Monday, June 30, 2008

Signs of Summer

Cute summer outfits (don't worry, I'm working on a full fashion montage) Tired after a long day at the beach (didn't fall asleep until 10 that night, I hate naps!) Homemade chocolate chocolate covered pretzel ice cream
Movie night after a long day in the sun! (Toy Story)
All four of us were in this tiny pool, T said he felt like a redneck!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

WIP update

Work In Progress update:
I finished the lace bottom on the lotus tank (going from top right), I'm so over that lace, sick and tired of it. Now just plain knitting for the top.

I sewed some fast fleece booties for my mother in law. I asked for her help with using patterns, never done that before. She's an amazing seamstress which is why I can't give her these booties-full of errors I'd be too embarrassed! So, I keep at it and make these guest booties. I love the pattern and plan to make these for nearly every person on my Festivus list!

Next, a purple sweater for the baby for next fall. I couldn't take all that tiny knitting and lace and cotton. I needed some instant gratification. So, I started an EZ bog jacket. Since this photo was taken, I've started on the sleeves and done the 'thumb trick.' I'll tell you more later.

Last, a canvas bag accented with some funky fabric. My goal was to cover up the words Preptec, this was a free bag with some marketing on it, it's not perfect, but I practiced and I reached my goal! "Ya gotta have a goal, do you have a goal?" (I know a few ladies out there will know what movie that is from).

Second Favorite

I don't know if it's favoritism, confidence or laziness, but the baby gets away with a lot more than Butters used to! I figure if she wants to play with my yarn, fine. Anything tangled can get untangled, if she eats it, I'll know she's not allergic to wool and if it keeps her busy for 5 minutes, I can get more done!



The baby had hives last week. Maybe if it was three years ago and this was my first baby, I would have taken her to the doctor. Instead, we called the doctor (happened at 5 pm on a Friday, of course:) He said it could be a virus, nothing you can do. Teething, nothing you can do. Or, a food allergy, nothing you can do. So, we waited, it went it's course. We watched for a fever, I didn't introduce any new foods. She's fine now, but she did look horrible! That's the confidence of a second baby, it's probably not going to kill her, she'll be fine, let's just go to the park.

I'll spend long moments just staring at her and kissing her and making her laugh, because I know how fast the time goes and that to me is the biggest difference with a second! Still, I started a second sweater for her and I haven't made one for Butters yet, I better rethink this.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Tide Poolin'

Went to the beach in the early evening to catch low tide and try and find some sea life. Last time we went here, we had Drandma's help and I was able to find more with Butters (hermit crabs, sea crabs, anemones).





This time, I had Sister strapped to me, and we didn't find as much! (I think I need a face lift from this photo!)











We had a nice time until Butters decided to run down the beach without me. Instead of freaking out, I just went with it and waited for him to come back. He didn't come back.









We walked calmly back together, I didn't let go of his hand. I talked to him endlessly about how he needs to stay with mama, I was worried about him, he needs to be a good listener. "Okay, Mama, I love you." He's been an absolute sweetheart lately. But, he's still a Three Year Old, so what can you expect. I find my reaction matters the most. If I'm calm and serious, he'll take it more seriously. We'll see how it goes!


Today, I think we'll stay close to home, get some errands done. We are also potty training, been without pull ups all week so far. If he's naked, he knows to go in the potty, if he has pants on, he doesn't think of it. I wish it was more acceptable for boys to wear skirts! We'll see how this goes, too! For this trip, they are re-doing the beach and he got to go in the port o potty twice (called honey buckets here!), that was fun!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Crafty Update

Made this for my dear friend, Maria. She's the triathlete in the photo from Tea Bags. She does triathlons and actually wins medals at them! It's from Quilted Gifts, it's a Kathy Mack pattern. I made this so Maria would have the ability to make art at her fingertips! She made a beautiful inspiring painting for me that I look at all the time.



Butters helped me match some of the fabric to the pencils, some came from P. Mookie and the light lavender color with the dots in diamonds was from my grandmother's stash. I really enjoyed the quilting part, although my piece was about 3 inches smaller than the pattern says (don't look at this too close). I f'ed up the tie again, some day I'll be able to figure it out.



Here's what I found the other day as I was getting dinner ready!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Why?

Butters has transitioned into asking the all important Three Year Old question, "Why?" It's exciting and exhausting and cute at the same time. Sometimes you don't have answers. Like, "Why is this duct tape?" Sometimes you don't know what to answer, "Are you peeing out of your 'gina?"

We've been dealing with a lot of questions and answers around here. I didn't want to blog it to the world until we knew a little more, but it didn't seem right to act like nothing is going on. My dear husband has Cancer. He got nasal surgery a few weeks ago and they found a very rare form called olfactory neuroblastoma (or esthesioneuroblastoma), a cancer of the nerve cells that are responsible for smell. Very few cases have been discovered. It looks like he'll need another surgery and most likely radiation. We were told chemo too at first but this form rarely spreads. We are basically going to have a shitty summer, but we want to try and protect the kids from it as much as possible. Ty is fairly upbeat and determined to beat it and be as normal as possible. He started working from home which has been great. The good news is that it looks like the original surgery got most of it (maybe all) and the rest of his body looks clear. This is treatable and we are doing what we need to do to treat it.

Life goes on, we got back from the appointment when the doctor gave us the news, and there was laundry in the washer to put into the dryer. We had to figure out what to have for dinner. The baby was raking the carpet and eating up dog hair, I figured it's time to vacuum again. Life goes on because it has to. The grandparents took Butters to the Zoo for the day last week and I got totally sad, I didn't have the distractions and I started to feel sorry. If we didn't have the kids things would be so different.

Sometimes it's best not to ask the questions, so let's try to end on a happy note. We went to a strawberry festival today at Biringer Farm. It was a blast-Butters got to sit in a firetruck, jump in inflatables, eat strawberry shortcake and we even got to meet the SeaFair pirates, local legends which Baby Girl was not as impressed with! Don't you worry about her, she stopped crying the second I held her again. I told the Pirate what every women tells a man, "It's not him, it's me!"

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy F Day

Happy Father's Day, to a dad we love to climb on! You make mom happy, and that's pretty important, too! We love you very much, and we are so proud of you.

Every night I tell the kids, "Your dad and I love you so much and we are so proud of you. You are the best things we've ever done." I think that marrying my husband is also on my list. He's a wonderful father and an amazing person.

I got T a classic for Father's day-a mug with his kids photos on it. Here are the photo that didn't make it!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tea Bags

We've had some sad very bad news here, which I can't write about to the world, just yet. But, in the meantime,













I've been drawing strength from some great people around me and the words of a few others. Eleanor Roosevelt said, People are like tea bags, you never know how strong they are until you put them in boiling water. We're being tested, and I haven't passed with flying colors but we are circling the wagons and taking care of each other.





I recently finished Jane Goodall's Reason For Hope, a very relaxing read while you are breastfeeding. She reminded me of the Eleanor comment above. It's a spiritual memoir that wouldn't have moved the same way if I had read it in 1999 when I got it for Christmas, (the god references made me wait a bit). But, reading it a few weeks ago, as a mother, had much more impact. Jane spoke of her sacrifices for her son, Grub and her life changes that I wouldn't have connected with 9 years ago. More information to come.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Knitting Question

I've been busy knitting, or maybe just thinking about knitting all time. Either way, it seemed like I wasn't getting anything done. No finished objects and my two main projects were on small needles. It was hurting my eyes. I'm working on the lotus tank top and a pair of sock-knitting two at a time on one long needle. I'm loving doing socks this way. But, on a size two needle with 72 casted on, knitting two is the same number of stitches as a tiny sweater and you don't see your progress. Same with lotus, the lace is taking so long, it's about an hour for each row. Ack.

Sooo, I needed some instant gratification and I casted on for another project. Don't think I only have two things going, I made another project bag because I have so many unfinished objects, see the peace fabric above (other ufos: jenny's socks, maria's wedding lace shawl, cable bag, pi shawl). Add another to the pile. This is one I've been thinking about for a year now. My friend Carrie gave me some Handmaiden seasilk, it's a silk and seaweed yarn that is deadly soft and gorgeous. And expensive (she's a good friend to have!). It calls for the perfect pattern. I found this stole pattern for Diamanta and fell in love. I knitted this one repeat while waiting for the hubby in surgery. I like the pattern, even the purl 15 together (whaaa!) But, it's totally not working for this yarn. I think there is too much drape. The pattern needs a stickier yarn, doesn't it? I have to take this out and find something else, something that shows flat stitches for this silk yarn and would be close to my skin. What do you think?

I should buy the cashmere from the store and use it for this Diamanta pattern, shouldn't I? I mean, I like the $6 pattern and it needs $45 worth of yarn to go with it. Then, I'll think of something else to do with the silk!