Sunday, December 06, 2009

i know it's not the gremlins...

...it's my lack of organization. Once again, I put something in a safe spot, and now I can't find it.

I remember thinking, as I put the little SD memory card on a shelf, that it would be so easy for it to be knocked off the shelf and lost. That may be what happened. I hope not. Tomorrow, I'm going to look for it more, as it has pictures on it that I can't really replace. There's ones of Jaiden, and Thailand, that I don't have anyplace else. I know, i know, bad me, I should have copied those :(

If anyone is psychic, and can tell me where that little sucker is, I would really appreciate it. If you're not, a prayer to St. Jude and St. Anthony would be appreciated.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Cookies!


cookies#5
Originally uploaded by marigo

Every so often, I get carried away baking. Today wasn't TOO bad, but it was still enough cookies that the littlest ones were tired out by the decorating. Little Sister and I finished up the decorating by our lonesomes. This sugar cookie recipe is pretty good, I found it in a library book "Christmas Cookies from the Whimsical Bakehouse" and the royal icing recipe is from the Wilton Baking Powdered Meringue.

As you can tell from the top picture, everybody has their own ideas of decorating. There's only 4 shapes, and 3 colors (mainly), but I let the kiddos go wild with the sprinkles.

cookie#2and, there were a few accidents...

cookie#4
The kiddos helped decorating, and cutting out cookies for the next batch also. aren't they cute?

cookies#6

Happy Holidays!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Trip report

Well, this weekend we got back safe and sound from our Thanksgiving trip. I don't look forward to the holidays (not everyone knows that, but it's true. Too much stress for me to enjoy thanksgiving and Christmas.) but this was a fun trip.

LittleSister had the wednesday off before Thanksgiving, so Tuesday after she was out of school (not immediately, we never are that organized) we drove to Wichita to visit my side of the family. My OtherSister's friend kindly offered to let us stay at his new house (Thank you Joey!) which Little J enjoyed very much. The house is still decorated in "college student", including two different game systems, and Joey was nice enough to play with Little J.

The next day (wednesday) we spent time with OtherSister, visited the farm, home to many dogs (okay, only 2) and cats, and had a nice dinner with OtherSister, Joey, UncleA, UncleE, and AuntD. People are spread out more these days, so it's harder to see everyone at the same time, and it was nice to eat with everybody.

Thanksgiving morning we left for Tulsa (we tried to leave by 7, actually left at 7:30, so we did pretty good for us) to spend with my sister-in-law (what should i call her? I don't think she would like me to put either of her names up here...no, i don't really think she would care, she's fairly relaxed about things like that) my sister-in-law J.P. and her in-laws. (I don't know when her anniversary is. hmm...) I had met her guy's parents before, during the Thanksgiving before last, but I hadn't met the rest of the family. Everyone was really nice (am I using "nice" too much?), and I hope no one minded that i spent a large part of the time lurking with the children in the living room. The kitchen had both a cooking stove, and a wood cooking stove, and it was too hot to spend much time in there. I really love the wood cooking stove, but it wouldn't work for our family. Little kids aren't the best idea around that sort of thing, and I'm not organized enough to cook on a wood stove.

J.P. had found out that I have a blog (i think i listed it on my facebook page) and she told her husband, and he told his relatives, so they were asking me about my knitting. Sorta embarrassing, since I haven't blogged about knitting in quite a while. But I was wearing one of my knitting items, so i could prove that yes, i really do knit.*

The turkey was wonderful, and the mob of kids was nice enough to play with Little J (Little G was a bit overwhelmed and wanted to stay by mommy), and it was really a good thanksgiving dinner.

Friday we visited the Tulsa Zoo with J.P. and her family. Fun! It was a warm day, and frankly, I was surprised that the zoo wasn't mobbed with people. We saw a lot of the indoor exhibits (the rainforest would have been more fun if I hadn't been wearing a heavy coat :D ) and walked around a lot. When we left at lunch time, we did lunch at a Braum's restaurant. My favorite! I don't know if J.P. and Guy believed me when I said it was one of my favorite places, but it is. The burgers are wonderful, the fries are thick and crinkle cut so they stay hot, and the ice cream is Grrreat! But, they don't have Braum's in our neck of the world, we're too far north. So sad :(

I forgot a camera, but J.P. was taking pictures on Friday. I hope I can get pictures, some of those should be cute. Both Little J and Little G decided that they LOVE their big cousin, and they preferred to hold his hand over mine. I don't know if he appreciated it, but he was holding their hands. Pretty nice for a highschool senior, no?

*I really am knitting these days. I've knitted a hat for LittleG, crocheted a hat and booties for her little doll, and I'm working on LittleG's christmas stocking. I just don't have any pictures of them right now. And have I mentioned the swifter covers that I need to put buttons on?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

First Snow! well, almost

The first snow was actually yesterday morning, when the temperature dropped to 32 degrees, and it started snowing big wet soggy snowflake clumps. But I didn't have my camera then. I was in the car, driving the little boy to preschool. Yes, it was interesting. This picture is from the next morning (this morning!) after it had snowed during the night. It was also lightly raining, so by noon, it had all melted away.

I know it's not as much as say, Colorado had, but it was still SNOW!

Monday, November 02, 2009

Gremlins?

Or am I losing my mind? I can't find an entire folder of papers and I know exactly where I put it....oh, wait, i put it away already. oops. okay, if I know where that is, then I can call around to find boarding for the pets over Thanksgiving. I hope it's not to late to find someplace. It's already the 2nd of november, and the boarding kennels tend to fill up fast for the holidays. At our old place, they would hold a spot for Gallant, no matter how full they were, but, that's neither here nor there ;)

at least it wasn't the gremlins this time...

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Familly weekend

First off, because almost all i've done this month with the blog is reject comments, is, Please, if you would like to leave a comment, write it in English. I know that I enjoy other people's blogs even when they don't write in my own language, but I don't speak other languages, and if I can't tell what the comment is saying, it isn't accepted. Sorry!

We had a nice weekend with a visit from my sister, SisterS, and her friend. We mostly hung out and played with the kiddos. They watched Little Sister's highschool football game (no, she doesn't play football. She's in the marching band) and all in all, i think everyone enjoyed the weekend. Little J didn't want them to leave, of course. He had people that would build block towers for him! taller than Little J! He came out with a new phrase this weekend too: "Get your hands off of me!" he was being naughty at the time, so I had to try not to laugh at him.

My cousin, the soon-to-be physics doctorate, also stopped by on Saturday evening. It was kewl to see him, i hadn't in a while. He was in the area for the Homecoming football game at our (yes, we went to the same college) alma mater. The Ravens won, as opposed to Little Sister's team :) I learned something new about my cousin: he watches anime. I never would have thought, that my little cousin with no sense of humor (not really!) would grow up liking Japanese cartoons.

On the knitting front, I made it to the knitting group at the library on Thursday, and managed to start my Christmas knitting. Two of the 3 kids have Christmas stockings, and I need to make one for LittleG, too. It's started, and if I can find enough time, maybe I'll make ones for BigJ and I, too. We'll see.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Some days, you really need a cup of tea


Luckily, I have this lovely flowering tea that my dearest husband gave me. I think it's the Lavender Delight White Tea, but isn't it pretty? Now, after 15 minutes fiddling with my internet browser) I'm going to go drink it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Post 2 of 2 - Knitting!

What I've mostly been knitting for the past two weeks is Swiffer covers - now I need to sew buttons on them. But, on Monday I recieved a box in the mail - it was the DishRagTag!

Here's what was in the box (not including the instructions and cards):

Recieved dishcloth


There was a lovely cotton dishcloth, in the official pattern of DishRagTag2009, yummy bath salts, and (not pictured) a ball of red, white and blue striped cotton yarn.

The left-over yarn, after I knit a dishcloth out of the striped cotton, is in this picture, along with the dishcloth itself, a tin of mints that went inside the box when I sent it, and a new ball of cotton yarn.

To go in the box


I stayed up way too late knitting it, but, not counting the interruptions, it only took 2 or 3 hours to knit. fun!

Post 1 of 2 - Birthday!

Little J's birthday was a lot of fun! In a grand family tradition, his mommy and daddy procrastinated until the last minute, but I think the cake was a success (at least with the little people), and that's what counts.

This was the cake that I made for Little J's birthday cake. Big J saw it online, and pointed it out to me, months ago. When Little J saw the picture, he asked, "Me have shark cake?" (over and over, and over...) So, I had to fufill his little heart's desire, and make him a shark cake. The only difficulty, was that Little G was trying to blow out the candles before Little J got a chance!




We did eventually manage to convince the girl that she should wait for her brother to blow out the candles, but it was difficult :D

The cake was yummy. I used a recipe from King Arthur Flour's website for a vanilla pound cake, store bought vanilla frosting (note to self: it melts when it gets too warm) and we had chocolate ice cream with it.



And, after cake and ice cream, there were presents! Little J had already received a wooden train set from Aunt R and Uncle D (Thank You! The kiddos play with it quietly) and a card with money from his Grandma and Grandpa. Mommy had a Ravensburger puzzle with a Papo knight figure, and a Ben10 sticker book for him, and daddy picked out a SharkAttack hotwheels car playset for Little J. So, not too many toys for mommy to find places for, but enough to make him happy.


And, even Big J liked playing with the sticker book...

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

feeding frenzy, radishes, and a new vaccum

This post is a bit random, it covers different things that have happened...

I fixed up lunch for the kiddos, and here is Little G dipping her fingers in ketchup, peanut butter, and yogurt. She prefers the yogurt, her brother likes ketchup better. The yogurt and ketchup were intended to be for dipping tortilla pieces. Below is a picture of the tortillas, I made snowflakes for the little kids. They thought it was so cool!







And, Big J's parents sent the kids presents from Thailand! Below is a picture of Little J and Little G wearing native Thai costumes. Little J and G like them because the clothes are jingly - there's little bells sewn on.


I tried my aunt's recipe for microwave pickles last weekend, and I'm not sure it turned out right. First, the recipe is for pickling onions, not for radishes. But I really love pickled radishes, so I thought I would try (it took trips to two seperate grocery stores to find the ingredients.) Then, I missed the step that said to COVER the container before microwaving. Big J complained about the smell of vinegar in the kitchen. He's the sensitive sort. The radishes looked beautiful at the halfway mark, when I stirred them, and the liquid had already become a lovely clear red, but after 10 minutes of microwaving, the radishes are all shriveled and cooked! AuntR, did I do this right?

Tonight, we had a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman come by and give us a demonstration. He was very good at his job, and the vacuum was very good at it's job. He left us with a new vacuum, and removed our old vacuum, just like magic. Big J and Little Sister are very excited, and have all sorts of plans for vacuuming and shampooing the carpets. I can't wait (to have them vacuuming for me!). Hopefully, this more efficient vacuum will decrease the allergens in the house and help with Big J's allergy symptoms.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

more updates since moving

ah, i haven't posted for a while, have I? well, Big J arrived at the airport safe and sound last weekend. For a while, we were afraid that he wouldn't get to us until the next day. He had missed a connection, and although the airline put him on standby, they weren't sure if there would be room, and the next flight would arrive the next morning. Flying standby DID work, and I picked him up and he arrived home around midnight. Yay!

Since then, we've opened boxes, bought a king size bed, cleaned water out of our basement carpet (It rained. Lots. Jay's theory is that it seeped under the back door, but I'm not sure... So now we own a dehumidifer and a shop vac. Home Depot is very useful.) and I've seen a couple of movies.

Ponyo, by Miyazaki, was very cute. It's loosely based on "The Little Mermaid" fairy tale, but with Studio Ghibli's japanese sensibility. I really liked the little fish-girl, with her chicken legs and stick figure arms. And the mother that explains she makes milk for her baby. :) And, the music score includes Wagner's (I think) "Ride of the Valkyries". Love that song! (and the ending Ponyo song sticks in my brain...)

I'm almost done with my watermelon socks! Yay! and thank the little knitting gods, because I am getting so sick of that project. Double knitting is not for me. Yes, I can do it, and yes, I'm probably getting pretty fast (or I was, before I reached the ribbing) but i truly hate having to do twice the amount of work for apparently half the result. I have my next project planned, actually, I need to make Christmas stockings. Like the ones I've made for Little Sister and Little J, the littlest girl and my husband and I need our own. Hmm...i wonder what box that pattern is in?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

My little boy, ready for school!



This was Little J's first week at preschool, and he's had a great time. Playground, new toys, lots of boys and girls to play with, it's perfect!

Little J is enrolled at a Montessori preschool, that's not-too-far away from us. He's attending three days a week, for half a day(mornings). That's all I could convince myself to start with, both budget-wise, and seperating from my first-born child. Once I have a grasp on actual expenses, and I see how Little J handles it (and how well it works out for for his Mommy and Little G) , we might increase the number of days per week.

So far, I've been able to do the waking up early and dressing everyone without too much frustration in the morning. The only issue has been that I am absolutely exhausted by bedtime. well, by suppertime. And, I've considered a nap, but the little ones are falling asleep at 4:30, and if I fall asleep when they do, we won't wake up in time to make a reasonable supper, or go to bed early enough to wake up the next morning. (I would love to be one of those people who can function on only 4 hours of sleep.)

It's only going to get worse, I'm afraid. Little Sister started highschool (eek! she's HOW old??) this week too, and because the school dosen't have any busing (really. none at all) I need to be awake to drive her to school. and that's even earlier than we leave for Little J's preschool. So, I can either have everybody dressed and fed by that time (by waking up an hour earlier), or we can all be in pj's to drop her off at school. Hmmm...think she'll be embarrassed if we're in pj's?

Friday, August 07, 2009

getting ready for school

First,I've actually had to get the kiddos registered at their new schools. Little Sister (who is starting highschool! EeeK!) is not quite done yet, but (keep your fingers crossed!) should be ready by the time school starts. Little J is all set with his preschool, where he's going three days a week. I've ordered lunch boxes for both of them (hmm...wonder if I should have ordered ones for me and Little G, too?) and I'm looking into other ways (i just looked at who wrote that article. Betz White, a crafty author I've liked since I saw here cupcake pincushions.) to wrap up food.

Now I need to actually get food for them to take along...and we have at least one clothes shopping trip in the next week. It's amazing, how much clothes a teen girl can go through. At least she doesn't insist on the most fashionable (e.g. expensive) outfits.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

moving happenings

Well, we're in our new house. We survived! i think. As long as no boxes fall on to our heads, we'll probably be okay.

We were in our old house for almost two weeks after the movers had packed everything up. In that time, I was at the laundromat three different times...I don't know how my mom and grandma used to go to the laundromat every single week. I remember them doing it when I was small (which makes me wonder even more how mom did it with a small child along) but actually doing it made me realize how much work it is. Lugging the laundry, dirty and clean, having to wait at the laundromat for the clothes to wash and dry...I did have an interesting conversation there. The woman who was working there, who probably had a 'proud to be a redneck' sticker on the back of her car, and went out every hour for a cigarette break, had a book behind the counter. I asked her if it was hers, really because I hoped I could read it while I was waiting. But it DID belong to her. She was reading "The Screwtape Letters", by C.S. Lewis. And because she was, I could identify with her. She liked other books by C.S. Lewis, although she didn't know that he had written "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." She had a dog that chewed up her books, and she was busy all the time, but she made time to read books that made her think. Now I wish that I could talk with her more, about things that maybe we both had read.

Big J flew into Indianapolis late last Friday, so that he could help us move. Think about it, we were moving three kids, two cats, and a very large dog (plus several houseplants) so we needed at least two vehicles to put them all in. Little Sister can't drive yet, so thank goodness Big J could help. Saturday morning we were packing everybody and everything up, and we were almost to the point of saying, there's not enough room, the cats still need to go in the cars, we'll have to leave something behind. (I was about to cry, because the most sensible things to leave would be my houseplants, and I am very emotionally attached to them.) Big J's brilliance saved us, and everything eventually fitted together, and off we went! He let me lead, with the Garmin GPS in my Aztek.

We stopped overnight near Aunt R's and Uncle D's, and was able to let the doggie and the kiddos out to play on their lawn. It was a nice evening to be ouside.

We were staying at a local motel, and had a second-floor room. It was nice enough for a cheap hotel (except for the hole in the wall, and the plaster on the ceiling that was just-about-ready to fall off), but the only way up was by a set of metal stairs. The kind of metal, clangy, noisy stairs that have empty space between one tread and the next, and open bars on the railing that let you look all the way down to the ground. For some reason, my big dog Gallant decided, on Sunday morning, that he was afraid of those stairs. Okay, that's not fair. If I had four legs, and was maybe a bit achy in all four, I might be afraid of those stairs too. For whatever reason, it was 6:30 in the morning, and Gallant was terrified of going down those stairs.

The hotel was, let's say, less-than-helpful, and the police department and animal control as well. How do you get a 120lb dog down stairs, when he refuses to move? Did I mention that Big J hurt his back and isn't supposed to do any heavy lifting? And it's impossible to find a veterinarian on a Sunday morning, much less find one that's willing to make house calls (there's a definite niche there for a young vet who wants to make some extra money). Eventually, after bribes, examples, pretending to leave without him, after three hours Little Sister persuaded him down the stairs. She says it just took much patience, and he finally was tired of having to lay down next to the stairs. For whatever reason, he did eventually get down those stairs and into the car. And we were out of there, three hours late, but with enough time to get Big J to our new house, and then to the airport.

Tuesday, the movers came with the big truck and all of our boxes. They put the furniture back together, and departed, leaving us with boxes stacked and towering over our heads (I'm not really afraid that the boxes will fall on us, well, not unless the little kids try to climb on the box-towers.) We've been sporadically emptying boxes, with the most important things first. Little kid toys, the TV and XBox games, and the big computer were all unpacked on Tuesday. Yesterday we unpacked almost all of the kitchen boxes, and we've unpacked some of the bedroom stuff. None of the book boxes have been opened, which says something about where my priorities lie (I must purge my book collection before we move again. How many books are there that I can't live without?)

The little kids love the swingset in our back yard (Little G will point out the window when she wants to go swing), and Gallant is getting used to having enough space to run around in. We've visited the library and registered for library cards. I hooked up the washing machine yesterday, and today I changed out the power cord on the clothes dryer so we could use it (how hard is it to hook up a clothes line?).

I really love this house.

But I'm going to wait on unpacking books until Big J is here again :}

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The sad thing is, I'm getting the house all organized, and we're moving in a little over two weeks from today. Yesterday, i pulled up weeds. And hung up the garden hose, and filled in the holes in the back yard that Gallant had dug...Everyone was outside for an hour (mostly), and then after supper we went to the swimming pool. Today I moved photos around (lots of photos, and they had been living in three different places.) moved giant flower pots around, cleaned off the dresser, went to the park, cleaned up the kitchen some more...did I mention helping Little Sister clean her room? and somehow, it all seemed like I was even busier than this...

I've been doing a little knitting, not much, because I have to concentrate on my project or concentrate on the kids. I can't do both, not with my kids, and not with my knitting projects. I don't know if I'll get much done this weekend, either, as I have a top-secret crafty-type project I need to work on. We'll see.

I'm also fretting over what exactly needs to NOT be packed. Do I have the mover's pack the stroller? The vacuum? what about pots and pans. Like I said, I'm fretting, but I need to make a decision about it.

and tomorrow, More cleaning! Onward and Upward! Excelsior!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

p.s.

the size 0 needles are working MUCH better!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

I love my knitting group

And I hate that I'm going to be leaving them soon. :( (is there an emoticon for big tear drops?) As much as i want to be in a new (not-falling-apart) house, I really really will miss everybody. Ms. C founded our knitting group in December 2006, I found it Feb 2007, and I've been at Panera's almost every Monday since then.

Everybody was so very nice last Monday, they had going-away presents for me.This first pic is travel toys for the kiddos - there were two teen magazines in there, too, but Little Sister already grabbed those.


Then, here's the other canvas tote, full of goodies for me.


I sorted it out into two pictures, so here we go...there's 5 dishcloths, 1 kitchen towel, 4 scrubies, 2 soap bottle dresses (these are so going into my kitchen, I never manage to make any for myself), and a sock yarn bag....


Then, here is a tea pot with Tazo tea (would you believe, I don't have any real teapots already?), a box of Good Earth Tea (I haven't tried this before, and it looks yummy), a mug with it's own cozy (and a flower!) two lacey bookmarks, and a little skein of yarn with a keychain that says its colorway is my name.

Oh gosh, I'm about to cry again. This is so nice of everybody....

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

knitting news

I had about 20 rows knit on my Print 'O the Wave scarf. The Lacey Lamb yarn is a lovely color, soft, and great to work with. But, I decided that knitting it on size 4 needles just wasn't going to have the pattern dense enough to be appreciated. So, ribbit, ribbit! I frogged it, totally. I'll start over when I find some size 0 needles. Hey! This means I can start a new pair of socks! There really is a silver needle to a dark cloud...

Monday, June 22, 2009

cars are expensive pets to keep.

So, I took the Aztek into the repair shop this afternoon. It had been acting funny, vibrating oddly at a specific speed, and we wanted to find out what was wrong with it before our next road trip. And, a turn signal light needed to be replaced. Little G and I arrived, talked to the customer service guy, and he said, "It'll need this and this, and this.." and wow! it would be under a hundred dollars (the Aztek's repairs are usually in the hundredS range, unfortunately. I don't know if it's all Azteks, or if we're just really rough on ours.)
The Little Girl and I went inside to the waiting room, to look at the fishies and watch TV. That was fun, she entertained the other customers just by being a cute little girl. She recieved two seperate comments of "What a good little girl!"
When I heard my name paged over the speakers, I knew it couldn't be good. When they can fix your car right away, they page you to go pay for it. It's only when there are New, Amazing, and Expensive problems that they call you to discuss it again. And yes, it was. Expensive, at least.
Did you know tires can break? I had never thought of it before, but, it made sense...the inner belts on 3 out of 4 of my tires were broken. That's what was causing the vibration. Thank goodness I hadn't had a blow-out with them. They didn't have a tire in stock to fit the Aztek, either, so they had to order it. And, the oil pan was leaking "badly", so I said to repair that too. The very nice customer service guy said that it wouldn't be done today, so they gave me and the Little Girl a ride home, and said they could come pick us up tomorrow. When it will hopefully be done. Hopefully EARLY, so that we can make it to swimming lessons...
So, I'm not going to make it to Panera's tonight for knitting. No car. Maybe I'll lock myself in the bedroom for an hour and insist that I'm going to knit by myself! LOL! and it five minutes there would be little people pounding on the door insisting they need mommy's help.
Big J keeps threatening to buy me a new car. I don't want to, I love my aztek, and I haven't seen anything I like that's big enough to cart our family (and the dog) around, but, when the yearly repair bills is larger than car payments, maybe he has a point.

Friday, June 19, 2009

not-so-fun swimming

Well, swim lessons have been a bit disappointing this week. We don't have lessons on Friday, and out of 4 days, two have been raining and lightning at swim lesson time. And the other two days have been cloudy and chill, so that when I get in the pool, I have to resist shrieking because the water is cold! and I don't want to scare Little J. The first 15 minutes of our 30 minute lessons have been spent holding Little J, who doesn't want to do anything except climb up mommy like a tree, because HE thinks the water is cold, too. The last five minutes, Little J hugs me and asks to get out, because he has gotten too cold to have any fun, while the ditzy tanned highschool lifeguard teacher tries to tell him "move around and you'll stay warm..." (it never worked for me. If you're below a certain percentage of body fat (and his teacher is nicely insulated.) once you're cold, it dosen't matter how active you are, you're still cold)

okay, enough grouchiness...the sun is out, there is a heat index warning so it should be warm for the rest of the day...we set up the little kids' wading pool in the back yard so in a little bit it should be warmed up nicely, and ready for them to play in. Me, I have some flowers to plant, so we all have things to do.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

For all you Kansas people, we just heard Mark Lawson from KWCH on the weather channel! That's the cool part! but he was talking about sever weather in Kansas. Are y'all okay?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My newest skirt


new skirt, pic cropped
Originally uploaded by marigo

Okay, I took a very dark photo, indoors, in a mirror, and then I tinkered with it until it looks like this...and it's pretty accurate. I like it, it's light and cool, and dries quickly...I know, because I was chasing little kids through the water fountains at the zoo.

This afternoon we spent at the zoo, looking at the elephants and the butterflies and the botanical garden. We had much fun! i've uploaded pics to flickr if you want to see,

Tomorrow, Little J starts swimming lessons. He's not to sure about getting in the big pool, so we'll see how it goes. Mommy is going to be with him, and Little Sister and Little G will be in the baby pool. It'll be a fun family event! yay! :)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

I'm Bacckk!!

Which is a cause for great rejoicing (at least by me!) because it means that my poor little laptop has a new power cord! Hallelujah!

It's been a busy hiatus for us. Dear Big J was here last weekend, and hung out with us. We went to the Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts, we saw a movie (sans children)(Terminator. That's why it was without the kiddos.) we went for lunch at Carrabba's (Yummy! Anyone have recipes for their Chicken Marsala or Pollo Rosa Maria?) and we drove Little Sister to camp.

She's been to this camp for the past two years, but this year she was doing a different program, "Adventure Camping". It sounds as if it would be lots of fun in good weather...they camp out every night, in tents, and they drive for off-location activities like rock-climbing, canoes down a river, and cave-exploring. However! While Little Sister was there, it rained into their tents 3 nights out of five. I think it makes me feel old, I would not have been able to move after nights like they had. But she said that they had a great time (actually, she said that SHE had a great time) and she talked about it the entire drive home. For an entire hour. Really.

Big J had to fly back for more supersecret classes on last Sunday, and since Little Sister was at camp, the little ones and I hung out, went to the grocery store (and the toy store) and spent lots of time together. One day we made popsicles (banana-strawberry) and it was a rousing success. I also took them up to the craft room with me. We cleaned and tidied, and I finished off a few projects while they were dumping magazines and buttons on the floor.

The first project, was two big floor pillows. I've had them sewed together for ages (Really! Since before I was married) and I finally stuffed them and sewed the openings closed. They look pretty good on our big beanbag. The other project I rescued from the craft room is a skirt for me. I maybe started it two years ago? and whoever labeled that darn pattern as a "2-hour" pattern, deserves to burn in a crafter's hell. It was a floor length skirt, with tiers of ruffles. I HATE ruffles. but i really wanted that skirt when I started it, so I had started at the bottom so that I would have less sewing to do as I went up. Good idea, right? Hah! I found the other pieces, and sewed them together from the top down, and decided that two ruffle tiers, stopping at just above the knee, was going to be the right length. If I had originally sewed from the top down, I could have stopped much sooner, and been done with it a long long time ago. It's a quick (reasonably) and dirty sewing job, but it's finished, and I can wear it to church tomorrow. I really hope I didn't miss any more pins...

Let's see...oh, I finished up a summer scarf for me, of a recycled sari silk-yarn. It's pretty, and fuzzy. Maybe I'll take a picture of it tomorrow before church...stay tuned, same bat channel, same bat time. ;)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

uh-oh.

the charger for my laptop isn't working. Now, there are two other computers currently in the house, but this is the only one I ever blog from...so if my charger really is reallly really dead, i may not blog in a while. oops.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Arts, Crafts, and dancing

Little J's craft project for today: monster paintings. Little G's projects: crayon scribbles and playdough balls. Mine? This!

budding artist

Remember I mentioned that I had a whole heck of a lot of cardboard up in my craft room? I finally found a good use for it. Today, I cut it up, and made an easel for Jaiden. it was pretty easy. I used a rotary cutter(they work great on cardboard on top of carpet) to cut out two pieces of cardboard approximately 2 foot wide by 3 foot tall, with a 2 inch section creased in at both the top and bottom. The folds at the top were duct-taped together to the inside, and then I stood the pieces up in a triangle, and added a layer of duct tape across the top, too. I also constructed a box to hold paints, water and paintbrushs, and a ledge to stand paper on. He had a great time, and insisted on painting some more when Little Sister finally came home after school.

posing, Cheese!

Oh, and Little J's wearing one of his daddy's old shirts as a painting smock. Isn't he cute?

In practice, I was using duct tape (again! Duct tape fixes everything!) to hold Little J's paper on to the board. I'm thinking I might need large alligator clips, or something that Little J can use. To keep the easel from spreading apart, the back edge was against the wall, and I had a couple pieces of 2x4 in front of the easel. This I'm fixing tomorrow, by tying cords between the front and back pieces of the easel. And, my big 'duh' moment, was when I realized that cardboard really isn't waterproof. So, tomorrow, I'm covering the inside of the paint box with layers of duct-tape. I think ducttape is water-proof...

Tonight I dropped Little Sister off at school for the 8th grade dance. There were a lot more girls than boys standing outside (the kids had to buy tickets for the dance, and since a dance is really more appealing to girls...), and while the guys were in pretty relaxed clothes, the girls were in prom dresses. Yes, prom dresses. These aren't highschool, these are middle school kids, even if they are just graduating from 8th grade...I hope Little Sister has a good time. I did her hair for her in a reverse french braid, and she looked very cute. I pick her up at 10. That is past the little one's bedtime, so I may be carrying sleeping babies out to the car and sticking them in their carseats to go to the school.

Little G's doll


Little G's doll
Originally uploaded by marigo

It's a very well loved doll. This doll was Little Sister's when she was small (10 years ago? okay, not that ancient a doll) and now that Little G has found it, it gets played with every day. The poor dollie has no eyelashes, and her hair is in dreadlocks, but at least she has new clothes.

I couldn't resist going to Imagination Station one more time this week, and I found this outfit for the doll, and some paper for Little J to paint on, and some chocolate...I don't think I'm going back again this week. They have their birthday celebration/party today, but i really don't need to spend more money there (and, i have to chauffeur Little Sister around tonight)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

lurkers coming out of the woodwork

AhHa! you lurker, you. :)

On the previous post, there's currently one comment, and I know who posted it. But hey, yeah, I'm up for a trip to the Yarn Barn in Lawrence :D

Last night at knitting was good, relaxing. I really enjoy the evenings when everybody is discussing the same things...my apologies to the other knitters, I didn't mean to rant on the subject of soybeans. But the cool part, was that I wasn't the only one that had ideas about slightly non-mainstream dietary practices (is that a sufficiently polite way to say we're all weird in our own special ways? i sincerely do no want to offend). And it was a good evening. Thanks guys!

I haven't did a lot of knitting lately. Busy with the little ones, stuff like that. But I have decided what to do with my Lacey Lamb laceweight yarn. I printed off Eunny Jang's Print O'the Wave scarf, and I'm planning to cast on for that soon.

One project I have been working on is tidying up my craft room. It has had all sorts of stuff stored in there since we moved in, and I have a lot of craft supplies. Little G and Little J help me (sort of!) and we have a ton of fun. I'm finding things I forgot I had, which is a pleasant surprise. I've broken down the two large cardboard boxes that I was using as tables, and it looks much neater. The next step, is to take out the large appliance boxes that I was saving in case i needed a lot of cardboard for a craft project. Oh, and I have a stack of incomplete sewing projects, too. There's a skirt for Little Sister, two dresses for Little G, a skirt and a dress, and two blouses for me. Hopefully, I can get those projects finished up before we move.

Oh! and on the knitting related front, the new KnitPick magazine was in the mail yesterday. It's focus is kid's patterns and toys this time. One of the books they showcased, was by Lucinda Guy. I've seen her patterns before, and they are lovely whimsical things, and it seems she has a new book out. how kewl is that? I may have to order the new book, i think.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Today's trip to Franklin

I love independent toy stores. They are wonderful, stuffed full of playthings that are as much fun for grownups as for small people. And the one closest to us right now, is Imagination Station, in Franklin.
Their 5th anniversary is coming up this week, and to celebrate, they're having all sorts of sales and events. Today, they had all puzzles at half price, which was wonderful, because I have been thinking about a ravensburger (I realized I can't pronounce that properly, it's german) puzzle for Jaiden's Birthday (and for everybody else, too). It's a great puzzle, it has three different parts to it with big, medium and small pieces, so that everybody in the family can work on it together. Why didn't someone think of this before? Obviously, I didn't think of it before now, either, but it is such a great idea, that now, it's like 'duh!'.
Unfortunately, I can't go in that store without buying more than one thing (I'm sure the toy store dosen't mind that at allll) and this time, we wound up with a whole bag of goodies. Two ravensburger puzzles, a sand scoop, a packet of stretchy dinosaurs for Little J, a chirpy soft chick toy for Little G, and a teeny little glass penguin for Little Sister (all the little people are 'Little'. Makes it easy for me to name them on here). Oh, and two board books, too.
Afterwards, the kiddos(G and J) and I went over to a bakery for chocolate chip cookies. Benjamin's Bakery. They are the absolutely yummy baked goods...and the little ones entertained the staff. Especially when Little G tried to take off her jacket, and ended with a cookie stuffed up her sleeve. She was dancing to the music, and don't you get warm while you're dancing? She just kept a firm hold on the cookie, and it didn't quite fit through the sleeve.
And Cami, the trip to the bakery is why we didn't visit Clementine's today. I wanted to, but the boy said no when I asked him if HE wanted to, and, well, they were both covered in chocolate. Temptation said to visit the yarn store, but then reason said "do i really want to take sticky, grumpy little kids to the store? no, no i don't."

I haven't been knitting much. Gloria is to the stage that if she see's me sitting down, she wants to sit on my lap. Or, someone says they need to use the potty. Or they need food. Or, someone's screaming....I'm about ready to lock myself in the bathroom and PRETEND I'm taking a bubble bath, so that I can actually knit in peace....and that's a measure of how desperate I am, as I haven't had a chance to have a real bubble bath in months...

See all ya knitters tonight at Panera's!

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Spreading joy through the land


We've made people happy tonight - we accepted the counter offer for a perfect house :) So, after we go through all the ringamarole, we'll have a house here in Newville! Yay! so, that's our real estate agent is happy, and their real estate agent is happy, and the old owners are happy...

Monday, April 27, 2009

must post this before I forget about it....

Well, my hand wasn''t badly burned after all, thank goodness! I did soak it in cold water immediately after I was burned, and my hands have endured years of abuse from cooking...I was able to work on my wee tiny sock for the 2009 Wee Tiny Sock Swap this weekend! Yay! and, i mailed it off today. It was a bright spot in a difficult day.

(Tuesday: It involved house AC and car repair bills. No, no more details, it's not funny, only depressing. But, Monday night at Panera's gave me lots of good knitting time, and i've the body of Little G's Little Flower sweater finished!)

Friday, April 24, 2009

best laid plans and all that

I was going to knit tonight. I had it all planned, an evening to relax while the kiddos were asleep, before Big J came home...and then I burned my hand. :( I reached over and grabbed a hot pan. I'm not sure how bad it is, but it's in between my thumb and index finger, and one spot on top of my index finger, on my right hand, and I don't think I can knit.

darn.

NOW what am I going to do?

Thursday, April 23, 2009

spider babies

I pointed out a spider to little J. This was one of our favorite kinds, Vidipis audax (no i don't know the common name, and the spelling might not be right, either) and he was talking about good spiders and bad bugs when something he said caught my attention.

Little J: "There's a good spider, and then there's more spiders and more spiders"
Me: "Little J, where do spiders come from?"
Little J: "The spider house!"

okay, it makes sense to a three year old :D

now, it's midnight, I must get to sleep...

Sunday, April 19, 2009

well, I haven't been blogging much, but I do have child cuteness...


PICT0004

This is Little G's newest Teddy, a present from AuntR. AuntR found one that sings to Little G, who loves it terribly muchas. Mommy has to turn off the batteries, sometimes...

PICT0008

this was what the boy did on our househunting trip several weeks ago...he played on LittleSister's gameboy. For hours. Or watched TV...

Misti Frog Vest

And I haven't had a lot of time to knit, but people have been threatening me because they wanted to see this...It's a vest/shrug pattern from Plymouth yarn made in Misti Alpaca. One of the knitter's at Panera had had questions on this, and then when I saw a store sample at Mass Ave yarn Shop, I had to make one of my own. I love it! (but I'm afraid I might be allergic to alpaca :( )

Sunday, March 29, 2009

On the road again

Anybody know of a group with two turquoise tour buses, with license plates out of Johnson County Kansas, that was in Illinois on Saturday? They passed me on the highway, and they were really booking it. DEFINITELY going faster than the speed limit for large vehicles.

On Friday when we were packing, I was doing a quick repair job with superglue, and the tube burst all over me, and all over the counter. I didn't get stuck to anything, and I used fingernail-polish-remover to get most of it off the counter, but I'll need to pick up some acetone to take the tagends off. I hope!

What are we doing this weekend? i can't remember if I told the blog that we're traveling for Little Sister's spring break. Yep, we travelled from OldBurg, to NewVille, and we're going to be house hunting and visiting relatives. What fun! we get to explore and be as curious as we like.

The kiddos had a great time at AuntR's and UncleD's. They had new toys, and people to talk to, and tv to watch...but why is it that anytime we visit anyone, at least one thing is broken? Yep, I feel badly about it :(

Tonight, and the next couple of days, we're staying at a B&B in NewVille. It's a little 2bedroom house that we have to ourselves, and its very very nice. (even with the goldfish crackers all over the floor) I'm hoping that the kiddos will fall asleep early tonight, and I'll get a chance to knit.

Of course I brought knitting along! I have the Little Flower Jacket, that I'd like to finish for Easter (2 weeks left, i know), the watermelon socks, and a ball of laceweight I'd like to start. Unfortunately, since I'm doing the driving (24hrs total on this trip between locations) i don't get to knit while driving.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

New glasses!

I always love getting new glasses (I hate picking them out, but that's a whole different issue). There's the wonderfullness of being able to see better, the snazzy new frames, the shock when I look in a mirror and go "Is that really me?


baby insisted on helping with the computer and webcam. Isn't it wonderful, my child is so technologically advanced...yeah, right :)


I know I haven't posted about knitting lately...watch this space for further details.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Cookie Monster x 2

This made my day: Little J told Little Girl "you can have a little bite of cookie." Little G grabs cookie and run away! The boy chases after the baby, tackles her, and wrestles the cookie away again. lol! we need more cookies :)

Monday, March 23, 2009

Personal assistant looking for position

If there's a superstar out there who needs an assistant, I could be paid a fortune for doing what I do for my family. Really! Today was busy, because I needed to do a whole list of things that I had been putting off. Mostly, things for when we (the kids and i) go househunting. Next weekend is Little Sister's Spring Break, and even though Big J can't come help, we're going to go look, visit the relatives a bit, and do some major driving. On the list of things to do were make sure we have hotel reservations, that the relatives don't have anything else planned ;) make sure all the pets will be taken care of while we're gone, and a few other odds and ends. And, everything needed to be done in addition to the normal chores of taking care of the small kids: diapers, potty, meals & snacks, exercise (run around the house like crazy).

I'm still waiting for the mortgage people to get back to me. I'd like to get preapproval done before we go looking, but it's not urgent. We're going to be going out there again with Big J in May, too.

And, thank goodness for the knitters at Panera's. It was a nice evening, and I had a good time. Relaxation time for me! I took along my Clessidra stocking (maybe I'll put the single sock up as art?) because it makes a much better KIP project than Gloria's jacket. I want to get that jacket done in time for Easter, so I have two weeks...it's going along during Spring Break, and we'll see what happens.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

long time, no see?

yes, sorry :( acting as a single mom has been...well, time-consuming. And I'm afraid blogging is low priority.

What inspired me to post today, was Little Sister's home ec (they don't call it that anymore, but that's what it is) project for the weekend. She brought home a robotic baby doll. It crys, it needs its diaper changed, it has to be burped...and it's much much work than a real baby!

Muhahaha!! It's wrong of me, but it amuses me so much to have her taking full time care of that doll. Maybe she'll realize how much work I have to do during the day with two little ones...

Saturday, March 07, 2009

First birthday


First birthday
Originally uploaded by marigo

Happy Birthday Little Girl! I hope it was a good one! love, mummum

Thursday, February 12, 2009

traveling again

It's the night before we leave for Washington DC, and what am I doing? winding yarn into a ball (by hand. I'm ready to sell my soul for a ball-winder and swift) so that I have something to knit on the trip. During the trip. whenever I find a minute to knit, maybe?

I picked up a skein of yarn while I was in Bloomington. We only hit one yarn store, because I was getting tired (the little kids are HEAVY!) but, the watermelon self-striping sock yarn caught my fancy. It's a cute yarn, and although I'm not sure I want to wear watermelon socks, I do want to knit with it. :D I'm sure Little Sister would like a pair of socks...

So, why are we going to Washington? Well, Big J is taking classes near there, and, since Little Sister was supposed to have a 4 day weekend (she doesn't, because school was cancelled due to snow a few weeks back) we planned that we could go and visit him. And sightsee! I've been to Washington before, when I was in college, but it is such a great town for museums and such. I've printed out info on the National Museum of National History (Smithsonian), the Lincoln Monument, the WWII memorial, the National Zoological Park, the National Aquarium...all those "National" things, it just sends happy thrills down my little heart! I'm a tourist at heart, I like gawking, I like people-watching, and I love taking pictures (so why aren't there more pictures on my blog? err...hmm...because of babies?)


I've realized something today. I'm always worried that I'm going to forget something for a trip (I've forgotten my entire suitcase before. That was interesting) so lately I've taken to making exhaustive lists, so that I can check things off (and so I have something to stare at when my brain goes "there's something we're forgetting!") But, these lists are making me cranky and stressed, because the amount of things I need to do looks overwhelming. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it, but maybe I can try to be less cranky. Make less lists? Pack more in advance? I wonder how other people prepare for trips? I used to be less compulsive about it, when i only had myself to pack for. Now, with the kiddos, there's three other people who are going to suffer if I forget something. not that they seem to be suffering if I forget the ump-teenth bottle of lotion or shampoo...

Friday, February 06, 2009

cartwheels

My favorite line from the Monk episode tonight: "Cartwheel by proxy. And don't forget the 'wheee!'"

And it's so nice, Friday is the one night that the little kids fall asleep before I do. They fall asleep on top of me, while we're watching Mr. Monk, but at least I'm still awake!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

mornings are for crazy people

This morning I had to shovel snow out of the way of the car tires, to take Little Sister to her soccer game this morning at 7:30. grr... if I didn't have to go anywhere, snow would be fine, but I really don't like winter.

Some people do, however:
Little J and Little Sister have been out playing in the snow several times. Usually, she drags him back inside when he's cold and shivering, and bawling because he does NOT want to stop playing.

I haven't taken Little G outside to play in the snow, because I realized I don't have good snow shoes for her. Her shoes are cutie-pie soft baby maryjanes. Terribly-terribly cute, but not good for in the snow. Maybe next year!

I've been knitting on Clessidra stockings, but most of my knitting yesterday was spent fixing a mistake. I didn't actually read the cable chart when I picked up the knitting again, and I stretched out a 12row cable into 14rows...which caused a problem when I reached the starting point for the ankle. So, I unraveled the cable section, and worked in back up, one row at a time. frustrating, but better than ripping the entire sock back to the beginning of the mistake. AND, I was such a good girl that I finished the repair, and had time to a little bit of seed stitch on the ankle panel.


Later today, we're driving to Bloomington for Little Sister's band event. I'm not sure how she'll do, but it's a good opportunity for her to participate in. As long as we're there, we're also going to visit at least one shop. I have my ubiquitous mapquest directions in the car, for both 'Yarns Unlimited' and 'In a Yarn Basket', and we're all set.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009



LOTS of snow!

Monday, January 26, 2009

knitting, interrupted

If you remember my list of unfinished objects well, I have another picture of one. And some other pictures, too.

Here's the Baby Surprise Jacket, (that was on the list) with the Little Girl wearing it:

And here are more pics, of the two Japanese star hats( 1 and 2 ) that I'm finally done with the second, and a pair of baby mittens that i did from scraps (no thumbs, less time :) ) And did I ever post a pic of my Clapotis Scarf on here?




clapscarf

The next projects up to be worked on are Clessidra stockings, and a simple pair of socks. And I'll post some baby pictures soon, too, I promise! And Cami, I'm so happy about that yarn I could just burst :D

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

FO pic (finally!)

I still have 'take pics of finished objects' on my To-Do list, but I have one...

Little Sister's Big Grey Blob sweater. Which isn't too blobbie, and is pretty cute. Monday, I finally sewed on the buttons (i am so bad) and gave it to her. She's been wearing it every day, but thank goodness, she's been being extra special careful not to get it dirty (which is a small miracle. She can get clothes dirty in 5 minutes), so I won't need to hand wash it immediately.


I'm working on the BSJ, and I think I'm getting closer to being done. It's a little hard to tell where I am, with the 'surprising' construction :)

Friday, January 09, 2009

dream home? only for the ideal person?

I ran across the HGTV Dream Home contest on TV, and, okay, I'll admit, it's my perfect idea of a home. It reminds me a lot of the house my Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Carl had when I was a kid, just better decorated. Reading thru the rules, I came across a zinger...

"[HGTV] reserves the right to conduct a background check on any potential Grand Prize Winner and reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any person based on such background check if [HGTV] determines in its sole discretion that awarding the prize to such potential Grand Prize Winner might reflect negatively on [HGTV] or or any of the Participating Product Sponsors."

Oh boy, are they ever stacking the deck. What would cause it to "reflect negatively"? some one with questionable political views? someone from a white trash background? too many kids? And that doesn't even take into account that anyone connected to any of the sponsors (out to the in-laws) is barred from entering the contest. woah nellie.

I'm entering anyway. I love that house. And I'm going to have Big J enter for it, too :P

Thursday, January 08, 2009

UFO role call

I don't do New Year Resolutions. They're too easy to break, and usually don't fix any problems. However! I do have a decision. I am not starting any new knitting projects before I finish at least some of the current projects I have unfinished (taking up valuable needle space, I mean really, yarn can be soooo selfish)

With this in mind, I thought to list the UFO's (Un-Finished (not from Finland) Objects) that I will be working on:

  1. Baby Surprise Sweater in Noro Kujaku
  2. Little Flower Sweater by Debbie Bliss
  3. Cardigan
  4. Crochet Afghan in Homespun yarn
  5. Clessidra Stockings
  6. Hand-to-Hand sweater (hopefully, I can remember the cable pattern...)
okay, that's not too bad. :) they're all about halfway done (well, maybe.)

Possible future projects that I'd like to make are:
  1. clutch purse of Noro Daria
  2. diaper soakers for Little G
  3. cardigan/vest for me
  4. Christmas stocking for Little G
  5. i'm sure i can think of someotherthingstoknit
  6. socks!
hmm...that's almost a year's worth of knitting (not thinking about Christmas yet, no I'm not), and I should be able to knit most of it from my stash. Nifty!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

First day of 2009

It's been a pretty good year.

We're all healthy. Big J and I, Little Sister, and the two babies are right as rain, and everyone is doing well. That dosen't sound like much when I write it down (mostly it sounds like keyboard keys tippy-tapping) but it's quite a lot. Things can be much much worse, and I'm glad it isn't.

Have a good new year, y'all.