When was the last time you fell in love....

....with a pen? I had to get the kids their very own Sharpie pens because I don't want to share!



Seriously, I want to replace all my gel pens for this guy in many colors. It writes like a dream and inspires endless doodling. Love it!


Tropical jungle vacation photo? No, just some flowers in my backyard. Pretty, aren't they?



And some knitting...here is SuperCraftyDancerGirl's Christmas present (from 2008!). Finally finished in time for blazing hot summer...



It's the Lace Sampler Throw from "Cast On" magazine (Ravelry link). It was fun to do and helped me realize that I need to do lace in bite-sized pieces, lest I lose my sanity. The most important thing is that SHE likes it and she also forgives the length of time it took to knit. Heirlooms don't just happen, after all!

Funny thing happened after the Roman Encampment...

Do you ever ask yourself, "If I take my 8 year old son who has spent the summer learning about ancient Rome to a wonderful event populated with grown-ups dressed as Roman soldiers, will he get anything at all out of it?"?

Well, I don't know what YOUR 8 year old son would do, but this is what mine did:


Here's a pic of troop formation:



Of course--make your own Roman army! Why didn't I think of that?

Ravelympics are in the Bag

Doesn't this look like some scene from a pretty little French village? Either that or the heat is getting to me! This great picture is brought to you by the SuperCraftyDancerGirl, who has completed this bag in the WIP's Wrestling event.

Me:"And what shall we name your little pet rabbit?"

Her:"We shall name him....celery!"

Him: "No! No vegetables!"

Me: (snicker, snicker, go to blog)


The object of the discussion:

The Son Also Crafts...

This just in from JrBravesFanatic---a lovely hand sewn patchwork pillow, completed just in time to give to his grandmother for Mother's Day. It looks a little larger than it is, but, at about 5"x8", it was still a good bit of sewing for a little guy! Thanks goes to SuperCraftyDancerGirl for threading needles and adding the button :)

Mother's Day blessings to all my mom friends out there!!!

Earth day thoughts...

With Earth Day on the horizon, I just thought I'd mention something the kids and I saw today. Shopping at our local mega-mart we were bombarded by the "go green" campaign, the current marketing fad in our country: green cleaning supplies, t-shirts with green slogans, energy saving light bulbs, even a display of earth-conscious dvd's. Outside, however, we had a front row seat to reality. The small field between the parking lot and the street was rapidly and industriously being transformed from wooded lot to barren wasteland.

Maybe I'm just a bit cynical, but am I really the only one who sees the disparity between something that is actually green and something that is only labeled as such? Maybe in our generation, it'll only be style over substance. However, since SuperCraftyDancerGirl was the first one to comment on what we were seeing today, there is hope for the future. She gets it.

Goodnight Moon, or Why the kids were up late

A great big thanks to DaHubby for remembering the Lunar Eclipse last night (before it happened, no less!!). After church, we came home, told the kids to get ready for bed, then kept an eye on the clock. The kids do NOT keep an eye on the clock at bedtime, as their ultimate, nightly goal is to see how long they can fool the parents into letting them stay up just a bit longer, and this takes considerable energy and concentration on their part.

Then, at 8:45, after making sure they were all ready for shut-eye, we said, without any previous warning, "Put on your shoes and coats." It's so much fun to spring things on them! So out we trooped to the front yard, no doubt giving the neighbors something else to talk about. We discussed what causes eclipses and watched the moon slowly but surely turn dark and reddish. It was a perfect eclipse-watching sky, with only a few wispy clouds and a fantastic view of the moon.

As I heard the 7 am bus pull through this morning, I was so thankful that we homeschool, and can make our schedule adjust to things like a Lunar Eclipse.

Or the Great Backyard Bird Count, for that matter. By the way, remember how I said that birds avoid our yard during the Bird Count? I think I need to amend that to say that birds avoid ME during the Bird Count! Saturday the kids and I went out and saw a grand total of 4 birds (2 species) in 30 minutes. This was about what I expected. Then Sunday morning, DaHubby and the kids sat there and spotted 15 birds (9 species) in 45 minutes. Ok, no problem, that's great. Then later on Sunday, while visiting friends out in the country, I sat for at least an hour with my binoculars and saw, are you ready for this? ONE BIRD! Out in the country! One lousy hawk that I never was able to positively identify. And that's when I began to take it personally. Monday morning we saw something like a chickadee and two geese, but I didn't have the heart to submit those "results" to the Bird Count.

I can see why the birds in our area might really like DaHubby, as he's the official feeder filler. But what they don't take into account is that, often I'm the one who brings the empty feeders to his attention. I'm the woman behind the feeder filler, for heaven's sake!

Survived another one (or, Why I don't blog very often)

Yesterday was our annual homeschool bowling party, organized by yours truly. Great fun was had by all. It is the only Big Event that I organize all year, and every year on the day after, I remember why---it's exhausting!! But, like I said, a great time was had by all, so it's worth it.

Today we start the Great Backyard Bird Count. I always wonder where all the birds go on this particular weekend. In years past we could look out and see dozens of birds at the feeder all week, then when the GBBC rolls around, they stay away in droves. Or would that be flocks?

Birding is one of those things (like knitting or homeschooling) which seem hard to do until you actually try it. I've been birding, with varying degrees of fervency, for the last, well, we'll just say for many years. (Don't you hate it when you go to count up something like that and realize just how many years it's been?) SuperCraftyDancerGirl is less enamored with her feathered neighbors than is her brother, but she is good at identifying species, especially on our walks. JrBravesFanatic's love of critters naturally extends to the bird community, and when he was younger he surprised me by being able to sit in my lap QUIETLY watching for birds to come to the feeder during our GBBC experiences. Da Hubby will believe everything I say about the birds we see, so that's always fun. Not that I am purposely misleading when it comes to bird info, but he doesn't quibble with me when I can't tell a Red-Shouldered Hawk from a Red-Tailed Hawk. Gotta love a guy like that!

There's winning, and there's winning...

Well, it's official: I did NOT win the Cat Sweater contest sponsored by Crazy Aunt Purl. It's a shame, too, since 1) The grand prize sounded wonderful, and 2) We had to wake Clarence up to put the sweater on him. Oh, well!

And I had a couple of thoughts about chillen's today. I was watching JrBravesFanatic playing ball in the backyard when a large airplane flew overhead. He stopped what he was doing and looked to see what kind of plane it was, and I thought, that must be what it means to have a boy: someone I can count on to stop and look at passing airplanes. And, since I try to be a fair kind of Mom, (hehe) I must add that having a girl around means someone I can count on to help me shop for clothes, and really feel comfortable telling me, "Mom you do NOT want to buy that pair of pants! Ewwww!!"

Just a couple of examples--there are really so many more reasons why having these kiddoes around is a great thing. It makes me feel like a WIN-AH!

Polar Bears, Elephants, Cats and Alpaca (Oh, My!)

Still trying to find the time to square away things on Ravelry...I figured out Flickr, but need to take more pictures of knitting (I never thought I'd feel the need to say THAT!) to upload, yada yada yada.

And thanks to these guys,
I now have to share the computer with the kids on a regular basis. Normally I do not get into the hype of the latest greatest new toy or gadget. For years I have shaken my head in disbelief at friends who have spent precious time and money tracking down the most recent toy fad for their children. No longer can I scorn such actions, for we have officially entered the Webkinz World. I have mixed emotions about WW, ranging from:
1) what on earth were we thinking agreeing to bring such things into our lives so the kids'll tie up the computer doing their thing when there seems to be precious little time to do my thing, and this just as I get into Ravelry and not to mention I have subjects of dubious interest about which to blog!?!! to
2) how do I come up with something that'll hook kids aged 4 and up and require their parents to spend precious time and money tracking down my most recent toy fad?????

The only thing I can fall back on is the fickle nature of children and the hope that in a few weeks they'll tire of all the online fun and I'll get my computer back. Otherwise it'll seem awfully lame to have to go use the computer at the library 'cause mine's been taken over by all that fuzzy cuteness.

In knitting news, the weather has sufficiently cooled to bring out the alpaca shawl and work on it some more. By sufficiently cooled I mean that the inside temps with air conditioning blasting are now low enough that I can stand to work with this really warm yarn and finish this everlasting slogfest that is the shawl to end all shawls.
Yes it really is as boring as it looks, but I like the charcoal color and the softness and the drape and I plan to wear it. If I ever finish it. Those size 6 needles really make it last. Forever. I got the idea for it from a pattern in Greetings from Knit Cafe, combined with the look of a shawl that a friend made. Of course, the smart friend used something like size 11 needles and some beautiful fuzzy mohair so it only took her a couple of months of knitting around an active toddler...

I'm also searching for the "perfect" sock pattern to cast on for pair #2. (Dale, I have taken the proactive step of procuring a second set of dpn's so I can make two socks at a time, instead of facing Second Sock Syndrome---again! I so hated the second sock until it was finished.) It's supposed to be a part of the Top Secret Christmas Knitting Program, but unless I find a pattern soon, it might be part of next year's program. Especially since I now have to leave the computer for WW time! Oh the humanity....