We have an open floor plan, so when that table (which is rather large in size) is messy, the mess is all up in yo' business, no matter where you are on the first floor.

When I began, it was completely covered. I mean, completely. It started with a few innocent stacks of "things I need to go through" but by the end of the school year and my out of town conference, the "stacks" had multiplied, become "piles," and had slid into one another to create a mountainous region of odds & ends. It was not pretty.

But now it's very pretty!
That stuff at the end is my summer work station. This way I can bring small amounts of work up from the dungeon... er, I mean office downstairs... so I can work on work-stuff, but still keep an eye on the boys.

And speaking of the Boys...

...no post would be complete without a photo of my littler "helpers." I'm trying to instill in all of us a habit of picking up all the toys in the living room before leaving the house, eating lunch, and going to bed... as well as any time things just get really out of hand. Not a lot of success so far, but we'll get there! Does anybody know where I can buy a whistle?
Happy Cleaning!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here's my second attempt at planning a menu for the Stay At Home Summer... last week went okay, but we ran out of a few things mid-week. I failed to realize how much my small boys consume when they eat three meals at home every day, seven days a week.

Again, the foods with a * next to them are those sneaky foods that are hiding extra veggies!

SUNDAY: Grilled hamburgers*, baked beans, mixed veggies.

MONDAY: Fritata, Fruit Smoothies*, Biscuits

TUESDAY: Pasta with pesto*, salad

WEDNESDAY: BBQ Chicken, Corn, Mac & Cheese*

THURSDAY: Leftovers (for the boys), Date Night for Matt & me (yay!)

FRIDAY: Shrimp & Rice*, veggies, rolls (this is a carryover from last week. We ate out one night while I was sick.)

BREAKFASTS THIS WEEK: Pancakes*, fruit
LUNCHES THIS WEEK: Sandwiches, beans & franks, leftover pizza

For more menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com
Have a great week!!!!

This and That

2009-06-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was pretty much MIA for most of last week. It wasn't just from the blog. It was from everything. Twitter, Facebook the Blog... I think my big sister might even file a missing person's report if I don't call her soon! (Don't worry, H! I'll call you as soon as my voice comes back!) My absence was not planned, but was unavoidable. I was so sick. It started with a splitting headache on Monday & Tuesday, then I got a sore throat Wednesday afternoon, and by Thursday I was full-on sick.

I learned a surprising lesson that the more seasoned SAHM's will probably laugh at: Stay At Home Moms do not get to call in sick! I was shocked to learn this. If I get sick during the school year, I call in sick, send the boys to school & day care, and put myself back to bed for most of the day. This cannot occur in StayAtHomeLand. I had to get off the couch to clothe, feed, amuse and redirect the children. And of course, I still had to change diapers. It was a challenge to say the least, and again, I applaud all those who have come before me. You SAHM's who do this all year round amaze me.

Okay, on to the This & That part of this post:

I got a new ring today. It was designed especially for me but a very creative lad. What do you think?

I finished the Soldiers Angels Baby Socks... and promptly started a second pair. These turned out a little bigger than I planned, so I'll just send two pair. One for August air conditioning and one for fall/winter weather. (Both colors are actually more pink than the photo shows.)

Oh, and yesterday I got a very exciting package. It might not look too exciting (I mean, it's just black & white yarn, for crying out loud), but it's the yarn for my niece or nephew who will be born at some point in December. It's going to be a blanket that is knitted in the round, so I have to get some new, longer size 7 circular needles before I can begin.

We also got some lawn enhancements today. Last year we hardly used the back yard. I guess with Riley still being an infant, we just stayed out of the sun & the heat for the whole summer. Needless to say, the deck and backyard are nothing very spectacular, but we are making an effort to spruce it up a bit this year.
And, in addition to the feeder for the hummingbirds (who used to come by the old feeder in droves) we got a new feeder for the other birds too. It's mounted right on the rail of the deck, so it's really close to the house. And we've already had some new visitors to it!
Oh, and last week, on Weedless Wednesday, I forgot to show you the new stuff we planted. In an effort to cut down on the amount of lawn Matt will have to mow later in the summer, Tyson & I planted four new plots of late summer/fall stuff. Yep, we're doing an experiment. We planted the seeds right in with the grass. We planted pumpkins, watermelons, zucchini and decorative gourds. So far I've got a couple of sprouts coming up.
Oh, and we also got one more thing today. I'm super excited about it. We got a little (and I do mean little) pool for the boys! The backyard gets a good amount of shade in the late afternoon, so I think that's where we'll put it (if it ever stops raining this week). It's a small inflatable pool that is shaped like a frog. I'll share some photos after it's all blown up.

I've got a few other things to share this week, so check back soon!

Weedless Wednesday

2009-06-03T08:57:00.001-07:00

...or...not. While I was away for five days over last weekend, the weeds began taking over the garden. Between unpacking, ending the school year, trying to figure out a routine that does not include going to work every day & rain, I haven't had a chance to pull the little suckers out.

I did have time to buy a soaker hose and put it out. It's not where I want it yet; I actually want it to follow my rows, but it was so curled up from the packaging that I had to just get it out there however it would go, & I'll move it around after it has relaxed a little.

So, here's what the garden looks like now (remember that not all that green is a veggie...):

I'm so happy that stuff grew. The soil is so bad, I honestly thought nothing could live in it.

Here are some potatoes (which I've never grown before) and lettuce. The pictures are a little dark because, well, it was getting dark outside.
This is growing out of the pot where I planted the asparagus. I have no idea if this is asparagus or a weed. If anyone knows & would like to share, I'll be very appreciative.

The sweet peas continue to grow. They've already reached the top of the dead bush I planted them with.

Here's the one lonely cucumber. Except that he's not lonely anymore. There is one other little guy growing at the other end of the row.

And, on the flower front, my lilies are getting ready to bloom. These are late bloomers.
That's about all for this week. I hope to have the soaker hose in its permanent configuration and have the garden all weeded by next Wednesday. Happy Growing!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is our first week of summer vacation, & we're all trying to adjust. I'm not sure I was quite prepared for the many areas of life this would effect. It's not just me staying home with the kids... it's changing the schedule by which I clean my house, the way I plan my menu's, do the grocery shopping, workout, eat... everything is all different.

Here's the menu for this week. Items with a * next to them are sneaky dishes that are hiding extra veggies.

MONDAY - Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) - spinach/cheese omelets, whole wheat toast,* fruit smoothies

TUESDAY - California Chicken Salad, Rolls

WEDNESDAY - *Taco's, corn, salad

THURSDAY - Leftovers

FRIDAY - Pigs in a Blanket, *Mac & Cheese, broccoli

SATURDAY - Leftovers, COTF (Clean Out the Fridge - Everything must go... either into hungry bellies, or into the trash if it is questionable... or cranky...)

BREAKFASTS FOR WEEK - Yogurt, fruit, mini blueberry muffins
LUNCHES FOR WEEK - Leftovers from dinner or ham & cheese sandwiches, crackers, veggies/fruit.

So there you have it. I don't really plan three completely novel meals for every day. Since the Wild Thing is still small, I still have the luxury of leftovers. And, I really do admire those women who plan & prepare all those meals every day. I just don't have the stamina for that... I'll have to work up to it, I guess. Baby steps, people!

For more Menu Plan Monday posts, check out I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Souvenier Fiber

2009-05-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

One might think that Arizona is a poor place to find warm, soft yarns for knitting. My mom was very surprised that there are, in fact, 4 LYS's (Local Yarn Stores) in the greater Phoenix area.

On my last day in AZ, we did a little fiber shopping (because, as every knitter knows, that's what you buy to remember your travels). We only had time to go to two shops (this one and this one), but they were both really nice. Here's a photo my mom took of me in the second one:
Look at all the yummy handspun yarns!

I ended up with three skeins of bright wool. I'm planning to make a sort of kitschy felted bag. The colors are similar to an Arizona sunset.

And, since I'm still trying to get the hang of this spinning thing, I bought some lovely wool yarn, some assembly required. The fiber I'm working with right now is very, very dark purple, so I wanted something light & airy.

And, despite the busy weekend, I did find some time for knitting. I did one more pattern repeat on Branching Out; I finished two more hexagons for Riley's blanket; and I started and completed one little baby sock:
It seems like everyone I know is having a baby. This particular sock is for a baby who is due in June. She is the daughter of the soldier we "adopted." He is stationed in Iraq, but will be coming home for a bit when the baby is born. I don't know if he'll have an opportunity to buy a gift for her before he gets there, so I'm making these and sending them to him so that he can bring them back when he comes home. They will be very small and easy for him to pack.

Happy Knitting!

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-27T20:12:00.001-07:00

Well, I got home at about 1am. I slept for a bit and then got up to get Tyson on the bus. I then spent a fun-filled day of cathcing up on paperwork and preparing for check out tomorrow.

Hmm? What's that? You don't know what check out is? Oh, I see. It's no big deal. Check out is only one f the BEST DAYS OF THE YEAR!!!!!

Check out is the day at the end of the school year where I take all my year-end reports and files and other wrap-up-the-school-year-stuff to my boss and he says thank you and I practically run out the door because MY SUMMER VACATION HAS STARTED!!!

The work to get ready for Check Out is great. There is so much left to do. But it's the last push to finish the year, and then there is FREEDOM. For almost three whole months.

Hmm? Oh, you'd like to know how I will be spending my almost-three-months? I'll be spending it doing absolutely. nothing.

Okay, that's not exactly, precisely true. Tomorrow at about 2:00 pm, my very first SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) Summer will being. I'll be taking over all of the domestic chores, spending copious amounts of time playing with my sons, doing a little light homeschooling with both boys, knitting, spinning, gardening and lots (and lots) of blogging.

I've got a few more photos to share from my trip to "sunny" Arizona, and I haven't shown you the fibers I bought there yet! So check back soon!

Out of My Element

2009-05-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

I've haven't posted in a while because I've been out of town. This weekend I am at the ABAI National Conference, in Phoenix, AZ. I flew in Friday morning, and will return to St. Louis Tuesday night (though technically it will be Wednesday by the time I get home).

I got off the plane and heard, "Welcome to Sunny Arizona," and spent the next two days looking at this:
"Sunny Arizona," my patootie! Just when I was beginning to think that the "sunny" thing was just a massive conspiracy spearheaded by the Arizona Tourism Board, the sun did come out. And it warmed right up. And it's true that the dry heat feels much better than the 90% humidity we have back home.

I've had some opportunities to do some sight seeing in the afternoons, after my workshops. I am fascinated by the strange vegetation and wildlife they have here.

They have purple cacti:
(By the way, Blogland, meet Wilbur. Wilbur is my traveling companion for this trip. He goes everywhere I go, and he really enjoys being photographed.)

They also have other pretty plants. Lots of stuff is either blooming or getting ready to bloom right now. This tree really impressed me. It's a Teddy Bear Cholla. From the road it looks fluffy, but up close... not so much. It blooms with these beautiful flowers that are surrounded by big, pointy, menacing looking spikes.
On the way home today we saw some people crossing the road on horses. (We also saw several coyotes walking down the side of the road, but I couldn't get the camera out & on before they disappeared into the desert.)
And then my mom (whom I'm staying with) drove the scenic route home. We saw the Elvis Chapel...
...and a bunch of mountains. This one is south of Gold Canyon (where she lives):
This is the Superstition Mountain:
I have a lot more pictures... mostly of big, majestic mountains and big, blue sky.

Speaking of things that are big, my mom picked these out of her garden today:
It's hard to tell, but the tomatoes are hugemongous (think bowling ball), and the squash is ginormous (think caveman club).
I'm sure I'll post some more photos later this week, too. There are some interesting pieces of art all around the Convention Center, and a few others from around the house.

I hope you all are having a safe, relaxing holiday weekend.

Weedless Wednesday

2009-05-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

It's a little late on Wednesday, I know. But work has been busy and unfortunately my job doesn't do itself (but wouldn't it be great if it did?).

Things are growing pretty well around here, especially with the bad soil everything is planted in.

My lamb's ear is throwing up shoots that will soon bloom into beautiful purple flowers.
And speaking of things that bloom in pretty colors, I got my hair done. Same style, just a lot more pink. Yes. Hot. pink. The picture just doesn't quite do it justice.
The sweet peas are my stars. All four pots are putting out flowers that will soon become peas.
The pepper plant has bloomed its first flower & is working on its first pepper.
The okra is coming up. (You can tell quite clearly from the row marker that I planted this only because Matt & Tyson wanted me to.)

The tomatoes are coming along.
And there is one lonely cucumber that sprouted.
The lettuce is doing really well.
And the corn will hopefully be plentiful this year. I planted sweet yellow corn and ruby corn. I have no idea which is which right now, though.
This is either carrots or crab grass. Given that it seems to be coming up in a row, I'm guessing carrots. Or just really organized crabgrass.
And lastly, there is broccoli in my future. Sigh. Another request from the boys. Ick.
Happy gardening!

Tidy Up Tuesday

2009-05-18T19:38:00.001-07:00

This week's Tidy-Up post gives props to Matt. He completed this week's Tidy-Up Task, all by himself, and without me asking.

Last Saturday I had a workshop from 8am to 6pm. It was a long day under fluorescent lights (which gave me a migraine). Since I work in special education, the end of the school year brings tons of stress and extra work tasks. The unfortunate side effect is that my home duties sometimes end up neglected. I left the house pretty messy Saturday morning (especially my kitchen... I'm not sure which is worse: the dishes, the mail, or the junk...) and came home to this:
It was all clean! And he didn't stop at the kitchen. He also dusted and vacuumed, and cleaned the bathrooms. He hates. to. clean. the. bathrooms. Thank you Matt!!!!

It felt so nice to have a clean, lovely kitchen that I was inspired to bake ahead a couple of things for this week: Sweet Potato Biscuits and some mostly natural, healthy-ish double chocolate mini-muffins.

Oh, and remember the cabinet I cleaned out last week? It's still looking good!
Yay!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

This week's menu is short. I will be leaving town on Friday (at 4:30 in the morning) and hubby resists my attempts to plan and prepare meals ahead of time. I would prefer to plan and prep dinners for most of the 5 nights I will be in Phoenix, so that he only has to pull things out of the freezer or fridge and heat as instructed. He prefers to make a daily run to the store (or to the Chinese/Pizza/Sub/Fast Food restaurant, depending on what he and Tyson feel like. (Riley's requests are limited to the foods he can sign: milk, fruit, cereal, french fry, bread and cookie. BTW, the "fries" and "cookies" are almost always healthy versions of the classics. I try not to load my kids up with junk food most of the time.)

Matt & Tyson call this "batching it up," and I mostly try not to think about how my rules, plans and routines are thrown out the window in my absence. So, here is my menu plan for this short week:

Sunday
Breakfast - fruit, whole grain toast
Lunch - Culver's
Dinner - Grilled tilapia, green beans & potatoes, sweet potato biscuits

Monday
Dinner - "Brinner" (Breakfast+Dinner)
scrambled eggs with spinach, fruit smoothies

Tuesday
Dinner - BBQ chicken in the crockpot, baked beans, garden salad, sweet potato biscuits

Wednesday
Dinner - grilled hot dogs (turkey), ranch potatoes, green beans

Thursday
Dinner - Leftovers

Breakfast all week - yogurt with granola and fruit
Lunches all week - sushi, tuna salad, or turkey sandwiches; crackers; cherries or apple; pudding

For now, during the school year when we are all gone during the day, we just choose one meal for breakfast and lunches, and stick with that throughout the week. When the school year is done and the First SAHM Summer has begun I'm sure I will plan all three meals each day with a little more variety.

Have a great week!

April Showers...

2009-05-16T18:06:00.001-07:00

... really do bring May flowers!

I planted these last year... I think this is Sweet William, but I'm not sure. When I planted these last spring, they were all these scrawny little flowers that I had hoped would fill in by the end of summer. They sort of filled in, but I wasn't all that impressed; I decided to try something else this year. And then these pretty flowers came back. All by themselves. With a vengeance. Imagine my surprise since I had no idea they would come back! And they didn't just come back on their own; they are fuller, bigger and have about two hundred times more flowers on them! And seriously, I didn't do a thing. I didn't even cut them back last fall. That is so cool.
Also making a fabulous return this year are my irises. Yes. They are brown. Actually, if you really look closely, they are purple and yellow/orange, which apparently looks brown when mixed. I'm thinking of adding a few other colors to them next year.

And now, on to the veggies! The potatoes are doing very well. (Yes. they are in a pot. Yes. I know they will not likely grow any actual potatoes in a pot. But, I had to get them in some dirt and they are pretty and I still feel really successful because they are actually growing!)
The sweet peas are also doing really well. I have three pots of them, and these are the happiest. They are climbing up the remains of the hibiscus I killed last winter.
I love to see how they are attaching themselves to this dead tree.
And what about the garden in the back? The very big garden in the back yard? Well, my Dad gave me some peppers, which are growing pretty well. One of them looks like it's about to bloom!
And the rest of it? Well, not so much. I do have a few tomatoes (also contributed by my Dad) that were started indoors. Other than that, nothing is coming up so far. It's okay; it's only been a few days. I'm not worried yet. Really. It's gong to be fine. I'm not worried... why? do I sound like I'm worried that my husband put in a ton of work and I have made all these fabulous plans to grow enough produce to start my own farm and can enough veggies to get us mostly through the winter... but I'm not worried about the fact that I realized too late that the soil we filled the garden with was really just dirt and resembles something as hard as the salt flats when it's dry and I cannot imagine anything managing to force its way up through that concrete block I'm trying to call a garden... but I'm not worried.
And I am certainly not freaking out.

Frugal Friday

2009-05-12T18:33:00.001-07:00

I don't know if this actually qualifies as a "Frugal Friday" post. But I solved an organizational problem without running out to the store to buy a new 'widget.' Having been inspired by the many brilliant Frugal Friday contributors that I've read over the last couple of months, I looked around my house and used things I already had. In doing so, I also re-purposed two items that would have been trashed. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

So, here was my problem. I don't have a good place to keep bibs near our dining room table. They have cluttered kitchen counters, dining chairs, kitchen cabinets & drawers and multiple other places in our home. Always they are in the way.
My first reaction was to go to the office supply store (or Target or Lowe's) and buy something new that I could affix to the chair somehow. Instead, I descended into the depths of our basement and looked around.

These are the materials I found:
It took me a few minutes to make this, but probably no more than it would have taken me to drive to the store, look around and maybe buy something (or maybe drive to another store if I didn't find what I was looking for).

After some cutting, gluing and muttering to myself, I had finished it. It's not anything huge... not a cure for stupidity or anything, but it's a start. I had to trim the box and the bag quite a bit, and I even used the bag's handles to tie it to the back of the highchair.

It's working out really well. All the bibs fit, and when it's time to eat, we put him in the chair and just grab one from right behind him. They're right there... which means they're not cluttering up other areas of my house.

Tidy Up Tuesday

2009-05-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know it's actually Thursday. I'm still figuring out how to do a day-of-the-week themed post... I think that if I'm going to do a Tidy Up Tuesday post each week, I should actually write it on Monday evening so I can post it on Tuesday morning... anyway, it's here now. Deal with it.

My goal for my first SAHM Summer is to systematically go through our entire house to clean and organize it. I hope that if I can do this over the summer, the school year will go a little better.

I'm getting a jump on the project because I need things to be organized now. I started with one of the areas that's a little more difficult for me. One of the kitchen cabinets. It's the one where we store all the baby bottles and other baby equipment. This one was a little challenging for me because the baby isn't a baby anymore, and it was time to get rid of his baby stuff. But getting rid of the baby stuff means that it's real and my baby really isn't a baby anymore.

This is what it looked like before:
That white box was full of bottles, nipples and collars, but many of them fell on my head in an avalanche when I opened the door.

I began by removing everything from the bottom shelf, and this was all the stuff I found:

And this was some of the stuff I threw out:

Before you recyclers out there get upset, let me clarify. I identified two crates like this full of stuff that could no longer live in that cabinet. Much of it went into the sand table and toy boxes for the boys to play with. A lot of it did get thrown in the trash because it had been saved from Tyson six years ago and was damaged. Many of the bowls had been microwaved to within an inch of their lives. And yes, anything that could be put into the recycle bin was put there.

Once the crate was empty, I used it to corral all of Riley's dishes. Is it just me, or are the baby bowls, cups, plates, etc. the worst things to try & store? They're all funny shapes and sizes and nothing really stacks together very well.

And here's how it looked when I was done. No more avalanches of plasticware. No more throwing things on top of the pile and slamming the door shut before it all cascades out onto my head.
There are a few bottles left. Those are what I use to send Riley's whole milk to school each day (the school uses 2%, but his Dr. wants him on whole). I also find that they're really useful for storing other things as well.

I'm not sure what I'm going to work on next. There are other kitchen cabinets to be organized & purged, so I'll probably just keep going on that. I think it would be best to just stick with a room until it's completely done before moving on to the next room.

This project will also include redecorating Ty's room, as well as decorating our bedroom and Riley's room. (I say "decorate" those last two rooms because the truth is that, despite living in this house for 8 years, I've never gotten around to doing anything to most of its rooms.) But I'll go more into that later.

3-2-1...

2009-05-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis! And because we are sort of a family of nerds (cool nerds, but still), we celebrated. When Tyson got home from school, we read through all the information that his Aunt Heather (who works for NASA) sent him a few weeks ago. In anticipation of this launch, I saved the big envelope of stuff until yesterday. We learned a lot about the shuttle, its missions, and about baseball in space.

After that, we turned on "NASA on HDNet," which we recorded (thank goodness for the DVR!). We watched all the pre-launch coverage while we built the Space Shuttle Discovery glider:
We decided that since it is glued together, this particular glider will actually have her maiden voyage this afternoon. It was determined that the wet Elmer's glue made the hull structurally unsound and we felt that to attempt to fly it before a thorough drying period would result in a mini-disaster.

We completed the glider with about 4 minutes to spare, so we snuggled up on the couch and watched the launch:
Tyson was really excited about the whole thing. We will be following this mission... Ty is especially interested in the space walks the crew will be doing. I'm so happy he's finally old enough to understand and be interested in this kind of thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And on the knitting front, I spent a few minutes over the weekend winding this lovely fiber:
For this lovely project:
I actually had to frog this bit of progress, but I cast on again and have actually done two additional pattern repeats. I think I'm doing it right, though it's hard to tell because when I'm working on it... well, it resembles a big knot of yarn. I dry blocked it briefly yesterday, and it does look like the picture, so I'd say I'm on track.

This will be my airplane project for my upcoming trip to Phoenix, so I need to learn the pattern well enough to do it while listening to an audiobook and praying in a state of panic from having to fly. I'm hoping that knitting on a project I actually have to pay attention to will help my cognitive brain take over a little and distract me from the paralyzing fear my irrational brain will be experiencing. Well, we can hope, anyway.

I've got three or four additional posts on deck for this week, so check back often!

Space. The Final Frontier...

2009-05-08T23:17:00.001-07:00

Yep. I saw this movie tonight.

And holy cow, it was quitepossiblythebestmovie. Ever!

Seriously, the story was excellent; it had action; I laughed, I cried; and it answered a few questions I had about the characters & their relationships.

The cast was excellent, and really captured the essence of the original. The mannerisms and catch phrases were all there.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who even caught a glimpse of the old Star Trek. And honestly, even if you spent the better portion of the sixties through the nineties with your head in a bucket, this movie could really stand on its own two feet. If you like action/scifi, you have got to see this movie.

I might just go back & see it again. Tyson didn't go with us tonight, and I know he'll love it. He'll probably come out of the theater telling me that when he grows up he wants to be a StarFleet captain... but heck, when I walked out of the theater tonight I said that when I grow up, I want to be a Star Fleet captain!

T2 - COMPLETE.

2009-05-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

I have an FO! It's the baby blanket I've called T2. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
First thing tomorrow morning I will be washing and blocking it. Here are the project specs:
- Pattern: Trinity Log Cabin Triangle from Indigo Muse Knits
- Needles: Size 11 Straights
- Yarn: TLC Baby Amore in light blue, rose, orchid, yellow and white
- Knitted For: I can't say. It's a gift for friends who might stumble across this post.
- Interesting Facts: I just spent the better part of 2 hours weaving in 38 ends because I decided to leave that part until the end; this blanket has approximately 3,820 stitches in it; every one of those was a knit stitch; I am now entirely sick of knit stitches.

I can't wait to gift this knit. Now I'm planning to take a small break from baby knits, and then I'll need to jump right back in to start another knit for another baby. No, silly. It's not my baby. But it will be my little niece or nephew! Matt's brother & his wife are expecting their first baby in December. My MIL, Marci (the mommy-to-be) and I are all knitters, so this kid is probably going to have a complete knitted wardrobe be July!
~~~~~~~~~
I went to the bank the other day. You might be wondering why this is noteworthy. It was a bank I've never been to before. Well, I've used the ATM, but this time I had to actually talk to a person. So, I was a little surprised when I pulled up and saw this instead of a window:
I have no idea why I was a bit taken aback, because I know this is the current trend in bank teller safety. But for some reason, though, I felt like I was in an episode of the original Dr. Who. Weird.

And in other news, meal times at our house are such eventful times... the boys never cease to amaze and amuse me. Sometimes Tyson is more than happy to ham it up for the camera, making silly faces or goofing with his food. Tonight I got the old, "Not now, mom. I'm trying to eat" brush-off:
Riley was, as always, in need of a complete hose down after he finished eating his pizza. Did I mention that he loves pizza? Okay, I should clarify: he loves fast food pizza. He only likes my wholesome, veggie-packed (sweet potato crust, carrot puree-infused sauce, fresh veggie-topped), whole grain, preservative/sugar free, low fat version of pizza, despite the fact that it is really and truly tasty. Seriously. Stop wrinkling your nose like that. I'm a super picky eater with the pallet of a four year old, and I love it! I'm afraid he has inherited my preference for processed junk food. Nevertheless, he is adorable:
Have a Happy Week!!!

You Spin Me Right Round...

2009-04-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

...Baby, Right Round, Like a Record Baby...

Or in this case, less a record and more a drop spindle. I took a class with some knitterly friends on Saturday. We had lots of fun, and I'm happy to report that my skills and my confidence were greatly increased.

I took this:
and this:
and made it into this:
It's ugly, I know, but I purposely picked contrasting colors so I could use it for reference later. The twist is a little uneven in places, but this was my very first attempt at plying. I could actually knit with this!

We used some processed roving (like the lavender stuff at the top) in several colors. It was provided by the LYS, and it was okay. But our instructor also brought a whole fleece for us to see. She spins "in the grease," which means that the wool is straight from the sheep. It has only been carded, but has not been washed, so it has all the lanolin still in it. It smells a little funny, but, holy crap, it's nice to spin with. The fibers slip really well when you draft.

Here's a picture of the lovely Karen attempting to master the spinning wheel. It was her first time on a wheel, and she struggled a little, but really kept at it!
Look at all the lovely fiber!
When I got home on Saturday, it was time to do a little gardening. Well, actually, can you call it "gardening" if the garden doesn't exist quite yet? For the last several years, we've had two boxes in this area; they were each 4'x6'. As you can see, it has grown quite a bit!
We succeeded in framing out the area and spreading out the soil more evenly. I'm concerned that we actually have too much soil in there, as it is still slightly mounded up over the edge. Matt keeps telling me that it will all settle in, but I'm not so sure it will settle before I need to put plants in there. Its supposed to rain a lot today, so I guess we'll see if that helps.

While Matt & I were digging, Ty was helping out by keeping Riley occupied. More than occupied, the boys had quite a lot of fun! This photo is going on my wall.
After several hours of working, it almost looks like a garden. Matt did a really great job.
~~~~~~
On a side note, I sometimes wonder how I will ever survive raising two boys. This was the book Tyson brought home from the library last week. Ick!
Happy knitting!

Wow. An acutal Knitting post on my KNITTING blog.

2009-04-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post over the weekend. It was busy & rough. We spent a good portion of Sunday cleaning the house & working on inside projects (since it was raining outside).

Saturday was really the doozy. My day started with a dentist appointment. This was my first appointment since getting the braces removed, so I knew it would be a little rough. I suspected I had a cavity, since I could see a shadow on one of my teeth, right where the band had been. Little did I know that I actually had two cavities, and that the one I thought was a wee little cavity actually turned out to be a crater (like, remember the place where Han Solo parked the Millenium Falcon when they were hiding from Imperial Fighters in the meteor field?). It was a rough appointment with lots of drilling, novacaine, and OHMYGOSHNOTNEARLYENOUGHNITROUS. Seriously. I was like, "Did you turn the gas down? Because I can't feel it. at. all. You've got to turn it up." And he was like, "I'm sorry, freakishly anxious girl, I've got the gas turned up as high as it will go without turning your brain to mush." And I was like, "At this point, that doesn't sound so bad. In fact, that sounds kind of nice because then my brain would not be causing all the shaking and crying and gagging and hyperventalating if we just turned it to mush.. so let's just do that. Turn it UP!!!!"

Needless to say, I survived. Barely. And when I came home, I found a ginormous box on my front porch. Initially I thought this box contained Matt's new set of weights, but when I nudged it with my foot, it moved quite easily. Then I noticed it was addressed to ME!!! I had forgotten that my big sis had told me she was sending me a box.

I took it inside, sawed through the copious amounts of packing tape (seriously, honey, did you think it needed to be hermetically sealed?) and found the MOTHERLOAD. I felt like pirates after a good pillage. I felt like an only child at Christmas. I felt like the IRS on April 16th. I found this:
Hmmm. what do we have here? Well, I'll tell ya:

1 skein Mystery chunky, black
8 balls Phildar Plaisance, Camelia (pink)
2 balls Beddie Bliss Cathay, black
1 ball Mystery fingering or DK weight, red
1 hank Silky Wool Designer's Choice, bright pink
1 skein Bergere de France Sport, powder pink
2 skeins Lion Brand Cotton Ease, blue
2 hanks Salsa Mohair/Wool blend by Dancing Leaf Farm, multi
1 ball Rowan Summer Tweed, dark green
1 ball Baby Alpaca lace weight, lavender
1 ball Baby Alpaca lace weight, dark lavender
5 balls Baby Alpaca lace weight, off white
1 ball Mystery lace weight, multi

It was so sweet of H to think of me when thinning her stash. It's all so beautiful, and I haven't put it with the other stash yet. It's in the bag, on my dining room table. I like to reach in the bag, take out something yummy, pet it and dream of what I could knit it into... several times a day.

And of course, H, how could you possibly have known to send it when you did? How could you have known that I would find it on my porch after such a terrible, awful, no good very bad morning, and that it would completely turn my whole day around? You're fabulous!

Speaking of knitting, I have been doing quite a bit of that lately. I'm still plugging away at T2. The rows are painfully long by now, and I'm such a slow knitter that it feels like I'm never going to finish it. I'm not tired of it, or sick of it or anything. I'm just hoping that I will have time to knit some little baby socks to go with it. Here's where we are:
I've actually finished this round by adding two additional bars. I don't want to end with white on the outside, so I've got to do one more round (3 more bars) and then I can add a crocheted edge and be done. After I weave in the eleventy million ends that I stupidly refused to weave in as I knitted along. I'm not sure what I was thinking... maybe that all those ends would weave themselves in when I wasn't looking? Or maybe that the knitting fairy would come & weave in the ends while I was sleeping? You can tell from the spaghetti that is peaking out from behind the blanket that this did not happen. Stupid knitting fairy. Now I'll have to spend three hours weaving in the ends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a couple of kid pics this week. I let Riley try his hand at using the spoon to feed himself this weekend. These photos were taken early in the process. By the time it was over, he had cereal in his hair, ears and nose... and had to be completely hosed down. I also had to scrub the stuff from every nook & cranny of the higchair and the floor. It was totally worth it. Look at that concentration:
Success! We've scooped some up & managed to get it directly into the mouth!
And while Riley was busy snacking, Tyson was hanging around out in the garage. Waiting for the rain to stop so he could go outside & play hockey with his friends. (I believe he was sitting in the wagon, pretending to be fishing in a boat when I snapped this picture.)
Have a great day!

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-12T16:13:00.001-07:00

Well, it was a busy day today. It was Riley's first Easter, and it was just about as perfect as perfect could be.

It began on Good Friday with dying eggs:
Tyson had a lot of fun. (Given Riley's tendency to bang things around, chew on everything, and generally create a disaster every chance he gets, we decided to color the eggs while he was sleeping. He'll participate in this messy fun next year.)

Tyson did some of the eggs by himself...
...and I helped with a few.
When all was said & done, we had a dozen beautiful eggs.
Fast forward to Easter morning. The Easter Bunny came! He hid the eggs...
...brought a few new sleepy friends...
...and a few snacks. (Tyson got some candy, Riley got some Gerber cheesey-poofs.)
After breakfast it was time to get dressed in our Easter best (Riley's outfit was a birthday gift from Stephanie. Thanks, Steph!!!)
We headed off to Aunt Tina's house, where we ate some great food...
and had another Easter Egg hunt! (Riley had to sit this one out since it was outdoors and he is not fond of walking in the grass.)
Look at that concentration. He is a LilMan on a mission.
After a nice time visiting with family, we came home & the boys crashed. Riley had a bottle (one of his last) and Tyson snuggled up with Matt to watch the Blues beat up on the Ave's.
Now I'm going to put in some laundry & settle down for some quality knitting time. Check back later this week; I've got a bunch more to share from this week!

Welacome Spring!

2009-04-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Spring is definitely here. The days are longer, the seeds I planted are sprouting and I feel as though I have sloughed off the gray of winter. Of course, it's going to rain tomorrow and snow on Monday, but hopefully this shot of arctic weather will be short-lived.

There have been a few other signs of springtime around here this week.

I found this while doing some yard work this morning:
A dove put this on top of the shed we have under our deck. There's a small space there, and she just about scared the daylights out of me when I walked too close. She flew out, just near my head, and perched on top of a nearby house to watch me. I was a little worried that she wouldn't come back, but about an hour later, I found her there, dutifully sitting on her eggs.
After I had done some yard work and Matt & Ty had played tennis, we got to go to my niece's birthday party. Happy Birthday Morgie! I think she was a little embarrassed when we sang to her...
Fun was had by all. It was a small, low key party, and we got to see my sister's new apartment. It's very nice and has great light. Wild Thing was exhausted after having so much new space to explore. He rarely sleeps in the car, but today he made an exception.
When we came home, Matt decided to tackle finishing the yardwork I had begun this morning.
See all that dirt? It has been sitting in my driveway since Wednesday. With the impending precipitation, we really had to get it moved. I put a good dent in the pile this morning, and Matt enlisted a little help in moving it to our backyard this afternoon. (I told you, the garden is growing this year!!!)
Tyson was very excited to use his new shovel. After a few minutes, though, our work force had grown. (Who says the government is the only entity that can provide jobs???)
Let me state for the record that we honored all child labor laws. All the children were provided with safe working conditions in a harassment-free environment, cool water to drink, multiple breaks, lemon aid. And we paid them a couple bucks each.

Unfortunately, Wild Thing is still too little to help out. He's also too little to play with the big kids. That doesn't stop him from banging on the screen door and yelling his version of Ty's name. (...which sounds like a cross between "wawawa" & "yayayaya!!!")

The dirt is in the backyard, where the garden will eventually be. It has been covered with tarps to prevent erosion (imagine our neighbor's reaction if he ended up with our truckload of soil in his backyard!). Next weekend we'll haul out the tiller and really mix everything up. Hopefully we will also be able to get all the plants moved out there as well.

Now I'm exhausted. I went to a scrapbooking crop last night until midnight, and then hit the ground running this morning. It's only 10:00, but I think I'll go to bed. Have a great week!