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.

Arts, Crafts, and dancing

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

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.


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)

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.

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!

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...