Dream in Color

I absolutely loved knitting with this yarn. It's perfectly smooshy, soft, vibrant, you name it. I totally underestimated my knitting time for this project. Not that it took a long time to make, just that I thought I would knit more than I did. Atleast that's the excuse I'm using. :-) I knew Amy's due date was in February. What I didn't know, was her baby shower would be a good couple of weeks before her due date. I was thinking it would be after she had the baby. Let's just say I was very surprised when I opened the church bulletin and saw the announcement for her shower in TWO WEEKS! I think I cast-on for the sweater that night. :-) We won't mention the fact that I was 20 minutes late for the shower because I was weaving in ends and then I had to take it home with me to block it. She was a good sport about it though. I did bring it to church on Sunday to give it back to her, but by time I got it out of the truck, she was gone! So, I'll get it back to her tomorrow night. Sorry Amy! :-)

This is where I ordered the kit. They were super friendly, and shipped promptly! I made the smallest size, but probably should have made the next size up. I guess it's a good thing that our winters are short here in GA, so her baby won't need it long anyway. :-)

I'll have a super cute project bag to show you very soon. I can't WAIT!

Time flies...

See that boy? He turned 14 today. How on earth did that happen? I can't even remember what my life was like before he was born, yet it seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital delivering him. My how time has flown. It scares me to think that I only have 4 more years with him at home before he goes off to college. I hope my dh doesn't notice that part. We aren't to talk about things like that you know. :-) I'll tell you a little something funny he said just before he went to bed. He came to give me a hug before he went down to his room. I asked him if he had a fabulous birthday. He said, "Well...it was awesome." I was a little astonished that he would say that, as he got some great gifts and had a great birthday dinner. So, I asked him what made it not fabulous. His response..."Only boys who kiss boys use works like fabulous. It was an awesome birthday." Heehee. Gotta love a 14 year olds sense of humor. I should have probably corrected him on that, but quite honestly, I was speechless. :-)

Rock On!

The kids got Guitar Hero III yesterday for their Wii. They have had a BLAST playing it. The guitar is a little difficult for Benjamin to hold, but he's figured out a way to prop it up on the couch and play. I tried once....fun, but I would never make it as a guitar player. :-) I've been pretty lax this weekend on their playing time, as we have to send the Wii in for repairs on Monday.

Mikayla getting a little bit of big brother instruction:

Now, I must go block a sweater and bake a birthday cake....

Delightfully Yummy Yarn

So, I have some new yarn. My yarn stash is pretty small. It all fits in one Rubbermaid Tote. I know, I know....that's like the ultimate sin for a knitter. In all honesty, I can't have a huge yarn stash because I have a huge scrapbooking stash. I'm rather certain my dh would kill me if my yarn stash was as big as my scrapping stash. That being said, I needed some new yarn. I'm totally over this deployment, ready for my dh to come home. He's only been back from R&R for just about a month, and it already seems like he's been gone forever. So, some new yarn was just the thing I needed to make me feel better. :-) I've been trying to catch a sneak up at TLE for months now. Sheri carries some awesome yarn over there. BUT, it's nearly impossible to get the good stuff. I've been lusting after some Wollmeise for quite some time now, but can never catch it in stock. Becca was fortunate enough to catch a skein of it before it sold out. Me? Not so much. I did get to fondle her skein though, the colors are absolutely fabulous. I can't wait until I can finally get some. Me? I got this. The colorway I got isn't listed anymore. I would share a picture, but it's a dreary day outside, and I'm having a hard time capturing a picture in the true color. So, maybe I'll share that another time. What I am most excited about though, is this....

It's Yarn Nerd 1500 MHz Merino in the Mustard Wine colorway. That picture isn't real true to color, it's a bit more of a wine color, and I love it. It's been sitting on my computer desk for a couple of days. I keep reaching over to fondle it. It's very yummy. Apparently the 1500MHz if hard for him to keep in-stock. I'm not even sure if he'll be able to carry it anymore. What I really want, is his Tour de France colorway. He's hoping to be able to take custom orders at the end of February. TLE is keeping him pretty busy right now.

I'm almost finished with that particular project I'm working on. Actually, it MUST be done by Saturday. I have one sleeve left, and a little bit of applied i-cord. Friday is park day, even though we're not meeting at the park. So, I may have a finished pair of socks to show pretty soon too. I've been scrapping a lot this month. I've done about 30 pages since the beginning of the year, which is a record for me. :-) For those of you who scrap, I'll share one of my most favorite pages.....

Shhhhhhhh.....

It's a secret....I'm knitting something absolutely awesome. It's for my friend Amy, well not her so much, but the little person she's carrying inside of her. I'll show pictures soon....hopefully she'll forget to check my blog for a little while. :-) I love the project I'm knitting so much, I'm planning to order the kit to make one for Liberty very soon!

Happy Birthday Mikayla!

How on earth did my middle child grow to be 9 years old? Geesh. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms, yet I can't remember what my life was like without her. :-) She was so sweet today. She came into my room this morning to tell me she couldn't sleep. Apparently she didn't notice what time it was....10:15am...that's why she couldn't sleep. HA! She put on a dress, and her Cinderella dress-up shoes from Disneyworld. Too funny. I let her open her presents as soon as she woke up. We don't normally do that, but since her Dad is gone, it's not a traditional birthday anyway. First, she opened the presents from us...clothes and the High School Musical game for her Nintendo DS.

Becca and I are taking the girls to the new American Girl Bistro store in Atlanta, so she'll also get a couple of outfits for her dolls. The big gift of the day came from my parents. She absolutely LOVES it. She came inside several times today telling me how awesome it is.

She was absolutely awesome about sharing it today. Our rule is, if you get a gift, you don't have to share it for the first 24 hours you have it. They're quick to remind each other of that too. She was great though, and let each of her siblings take a turn or two around the loop. Since Liberty is too little, she let her stand on it with the kick-stand down. HA! She came to me several times today to thank me for everything, and to tell me she loved all of her presents. She had a fashion shoot with all of her new clothes so we can show all of her presents to Daddy. This girl LOVES clothes. When she was little, like 2 or 3, if we went to the mall, she would ask for a new outfit or a new pair of shoes. She didn't want toys, she wanted clothes. Crazy. She's the absolute opposite of her older sister, although Katie is starting to like clothes a little more than she has in the past. :-)

We don't spend a lot of money on cakes in this family. With the exception of a few times, I make all of the cakes. Mikayla wanted a princess cake. I don't know how to make Cinderella, but I can cut one with my Cricut Expressions machine. So, this is what we came up with. She was thrilled. Already has plans for either an Ariel or a Sleeping Beauty next year. The Cinderella and Prince Charming are stuck in the cake with a popsicle stick. She was happy, which is all that matters to me. :-) I have three weeks to plan the next birthday. Yee-gads.

Knitting news....I still need to knit the leg of the second sock. I started a top-down hat last night. So far, it's going great. I modified the pattern just a bit. It's written for double pointed needles, which I hate. So, I'm magic looping it. Devin is anxious for me to finish it. A few more days.

Amen to that!!!!!

Benjamin's surgery is FINALLY over. Amen to that! Dr. Lane said the hole in his ear drum was relatively easy to repair. We decided to remove his adenoids as well, since he was already under. Turned out to be a good decision, as they were pretty large. Benjamin was g.r.u.m.p.y. as he woke up. The first time I saw him, it kind of freaked me out. How come no one told me they look dead when they're in such a deep sleep? Devin never looked like that when he had his tonsils out. He was awake almost as soon as we got to the recovery room. Benjamin? Not so much. He.was.out. He developed a little bit of strider, which was pretty scary to me. He would alternate wheezing with holding his breath. Yee-gads. Freaked me out. I nearly lost it in the recovery room. I decided it's not much fun to have a child go through surgery when your husband isn't there to help.
I didn't get as much knitting done today as I would have hoped. I did re-knit the heel, so that's done. Wanna know why I didn't get much done? I forgot the stinkin' book at home! I brought More Sensational Knitted Socks, when I really needed to bring Sensational Knitted Socks. Hmph. My next pair of socks will be knitting 2 at a time on Addi Turbo's. I just need to decide on my pattern. Any suggestions? Oh, before I cast on for anymore socks, I MUST knit Devin a hat. Hold me accountable.
School....school, school, school. We had our ups and downs this week. The fact that it wasn't a normal week didn't help things. We ended the week on two good notes. Mikayla scored a 90% on her spelling test. Spelling is not her strong point, and she was really going down hill on her spelling tests before our break. So, for her to score a 90%, that really boosted her confidence. I added some things to her spelling workload...writing her words three times each, and choosing three words to use in a sentence. That was brutal for her, but I'm hoping it gets easier each week that she does it. The second good note? DEVIN SCORED A 97% ON HIS PRE-ALGEBRA TEST! I told him on Monday that he really needs to focus on making less careless errors. He did pretty well on each lesson. I should add, he completed an entire BJU Math chapter in ONE WEEK! So, for him to score a 97%, that's fabulous for him. I told him I think it's his highest math score all year. He quickly reminded me that he made a 100% on his first math test this week. HA! I rewarded his good work with a new book. Just a little something special so he knows I'm proud of him.
I exercised four times this week. Devin and I walked at 7am twice...when it was bone chllin' cold out. Remember, the term "bone chillin'" is a relative term. Heehee. Yesterday, the wind chill made it feel like 5 degrees. Boy Howdy. I plan to walk tomorrow as well, but it'll be much warmer out. Having to be at the hospital at 6am screwed my walking up, but I did jump on the mini-trampoline tonight.