M's Musings

February Reading

2012-02-08T10:25:00.001-05:00

When I'm actually knitting a project I don't read as much. Some, but not as much. But lately, I haven't had anything pressing on the needles (the amount of ends to work in on Little J's sweater is quite daunting) and I've wound up borrowing a few books from the library.

The one that's caused me to lose sleep, because I have to keep reading to find out what happens next, is a series by Brandon Sanderson, "The Mistborn Trilogy". The books are Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages.

It's an epic quest to save the world. The story is set in an alien landscape, but there's hints that in the past it was more Earth-like. The magic is quite unique, with three different systems, that lead to some unique creatures. The non-human species, although mentioned in the first two books, are much more important in the last one.

It's excellent writing, and i loved the books. The author has a few other novels, including "The Alloy of Law", that I read a few weeks back. That one has the same magic system, but is a little more technologically advanced. Further into the future, I think.

I've finished them now, so, time for another trip to the library!

I've fallen in a black hole

2012-02-01T13:41:00.001-05:00

And I'm past the event horizon, too. The accumulated weight of my current knitting projects have sucked me in, and there's no end in sight.

Is there anything more depressing than the sight of millons of yarn ends to work in? I've finished knitting all the pieces for Little J's stripey sweater, so now I'm weaving in the ends (of all those d'mned stripes!) before I sewing it up, and then knit the collar. For which collar, I need a little bit of black, just 2 rows worth. I wish I would have realized that before I used the one and only ball of black yarn for a pair of mittens for Little J...I think I may have enough. Or, if I don't, there won't be any black on the collar, after all.

Poor Clessidra is languishing again. Stuck in a basket, waiting for me to measure her, and then sit down and think about what to do for the next stocking. So is my Print-of-the-Wave scarf, and that's been in time-out even longer than Clessidra. I tried casting on for the pair of mittens for me, but I decided I needed to start over, so there's not even a smidge of a beginning now, although I really really want to make those mittens (I told myself I can work on them seriously when the stripey sweater is done, done, done.)

And for car knitting, and wait-to-pick-up-kids-from-school-knitting, is a pair of mittens for Little J. Doesn't it seem a bit strange, I'm knitting mittens in the middle of the warmest winter we've had in a long time? And then, Christmas presents from the grandparents in Thailand came yesterday. They sent scarfs! lol! They're mostly handmade, and I think their aunt/cousin Yu made them. I guess they were worried the little kids would be cold....

The year is going by, and it's the first day of February. I don't want the days to go by so fast. Soon it will be the 28th, and Big J will be leaving on an airplane, to be stationed overseas. We're rushing around, trying to get ready, and I feel depressed and totally unprepared.

hmm. I think I'll finish up the mittens today. At least I'll complete something.

Cooking is a hobby, too!

2012-01-27T19:07:00.002-05:00

I cook almost every day to feed the family, but somethings are special. This week has been devoted to cooking projects. I knew in advance that it would be, and last weekend I planned my schedule, so that I would be able to do everything. Even for only two projects, I have to schedule arounn

The first project was to make marmalde from blood oranges that I found at the Commissary. I used the recipe from "Well Preserved, Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook" (in no way am I a 'new' cook, but it's a really good cookbook with a lot of useful recipes), and at almost the last minute, I added a cinnamon stick to add a little spice. I accidentally doubled the recipe, so it filled 12 pint jars.

The next project was more complex, although I'm not sure it took any more time.

The Lansing Historical Museum is having a Kansas Day celebration on Saturday, and part of it is a cake decorating contest. My friend Miss L is the curator ("Site Supervisor"), and asked if I would be interested...I entered a cake several years ago (the wheat cake), and this year, I have time, and the baby is a bit older.

So, Thursday the candy decorations were designed and made. (I love the techniques from the Whimsical Bakehouse cookbooks! Easy, and fun). Friday the cake was baked, assembled and frosted. Saturday, it will be delivered to the museum. (I'm going to wait until the last minute to put the church on top of the cake. It's too tall to fit in the cake-carrier)

It's a German Chocolate cake, with the traditional pecan frosting, with a small church on top. I really didn't have any brilliant ideas for a Kansas Day cake, but I do appreciate my German heritage, and the German settlers who brought wheat to Kansas, and scattered churches all over the praries.

FO: LittleRedRidingMittens

2012-01-25T10:35:00.001-05:00

I finished Little G's mittens (for non-ravlery users) off on Monday, and have been waiting for the right time to take pictures to show y'all. Now, as soon as my camera battery recharges (#@!$%!! It seems the battery doesn't like living in the cold car. Or, it's not holding a charge for very long...) I'll post it up for you.

I did make some changes to the basic pattern. I cast on less stitches for the ribbing, considering Little G's skinny little wrists, then increased to the number called for in the pattern for the hand. The thumb has 2 more stitches than was listed, and instead of the spiral decrease at the top of the mitten, I used paired decreases on either side of the mitten.

Now we're waiting for snow. Seen any? send some our way, the kids would appreciate a snow day.

knitting progress, and a decided lack of pictures. Sorry!

2012-01-20T20:33:00.002-05:00

Finished one project, on to another!

The teacher hat for Little J's teacher is finished. It wasn't a bad car project, although the three different balls of yarn tangled together in my bag. I'm glad it's done, and I am glad it actually looks right on a human head. She loves it, and was wearing it when we picked Little J up this afternoon.
And here is the next project that I cast on. Click here! We went to storytime on Wednesday, all the stories were about mittens. My favorite was one by Jan Brett...I think this one. Aaaanyway, Little G asked if she could have new mittens, like in the books. And, Wednesday night, when I couldn't sleep, I cast on for the mittens and was halfway through the first one. I know that I'm going to put a string on a pair, but I'm contemplating wether to make three for the set. They are my car project, now.

Little J's sweater is not a car project. Too many decreases, to make the sleeve look right, and I have to pay attention to my pattern. So, I work on that one at home. I finished one of the sleeves, measured what I would have to do to have the stripes line up the way I wanted, then I ripped back the sleeve cap. Serendipitously, I didn't have to redo the whole entire sleeve.

After I finish the sweater, the next project is for me! me, me, me...I want a new pair of mittens, and I have the yarn to do this pattern. Dark brown for the back ground, and a varigated green for the clover leafs. Pretty, no?

Current progress

2012-01-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

was knitting in car, on teacher's hat.

shouldn't've, I pulled something in my shoulder and knitting was making it worse.

I'm not knitting now, resting.

Typing one-handed!

The Man (boy) in Black!

2012-01-11T19:46:00.000-05:00

What is it about a clean floor that immediately causes small children to drag out all the toys in the room?? I had a fit of cleaning (I don't clean often, but having people visit is a great encouragement.) and within half an hour, there were toys all over the floor. At least it was a clean carpet...

Okay, finished project from a few days before...

Not the Man in Black, but Little J wearing Big J's new hat. It's the Watch Cap from Knits Men Want. It fits Big J, and it's in his (both of them) favorite color, too. It looked especially fetching on Big J when he wore it to track down the mysterious gas leak smell, but, i didn't catch a picture of that.

My next project is a hat for Little J's teacher. She jokingly requested one like Little J's, but in red, black, and white. Turns out, I have lots and lots of red worsted weight, so she's getting one that's mostly red. And then, back to Little J's stripey sweater, I have the yarn for it!

Fooling around

2012-01-04T19:38:00.000-05:00

I wanted to put up a pic of clessidra, so I fooled around with Big J's little computer and the webcam, until I came up with something..

I know, it's pretty blurry, but you can see, there is a top to the bottom of the sock. It's actually long enough to go over my knees, a little longer than the pattern says...I have short legs, that's all. Now, if I only had two socks....

Back from Branson

2012-01-01T14:50:00.004-05:00

Back from Branson! I picked up some souvenirs, but it seems that a cold was waiting at home for me. Oh well. sniffle, sniffle.

Branson was fun. It helped that we had sufficient computers along for almost every person to play with when we had down time in the hotel. Although one night I was caught up with knitting, and it was after 10 pm when Big J looked up and said "Shouldn't the kids be getting ready for bed?" Whoops!

What did we see? We watched the New Shanghai Acrobats (and I really think they, or a related group, toured through Leavenworth a little while back), visited the Titannic Museum, the Butterfly Palace, the Amazing Pet Show (pet and magician show, more like), and ate at a couple local places. (And we visited the local WalMart for cleaning supplies after I managed to drop an almost full cup of hot chocolate in the minivan...)

Knitting wise, I worked on Little J's sweater. It's coming along, although slowly. During the driving time (thank you Big J!), even with the mistakes I made and had to rip back or repair, I knitted the body up to the shoulders. I haven't started on the sleeves yet -- I think I'll need to order more yarn. I've plenty of the blue, but no more green.

I actually took along yarn for four different projects. That's right, for a four day trip, I thought I was going to run out of yarn-ness. Silly me, even if Branson doesn't have a yarn store, there's always walmart and dishcloth cotton. But, I did knit most of the other projects, too. I finished up the Clessidra stocking I've been working on since before Gloria was born. That is, I finished stocking number 1, out of the two neccessary if I'm ever going to wear them. And, I'm afraid that I might not, because it's a smidgen too big. :( Big J thinks I should wear them anyway, but I know that I won't. I hate having wrinkly, baggy socks, and that's just what would happen. That stocking isn't unraveled yet. I've told myself I'll give it a gentle wash, block it, and see how it fits then. (My personal prediction is that it will get larger. We will see.) If it doesn't, I have some ideas on how I can modify the pattern to get what I want.

The last knitting that I did, actually started on the way home, was a cat sweater for Princess. Don't look incredulous, she just had a haircut, and acts like she's cold. Well, okay, she snuggles in blankets all the time, but I can tell. Really! I finished it yesterday...

Isn't she cute?

fall is here

2011-10-18T13:42:00.004-04:00

Or is it winter? It's grey, cloudy, and breezy with a chill, but no snow yet. The little munchkins are requesting long-sleeved shirs (but then they think that they don't need their jackets. doesn't work like that, smartipants!) and I'm thinking I should doublecheck everyone's winter clothes. Of course, it IS kinda nice that it's the middle of October, and we haven't turned on the heating furnace. We haven't needed to. Even with the low temperatures lately, the house is staying around 70 degrees, a comfortable, although cool, temp.

November is coming soon. I bet you knew that already! But, it's important (besides that LittleV has a birthday) because this year, BigJ and I are doing the NaNoWriMo challenge again. Yes, again. We, and I singularly, had tried many years ago, long before we had children. I don't remember what I wrote before (it wasn't the great American Novel, and I didn't reach the 50,000 word goal), but it's time to see if I can write a novel length piece.

The next question is, what will your novel be about? Honestly, I have no idea. The most difficult part for me is a plot. If only Big J and I could write it together...he has no problem imagining characters and events, and I can write description and dialogue. Our skills fit together like puzzle pieces (oooh, a simile!) but we're going to be seperated from each other in the box of NaNoWriMo writers. So, we'll have to wait and see what I'll come up with for a plot. As they say, it doesn't need to be good, it just needs 50k words.

Dish Rag Tag IV

2011-08-21T17:51:00.004-04:00

hmm....i'll have to see later if the little progress meter shows up. 'Cause it's in the html, i swear...Once again, I'm doing Dish Rag Tag. Yay! There's something about the idea of knitting as a relay race that is just crazy and fun. I'll probably be calling myself crazy, when it's time to knit the actual dishcloth, but oh well!

and on another note, I'll have to start checking the moderated comments more frequently. Thanks y'all for your comments on Little J's first day at school :)

First day of Kindergarten

2011-08-16T12:20:00.003-04:00

This was Little J last night, at the grade school open house. We brought all his supplies (except for the tissues that Mommy forgot) and he unloaded his backpack as soon as he found his spot at the tables.

Daddy and Little J walking down the hallways at school. The kindergarten wing is orange, and the other ones are color coded too, purple and blue and brown.

And, Little J this morning, all ready for school to start. We stuffed the boxes of tissues in his kewl Ben10 bookbag, and dosen't he look smart?

Mommy was so proud of him!

2011-08-16T10:11:00.004-04:00

What do we do at the end of summer?

2011-08-08T21:38:00.001-04:00

County Fair! Ms. L and I drove to Tonganoxie to enter our knitting in the county fair. Due to some road work, it was a longer trip then I thought it would be, but it was fun driving with someone else. I'm not sure what Ms. L entered - I saw a hat - and I entered my dishwashing gloves, a pair of socks that I made for Big J, and an Emma Peel dress for Little G. I don't have pictures, but I'll put some up after I pick up the items on Friday. (friday? saturday? not sure....)

I'm also thinking that I should take the family to see the fair. Either the kiddos during the week, or everybody including Big J after he gets off of work one day. We'll see!

Well, it's definitely summer!

2011-07-20T14:07:00.004-04:00

With 95-100 degree days every day, yep, it's defintely summer. And, we're getting school supplies (it's a little early, but WalMart still has them in stock at this point), so that's another good argument in favor of summer.

While I was wandering around WalMart, waiting for the tire department to tell me they couldn't fix my tire, I found this:

Very squidy, no? I snapped a pic to share with a group on ravelry. We're doing a steampunk swap, and it seems that to some, octopi are very steampunk. Maybe it's because of Jules Verne? i dunna. Hopefully, i can get my knitting and other projects done for this swap...i need to sit down and write out exactly what I'm sending. I'm a little scared, as there's only a bit more than a month yet...we shall see.

Is it summer yet?

2011-05-09T19:22:00.002-04:00

it certainly seemed like it this weekend. And today? Someone told me that it was 93 degrees outside, which even for Kansas, is unusual in May.

Mother's Day was nice. Jay gave me the afternoon off, while he cleaned house, and Little V and I went shopping. Well, window shopping, mostly, but it was nice to have the time to just browse. I did pick up a cheap stroller at WalMart. I didn't want pink or blue, or a disney character, so we now have a stroller with Winnie the Pooh Bear on it (Winifred the Pooh-Ba?)(wait, Pooh Bear is licensed by Disney, isn't it? darn.) Then we went to the outdoor mall. There's a large fountain there, and, of course, there were kids playing in it. Little V just watched and watched...

Ms. L came over to visit today. Jaiden really really wanted to aske her to play, but he was good about not badgering guests, and only showed off his fire minis. Now, Rama, the cat was not being so good. He tried eating Ms. L's bag, and then her keys! If we didn't love him so much, that cat would be a fur rug by now. We chatted about the Sampler Festival over the weekend, and other stuff, until I had to pack up the little kids to fetch LittleSister from at school.

In knitting news, I'm almost done with the latest Fuzzy Shawl (it's not knitted though, it's crocheted) for my friend Fleur. I'm making it with 4 skeins of homespun instead of 2, but it's still taking me longer than it should have. But it is almost done! Then, I've signed up for a swap through Ravelry. The theme for that is 'Bento', Japanese lunchboxes, and I'm brainstorming for a cool knitted gift to send along with my package. heh, i may have to finally make a trip to one of the local (relatively) yarn stores to find presents for the swap.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:00:00.002-04:00

marigo's photostream on Flickr.

Our Easter dinner was Chicken Satay and sticky rice (and veggies and EasterEggs). No, not quite traditional, but it's what the little kids wanted to eat. I love the chicken satay from one of my thai cookbooks, it has ginger and honey, garlic and soy sauce in the marinade. yum, yum, yumm! Tommorrow is a more (or less) traditional dinner, roast pork, baked sweet potato, bread rolls, more veggies, apple pie...

I know, it's impossible to lurk without having new posts

2011-04-20T17:44:00.004-04:00

mea culpa! mea culpa!

I've been reading, lots. I read a stack by Kelley Armstrong, and right now I'm reading everything the library has by Laurie R. King. It's what I feel like right now. And there's been several anthologies in there as well.

I had a wonderful moment today. I stepped out of the front door, and a little bird, a house finch, was singing at me. He was sitting in the tree right outside. He let me whistle back to him, and we talked back and forth for a little while.

thanks to "The Kansas School Naturalist", 42:2, for the picture of a house finch.

Book update, in a snow storm

2011-02-01T12:47:00.003-05:00

Because of the snow, I've been watching the WeatherChannel(tm) all day. They had a short spot with Jen Carfagno; she's on location in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in anticipation of Ground Hog Day. It's iced there, and the stage they use for the groundhog day ceremony is glass slick. Not my idea of a vacation spot. I wonder if she volunteered for the assignment?

Black swan rising / Carroll, Lee
Norweigan Sweater Techniques for today's knitter/ Chenowyth, Theresa
Entrelac : the essential guide to interlace knitting / Drysdale, Rosemary
Hexwood / Jones, Diana Wynne
The children of kings / Stern, Dave (a star trek novel, with Cpt Pike)
Mason-Dixon knitting : the curious knitters' guide / Gardiner, Kay
The last page / Huso, Anthony (very good first novel, I'm going to be on the lookout for the next one)
Super cute : 25 amigurumi animals / Obaachan, Annie
Rushed to the altar / Feather, Jane
Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty (I don't think I would recommend this to most people. It's not very frightening to me, probably because I already believe in demons and possession. :( )

The library account shows that I have over 50 books checked out, but most of those are children's books. So 50 books will fit into two reusable grocery bags, no problem-o! Here's some of my favs of the kids books we've read:

The curse of the Cobweb Queen / Hayes, Geoffrey (dinosaur detective boy!)
Christopher Robin leads an expedition / Krensky, Stephen,ed., and Milne
Arthur Spiderwick's field guide to the fantastical world around you / DiTerlizzi, Tony and Black, Holly. (wow! the drawings are amazing, although it's probably more suited for teens or pre-teens)
Quackenstein : hatches a family / Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta (a very cute duck and platypus story)

January Total (adult books!): 25

The world's a small place

2011-01-19T12:32:00.003-05:00

I ran across someone I knew a long time ago. We worked the same summer job, the years after I graduated from highschool. A.J. was in town to do training for a website his company developed, and I was there for the training. Wierd! And, after a little poking around on the company website, and snooping thru the training materials, it looks like the company (which seems to be doing quite well) is A.J., his younger sister, and another guy who went to college with me. I'm glad to know that they're doing something that makes the world a better place (and their website company really does).

Reading List for January:

Catacomb, by Mercedes Lackey
Indulgence in Death, by J.D. Robb
In too deep ,by Jayne Ann Krentz
Dream Called Time, S.L. Viehl
Alien Crimes, ed by ???
Atlantis and other Places, by Harry Turtledove (This book included the second short story I've read recently, both by Turtledove, that talked about Hox genes. Interesting!)
The Bards of Bone Plain, by Patricia McKillip

nutrasweet

2011-01-08T21:09:00.000-05:00

Little G reacts to the stuff like her mommy does. oh yay. oh, lord help us!

an excuse to post

2011-01-08T19:41:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's been a long time since I wrote on here, about anything. What can I say, being pregnant makes me tired 24 hours a day. And I'm not pregnant now (welcome to VBaby!) but a month old baby requires a lot of attention, too. (especially because she refused her pacifier, but wanted to suck on mommy's finger...)

I think I'm going to reinstate my book list. I may not have much knitting that I can show you (although, more on that later) but I am able to read while holding the baby. And, I've a gazillion books requested at the library, so I have a steady supply of things to read. I'm going to start with what I've read since Christmastime, although it's not all of them, I'm afraid. There's been a few I read, that I can't remember.

The Four Loves, by C.S.Lewis
Shogun, by ?? (didn't finish it. It's very dense on description, but it's much grimmer, and no doubt more realistic, than the TV show.)
Non-Stop, by Brian Aldiss (Big J gave it to me for Christmas. It's Aldiss's first novel, and it's an interesting sci-fi book about a society inside a generational spaceship)
Trio of Sorcery, by Mercedes Lackey (Also from Big J :) made me want to find the other Diana Tregarde stories.)
The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster
Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Omega, by Patricia Briggs
The Hallowed Hunt, by Lois McMaster Bujold (I will have finished reading in the next few days ;) )

Now, regarding knitting, I'm currently working on a pair of worsted weight socks for Big J. They are just boring socks, in superwash cascade220, but, they are still special socks! I've never given anything knitted to BigJ before. It may have avoided the dreaded "sweater curse", but I feel that as a knitter, I'm not properly showing my husband how much I love him. And what says "I love you" more than a pair of men's socks? (okay, yes, a sweater probably does, but the sweater I had planned for him is hibernating in a box...)

Next project, diaper covers for VBaby. As soon as my yarn comes in. Or, a scarf or slippers for Little J. We'll see what I feel like knitting :)

Baking

2010-12-05T09:26:00.003-05:00

I made two dozen of these while the baby was still asleep. Oatmeal muffins with raisins, dates and walnuts. Yum! Last time I made a dozen, and the entire family ate them up (including my husband who has told me (although he says he never said any such thing) that he doesn't eat walnuts, or raisins). I use yogurt instead of buttermilk, and today I put them in these cupcake liners, bought at our local cooking store, instead of using cupcake pans. It worked quite nicely, if I do say so myself!

p.s. except that i forgot to put in the brown sugar...

What are they doing to their teeth?

2010-11-23T16:32:00.002-05:00

New York Times article

The newest tech in dental scanners is very much a gourmet treat for dentists - it's fast, it's detailed, and the manufacturing companies are pushing it like candy. But CT-cone scanners use higher radiation levels than the best film methods, and comparable (although more time-consumptive) methods of 3D imaging with a little camera do not expose children to ANY radiation.

I think I'll have to watch out for this at the dentist (mine used film - even with the little kids) because any effects will not be seen for many years. Radiation exposure is cumulative, and i hate to think what it's doing to the rapidly growing cells in children's tooth buds. :(

(don't even get me started about the new scanners in the airports....i fully expect me and the little kids to be getting pat downs the next time we fly.)

so tired...

2010-09-19T21:40:00.001-04:00

too tired to type much. We spent the afternoon at the local outdoor mall, and i should have had a nap, instead.

I know exactly why i wasn't this tired last time i was pregnant. Last time, the little boy was still taking naps, and i could nap with him. le sigh. not this time! Even if i get lucky enough for them to take a nap, they don't sleep at the same time.

oh well, back to the normal week tomorrow. Ta!

the car quest continues

2010-09-18T22:21:00.003-04:00

We're getting closer. WIth the exception of Chrysler, we've looked at all the auto brands that we're interested in, and we've even taken a few for a test drive. (Today was a really long day. I truly do not like talking to auto salesman(and why are they all men??))

We know what we want. The most important part is room for 3 carseats, Little Sister and Big J and I all at the same time. That means 3 rows of seats, really. Then, there needs to be room for my Gallant dog, even if only with the seats folded up(down. depending.). We really want a rear view camera, too, because we're both paranoid about backing accidents and small children. With all that considered, the subjective factors are how easy it is for me to reach the rear-most seats(so I can unbuckle people's carseats) and how comfortable Big J and I are with the car.

The top runners are the Honda Pilot and Odyssey. I like driving the Pilot better, but the Odyssey has more room and a better interior layout. and the Odyssey minivan tends to be less expensive than the Pilot. We'll probably have a used one, whichever we finally pick out. (we're still keeping an open mind as regards Chrysler. But the other selections haven't been attractive for us.)

Oh, and while Big J and I were running around to car dealerships today, I knitted an inch on a new sock! yay me :D

last minute supper

2010-09-16T19:40:00.002-04:00

After an unsuccessful grocery shopping expedition (amazing how much it cost), I was busily searching for something to make for supper. Something that people might like, and that used ingredients that I already have. On one of my favorite recipe blogs, had an interesting recipe for Sweet & Sour chicken, and that's what we had for supper!

It includes bell peppers, pineapple, and an interesting cornstarch coating on the chicken. My family's opinion ranged from: "Better than take-out!", to "Let's not have it again". Big J doesn't like the sour stuff (i actually didn't know this, although, that explains why he doesn't like tomatoes, too), Little J thought it was slimy ;) I liked the taste a lot, but the cornstarch was irritating my throat...i really should avoid the stuff.

Off to knitting night! bye!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-08-18T16:33:00.002-04:00

If you look up above, I added something to the blog. Yep, that ticker. It's counting down until our new little baby is born. We're expecting her the end of November :)

How much would you spend for a project?

2010-07-22T12:57:00.004-04:00

I have finished knitting projects, and things we've did, that I could be talking about, but instead, let me ramble about my current fascination....

It's a quilt. A sampler quilt called "The Farmer's Wife" that a local quilt store is promoting in their newsletter. I have no idea why I am so fascinated with it, but I love it. Lurve, lurve, lurve it. I feel a compulsion to run down to the shop and bring home the kit today. I am restraining myself, however. (okay, usually i just go with the impulses, but when I feel this obsessed, i TRY to inject a little sanity. Usually by asking Big J "Am I crazy yet?")

The problem is the price. It's $25 to sign up for the kit. There's a required book that is $28. Then, it's a block of the month club (and i hope they do more than one block a month, or it's going to take 113 months), and there's a monthly 24.95$ charge. Backing is not included in the kit, and that's approximately $100. And, the item I almost forgot, is to have it machine quilted(b'cause there's no way I could hand quilt a king size blanket by myself) which is at around $200 for a quilt that size. Add it all up, and that would be over $600. Ouch!

Do people really spend this much to make a blanket? (yes, this is the knitter with a $40 scarf talking) There's always ladies in the quilt store, picking out fabric for their next project, but I didn't realize how much you could spend on one! I like the idea of quilting, I like sewing, but for me, it's more about frugalness, using up something that would otherwise be thrown away. At these prices, even though I love the quilt, I would be afraid to ever touch it.

What do you think? Am I crazy?

knitting and birthdays

2010-03-22T21:15:00.005-04:00

Aren't they cute? but this isn't only for cuteness' sake, but to show that yes, I have been knitting. Look on their feet. Slippers! fuzzy felted goodness :) These were finished back in February, and then the kiddos asked me to put pompoms on to it. well, first I put pompoms on the toes of Little G's slippers, then Little J asked for pompoms too.

I've been knitting a little since then. I get the most done on the nights I go to the local knitting group at the library, as I have two whole hours to myself to knit! I'm working on two, no three, projects right now. A little shrug for Gloria, that I hope to have done before Easter, a warm-weather sweater for me, and socks for Gloria.

And here here's a close up of the slippers:

More recently, Little G had her birthday! yes, the little girl is two whole years old. I've promised people the videos from her birthday, and while I haven't sent them yet (oops!) I loaded them to flickr today.

and one last cuteness picture. My little girl, wearing her mommy's apron.

Today

2010-02-12T15:01:00.002-05:00

It was a good morning. The little ones didn't wake up until a decent hour, which meant that I slept in. We had oatmeal (with golden raisins (sultanas. there's your vocab word of the day) and cinnamon and ginger and brown sugar. Yum!) and soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, and eventually, we headed out for some shopping.

We didn't find anything that I had planned on shopping for, but I did find two sweaters for me on clearance. And, we had Panda bowls and ice cream for lunch. It made the little ones quite happy.

And then on the way home, a nice police officer gave me a speeding ticket :(

Speeding tickets still make me cry. Oh, not in front of the children, or the officer, although i did feel a sudden need to eat ice cream. And, I don't know why. It's not like in college, where a speeding ticket would mean that I would have trouble paying bills or buying groceries. Perhaps, it's because there's only two choices, either I was doing something wrong, or I was doing something right and will be punished anyway.

Now I have to decide wether to pay it, or to show up for the court date. I think I'm going to go back south of town and look at those speed limit signs again, and then I'll decide.

baby hat

2010-02-07T18:53:00.002-05:00

My other sister was visiting for the weekend, and she brought along baby clothes that my mother had saved. Most of it was too little for my little girl, but tucked into a little box, was this crocheted hat. It's adorable! It's a headband that ties under the chin, with a pony tail made up of curly strands and pompoms. We'll see how often I can put it on Little G this winter :D

Looking through all of the clothes and baby blankets, we decided to save some of the baby blankets, and some of the handmade baby clothes. Of the blankets, some are crocheted, by my mother and grandmother, and there are two cross-stitched and quilted blankets.
Other sister also had some old pictures that she had found among our parents things. The ones of my Aunt Vera and Uncle Emmit, i knew existed somewhere (well, hoped that they still existed), but I hadn't seen them in a very long time. Hmmm...i should ask her if she can make copies of those for me.

Right now, I'm watching the superbowl, for the comercials, mostly. And writing, and knitting. I've reached the arms on my Zelda sweater (yay me!), let's see how much I can do during this game. Go Colts!

what have i been doing? part two

2010-01-30T16:27:00.003-05:00

This is what I've been doing for the last three days. Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I was making a cake, and who knew it would take so long?

A friend of mine from the local knitting group, Laura Phillippi (i think i've seen that name before, on an army uniform, actually. hmm) is the curator of the Lansing Historical Museum. She was soliciting entries for a Kansas Day cake decorating contest, and I had been reading a book on a cake decorating technique ("The Whimsical Bakehouse") and it all just came together. I designed a cake, around the theme of wheat traveling from Russia to Kansas, and I used the decorating technique from the book to create wheat stalks and small, partial versions of the US map and of Russia.

This picture has a top view of the cake, so that you can see Russia and the United States better. The U.S.A. has a small square that is to symbolize Kansas.

The wheat stalks, and the map pieces, were made out of melted chocolate and candy coating. It's laid down in layers to make the designs. I did find that it's not as easy to do as the book seems to say. I'm not sure how the book's authors managed to make fine lines with the melted chocolate...my chocolate kept hardening inside the decorating bag when I tried fine lines, so that I had a minimum line size that I could use. And if you try this, use disposable decorating bags to hold the melted chocolate. It's much simpler to throw away a used bag than to empty out hardened chocolate. The chocolate designs are more fragile than you might think, so make more designs than you think you might need, and handle carefully.

And the little girl helping me bake a cake. Cute, no?

what have i been doing?

2010-01-28T19:51:00.003-05:00

Well, my fingers are blue and green, but if you really want to know, you'll have to be at the Lansing Historical Museum on Saturday. There, will be the fruits of my labors!

I can give you a hint, although it isn't very significant: I had to make Russia and US twice. Because my mind wasn't thinking in 3 dimensions very well.

I remember: dominos with Grandma

2010-01-23T17:20:00.003-05:00

When I was quite small, Grandma taught me how to play dominos. They were in a long red rectangular box, and were black dominos with white dots. I remember that it was special because Grandma would take the time to sit down and play with me.

I've been thinking that Little J was big enough to play dominos. It's basically a matching game, and he's really good at puzzles and matching problems. We found a set of dominos (a really BIG box, because you can always use more dominos) and he learned how today. And he's been beating the pants off of Little Sister -- he won 4 out of 5 games.

reading has caused a temporary interruption in our knitting

2010-01-18T16:02:00.002-05:00

The weather is really wierd these days. There's been fog, for the last 3 days. Really dense fog. And almost frozen temperatures. The weather forecasters have been getting their forecasts wrong - they predict that the fog will leave by the afternoon, and it HASN'T. I'm a bit peeved about it. Especially today, when I would be driving to K.C. if there wasn't all this fog... Little Sister broke her glasses (they're quite fixable, but i don't want us to try and break them Worse) and that's the nearest LensCrafter store.

I've been reading older sci-fi lately. I picked up C.S. Lewis' Silent Planet trilogy again, and I think I'm going to read some of his non-fiction, too. I like the trilogy quite a bit, although I find myself speaking in more British-type English and speaking in long, convoluted, multiphrased sentences that challenge the record for the most words per sentence. :D It's good for my brain, some days I am too deeply into the mommie talk of my everyday life, and his prose has jarred the stuck record off of it's normal grove (yes, I'm old enough to remember LPs) .

I should get hardcopy versions of my C.S. Lewis books (yes, I have the Narnia series too. They may be hiding in Little Sister's room) Reading these books have cut into my knitting time (I can knit while reading big hardback books that stay open by themself. It's much more difficult to reading with a floppy paperback that wants to close up.) although Knitting night at the library too has an effect on relieving the Mommy Speak in my mind.

I've been working on a sweater (summerish sweater) for me for the last few weeks, since the holdiays. I really like it, and it's knitting up quickly (taking into consideration all the interuptiosn) , but I've a dilemma. And I can't seem to knit while pondering the dilemma. I have a sweater for Little G, that I started over a year ago, that is almost finished. I have yarn for a sweater for Little J, and a vest for him too. So, do I keep knitting on my sweater (which I would like to have done by March. So my BigJ can see it when he is back home) or do I knit on one of the projects for the little kids? And which one? I really need to decide, so that I can get back to knitting. And this is without taking into consideration the socks for Little G that I am trying to knit by Cat Bordhi's new method (I think her feet are growing over night. That would be one explanation for why I keep needing to start over.)

-------------------
1-20-10 Finally posted this. Thank goodness, the fog has cleared up occasionally. Maybe we're done with it for awhile?

Loops haul

2010-01-07T17:42:00.002-05:00

Loops haul
Originally uploaded by marigo

We drove 300+ miles to visit my sister-in-law, and what did I do? visit a yarn store. What can I say, it relaxes me, and we had some free time. (before the littlest girl started throwing up, that is)

(oh my goodness, Little Sister made an absolutely scrumptioussss apple pie. Golden delicious apples, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, almost perfect pie crust...wow. i must stop slurping it down. And resolve not to sneak it out of the 'frig in the middle of the night.)

back to the yarn store: We visited Loops in Tulsa, OK. It's a wonderful, upscale yarnshop, with a great selection, and lots of room to sit and knit. They have a toy room, that the littlest ones loved. Considering I haven't visited a yarn store in four months, I didn't spend too much, but I certainly could have!

What I came away with, was:
-1 skein Lamb's Pride worsted
-Eucalan grapefruit wool wash
-#5 circular needles
-3 skeins Berrocco Pure Merino
-2 skeins Noro Silk Garden, different colorways

and I have projects planned for all of these yarns. The Lamb's Pride will be a Koolhaus hat for Big J, the Pure Merino will be used with blue PureMerino I already have(from Clementine's) for a sweater for Little J. The Noro is for a Noro striped scarf a la BrooklynTweed. shoot. I just looked at the pattern, and I think i need twice as much noro as i actually have. Must Order more yarn!

Slipper yarn

2010-01-07T16:31:00.001-05:00

Slipper yarn
Originally uploaded by marigo

I have _plans_ for this yarn. I'm going to squish it, and soak it, and tease it until it all begs for mercy!

yep, I'm going to felt it.

Fiber Trends has a pattern for felted slippers that are sized for the whole family. we usually take off our shoes by the front door (oddly enough, that's not where we come in the house.) And, with Little J at the Montessori preschool, he's accustomed to changing to slippers inside, so, i'd like to start having them wear slippers at home, too.

What's the saying, "A sweater is what a child wears when his mother is cold"? It's so true. I really want to make slippers because my toes are cold, and they are running around in bare feet.

And I did think of how to have multiple pictures via flickr! The bottom picture is of the yarn that Little G picked out.

Christmas 2009 present

2010-01-07T16:25:00.001-05:00

Christmas 2009 present
Originally uploaded by marigo

This was my Christmas present from the D.A. The book is Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi, and the yarn (raided from my Aunt's stash) is one skein of Fortissima Socka, and one skein of Inox 4-color Twister(I think). aren't they pretty?

I'm writing this blog entry via Flickr, and I haven't found out how to put more than one picture per entry, so there will be more blog posts today, with the REST of my stash increase.

plans for 2010

2010-01-06T13:59:00.002-05:00

I've felt guilty (a little bit) about abandoning the blog lately. But the family came down with a flu/cold/general ickiness over the 1st of the year, and I can't manage to blog, or do much of anything, when I'm sick. So, I haven't felt too guilty.

I have a cornucopia of ideas for the blog, and of things that I want to do for the new year. All my yarnie goodies that I have acquired, since Christmas, should be exhibited, and the current knitting projects, too. And the sewing projects, and the gardening plans...

And this year, we'll be more involved in the local LaLecheLegue groups, and visit the local yarn stores (we drove 300 miles, and I visited a LYS. How silly can I be?), maybe I'll finally be part of an FRG(family readiness group, the army Luurves acronyms), more exercise! and see if the little boy would like to start Taekwondo (and maybe his mommy too, we'll see), and maybe I can go dancing with his Daddy...

Hopefully, there aren't too many more blizzards in this winter. I'm tired of being snowed in.

i know it's not the gremlins...

2009-12-06T19:21:00.002-05:00

...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.

Cookies!

2009-12-05T19:20:00.002-05:00

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.

and, there were a few accidents...

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

Happy Holidays!

Trip report

2009-11-30T18:47:00.002-05:00

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?

First Snow! well, almost

2009-11-17T21:06:00.002-05:00

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!

Gremlins?

2009-11-02T08:40:00.003-05:00

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...

Familly weekend

2009-10-25T20:32:00.004-04:00

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.

Some days, you really need a cup of tea

2009-10-06T16:10:00.004-04:00

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.

Post 2 of 2 - Knitting!

2009-09-30T18:53:00.003-04:00

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):

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.

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!

2009-09-30T17:33:00.006-04:00

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...

feeding frenzy, radishes, and a new vaccum

2009-09-08T22:00:00.001-04:00

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.

more updates since moving

2009-08-23T20:54:00.004-04:00

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?

My little boy, ready for school!

2009-08-12T12:01:00.004-04:00

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?

getting ready for school

2009-08-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

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.

moving happenings

2009-08-06T18:29:00.002-04:00

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 :}

2009-07-16T11:17:00.002-04:00

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!

p.s.

2009-07-12T21:04:00.000-04:00

the size 0 needles are working MUCH better!

I love my knitting group

2009-07-09T21:51:00.007-04:00

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....

knitting news

2009-07-08T08:27:00.002-04:00

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...

cars are expensive pets to keep.

2009-06-22T18:01:00.003-04:00

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.

not-so-fun swimming

2009-06-19T11:43:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-16T07:42:00.002-04:00

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?

My newest skirt

2009-06-14T21:14:00.001-04:00

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! :)

I'm Bacckk!!

2009-06-13T20:18:00.002-04:00

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. ;)

uh-oh.

2009-05-26T00:51:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-22T20:21:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-22T09:52:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-19T20:38:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-18T15:17:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-05T19:28:00.003-04:00

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...

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

2009-04-27T15:07:00.005-04:00

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!)

best laid plans and all that

2009-04-24T20:19:00.002-04:00

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?

spider babies

2009-04-23T23:54:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-04-19T17:23:00.002-04:00

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

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...

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

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 :( )

On the road again

2009-03-29T17:59:00.002-04:00

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.

New glasses!

2009-03-26T20:24:00.004-04:00

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.

Cookie Monster x 2

2009-03-25T18:10:00.002-04:00

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 :)

Personal assistant looking for position

2009-03-23T22:10:00.003-04:00

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.

long time, no see?

2009-03-22T18:17:00.003-04:00

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...

First birthday

2009-03-07T21:23:00.001-05:00

First birthday
Originally uploaded by marigo

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

traveling again

2009-02-12T22:06:00.002-05:00

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...

cartwheels

2009-02-06T21:48:00.004-05:00

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!

mornings are for crazy people

2009-01-31T09:58:00.004-05:00

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.

2009-01-28T08:34:00.002-05:00

LOTS of snow!

knitting, interrupted

2009-01-26T10:06:00.006-05:00

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?

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

FO pic (finally!)

2009-01-14T21:13:00.003-05:00

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 :)

dream home? only for the ideal person?

2009-01-09T17:12:00.003-05:00

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

UFO role call

2009-01-08T22:02:00.003-05:00

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:

Baby Surprise Sweater in Noro Kujaku
Little Flower Sweater by Debbie Bliss
Cardigan
Crochet Afghan in Homespun yarn
Clessidra Stockings
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:

clutch purse of Noro Daria
diaper soakers for Little G
cardigan/vest for me
Christmas stocking for Little G
i'm sure i can think of someotherthingstoknit
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!

First day of 2009

2009-01-01T21:18:00.002-05:00

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.

5 days until Christmas!

2008-12-19T22:05:00.002-05:00

Well, my blog doesn't look like much knitting has been happening, does it? However, I have been knitting. And, I've finished the knitting for the Big Grey Blob sweater! Yay!

If you've seen me knitting on it Panera's, you have probably heard me say that I hate it. I hated knitting on it, it went on forever (I started last December. yes, in 2007), it hurt my hands...but it turned out very pretty. Sometimes, I design like that; I start with an idea, and by hell or high water, I'm going to make it work. (okay, and sometimes it just winds up in the frog pond, but i try to forget about those.) I think the recipient will like it, and that's what counts, right? (and if she doesn't want to wear it, I'm taking it back again. This sucker isn't ever going to Goodwill.)

I finished knitting. I'm still working the ends in, and I need to get buttons to put on it, and then, it will be completely done. Even bigger yays!

all pictures will be posted after Christmas, after the intended recipients have recieved their goodies. :)

more Little G facts

2008-12-17T13:54:00.003-05:00

Have I mentioned that Little G is almost walking? She's been cruising around the furniture for some time now (almost 3 months) but lately she's been improving. She'll let go of the couch, and stand on her own, and clap her hands with a big grin. Or when someone puts her down on the floor, she'll stand there, and take 2/3/4 steps before she bumps down to the floor. You go Girl!

2008-12-17T13:18:00.005-05:00

Guess what I did yesterday? Baked cookies!

Our La Leche League group was supposed to (cancelled on account of ice) have a cookie swap today, for the holidays. I made Gingerbread Men, although the weren't quite traditional. I didn't have any white frosting made up, so Big J kindly allowed me to use the black frosting that he had bought to make a panda bear cake (Big J and Little J are planning on making a
panda bear rice krispies cake. It's all THEIR project, i swear). They have little black eyes and smiley mouths,
and redhots for their buttons.

This morning, I gave the Littlest Girl one of the undecorated gingerbread. She's been gnawing on it, on and off this morning, and she seems to like it. Heehee...it's hard enough that big pieces don't break off, but she's making an incredible mess with slobbery
gingerbread crumbs...

I like making cookies, but with the little kids, it's hard to find enough time when I'm not holding/changing/watching a kidlet to be in the kitchen :( (hmm...wonder if an electric mixer would help? hmm...) However, the cookie swap was a big incentive to make cookies, and additionally, Big J picked up some refrigerated sugar cookie dough at the grocery store, so we're going to make that tonight. (I have a few different gingerbread men cookie cutters, and then I have Halloween cookie cutters. No Christmas ones. Big J says just use the Halloween ones, and "make Nightmare Before Christmas cookies" LOL!) So, we may have cookies on my cookie platter until after Christmas, which may be bad for our waistline, but it's really pretty!

The pictures to the right ----->
are the cookies I put on the table today. The ones in the middle are imported German soft gingerbread that I found at the Commissary, the ones on the right are the large size gingerbread men, and the ones on the left are the little gingerbread boys made with the littlest cookie cutter of my gingerbread imp set.

Speaking of imps, Little J was sitting at the table when everyone else was out of the room, just looking at the cookies. When I came back, several of the cookies were missing their eyes. He had been swiping off the icing and eating it!

2008-12-14T21:14:00.002-05:00

I don't know if it's Christmas, Big J, or the little ones, but something is sucking up all of my time. We'll start eliminating things, and see what happens!

In other news, Little G has four teeth now! The two on the bottom, and now two on top.

We went to get Little J's Christmas presents out of hock (layaway) and Big J and I wound up stuck in traffic, from everyone leavinhg the Colts' game. Never again! It took twice as long as it should have to get home, and it was all the time we spent reaching the highway. I wonder if the Colts won?

knitting is proceding, if not apace, then at least plodding. Something will be done at Christmas, and we (royal we? who, me?) will photo said knitting on the recipients. Along with the knitting needles and skeins of yarn, if necessary.

30 Days until Christmas (minus two weeks, and a few days)

2008-11-24T11:14:00.002-05:00

How long does it take me to write a blog post? well, today is 25 days until Christmas, and I started on 30 days 'til...

I keep telling myself that I'll be able to finish my knitting projects in time for Christmas, but when I look at a calender I feel nervous and nervouser.

I knit a little on the voodoo last night (while Big J was driving us to Lion King!). Meant to take a picture of them, to show y'all the colors, but I woke up and it's all cloudy and raining. If the sun comes out in the next week, I'll snap a quick pic.

About the other projects...clapotis probably has one more inch to it. That's going slow even considering that I don't have much time for knitting. However...I found my knitting needles! The number 10's that I need for the Big Grey Blob sweater, so I can start to work on that. This morning, me and the little kids all went into the craft room, and I took everything out of every yarn related container (mostly plastic bags. what can i say, my stash containers are waaayy cheap) until I found them! found them in the knitting bag that I had already looked thru, hiding in the knitpicks catalogs and sock books. Naughty needles! I need to finish off the blob, because there is no way it's coming to Thailand with us. It's too big, and too heavy. I would have to bring along a suitcase just for it, and with what airlines are charging these days, I don't think so.

It was a fun weekend, even though I wasn't knitting ;). On Saturday, we did some shopping, and went into downtown Indy to Mass Ave Toys. That place is fantastic! They are the only store with this toy *** in the area. It's going to be Little J's Christmas present; sshh, don't tell!

Sunday we all went to church, and in the evening, we went to see The Lion King. After a farce of directions, and missing out on supper at _anyplace_, we were all enthralled. Even my darling husband, who complained about the "Can you feel the love tonight" scene,(geez, you would think he had never watched the cartoon) really liked it overall. I loved it! And Little Sister thinks that she will get extra credit in Band for going to see it.

Okay, I've mostly finished the post. The lastest update on our vacation plans is, we aren't sure if we will be flying to Thailand. With the protests at the Bangkok airport, the airlines aren't flying into EITHER Bangkok airport. We weren't supposed to arrive until the 5th, so, we'll see how that goes.

NOT working on the Big Grey Blob

2008-11-17T17:06:00.004-05:00

This is terrible! I _finally_ brought the Big Grey Blob out from it's hiding place, and, when I took it out of the bag, I don't have needles for it! Eek! I had taken the needles out to try it on, and where they have gone, I haven't a clue.

Well, a small clue. I think that I used the needles for my fuzzy pi shawl, but they aren't in the bag I kept the fuzzy pi in, and I can't find them anywhere. This is causing my incipient OCD to rear it's ugly head...any psychics who could tell me where my 2 number 10 circular needles and a set of double points are? Or a hypnotist, maybe?

Captain Hook in French...

2008-11-13T18:04:00.003-05:00

The little boy was looking thru a toy catalog, and ran across a pirate with a hook. Guess what the pirate's name was? "Captain Croche(t)"! yes, I started giggling uncontrollable. Imagine Captain Hook relaxing at night, crocheting on a frilly project for his significant other...

Regarding christmas presents, I cast on for the second of the pair of VooDoo today. I had both little kids in the car, and when we reached home, they had both fallen asleep. So, rather than wake anybody up, I sat in the car, listened to the radio, and knit a good two inches before Little Sister pulled up in the school bus, and could help me carry the littles inside.

I'm looking for other Christmas presents now...must go shopping if we're going to be traveling...one good thing about all this traveling is that I won't have to do much cooking for the holidays, i suppose. (actually, I like cooking, but it is a chore when I am wrangling two little ones too.)

45 days until Christmas

2008-11-09T18:46:00.003-05:00

I've been working on Clapotis (when I'm not sick) and the yarn is gorgeous, but it's a pain to work with! It splits, it has little threads that try to come off, and when Little G grabs a handful off my ball of yarn, it tangles dreadfully. I spent half an hour, detangling the half-a-dozen strands that had wound themselves around my _circular_needle_cord_! Actually, clapotis may go back in the bag for a bit to become traveling knitting.

Tonight, I'm going to put in my knitpicks order for my remaining projects.

Let's see, what else should I tell y'all...if you're not into kids, skip this part. Little J is doing better at using the potty! He is now willing to use his potty chair by himself! This is very helpful, especially when he needs to pee, and I have to change Little G's poopy diaper...He's very responsible about it, emptying his potty in the toilet each time, and wiping out the potty. Now, if he would just use the potty to poop in, that would be perfect.

Little G is growing by leaps and bounds. She's at the stage that my uncles would have called "couch cruiser". (They had a whole list of cute names, that they made up when they were in college (i think) and I was really small. I don't remember them all...carpet crawler, rugrat, curtain climber, couch cruiser (lots of them seemed to start with 'c's. I wonder if they would remember the rest?) Anyway, Little G walks around the furniture, holding on, sometimes with only one hand. She likes feeding herself, which makes for fun and messy mealtimes. And it was so cute this evening, when she sat down and was looking "Pat the Bunny" for 15 minutes all by herself. And she didn't try to eat the book! :D

2008-11-07T15:14:00.002-05:00

i hate being sick. can't knit, can't read. And can't sleep, because I'm watching the kiddos. photoey.

51 days until Christmas

2008-11-04T21:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I didn't get any knitting done. none, zip, nada. I didn't even go to Panera's, for the normal Monday knitting night. I had been planning to, i really wanted to, but then I remembered Little Sister's band concert. It had been on the calender for weeks, but I mentally blanked it out...once I was there, it was really nice. Little G and I liked the highschool marching band, very entertaining. Little Sister's (8th grade) band has really improved a lot since the started middle school, too. You might think listening to a band concert would be great knitting time (Yarn Harlot has a post about that, in fact) but holding a squirming baby makes it almost impossible to knit. I don't even try anymore. There will be more concerts, I'm almost sure, for me to knit at.

Today, I cast on for Clapotis. It's about 5-6 inches along an edge. I don't think it's going to be as wide as the pattern calls for it to be - I'm already getting bored with the amount of purl stitches on the wrong side rows.

Looking at the one of Voodoo from Sunday, I decided that I'm not in love with my crochet edging. It's just a little too frilly. Back to the drawing board. When I get a chance I'm going to tink back the edging (can I use "tink" when talking about crochet? "tehcorc"?) and redo it a little less...irritatingly. (I don't like bobbly stuff on my palms. very irritating).

53 days until Christmas

2008-11-02T18:58:00.002-05:00

Hey, I've a pair of Voodoo half-way done already! Kewl! I cast on 44 stitches originally, and changed the thumb opening to 8 st, instead of the 6 in the pattern. It was a little too tight with only 6. I finished the top with a crochet picot edging. Tomorrow, I cast on for the second of the pair. These are my easy knitting...I take them along in the car.

Things I need to do:

Bring the big grey blob down from the craft room
Put all the knitting bags from the bedroom INTO the craft room
order yarn from knitpicks.
Start clapotis

2008-11-01T14:20:00.003-04:00

The Me meme (tagged from Cami):

4 Things I Did Today:

- Went out for breakfast with the family
- Spent time at the playground with Little J
- Listened to Big J reading his homework
- Wrote an actual blog post

4 Things on My To-Do List:

- Clothes shopping. Me, Little Sister, Little G. I hate shopping
- Take a nap. Please God!
- Grocery shopping. Just as soon as I think about what to make for supper
- Clean the clutter off my hotspots. I'm not going to tell you how many there are.

4 of My Guiltiest Pleasures:

- Trashy historical romance novels
- Sleeping in. With a baby and a three year old, it just dosen't happen these days.
- Going to the library/bookstore BY MYSELF.
- laying in the sunshine (yes, i'm really a lazy person)

4 Random Facts About Me:

- My eyes used to be blue. Now they're blue with brown around the irises. I have no idea when they changed.
- I can read paperback books and knit at the same time.
- I used to be able to name every bone in a dog's body.
- When I see books by C.S. Friedman, and Julie Czerneda (sp?) I'm compelled to read them. Seriously.

I'm not tagging anyone, so, don't worry about it :) If you would like to play, feel free to copy it from here.