Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goals

This time of year many people make resolutions, or determine an action that the wish to take for the New Year in effort to improve themselves. I've never been real good at making or keeping any resolutions. Today my 9yo sat at the computer and came up with list of 9-10 "resolutions" of how she wanted to improve her behavior. They were all nice ideas a couple of therm were, "be nicer to my little sister" and "work harder at school". I told her these were great ideas but that for her to be successful she needed to focus on a couple and use measurable goals to improve the behavior....then it hit me. I sounded just like my instructors in nursing school

Every week on Wednesday we, the nursing school students, would go to the hospitals where we were doing our rotation that quarter, and pickup our patient assignment. Each assignment was generally 2 patients we would have to study their medical history, current history , disease, medications, etc. We would then have to write out a care plan for each patient identifying the potential or actual problems the physiology for the problem, include actions or nursing care that would help improve the patients situation or prevent a problem from actually occurring. Goals would actually have to be measurable; we couldn't just write "patient will be pain free" but "Patients pain level will be less than 5 on a scale 1-10".

So here I am trying to explain to my sweet 9yo that while I appreciate her wanting to be nicer to her little sister, she needs to think about, how, what actions she is going to take that will help her be nicer to her sister. She looked at me like I was a little nutty, I have that reputation with my kids. This interaction with my daughter has helped me think about what I want my goals for the year to be. When I decide on what they are going to be,I don't know if I'll post them all here it depends on how brave I'm feeling at the time.

Until then Happy 2010

Monday, December 28, 2009

Its a beautiful gray and cloudy day here in the Phoenix area The girls and I all have the sniffles. I hope and tend to think they are more allergy and weather related than viral.
John had a migraine this morning. I feel bad that this is something he has to contend with in his life, but am grateful that they aren't worse or more frequent. I took the girls out to run errands for a couple of hours so John could have the quiet he needs to get over the headache.

We came home bearing donuts and lasagna (John's favorite). Hoping it will be a good day.

Knitting wise I'm going to finish the scarf started while mom was here, then start some dishcloths for my MIL's birthday present. Her birthday is a little over a week away, Think i can make 6 dishcloths before then? I would like to, we'll see.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

...one more entry for the day

It is two days after Christmas. We've taken down the decorations, put away the tree the only thing that remains if the fudge in the refrigerator. It was a little strange this year because my oldest was gone. He entered the Missionary Training Center a little over a week ago, to serve 2 years as a full time missionary for the LDS church. Its a pretty awesome thing to watch your son grow from a fun goofy kid into a neat young man. around 11yo going to first scout camp
19yo missionary


The three younger kids were a little sad and missing their brother, my parents saved the day, as only grandparents can, by coming and staying with us for Christmas. My youngest got a lot of snuggles from Grandma and grandpa. Em fell in love with their new dog, and John had fun playing games and going golfing with Grandpa.

My mom and I visited a couple of our favorite yarn stores and new projects were started, scarves. Mom was glad to be knitting something new. I started one just because mom wanted me to start one too. Most moms and daughters go clothes shopping or get pedicures together....my mom and I knit together.
Even though we had a great time. Thoughts of my oldest child are in the back of my mind. I know he is safe and happy, and in my mind I am giving him a big hug.

Bad blogger...no cookie!

I'm a bad blogger. I've hit a major blogging slump. The history of my blogging has been all over the place.
  • family and friends
  • knitting
  • healthy living
  • cooking
  • crafts
  • my faith and beliefs
  • gardening
Those are pretty much my main interests. I craft all over the place too. I have a bad case a ADDOS (Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny) and frequently will put down a project to start something new. I was hoping after a year that I would get the hang of it and by now I would have and informative inspirational and witty blog that I would be proud of.
When I told my husband 9 months ago that I had a blog he asked me what was the purpose would the blog serve. For me it is a way to connect with other people and an opportunity to be able to express myself and maybe get a little feedback.
I will continue to blog about activities with family and friends, knitting and crafts, my quest live a healthy lifestyle, stuff I do around the house, and a little of my faith. My faith and beliefs are precious and personal to me and won't be a huge part of my public blog.
I want to be more organized this coming year, take care things that need to get done, and actually finish some projects. Finishing projects that would be a nice change. This week while the kids are home I'm going to examine ways to help accomplish these goals.
A belated Merry Christmas have a safe and happy New Year.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Forest Canopy Shawl (and other knitting content)


I have been absent from the blog. I've mostly been busy recovering from the surgery and trying to catch up with all the things that didn't get done while I was recovering.

The first week of post-op recovery had me finishing this lovely little shawl for my mother-in-law. It is knit in Dream in Color Smooshy in the Oceania colorway. I loved working with the yarn and the pattern was fairly easy to follow even on heavy-duty pain pills


I finished a couple of hats. I really enjoyed knitting Quincy the pattern by Jared Flood from his book Made in Brooklyn I just bought the pattern as a downloadable PDF on Ravelry, I love Ravelry love how it lets me buy a pattern anytime of the day :) yes I'm an impulse shopper I knit this hat in Berroco Peruvia Quick. Its a soft warm hat I love it and since its been chilly (for Arizona), I can actually wear it and not swelter


On the home front my oldest leaves soon to enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo , UT. After being there for a couple of weeks , he will go to the North- Eastern part of the United States where he will be serving an proselytizing mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a fun kid to raise we've had some really awesome talks lately. I will miss him but I am excited for him to go out into the world to grow in the gospel and in life experiences. He's an awesome young man.




Sunday, November 15, 2009

written under the influence of pain pills

I was planning on posting today. My brain is still a little foggy from pain meds I had surgery on Firday (the 13th) to repair an umbilical hernia. Still having some incisional pain form the surgery , but it isn't as bad as the actualy hernia pain was.
Tried knitting a bit on the Forest Canopy Shawl as a Christmas present for my MIL. Made only a couple mistakes while under the influence of pain pills . Should be able to finish the shawl the up today.
Found a great cookbook called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Its a nice thick book that goes through all the basics of vegetarian and some vegan dishes. I'm excited about the recipes for making my own polenta. There are sections on using different grains, legumes, vegetables, sauces. I hope to get up and cooking soon so I can try some of them. I found the book at my Local library, but know it is availbale aon Amazon.com too.
Need to take a nap now.
Have a great day

Saturday, October 31, 2009

another reason why I love Arizona in the Fall


IMG_2128
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
Generally there is beautiful warm weather on Halloween night. My children have never had to experience Trick-or-treating in cold snowy weather like I did growing up North.
As a child I remember being slightly sad that I had to wear my heavy winter coat over my costume. Whats the point of dressing up if no one can see your costume?

Its so fun to make fun costumes that the kids can run around in and show all their friends
Happy Halloween

Friday, October 23, 2009

Clue #3


Mystery Sock -09 clue 3
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
Myster sock '09 for Socktoberfest. Pattern by Kristen Kapur. Clue #4 was published yesterday, so I am just a little bit behind in the clues.

Why I love Arizona in the Fall


beets
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
...you can plant vegtable gardens! While all my relatives who live up north are cleaning out thier gardens and getting ready for winter, I get to seed my garden and plant vegetables. This year I planted
beets
beans (these haven't sprouted)
Peas
lettuce
carrots
broccoli
brussel sprouts
In my flowerbed at the front of the house I planted petunias, thew grow really well here in the winter, come February they really take off. This is my favorite time of year in AZ. It really makes up for the summer and the 100+ degree weather in early October.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Fall into October

September was a pretty busy, so much so that I've neglected the blog, my knitting and home....in that order.

I have some minor health issues going on but change in diet has helped quite a bit with some of it. I've been volunteering at both daughters school so much, that I wish I was getting paid for the time so I could supplement my hobby allowance.

September was more of a hat month than sock or shawl I completed 2 baby hats, 2 Journey hats a Spring Beret, started Quincy, and finished a Booga Bag for the Chrysalis project at Tempe Yarn and Fiber. If I could have taken the the yardage and energy I used in making these small projects, to finish the bigger projects that I should have finished first. There is just something very satisfying about knitting a hat

Journey Hat

Booga Bag

The Booga Bag took just a couple of days to knit up. Tempe Yarn and Fiber is collecting these toe fill with items for a local women's crises shelter. I appreciate this LYS's efforts to provide opportunities to its customers to participate in local community service.

I'm glad to see October start. The kids have a two week fall break and I'm enjoying doing nothing but staying home and getting somethings done around here

Happy October!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Time warp back to Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we went to San Diego. Its only a five hour drive add in a supper stop in Yuma and one Border Patrol checkpoint it took us just under 6 hours.
When we got to the motel we had booked for the weekend, we were very disappointed. It was in a bad part of town, not very family friendly and the bathtub was full of cockroaches. The younger kids were crying and tired. I put a smile on but deep inside i hard a hard time thinking we could live in this place for three days.

The next morning, My dear husband negotiated our release form this motel, ( thank you hotels.com). and then he as able to check us into the Embassy Suites near San Diego Harbor Bay. It was like going form hotel heck to hotel paradise. The rest of the weekend was heaven.
We visited Sea World, saw Shamu and the Dolphin shows. Hung out a lot in the Arctic exhibit.. That night for dinner we walked to Seaport Village for dinner. It was a blast.
Sunday we attended church, had lunch back the hotel. That afternoon we went to Cabrillo Nat'l Park to explore the tide pools and see the light house.
Monday we got up early for breakfast then drove to La Jolla Shores. A very nice beach that was pretty crowded at 8 am. The dh came through and found a parking place we played in the sand, swam in the ocean and watched the surfers again it was heavenly. We had plenty of time to head back to the hotel, get cleaned up and checkout before driving home.
Next time I go to San Diego, I would like to spend most of the tome by the beach its so peaceful. It was good to spend time with the family too. I'm so blessed that the kids all get along and like each other.
My youngest had a hard time leaving San Diego. She loved it there too.

Monday, September 14, 2009

No animals were injured in the writing of this blog

A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor with abdominal pains, chest pain, just not feeling well. First thing he told me was "no animal products" he also put me on Zantac for ulcers, and anther pill for high blood pressure.


After a week of being totally "vegan", I was feeling pretty good....except for hives caused by one of the medications.


The doc then told me it was okay to "eat meat sparingly". I intend to emphasize the vegetarian aspects of the diet, and feel better if when I do eat animal products that is be very lean and only in small amounts.

Today I needed to make a treat for tonight's family time. I "googled" the words vegan cake, Google then kindly found this little gem of a recipe for Chocolate Vegan Cake. It looks like cake, it smells like cake it even tastes like cake, for the most part. the texture is ever so slightly different but not off putting. The pickiest eater in the world (my 8yo) had two pieces tonight

The recipe calls for soy milk and canolaoil, I used coconut milk and olive oil as it is what I had on hand.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Some of my heroes....

I need to sleep, but I can't. Nothing bad going on just an allergic reaction to a newly prescribed medication has left my arms and legs covered in hives. Yay, for Prednisone! I don't want to gross anyone out with photo journaling this event . Lets just say that after the first dose of Prednisone I am able to comfortably knit again.

September 11th and all the meaning that goes with it has snuck up on me this year. It has double meaning for me this year.

  1. Tommy Peterson, my nephew, is one of my heroes. Tommy, who passed away three years ago from complications of a brain tumor, is being honored on the Cure Childhood Cancer website today. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Everyday Cure is honoring two children who have battled cancer. Another one of my heroes is my sister-in-lawTommy's mom. She and my brother made Tommy's last months full of love, fun and adventure. I am forever indebted to them for bringing this amazing child to this Earth and allowing me and my family to be know him and have him a part of our lives. Mysister-in-law is the one who wrote the entry honoring Tommy.


  2. I also like to take time to remember those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks on America. I know that there will be many memorial ceremonies going on around the country. I hope that this is a date that continues to be a day of solemn remebrance. I am continually grateful for the men and women who have made the sacrifice to serve their country and/or community whether it is in the Armed forces or other branches of community service. Special hugs and prayers for them and their families not just today but everyday.

I took this picture during a visit to my brother's family. A friend of my SIL had arranged a trip to a local Firehouse. Station#25 in Lawrenceville, GA. These firemen were great words cannot express how amazing they were to Tommy and his family

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Gift of Life

24 years ago this week or next, not quite sure of the exact day, my mother received a kidney transplant. Several miracles have happened here. The first is that she received a transplant at all, the second that it has lasted 24 years and counting knock on wood.

My mother was diagnosed with diabetes sometime between the years 1962 and 1966, she doesn't like to talk about it and those are the years my brother and I were born. She tried to regulate and monitor her blood sugar levels and control her diabetes the best she could. despite that in 1983 she started to lose her eyesight. She had a few eye surgeries to try and save her eyesight and it helped slow the process down for a little bit. I don't know exactly how or when her body started shutting down. Its like it all happened slowly over the space of a couple of years. I was a senior in high school, I didn't know what to do . I tried my best to help but I know I could have done more.

She started feeling sick all the time, she went to my dads Doctor who just looked at her skin knew something was terribly wrong with her. After blood test to confirm her kidneys were failing and not filtering the impurities out of her blood. Mom started dialysis, got on a first name basis with all the nurses and doctors on the endocrinology unit at Holy Cross Hospital. Our favorite endocrinologist put mom's name in to be put on a donor list. Mom refused to use one of my kidneys to survive, she wanted one from a cadaver.

after several months of dialysis and a few hospital stays, we rec'd the call that there was a kidney available for her. Dad was out of town driving hi bus route, and I had just gotten home from work, mom and I were about to eat dinner. We had 3 hours to get mom into the hospital. I stayed with her during admission, while they drew blood for lab work. Everything had to be just right for her to get this kidney. Before they took her into surgery, she sent me home, to get some rest, she knew I had to take a final the next day. I went home. I wasn't worried about my mom any more. It was in God's hands.


I went home, ran to the neighbors house and told her the good news, She was shocked and hadn't known mom was that sick (mom was and still is a very private person). I then called my dad's dispatcher and told him to find away to let my dad know that mom was getting a "new kidney.

Next morning before I went into take my final test I stopped by the hospital to see how my mom was. She was still in the recovery room, they let me into see her. She was pretty groggy but happy. She whispered , guess what Andrea? I'm peeing! then giggled. Her sick kidneys hadn't worked for months, she was so happy to have a kidney that worked.


I looked at the statistics for the survival rates after kidney transplants on WebMD its states
that the survival rates are

  • 92% after 1 year
  • 80% at 5 years
  • 54% after 10 years

I think that means out of one-hundred people who receive a kidney transplant, in 10 years just over half of them will still be alive. Mom has had her transplanted kidney for 24years. It has survived her losing her eyesight, 2 hip replacements, a broken clavicle, and foot surgery. She has been alive to see me married, to cuddle grand kids and independently support her local yarn stores with all of her knitting projects.

Here she is showing here wacky sense of humor with the kids in some hats she knit them several years ago.

.

What prompted this long non-knitting post was a question I read in a Ravelry Forum thread. Part of the kintsib's post asked "Are you a donor?.......if something happened to one of your kids would you donate their organs?....Have you or do you know someone who has received a n organ transplant. i could answer yes to all these questions. The blog needed to know the story too so my children, friends and extended family would know what an amazing gift life is. Mom and Dad recently celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. I love you Mom.




Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Vegas Elvii


Vegas Elvi
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
I have been knitting then ripping, knitting then ripping no pictures of that. My oldest had a water polo tournament in Las Vegas. The Hubby took him and our other son to Vegas. After they had played all their games in the tournament. They drove around Vegas and saw the sights.
You can't go to Vegas without seeing Elvis in one form or another, here they saw two versions of Elivis. Elvii = more than one Elvis at the same time

Today has been a interesting day of ups and downs. My friend that had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a while ago , finally got a definitive diagnosis, and the Dr. started her chemotherapy. He husband called this afternoon to see if I would be able to help give her dose of interferon. I was a nurse and it doesn't bother me to give people shots. I was happy to help my friend until her family and she are more comfortable administering the medication themselves. I am happy that my friend is willing and able to take medicine to help control the disease.

After that experience and a few others that I don' t want to share here I am even more grateful for the love and support of family and friends. I love the new friends I have made in real life and on Ravelry. I love the old friends that really know me and love me anyway. I am grateful that I can sit down and knit a sock or shawl, and enjoy the process.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Hi-ho,hi-ho its off to school they go

Sorry about all the kid talk. I'm a mom its what I do. This week marks the first week of school in out district, The two girls are very excited and happy for the start of school. The oldest girl Who from here on out shall be called Quitealot (because she can be a bit dramatic and when she is interested in something she get obsessive about it.) Quitealot tested into the gifted program and gets to ride the bus to the school! She feels so lucky to be able to do this. I hope the enthusiasm last throughout the year.

Banana Girl started Kindergarten, not one for frills and a ton of pink, she opted for the blue lunch sack and Camouflage backpack. I stuck a purple crocheted flower on the lunch box just to "girl" it up a bit.

The 12yo son, complained some but that is his nature. He started Jr High and while the first day was a little overwhelming for him the rest of the week has gone pretty well.
Some recent stash acquisition from Ravelry friend and local Arizonians etsy shop Gecko Yarns. I think the colorway is called Barcelona Nights. I think it will make a lovely Ishbel scarf.

With my oldest child graduating from High school and my youngest just starting the process. I am reminded of of Robert Fulghum's "All I Really needed To Know I Learned in Kindergarten" . A fun essay that reminds me to keep life simple and basic, be nice, learn to say I'm sorry when I hurt someone and "When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together"

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

My Tan Line


S6301049
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
Like my tan line? Due to the Arizona weather , I can usually wear sandals March through the end of November. The part of my foot that is covered by the sandal strap is pretty pasty looking.
The youngest dd's swimming lessons are now in the evening, at the pool where my oldest works. Its fun to watch him teach the little kids how to swim. This pool has a zero depth entry that gradually slopes to the 3-ft deep kiddie area. They manager of the pool let parents bring lounge chairs up to the edge of the Zero Depth area and so we can stick our feet in the water...All I have to do is close my eyes, smell the chlorine and pretend I'm somewhere exotic instead of a neighborhood city pool. Oh yeah, I can knit while I wait too.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Irish Dancing-Celebration of Kids

My youngest had her first dance performance tonight. All 15 seconds of it. She had been taking a begining Irish dance class through the city for the last 6 weeks. She did pretty well. The girl that dances just after her has been doing it for a couple years, she started tha same time as my older daughter.

It was a fun evening, all the kids were adorable.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sewing Lessons



My 12yo son is mechanically inclined. When I sew, he watches with fascination trying to figure out how the machine works. The last couple of months he has been asking for lessons on how to work the sewing machine and to teach him how to sew.........I am not a patient woman and therefore not a very good teacher. I found a Kwiksew pattern for men's pajama bottoms, picked some fabric from my stash (yeah i have a fabric stash too)
Today we got started he learned:
  • how to cut out a pattern
  • reading pattern instructions
  • winding a bobbin
  • threading bobbin and machine
  • pressing
  • seaming
  • finishing edges
  • SAFETY first
  • you cannot watch TV while sewing a seam with a sewing machine.
  • Putting in a button hole

We got all the way through to one of the side seams in the leg
He just has three more leg seams, a waistband to turn under and seam finishing then he will be done. After working for three hours though, I thought we both needed some lunch and a break.

His general response while sewing was, "Cool!" "Look at that!"
Now his sisters want a turn at the machine..........must relax first.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Huggable Triplet Hedgehogs


hegdehog010
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66
I visited Tempe Yarn and Fiber to pick character from “familytree” of Nimmy Edefedd TiggyWinkles for the Ronald McDonald House. Was Drawn to aunts the Pinko Triplets. Started these June 26 Finished and returned them to Tempe Yarn and Fiber on July 7th.

I named them after My Grandma and her two sisters she was closest to. Presenting Rita, Grace and Drucilla the Pinko Triplets. It was fun to knit them. I had to get them over and done with as quickly as possible; if I had thought about it too much I would have become overwhelmed. They're done and in the store and waiting for the "family reunion" in October before traveling to their new home.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Monsoon?

Before I moved to Arizona I always thought that a "monsoon" Was a tropical storm in southeast Asia. Here in Arizona they have something called the monsoon, the season starts mid-June"ish" and usually goes well into August. The University of Arizona Website can explain it better than I can. It has to do with temperature fluctuations , humidity and winds. All I can say is that it can get pretty awesome, with dust storms, thunder and lightning.


Last evening we were visiting friend on the south side of town, they live as far south as you can go before you get to the Gila Indian Reservation. On our way home We saw this

Here is the wind kicking up the dust from the reservation side of the road.

This is looking the down the road to our left. The storm is just rolling in, you can't see the blue sky that is right of what I took a picture of.

Soon we were driving in this. Rain. My kids live for rainy days, like some kids live the first snowfall of the winter. It doesn't rain here much. We splash in puddles whenever we can. To avoid the heavy downpour we turned the car north and were soon driving in a light sprinkle and saw this:

and this

The storms here tend to be pretty localized. Where it might be raining over my house, less than a block away it can be bone dry. There was no rain at our house but we when we looked towards the South the dark cloud and lightning display was impressive. This storm pales in comparison to most of our "monsoon" storms. but it was the first of the season for me. I know storms can be dangerous but these storms have a certain beauty to them that I love.

Happy fourth of July!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Summer, swimming and science

I can't keep up the five word only posts. I thought that limiting myself to five words a post would allow me to be creative and post more frequently. I found out my brain doesn't have the bandwith to be that creative.
Here is what we've been up to this week
Swimming lessons and Swim team practice. : I while waiting for kids I finished a Circle cloth and worked on socks. I liked the finished product of the wash cloth. but my hands were sore after knitting it. The pattern has you slipping a stitch for seven rows, brutal on my hands, but I loved the effect. The yarn used was Sugar and Cream Stripes.


I also worked on a sock i think it just a Fancy rib from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, in Corwn Mountain Farms hand spun "Sock Hop". Let me just say I love this yarn. It feels good toknit with, a pleasure to touch. I was so glad that I bought some on their last Sock Hop sale, especially whe I found out they weren't going to be selling it this summer online. I rec'd an e-mail newsletter from Crown Mountain Farms saying that they were saving all of their Sock Hop yarn for the Sock Summitt. Lucky for people attending the SS, too bad for the rest of us because I lo-o-o-ve this yarn.



Science experiments:
The kiddos learned about living cells (yeast), what they need to be active (water, warmth, and sugar), and what they produce (carbondioxide)
Then we experimented on which sugary liquid does the yeast react with best.
L-r Sprite (I know the bottle says Diet Coke), Gatorade, and Honey. Honey did the best., the Gatorade was a little to cold to help the yeast grow any.




Back to knitting. One of my favorite LYS Tempe Yarn and Fiber is spearheading a project for the local Ronald McDonald House. Author Tim Logan created background stories for members of a family of hedgehogs. I went to the shop saw what characters were left and chose a set of aunts called the Pinko Triplets. I finished knitting and fulled the first one yesterday and started the second one this morning. The pattern is Huggable Hedgehogs from Fibertrends, a well written pattern much and easier than the clogs I knit last year. I will post photos of my progress later.

Happy Summer! and Happy Birthday Coggietm!



Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Five word blogging is difficult

Monday, June 22, 2009

Summer vacation half over, YAY!

Sunday, June 21, 2009




Happy Fathers Day sweetheart and Dad.


Saturday, June 20, 2009

Yarn and needles, pure bliss.

Friday, June 19, 2009

In 5 words (not including title)

Son comes home tomorrow, YAY!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

hmmmm

I saw on the morning news today that the Webby Awards recently took place.  It looked like a fun awards banquet with several famous an d semi-famous people attending and accepting the bed spring-like trophy.  The funny thing was that the acceptance speeches had to be 5 words, no more just 5 words.

Jimmy Fallon's speech was "Thank God, Conan was promoted!" 

What would I say if I had the limit to limit it to 5 words. Hmmmmmm might be a new thing to try for the blog.

The winner of best Culture/Personal blog is 1000 Awesome Things  the description of it on the site says 
"1000 Awesome Things is just a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things. Launched a few months ago and updated every weekday."  
It is pretty awesome and takes a look at the everyday things that make life enjoyable.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Mammoth Sunflowers and Why I shouldn't be allowed to bake cookies

The sunflowers have grown and threaten to take over the place. The Mammoth Sunflowers are approximately 13' across once the petals dry up. Last night i cut two of the flowers off to try and save some of the seeds from the birds. The other large sunflowers are not as big in diameter but they have grown much taller than the 6' cinder block wall. Our bedroom windowlooks out into the garden. Its fun to watch the little birds play around the sunflowers, not so fun to watch one of the chickens try and wrestle a ripe tomatoe of the vine.
This afternoon. Littlest sister was bothering the big sister and friend. I invited the littlest one to help me make cookies. My dh has perfected the chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I stay away from making those. I was in the mood for Snickerdoodles. Butter,eggs and flour rolled in more sugar and cinnamon. Yum!
We had every ingredient except we were shy 1 tps. of Cream of Tartar. IT all mixed up and looked right. We made our doughballs rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. An tremor of epic proprtions must have occured in the oven because this

Became this:

That blob on the lower right side is just a sad glob of dough that didn't even want to try for cookie greatness. They tasted all right. The Littlest one my darling daughter ate three of them tonight.




Thursday, June 11, 2009

Woo Hoo, Summer!

When I started this blog it was with the intent to have a place to talk about my favorite hobbies, family and whatnot. I feel like I haven't had much time to work at the hobbies or even think about the whatnot. I guess that is why I renamed my blog. My mind wanders and wonders quite a bit these days

The last month has been kind of hectic. The oldest child graduated from High School, and the other kids had the usual end of the year concerts and awards stuff.

I've crocheted some super soft baby washcloths for baby gifts. The pattern is by Teresa Grant and super quick to crochet , and well received by the mommies -to be.

Green/ Pink Cloths Yellow/Pink

My first Ball band dishcloth from Mason Dixon knitting

I test knit a blanket for Coggietm 's Operation Cuddle project


and some booties for and expecting fellow Raveler


and am slogging my way through the UFO's so I can knit along with the She-knits Mystery Bag KAL
I'm glad its summer. i was looking forward to getting lots of projects done with my kids. So far I have spent most of my time shuttling them around in the car to classes, camps, and conferences. What happened to carefree days of a child's Summer? I know it my fault I'm the one who logged on the computer and signed them up for classes. Individually they are not super busy but by the time you take three children and three summer school classes/science camps along with swimming lessons it gets chaotic. Just a couple weeks of this. It will be fine. I hope friends and family are enjoying their summer as well.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Happy Birthday buddy!

My newly 12yo son loves mechanical things. Today he and my dh made a hover disc for a birthday celebration.



Happy birthday sweetie!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Like music to my ears.

Happy Thursday! Today has been busy. Number 4 child had an end of session program for pre-school. (I refuse to call it graduation because they're only 5-years old .) There were tropical themed decorations. The kids all had on grass skirts and they "yell-sang" really The basic pre-school songs with such style. Face it 3-5 year olds are just hilariously cute.

My birthday will be in a few days. I don't mind getting older, its fun. To a point. My hormone levels feel like they are all over the place and I find myself crying over silly things, like my "baby" losing her first tooth, and my oldest getting ready to graduate HS.

I was checking out a swap partners blog, she follows Crazy Aunt Purl. It had been so long since I had read that blog. I went and had a peek. Crazy Aunt Purl's blog lead me to this video. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. Some days i wish life could really be like a musical. With people breaking out in song and dance, sharing the joy of music and life. I hope you enjoy it too.



Id forgotten how much I love reading that blog. She seems to find joy in everyday.

My swap partner in the Manic Purl kit swap has not received her package from me. I am going to give it until tomorrow. Then start putting together another package to send out. I feel bad and should have mailed things out earlier in April. I had no idea that it would take a month to get to Argentina. I feel bad . Hopefully the second package will get to her.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Happy day after Cinco de Mayo!

Always a day late and a couple dollars short.  Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo , the 5th of May. This holiday commemorates the Mexican Army's victory over French forces  at the Battle of Puebla.  It is not a state recognized holiday in Arizona, most fair and celebrations occur the weekend before. In my dd's grade school they taught the kids about the significance of the day.  they even taught the kids how to may the tissue paper flowers....guess what my craft -driven creative daughter wanted to do last night? Now  my kitchen has all different sizes of colorful tissue flowers all over.  I usually go all out and make an American style Mexican dinner, I wasn't organized this year and kind of bailed out on the idea.  

I was listening to the Doubleknit podcast today , and Jessica mentioned a funny Twilight parody called Twilight Cheeseburgers
I showed this to my 18yo son.  After dealing with Twilight crazed girls at school all day, this provided some good comic relief.

I recently started a couple of new projects, some baby items for friends and this


featherweight wrap
The Featherweight Wrap from Crochet Today Spring 2008 
I got this far on my first attempt at crocheting this a couple months ago.  This time the yarn is softer and the hook is bigger.  I feel good about it.