Ducks in a Row

The kids have gotten into play dough lately again. I made some fresh yesterday, since the old stuff was getting kind of weird. I made some little ducks for Miles and Kaylee thought they were the coolest. She immediately started playing out the "Little Quack" book that we have about five little ducklings. And got mad at Miles when he wanted to squish her ducks.


Then today was made sugar cookies. The cut-out kind. I remember when I was a kid my mom would only let us make these kind of cookies once in a great while, which we thought was extremely unfair. Well, now I know why she wasn't crazy about it. Here's Miles after only 5 minutes of cookie cutting.

They had fun though. I lost count of how many finished cookies Kaylee ate. Luckily, they were small.


After the cookies were out of the oven, we switched to play dough again so Miles could use the cookie cutters. I wish I had a picture of his face when he tasted the "new cookies". Not exactly what he was expecting!

Around here...

Earlier this week I babysat Ian and baby Evan for the first time here at our house. It was only for one afternoon, and it went really well. About the time we got ready to take them home though, the kids got a little wild. I think this video says it all. Enjoy!

Little Artists

Fun things to do when it's cold outside? Coloring on the kitchen floor in pajamas ranks high on our list!

Over a year ago, my dad gave us some old computer paper that he found laying around in his office. You know, the really old kind that's all one big sheet, with perforations and holes along the edge. It's been sitting in the basement since, mostly covered with a pile of newspapers I've been saving. Kaylee's gotten into drawing lately, and she loves practicing writing her name, so I dug it out this morning. We spread sheet after sheet on the kitchen floor, broke out the colored pencils, and let the kids go crazy. They had a great time. And I only had one scribble to erase off the linoleum.

Miles had a little trouble keeping the paper flat at times, but everyone stayed happy and occupied while I made breakfast. Thanks Dad!

So Many Projects....So Little Time

So, another knitting update. I know, I know. I'm obsessed. Just ask my husband. But hey, at least it's a productive obsession!

I finished Miles' soaker a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, it's a little too small for him, at least in the leg openings. I should have made the larger size. I measured hip and rise over his diaper, but I didn't think about his chubby thighs being a problem! Anyway, it turned out good, except for that. Good practice, anyway. I did learn the kitchener stitch doing this, which I was pretty impressed with. Sorry about the blurry pics...Miles is always in motion!


I also bought the sheepy pants pattern online, and I've started a pair of longies using that. It's going pretty well so far. It's knit in the round, which I like so much better than the other pattern I have. That one's knitted flat, in 2 pieces, and the sewed together to make pants. I seem to have stalled on it. Maybe I'll get somewhere on it eventually, but I think it's much more likely that I"ll take out what I"ve started and make something else (maybe a larger soaker!) with the yarn.

I also completed Kaylee's hat, which is super cute, but she won't wear it very long because it's mainly wool and she says it's itchy.

I learned something here....don't make Kaylee anything predominately wool. She's got very sensitive skin. I have a sweater 3/4 done for her, but it's also a wool blend, so she'll have to wear it over a turtleneck or something.

The next item I make for her will not have wool in it!

Per my sis's request, I'm making another hat for baby Evan, this one with ear flaps. It's almost done, made of 100% cotton yarn, super soft and comfy, but I'm not sure about the way the yarn is patterning. I like the colors though.


Then there's still that orange scarf. If I ever get that yarn it will be amazing. If I ever get the scarf done, it will be more amazing still!

I made the mistake of buying a baby pattern book the other day. And then I got a magazine from Lion Brand Yarn in the mail. Oh, the things I would like to make. Will I get most of them made? Not likely. But dreaming's fun too. :-)

-Hooded sweater for Kaylee: NOT WOOL!!!
-Legwarmers for Kaylee: using sock yarn
-Miles sweater or hoodie: Cotton-Ease or Cupcake
-Rich hoodie: not sure of the yarn for this, maybe Lion Brand Homespun?
-Cardigan for me: Merino!
-"Mommy sweater": probably Wool-Ease
-Felted afgan
-Baby booties: so cute!
-Socks. Sometime.
-Knitted teddy bear: just to do it.
-Baby blocks and balls: again, for something different, just to do it.
-Knitted cushion covers: ditto.

Got a request? If you buy the yarn....."-)

Happy Valentine's Day

It's that day again...hearts and chocolate and romance and overpriced flowers and greeting cards. Am I a little cynical? Maybe. BUT, I'm also enjoying Valentine's Day this year. For the first time in several years, my sweetie and I are together on this day. So we've got an afternoon planned just for us.....the kids are going to Grandma's. We're going to have a great time. Hope everyone else has a warm fuzzy day as well!

Back....Finally!

Hurray! I'm back on the Net. We finally did away with satellite all together and got digital wireless. It just came available in our area or we would have done it sooner. Anyway, here's a brief update on what's happening here.

Here's sunrise at our house.


The kids have thoroughly enjoyed the unseasonably warm temps the past few days. Almost all of our snow is gone, which I love and Kaylee is not so happy about. She's glad that there's snow forecast for tomorrow too, crazy girl. Sorry, no outdoor pics since I keep forgetting to take the camera out with us. But here they are waiting for Sunday night popcorn to be ready.


The pets like the warm weather too.

We're down to only 4 cats now....they just keep disappearing. We may have to get some more when spring comes. The dogs are rowdy and lovable as ever. Here's Mocha begging at the door.

She's huge now, almost as big as Peaches. And she's a big baby. She loves attention and table scraps. I've never seen food disappear so fast. I swear she inhales it. There's just no way she could actually chew anything that quickly.

Kaylee has gotten Miles into playing dolls with her. He wants to copy everything big sis does, so it didn't take much. Here they're "sleeping" with their dollies.


Baby Evan is growing and changing so fast. Isn't he the cutest? He's starting to interact now, which is even more fun.


That's about all I have for now. I"ve got some new knitting projects on the needles, but that will have to wait for another post.

Internet difficulties

We've been having satellite connection problems for the past week or so, and now it seems to have completely gone out. Until we get something fixed or changed, this blog will have to wait. I'm posting on a borrowed computer today, but probably won't do so again until we have steady service again. Ah, the joys of depending on satellite internet.

Quiet

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. My camera's batteries are dead and I keep forgetting to get more AA's. Not much exciting has been happening recently either, so I haven't been motivated to post much. Maybe this weekend.