Teacher gifts

We are ready to gift our teachers. Tomorrow is the last day of school. There is a school party, of course. This one will include a water slide, pizza, cookies and a few hours playing with classmates. A lot of the same students will be together again in the fall, which will makes tomorrow's good-byes a little easier. Hello summer break!

Yo! Yo! Yo!

We have two more days of pre-k school left, next Monday and Wednesday. I am awful at thinking up fun and cool teacher gifts. How exactly do you say "thanks for watching 2/3 of my children 3-days-a-week, encouraging them, disciplining them, being an example for them, making sure they don't get hurt and tending to them when they do."? I am not so sure what that answer is, but this year whatever our "thanks" ends up being it will be decorated with yo-yos. I have been making them for the past two days during quite time. It is almost as much fun as knitting. I think I just like busy hands (mine -not the kiddos). This is as far as my idea got before I was side-tracked. I am thinking a gift card in the tins and then decorating the outside:

I got a little side-tracked when I though about adding some yo-yos to a tank. I think it turned out cute. Maybe a little too cute (like 4-yr-old cute?). I'll see if I wear it before going any further, even though I have some Amy Butler fabric that would look cute on a white tank or tee.

Have a great weekend!

Eureka!

I had a funny, kind of silly, and very slight of frame librarian in elementary school. Her name was Ms. Tippins. She always seemed fragile due to her small size and soft voice. When teaching us the Dewey Decimal system and getting us familiar with the library she instructed us to say "Eureka!" when we found our book. So, that was the first word I though of when I found this article: Press Alabama Chanin. It is funny some of the odd things we remember. Anyway, I have been looking for this article for months. I know I read it and had the hard copy at one point. We have 50+ magazines floating around our house at any time which made the search so difficult. About twice a year I can't stand it any more and pass on or get rid of heaps and piles of magazines ranging from The Economist to US Weekly ( don't judge!). I'm sure it got tossed during one of those tantrums. Anyway - for those that enjoy Southern culture, food, Alabama Chanin or all of the above - check it out! Have a great weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mommies!!

I'm feeling better

I am feeling better about stuff. My last post did not exemplify anything positive and there are so many positive things around me. I am disturbed by the recycling, or lack of recycling, and I am looking into alternatives. My water is clear, laundry is caught up, children are bathed. All good stuff. My two oldest girls are really growing up. They are tall and lean. No squishy parts to squeeze. When I give them hugs I can feel muscles and bones. They are little girls.

My baby is a toddler with plenty of soft, squishy parts which I take full advantage of and squeeze often. I know these years go quickly.

I am working on another scarf. This one will be a burgandy Malabrigo worsted yarn. I have six more rows and 3600 stitches. I plan on finishing it tonight on my way to see a friend. I am flying to Denver while the girls hang out with their dad for the weekend. I am not sure what he has promised them while I am away, but they aren't complaining about me leaving. It makes leaving a little easier. Be back next week. Have a great weekend.

Toxic

Brown water, recycling abandonment, more brown water. It has been a couple of days filled with disappointment.

This is my washing machine bowl. It is horrible. 5 pm today will be a 24 hour cycle of brown water spewing from our faucets. The water department is supposed to be working on it, but I have not seen an improvement. The upside? Not doing laundry, dishes or baths until the situation is cleaned up. Grrrr! I am fantasizing of living in a green city; recycle containers on street corners, fresh, clean water. Oh yeah - our little city here has decided to give up their recycling efforts. Due to the economic climate, increased recycling costs, blah, blah, it is no longer advantageous. We didn't even make it a full year. All of this is seeping into my blood resulting in a toxic mood.

Surface

If I am not here, and I am often not here, I am either cooking, cleaning, taking care of girl #1, #2 and/ or #3, or knitting. Today blogging won out because I wanted to showcase : Surface !
I am so pleased with this sweater. I am so happy I attempted it! I had plenty of support from my local yarn shop. I first saw the sweater here and fell in love with it instantly.
I get lots of inspiration when I visit Philigry. My photo does not really do the color justice, but it will do for a quick intro. I opted out of button/button holes and will do one large button at the top of the button band with a loop closure. I think it will suit the sweater nicely.
***
Time now to turn my attention to Easter details. I am all Easter-ed out between school and church activities. Hard to believe we still have the actual holiday waiting for us. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

What's in store?

We are on Spring break here. This will be one of two spring breaks. Our next one is two weeks away. It is giving me a taste of summer. I am trying to decide what to do, where to go, and thinking about how we will fill our days.

I want to knit. I bought the yarn for two projects that I would like to complete before summer, but we will see how that goes. The above will be for me. Below will be for Erika and Ainslee. I took them to the yarn store to pick out the yarn.

I am happy with the colors they chose. They would have both picked pink, but I told them pink was not an option. A closet can only have so much pink, and there are so many incredible colors to choose from. They did a great job.

***

The weather has warmed up quite a bit. It is shorts and flip-flops here in SE Texas. We are expecting a slightly cooler weekend, but I am sure it won't stick around for more than a few days.

The warmer weather does mean more outside options for bikes, kites, bubbles, sidewalk chalk. Aidan (above) loves to be in the mix, and the thought of not being able to keep up with her two big sisters has not crossed her mind.

So, while I think about being holed up in a quiet room watching episode after episode of House and knitting away, I know that is not likely to happen. Back to the planning stages for a soon to be hot and humid summer.

Airing out

Our typical morning starts out with this. Sometimes not so messy.
Other times a little messy.

With the warmer weather I have been airing things out. They smell so much better after blowing around outside for a while. Our duvets and bed quilts have all taken a turn in the warm sun.

I have been doing a lot of knitting. I seem to be starting more projects than I finish. I am still working on my sweater, but not with the same fervor. It will definitely be finished in time for the fall which is the next time I am likely to see weather below 70 degrees.

It seems a little odd to be knitting with wool and wool blends while wearing flip flops. I think I need to find a project that requires cotton yarn.

A snack, a visit, and happenings

We have a new favorite snack. It is a tad on the messy side for the baby, but it was a hit. Pop some popcorn (microwave is fine) and spread it on wax paper or a jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with a couple handfuls of dried cranberries. Melt a cup of chocolate chips in the microwave, watching carefully, for a minute or until melted through. Quickly, spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag or zip-top bag. Snip a corner and squeeze on top of the popcorn/cranberry mix. The chocolate will bind the popcorn and cranberries so spread it thoroughly. Let harden and eat. I think this would be fun to make as a party favor for school or birthday parties as well.

A few weeks back we went to Austin for the Austin marathon. It was a short trip and it confirmed my feelings that I definitely want to spend some more time in Austin. It seems like a fun city. While we only spent one night there we packed enough to spend a week! Martin kept asking why we had so much stuff. Hmmm, I wonder. I have given up on packing lightly when traveling as a group of five.

(hotel provisions)

Sunday was race day. We found a spot to cheer on runners and wait for Dad.

Big hugs for the runner, and the end to a fun, although quick, get-away.

Dinner time

We eat in a lot. There was a time when I wished we ate out more, but that time has passed. Three kids in a restaurant is not always fun. Even when their behavior isn't the issue there is always some distraction that keeps me from eating a hot meal. They have to potty, they need a refill, dropped napkins, food needs to be cut, "this isn't what I wanted!", I could go on, but I am sure many of you have heard it all before. So, we eat in a lot. I enjoy cooking when I have an idea what to cook and all ingredients are on hand. An easy meal that we all enjoy is nachos. I try to make them healthy and kid-friendly (no super hot stuff). A few nights ago I made tostada-nachos. I topped corn tostadas with rotisserie chicken, cheddar, olives, queso fresco, cumin and salsa. Bake till warm and cheese is melted. These were topped with lettuce and avocado. Dinner was done! Another recent hit was green curry. This was very easy. I browned chopped chicken thighs, sauteed some onion and followed the directions on the Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste bottle. I added some different veggies (butternut squash, a left over baked potato, and chopped carrots). I made some Jasmine rice and that was that.

I am always on the lookout for quick and healthy options. I try to have everything purchased and thought out in advance so that the evening's witching hour isn't quite so scary. If all else fails then scrambled eggs or pizza delivery is always an option!

Feet and such

I do realize that my blogs border on mundane much of the time, but I keep it going. I keep it going mostly for me, but I do hope it contains some fun or interesting tidbits for someone who might decide to stop by. Having said that here goes another post.



Feet: Erika and Ainslee are 4. They wear a size 10R shoe. Aidan is 15 months and she wears a 6 double wide shoe! Mundane for those who didn't give birth to the three kiddos. Amazing to me! Okay, on to other topics. This is my newest knitting project which I found while reading Philigry. I am in love with this project and knew I would have to give it a try as soon as I saw it. It is going well and I hope to complete it quickly.

I am off to knit. I hope to have a completed sweater to show you soon! Enjoy your weekend.

Hey There

What has happened since I last checked in? My trips to Goodwill have come to a halt, dinners have been made, eaten, some frozen, shared with friends. My "baby" is growing at an alarming speed. Her vocabulary is expanding, her tummy is expanding, she is wanting to hold her own spoon and feed herself, her walk is slowly picking up pace and looking like a jog, she is holding her own and having fun.
My older daughters are asking so many questions (we are in the "why" stage for sure!) that I am not sure I can answer adequately. BTW, what is in a brain? I need to Google that one. The question keeps coming up.

My college Alma mater won the National Championship title - GO GATORS! I have started a new knitting project. And, I am doing my best to take '09 one day at a time. What's going on with you?