Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Thankful

I'm feeling thankful for Hands lately. 

The hands in our house, big and small.

The hands around the world that made every stitch in every afghan square for the families in Greensburg, Kansas.

My own hands with their occasional ouchie twinge.  I just try to be as careful as I can so they don't get worn out before I'm ready to stop knitting.

The hands that type and send me comments and emails.  I'm so eternally grateful for those beautiful hands.

The hands that make things.  And bake things.  And knit and sew and write and drive and push and pull things.

Last Saturday morning was a Pancake Breakfast fund raiser for the band kids going to the Alamo Bowl.  Whew, we're inching upward to the goal ever so slowly.  Fruit sales were better for Katie this year than last year too.  She has also been given a special opportunity to earn a $300 scholarship toward the cost of her band trip if she writes an essay about her band experience and why she wants to go to the Alamo Bowl, etc etc.  She's earned around $200 so far, meaning we only have to come up with about $100 more.  We've got a few fund raiser ideas up our sleeve.  OH, and she got a surprise $25 for getting 1st place in the Science Fair last year!  Cool, huh?  She told me about it and I said GREAT! You can put it in your Band Account!  ha  That sort of deflated her shopping plans.

After the breakfast Katie stayed to help and we took the other kids to the park.  I took that opportunity to get a picture of Lila wearing her Fetching Mitts and see how she liked wearing them.  It wasn't TOO cold out but it was a good test.  She never once took them off which I think is fabulous for a toddler.  Anyone with toddler mitten experience KNOWS that toddlers first priority is to see how quickly they can remove said mittens.  Meaning, the entire hand is uncovered no matter what because they'll do everything in their power to get them off including chewing, screaming, rubbing snot all over them, etc etc.  Fetching Mitts are the Next Big Thing in toddler hand coverings.  Don't mess with mittens if you live in an area where they won't get frost bite between the house and car.  I took the girls to the doctor this morning for the FluMist (no shots! Yay!) and I was so glad Lila Pearl had her little mitts.  It was absolutely FREEZING COLD (air temp 35 degrees and wind chill...?? COLD!) but they stayed on her little hands.  I'm in love with them!  :)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US.  I have been a horrible friend and haven't replied to the wonderful people who commented on my last post.  Kelly - girl, I am seriously not ignoring you!  I can't seem to get around to writing anyone!  I love you all.  Every single one.  And I know there are people out there reading my blog who do NOT comment and that's okay but I'd love to know who you are.  Every comment is so dear and sweet to me and is read by everyone in the family.  Even the babies love looking through the pictures on my blog and we tell them what people say about them and to them.  It's very sweet.

I'm thankful for the thousands of hands that have touched my life this year.  But even more thankful for the hearts behind them.

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day and safe travel for all! 

Take good care of every little thing and hopefully over the weekend I'll get the final touches put on Lila Pearl's birthday video to show you next time!  XOXOXOXOX

ETA:  I just got the my Entrelac Scarf Pattern pdf uploaded and I've added the pattern page to my sidebar under the heading "My Free Patterns".  Check it out and let me know if you run into any broken links or problems!  :)

We Have

We have squares!
We have a contest winner!
We have kids in school!
We have run out of time to submit photos for the Knitty 2008 Calendar Contest.

I'll take that in reverse order.  I have to confess that I've been a bad sister.  Early this year, if you remember, I was part of Margene's Twisted Knitters dye-spin-knit-along and dyed then spun yarn to knit the Argosy scarf from Knitty.  This was to be a gift for my sister's birthday when she was here visiting during January.  I did finish the scarf, took pictures, and loved it very very much, and had every intention of sending the scarf to her right away after it was finished.  (has anyone noticed a pattern of me having issues with getting things SENT?)  The problem was that I thought this would be an awesome thing to take pictures of for the Knitty 2008 Calendar Contest.  So I told my sister this, and held on to the scarf a little longer because I didn't have a camera that would take photos at the quality level they needed for the calendar contest.  In June I did get a new camera and it was great for the photo quality we needed.  Now to dream up the perfect setting for the photos.  I had it in my mind that I would take the photos at the park with the help of Lila Pearl and a certain piece of playground equipment.  I did take the camera and Argosy scarf as well as Tigger sweater (also from Knitty) to the park one evening when I thought the light would be good.  It's hard to make this seem believable in the middle of summer though.  There are shirtless children running all around, Lila is wearing a sleeveless dress, every kid at the park wanted to be in the picture and climbing on THIS TOY when usually nobody cares about it, blah blah blah.  Nobody wanted to cooperate except the blue dinosaur.  I'm very unsatisfied with the pictures overall and I don't think they're calendar quality based on the great photos in the prior two calendars.  My favorite one (first one below) was taken at the wrong orientation (needs to be 11" wide by 8.5" tall and this was taken the "tall way").  So here they are.  The Argosy calendar pictures that won't be sent because I'm not happy with them at ALL.  And today is the deadline.  And I kinda need to send my sister her scarf before winter gets here.  ha  It's okay.  I want to make another Argosy anyway.  Or something else.  Maybe next year it'll work out since I have the new camera now.

We have kids in school!  Katie and Suzannah started school yesterday and Benny starts today.  The two older are in high school and will have their own laptops (issued by the school) so yesterday morning was spent shopping for a g-router/wireless transmitter so they can use the internet at home without using THIS computer.  Whew that will make life pretty nice to have two less users on this computer.  I wish I had my own laptop sometimes because I don't like competing for the computer and having people saving stuff on here, blah blah blah.  ha  What a complainer I am.  Soooooo.... here's Katie and Suzy on their first day of school.  Benny was too fast for me this morning to get a picture. 

And we're past August 15th now so we're probably past the biggest mail days for afghan squares!  Yay!  We're ready to move to a new stage of the project - the SORTING!  Monday was a record breaking mail day and wow wow WOW.  Y'all we got 415 squares in the mail on Monday.  The mail carrier had to make a special trip to the church to deliver afgan mail before he could load up with the mail for his regular route!!  There was a LOT of afghan mail on Monday!!  :) 

Monday's packages and boxes:

The passing of August 15th means we have a winner in the "guess the squares" contest!  The contest was to guess the number of squares we would receive by August 15th.  The total number of squares we received from early May through August 15th (including the mail on Aug 15) was 4198!!!  I checked the contest post and it appears that Theresa from Eugene, Oregon guessed.... well.... she guessed in a somewhat funny way but I'm running this contest so I get to be the interpreter for her guess.  She guessed 4,1936.  heh  Hmmm.... what does that mean?  To me it means 4193 - she was within five of the exact number we received!!  Yay Theresa!  And I DO have your ADDRESS!!  I have a few little things already in mind for your contest prize but as the readers around here can testify.... I'm pretty slow about getting contest prizes mailed out.  Watch for it some time in the next year (no, I'm not kidding).  :)

And all of that mail that came on Monday included Other Stuff too!!  And so did Tuesday and Wednesday plus we've gotten a few donations via PayPal!  Yay!  Here's a list of what we got on August 13-14-15, 2007:

• 636 squares!  WooHoo!!  That is just plain CRAZY!  heh
• 8 yarn needles
• floss threaders for yarn needles!  Cool!
• $46.47 (yes, we did get one funny donation for $6.47)
• 3 baby blankets
• seaming yarn!  Yay!
• 1 knit cowl (in Rowan Calmer - Mmmm!)
• 2 scarfs

And all of those squares and Other Stuff came from the following people:

• Tracy - Greenwood, MO
• Maureen - North Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
• Donna - Wentzville, MO
• Amy - Chicago, IL
• Loretta - Pisgah Forest, NC
• Mary - St. Paul, Alberta, CANADA
• J.C. - Mt. Clemens, MI
• Sarah - Beaverton, OR
• J.G. - Roseville, MI
• Mary - Laconia, NH
• Sheila - Catawba, NC
• Karla - Austin, TX
• Carin - Omaha, NE
• Leah - Louisa, KY
• Glenda - Austin, TX
• Cheryl - Corpus Christi, TX
• Venka - Concord, CA
• Annamarie - Doylestown, OH
• Rashel - North Brunswick, NJ
• Toni - Greensboro, NC
• Linda - Canton, MI
• Suzanne - Seattle, WA
• Margaret - Pleasant Hill, CA for Shell Ridge Community Baptist Church, Walnut Creek, CA
• Marianne - Greenville, NC
• Tina - Kalamazoo, MI
• Millie - Bowling Green, MO
• Stick and Heart Strings needlework group of First United Methodist Church - LaPorte, TX
• Barb and Pat - Houston, TX
• Marg - Pocatello, ID
• S.Z. - Denver, CO
• Diana - Stillwater, OK
• Cherri - Conklin, MI
• Criquette - Overland Park, KS
• Laura - Butlerville, IN for the Mission Circle of Graham Baptist Church
• Betsy - Chaska, MN for Jennifer, Kari, Laura and herself, all knitters from the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Trish - Condor, NY
• Nancy - Point Pleasant, NJ
• Marion - Milwaukie, OR
• Wilma - El Dorado, KS
• Mary - El Dorado, KS
• J.D. - Indianapolis, IN
• Carol - Placerville, CA
• Jean - Hollis Center, ME for ADK Sorority
• Lynn - Hollis, ME
• Carol - Sebago Lake, ME
• Marianne - Gardena, CA
• Joan - Acton, MA for West Acton Baptist Church Women
• Beth - Pocatello, ID
• Mary - SCOTLAND
• Elisebeth - Chalfont, PA
• Lynda - Strongsville, OH for Love's Many Cloths
• Cay - Austin, TX

WHEW!  Gotta run - we've got visitors coming over to play this morning.  Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!!  XOXOXOX

The Homecoming

The big kids arrived home on Sunday evening to a chirpy Welcoming Committee of two very happy little girls.

We've been busy and I've been knitting a lot on stuff that I haven't taken pictures of so you'll have to wait a little bit to know more about those projects.

Daily Square Report:

Monday's mail was in very good company with the great stuff I brought home from the knitting night on Friday!  Everyone's generosity continues to amaze me - thank you all so very much!!  The count has been increased by the following:

• 48 squares - new total received = 2417!  WooHoo!
• 1 cotton cloth
• 5 yarn needles
• 3 winter hats (2 coordinate with scarfs below)
• 2 winter scarfs
• 1 gorgeous baby blanket made by Carola in Sweden
• A WHOLE LOT OF SEAMING YARN!  Yay!!!

Today's squares and Other Stuff received from the following people:

• Carol - Wichita, KS
• Sue - Westminster, MD
• Laurie - Lake Forest Park, WA
• Lois - Boxborough, MA
• My Grandma Shirley - Eaton Rapids, MI  (Hi Grandma!  Thank you for the nice surprise!!)
• Kathryn - Morrow Bay, CA
• Zarine - Germantown, MD
• Carola - SWEDEN
• Edwina - Kentwood, MI
• Susan - Lawrenceville, NJ
• Laurie - Wichita, KS

Last Friday night (yes, Harry Potter night) I had a rare opportunity to attend an evening time knitting meeting.  It's just so fun to be around knitting friends and we were all chatting about the new yarn shop opening, which happens to be TODAY!!  Yay!!  Visit TWIST when you're in Wichita - you won't regret it!  So anyway, Laurie had told me in advance that she would be bringing some seaming yarn that a friend of hers got at an estate sale.  Oh my word I never DREAMED it would be so much!  It filled up the back of my van!!  Yippee!!

So that's the square news for today.  I've already taken Benny to conditioning this morning and he started football camp yesterday evening.  The kids have hit the ground running and I've gotta get up to speed or I'll be left in their dust! 

Today I'll be continuing to knit socks and also getting a few packages out in the mail.  I need to make a LIST.  A LIST of all the packages I need to send!!  They've gotta get finished up before this CONTEST is over y'all!!  Don't forget to leave a comment on the Contest Post telling how many afghan squares you think we'll receive!  Contest ends August 1st at midnight (12am Aug 2nd).

Anyone wanna chime in on their experience with getting their morning glories to bloom when they were planted in rich soil??  We've got vines that could compete with Jack and the Beanstalk but not a single flower.  Yet.

Square Candy Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!  It's June!  We have lived in our house for two years if you can believe it.  And Emeline will be 3 years old tomorrow.  It's a special day and she is looking forward to it in a big way.   When she woke up this morning she said "My birthday is coming!  I want a cell phone!"  ha 

Benny now has 33 minutes of time on his driving log.  Hard to believe he has so much since it only takes two minutes to get anywhere in this town.  He drove around in the high school parking lot for a while last night then took me to Blockbuster and home.  This morning he drove me to the church for my afghan mail and then to the doctor's office where Lila Pearl had a follow-up appointment for her ears.  All clear for now - thank goodness.

So wha'd'ya know.... we've got quite a collection of squares here now!  Here are the girls posing with the square collection (and one pair of socks!) this morning.

How do y'all feel about Lila's good ear report???...

Last photo until later this summer with the big kids.... oh they have grown so much since they got here in October.

Katie will die when she sees this picture of her hair.  How's the next one?.....

Emeline was sad to see them go.  Thankfully she didn't cry until they had left.  She did stand on the steps plaintively saying goodbye... and then finally said, "Katie, where are you going?"  We really don't think she has the "their daddy" concept figured out yet.

Then we opened the mail.  People.  You won't believe what came in the mail today.  We got three packages.  One package had two squares!  One package had four squares!  Those are six incredibly beautiful squares and they get their own picture. (just one picture showing four squares because the four in one package were pretty much alike knit with delicious Patons SWS)

Those six gorgeous squares came from Lea in Kansas City, KS, and Karen in Sweet Home, OR.  Thank you SO MUCH for these beautiful additions to the square collection Lea and Karen!!!

Then there was a box.  A quite sizeable box, I'll say.  I never imagined what would be in the box.  Okay, I did expect squares but I promise you it is still a surprise every day when I go down to the church and there is mail - especially when it's BIG MAIL!  At the top of the box was a letter from Beverlee of Leawood, Kansas stating that several months ago she was with her regular knitting group on Thursday night at Yarn Shop and More in Overland Park, Kansas, when a young lady brought in this box of afghan squares that were made by her grandmother.  She and her mother had found them while cleaning out her grandmother's house and getting ready for an estate sale.  She hoped that the knitting group could seam them and give them to charity or another good cause.  Beverlee says they were very excited to learn of Rebuilding Greensburg - Block by Block and felt like it was a perfect match for these beautiful afghan squares.

And here they are.  There were 190 squares in the box (doesn't look like so many in the picture!) - all crocheted, mostly 6-7" but some (down front) were in the 12-14" range and even had some extra yarn so I might be able to add a little size to the 9-10" ones that might need to be bigger!  Isn't this cool!?  Lovely squares, beautifully made - a wonderful gift from someone in Kansas who we will never meet (on Earth).  But her squares will comfort families in Greensburg.  Beverlee and all the knitters and people at Yarn Shop and More, thank you so very much for keeping these squares until the right time came along.  We're so happy and grateful to receive them for this project.

Today's squares bring the total squares received to a whopping 622 and the number still needed is 498!  WooHoo!!!  We're past the half way point SO FAST!  I hope we just BLOW right past the goal of 1120 and keep on going.  I'm secretly crossing my fingers for 2000+!  But it's a secret.  Don't tell anybody.  I guess the secret part of that is "+".  Who knows what it could possibly be?  Probably not 15,096 (or whatever the Red Scarf Project number was).  But I'm happy.  I'm excited!!  There might really be some work to do on September 15th at the Seaming Saturday!!  :)

So as I said, tomorrow is Emeline's birthday.  Birthday post will probably be Sunday.  Everybody take care - enjoy summer - watch the flowers grow - I hope you're not too wet or too dry.  We have had good rain but that means I haven't been in the garden yet! 

See ya next week with another Square Report.  :)

What Makes A Good Story?

I don't have much to blog about today.  I'm very upset.  My children in Texas are very distressed.  There have been more "events" causing this.

You know how in a court room there's a side for the prosecution and a side for the defense.  The prosecuting side sits to the judge's right as he faces the courtroom.

Last year in court that's where X and his wife sat.  Behind them was a large group of their family and friends - about a dozen people.  Actually - ten people.  I think that's all.  Anyway, it seemed like quite a group.  We had no one sitting on our side behind us.  This year we'll be on the prosecuting side.

So many things have happened in the past year that we will be bringing to the judge.  Things that X and his wife should be feeling incredibly shameful about.  Friday afternoon was just another shameful event with the stepmother causing slight injury to my 10yo daughter and upset to everyone in their household.

I cannot imagine how they could possibly want those ten people to be sitting behind them this year.  Those ten people are ten of the nearest and dearest family and friends they have.  Yet those ten people do not know the shameful things that happen in their house involving my children.

I am sick to my stomach, flushed in the face, and shaking right now thinking about what happened - less than two weeks before the upcoming hearing.  I am seriously wondering if the stepmother isn't intentionally doing these things because she wants the children to be taken away so she doesn't have to deal with the responsibility that is obviously stressing and overwhelming her.

I subscribe to the Writer's Almanac email that is put together by Garrison Keillor.  Today's Writer's Almanac told that it is the birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  He once said "What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story."  That's so true. 

These people are writing quite a compelling story with the shameful things they are doing - X and his wife.  I will be so happy when the children are away from there.

Please keep the kids in your thoughts and prayers.  They have 11 more days to wait until the hearing and they really are counting the minutes.  We all are.

I hope when the drama is over you'll keep coming back for the knitting and baby pictures.

No Inhibitions

Hello out there everybody!!  I think a few people are wondering where we are and how we are!  It's awfully nice to open my email and find that I have friends asking how we are.  :)

We are all fine.  The big kids are all three here now after a visit with their dad during the 4th of July holiday.  Suzannah enjoyed camp and somehow endured a great deal of misery as well.  I was afraid it was a mistake to let her spend time down there alone - I was right.  Camp wasn't worth it.

In court'ish news, we've paid the retainer to our attorney and he's hoping to draft our motion on Friday or Monday.  Of course I was wanting/hoping for this to happen a month ago.  It's just how things go.  A rotten waiting game.  Always just a few more days.  It's okay.  We're sitting around holding our breath in the waiting game and turning blue in the face because it's what we must do.  I suspect that this will not be resolved until the very last split second before school starts and the children might have a slightly uncomfortable transition to the new school(s).  But they want this - we all want this.  We're all bracing for what we have to deal with to get what we want.

On the knitting front, Calliope is looking good!  I finished the back on Sunday or Monday (can't remember now) and cast on for the front right away.  I got my Channel Island Caston instructions back out and realized that I didn't do it correctly.  The instructions state that the basic concept is:  a yarn over plus a normal long tail caston stitch.  What I did was:  a yarn over plus a backward loop caston stitch.  When I realized my mistake, of course, I had to do it the wrong way for the front piece but I did practice the proper technique too.  The resulting effect is similar  - my mistake method is much faster - the proper method looks good.  Both are useable and both have a pretty edge.  Doesn't matter to me that I did it incorrectly. 

I just started my 6th skein of yarn, so on the yarn ball scale I'm approximately 48% finished.  However, now that the back is finished I'm predicting that I will only use 9 balls of yarn.  With the modified yarn ball scale I'm approximately 58% finished.  I think that's more accurate since the back should be approximately 50%. 

We had a very quiet and uneventful Fourth of July holiday.  No parades.  No big fanfare.  The big kids were with their dad and stepmother having a terrible time so we didn't really need to buy any fireworks.  I watered the grass and knit in the back yard.  Emeline stayed in her pajamas until lunch time when she decided to come outside and join me in the back yard.  She saw the sprinkler and said, DRINK!!  She loves to play in the sprinkler and thinks that all spraying water is intended to be played in.  So, completely uninhibited by the fact that she was still wearing her pajamas, she walked over and played in the drink.  She stood there very still while the drops of water hit her hair and face.  She looked down and touched her arm where it felt cold and wet.  Her Daddy said, Oh Emeline, you'll get your clothes wet.  I said, It doesn't matter.  Don't you wish that we were still so young and carefree without being inhibited by the fact that we might get our clothes or hair wet and we could just go stand in the sprinkler and feel the water on our face and skin and be amazed by the wonder of it?  By the time we went inside she was soaked from head to toe and enjoyed it very much.

After playing in the drink we took a drive to Wichita, got Emeline some sandals and visited Jeff's parents.  We grilled steaks for dinner (oh so yum) and then settled in for the night.  In our town you don't go to the fireworks, the fireworks come to you!!  It sounds like a war zone for about three days with people shooting fireworks in town.  I went out and walked down the street a little ways and saw some nice fireworks, heard people having fun.  It's a dramatic feeling to see my neighbor's flag flying in the spotlight at night with those booming sounds all around. 

Mother's Day 2006

Don't look for the pictures.  I don't want to look at them yet.  It's been a melancholy day for me.  I'm feeling a little sorry for myself but feel like I need to blog - which is a combination I attempt to avoid on my own blog.  It works fine for other people but I really try not to do it.

So this will be void of photos or links (I'm tired and lazy) and a little random and a little melancholy.

The kids were here - the kids are gone.  We had a wonderful time together and the school year is nearly over.  It passed in bits and pieces and now we're anticipating the swell of nervousness associated with upcoming court proceedings.  We all feel very confident about our prospect of "winning" this time for a variety of reasons which I cannot discuss on the blog at all.

Thursday night they got here around 11:30 and the kids and I talked and laughed and talked and giggled and told stories in the kitchen until nearly 2:00am.  Jeff was so so so tired - and was like the angry parents when kids are having a sleep-over and being too loud way into the night and keeping them from sleeping.  Sorry sweetheart - we didn't mean to be too loud.  *smooch*

Friday before lunch Benny and I mowed the "outside" grass.  That would be all of the grass that is visible to the outside world.  Our back yard is a complete jungle because we had to get a new mower this year and then it rained and rained and rained.  We did a little work on it Saturday but it's still got a long long way to go.

Then the kids and I (yes, me and five children) ate out for lunch.  It was fun, as always.  I've mentioned that one of my favorite local fast food chains is called Spangles - the big kids love Spangles too and it was their preference for eating lunch Friday.  We then shopped for shoes for Benny - the girls both got new shoes at Easter time.  Apparently I have become the primary shoe provider because their step-mother will only buy them shoes from Target or Wal-Mart.  Shoes from T or WM are fine for me - I don't wear them out very fast.  For the kids T and WM shoes last about week before they look like they're ready throw away.  We get shoes at the mall or Shoe Carnival, set a budget, shop at the athletic shoe stores, and always come out with something good.  Benny negotiated an extra $20 to my budget by trading me a $20 gift card to Target plus he had $20 more of his own in cash that he had saved so he got some shoes that will put him at the top of the list of kids wearing the coolest newest shoe models at school.  It's not really that important to him (wearing the newest coolest shoe model) but certainly doesn't hurt his ego plus he paid the difference himself - he can get what he wants.

We had tacos for dinner on Friday night - one of our all-time favorite family meals.  We all help to cut up the toppings and fill the shells with meat.  We use white corn tortilla shells and lightly fry them in oil so they're soft.  Oh our tacos are heavenly - I'm not shy about saying that.  My husband is usually a pretty modest eater but he eats a lot of these tacos.  They're really good.

After tacos Benny went to the park and played basketball.  Jeff and Emeline and Suzannah walked to the park together and played for a while then came back.  While they were gone Katie and I went in the back yard and planted some flowers - sunflowers and hollyhocks.  From seed.  The hollyhocks won't bloom until next year - they're one of those "grow for a year before you get flowers" kind of plants.  A broad description of my back yard flower bed areas is better for another post but I'm excited about continuing to slowly and thoughtfully develop my flowers and herbs.  I have planted oregano seeds in a pot which will be transplanted when the incredibly tiny plants get a little bigger - the seeds are seriously the size of a grain of sand.  I've also planted some new rosemary in a pot since the rosemary I transplanted from Texas did not survive the move.  My sage did survive and for that I am thankful.  It's a strange and exciting feeling to realize that I'm living in a place that I will be staying - maybe for the rest of my life.  I haven't lived somewhere "permanent" basically since I left home 21 years ago.  Like I said.... it's strange and exciting to realize the permanence about where I live and what I do with plants in my yard and things like that.

Saturday we spent our entire day at the Wichita River Festival.  We walked around.  I got a major sunburn.  There was a mini-midway with a few rides including a rock climbing deal.  All three kids went at the same time on the rock climbing - if you slip and fall down your turn is over.  None of them made it to the top but Katie got the farthest.  I have a picture of this for another day.  We ate River Festival food for lunch - roasted corn and chicken tenders on a stick and ice cream and funnel cake and big piles of curly fries - so yummy.  And listened to the live music at the food court.  There was a hole-in-one contest that Benny sucked at.  And there were paddle boats on the river - oh my gosh bad bad bad idea.  Jeff and all three big kids on a paddle boat is a very very bad idea and they should have been warned by the people that they were going to wish they were dead before getting back to the place they were supposed to come back to.  A river on a windy day with a very overloaded paddle boat with the paddles nearly out of the water because of the four nearly adult people on the paddle boat.... oh I thought Benny and Jeff would both have heart attacks trying to get back from the middle of the river.  Lila and Emeline were little angels but got incredibly tired.  We got home about 6:30 and Emeline went to bed for the night and didn't get up again until this morning.  Lila took little naps throughout the day so she wasn't as exhausted as Emeline.  Late Saturday evening we had a little celebration - I discovered Lila Pearl's first tooth.  At six months she has her first tooth - at least four months earlier than any of my other children.  She certainly marches to the beat of her own drum.  Lila has a tooth.  Next week she'll be in college.  ::sigh::

And now they're gone.  They told me Happy Mother's Day, ate their cereal, got dressed and picked up their backpacks and ham sandwiches I made for the trip, got back in the car with Jeff, and now they're gone.  I miss them a lot.  So does Emeline.  The weather was cool and windy and partly cloudy today.  I'm still wearing my beautiful and cozy pomotamus (sp?) socks from Kelly in Texas.  I can't thank her enough.  The socks I mailed to my pal have been gone over a week now - they should be getting there (Canada) any time if they didn't arrive yesterday.

We've been thinking a lot about the family of our dear friend T.C. who died last November just before Thanksgiving.  We really miss him a lot.  So so much.  Today is his birthday.  Mother's Day.  Several of his friends had flowers delivered to TC's mother yesterday.  We decided to make a donation to the SIDS organization (TC's favorite charity which was founded by his mother) in honor of TC for his birthday.  TC was the person that brought everyone together - the hub of our friend group.  We've hardly seen any of our friend group since he has passed.  I told Jeff we need to invite everyone we can think of to come over to our house this summer some time and bring all of their kids.  Okay, maybe not all at once - that would be a lot of people.  TC threw a wedding reception/baby shower for us when we were expecting Emeline - yes - on Mother's Day weekend two years ago.  There were people there who I had never met and Jeff hadn't seen in many years - for us - brought together by TC.  We miss him more than anyone imagined was possible - mostly because we never imagined life without him - or any of our friends.  We're too young to be losing friends yet.  None of us are ready for life to be over. 

So.  It's been a day.  Sort of a sad day.  But life is good.  We have healthy children.  We have a beautiful home.  And I have planted flowers. 

A Weekend For Knitting

Hello world.  I have 12 hits on this blog, which I believe to be all mine.  Surely they are because I haven't told anyone about its existence yet.  I'm okay with that.  I don't feel like I have anything to show people yet.

It's late on Friday evening and I have a whole weekend ahead of me.  Most of one anyway - church carves a good bit of time out of the day on Sunday.  Regardless, it's a weekend in which I have nothing significant planned and my three oldest children are at their dad's house for the next week.  There is a basketball tournament tomorrow but it's 1 1/2 hrs away in Glen Rose and I really don't trust my car to make the trip.  I'll hopefully be getting a "new" vehicle some time in the next month when my tax return money comes.  Then I can be a traveler again and go visit nice yarn stores in towns that have nice yarn stores.  ha  Mine does not.  My town has Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's.  And they all have virtually the same thing.  Not one skein of 100% wool yarn to be found in this town.

I haven't done any further knitting since last night because, by some miracle, I went to work today.  Only the 2nd day I worked all week.  Benny went to school and things might actually be back on the track to "normal", whatever that is.  Seems like January is the month when you think "the holidays are over - now we'll get back to normal."  HA HA HA  As if.  This is the month of snow days and sick days.

I have been looking at a lot of patterns and making a wish list of yarn to go with them.  Of course I can buy patterns at Hobby Lobby that call for yarns they wouldn't carry in a million years.  So I have to shop for the yarn online or patiently wait until I can go visit yarn shops in Austin or Dallas.  And of course I have no references so who knows if there's really any good shops there.

I think I should check the internet to see if there might be a knitting guild in Waco.  That might be just the place to start!  I'll report on my findings tomorrow.  :)

In the mean time, here's another photo of my littlest darling, Emeline: