Saturday, September 27, 2008

Amaizing




Okay, I thought I was done with the cheesy pun titles but I guess I've got a few more in me! Today we did a corn maze in Snohomish.



This is definately a local thing, they cut pictures and mazes into the corn or grow it and you pay to go through. We went to Stocker Farm, it was over a mile walk and Butters did all but the last 50 meters!












Then, we went to the Pie Place and had Apple Crumble, Strawberry Rubarb, and Blueberry ala mode pies. He had a little help with his!







Supporting the locals, definately better than Dairy Queen!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

She's a Walker




Baby E is walking, but I managed to catch her monkey crawl on video and in still photos. She's got to be different!
It makes it easy to carry things, that's for sure.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Lotus Tank

Done! And finally photographed. Ravelred here for details. I wore this out to the birth center picnic and two people recognized it, or asked if I had made it! I don't like how it cuts in and shows my tank straps, but I love the design. There is a bit too much negative ease but I guess it will fit me if I gain 20lbs! I don't normally wear lace clothes, but I loved the lotus flowers, halfway through knitting it I started to wonder if I would have ever bought it in a store. Good test for next time I'm considering a pattern!




Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Main Street Not Wall Street

We are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression, but there's something you can do to make your voice heard right now:
http://my.barackobama.com/econrecovery

The Obama campaign is asking folks to support a responsible recovery plan that is fair to taxpayers and will fix our broken economic policies moving forward.
It's actually a very simple plan:
* No Golden Parachutes -- Taxpayer dollars should not be used to reward the irresponsible Wall Street executives who helmed this disaster.
* Main Street, Not Just Wall Street -- Any bailout plan must include a payback strategy for taxpayers who are footing the bill and aid to innocent homeowners who are facing foreclosure.
* Bipartisan Oversight -- The staggering amount of taxpayer money involved demands a bipartisan board to ensure accountability and oversight.

Join me and support these principles for economic recovery:
http://my.barackobama.com/econrecovery
Thanks

Thursday, September 18, 2008

In a Box




I had to post these. This is Butters and his friend, in a box, talking about her sparkly shoes.

Name That Photo



Can you guess what this is?







What better way to celebrate the first fall feeling yucky rainy-ish day than with brownie sundays! I could have been healthier and made applesauce, but this sounded like more fun. Maybe tomorrow we'll bake apples.








Always stuck just watching. Sorry, E. Raw egg, you can't lick this bowl.

Friday, September 12, 2008

One More Month...


until the Big one!



She's well into 18 months to 2T clothes (those are size 12 and she's waitin' for the flood.)




She looked stunned that her big bro would be leaving her!





She loves to mimic cat and dog sounds and pant! She can even make music.






She likes to do things herself.




Thursday, September 11, 2008

More School

Today was the first full on, drop off preschool day. It was awesome, he loved it, had a great time, listened and I got to wash my bedding and go to the post office. The two hours went by quickly, but I think this will be a great year. He walked right in and we hung his Mariners hat on the hook with his name on it. Found his name tag then he got to pick a letter to sit down on. He scrutinized the carpet and picked the letter Bb. I stood there for a bit, then kids started screaming and crying and the teachers suggested we leave. I waved and bolted and had a flash of excitement, then I felt completely free! We are growing up, it feels good. Preschool is going to be good for us, he needs to take direction from others and learn more social skills. We're all excited.

Also went to the zoo this week, where E got to play with the big kids. We saw the new flamingo exhibit and had a good time, the weather has been great this week.


Finally heard from the Drs. this week, they are recommending radiation, pathology indicated the cancer had gone into the bone, but they got good margins. So, our little Cancer Adventure will take us into the fall, but winter and spring are gonna rock, we are looking forward to being done with all of this.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

First Day of School

Well, more like orientation, but it went fantastic. We are doing a 2 day a week preschool at the same place we did mommy and me last year, so Butters is very excited. I don't anticipate any tears when I leave him the first time, from me or him!

He's been saying a lot of cute things I want to remember. We had a friend over the other day and I pulled him aside to talk to him. He told me to go to the knitting store, because it would make me happy. "Have fun mamma, bye." He thought I was going to leave him and she was going to babysit. DH asked him what they should get me for Christmas and he said, "Some yarn." Tonight we did a dinner playdate and he told everyone a story about a venus fly trap.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Not Quite Right

Things don't always turn out the way you want them to. This is stretching it, but the scarf I knitted during surgery didn't quite turn out the right way and neither did his surgery. Don't worry, they didn't find anything (else) bad, it's just that since he doesn't look like crap, it seems like he should be fine, but he's not. It's taking much longer for him to bounce back and we are basically treading water right now. It's like your first trimester, you don't obviously look pregnant so people have no sympathy for you and they just think you are hung over. He is getting better every day, we just didn't think it would be this impactful...dramatic...shitty?


Here is the scarf, it's finished and wearable; casted on when they wheeled him in and finished shortly after we came home. Pattern is Diamata (it's in my Ravelry notebook if you are interested).






In true Megababe form, I ran out of yarn for the last 2 rows and had to cannibalize off an old hat, which is now a neck warmer! The yarn is not quite right, a bit too thick and fuzzy and springy. I'm willing to knit this again using the store sample's yarn, which was sent to me by my favorite yarn fairy. Still, knitting this brought me great comfort. I needed something to do with my hands while waiting, and waiting and after 4 hours when we hadn't heard anything, then 5 hours, then 6 I wasn't stressed because I was about to purl 15 stitches together, I needed to concentrate. Then, Dh's completely hot neurosurgeon came out to update us and I blushed like a schoolgirl. It was wonderful to have the distraction, the knitting, I mean.

Knitting also relaxed me at night and gave me something to do on the shuttle ride to the hospital. I'd only get a row or two done on these socks, but it was better than nothing.






I also worked on this poncho/shrug thingy. Although I had planned to boycott the Olympics, we were in a hotel room for 2 weeks, so I worked on this while cheering Phelps, the old lady and Misty/Kerri!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

UFO sightings

Before the big trip, I had a finishing fest on my knitted projects. I didn't finish the baby present for my friend's daughter who is probably crawling by now, but I did complete the bag that has been knitted up and not sewn together for close to 3 years! I wasn't allowed to start anything new until I crossed a few things off the UFO list (self imposed rule).







Also finished socks for JAD but I gave them to her and didn't get photos. They were knitted from Cascade 220 and I knitted a tube with scrap yarn at the heel and did a last minute heel. I didn't like the way it look and picking up stitches was a bit of a PITA, but I loved the feel. I think all gift socks will be out of worsted with last minute heels from now on. If you don't know knitting, you have no idea what that means, which is why those socks would be for you!





Last night, I wove in the last end on lotus, I'll try to get some pics of it on my body and show it to you!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Plummer

The summer is basically over and we were thinking we would be done with everthing by now, but DH is probably going to do radiation therapy so that will take us into the fall.

I know this is going to sound stupid, but the thing I'm most bummed about is our plums. We were gone for 3 weeks and in that time our plums ripened and then rotted. We ate maybe 3 good ones. Butters cried and said he didn't want them to be rotted and yucky. I was bummed because that means no Prudden House Plum wine for this year and all that wasted free fruit is such a sad sight.

So, instead, we moved on and bought blueberries from Costco and they are fermenting right now!

Palinandering

Dear John McCain,

You don't fool me, I know you are trying to get my vote because you picked a woman VP, but I can see through your dirtyoldman tricks. Palin is an anti-woman woman and I will vote for a candidate for their worth and their strengths and the way the inspire me, not because they have a vagina.

Okay, I'll admit, I really really wanted Obama to pick a lady, but Biden was basically a single mom raising his kids and he's done more to advance women than Palin has.

Here are a few facts about Palin from Moveon.org, and I won't even mention how obviously abstinence only education doesn't work since her 17 year old daughter is pregnant.

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6


2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=1
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-1243217-IBHAgAx&t=7