Documenting A Week In My Life: Saturday

I started this project that Ali Edwards posted on her blog (check it out here). It just sounds like a really cool idea. I decided to start today, because if I wait until Monday, it will never get done. Not to mention, this is a good week for me- lots of going and doing, so my life won't look like all I ever do is sit on my computer and eat.

So- here's the pared down version of today's pictures.

My morning coffee. I really like how this picture turned out, with the out of focus candles in the background. I'm using an actual ceramic coffee cup today- something unusual, because I'm usually getting up and going in the morning so I put my morning coffee in the Casey's Classic Coffee travel mug. Coffee is flavored with International Delight's Pumpkin Pie Spice cream (which, I'm told, does not compare to Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice lattes, but honestly- I don't care, I love it, anyway).
While I'm drinking my wonderfully tasty Pumpkin Pie Spice flavored coffee, I head over to the couch, where I have my trusty laptop. I checked email, message boards, and played my current game addiction, Tropic 2 while I drank my coffee and ignored the whining coming from the bedroom (boys were up late last night, they were crabby).

After that, I forgot my camera inside. *blush* My parents showed up and we did some yard work- my grass is mowed, the boys and I worked on some weeding, and we checked on our pumpkins, which I did remember to take pictures of.
While we were weeding, we found this cute little baby pumpkin (which, of course, won't make it to full grown pumpkin adulthood. But that's ok, as long as the baby pumpkin gets big enough to look somewhat pumpkin like, I'll be able to use it for decorating). But isn't it cute? We found other baby pumpkins, but they were much smaller than this one.

This is our pumpkin. The first pumpkin that I've ever grown (ever). I love doing it, pumpkins are easy, and next year, I'm planting soon after the last frost, so that we have a better chance at having multiple full grown pumpkins. This picture is now my blog header.


So after yard work and weeding, Mom and Dad went to mow my sister's grass, and I went inside to wash some dishes.
And do some laundry.


Then, Mom came back and we went over to her house, but I forgot the camera. Again. I came back, took Dyl to his friend's birthday party, but forgot the camera. Again. So I apparently have no problem documenting the boring stuff, but can't seem to remember to document the fun stuff. *sigh*
After taking Dyl out to Mom's to spend the night with his brothers, I decided to neaten up my command center. It was bugging me, all those papers hanging around, the school's calendar magnet hidden, etc. Now this is much better (but come Monday afternoon, it will be all torn up again).
And finally... dinner for one. Cheesy Dee Yas, as Dylan calls them. I didn't see much point in cooking a full meal when it's just me, and I've been craving these since yesterday. Tomorrow, I'll have a much healthier meal, I promise.

So now I'm pretty much done for the night. I'm planning on spending the night on my computer, doing pretty much nothing else.

My dad just called, and Dylan lost his first tooth, at my parents' house. And I wasn't there to see it (or photograph it). Wah!

Fall Fun

This weekend was Harvest Days. Craft fair, fried foods, carnival, and a parade (why is it when I make these little lists, I always want to end them with an 'oh my'?).

Last year, Evan rode the four wheeler kiddie ride over and over and over again, with a few breaks to go down the slide in between. This year, he graduated to bigger and faster rides (while taking breaks on the kiddie rides).
He rode the Tilt-A-Whirl, the bumper cars, and the swings. And, of course, the slide.
The Cub Scouts had a float, and Dylan and I rode the float today. We had fun riding on the float, even though we did miss most of the parade. The boys made a campfire, and a giant smore (the white thing by the flag). They pretended to roast marshmallows, and a couple boys passed out candy to the people watching the parade.

Grandma, Grandpa and Cody watched from the sidelines, and waved when they saw us.

I didn't see anything that I really had to have at the craft fair, except the cutest handmade wooden drying rack that would look simply awesome in my bathroom. It was $75, and I didn't have the money. The booth that had it has just some of the best woodworking things that I've ever seen, and I am determined to actually buy something next year (I say this every single year). Next year, if he has the drying rack, I'm buying it. Really, I mean it.

The boys got some cheap toys, and they won inflatables at the carnival, and Rosie got a wubba (I've been looking for one- she absolutely loves it), and I got three new italian charms for my bracelet. We ate a lot of fried foods, and did a lot of walking, and I'm trying to figure out how walking can possibly cause my shoulders to hurt.

The boys don't have school tomorrow, which is a good thing. They need a day to relax after this weekend's festivities. And then on Tuesday, I'll get my day to relax from this weekend's festivities.

Sharing My Education

This section is titled: Fun With Feminine Hygiene Products.

Yesterday, Mike, mil and I took Cody to get a suit. We took mil's car, and on the way home, Cody found something in the back seat. He's bored (he's a boy, and shopping isn't fun when what you get is a stuffy old suit), and he starts talking about this 'tiny pillow' that he found in the back seat. He's going on about this 'tiny pillow', and how comfortable it is, and he is wondering who needs such a 'tiny pillow'.

Mike is curious about it, so he asks to see the 'tiny pillow'. Yep- you guessed it. The 'tiny pillow' is a maxi pad still in it's wrapper (we think it fell out of sil's purse the last time she was in the car). Mil, Mike and I are laughing hysterically at this 'tiny pillow'. Cody, being 8 and a boy, doesn't quite know what 'tiny pillows' are used for. But he knows when someone finds something funny, and he knows how to milk it. So for the rest of the ride home, he would pipe up with 'tiny pillow' (my personal favorite was his Ralph Wiggum voice saying 'I like my tiny pillow').

Did you know that if you soak a clean, unused tampon in water that it can stick to the ceiling, with the cord hanging down? Yeah, my boys tried it. It worked. They also learned that soaking tp in water makes it sticky, too. You can just imagine what the ceiling in my bathroom looked like (and the panic I was in when I realized what happened to my brand new box of tampons and the last roll of tp at the worst possible time).

This section is titled: It's the little things.

Sil is getting married on Saturday. Mil is doing a lot of the planning, and she's asked if my boys can help hand things out before the wedding (programs, bubbles, and bells). I told Dylan that he was going to help hand out the bubbles at sil's wedding, and his eyes just lit up. He's so excited about it- but not because he's helping at the wedding. Oh no, not my son. He's excited because there will be bubbles at the wedding, and he gets his own little bottle of them.

This section is titled: Now that is how you apologize.

The boys got in trouble tonight. Dylan apologized eventually (we had to remind him), and that was fine. Evan has to do things on his own- it's just the way that he is. So when we told him that he could come out and apologize, he chose to stay in his room and pout a little longer.

A little while later, I spot a blanket creeping across the floor. It looked like a little inchworm. Mike and I knew who it was beneath the blanket, and just looked at each other and agreed (silently), to not acknowledge it until he acknowledged us. So- the blanket crept along the floor, with Evan peeking out every few inches or so. He gets almost all the way across the living room, and ends up at Mike's feet. We're still waiting to see what he does, and not acknowledging him. After awhile, he starts singing. Yes- *singing*. He hums, and sings some more, and Mike then goes and removes the blanket, and there's Evan, all smiles and giggles, saying 'sorry, Daddy.'

Picture Monday

I finally uploaded every picture that was on my camera from the month of July (yeah, it was a lot). So, as I'm looking through them, I decided to post some of my favorites.

This is a horse that lives near my parents' house. It's kinda neat to see the variety of animals that end up on their property- we've seen deer, geese, ducks, a donkey, muskrats, etc.

You have to be prepared. The wagon is loaded with toys, he's wearing his life jacket, and he's got his sippy cup.

And no, there wasn't a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. We checked.

Poor baby. :( There are stitches under that (I'll spare you the details). This is what happens when you fall hand first into a glass lantern.

Can you think of a better way to eat corn?

Evan wants to know why Grandma buys corndogs when she grows them fresh on the farm.

The one and only time that Uncle Bill will let Cody drive his speed boat...

He may only be 8, but he knows what the girls like.

Who are you, and what have you done with Cody?

Whack-A-Cat.

Come back, she just wants to play!

Her first boat ride, and she had to make sure that I was following along behind. That, or she's trying to find her goose friends.

Rock, Paper, Gun...

We've learned something recently. You don't want to compete against Evan, because he's very competitive. The first clue was when he learned to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. We all know how it goes- rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock.

Evan, that beautiful, lovable boy of mine, comes up with something rather ingenious. Evan is playing rock paper scissors with Grandma. Grandma throws paper... and Evan throws gun. What beats gun? We've all stopped playing rock paper scissors with him, because we just can't beat gun...

One day, while we're in the car, the boys are being kinda loud (I think that China could hear them), and Mike and I teach them how to play the Quiet Game. We all know this one, too. It's the game people use to get kids to be quiet. Ya know, a nice way of saying 'You're bugging me.' Cody and Dylan invented Pause, which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of the Quiet Game.

But we're driving along, Mike and I are talking, Cody and Dylan are pausing and talking, when it hits us. Evan has not said one single word the entire drive. Not one. Mike looks back at him, and he's just staring at us. He was really serious about this game, and it wasn't until we stopped the car that we could get him to talk (which was to ask, of course, what his prize was). He's adapted his game strategy since then. Now he makes faces at his brothers in order to get them to laugh and therefore lose.

It's not just these games that we learn as kids that he's good at. He's also good at video games and such. It's funny to watch him tell people what they need to do in order to beat Lego Star Wars.

And in case you are wondering, rocket launcher blows up gun.

Their Horns Hold Their Halos Up

I made a new desktop last night. I'm pretty happy with it.

I love how it turned out. I'm loving the real element thing that the community has going on now. I'm thinking that I need to try it, and I'm getting better with extracting. I've even found a way around my hatred of the extraction tool- quick mask mode. So much easier to use and clean up.

I took some nice pictures of the boys not too long ago. I really like how they turned out, and am planning on printing and framing them.

This is now one of my favorite pictures of Cody. I caught him in the act of looking up, flipping his shaggy hair out of his eyes, just before he put his helmet on and hopped on his four wheeler.

And this one of Dylan looks almost professional. I cloned the grass to hide the road that was behind him.









And, finally, this one of Evan that was taken when he was riding the stone boxer at mil's house. I want a better one though, but when I tried to get a better picture of him, one that looked good, I got a funky, over done, GQ--ish, muscle man type pose. *sigh* He's going to be the clown of the family.

Mike leaves on Saturday for New Mexico, so in between cleaning my house (which I'm determined to finish this week), I'm washing laundry, and calmly ignoring the fact that he will be out of state for five days. I'm looking forward to not having to push him to get him to stop snoring long enough for me to fall asleep, and I'm looking forward to not having to set the alarm for five days, but I'm not looking forward to sleeping alone for five days.

He's taking the camera, which bugs me a bit, because it means that this shutterbug will not have a camera. I will have his car, which will be great. I'll be free! Saturday, I'm going grocery shopping, and spending as much time as possible at Mom's. If I can get the house cleaned this week, I'm going to take Jeremiah for a night.

I want to keep him overnight a few times before sis moves to Texas, because the boys have been begging for a sleepover. I'm going to get junk food, we'll watch some Disney movies, put Jeremiah to bed, and then play Guitar Hero with the boys for awhile.

Elephants And Boxers And Dancing Like Nobody Is Watching

Yesterday was Dylan's kindergarten spring music program. They had a zoo theme, since they are going to the zoo tomorrow (and Dylan is so excited about it).

This isn't the best picture, even after I played with it. I seriously hate taking pictures in the gym, the lighting is just terrible. Isn't he cute? He made the elephant mask in art class, and it turned out great.

After the program, we went back to his classroom for treats and to see his journal and the story that he wrote about his favorite cartoon (he chose Spongebob, of course).

Today, they are staying for lunch, to practice for next year. I feel for the teachers, though, because they have both AM and PM kids this morning (but at least they get the afternoon off, which they're probably going to enjoy).

Mother's Day weekend, we went to mil's for a cook out. They have this boxer statue in the backyard, and my kids view these statues as things to ride on. I snapped some picture of Evan riding the boxer, and they turned out great.

He was having fun on that dog.

I'm working on the slideshow for Dylan's birthday party, and I'm thinking that I should get some DVD-Rs and burn it and give it to the grandparents. I'm almost done with the pictures (need to add the elephant one), and then I'm going to add some video. I know that I'll add some of the ones from yesterday, but there's also a video of him dancing a few months ago, and I think that I have some of him on the four wheeler, as well.

I'm also thinking that these might become a birthday tradition.

And just because I think it's absolutely hilarious, this is one of the videos that will be on the DVD.

I'm Such A Girl

Today was a first for me.

Today, I got to buy bait. For the other girly girls out there, bait is worms. Slimy, squirmy, wiggly, worms. Worms in dirt. Worms in dirt in a small plastic container that is now sitting in my fridge.

So yes, friendly reader, I have a container of dirt and worms in my fridge.

Tomorrow is Cody's Cub Scout fishing derby. He got a new pole for the derby, new tackle, and a new water bottle. I'm planning on taking my book (Duma Key by Stephen King) and my camp chair and just relaxing while he fishes. The only fly in the ointment was Cody telling me that he doesn't know how to get fish off a hook (even though I know that he does), so I'm going to camp near a father and son team, and send him over to ask the dad to help, because Mommy does not touch fish.

See? I'm such a girl.

Tomorrow is also Dylan's 6th birthday, and he's not going to be home all day. He's going to the Cubs game, and looking forward to it so much. He's done nothing but talk about it since Cody went for his birthday. He's getting a tent. He wants a play house, but I'm not keen on spending a lot of money for something that he'll outgrow fairly quickly, so we opted for a tent. It will be a nice sized 'playhouse' for him, but we can pack it up and put it away and use it for actual camping later on. He's also getting Guitar Hero III for the Xbox 360. We chose this game for him, because he got this guitar for Christmas and he's pretty much carried it around the house on a regular basis. He's going to be the musical one, I can just tell.

Caves and Captain Underpants

Cody has always been fascinated with 'building' things like forts and houses. When we had a couch with removable cushions, he would remove all of the cushions and build his little house out of them. He's done this since he was about 3 or 4, and always got the biggest kick out of it. Today, my mom came to pick up the boys to take them to her house. This morning, Cody built a cave out of his bed sheets, his shelves, and his bunk bed. Pretty darn creative, and what's more, as long as he cleans his room once a week, I don't give a damn about it because I can simply shut his bedroom door and be done with it.

My mom, who was an only child and raised two girls, saw his cave this morning. She wanted to know why he was doing it, and why I didn't bother to stop it. It never occurred to me to stop his cave making. I find it kinda cute, and frankly, if I had bunk beds as a child, I might have done the same thing (except that mine wouldn't have been a cave, but a pretend canopy bed. I've always wanted a canopy bed).

Cody has always struggled with reading. He has told me that he hates it, he doesn't see the point when Mom can read to him, etc. A few weeks ago, I came across a Captain Underpants book, and decided that Cody and I can read it together. We read one chapter together, and then Cody decided that reading wasn't so bad, and continued reading it, on his own. He told me the other day that he just can't believe that he's read 3 chapter books now. He owns 4 Captain Underpants books and one Super Diaper Baby book (a spin off of Captain Underpants) now, and he loves them. He enjoys reading now, and I've even caught him reading his reading book to his brothers.

I love that he now enjoys reading. Dylan does, too. I'm hoping that Evan will enjoy reading, and that he'll be just as easy as Dylan when it comes to reading.

I bought some nice work out capris today. I've decided that I'm going to do more walking now that it's spring. I'm also going to pick up some good athletic shoes. I love my crocs, but I want something else for walking. I have some free time in the mornings for a few more weeks, and this summer, I figure that the boys and I can walk to the school to play on the playground for awhile. I need to get out more. I toyed with the idea of joining Weight Watchers, but I don't think that I have the discipline for WW. So this summer, I am determined to lose some of this weight.

And now I'm off to go do some cleaning before Mike gets home from work.

A New Decade

Today is my birthday. My 30th birthday. Tonight, I'm having cheesecake (the boys will each get a small piece, and then I'll have the rest all to myself. It's my birthday, and I'm allowed), tomorrow we're having dinner at my parents, and I get to sleep alone tonight because dh has to be at work at 4am tomorrow morning. *sigh*

He did take me out to eat on Tuesday. We went to red lobster, where I had coconut shrimp (my favorite). The boys are behaving, which is the best birthday present that I could have, and other than some simple laundry and washing dishes, I am taking the day off from housework. I'm allowed, it's my birthday.

Looking back at how things have changed in the last 10 years has been enlightening.

At 20, I wasn't married and I had no children. Today, at 30, I have been married for 8 years, and have three wonderful sons. I discovered digital scrapbooking, rediscovered crochet, and taught myself to knit. I started the decade living in my parents' house, then lived in two apartments and am now back in the same house that I started the decade in. I've owned 7 different cars and 4 computers.

It's amazing just how much can change in so short a time. I'm looking forward to the next 10 years, to see what changes life brings to me. I'm hoping that we'll be able to buy a house, some place nice, with plenty of room for three growing boys. I'm hoping for more vacations, at least one to someplace warm and tropical, and at least one to someplace fun for the kids. I'm hoping to lose weight and look great in a bathing suit (preferably before we go some place warm and tropical for vacation). I would like to go on a cruise, just me and Mike.

The Great {Dead} Possum Battle of 2008

]This is the most disgusting thing ever, and I'm simply dumbfounded by it.

A couple Saturdays ago, I went to the store. In the middle of the alley was this large, furry dead possum. It was big. I made a mental note to call the village hall on Monday (closed on saturday and sunday) to let them know and get someone out here to take care of it.

That Monday morning, I noticed that the possum was gone. Or so I thought. Tuesday, while driving by one of the driveways on the alley, I saw the dead possum in the driveway. Um, ok. I didn't think anything of it, except to shake my head, because now that it was on private property, the town won't do anything about it.

A week goes by. The possum is getting pretty disgusting. I make a point of turning my head away so that I don't see it.

Yesterday morning, I turn my head, and what do I see? Dead possum, THE dead possum, in this other neighbor's driveway. It is barely recognizable as a possum anymore. Ew.

My kitchen window looks down the alley, so while I'm washing dishes, I'm also watching who is coming and going, lol. Today, I watch the guy with the possum in his driveway come home, pull into his driveway, go into his garage, grab a shovel, and then toss the barely recognizable (and still very dead) possum across the alley.

Seriously? Would it have been so hard to just call the village hall in the first place?

I have to admit that part of me is laughing. These people are arguing over a dead possum. *sigh*

I have a new kit coming out this week. Here's a quick, up close and personal peek at it:

It has glitter, acrylic, and rusted elements. It debuts on Thursday, I'll post then with the full size image.

Opening Day

Guess what Cody got for his birthday. Tickets for the Cubs opening day game!

He had a blast. The weather may not have been the best, but they were able to while away the rain delays by standing in line for the bathroom.
His uncle bought him the ticket for his birthday. We had bought him a Cubs hat already, so the two gifts went together.

Outside Wrigley, he had his picture taken with this guy. Mike told me what he's called, but I can't remember... Too bad it's still too early in the season for the ivy to actually have leaves on it.

They also dedicated a statue to Ernie Banks yesterday. They went early enough so that they could be there for the dedication, even though I don't think Cody understood just who Ernie Banks was or why he now has his very own statue. Banks also threw out the first pitch, and led the 7th inning stretch. Along with Banks, there were other Cubs legends there, including Cody's grandpa's favorite player, Ron Santo, Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams. Hank Aaron was also there.

It was a good game, even though the Cubs did lose in the 10th inning.

All in all, it was a good day for Cody. He came home with Rich Hill's autograph, a package of baseball cards (all Cubs, of course), a mini bat, a fleece Cubs blanket, and a Derrek Lee jersey. He got to miss school, and he can't wait to go to another game.

He's 8!

Today is Cody's birthday, and my blog readers get the present! Enjoy! Click here to go directly to my products. I'm sorry, but the kit that I used to make the coupon is not available for sale until April 3rd, but aren't you lucky- the coupon is good until April 5th.

Happy Easter!

Mike asked me today what I plan on doing with three dozen colorful hard boiled eggs. I think that the answer is simple. Tomorrow, I'll go to the grocery store, get some mayo, some mustard, and some dill and make egg salad. I love egg salad. Especially on toast or Ritz. Yummy!

The boy had a ball coloring eggs. Cody took his time and was the last one to finish. Dylan tried to take his time, but the excitement was too much for him. Evan didn't even bother to take his time, he just went for it. I remember taking my time, mixing colors, getting creative. Not my boys, oh no. Only one color, per egg... until I showed them how to use the crayon to their advantage, how to make two and three color eggs, etc.

Dylan is the luckiest kid alive, I swear. Friday morning, I took the boys to Casey's to get donuts for breakfast. It was the first day of spring break, I thought it would be a nice thing for a lazy day. While there, we signed up for an easter basket raffle that they were having that day. Then, I promptly forgot all about it.

Around 2pm that afternoon, I'm cleaning, Cody is at Grandma's house, Dylan and Evan are playing, when the phone rings. The caller id says Casey's Takeout. Um, ok. I answered, and they ask for Dylan. I'm thinking 'why is Casey's calling for Dylan? Maybe this is a wrong number or something...' It still hadn't dawned on me that it was the raffle. I'm sure that the woman on the other end thought that I was a tad rude, because I had my leary, 'what do you want with my 5 year old?' tone of voice going. Then she says that magic words: 'easter basket raffle'. Yay! My tone changed, she gave me some information, and then we headed over to pick up his prize. His basket was one of those prefilled ones that you get from the dollar store or walmart. He won the sports themed one, which had a basketball and water bottle in it (this is why I don't buy the prefilled ones- I can spend less money and fill a basket with more/better stuff. but it's not bad to win one, ya know?).

So, there he is, hugging his prize. He insisted on taking the basket everywhere with him, including to the town easter egg hunt, but he decided that his basket handle was too big and he needed to use something smaller, so that he could move easier to get the eggs.

I call him lucky, because he helped Dad win a trophy at a car show, and when he goes fishing, the fish just come running and he always catches bunches of them.

Bunnies And Shots And Billy Bob Teeth

Evan and Dylan got shots yesterday. We're playing catch up, so Evan needed four and Dylan needed three. Dylan did great, until his last shot, and then he cried, which set Evan off. Poor Evan, he screamed through all of his. Dylan went back to school when we were done, but Evan missed school entirely, which he cried over. Cody's hit the point where he's starting to not want to go to school, but school is still fun for Evan and Dylan.

Evan's pre-k class has a class bunny named LuLu. LuLu is a boy bunny. They named LuLu before they knew what gender he was, hence the girly name. Today, Evan came home with a framed Easter picture of him and LuLu. His blue eyes just pop in this picture, which makes me wonder what camera his teacher has (note to self: ask the next time I see her). There's also a picture of Evan in this week's paper from the pre-k boot camp (family night, where the kids got to play and have fun). He's riding a bike, and just looks so happy in the picture.

And I posted about this in my last post, but I have pictures of Cody's latest gap. Last year, when all he wanted to do was lose teeth, he lost two. Now, he has four gaps in his mouth, which makes him look pretty funny.

He handed me his tooth and told me that I owed him money. I think that is what bothers me about this whole 'knowing the truth' thing. It's not that he knows, its that he gets a kick out of knowing while I just want him to go on believing in the tooth fairy and santa claus and the easter bunny. Plus, now that he knows the truth about one, will he still believe in the others? Am I going to have to include my 7 year old in hiding the easter eggs this year or am I going to have to include an eight year old in wrapping the santa presents?

So, my resolve to complete my current projects is going great so far. I started with the Noro socks, and while I've added new patterns to my queue at Ravelry, I have not started anything new. I've added a few inches to the leg of my Noro socks, and once I reach where the stripe pattern in the yarn repeats, it will be done and I can start the second sock. I'm hoping to have them done by Cody's birthday, but if I'm going to think realistically here, I'm such a slow knitter that it could be May before I finish them.

I Have A Confession To Make

I am a serial projecter starter (or would that be habitual project abandoner?).

I was just trying to figure out how many knit projects I've finished since I taught myself to knit back in November. Since then, I have finished...

1. a pair of socks
2. an iPod cozy
3. a rolled brim hat for me
4. a cabled hat for me
5. and a hat for my niece.

So, five knit items, total. Right now I have two pairs of socks, a hat for Mike, that scrubby, and an apron on the needles. I spent some time tonight looking at more sock patterns, and filling my queue with more patterns at Ravelry.

It's not just knitting, either. I spent some time this afternoon reorganizing my scrap stuff. I had about 10 kit folders in my designer folder, and when I moved the stuff that I'm not really feeling right now, I was left with one kit (the one that I previewed last week). It's sad when your 'incomplete, might never be complete' folder has more folders than your 'completed and uploaded' folder.

About the only thing that I can finish is a layout, lol.

So, I have decided that I'm going to finish what I have in progress, or at least do something with the papers that I've made for those kits that I haven't finished. I giving myself until April 25th (my birthday) to finish or frog the knit projects that I have going. I resolve to not start something new (even when my Smooshy yarn gets here) until I have finished my Noro and Trekking socks.

As for the scrap stuff, I'm thinking that I should just package that stuff up and make a new freebie. I'm not releasing anything this week (too lazy today), but look for it next week. Oh, and be sure to stop by and visit on the 29th, because I have a nice, big surprise.

Cody lost another tooth last night. He no longer believes in the tooth fairy, which is kinda depressing. Two lost teeth ago, I screwed up. Big time. He lost the tooth, showed it to me, put it up, and then hid it, when I wasn't looking. I did the unthinkable.

I forgot. The next morning, he was in tears. When I asked him why, he told me that the tooth fairy, who used to leave dollar bills folded into various shapes, left him a PENNY. Apparently, when he hid the tooth, he hid it near a penny without realizing it. He was so broken up and depressed over it, I just had to tell him the truth. As soon as he heard that the tooth fairy was really mommy and daddy, he perked right up. But we have a deal. He will continue to get money for his lost teeth, because to stop now could ruin it for his brothers. But now, he is in on the secret and has fun with it.

And so far, he's been good about keeping it a secret.

The boys start spring break on Friday. Is it sad that I'm looking forward to their week long break because it means that I get to sleep in? I've been so tired lately, and right now, it's only a quarter after 7 and I'm ready to head for bed. And before anyone says it, NO I'm not pregnant, lol. This is entirely my fault, I'm tired because I can't seem to get into bed before midnight lately (which you think would be easy, since I'm so freaking tired all the time!). I'm hoping to get my sleep schedule turned around this week. It was nice at the beginning of the year, when I could get up at 6am and could take my time getting the boys ready for school in the morning.

Picture Day!

Getting pictures off the camera and onto my laptop is a chore (only because I have to open up my laptop/knitting/carryall bag and dig out the cords. So, when I went to get pictures off the camera, I got a bunch. Pictures of Evan's pre-k boot camp, pictures of the lunar eclipse (they didn't turn out), pictures of the 4 wheeler with a car battery attached (some questions are better left unanswered), and some pictures from today.

Like this picture, taken earlier this week (I think it was Monday or Tuesday).



Or the picture on the right, taken today. (Yep, that's Rosie. She's turning into a little butterball, although it's hard to tell from this angle.)

Uploading my pictures this was does have it's advantages, though. There's always a surprise in there. It's almost like Christmas, in a way.

In case you couldn't tell, we had snow today. We also lost power for about a half hour, forty five minutes, which is funny, because we'll get 10 inches of snow and not lose power, and then get this little dusting that melted two hours later and lose power. Cody and Mike went bowling with Cub Scouts this afternoon, and then the boys and I went to the abelskiver supper at the church with my mom. I look forward to this supper every year.

Which leads to my doh! moment of the day. We find our seats in the fellowship hall (otherwise known as 'that big room downstairs where we hold church dinners'), and I proceed to pour myself a nice cup of coffee. There are two bowls sitting in front of me, one with sugar and one with what I thought was powdered creamer. I stirred my coffee while chatting with an old sunday school teacher of mine, took a sip of my coffee, and omg,it was horribly SALTY. I didn't put cream in my coffee, I put SALT in. Blech. I have since decided that at church dinners from now on, I will drink my coffee without cream (or salt).

The reason that I was pulling pictures from the camera was because I wanted to update my projects on Ravelry. Since I had to frog my first Noro sock, I wanted to put up a picture of what the new one looks like, and I've started a new, quick project: a dish scrubbie out of ugly sock yarn.


I really like how the Noro sock is turning out, but the stitch pattern is starting to get a little boring, hence the need for quickie projects like the scrubbie to kill time. I try to knit 2-3 rows on the sock a day, but it's still slow going.


The scrubbie is about half done, I should be able to finish the knitting and get it sewn up tomorrow. The pattern calls for a heavier weight yarn, so I'm playing with this right now. I think that I might have to make the next one a bit wider.

And, finally, a funny picture of Monkey, my insistent kitty.

He thinks that he's an outdoor cat. He's not. He tries to act like one, but his wimpiness shows through. He's actually climbed up my screen door in this picture, and he's about halfway up. Remember those Garfield suction cup dolls that people used to have in their cars back in the 80s? Yeah, that's my cat. Only he's hanging on my door.

Why is he hanging on my door? Because doofus ran outside when he shouldn't have, decided that it was too cold for his wimpy butt, and was begging to be let back in. Yeah- not before Mama got her camera, though.

Chicks With Sticks And Other Assorted Goodies

I haven't been around in wow, almost a year. Sorry about that. I've been trying to think over everything that I've done in the last year, and why is it that I know that I've been busy, but nothing important is coming to mind? Which leads me to...

Life, Among Other Things

Let's see, in a nutshell, the hubs has been promoted, the youngest started preschool, the middle one started kindergarten, and the oldest has discovered the wonders of XBOX and TONY HAWK. In fact, if I would let him, he would probably change his name to Tony Hawk Jr.

Mike's computer crashed multiple times, I lost everything once, and now I have my very own laptop that he's not allowed to touch.

My sister is moving to Texas, which means that my nephew is going to grow up with an adorable Texan accent. And he's going to think that his Aunt T has a funny Chicago accent (although I don't say 'da bears', lol).

My New Found Love

I taught myself to knit. Which is what I've been doing obsessively for the last few months. Right now, I'm working on a pair of socks using Noro yarn and an apron using some cheap yarn that I bought awhile back. I'm dying to finish the socks, because I need those needles in order to work on yet another pair that I've already purchased the yarn for. *sigh*

Digital Scrapbooking Stuff

And now, a preview of my latest kit...

I love how this kit turned out. To tell the truth, it shouldn't even be a kit, lol. I started out with this idea for a journaling box element pack, designed some papers to use for the journaling blocks, loved them, and just went on from there. I haven't had a lot of luck with designing kits lately, and have been sticking to what I like best (papers and elements sold separately).

This kit will be released tomorrow, 3/13, over at TDC.

*Edited 3/14: The kit has been released, and it can be found here!

What's even funnier about this whole kit thing is that I have yet another kit in the works, this one inspired by one of Cody's... oops, I mean Tony Hawk Jr's latest obsessions. I can't show you all of it, mostly because all of it doesn't exist yet, but I can give you a little taste of the kit...


Just a little preview, don't want to give away too much... In case you haven't figured it out, these are close ups of the five patterned papers that will be included in the kit. So far, there's those papers, plus six solids. And a lot of ideas, lol.

I've been working on layouts, too. I'm loving the realistic scanned look right now, and I'm always on the look out for designers with great stuff, because I'm terrible at extracting. Not to mention, I hate it with a passion. Especially since my Wacom died and I'm using a touchpad on my laptop right now.

I did make a score while cleaning out my dad's office awhile back. A few years back, my grandfather had issues with printers. He bought this all in one printer, and couldn't get it to work. He had thrown out the box, and couldn't return it, so bought a new one. I found it in a corner in my dad's office, and brought it home. It's really old, and I'm not even sure if I can find ink for it, but- the scanner works. With Vista, even. Not good enough for scanning items, but it works great for scanning doodles and such.

Tales From The Trenches

Also known as: What Fun Boys Can Be.

Cody was home 'sick' today (silly rule about being fever free for 24 hours before they'll allow him back in school), and he was bored. This afternoon, when I went to pick Dylan up from school, he decided to have a little fun. I came home to find a package, addressed to me, from an online yarn shop. First, I thought 'but that yarn came last week, and I haven't ordered anything else since then...' Then, I thought 'maybe they messed up, and sent me more yarn.' (I will admit to getting my hopes up on this one, even if it meant my having to pay for the mis-sent yarn.) Then I opened the package...

Inside, nestled among packing peanuts, was a Nerf dart gun.

Then it hit me. That box didn't come in the mail today, it came last week, holding the yarn that I had ordered. Yarn that was protected during shipping by packing peanuts. I'm a packrat when it comes to boxes. Love them, you never know when you might need on. So when this box first arrived, I placed it on a shelf in my kitchen, and forgot about it. Cody found it today, packed his brother's dart gun in it, taped it up, and set it on the front porch.

I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed, but then I realized what it really meant. Cody knows that I love it when a package arrives at our house, and he decided that I needed some cheering up. But ya know what?

He should have rethought that dart gun idea, because Mommy is a crack shot with the dart gun.