Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Tuesday

I'm trying to get back into the groove of posting more - and sometimes it'll just have to be mostly pictures.  :)

 

We're nearly done decorating and of course all of the children are wanting the tree to be instantly surrounded by beautifully wrapped packages.  Don't they understand that knitting takes TIME???  ha

Last but not least, our new baby Baxter.  At first I thought it was a little funny but unfair when I realized how many fleeces I'm storing on and around his crate.  Then I thought he's probably feeling extremely successful at having such an obedient flock.

By the way, only two of those fleeces are actually mine.  The other three are for me to wash for a friend on loan for herding practice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  We had a nice time at Jeff's mom's house with the girls, their uncles and a few cousins.  Emeline took almost all of the photos in this slide show and of course I helped a little.  :)

Emeline made the turkey hat at preschool and Lila Pearl has her moment in the spotlight as always.

We hope your holiday season is full of hope and happiness!

PS  I really am working on a post but my husband keeps butting in and going on about Ravelry.  Hmph.  Doesn't he know it's really Facebook and WordTwist?

Happy Hearts Day

Hi Everybody!

I know.... I know... you can't believe I'm posting for a third time this week!  Well I am.  Get used to it!  :)

Today, being February 14th, is well known as the annoying holiday when your wife/girlfriend expects to be acknowledged as the one you love.  Lots of people hate it.  Some love it.  I'm a bit indifferent at this point of my life.  But it's fun to make it special for the kids.

This morning when Emeline and Lila woke up and I reminded them that it was Valentine's Day you would have thought I said it was Christmas again!  They were so sweetly surprised and happy to get a bit of candy.

You Make My Day!

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to learn that KT had named me on her You Make My Day list!  Even more of a pleasant surprise is what she said about me.  I'm the kind of person that's always surprised to find out someone likes me.  It shouldn't be that way but it would probably take a lot of expensive therapy to change so for now I'll just go on being surprised.  ha

Instructions are, "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland.  Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on.  Beware: you may get the award several times!"

Every person I list here has left a permanent lasting lifetime kind of impression on me.  Some of the ones I list here probably don't know I exist on the planet, so I won't be writing to tell them they made my list but maybe You will like reading their blogs as much as I do.  I know that several of them have already posted about this award anyway, but here is my list of blog-world people who make my day:   

KT from Lookie What I Made:  I guess it's the mutual admiration club around here.  KT's been one of the most privately thoughtful and generous and kind people to me of all those I've met in blogland - and I feel like I hardly know her!  Her blog is always a source of sunshine to me.

Elizabeth of Trailing Yarn:  I got acquainted with EB when she knit a Wee Tiny Sock for me and it's been True Love ever since.  Her knitting, her writing, her photos, her spinning - what's not to love?

Emily of Yarn Miracle:  Like a sister! How is that possible?  From the very first memorable second that I clicked on the link and read her blog I have loved Emily like a sister.  Later she camped in line over night waiting for the announcement when I did my very first Etsy shop update.  heh  Her blog is so bright and full of cheer - I feel like I am in her living room or back yard every time I visit.  PLUS she has a MiniMiracle due to arrive any minute - isn't life sweet?  :)

Jenn of A Whirled Yarn:  A new favorite blog - her writing is absolutely genious!  The photos of her home make me very happy to know that she doesn't live very far away -  I'm hoping to visit her Very Soon!  A dear person and talented spinner - I'm happy that she's doing the Blog365 thing so I don't run out of great stuff to read about and see!

Lene of Dances With Wool:  She makes every reader feel like her friend.  No matter the subject, her writing is so captivating - her pictures, drawings, needlework... her expressions of humility and descriptions of her world... I nearly cry from the overwhelming beauty of it all every time I read her blog.

Jessie of What Housework?:  Who doesn't love her world?  If you need a lift just visit Jessie's farm.  If her beautiful spinning and dyeing and wit don't make your day then her turkeys will.

Kelly of Celtic Caston:  Her dogs, her youth, her knitting talent, her energy - I love it all and I'm so happy to know that she's my friend and I've had the pleasure of visiting with her in person!

Brenda Dayne of Cast-On:  Okay, it's not technically a blog but I cannot say enough about the ways that the Cast-On Podcast has enriched my life.  It's basically the only podcast I make time for.  She's gone through so many changes with the podcast and examining the place it holds in her life and I am amazed that it makes me really feel like I'm part of something big just being One Knitter.  "It" is the feeling that she is able to convey through her podcast.  "It" is very hard to describe.

Tracy of Wool Windings:  You Make My Day doesn't scratch the surface with this person and her blog.  Her generous heart loving Christ and people has made such an impact on my life.  She is a Giver like no other and I'm so blessed that she has been part of my world and shares her life, marriage, knitting and travel through her blog.

Margene and Carole:  I think of them as one, really.  These two are ones that are really "there" for me to the greatest possible degree that a person you met through you blog who doesn't live remotely near to you could be.  They're the first ones to phone or email when I disappear.  They're the first ones to comment on every blog post.  I love them like I can't even describe and every single day of my life is Made because of their dear friendship.  Their blogs are a Bright Spot in the day of so many people in so many ways that it absolutely boggles my mind that they make time for me.

That's really NOT the end of the list but I don't think I have enough Hours In The Day to mention every person who Makes My Day.  My Blogroll will give you a pretty good idea though!  heh  All the people on that list are there because they're special to me.  You ALL Make My Day!  :)

The Mayonnaise Jar:  A Love Story

I had a feeling after yesterday's post that someone would ask about the mayonnaise jar.  The button jar that I took from mom's house at 17.  Sure enough, Tracy asked.  It was a story that kind of hurts my head just a little but as I thought more about it I realized it's really a Love Story and is perfectly appropriate for retelling today. 

Last fall, if you remember, Kelly came to visit us from Canada and brought gifts.  Gifts for everyone!  For Emeline and Lila Pearl, Kelly. Brought. Hand. Knit. DRESSES.  I'm still in shock and amazement that she did this.  And I still don't have good pictures of the girls wearing these dresses because it's always on Sunday morning and we're such a tornado on Sunday mornings that I can't even think much less take pictures.

Knitting dresses for my two daughters?  That is Love.  And I haven't even told you about the other knits she brought.  I've been a terrible friend for not mentioning it sooner and having great pictures to show!

When Kelly brought the dresses she mentioned that she didn't have time to put a button on the back neck opening and gave me the package of buttons she intended to use.  When the weather got cold enough that the girls could wear the dresses to church I still hadn't put the buttons on.  On a Saturday evening in November or maybe early December I got the dresses and buttons and thread, just to discover that the buttons Kelly brought were too big.  It's okay - I have some very tiny buttons in my button jar!  I retrieved the jar and the task was soon finished.  I cleaned up the area around my knitting chair where I was working but it was late at night so I didn't take the button jar back to its safe place and left it on the ottoman along side the usual yarn and pattern books that sit there.

The next day was a busy one and right after church I had to drive in to Wichita to work at Michael's for a few hours.  About 15 minutes after I left I got a phone call from Jeff stating that one of the babies had taken my button jar and ...... a million pieces all over the floor was an understatement.  I appologized for leaving the jar out where the babies could get to it and said "Just don't throw them away."  He said "They're aready in the trash!" as the babies were screaming in the background.  I was absolutely sick and really didn't say anything else.

"They're just buttons," I thought to myself.

At Michael's I told the story to my co-workers.  One said, "Surely he'll get them out of the trash."  I said, "No Way.  I don't think so."

When I got home that evening I was surprised to find a coffee cup filled with buttons.  I asked Jeff where they came from and he said "I dug through the trash and got out all the buttons I could find.  Some are also in the vacuum cleaner bag which I have not messed with but at least we know where they are.  I had no idea the buttons meant so much to you."

That, my friends, is Love.  With love like that year round, who needs Valentine's Day?  :)

I hope your life and your heart and your world are filled with love and happiness.

Take good care of every little thing and don't stay away for too long!  XOXOXOXOXOX

Weight Loss Challenge - Week 5

Hi everybody!  Let's get the Weight Loss Challenge out of the way first.  I will tell you that I was VERY excited to post about the Weight Loss Challenge.... until I got on the scale this morning.

We might have to get a new scale because I'm about to throw this hunk of junk out the window if it doesn't stop telling me LIES.  LIES I tell ya.  LIES.

I had a super awesome diet week.  Every day was better than the last.  I was drinking water.  I was eating well.  I was busy with the babies and didn't officially exercise all week but the pounds were falling off and the scale confirmed it every morning.  Yesterday morning I was down to 205.5!  YESSSSS!  I was doing the "I LOVE EVERYTHING" dance!  heh  Church was great yesterday - Jeff stayed home from work and did so much with the babies - I took a nap - it was a really nice Mothers Day.  Last night we had tacos for dinner... one of our favorite family meals.  Jeff and I joke with each other that we both always GAIN a crazy amount of weight the next morning on the scale after we have tacos for dinner.  Maybe that's because we're taco pigs?  I don't know.  Both of us were conservative with the tacos last night.  I had five.  I think he might have had only three.

This morning I was really looking forward to visiting the scale.  As I stepped on the scale Jeff poked his head out of the shower curtain to see my reaction.  I stepped on.  Stepped off.  Kicked the button again.  Stepped on.  He was holding his breath.  Stepped off.  On.  Off.  On.  Off.  I looked at him.  I looked at the scale.  I gained four pounds in a day.  In a DAY.  WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD???????

I said "I'm going to have to lie on the blog."  He tried to be encouraging.  I said "I'm giving up."  He said no I wasn't giving up.  I said again "I'm just going to lie on the blog.  They won't know."  He poked his head back inside the shower.  Ugh.  I can't lie on the blog.

So this morning I took the girls to the park after breakfast.  We had a nice walk, a nice time playing.  I'm drinking water.  I'm eating smart.  I'm not giving up.  But I am disappointed.  I'm nearly half way to my goal DATE but not half way to my goal WEIGHT.  So I'm still in it.  Just having to tell myself that it's not a good idea to do something terrible like eat a bunch of cookie dough or some other terrible diet busting thing like that.

Weight Loss Challenge (April 16 - June 15, 2007)
Beginning Weight:  213.5
Today's Weight:  209.5 (no change from last week)
Total Pounds Lost:  4.0
Pounds to go in short term goal:  16
Days remaining for short term goal:  32

Other participants in the Weight Loss Challenge are:

Kathy
Elizabeth
Britt
Ginny
Michelle

Please visit their blogs and give 'em a WAY TO GO!  :)

So how was everyone's Mothers Day?  Mine, as I have said a few times, was very nice.  Quiet.  Pretty weather.  We planted some flowers outside.  Jeff got me some flowers (I won't mention the candy for obvious reasons).  I got to take a nap.  Did I already say that?  heh  It's worth mentioning again. It was a nice day.  Our finches have a 2nd egg in the nest.

Last night Benny came down after I thought he was in bed and said he felt badly that he didn't have a Mothers Day gift for me so he wrote me this poem. 

A LOVING MOTHER:  Mother's Day Acrostic Poem
by Benny, age 15, May 13, 2007

Always there when times are hard

Loves me whether near or far.
Open mind and soothing eyes
Valued over any prize.
Involved in everything I do,
Never hateful in any way.
God's greatest creation I ever knew.

Making it fun to live each day.
Only wish I could begin
To know the position that she's in.
Helping me grow up to be a man, in
Every way she possibly can.
Remember Mom, I love you and always will.

Love,
Benny

A very nice way to end the day.  Benny gets his poetry talent from his dad.  I'm so proud of all the kids.  As the school year winds down they all three have all A's and B's.  I don't think there will be much of anything else that could damage their grades at this point - they all had a little bit of a struggle with a few C's over the past six weeks and they all worked hard to overcome that.  I'm very proud of how they have made friends and adjusted so well to the major life change of moving here to be with us.

In the Rebuilding Greensburg - Block by Block news.... things are starting to quiet down in my email in-box.  I have received many many private emails of support, asking questions, stating that squares are being knit and several knitting groups are making it a group project.  I'll tell a little more about some of those groups as their squares come in.

I have been giving a little thought to the size of this project and trying to decide where to go with it.  Will we just let it be what it is?  Yes, but now I think I want to set a goal.  The project has grown to proportions I never imagined and hopefully is bigger than my greatest imagination.  I have begun to wonder how many squares we will get - how many afghans will we make?  Rather than leave it to fate, I want to set a goal for afghans.  One afghan, if I make it 7x8 squares (56" x 64") will require 56 squares.  Ten afghans will be 560 squares.  Five hundred sixty.  Is that a lot of squares?  Yes.  Is that more squares than I think will arrive?  ....  Knowing the power of the worldwide knitting community, No.  Five hundred sixty is small compared to what I think is possible from knitters and crocheters out there.  Setting a goal is supposed to be slightly uncomfortable.  Supposed to stretch your limits.  Make you wonder if you can reach it - am I right?  So I decided to set a goal of 20 afghans.  That is 1120 squares.  I honestly hope that is a small number compared to what we will receive.  I think the potential is much greater than 20 afghans.  If the Red Scarf Project got 15,097 scarfs I honestly and truly believe that 1120 squares is a TINY number compared to what we can really do.  Incidentally, 15,097 squares would make 269 afghans.  Tell your Girl Scout troop.  Tell your Sunday School class.  Teach your kids to knit or crochet and have them make squares during summer break from school!  Tell everyone you know that feels the smallest bit of compassion yet doesn't know how they can make a difference.  This is a way to express in a tangible way to the people of Greensburg, Kansas that you care for them and send your best wishes for their successful recovery from this tragic event.

We have a few more FAQ's to add to the list so here they are.  I will also add them to the original post about the afghan project so that new people clicking on that link will find the most current information available.

What if my square is not exactly eight inches - is that okay?
Don't worry - send it anyway!  I have read many other afghan project organizers say that the squares they receive are all over the map in the size range.  This looks like it will be a big project y'all!!  That gives us the luxury to sort squares by size.  If your square is 7" or 7.5" or 8.5" or whatever, it will be sorted with other squares the same size so that when it's time to seam we won't have to worry about stretching or pulling ones into submission to conform with a larger or smaller square next to it.  Send what you have - we can use them all!

What needle size should I use?
Use a needle size that will give you a fairly dense fabric.  With worsted weight yarn that will probably be US 6, 7, or 8.  If your stitches are a little loose you could double the yarn or add something else as a carry-along to add a little bulk.  Two strands of sock yarn = worsted weight in most cases.  A sport or DK + one strand of sock yarn will work well too!

I don't knit but I do crochet.  Will you accept 8" crochet squares?
How could I possibly say no??  Please yes - if you only crochet and would like to send a square we will LOVE to receive your square(s)!  I have been contacted by several people who want to send crochet squares and it appears that we will probably have at least a few afghans made entirely of crochet squares!  Knit On! Crochet On!

Who will be seaming the squares into afghans?
Once we have received enough squares to sort into similar size categories I will begin seaming what we have and will also organize some of the ladies at our church to help with seaming as well.  The Knitting in Public group in Wichita is full of awesome ladies who are enthusiastically supporting this project too!!  Hooray!  We plan to have a knit night for knitting squares some time in June and will have a seaming night (or two!) too for those that would like to help out.

How will you decide who gets the afghans when they're finished?
At this point I know that if the church plan works the way they hope, the family we adopt (as a church, not my husband and I adopting a Greensburg family!) will receive at least one afghan.  Possibly a few small ones too if they have children.  I also hope to give afghans to the famlies of those killed by the storms.  I will learn more from the church and through the internet about agencies that are organizing support for the families of Greensburg and will contact those places to make arrangements for how the afghans will be distributed.  One thing to remember is that we won't necessarily know who receives the afghans we make.  The families in Greensburg deserve privacy and anonymity if they wish.  Due to that fact we probably will not receive a list of family names, etc.  Those lists will be organized and kept by official agencies like the Red Cross and United Way.  The churches of Greensburg will also know what families will benefit the most from the things we can send.  I will try to let you know more about these families as information is available but I don't expect to know too much about them myself. 

How many afghans are you making?
Watch the sidebar on my blog to keep up with the number of squares received and what our goals are.

I finished my 3rd square and have started on number four.  I'm also working diligently on the chemo cap that was to be Shedir but is now Odessa.  Whew.  I can't concentrate on the pattern well enough to make Shedir right now.  I'm so glad I thought of Odessa because the pattern is looking very nice with this Silky Wool.

Tomorrow I'll be telling about some of the Greensburg storm survivors that you probably won't hear about on the news.

Have a FABULOUS week and send in a square for the Greensburg project if you can!  I am excitedly anticipating a lot of squares!  SOON!  Yay! 

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. 

Getting Ready

So here we are.  Friday before a 4-day holiday weekend.  Emeline has had a night time fever of 101.5 axillary* the past two nights and woke up with 99.1 in the ear this morning.  Experience tells me "possible ear infection".  Doctor's office won't call me back to let me know if they think it's important to see us today.  Nice.  Do you think by the fourth child maybe I actually know what I'm doing and can troubleshoot fevers?  I don't just jump on the "emergency room for a fever" bandwagon.  I will be having a serious discussion with this doctor if they don't see Emeline today.  Doctor's office just called - they'll see Emeline at 3:45 today.

*Axillary temperature (under the arm) is typically .5 to 1 degree lower than oral temperature.

No progress photo to show of Calliope because... well, she looks the same.  Oh, I guess I do have a photo.  This is when I was holding Calliope up to my favorite tank top to see how it compares in size.  I'm VERY glad I decided to do the next bigger size.  The pattern isn't generous with measurements but I have read enough of the pattern to see that the armhole shaping begins a little lower than it does on this red tank top but the overall length from the shoulder seam to lower edge is very near to the same as this tank top.

Here's the Calliope pattern photo.  I've decided I don't want the back neck area to come up so far.  After looking at this picture over and over I've decided I don't want the back neck shaping to be up so high - I want it to be lower like the tank top in the above photo.  The front is knit to exactly the same dimensions as the back (possibly with different arm hole shaping which I will check) so I will duplicate the front neck shaping but start a little higher in the back.  This will save me a little yarn and I think I will like the look and feel a lot better thah having the high back neck on Calliope.  Wish me luck on this part - I'll be starting it very soon.  I've finished the 9th pattern repeat on the body part so I only have 12 more rows before I start the armhole shaping which should happen later today I hope.

I think the pattern example is knit in a much smaller size than what I'm making.  *sigh*  One day maybe.

My progress at Curves wasn't bad this week when I weighed.  It wasn't great but there has been measureable change since I began.  It's just a very very very slow change.  I have lost a total of 6.5 inches and overall total of 1 pound, which doesn't tell the whole story.  When I went for my 1-month weigh-in I was 5 pounds heavier than when I started.  Does that explain why I waited so long to mention it on my blog? 

So speaking of weight loss, how about that ice cream?  I took a few photos of the making process and then my camera decided it was through for the day and we couldn't take any more.  Here's what we got:

We got this great ice cream maker at a flea market for $10.  I couldn't resist after searching on ebay for several years for a bargain and couldn't bear to pay the shipping cost it would take!!  All of the internal parts are perfect and it works very well if you have a strong arm or two.  :)

The ice cream was SOOOOO GOOOD.  Sorry no photos of the finished product.  Maybe next time.  This batch was vanilla.  I like to use the Junket mix we find at the grocery store.  With all the cranking I don't feel too guilty about using a mix instead of making it from scratch.

This morning I was finally able to get a picture of an eggplant flower from my little garden.  I've been waiting a few days for it to finally open.  I've grown a different variety of eggplant before which had small flowers that looked white though maybe they were a very pale lavender (or orchid in my mind) - these are a larger size and are definitely a pretty violet color.  And they point DOWN!  How do you take a picture of a flower that's pointing down?  It's not easy, I promise.

So, like the title of this post says, we're getting ready.  Getting ready for a long holiday weekend.  Getting ready for the kids to have their dad come visit for the first of two visits he has planned while they're with us for these short six weeks during the summer.  And getting ready for our attorney to draft the motion that gets this court thing going.  We're bracing for the day my X is served with the motion - hopefully by the end of next week when he has returned to Texas from his trip to Kansas.  Suzannah will be back here and won't have to deal with the initial heat from their anger and upset over getting served.  It's a scary nervous time for us.  The money for an attorney has come together though nothing less than a miracle, I'm sure.  On a related note, everything has been flying off the shelves of my etsy shop - time to dye more yarn for sure!!  Thank you to everyone that has been buying my yarn and stitch markers.  We appreciate it so much.

Have a wonderful and fun safe Fourth of July holiday weekend everybody!!  I might not post again until Wednesday or Thursday next week - let's hope for plenty of knitting progress and maybe a little 4th of July fun. 

Here are a few 4th of July photos from years past.  The first three pictures are from the 4th of July parade in Valley Mills, Texas in 1991 2001 (GAH!  No, the kids aren't that old now).  The kids were so little and my camera was so bad.  Suzannah's birthday is July 9 8th (what kind of mother AM I??) so two years ago we celebrated her 8th birthday on the 4th of July when my sister was visiting and Emeline was just a month old.

We Have Winners!

Yay!  Contests are so fun and there are so many wonderfully fun and nice people in the knitting blog community - you all made me feel like I was receiving a comment party.  heh

First things first:  The winner of the 1000th Comment Push is Kelly of Celtic Cast On!  If it weren't for Margene's craziness, however, I'm not sure if we'd be there yet (she left a total of 22 comments between my last two posts!).  So they'll both be getting a little something in the mail.  Like Susie said, Margene deserves a prize for persistence!  But according to Margene her persistence isn't for prizes, it's just because she likes me - awwww.  Thank You to all of my fun friends that participated in the comment push.

Next there's the contest within a contest - the "Guess what sock I'm knitting" contest!  Marina got it right out of the chutes but the contest was open to ANYONE guessing, including anyone who jumped on the "It's the Canada sock!" train without really knowing.  Copying isn't cheating in this contest and was encouraged.  heh  So this is how the drawing went...

Mommy:  Hey Emeline, we're going to do another drawing for a contest prize this morning!

Emeline:  Hmm.  Can I help squish up the papers with you mama?  Is it okay if I do it while I'm watching Mary Poppins?

Emeline:  I've changed my mind - I don't want to help any more.  I want to read books.  ::starts hauling book bag over to the middle of the carpet and grunting and straining under its weight::

Mommy:  Okay, yes, you can read books but can you just please pull one name out of this bowl so we can have a contest winner?  No, not all of them... just one... just one honey.  No, can you take a break from the book for just a second and help Mommy?  UGH.... NO Emeline, don't do that... just please draw one name and put the bowl down..... please? (all the while Mommy is trying to orchestrate this deal with her face behind a camera)

Emeline:  Mama, I really don't know what the big deal is about.  What do you want me to do with the paper once I pull it out?  Show it to you?  I don't have any idea what you're talking about.  Hmm..... this trick worked last time....

Mommy:  GAH!  Don't do THAT again!  Let me see that thing.....

The winner is Patty, who appears to be blogless!  Patty, if you have a blog please let me know so I can link you.  Otherwise, you've been contacted by email and will be receiving a little present in the mail if you'll send me your mailing address.  :)

So for the sock.  Yes, it was the Canada sock from Nancy Bush's very popular Knitting on the Road pattern book.  Back at the beginning of Sockapaloooza I saw a Canada sock that someone had started but I didn't go back to see the final results or whether she sent them to her pal.  The ones I found in my searching last week were by Rachel of Have You Any Wool - these are the same ones I saw at the start of S'poooza!  I just realized I left her a comment complimenting the pretty colors on March 1st (she's changed her blog wallpaper now so I didn't recognize that it was the same blog)!  In my comments a few people also reported seeing the Canada socks knit by Beth of Hermione.  Both Rachel and Beth used a different main color for their Canada socks than shown in the pattern example.  Even though I liked the colors I used for my swatch, the stranded section was too tight to fit over my heel.  SOOOO.... I frogged it. 

But don't despair... I restarted it using a bigger needle for the stranded sections and here are the results.  I also decided to change my main color and I'm completely in love with it.  The main color I'm using now is simply undyed yarn.  The Red Rover and Pecan colors show up so nicely on it, I'm very pleased.  These will be either a Christmas or Birthday gift for my daughter Katie (yes, she has big feet like I do so I knew the green one would be too snug for her heel too).

I hit another level of Knitting Maturity last night.  I realized that I had switched around a few of the purl stitches on the "clock" pattern section so I let the stitch go, laddered it down about 12 rows to where the mistake was and re-knit the stitch back up putting the knits and purls right where they belonged.  Not once, but twice - and it worked out perfectly for both stitches!!  You can't even tell where it was.  I'm so proud.  Doing one of those new Knitting Maturity challenges always makes me stop breathing for a while.... but when you realize that the world isn't going to stop turning just because you are dropping a stitch, breathing becomes natural again.  heh  In the old days I definitely would have frogged the entire project if the mistake was bad enough.  Or just let it go.  I seriously considered leaving it the way it was, but I thought.... No - this is a gift for Katie - it needs to be as perfect as possible.  I have heard people say you can do this kind of repair - I've read the process described more than once.  If everyone else can do it, I can.  And I did.  And I'm glad.  Phew.  I wonder how many more stages there are in the Knitting Maturity Self-Challenge? 

The Latvian Twist caston has been done correctly this time around as well.  It does look better twisted the right way.

We survived the weekend without incident - no injuries - no accidents - and none that we know of regarding our family or friends.  Jeff worked at the office on Saturday and Sunday, but Monday stayed home.  We cut a low branch hanging over the driveway.  We went to the nursery to buy a few plants and seeds.  Jeff mowed the grass - the back yard now resembles a yard rather than a field.  I worked in my little garden spot.  I've always dreamed of having a free form style garden area with flowers and vegetables and herbs mixed in together - but I've never had the time/money/energy/place for it.  I have a spot like that now that I'm developing - picture another day.  Yesterday I planted the garlic I showed on my last post, one eggplant, two cherry tomatoes, cosmos, foxglove, more sunflowers, leaf lettuce (yes, I know it's probably too late for it to do well) and yellow straight neck squash.  I think that's all.  I haven't moved my rosemary or oregano into the garden yet - waiting for them to get just a little bigger.

Then yesterday afternoon we took the girls over to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house for burgers and chatting with grownups and playing among little cousins.  Their kids adore the babies and Emeline had fun seeing someone else's toys and other children.  Lila is just plain fun and easy going - she's very roly poly now and coos and smiles all the time.

Everybody have a great week - I'm deciding how to divide up the leftover yarn I have from this sock pattern to offer as kits.  If anyone is interested please let me know in comments or an email (does not commit you to purchase).  I won't be putting them in my etsy shop - there will only be a limited number available on my blog.  Main color options will be Dill Weed, Red Rover, or natural undyed.  Give me an idea what combination you might like.

What?  Why aren't you letting ME help squish the papers and pick a contest winner Mommy?

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.