being thankful

It can't really be too late to be thankful, can it?  because we've had so much to be thankful for this year...

visiting babies (and excited to see this one much bigger very soon!)

warm dogs in the sun

when the green comes

staying up late to watch fireworks from the front steps

releasing butterflies grown from our yard

and bugs found on the tent

making home on the road

another new cousin to love

first snow

(especially thankful that it's melted, 

and the weather has been unseasonably warm!)

We've had much to be grateful for this year!  We hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, and can start this season refreshed.

in which I chat about things here and there.

So, despite what it seems like around here, I don't just dump my girls off in pseudo-educational places then sit around in coffee shops reading and knitting every day.  Of course, a very high percentage of my waking day is spent with these girls, and many of our days are spent simply being at home and going out here and there.

~~
We've started back up with some Science Museum homeschool afternoons (that's when I get to go out on my own!), but on our way there last time we stopped by an orchard to grab more bushels of apples (3, but only 2 for us).  The girls love to climb the hill in this funny tiny orchard in the 'burbs, even if we don't have much time.  They carefully choose their "children's apple" which they hold in their laps for the rest of the drive downtown.

(Back at the museum.  Upon picking up the girls, I learn that, apparently, in the future, our buildings will be make more earthquake-proof by constructing them with toothpicks -or straws- and marshmallows.)

~~
At home much time is spent drawing and painting by Greta, and reading by Kaatje.  Piano practice is urged (encouraged, cajoled, forced, depending on the day or time), and all things yarn, fabric, lego, book, and crafty are supported.

~~
By accident, I end up at the Mall of America.  I don't recommend it from about October to January, and never on the weekend.  I will also never again buy from a store I can't exchange-due-to-manufacturer-defect via mail.  Greta gets to play at Legoland, because I cannot bear the thought of going out in traffic again so soon.  (Quite readily, however, I cannot bear the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and look forward to the sanity of gridlock traffic.)

~~
We go to the library regularly, exchanging our bulging bags of books ("can we get fewer this time, girls?" as if I'm not just as much to blame) for equally bulging bags of new books.

(then we bring the books to the coffee shop, and while away the afternoon.  rarely, but hopefully more as winter sets in.  truly, sometimes a few dollars a month from the budget are best spent on frivolity...)

in which hair is cut (hardly)

When Kaatje was a baby, she hardly had hair.

Here she is a few months over 2 years old (petting old Toffee, the puppy my parents bought while I was in college), her hair's barely touching her shoulders.  Suddenly, around age 6 or so,  Kaatje's fine thin short baby hair quickly turned poker-straight and incredibly thick.  She's never had hair much past her shoulders, I had it cut to even out all the strange scraggly patches, then it was so cute short around her face we kind of just keep doing that every 6 months to a year!

But I'm a Lazy Mother when it comes to hair (me, the girl who had her first haircut at a "real" salon after Kaatje was born - you read that right - my first "real" haircut was when I was over age 25), and Gret's hair just sort of grew and grew right off.  Here she is at age 2, like the first pic of Kaatje:

Yes, a ponytail.  It was so easy just to put her hair up, I never considered cutting it.

But I finally got sick of braiding down to that uneven end and decided it was time for Greta's First Haircut.  You know, 'cause she's 5 and 1/2.

Yeah, maybe 1" on the very longest middle section came off.  Whooeee!  ... I told her to go run ask Dad what looked different about her;  she was so excited that he noticed her hair was cut!  (good thing he knew that's what we were doing.)

Huh, I didn't even save it for her baby book.  (*grin*)

And now it's documented for posterity.  first haircut:  check.

at least, there isn't right *now*.

It may be only 46 degrees, but there's no snow on the ground.

And that's good enough when you've discovered a (4-sizes-too-big) pair of unused skates in the basement.

She hasn't fallen once yet;  and spends every extra minute out there.

(I'm not going to tell her there's snow in the forecast ...it'll be gone before we know it anyway)

Please note tiny plants coming up.

The pile of sticks near the plants was a fairy house the girls built on top of where I'd like to see plants coming up.  We had a discussion about growth inhibition.

Please ignore the fact that if you look closely, you will notice that little g is not, in fact, wearing socks with her sandals.  Then again, K's in short sleeves, so what can I say.  After all, the temperature is all in what you compare it to!

(I'll be back soon to talk a bit about the homeschool conference Jeff and I went to this past weekend, we had such a lovely time.)

saving daylight is not saving my sanity.

The porch is "finished."
You will need a tour.
(eventually you have to just call it done, and end with "but we still have plans to....")

~
I wanted to talk about the book on the bottom of the stack.
Instead I've been devouring the book on top.
And making random lists all over a big piece of paper.

~
Yarn things are happening here.
I've now lost 2 needles in as many weeks, however, it's impossible to finish, and I've put it aside in annoyance.  ...though there's 3 more plans in the works.

~
Projects appear around here on a regular basis.
("you made this?!  without my help?!"
I suppose you did, since I see it here.
...and thanks for telling little g what kind of cloud that was, I never remember.)

~
It was still in the low teens Fahrenheit when the dog got his walk this morning.
But the forecast this week is for 40's.  We're excited, yes, for 40's.  We take what we can get here.

These time jumps feel like they're going to do us in every year.
and every time we adjust.

meanwhile... focusing seems to be a bit of an issue.

I think we'll take today slowly!

next I'm writing "60-degrees outside" on the list.

I don't do a lot of the shopping for the household.  This is how it's always been - even before kids, we'd go grocery shopping together (shoot, even in college we'd go grocery shopping together), then when K was born, there was no way I was going to go by myself, so we continued going together in the evenings.  We liked doing it together.

These days, it's just easier for Jeff to stop at a store on his way home from work and pick up what we need, rather than me bring both girls out on a specific trip (which, they actually are completely fine doing, I just don't like doing it!).

All this means we're very list-dependent in our household.  I do most  all of the meal planning, so what I need goes on the list.  Sometimes this backfires (me: "why did you buy capers?"  ..him: "they were on the list!"  me: "oooh, I made that last week and just skipped them...my fault...")

Since I'm married to an engineer, it helps to be very specific on the list.  Listing ounces and brands helps.   ...we also have a family inside joke: him: "I was looking at those 3D TV's today,"  me (very tongue in cheek): "why didn't you buy one?!"  him: "It wasn't on the list!"

Sometimes this backfires in a good way.  I put "flowers" on the list, to remind me to check at the store I had planned on visiting this week when the girls were at their homeschool group.  This is the season for needing something naturally lovely inside, to remind that changes will certainly come sooner than later outside.

So I came home to find Jeff returned from the store, with the above prettiness hanging out in the sink.

(He may not be independently romantic by nature, but give the man a list...)

Put "flowers" on your own shopping list this week, and see what happens!

oh, he keeps an eye on them.

The girls have been loving to play outside recently.  I have been loving that I can stay inside while they do so.  With a dire warning about watching for snow-plows, they have created a fort/cave/play area in the 5+ foot tall snowbank at the end of the driveway, and, even with highs in the teens, they'll stay outside for an hour or more in the afternoons.

That's not to say they don't have supervision, however:

 

(he's so helpful that way...)

the snowy day

Our first real snow was overnight Friday...  the girls could hardly get thorough breakfast.  K did pause to read little g the book I set out for her to celebrate the day.  (the book I gave K didn't have to do with snow ;)

then they rushed thorough their cereal...

this is where I could be found...

hope you get to enjoy a snowy day of your own!

but what we really need is more bookshelves.

Part 1:
A couple weeks ago I went through my closet a bit and finally bagged all those shirts that just don't fit right ("I'll wear this, but I won't like it!"), to donate them to the thrift store.

This is most of my fall-weather-ish tops, by the way.

Now I spend most of my internet free-time (which is not much time at all, but anyway) looking for new tops that will fit, and complaining about how much they cost.  This from the girl who got rid of a pile of cheap ill-fitting tops that I've been holding on to and complaining about for, oh, 10 years or so.

Part 2:
This weekend I went to the MHA homeschool conference... always a lovely time, always lots of good encouragement and ideas.

and books.  lots and lots of books.

So, yes, to answer your question - I have absolutely no problem plunking down 50 or so bucks for a pile of awesome used and new books (and a giant bag of wooden pattern blocks - little g's favorite - for $3, oh yeah!) without even thinking twice.

Full confession?  I have a on-line shopping cart filled with $300 (yes, you read that correctly) more, waiting for me to hit that "order" button.  Which will be a bigger step, yes, but will still probably take place sooner than later.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to the internet and continue complaining about the price of cotton knit.

(Would someone please take me clothing shopping?)

because I'll never be an early bird.

Jeff and I get up together every morning, then I walk the dog a half hour while Jeff gets ready for work.  When we get back, and he leaves, the dog and I have an hour to ourselves before it's time for the girls to get up.  K gets up on her own, then reads to herself until she comes down dressed and ready at 9:00 (her own preference, not by our suggestion), then we get little G up.

I love this hour of morning peace, which has just sort of come about - partially planned and partially due to having a household of night-owls.  I catch up on computer stuff before turning it off for the day and have a cup of tea, and get ready for dealing with life.

Interviews with homeschool moms would talk about them getting up at 5:00 or some crazy hour for this to happen - I'm so grateful that I can enjoy the same thing a few hours later.

(Pippin takes a nap on whatever couch he can see me from when we settle in... here he's next to K's loom)

or else amphibians have learned teleportation.

It's not the grey tree frog that bothers me.  He's kinda cute!

Perhaps it's the fact that I found him when I saw something dark fall from the side of little g's bed while Jeff was reading her books...  Noticing it fall "funny," I bent down to pick up what I thought was a ribbon or something.

Then it hopped!

I jumped away, then stammered, "Jeeffff...." whilst pointing at the creature now hopping across g's (2nd story room) floor.

He now resides in a big salad container in our kitchen; the girls catch him bugs to eat.  I'm not sure how long I want him in my kitchen, but for now, our family is up to six.


p.s. Jeff had been outside that evening - we think he must have attached himself to Jeff and stayed there until he decided he liked little g's room!

bzzzz....

When my dad was a kid, growing up without extra money in Chicago, he says that every summer, first thing, all the boys would get their "summer hair cut" - i.e., shaved. Saved on time, energy, and money!

We didn't mean the same for the dog, but a couple weeks without good combing and all the humidity and playing in the hose has cost him 5"+ of fur....

...ready?

We traded our fuzz-ball into the groomer and

were given back a poodle!

Although I was mentally prepared for the difference in appearance, I wasn't prepared for the mental problems he seems to be having.... he hasn't been himself since he's been back - he's skittish and shy and exuberant and crazy all at the same time, impossible to walk, won't listen to any of the commands he used to follow so well.

I told Jeff that evening: if Pippin stays like this, I'm giving him away.

Fortunately, recently he's doing better and is more like himself, for better or worse.

And, as we reminded ourselves even before we brought him in - "hair grows!"

(I'm sure he's happier yesterday, also, with it being 90 degrees w/ a dew point in the upper 60's. I wish I had 5" of hair to cut off all over my body!... no wait, I don't wish that.)

Wanna see that again?

before:


after:


um, yeah, it's the same dog... and he's not minding so much now that we don't have air!

there WILL be a green vest

once upon a time, I started a green vest.

to protect the innocent (...wait, they're not innocent, they're the ones who made the terrible pattern) I'm not going to get into it, but about 2/3rds of the way through I found out the pattern I was using didn't work the way it was given. I didn't feel like calculating and re-writing it, then try to match up what I'd finished with what was left.

so, for the largest project I've attempted, it ended up frogged.

and the green yarn sat.

and sat.

finally, in a burst of wanting to USE this yarn, I went through my patterns and, without over thinking it, started on a cute, fast and easy vest (ripple-lace V-neck top). I'm quite happy with how it's coming along, quickly and easily, with a fun pattern that isn't boring.


not quite half-way finished, we'll see how the rest goes. I'm still nervous about the finishing stages, such as stitching it all together, but we'll take that as it comes! I'd like to get it off the hook so that I can start more knitting projects, (telling myself I'm not going to start more than one yarn project at once!)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and on that, a blog production note (which will also apply to all my blogs).

for the time being, as if this is any different than normal, I'm not going to blog as much or regularly at all. I'm taking an internet break these next couple months, as over this time I will be gone more weekends than I'll be home - involving 2 weddings, a trip (which hopefully will be a vacation, also), a dress to sew, 5 days of crafts to plan for 50 kids, a(nother) half-marathon to run, a garden to plant, and the small matter of raising 2 kids and running a household.

so as fun crafty stuff comes up, I still hope to blog, but I'm not going to be around much, which probably doesn't make much of a difference in anyone's life but mine ;)

(thank you)

where You live

please click through to HERE to learn more about this idea.




you know I'm a huge supporter of local craft and our local area businesses,
but this is important to everyone, even in the 'burbs.

it's not hard, you may just have to use your imagination more...

(and note that you can search Etsy by location -
so you can get your handcraft on-line and still be local!)

(hmmmm, we're probably close to that $50 with Pizza Man alone)

...all of this is especially important in light of the major (secret) work I'm doing in our local community, which hopefully I'll be able to tell you about soon...

hair today

it would be sad, or something, since I have such nice hair.

what's unfortunate is, I'm so much stinking cuter with short hair.
what a curse.


(locks of love is the beneficiary for the 3rd time...

I guess I just grow it and chop it for the fun of it?
maybe I need a better hobby...)

another awesome job by laura at salon capari!