Urgent Sunday

Yesterday was quite a day. It was Sunday, which is always nice; we all love going to church and seeing our friends and learning something good. However..... poor DD tried to have a snack there, and got something she was allergic too. Not a huge issue, we've never had to go to the ER for that- she just has an "owie" tummy until she is able to throw up the offending allergy. But that doesn't mean it's fun- 'cause it's not.

So we went home and dealt with that while lunch was cooking. I am not kidding you- the instant DD was feeling better, YS slipped on our hardwood floors and split his tongue open. Not as bad as it could have been- thank God, but bad enough to warrant a trip to Urgent Care. And as I was home alone with the kids (Joel takes kids to skate after church), it was an interesting trip. I called Joel and told him to meet me there. (that was fun in and of itself- he can't hear me over the skaters- I finally wound up literally yelling into the phone "STITCHES"- it's pretty funny now....)
Poor little guy. This picture is him trying to get some relief with an ice cube last night. He was so exhausted. This morning his tongue and lips were quite swollen, and really sore. It's odd not to hear my little chatterbox babbling about the house; he really doesn't want to talk right now. But he didn't get stitches, and I can already see his tongue healing. We are so thankful that everything worked out the way it did. He could have gotten hurt much worse; but he's going to be chattering about again in a couple days, I'm sure. :-)

I found it!

I know where my knitting mojo has gone. It's gone in an entirely different direction. I am knitting constantly now. Just not with sticks and strings!
I am knitting a new person. Well, technically, I guess I'm not knitting- but a new person is being knit inside my body.

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb."Ps 139:13

So with that happening, I've been quite tired and sick- hence the desire for knitting is just not there.
I have been making myself do some knitting; as I have some designs due. It's been a bit frustrating though. Something that normally has taken me 6 days, I have now been working on for 10, and am nowhere near done with it. It hasn't helped that the last 3 days, I have frogged all the day's work at the end of it b/c it just is not turning out the way I want. *sigh* Oh well. It will get done eventually.
But getting back to the main topic- we are very excited for this baby. DD wants a girl, of course. ES doesn't really want another brother either; and YS wants one of each. I don't think that's going to happen, but he can wish, I guess. :-D
Today, we got to hear the heartbeat. Always such a relief to hear that for the 1st time!! We actually had our first Dr's app't 2 wks ago, but were unable to hear the heartbeat then; so I've spent the last 2 wks trying not to stress about it. So thankful that things seem to be going well. All prayer still appreciated, though! It's still quite a ways to October!!

Fun For Springtime

Yesterday, Joel was able to go pick up a swingset and bring it home for the kids! We got it from Freecycle . Have I mentioned before how much I like Freecycle?? Well, I do.
We've been wanting something like this for the kids for awhile. It's old, but still in good shape, and has a lot of fun stuff- a spinner, 3 swings, a hanging bar and a slide.

The kids love it. They mobbed it as soon as Joel got it put together. And just in time for spring, too! Of course, being in Portland, spring involves a lot of rain- but I don't think that is going to deter them.....

Date Night

Last night, Joel and I got to go out for a date! It was so fun! I realized last week when planning for our date, that it was the first date we've had since our anniversary last September. Way too long. Going to try to not let that one happen again! Thanks to my great sister for making it possible by babysitting (baby?? kid-sitting, sorry) for us. The kids had fun, Joel and I had fun- and I think my sister did too...... Win, win!

Anyway, our date. A couple months ago we got some coupons in the mail for some restaurants in Portland. This has happened once before and we were able to use it and really enjoyed it. This time, there were 3 coupons; so we decided to go to all 3 restaurants, and make a real night of it.
The first place we went was Stanfords. (They have the yummiest shrimp appetizer I think I've ever had!) We spent about an hour talking there, then went on.
Next up was the Portland City Grill . It was a bit different for us. They asked Joel to take his hat off in the dining room. I don't think we've ever had that happen before! It was wild to be up so high- but I didn't notice it as much as I thought I would. Maybe b/c it was dark outside- well, it was dark inside too. Their mood lighting is very minimal. Nice, but not entirely my style. Great for a date, though! After an hour there, (and 2 more yummy appetizers), we went to restaurant #3.
Newport Bay By this time, we weren't even close to hungry, but we knew we wouldn't get out again for a while, so we decided to go anyway. We brought most of the food home, but definitely enjoyed our last hour of conversation.

It was such a fun night!! I'd never gone restaurant hopping before, and had a great time. 'Course the best part about it was spending time with my wonderful husband. Sometimes it amazes me that after 8 1/2 years of marriage- plus the time we knew each other before we got married, I never run out of things to talk to him about. That may not seem odd to anyone else, but for someone who has a hard time with normal chit-chat, it occasionally strikes me as great. :-) I am so looking forward to the rest of my life with this man. :-D

Knitting? ummm, not much right now. Look for the next installment of the LotR club in April....

Somewhere around here.....

I lost my knitting mojo. If you find it, please give it back!

I haven't posted in weeks- sorry- but there are reasons. Really. See, my little family got sick. The flu came to visit and stayed a long time. Joel came home sick on a Monday and wound up missing 3 days of work. 2 for him and 1 for me. The kids got it on Wednesday, and it came to me on Thursday. Friday I had to call Joel home from work to take me to the Dr. to get antibiotics for pneumonia. It's been a few weeks, but we are all finally well. *phew*

But in the midst of all that, all desire to knit ran away from me. It's been so long since I picked up the needles, that my knitting callouses have grown out. This is not a good time for this to happen to me.

I have a lot of contracted knitting to do this year, and having no desire to knit is not helping. Unfortunately, when I do get this knitting done, I won't be able to post about it, b/c it's almost all secret knitting. But, I will get to periodically reveal some of last year's secret knitting! So the blog will not be knit-less. :-)

In the meantime, here are 2 pairs of socks I finished earlier this year-

This is a pair that I made for me from some yarn I bought from a fellow Raveler. It's Cascade Fixation yarn (cotton/elastic), and I haven't decided yet if I like it. I started with small needles, and it was hard to knit. I moved up a needle size on the cuff, and enjoyed it more. But it was good to have tighter knitting on the foot. I played with these a lot b/c they were for me. There's sections of stitch patterns from my books here and there, and I did an afterthought heel just 'cause I'd never done one before. I am quite happy with how they turned out.

These are Rosehip socks. The st pattern is called Rosehip, and I made them for my MIL. They turned out well, and I am pleased (b/c she likes them...) The yarn is Panda Cotton, which is mainly bamboo, and I love it. It is one of my favorite yarns. I have discovered that I like Bamboo yarn in pretty much every combination I have tried it in. I like the softness, the shine, the smoochiness.... It's a lovely yarn. And really, very "green". Bamboo is incredibly useful. Think about it- it is used to make fabric, yarn, knitting needles, fences, floors, baskets, blinds; it's used as food, medicine, in construction- there are so many uses!! Find more here. Besides the fact that is an amazingly renewable resource. Bamboo is cool. :-)

Oh yeah, this is a camera cover I made for my new digital camera! I really felt very clever about it. I had made a prototype of a hatband that just didn't work out; and when I decided I needed a camera cover and didn't have money to buy one or time to knit one..... I dug out this old bit of felted knitting, cut it up, sewed it up, put on a button, and hey,presto! A camera cover to protect the screen of my new camera!!

And now, with this lovely camera, I can share even more fun pictures......