Piles and Purls of Fun

As expected, we got lots more snow this past weekend. Also as expected, it drifted and piled up everywhere. Then our nice neighbor came by with his huge tractor and plowed out our driveway, leaving behind nice big snow piles perfect for climbing and sliding down. Kaylee had a blast.

The dogs seemed to enjoy it as well.

Peaches was king (or queen?) of the hill when all's said and done. Notice how short the birdhouse post looks? It's in the middle of a 3 foot snowdrift.


Snow piles may be fun to play on, but they're not exactly my idea of a good time. I'd rather be knitting in the nice warm house! We're hoping for better weather this week, hopefully tomorrow so Kaylee and I can get to town for our lunch/knitting/shopping/girl time plans. It will be so good to get out of the house and do something fun.

Speaking of knitting, I need more yarn! I'm almost finished with the class project, a booga bag. Here's mine, just 6 rounds, an I-cord, and felting away from completion. The lighting is pretty bad, but maybe you can make out the purple/teal blend stripes. I like it, anyway.

Hopefully it looks as good felted. Maybe I can use it to carry/store my future knitting projects. Some of those projects? Well, let's see. In no particular order, here's my project list for the winter.

1. A hat for Rich. He only has 1 warm hat.

2. A scarf for my baby sis, who we're going to see this weekend....think I can get it done by then?

3. Hat and matching mittens each for Kaylee and Miles.

4. Wool soaker (diaper cover) for Miles.

5. Matching hats for my other sister's new baby (expected in the next couple of weeks) and his 2 big brothers.

6. Scarf and hat for myself, to go with my wool winter coat.

7. "Longies" for Miles. These are wool pants that can be partially felted, lanolized, and used over cloth diapers as both pants and a waterproof cover. How cool is that? If I can make these, I can make anything.

It's very unlikely that I"ll actually get all of these things made, but luckily, most of them are small and won't take a ton of yarn. I'm hoping to purchase most of what I"ll need for everything tomorrow and then I'll have a good sized stash to work with the next time we're snowed in. Wish me luck.

Settling In

I guess it's time to settle in for the winter. We've got blizzard conditions predicted for the next 3 days, so it looks like we, or at least me and the kids, will be sitting tight for a while again. Makes me feel like making soup and bread and muffins and cupcakes. Oh, and starting a new knitting project. I"m really getting into the knitting thing. I downloaded some easy patterns from the web for hats, plus I've got lots of yarn on hand, so we'll see what happens. I've got all sorts of projects I'd like to start, and I definitely need the practice! As of right now I only have circular needles, so that does limit things a bit. Anyway, maybe I can keep myself busy. Now if only I had something to keep the KIDS busy!

It's been so nice to have Rich home from work the past week. I got a new phone today (for free!) and he's playing with the downloadable ringtones on it tonight.....he's having more fun than I would with it anyway. It's nice just to sit in the same room after the kids go to bed, just enjoying the companionship, even though we're each involved in something different. There's definitely something to be said for regular daytime work hours. Sigh. Maybe someday.

Cabin Fever

We've been confined to the house for over a week due to sickness and snowstorms. Turns out Rich got the bug worse than any of us. He lost 7 pounds in 3 days and ended up in the ER on Monday with an IV for dehydration. Fun stuff. His doctor told him yesterday that he has to be off work and rest until at least Friday. In spite of the circumstances, it's kind of nice to have him around the house for a change!

Trying to keep the kids entertained has become a bit of a challenge. They're both feeling better now, but the temps and wind chills outside make outdoor play impossible. Kaylee's become interested in talking on the phone lately, so that helps. That's what I do when I'm bored! Here she is in her pj's talking to "the new Grandma" in Missouri.


Ever since Rich got out the trackball mouse again Miles has been enthralled by the "ball". Yep, he's a boy! It does make computer work a little difficult =)


We got about 5 inches of light, fluffy snow yesterday, and up to 6 more inches are expected tomorrow. So if anyone's going to town for groceries, it'll have to be today. Maybe I'll get out of the house yet!

When the Cold Winds Blow

Ok, I thought it was cold before, but yesterday and today have been OUTRAGEOUSLY cold. I mean cold enough to cause all sorts of problems. My outside thermometer reads -15 degrees right now.


The furnace has been running nonstop and cannot keep the house at a constant temperature above 69 degrees. The upstairs bathroom tub water supply is frozen up. Seriously. When I got up this morning, there was a layer of ice in the tub. The drain trap is frozen. There's snow INSIDE my basement windows.



Yes, our house is old. In spite of all our remodeling efforts, its not very well insulated. And we had 35 MPH winds yesterday with wind chills at -30 as well. But this is ridiculous. I had to take a hair dryer to the RO water supply line just to get water to make coffee this morning. Is it too late to move south for the winter?

Favorites

So, another tag. This one courtesy of my knitting partner! :-)

What Are Your Favorites?

1. Favorite book? "The Secret Garden"
2. Food? Something Italian
3. Item of clothing? Comfy, cute pajamas
4. Hairstyle? Up off my neck
5. Beverage? Milk
6. Facial tissue? Uh...Kleenex, I guess
7. Place to sit? My old pink recliner with a good book.
8. Person? Do I have to pick one? Rich, Kaylee, & Miles :-)
9. Animal? Cats
10. House? Big farmhouse with wraparound covered porch, enormous kitchen, and tons of closet space!
11. Smell? Baby after a bath
12. Activity? Cooking and gardening
13. Color? Blue or purple
14. Day of the week? Saturday
15. Time of day? Sunrise
16. Hot thing? A fireplace
17. Cold thing? Kaylee's nose after she comes in from playing in the snow
18. Game? Rook
19. Hobby? Gardening, definitely
20. Season? Fall

What Goes Around

It's officially made the rounds: Rich now has the stomach bug. He's in bed. That makes everyone but Miles. We're quarantined for a few more days.

Tightzers

Kaylee has recently decided that she doesn't like tights. The seams on the toes always bother her, and the first chance she gets, the tights come off. Then she complains about being cold. So I decided to find some other options to keep her legs warm.

My first purchase were some legwarmers (yes, they really do still make them, and they're CUTE!!) from Kelly's Closet, one of my frequented online diaper shops. They are similar to BabyLegs, but for toddlers. They fit good, but seemed to have a problem with falling down after wearing them for a while. She was pretty pleased with the primary stripe ones.

Then I ordered some ankle tights from Hanna Andersson online. (By the way, I highly recommend hanna.andersson.com to anyone who wants good quality, comfy kids clothes. Plus they're earth friendly to boot!) These tights are wonderful. They're the good quality, cotton Hanna tights, but with no feet! I also got her some slippers from the same site: Swedish moccasins, to be exact. Kaylee's in love. Her new "tightzers" have pretty patterns with no feet to bug her. Mommy's happy to, because she's warm.

Back in the Game

I'm finally feeling more like myself again. Whew. Kaylee did come down with the bug this morning, but she seemed to handle it much better than I did. She was only sick a few times and was asking for food by 3 PM. I gingerly allowed her a little chicken and rice for supper, which she promptly ate as if she'd never been sick today. Then she wanted a bath. Oh, to have her resilience. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all the "milky" Miles has been so interested in lately will at least have provided him some antibodies to fight off the virus. So far so good. One more perk for nursing toddlers!

I did discover a few things during/after my absence from housework this week.

1. If you select the "soak and scour" option plus a sani rinse on my dishwasher it will take over 5 hours for the cycle to complete. But the dishes are beautifully clean!

2. There is only a finite amount of dirty clothes/towels that will fit on the bathroom floor. After that it spills out into the hallway. And then down the stairs.

3. If you do not sweep your kitchen floor for nearly a week, you will have more to sweep up than one dustpan can hold. This is worsened by the fact that your toddler absolutely abhors dog food IN the dog bowl. It must be dumped on the kitchen floor, along with the poor dog's water, walked on until it consists of small mushy granules, and then allowed to dry. Ew.

4. Cloth diapers smell unbelievably nasty after being left in the diaper pail for 5 days. And it takes 3 very hot wash cycles to get the stench out. Double EW.

5. Bleach is a very good thing.

6. Even if you love cooking from scratch, keep a few "ready to eat" or at least "easy to fix" dinner options in the freezer. Just for times like this. At least you (or your hubby) can feed them to your kids when the need arises.

And now that I"ve shared all those not so pleasant observations, I think I'd better get to bed. Tomorrow I'll tackle the living room.

Sick

It has NOT been a fun week. I've been sick for 3 days. Not just generally sick, or a cold sick, but throwing up, running to the bathroom every half hour, can't get out of bed sick. YUCK. I'm only just beginning to feel better. Now if only the kids don't get it. Not much chance of that happening, since they were all over me the whole time. Sigh.

Rich has been awesome with helping out, doing the dishes, and tidying up the house, picking up toys, and staying up to feed the kids breakfast in the mornings. If it weren't for him they would have probably starved! Still, laundry is piling up, there's nothing to eat in the fridge, and the floor has forgotten what a vacuum is. It all needs done, but not today. I'll be lucky if I get the cats fed, the diapers washed, and a load of pajamas done so that we have some clean ones to wear tonight.

On the plus side, food is sounding better. I put a chicken in the oven this morning, and it's actually smelling kind of good. Maybe I'll get over this yet.

4 Tagged

Since I have no news to post today, I thought I"d respond to a tag, thanks to a certain "English-woman" I know!

Rules: Go to your 4th pictures folder, pick the 4th picture, and tell 4 things about it.


1. This picture was taken a year ago in October.
2. Kaylee and her friend Darren were driving trucks during one of our weekly playdates.
3. In their game the trucks could fly.
4. That's my foot on the left side: I was sitting in the chair nursing Miles watching the show.

OK, now anyone else who reads this, you're TAGGED too!

Brisk!

It's brisk outside today! Kaylee and I went out for a bit after the boys went down for naps. We didn't stay out long! Here we are just after sweeping/scraping the sidewalk. That northwest wind sure makes for some pink cheeks!


On a warmer note, here are the kids last night, just before bed, enjoying a snack of blueberries dipped in milk in their toasty pjs. "Buuu-bewwies" says Miles, "Mmmmm, buuu-bewwies" in the exact tone of voice as the narrator from "Big Bad Bruce" - the book we loved to listen to when we were kids.

Aren't Kaylee's new pajamas cute? She wants to wear them all the time. I'd like some just like them!

Brr, I'm cold. I'm off to make some cocoa.

Knittin' Days

My fall work is done. It's cold and there's snow on the ground. To quote the fictional Ma Graham from one of my favorite books, "Nice to have things all cleaned up fer the longs days an' nights ahead when a body can't be out much. Them's quiltin' an' knittin' days."

Quilting and knitting are two things that I'd like to learn, so this winter I'm determined to get started. With knitting, that is. Quilting may have to wait until next winter. A few weeks ago, when all my outside work was done and I was wondering how I was going to keep busy this winter, I looked into knitting classes in the area. I found beginning knitting for only $10, and I even found someone to go with me! The first of 3 sessions starts on Saturday.

I'm really looking forward to getting started. The evenings get a little long in the winter, as the kids go to bed early and Rich is always working, so I need something to keep my hands busy. Plus maybe I can make some cool stuff. We are supposed to make a bag at the class, for a first project. I'm hoping to learn how to make some things for the kids soon. Maybe something like this, for starters.

Hopefully once I get the hang of it, I will actually FINISH some pieces. I have 3 or 4 crochet projects sitting in my craft box, partly finished (or barely started, in some cases) from when I taught myself to crochet a few years ago. I was doing great with it until kids came along. Oh well, that's the breaks I guess. I'm hoping that with knitting I can create some things that are more useful, such as hats, mittens, scarves, sweaters, as opposed to little blankets or afghans. We'll see how this new venture goes... :-)

Imagination Station

There's no lack of imagination around here. Today I walked into the living room to find a disaster area. Cushions off the couch and stuffed between the couch and the coffee table. Empty couch, cushions, and coffee table all covered with blankets and pillows. Building blocks scattered all around the couch, making it impossible to walk through the living room. At my "WHAT are you doing???" Kaylee calmly explained:

"We're going camping! See, here's our beds in the tent, and we're diving into the ocean to catch all these fish to have for supper. So you have to swim, Mommy." What could I say?


Sometimes Kaylee's imagination gets her into trouble. Late this afternoon, she and Ian were looking out the window into the falling darkness, talking about seeing eyes in the dark. Somehow, she convinced herself and Ian that there were coyotes out there in the dark, and they could see two big eyes! She was actually crying about it. It took a good 15 minutes to get things settled down. Then we closed the curtains!

When Miles leads the entertainment, it's a little more tame. Here he is finding ears. (And noses, and mouths, etc). Luckily, the older kids usually play along.