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!