Christmas 08

Goodness, long time, no blog!

How was everyone's Christmas? I hope you all had a wonderful day. And thank you to Dani and Kim for the great Christmas cards! Your kids are all adorable. :o)

I figured I better post at least a few pictures... I'm just never in the mood these days to sit and upload pictures, it seems to take so long.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We're all horribly spoiled, and I love it. LOL The girls each got a gift from Santa that Chloe had asked for - she got her Baby Alive (I found it for $20 on Amazon, w00t!) and Cora got twin baby dolls. Santa left them unwrapped under the tree, with big bows on them. I need to upload the video of Chloe seeing Baby Alive - she's wanted that doll for the past year, and is SO happy to have her. And Cora didn't see any reason to open any other presents, she was perfectly happy with her new babies.

My husband gave me the string of pearls I had mentioned I'd like to have - they are so beautiful. And a digital picture frame, some perfume, fur boots, Bath & Body works goodies... see? He spoils me. :o)

He got an iPod, a Swiss tool, some other things he'd said he wanted. And I got him a guitar book of the 100 top country songs of all time, which I've enjoyed tremendously already.

It was a good Christmas. I'm glad it's over, but it was really, really fun.


Love this pic: she's waiting for Baby Alive to finish going potty. LOL

Squee!

When we went to see Twilight in the theater a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't help but notice all of the wonderful knitted items the actors were wearing, and I was enthralled with Bella's mittens. I've been lusting after them ever since, but didn't figure I'd ever be able to suss out a pattern for them, and then..... ta da! Check these out. Aren't they awesome!? I NEED those mittens. I've knitted so many things for other people lately, I've decided I deserve to make something for myself.

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Chloe went to Mark's Friday night, and got home Saturday morning. I asked her "How was your dad's house", just like I always do. She said "Good, but we didn't go to my dad's house. We spent the night at silver Grammy's house." Then she laughed, "It was funny. Even B was there." B is the cat. Now, is it just me, or is it a little strange that they would take the cat over there for a slumber party? I asked her some other questions: Were all of her things there? She said most of her things were in Grammy's garage, but all of Quinn's toys were there. Hmm. That coupled with the fact that he recently got a cell phone, which I just realized is his mother's old cell number helped me put two and two together.

He's living with his mother now, along with his girlfriend and their baby. I called him to confirm it. His reason? "My mom was having a hard time paying all of her bills, so we moved in to help her out." Oh, for the love of God, why can't he at LEAST accept responsibility for himself and stop putting everything on someone else? I'm kind of in shock, I'm kind of gloating, and I'm kind of irritated. I can't help but snicker a little bit, ya know? When he and I were married, we'd just bought a house. I had to drag him out of bed, force him to look for work, but I did, and we got along alright. As soon as I left, he lost the house, lost his car, eventually got evicted from one apartment, and now apparently lost another. He has very little left in his life. I wonder how long his girlfriend will hold out before she realizes he's a loser and leaves him.

He asked yesterday if he could have Chloe during the day for awhile on Christmas Eve. I told him I'd check our schedule and get back to him, then called him later to tell him he could have her the day after Christmas instead. He didn't argue. He's given up on thinking he has any rights, I think. He hasn't paid child support in a year, so it's up to like 3 grand. He's never provided health insurance for her, like the court order says he has to. And ya know, the more I stand up to him and tell him how it's going to be, the easier it gets. For five years I tiptoed around, doing everything I could to keep him happy so I wouldn't have to deal with the stormy little tantrums he'd have. It's taken some practice for me to realize I dont' have to do that any more. And it feels great.

I'm..... bored.

I accomplished more in the last three hours of yesterday than I have in the past three weeks. Why? I finished the Twlight series AND I finished all of my Christmas knitting yesterday. Ack! What do I do with my spare time?

Chloe went to Mark's last night. I used the time to organize and clean out her closet and book shelves, throwing away all the bits and pieces, McDonald's toys, and other junk. I don't want to have a pile of Christmas presents with nowhere to put them. In the process of that, I made her an "I'm Bored" list: all of the things in her room she never really uses because they kind of get forgotten. Puzzles, beads, tracing paper, board games. Now, when she tells me there is nothing to do, I'm going to make her choose something from the list. Either she'll enjoy it, or she'll stop telling me she's bored. At least, that's the plan.

After organizing, I also went through the three tubs full of 18-month sized clothing in the basement, pulled out the winter things we can use now, since Littlest Miss is growing longer by the minute, and put it all in the washer. Today I'll pull the too-small things and put those in their appropriate tubs.

Did I ever explain how we do that? It's the greatest organizational system ever. I started it when Chloe was born, and have kept it up since then. One of our basement walls is lined with large Rubbermaid-type tubs stacked about four high. Each tub is labeled: 3-6 month, 6-9 month, 12 month, etc. Sometimes there are two sizes in one tub, or more than two tubs per size, but you get the gist. There's also one for maternity clothes, diapers, shoes, etc. The label is always visible as soon as you look at the tub, right there on the outside in big black letters. So when Cora grows into a new size, I pull the tubs, take out what I want, and put them back. Then the outgrown stuff goes into the appropriate tub to be used if we ever could manage to produce another girl. It's so effective, and makes things so easy. And if we never do get to have another girl, everything will be neatly organized when I set forth to sell the clothing, likely making a killing because we have enough baby girl clothes to outfit an entire small nation.

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Littlest Miss is at that incredible age where she is more than happy to help Momma with whatever she can. Time to clean up? Sure, she'll help! Folding laundry? Washing dishes? She's always by my side.

And that means it takes 15 times longer to accomplish anything. Babies have this keen ability to generalize EVERYTHING. She knows when we change her out of her jammies or into them that the clothes she was wearing go into the laundry basket. But she has no ability to distinguish between dirty and clean. This means she puts every piece of clothing she can find into the laundry basket, waiting for me encouraging cheers. Yesterday she had the bottom drawer of my dresser open and was carefully moving each clean piece of clothing into the laundry pile. She I saw her, she gave me that "I'm such a BIG girl! I'm Mommy's helper!" look and I couldn't help but smile. Then I moved everything back into the drawer. When she saw this, she changed her method: she began moving each bit of dirty laundry from the basket into my pajama drawer. ;o)

Dishes are especially fun. She loves the silverware. I pile the silverware on the open door of the dishwasher and she is supposed to put them in the silverware holder, which she does, on occasion. Mostly though, she'd rather steal the silverware and stash it somewhere - under a bed, in her toy basket, anywhere besides where it ought to be. Or, she'll throw it all deep into the back of the dishwasher and giggle while i grunt and groan trying to fish it out.

She loves to hear me cheer when she throws trash in the trash can. Of course, she doesn't distinguish between "trash" and "Important Paper", but she keeps trying. I've lost knitting patterns, receipts I intended to save, some of Chloe's drawings, a grocery list.... It's almost time to put the trash can in a cupboard or closet somewhere, I'm afraid.

And then there's the drama. When you tell her no about something, she puts her hand over her face and whimpers. And then she separates two fingers and peeks out between them to make sure you're watching her performance.

This toddler stage is definitely not my favorite stage. It makes me mildly crazy. But oh, there are some adorable parts to it! She has so much personality now.. :o)

PMS and cookies

I was mean yesterday. Mean and cranky and even bitchy. I didn't realize until later in the afternoon that it was PMS. So at least I have an excuse, right?

But I was not in any shape to deal with a fussy, whiny baby and a demanding and impatient little girl. I did my best, but I snapped at both of them a few times, and I feel kinda bad. No, really bad. I need to find some way to get my moods under control when the hormones are raging.

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So Chloe's got this new thing - she asks me for something, I say "later" or "not right now" or whatever, so she proceeds to ask me fifteen hundred million times for the same damn thing in the course of just a few minutes. Did I already complain about this new trait? It sounds familiar when I type it....

Yesterday, she got it in her head that she wanted to bake cookies. She said "I have my own recipe I want to try out." She does that a lot, and it ends up with me helping her read a recipe that she picks out of a cookbook, and then doing most of the work. It's fun, she enjoys it, usually I do too. But I had some stuff to do yesterday, not really any time to bake cookies, and besides, we have about 8 dozen cookies on hand still.

Finally I pulled the Kitchen-Aid out, put a step stool up to it, and told her to go for it. She asked if I was going to help a little, but I said no (cranky PMS mood, ya know), but tell me when she wanted the oven on. She did ask for one other thing - to get the butter and melt half a stick for her in the microwave, because she couldn't reach that with the step stool.

She was done soon enough. And to my amazement, the result was.... cookies. No recipe, no help from me, and she made cookies. She used flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. She made up her own measurements. I usually just estimate on salt by pouring it in my hand, then into the bowl. She did the same thing, and, err.. over estimated. So her cookies were a little salty. And when we baked them, they spread out a lot and ran into each other. But seriously, how many five year olds in the world would be capable of successfully making cookies on their own like that? I'm proud. They ate them for snack, and for dessert, and Chloe was full of pride.

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I'm hoping today is a better day. I don't like being cranky, and I know my kids don't like it either. It didn't help that I was up past midnight reading the last book of the Twilight series. I've got 50 pages left of book four. I've read 700 pages in two days. My house is neglected. I need to finish these books so I can have my life back! LOL I slept in a little this morning, but I'm promising myself I wont' read until the kids are in bed. We have grocery shopping to do, and laundry to fold... and snow to play in.

so about me saying I love snow... let me edit that slightly.

I love it when there is enough snow to play in - to build snow men, snow angels, snowball fights, all that fun stuff.

Snow just irritates me when there is just enough to make it slick outside, and then freezes solid.

We're supposed to be having this huge snowstorm right now. The sky is all aglow and sort of tinted pink, a sure sign of snow. But there isn't enough falling to make a difference, except that I fell on my rear end trying to walk to the trash can.

:::sigh:::

I want it to dump 8 inches on us. Oh but wait.... this is the desert. Not likely.

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I got all of my Christmas cards addressed and ready last night. I have to pick up our holiday pictures from Wal Mart today (we took our own, at my parents' house Sunday.) I'll post the pictures soon.

Ashley came by on Sunday and asked if I'd make a hat for her friend's mom for Christmas. Why do people wait until the last minute to make requests like that? :::sigh::: And of course, I told her I'd do it. What's one more hat? Except that I still have another hat to finish, and a sock... Ah well, I perform well under pressure.

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A couple times a year, I bake sugar cookies. The kind with lots of different colored frostings, sprinkles and glitter and candies. That's usually enough to remind me for several months how much I hate making sugar cookies.

I didn't understand it at first - decorating sugar cookies is one of my very favorite holiday memories from when I was a kid. Why do I hate it so much now? Then I remembered... I'm the mom now. I have to bake the cookies, clean up the mess, make the frosting, clean up the mess, frost the cookies (with help from little girls), clean up the mess....

It was much cooler when I was little, and all I had to do was frost the cookies. I wish my mom would come over and do all the other yucky stuff for me. :oP

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Andrew told me last night it looks like they're taking away his weeks off again, probably permanently this time. I'm disappointed. I love his weeks off. I love traveling and camping and having lots of down time to just enjoy each other. I've gotten very spoiled - what on earth do people do when they don't have weeks off? How do they find time to do fun things? I absolutely refuse to do anything on weekends, since I'm anti-social. They might end up with a rotating 6 on, 3 off schedule. I suppose it would be bearable, but I'm still not happy about it. :o(

Ramblin'

No matter how old I get, I still get all twittery inside when I wake up to a blanket of snow covering the ground. :o)

The weather report says it will snow all week. I hope they're right for once, because I need some good ol' fashioned play-in-the-snow time. Snow men and snow angels and all that fun stuff. And I cant' wait to stick Cora out in it and see what she thinks.

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We went to dinner at a new friend's house yesterday. The girl I met that was telling me how Andrew's mother had me made out to be a two penny hussy... yeah, her house. We had dinner with her husband and their kids, it was nice. We don't normally do stuff like that, but it worked out. We'll probably reciprocate and have them over next month, after the holidays.

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I wrapped Christmas presents yesterday. I still have more to do, but wanted to get a start on it. I love wrapping Christmas presents with a sort of twisted passion. You're not supposed to like it - people pay other people to do it for them, right? But secretly, I've always thought that being one of those people behind the wrapping counter would be tremendous fun. ;o)

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I'm holding my breath, waiting to find out if something bad is going to happen this year - it seems like ever year, something terrible happens in the winter. My brother died in January, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January, Chloe was born 3 months early... in January. If anything bad happens, it's always right before or right after Christmas. I could really use a year that doesn't have something awful in it. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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I think we're gonna brave the snow and head to my parents' house for breakfast (and hopefully our annual family Christmas pictures) so I better go get ready.

Argh

So we're having our cocktail party tonight. Chloe's going to her dad's house. Cora was going to my mom's, but my dad is sick so my mom doesn't want her over there getting whatever he's got. So I'm stuck taking care of a one year old why trying to entertain people. I have a feeling it's not going to be much fun after all. :-\ I'm going to get everything set up and ready so that at six, I can go somewhere with Cora for awhile and hopefully get her to sleep, then bring her home and hope she stays asleep. She's usually in bed around seven anyway, but I doubt she'll stay in bed. Blah, no fun. I should wait until my children are grown before I try to do things like this.


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Well, I'm off to get showered. Gotta grocery shop and get the house all together before this evening. Wish me luck!

In love with a vampire :o)

A friend of mine recently told me she was reading the Twilight series of books and offered to loan me the first one. I've heard about Twilight - teeny boppers across the nation are obsessed with these books, and the movie that just hit theaters a couple of weeks ago. I rolled my eyes. Seriously now, a vampire love story? Give me a break. Why on earth would I waste my time reading a vampire love story?

But I started reading the book at lunch one day, for lack of any other reading material close by. By the third page I was hooked, sucked in, couldn't put it down. Oh, I love when that happens. I neglected housework, did everything I could to keep my kids happy (You want candy? Sure, have candy. Just be quiet and let me read!) I finished the first book two days later. I'm on book two now, though it's slower going since my husband's home this week.

Anyway, seriously, these books are fabulous. I don't find books that I really love like this very often. I just can't get over them. Any book that can make you giggle hysterically, cry, yell and curse is totally a book worth reading.

We went and saw the movie yesterday (a date! it was splendid!) If you're thinking of seeing the movie, but haven't read the book, I'm afraid you'll be sadly disappointed. You just can't turn that book into a two hour long movie, and still get the real points across. Go get yourself a copy of the book. Overlook the fact that you're about to read a book about a vampire, and just have a go at it. It's so absolutely worth your time.

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We have been SO busy lately! It seems like there's something to do every day, though I guess really there hasn't been too much. We're having Andrew's family over for dinner tonight, we're having a cocktail party at our house tomorrow, and we're going to dinner at another friend's house Saturday. Sunday we'll try to recoup a little, and then Andrew's back to work for a week. it looks like he might be switching weeks off, which would mean he'd have the whole week of Christmas off. I'm hoping the change becomes official, because I'd love to have him home that week.

Planning a cocktail party is stressing me out, though I don't know why. It's the kind of stress that I thrive on though. It should be great fun, we'll have some good holiday drinks, some yummy snacks, and some friends... mostly guys from Andrew's crew at work, but whatever. It should still be pleasant.

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I s'pose that's all for now. My life just isn't interesting enough to write much about these days!

Smitten :o)

Two days ago, I was in tears, convinced that I was a crazy person for ever having a second child and that I was just not cut out to be a mother. It was a rough day.

Today, after two splendid days with my kids, I'm once again certain that I am the mother of the two sweetest, cutest little girls in all the world.

Cora is a flippin' riot. She's so smart! She understands nearly all of what we're saying, I'm sure, but pretends not to because she can still get away with it. I'm teaching her a terrible habit, because every time she does something and I tell her not to, and she gives me that cute little "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying" look and proceeds to do it anyway, I just laugh. How can I not? She's just too stinkin' cute. She's going to get away with anything she wants, I can see it already.

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As would any responsible mother, I have tried to instill a general appreciation for healthy foods in my girls.

I have failed miserably.

They are both candy-holics! How on earth did this happen? In a house filled with fresh grapes, bananas, oranges, apples, and carrots, and whole wheat breads and organic snacks, they are able to find every single piece of processed sugar in the house. They're both also mastering the "wear down your enemy" tactic. "Mom, can I have candy?" "No, not until after lunch." "Mom, can I have candy?" (five minutes later.) By the fiftieth time, I've either yelled, threatened to throw away every piece of candy in the house, or given in. Sadly, the latter is probably the most common. And it's not any better with Cora, who has the exact same wants, just not so many words. "Uh?" (She points to the candy, smacks herself on the head, and does the sign for 'more'.) "No, Cora, you have to wait until after lunch." (A toddler-tantrum ensues, with her face down on the floor and whimpering, or saying "Hmphh.")

Of the four advent calendars in our home, none of them has the proper number of candies left. Chloe actually got a time out the other day for sneaking life savers off of one of them. Cora realized earlier that I'd hung some candy canes on the Christmas tree. She proceeded to try climbing the tree, and when she realized that was a futile attempt, she retrieved the stool from the bathroom to try and get up just a little higher. I can't stop them! It's as though they crave sugar! (My mother-in-law would probably cry if she saw them.)

Since it's Christmastime, there are little jars of candy here and there all over the house. Cora can tell you where each of them is.

"I'm not going after the candy, Mom!" (Note the jar of candy near the lamp on the end table...)


"I'm just here to snuggle with Isabel."

"Ha ha! Tricked ya!" (This is where I should scold her... but isn't she just so cute?!)

I tried, but failed, to get a good picture of my goofy kid walking around with stolen chocolates, still wrapped, in her mouth. So I'm sharing the not-so-good picture.

She knew there was chocolate inside. She just couldn't figure out how to get to it. Until...

Yep, wrapper and all. See, I told you! My kids are candy-holics. So much so that they'll even eat wrappers. I hope that gold foil isn't toxic...

Finally, some recent FO's

It's been awhile since I took any pictures of stuff! I forgot to take a photo of my little brother's hat, I'll have to do that later.

Here's Tori's scarf. I hate fun fur. It's perfect for a little girl though.


Lionbrand Fun Fur prints, size 15 needles, 18 sts, plain knitting.

Taylor's sock (I'm working on the second one now.)

Red Heart Heart&Sole, pastel watercolors colorway, size 1 needles, using Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "basic sock recipe".

I made my kids Christmas aprons, just 'cuz I can. I want to make one for me, too. :o)

The Uber-comfy sweater. (I finished this back when Andrew was hunting.)
Size 10 needles, Lionbrand Homespun in "Tudor". Standard women's size 34 raglan top-down seamless sweater, pattern created as an experiment in KnitWare.

Ashley's Foliage hat:

She's been asking for me to knit her something since I met her. Her birthday is Monday.

Foliage, from knitty.com, chunky yarn size. Size 10.5 needles, Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky.

That's all for now. :o)

Time flies...

Some old pictures I'm including on my parents' photo memory card...

My mother LOVED to dress me up like a baby doll.
My brother Benny, and I, probably about 1985

One of my mom's favorite pictures of me...
That one was in middle school, I think I was 12.

I've scanned something like 40 family pictures of all us kids and my parents so far. I need to get over there and get more photos, but it's hard to do without them knowing! My parents did some neat stuff when they were a little younger, going to Jamaica, Hong Kong, Hawaii, and several cruises. I want to find those photos and get them scanned too. Thankfully, my mom did a good job back then of putting photos into albums, and I know where to find them.

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So what's with little babies that don't sleep? Oy. Cora was up at 4:30 yesterday morning, and proceeded to whine and hang on my skirt all day long, except for the two hours Ashley and I took the kids to KidzPlex. Today, she was up at five, but is still just laying in bed drinking her juice. I hope she's happier today than she was yesterday. Yesterday was rough. I was SO done by the end of the day. :o( I hate feeling that way. I always say though that I like babies, when they are helpless and sweet, and then I like them again when they can be reasoned with, about the age of three. This in-between stage when they are walking and starting to talk but really pushing their boundaries, it makes me crazy. There are fun times, to be sure, but it's not my favorite age.

And did I mention Miss Cora is finally walking? She's been able to for a few months now, but she's doing it all the time now, has been for about three days. It's hilarious, she looks like a drunk, she's totally wobbly still. :o) It's fun to watch her try and keep up with her sister.

Thankfully, it seems like now that Cora is getting into this difficult age, Chloe is making her way into an easier age. She's been SO good lately. She's been helping around the house willingly, even offering to. She's been so patient with her baby sister and is always trying to help with her. She's had a great attitude lately and hasn't been talking back or pouting and such like she was there for awhile. I'm crossing my fingers that six is going to be an easy age.

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I've officially given up on getting two pairs of socks knitted for my cousins for Christmas. I was getting so stressed out trying to knit for three or four hours each day, and I don't want to be stressed out, so I'm letting it go. I'll give them each a card that says socks are coming, but that they just didn't get done. They're big girls, they can deal with it. :o) I also need to make my little brother a hat, and I would like to at least get that done before Christmas. I'm ready to be done with Christmas knitting. I want to make something that I want to make, instead of things other people want!

I haven't posted FO pics in awhile, and I have lots. I"ll try to remember to take some pictures today. I've got four or five pieces to share, I just hate uploading photos from my camera to the computer.

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Okay, 'nuff for now. I need to start updating more regularly, I've been terrible lately!

Holiday preparations

Gosh, I just haven't been in the mood to blog lately. :o\

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was nervous, having that many of my family members all confined to one house, but everyone got along and Nanny didn't piss anyone off. I spent some good quality time with my little cousins, which was amusing. They make me feel old... they're teenagers. LOL

Andrew did end up being off yesterday after all, so it was a busy, but really great day. I went to Walgreens first thing in the morning and bought 16 Webkinz toys. They were $3.50 each, regular about $12. You just can't beat that. We're going to be swimming in Webkinz. It's cool though - I really like playing Webkinz too, so it just gives Chloe and I something to do together.

After that I came home and we decorated the house for Christmas. Chloe and Andrew went out and bought a fake tree this year. We're over the needing a real tree thing, thankfully. All the garlands and the decorations are out, the tree is decorated. I love it. Christmas makes me happy. The lights outside will go up on Sunday - I let Andrew off the hook since it was cold and wet outside yesterday. I'm trying not to be too much of a slave driver. LOL

After decorating we all got dressed up and went to the Nutcracker. Ah, I love the Nutcracker. It was beautiful, so well choreographed and just... oh, it was perfect. Chloe loved it. Her little eyes lit up over and over as things happened. She was almost asleep by the end, but still pouted because it was over. She's so funny. And I suck, I didn't take one stinkin' picture of her in her pretty dress. I'll have to do that soon.

Keeping the Christmas tree not only decorated, but still standing, is going to be a battle this year between the baby, the cat, and the dog. We have a bunch of little apple ornaments that were my mom's years ago. The baby keeps stealing them off the tree and trying to eat them. It's rather cute. The cat insists on sleeping under the tree, and the baby keeps trying to get under there with him. And Isabel's tail, mind of it's own that it has, keeps flinging ornaments this way and that.

I've got perfect gifts for everyone on my list this year, and that pleases me. A couple ideas to share: my parents got a digital photo frame a year or two ago. It's really nice, but they just stick memory cards into it and sometimes there aren't a lot of great pictures on it. I had Andrew pick up a memory card ($12-ish) and I'm going to load it with pictures. My goal is to find a way to steal some old photos from their house as well and scan them and put those on the card. I think it will please them, my mother especially, to have photos displayed of when we kids were little, when Benny was still alive, etc. And in general, if you're looking for a great gift, those digital photo frames are a good one.

Chloe's getting a ton of cool stuff. I'm just so excited for her to open her presents. She's gonna love them. :o) I hate consumerism, but man I love shopping for my kid.

All around though, except for one or two things for Andrew, I'm done shopping for Christmas, and I'm done decorating. Now I just get to sit back, relax, bake some cookies, and maybe plan a holiday cocktail party. I'm looking forward to this holiday season, tremendously!

The First Thanksgiving

Once upon a time, there were a group of people that called themselves "Separatists." Here you see a picture of Prudence, and some of her friends.

They lived in England, under the rule of a hairy, tiger striped feline named King James.

The Separatists wanted to believe in God in their own way, but King James said they couldn't. So they decided to find a new land where they didn't have to listen to King James anymore. They boarded a big ship called the Mayflower, and sailed for more than two months.

When they got to the new land, the Separatists (whom we call Pilgrims), met people from the native Wampanoag tribe.

The natives were very kind and helpful, especially the chief's daughter, Baby Screeching Turkey.

She showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn for food and how to use the resources of the land to live.

At the end of the first year, the Pilgrims were very thankful for a lot of things - their friend, Baby Screeching Turkey, the food they were able to grow, for their homes and their families and especially, their freedom. They decided to have a big feast to thank God for all they had. They invited the Indians to join them, and feasted for a whole week.

And that's the story of the first Thanksgiving. Kind of.

:o)

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We giggled so much yesterday. Poor Milo was referred to as "Stinky King James" all day long. After I narrated the story once for her, Chloe insisted I dress up as the Pilgrim, and she would narrate. I think we acted out the story five times altogether. Hopefully she'll remember it... and realize that there never was really a Baby Screeching Turkey.

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Now it looks like Andrew might have Friday off after all. Cross your fingers for me - I really want him around! (I think he'd rather work than have to hang up 50 strands of Christmas lights.) I bought Chloe a Christmas dress yesterday for the Nutcracker - I can't wait to see her in it. I wish I could wear formal dresses like that. She's really excited about it, and insisted on telling the woman at the cash register that she was going to see the Nutcracker, that she was excited about seeing the Sugar Plum fairy, and that the lady could go too, if she wanted to.

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Baby Screeching Turkey has insisted on waking up at 6 am the last couple of days. That's just too darn early for me. I need my quiet mama time in the morning!

a quick whine

Blah - Andrew told me last night he won't be home on Friday, he'll have to work. It's supposed to be a paid holiday. That means no early morning shopping for me, since I won't take the girls out, and that means he won't be home to put up Christmas lights while I decorate. We also have tickets to the Nutcracker that night, and a baby sitter, but it looks like it will probably just be Chloe and I going by ourselves. :-( I'm bummed. But I suppose I better make the best of it.

I made my list of gifts to make coming up - Christmas/Hannukah gifts, birthdays, new babies, all kinds of things coming up. I really better get moving, but they should all be fun projects. Andrew's sweater is gonna be on hold for awhile though....

Baby's awake... I better cut this short!

Updatin'

Yes, Deb, I've neglected my blog. Sorry. :o) LOL

I was busy enjoying my husband all week! We stayed home mostly, and it was splendid. We're always so busy, and he's always off doing things, so it was a wonderful change. We went ice skating, painted our bedroom green, did some shopping, had some meals together at home, went on a date on Saturday night, and watched some movies. I love him so much, and really needed that time together. :o)

Have y'all seen PS I Love You yet? It's a movie with Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Oh my goodness, if you haven't seen it, do. I cried like a baby all the way through, but it was a beautiful movie. Just have some tissues ready.

Thanksgiving this year will be at my mom's house, after much discussion amongst the family. We have two families that moved here this year to add to the guests, and I'm looking forward to it, quirks and all. I've got it easy, I'm making the cranberry sauce. My mother doesn't trust me to be able to cook yet, I think, but that's alright. Chloe almost always goes to Mark's house on Thanksgiving, but I think this year I'm keeping her. I just don't see any reason for him to have her on holidays.

I'm totally ready for Christmas. I have all my cards made - just need a family photo and I can mail them all out. I can't wait till we have our Christmas lights up, and the tree and all the decorations. I can't wait to bake dozens of cookies. I love Christmas. So many wonderful holiday traditions and memories.

I'm not, however, enjoying Christmas knitting. I should have started preparing for this back in, what, August? But no, I'm just starting. I'm not really making too much... I finished a hat for Ashley (actually, that's for her birthday, also in December) and I'm making a scarf for Tori (her kid, Chloe's friend) for Christmas. Two cousins that just moved here asked for socks, so we'll see if I can get them done. I'm kind of burned out on knitting (amazing!) and just haven't been in the mood to do it much lately.

Miss Cora got a fat lip yesterday. Somehow or another, she smacked her face on the floor and her tooth punctured her lip. There was blood, which made me a little panicky. I just always hear horror stories about teeth going all the way through lips, and stitches and such, and I really didn't want that to happen! But she's fine, her lip is just a little puffy. She's still not walking all the time yet, I think crawling is too fast for her to give it up. I'm not worried though - walking scares me. LOL

I think I'm gonna close here. I need to get showered and start mopping the floors before the girls get up. It's back to our regular routine today, and that's always hard after a week off. I better get crackin'.

Pictures of things...

Two little girls, playing in the leaves...




The first batch of Christmas cards... I have about 50 to make.

'Tis the Season...

...for impatience, anger, frustration, and general grumpiness.

The holiday season is upon us. Have you noticed how it keeps on moving up in the year? It used to be we waited until after Thanksgiving to start thinking about Christmas. Now it's Halloween. Five years from now, we'll start decorating in August.

Our town used to be a cozy, nice little town with one little shopping mall and a few other stores. But now, we're a big fancy town, with big fancy shopping centers and big fancy highways. And with all this "big fancy" comes lots of angry, rushed, rude people. It used to feel like we still had a little bit of country here... now, it just feels like a city.

I went to Michael's today to pick up some paints for a craft for Chloe. The only parking place I could find was about fifteen miles from the store entrance. In the process of finding this parking place I was flipped off once and honked at three times (how dare I let the poor people cross in front of me, instead of just running 'em down?)Oy vey. It just made me sad.

Everyone gets so worked up at the holidays. "Hurry! MUST SHOP! Must buy fancy expensive things for spoiled children. Must be in and out of store in less than five minutes. MUST BEAT EVERYONE to it!" It's horrible. People forget that everyone around them has feelings to, that they are real people and not just pawns in the simulation of their life. I pity the poor people who work customer-service jobs this time of year - people treat them terribly! What must it be like to deal with all of these irritable, rushed, frustrated shoppers for 8 or 10 hours every day?

If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that there really is no rush. Things will get done. It won't hurt anyone if you have to wait an extra five minutes in line - and your time is no more important than anyone else's, believe it or not. NOTHING is so important that it's worth getting worked up over, or hurting another person for. Life's WAY too short to get your panties in a bundle over silly, stupid little things.

I think we should all make a pact with ourselves to BE NICE this holiday season. Even if you're one of those crazies that's out at 3 am on Black Friday - or perhaps I should say *especially if you are. Every single person you come in contact with has their own agenda, their own family, their own feelings, and they should always be considered. Take a deep breath when someone steals the only parking space for miles, and let it go. Remind yourself that you can use the exercise anyway. Smile and offer reassurance to the overworked, poorly treated store clerk, even when she screws up your order and you have to wait ten minutes to have it fixed. SHE DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE. Drive the speed limit, stop for people to cross, smile and wave. Strike up a conversation when you're waiting for half an hour to buy that stupid widget that your kid absolutely insisted Santa bring them. LAUGH IT OFF. Life goes on, Christmas happens, no matter what happened in the weeks leading up to it. If it's not something that actually causes you harm, don't sweat it, and for heaven's sake, don't take it out on poor, defenseless other people.

Is it a deal? Are we gonna be nice? :o)

Happy "Holiday Shopping Season" to all!

Random Bits of Education

With the husband gone for the weekend, and both little girls in bed by eight, I decided I deserved a bit of 'me time' this evening, and it proved to be wonderful. A glass of wine, a fresh ball of good Peruvian wool, and "Becoming Jane" starring Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen - I can't think of any more pleasant and quite nearly perfect way to spend a couple of hours. I feel rejuvenated.

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I always hear older women talk about how they wish they had gone to college, had been more educated, had been able to have a career. I wonder (and slightly fear, if I'm being honest) whether I'll feel that way, years from now. I went to college... only for a semester, but I did go. I made a quick determination: I can learn as much as I want to learn, about any subject, without paying $5,000 a semester for it. I don't desire a career, and don't think I ever will. I find it too appealing to be able to immerse myself in my children, my home, and my hobbies.

I find it amusing sometimes, the hobbies I have when I actually list them - the list seems to go on forever! I realized tonight though, that I ought to add "learning" to my list. After watching Becoming Jane, I got sucked into internet biographies, book clubs, fan clubs, fan fiction, for nearly two hours. What a fascinating life that woman led... though by the standards held in her day, her life was nothing to speak of.

I don't think I'll ever stop learning. I'll read anything that happens to find it's way in front of me, and almost always, I can find it interesting. History absolutely fascinates me, especially the history of women. I don't think it requires going to college, having a professor tell you specifically what to study, and obtaining a degree, to be educated. Perhaps that's why we're homeschoolers.

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I have a splendid little plan for next week, when Andrew is off work. It'll take a lot of work to pull it all off though, and I'm afraid I don't have that much motivation.

I want to sew some clothes for Chloe and I - pilgrim dresses, bonnets, etc. For Andrew, I'd probably just rent a costume for a day. My intention would be to keep it a surprise, though now that I'm writing this, my husband will know, at least, that I've had the idea.

From there, I'd love to dress the girls (Cora in her Raggedy Anne costume - minus the wig) and have a "Pilgrim Day". Play games that Pilgrim children might have played, spend a whole day with no electricity, using candles at night and such. Perhaps making candles or some other fun activity during the day, and maybe even eating "Pilgrim" food, if I could figure out what to serve.

Doesn't that just sound like fun? Good education, to be certain, but far more like fun. I can already see the sparkle in Chloe's eyes...

My sexy man :o)

Can you think of anything sexier than the man I love, dressed in camo, holding up a dead deer? I sure can't. :o)

He got back from hunting on Saturday morning. They also had elk tags, but didn't manage to shoot any of those. Ah well, I'm satisfied with a freezer full of venison.

After he got back Saturday, we had quite a job on our hands:

They had already skinned and gutted it, but we had to get it all packaged up to put in the freezer. I was a little creeped out at the thought of helping him butcher a deer, but I sucked it up, and ya know, in some twisted sort of way, I found it kind of enjoyable. We all know that I have an obsession with food preservation, and I think that's where my enjoyment came from, but really, it was kind of a fun day. He did all the cutting, I did all the packaging. We made a good team, and got it all done in just about 4 hours.

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In other news... Chloe never did end up sick after that day she spent with a fever. She's got an amazing immune system. Cora and I weren't so lucky - I'm at the tail end of a cold now, and Cora's just starting. Last night was rough - I was feeling yucky, Cora's got a fever, and woke up fussing about every hour. I was in bed for 11 hours, and don't feel very rested. :o\ Let's hope this passes quickly - Chloe was always so good when she was sick, she just laid around quiet and didn't complain or whine, even as a baby. (Of course, she's only had like 3 colds in her entire life.) Cora's a whiny sick person, just like me. I see a couple more rough days ahead.

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If you have a Michael's close by, go check out their fall decor sale. Everything fall and Halloween related is 80% off. I got quite a few really cute decorations for $2-3 each. Wal Mart also has their stuff on clearance - I got a ceramic serving bowl shaped like a leaf for $3 and some other similar things for $2-3 too. I always try to buy holiday decor when it goes on clearance, and then just stash it away for the next year. It's fun to go through and see what new stuff I have, because after a year goes by, I usually forget about it.

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Christmas is almost here! I'm so darn excited. I need to take stock and see what presents still need to be made and purchased, but I'm doing pretty good I think.Both girls are really into baby dolls right now, so I might need to get them each one. I bought some Webkinz for $7 each the other day for Chloe, and I need to make Cora a blankie like the one I made Chloe when she was little.

I'm just so excited for Christmas - not just the presents, though that is fun. I love baking cookies, singing Christmas carols, decorating, doing crafts, and just... the whole season is so much fun. I hope my kids always enjoy it like I do.

===

I mentioned Webkinz - if you have children, and you haven't discovered Webkinz yet, you need to! Oh, these little things are awesome. You get a little stuffed animal and it has a code attached to it's tag. You put the code in on their website, and you can play games online with a digital version of your toy. It entertains Chloe for hours, and I kind of enjoy playing it with her. Walgreen's had them on sale for $7 each, which is an incredible price. I bought three, but now wish I'd have bought more - they'd make great gifts for birthdays and such.

===

Well, I think that's enough rambling for now. Sicky baby is in my arms and I'm tired of typing one handed.

Oy Vey... someone please come save me!

Today was chaos. Cora woke up around 4 am and began dancing and patty-caking in bed, mingled with the occasional body slam. Then she gleefully started sprinkling Chloe and I with water from her bottle. Chloe was up for about an hour, then went back to bed. I gave up on Cora, and got up and made a pot of coffee, then settled in to entertain her until her sister was up. By the time my coffee was done, she was asleep on the living room floor. And of course, i was wide awake by that time. At least I got to do some knitting, I suppose, something I haven't done much of in days.

At seven they were both up, so we all got dressed and headed to my mom's for the morning. We headed home around 11, since we had a birthday party to get ready for at 1:00. I figured two hours was plenty of time to shower, get changed, and get over there. On my way home from Mom's though, a friend of Andrew's family called to see if she could stop by to chat. All was fine and well... except she stayed until 12:45. I frantically raced around dressing my children, dressing myself, and made it to the party at 1:05. The party was chaos in itself, with a dozen or so kids, two dozen adults, all of whom are people I wasn't exactly thrilled to be around - the sort of "rough around the edges" type.

So we get home around 4:00, but not before agreeing to go out to the in-law's for MIL's birthday dinner at 6:30. Cora has been whining non-stop for two days for some unknown reason, and it really kicked in when we got home. Then Chloe started whining a little too, since she was tired, and a thunderstorm rolled in. I called and said we wouldn't make it out there - I didn't need anything else to deal with!

About that time, I kiss Chloe on the forehead and realize she feels a little warm. Sure enough, a fever of 100.3, and she's been complaining that her legs and ankles and knees and arms hurt. I have no idea what's wrong with her, but she was asleep on the couch by 6:30.

And of course, the time change isn't helping matters. I already put Cora to bed, it's only 7:00, but I just couldn't deal with any more whining. :o( She didn't complain at all and is already asleep, but I'll regret it when she's up at 5 in the morning.

And when you add today to yesterday, which was supposed to be a "sit around and relax" day but wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, relaxing, and last week's running around like mad doing everything under the sun, I'm just plain exhausted. I'm ready for a week off. :o)

And tomorrow we start up school again, so there should be all kinds of stress and chaos again. AND we're supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon to camp with Andrew and my dad at their hunting camp, which means I need to pack, but I kind of think we might not go afterall, especially if Chloe's sick.

I'm sure I'll be up all night with her, sleeping on the couch and taking her temperature every hour, just because that's how I am. A little cough, a mild fever, and I'm convinced my children are dying.

::sigh:: anyone wanna come over and babysit for an hour? LOL

Did you vote yet?...

...I did. We went through our mail-in ballots Thursday night and I dropped them off in person on Friday.

We read through our little State of Colorado book, discussed each amendment and formed opinions. I actually enjoyed it, probably because I don't usually get to actually think that much.

I'm just so irritated with this election. I hate that it always feel like I'm choosing the lesser of two evils, instead of really being excited about a particular candidate. I don't like one much, but I really don't like the other, so I made my decision that way. Andrew made a good point - if you vote for some other party, you're giving at least half a vote to the person you really DON'T want to win. Isn't that terrible? Instead of voting for a person I really want to lead our country for four years, I simply chose the only one that doesn't scare me.

On a side note - I found the book _George and Laura: Portrait of an American Marriage_ in my grandparents' yard sale stuff yesterday. I'm about a hundred pages in, and as much as I really don't like W., it's' proving to be an interesting read. It's funny though, at the end of each chapter there are quotes from different people that know the Bushes, from Laura, and from W. himself - and even in the quotes, he sounds like an uneducated twit. Can you believe he went to Andover? I'm shocked. I had no idea he'd ever received an education...

Now I'll sit back and wait to see what happens Tuesday night. If you haven't voted yet, go vote. Especially you girls - after reading all that pioneer-era women went through to earn us our right to vote, it seems like sacrilege not to.

I'm closing with a cute story of my very smart little five year old. Some people came to the door today from the Obama campaign, assumedly since I'm a registered democrat. Chloe was standing at my side when I answered the door. "We're from the Obama campaign. Have you voted yet, and can we count on your vote for Obama this year?"

"I've already voted." I told them. I was just about ready to shut the door when my darling daughter shouted after them, "My mommy voted for John McCain!"

Busy, busy

Wow, what a busy week. Andrew's been off, and it always seems we're so busy when he is. :o)

Wednesday was the Halloween party. It turned out great, I think. The girls had a great time and the babies did too. We played a handful of little games, decorated cookies, and did a costume "contest" where everyone won an award.

Yesterday I did my best to win the "good wife" award. LOL My husband is leaving today to go hunting with my dad for a week. I spent the day cooking and baking. By the time I was finished I had two loaves of banana bread, a batch of brownies, four dozen chocolate-caramel chip cookies, a huge pot of Mexican chicken & black bean soup, a big pot of rice, and a pasta salad. That, with the other groceries Andrew picked up, should keep them from starving over the next week.

They're taking my parents' motorhome up to use as their base camp. I really want to go up next week for a couple of nights with the girls. It would be pretty cushy in the motorhome - they even have TV and such. I'm not sure what I'd do with Izzy, but I might try to work it out because I think it would be fun, and we need some outdoors adventures before winter sets in.

Today is, of course, Halloween. Since I spent WAY too much time on two little costumes, I intend to let the girls wear their costumes all day, and we'll just find places to go. I need to visit with my grandparents and aunt, the library has a puppet show and indoor trick or treating this morning, we might go by my dad's work, and I do have a couple of errands to run. We'll see how long I can convince Cora to wear her wig, but I really wanna show them off. The mall has a trick or treating thing, and they do a costume contest there. I'm not sure I wanna brave it though - nearly every child in our town goes, the contest lasts hours, and out of all the kids, there are only three prizes per rather large age group. It's practically impossible to win. Chloe won when she was Cora's age - she was a jack-in-the-box, and got a $100 gift certificate to the mall for it. That was pretty neat, I guess, but I'm still not sure it's worth the headache of trying to go with two little ones. I guess we'll see. Then tonight, we're meeting up with her friend Tori, and another of Tori's friends, and we'll all get together and go trick or treating in one of the upper class neighborhoods around here. Should be a great time... and I'm sure we'll all be exhausted!

Tomorrow, I will knit. :o) I need some knitting time. LOL Actually, I'm working on a great little sweater, and if it's finished by Sunday afternoon, I want to give it to my sister-in-law, who is getting ready to leave for Canada to get engaged. I thought it would make a nice gift. If I can get it done....

Hmm, other than that, i guess I don't have anything else to report. I need to upload our pumpkin patch pictures from last week, but I'm a slacker.

Halloween Costume & Party Pics

I've been holding off posting their Halloween costumes, but I suppose it's finally time. :o) Yesterday we hosted a Halloween party for all of Chloe's friends, and they got all dressed up.

Chloe as Rapunzel

That's her "princess smile". I can't convince her to do anything else, she thinks it makes her look beautiful. :oP

The dress is a Simplicity pattern made from sparkly satin. She picked out everything. It was an absolute blast to make.

And here's Cora:



:o) I think she's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I couldn't stop squealing with delight every time I looked at her.

I made the wig - lots and lots of red yarn and what felt like several hours of toiling with straight pins and the sewing machine. The stockings are hand knitted and her favorite part of the costume.

I love making Halloween costumes.

And a few pictures from the party:

"Bobbing" for apples - you tie the apples to strings hanging from the tree so there's not all the yucky shared germs and water mess from the real version. It was just as much fun, I think.



Decorating sugar cookies
This is Cora and her little friend Dalton. They have a love/hate relationship. LOL They always fight over sippy cups. By the end of the party, Dalton had a red spot on his nose from Cora's make-up. We're not sure if they were kissing, or what!


The party-goers in their costumes.

You have GOT to...

listen to this song.

Seriously - everyone needs to hear it.

I remember back when I was 16 years old or so, this song came out on the radio, but I only ever heard it a couple of times. Now, 10 years later, all I could remember about it was that there was some guy, and he talks about sunscreen.

Thanks to the help of a friend, I found the song, and it's definitely as great as I remember. So take a few minutes and listen to it, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. :o)

(All you should have to do is click the link - it's to a Myspace Music site that plays the song.)

Nosy Neighbors

The more I think about this, the more irritated I get.

Earlier today, Chloe and Isabel were playing in the front yard, which I only allow occasionally (usually they're in the back.) I let her go out there though while I did some things around the house. The front yard is fenced, so I feel safe letting her play out there alone, and I check on her no less than every 5 minutes - usually more often than that.

Some kids went by on skateboards, Izzy started barking at them. Chloe attempted to get her to stop barking by yelling "Izzy! Stop barking!" and then started throwing twigs at her. (Obviously, that didn't help. But whatever. It was over in 30 seconds.)

Immediately following the incident, I get a call from my husband. "Josie (the old lady across the street) just called me. She said she's concerned with how Chloe is treating Isabel outside." She told him Chloe was hitting and kicking Isabel.

This bothers me on a lot of levels. I'm nearly certain that Chloe wasn't doing that. She occasionally will hit at Izzy if she's being too rambunctious, but never would she (or could she) actually injure the dog. And she has never kicked her to my knowledge. I suppose that it is faintly possible that in the 45 seconds that had passed since I'd watched the twig throwing incident, she could have had a sudden outburst and began viciously abusing the dog, but I really, honestly doubt it.

Second, what on earth could make that woman think she has any right at all to call my HUSBAND while he is at WORK over something happening at home? I don't even get to call my husband at work! She has my phone number, she could have called me if she was really that concerned. It's almost like she wanted to tattle on me - she's made it clear in the past she thinks I'm a rotten mother (and that my husband is a saint), so maybe she was bored and saw an opportunity to tell on me for neglecting my kid by letting her play outside alone?

I'm not sure. But I'm irked. I've tried to be nice to her. I try to remind myself that she's a lonely old woman with nothing to do and no one to talk to. But calling my husband while he is at work over something so trivial and stupid is just going too far.

For the record, I did call Chloe inside, let her know it's not alright to throw anything at the dog, even if it is just twigs.

I made some stuff

The girls' fall dresses. Both are sundress style and can be worn with a turtleneck underneath for much needed warmth.


Whenever I finish a big project, I knit a bunch of silly little things and have a bunch of false starts on projects before I start another. I have sitting in my knitting basket right now a raglan homespun sweater, a cotton wash cloth, a lace scarf. I won't even bother trying to explain the powder blue acrylic and novelty fur dog sweater, which is finished but will probably never have the ends woven in....

Happily, I've managed to actually finish a couple of projects too. I finally jumped on the Calorimetry bandwagon:

This is one of those patterns that nearly everyone who has the internet and knits has made.

Yarn: Paton's SWS in Natural Plum, leftover from a diaper cover last year.
Needles: I don't remember, whatever the pattern called for.
Mods: casted on 100 sts instead of 120, worked 12 repeats of row 5.
Used another of my recently inherited antique buttons for closure. Every project I knit for the next five years is going to have antique buttons. That pleases me.

In answer to Deb's question about buying the gorgeous $50 skein of yarn - no, I didn't buy it. Instead, I spent $50 on yarn for a sweater for the Husband. It's called Cable Guy from Debbie Stoller's Son of Stitch & Bitch, and a picture of the pattern can be seen here. (Site may only be available to Ravelry members. If you can't view the site, I guess you'll have to wait until I finish the sweater to see it. Which may very well take the better part of the next year.)

And Deb, thanks for being an enabler. I need more people like you in my life. :o)

I also made an uber comfy, utterly boring but still quite pretty scarf:


Absolutely simple shell stitch pattern (that's crochet, not knitting.)

Hook: J
Yarn: Plymouth Superwash Wool in 3 coordinating shades of green.
It's over 6 feet long, I can wrap it around my neck two or three times comfortably, the color is perfect, I already washed and dried it so it's super soft and cozy and I have no doubt I'll wear it regularly for years to come. That makes me feel better, because knitting scarves makes me want to kick something. Scarves are like socks - they take FOREVER for a very small finished product, but once I finish them, I usually wear them constantly. I rarely knit scarves for myself - in fact, out of the dozens of knitting projects I've completed, I think I only have 5 scarves for myself. I do knit scarves for other people though, because they are one size fits all and most people will wear a scarf. Except my mother.

Anyway so yeah, that's what I made.

Deb also asked about Cora's shiner...





It's doing fine, I guess, if you call a dark greenish-purplish-black bruise surrounding one eye "fine". It's especially fun to take her out in public, let me tell ya.

She fell again today. She got all excited when I came to find her (unwinding a ball of yarn) and came to greet me from the computer room. She stood up high on her knees, put her hands up, and then intended to plant her hands firmly on the step that goes up from the computer room into Chloe's bedroom. Except that her hands missed the step, and her forehead didn't. She has now acquired a gorgeous reddish purple bump on her forehead, which coordinates beautifully with the black eye.

;o)

This child is going to make me crazy before she even really starts walking.