Vacation

We're back. What a lovely weekend!! DH and I went to Astoria, OR and stayed at a nice B&B for 2 nights with no kids. It was so relaxing! This is my only real vacation of the year. When we go off for a few days with the kids, it's actually more stressful than being at home. Sleep is difficult for young kids away from their beds- which makes it difficult for the parents too! Anyway, we had a lovely time! We walked Saturday- for 4 hours- just exploring the town and the Maritime Museum (I could never sail- I would be so seasick!!! ), (we even got to hear the sea lions- we couldn't see them very well, they were out on the buoys; but we could hear them!) the Astoria Column (lovely bit of history with the most amazing view!!), and lots of little stores. I got a little bit of Cascade Fixation yarn for my souvenir- and the 4 book Tolkien set (which I've wanted for years!). It's good to be home, though. The kids are tired from playing with Grandma all weekend- my house needs cleaned- I've got to get school organized! There's always something more to do. When I get the film developed, I'll post some pics of the amazing scenery.

I got some film developed last week, so I can share some of my projects that I've been doing in between the LotR socks.

These are Over the Knee Baby socks. I got the yarn and one sock from a lady on Ravelry, but I absolutely could not match her gauge. So I just knit both of them. I'm not sure what happened, but my gauge didn't match on the 2 I made either. Very weird. But they turned out cute, and I gave them to my new nephew. (that's fun to say! :D)

This bag is a felted bag I FINALLY finished. The handle took 2 months b/c it was 208 sts for 11". I would have finished it sooner, but it was my purse project and I only worked on it for 2-4 hrs a week. I finally pulled it out of the purse and punked it out. I'm not sure I like felting very much. Knitting something 3 sizes too large and then shrinking it feels like a waste of time, I guess. It was worth it this time. I gave it to one of my best friends for her birthday (which happens to be the same day as ES!!).

This is the Fabulous Filigree Scarf from One-Skein Wonders. I made it originally for my SIL, but when I washed it to block it, it wound up in the dryer. It will only fit a doll now. Actually, it's the perfect size for the American Girl dolls. So if anyone wants to buy it from me- I'll sell! It's very pretty, and I like how it turned out, but it is too small for anything bigger than a doll.

Okay, so these pictures are not of my projects (you get all my pictures at once, b/c I use a 35mm film camera and have to wait for my pics until I use all the film and get it developed onto a CD).

This is my wonderful MIL (mother-in-law). When she came over for Baby Owen, she hung out at my house and cleaned and tuned our new piano (apparently, it was really out of tune. I have no ear for music at all!!). I didn't know you could safely take out all the keys!! I was quite surprised! The result was lovely.

I had to put this pic in. Those are the two lovingest dirty little boys ever. They had been playing in the Dirt. Laying down and pouring it on their bellies. Which quickly degenerated into just dumping it all over each other and rolling in it. I had to hose them off outside, and the mud poured out of their hair! But aren't they adorable!?

24 hours

I can remember the last time I stayed up for 24 hrs straight. Yesterday. The last time before that? I have no clue whatsoever. But last night- I remember vividly. And I probably always will. Last night was the first time I got to see the Miracle of Birth. That may sound odd- as I have experienced that 3 times- but I never saw it. Experiencing it and seeing it are very different. Both wonderful, amazing, shocking, astounding, fantastic, absolutely awesome. But very different. What I am getting at is that my lovely Sister-in-law had her son today. At 3:15am. I was honored to be allowed to be with her and my Brother-in-law through the whole ordeal. Their son, Owen, was 8lbs, 4oz, strong, healthy, and lovely. They were all amazing. I must say- for me, it is easier to experience than to watch someone go through. Wow, what a strong woman.
Really, there's not much more I can say. Other than: we're tired. We're going to sleep now.

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday!!!! Wow. The last 3 weeks have been positively crazy. I'm not entirely sure why; but I feel like I've been through a whirlwind! Joel came home from Canada (the week he was gone was just wild); and we had a very busy week. I got to get my teeth cleaned for the first time in 8 years (terrible, I know, but when you don't have a lot of money, the root canal and crown come before the cleaning!!)--thank the Lord for big companies with Dental Benefits!! :-)
Joel and I had our 8 years Anniversary on Tuesday the 2nd. It wasn't really very exciting. We got to see each other for all of 30 minutes. (Tuesdays are busy.....) But! We have reservations for 2 nights at a B&B in Astoria the end of the month for our anniversary "honeymoon" (Thank you, Grandma, for babysitting- we love you!); and we are really looking forward to that!!!!!!!! Just a couple extra !!!!! so you can see how excited we are ;-) Then Joel's parents came to town last Thursday (the 4th) b/c Wednesday (the 10th) was my SIL's baby's due date. Well, we are all still waiting. Babies just don't arrive on other people's schedules very often! ;-) We are very excited about this baby.......
So we have been having wonderful times with the family- oh, and Joel's on call this week as well, which makes it extra hairy, since he gets paged in the middle of the night- frequently- and we are exhausted.
And........*drum roll, please* tomorrow is ES's Birthday!! He will be 5. And he is so excited, he can hardly think! :-) So fun. We are having a wee party in the AM- and hopefully some time with family in the PM. Although- it is the Knit and Crochet Show this weekend- I might have to skip out for an hour or 2 of "mama time". ;-) We'll see.
Knitting news? Well, I am rolling through the LotR sock designs again. With a brief 2 day hiatus to make some Over The Knee stockings for an upcoming baby. (No, I don't know which one- I know of 3 imminent births, so I am just trying to be prepared!!!!) Sorry, no pics today.

One Hundred Thousand Welcomes

We have a new scanner/copier/printer/fax!! Not that I know how to use the fax, or care to as yet- but I am loving the other 3 aspects of it! Oh, and it was FREE. I really like Freecycle!!! ;)

(the picture is a cross-stitch I did years ago.)

The Next Generation

I am learning a little about the Next generation and what they know compared to us. Last night, Joel said to DD: "you can do that faster than you can say 'Bob's your uncle'!" She instantly replied with a puzzled smile, "Bob's not my uncle. Bob's a tomato!"