Yeah, I'm still here...

Shedir Hat

Listen folks, I'm BUSY! I don't mean to blog once every 21 days, but lately it just happens. I have things to do. My husband keeps asking me for clean underwear, and I often have to give it some serious thought before I can answer him. I have these boys that continue to need a mother. Again, the clean underwear question....and Ryan, who is currently writing a screenplay to send to George Lucas, keeps trying to tell me that he is incapable of writing a book report for school. Eric is practicing for the Wii Sonic Unleashed World Championships and it is serious work trying to bring that kid back to reality. I mean, he has too much homework and it's not fair that he has to read for 10 whole minutes every day. It's just not fair. So I spend all afternoon being the heavy to ensure I'm not raising two illiterates.

I have Baby S here three times a week, I have baby hats to knit each week, I have my job at the shop each weekend, I have boys to cart to and from Kid's Choir, and apparently we'll be playing basketball again...people, I need a personal assistant. Preferably one that can knit and will also pay me for the privilege of basking in my company each day.

In fact, the only reason I can do this right now is that Baby S went home sick today. And so while I'm very sad for 3 month old Baby S and his daddy who had to come pick him up, hooray for you because now you get my undivided attention!

I have been doing some knitting in the evenings. My two chickens are done, and I still have the original chicken, for Heidi, left to knit, but now I'm thinking of blue and white with yellow accents. Which means I need to buy some blue. Because I truly don't think my attention span can handle a 3rd black, white, and red chicken.

This Shedir hat is for my cousin, Lora. I picked this pattern because I wanted to make something pretty, and I'm using Debbie Bliss Prima (80% bamboo! and 20% wool) in black, which I thought would be a great color for Lora, but is clearly going to be the death of me. Ever tried to knit multiple cables in black? At night? It has now become a personal challenge and I Will Knit That Hat.

Again, just to mix things up and challenge myself, I am knitting these little court jester hats out of my leftover sock yarns. Because I need more challenges in my life. I have a whole bag of sock yarn remnants and it seemed like a fun idea to no only use up my stash, but try to sell them at one of my shops in the process. And to knit something other than a cupcake. You know I love my cupcakes, but I need a little variety now and then.

Felted Snowman

...and why oh why has it taken me so long to get on this project?!? I think I bought this pattern two years ago. The arms are beaded, there is a pattern book for all the little accessories...what have I been waiting for? I actually think they are going to be somewhat labor intensive, but holy smokes people, these snowmen must be knit!

...and more socks

And of course you all know me well enough to know that I have some socks on the needles. Always and forever, knitting socks. The pink socks are for Penny, my dear friend who moved away and now lives in North Carolina. And I promised her a pair of socks an embarrassingly long time ago. She chose pink and I love knitting with pink! Pink Pagewood Farms wool and bamboo sock yarn! The gray Alpaca Sox socks are, again, for Scott. I really need to get back to those...

That's it folks. That I'll I have to tell you right now. I have three hours that I can call my own until I have to get those little hooligans from school and remind them once again that I did not assign the homework so yelling at ME about it will get you nowhere but I would be happy to discuss your refusal to do the homework at your parent/teacher/student conference oh you don't want me to do that? And please tell your father to hunt for his own clean underwear because I'm busy fixing you all a dinner that is designed to ruin the rest of your evening because I'm secretly trying to poison you.

The magic never ends.

Weekly update...sort of...

Scott's socks
mmmmm...Alpaca!

This babysitting business is getting in the way of my blogging time! Don't get my wrong, Baby S is a cute little bugger, but between babysitting, knitting hats, and cruelly forcing my own children to do their homework, I haven't had much time to blog this week.

So we'll do this in one fell swoop. First off. Scott's socks. Made with Alpaca Sox. Yummy! I'm doing a broken rib pattern from the Knitted Gifts book, which I think is very masculine. Should keep him nice and toasty during those Montana winters!

KAL Chicken
This is my sample chicken for the shop!

Second, I'm on to my next chicken! I delivered Chicken #1 to my cousin the other day and it was well received. Her life really sucks right now. Really sucks. And so it made me happy to see her giggle when I gave it to her.

This next chicken is for our Knit-A-Long at the shop. I hope people do it. It's a fun project and the goal is to "borrow" the finished chickens and display them all. I need to get this thing done to rouse some excitement about my brainstorm.

Third: School. School is good. Both boys love school. However. Ryan has lots of homework. Which he knew about when we agreed to sign him up for the Science/Tech program this year. And in theory he still understands that it's his responsibility to do this homework. Except for all the excuses he comes up with each and every day. So now I've taken the tactic that all homework must be done before any other activity because he has proven that he can't be trusted to get it done in the evening. Because then, you know, he's tired. And it's not really fair that he has to read for 40 minutes each night. And it's also not fair that I'm forcing him to be alone when he reads because Ryan is fully capable of reading chapter books while the tv is on and his brother is playing the Wii and mom and dad are talking....I'm really mean.

At the Tacoma Dome
Wow. We look like we're almost 41.

Fourth: My husband was a nice guy and took me to Tacoma to see Keith Urban, as a surprise. Now, I'm not usually one for surprises, but this kind of surprise, well, he can show up with those tickets anytime he wants!

This nice couple asked us to take their picture, and then they offered to take our picture. And it turned out like this. Two people who look like they are about to turn 41.

Keith Urban Concert

And then we went to the concert, which was one of the loudest events I have ever attended. Including the last Keith Urban concert we went to. But it was very very fun. And again, Mike had to secretly admit that he had a great time.

Of course, part of Mike's enjoyment this time was the crowd of people in our immediate area. Sure there were plenty of people our age, and plenty of young blond girls who shriek a lot, but, and we still can't figure this out, there were several senior citizens in our section. Not just one or two. Several. And by senior citizens, I mean people you would never expect to see at this concert. Honestly, several people in their 80's. They had canes.

The couple right next to Mike, well, they had to be well over 80. And they sat still, not moving a muscle, the entire opening act (Little Big Town) as well as the concert itself. The wife put the binoculars to her face when the lights went down, and sat in that position for 3 hours.

The couple with the cane, same thing. The woman in front of us was the best. She was old. Old. I'm not trying to be offensive here. Truly--this woman was 85 years old. And she was having the time of her life. She boogied the night away for 3 solid hours. She was having way more fun than the 55 year old next to me who complained about everything the entire night. Everytime she wanted to get out, she let me know how inconvenient it was to have me there, she got mad at the people behind her for touching her chair, she got mad at the people in front of her who stood up when Keith came out on stage, and she ended up leaving early with her daughter, who I think actually wanted to stay.

A real treat, that one was.

Well, apparently I need to wrap this up. Ryan has been waiting all afternoon to play RuneScape on my computer (yes, the boys have a computer, but we have computer issues right now. Ryan has my old computer which has sound, but no wireless card. Eric has the world's oldest working computer, and it is connected to the internet, but for some reason it's not today, and you can't actually do anything on it anyway, and my new computer works great but has no sound at the moment and apparently Vista or whatever I have won't let me open certain email programs for no reason and I can't print....) and I seem to be ruining his afternoon, on purpose, by using my very own computer for my own personal use. So, any issues you have with this disjointed post--blame Ryan.

Look What Just Hatched!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

3 Screwballs

Before I dive into why I do a little dance each morning as my children get on the school bus, I have to show you all this picture. A few weeks ago we spent the day at Blake's house, babysitting, and the boys watched Shrek in 3-D.

I wanted to show you this picture that very day, because this is a picture that must be shown, but it was being held hostage inside my cell phone.

This picture has nothing to do with anything I want to share with you today, but just look at those 3 boys for a minute.

Completed Socks!
Kristin's purple Narragansett socks and
Tiffany's New Year's Lights socks

Anyhoo--as I was saying, school is back in session. And having my boys spend 6 hours a day, apart from each other, in different classrooms, is the best thing that could have happened to our family right now. For the last couple of weeks, they have done nothing but fight. They are sick of each other, sick of me, sick of their best friends the neighbor kids who they saw every single day this summer, sick of this house....they are both loving school. And then they come home completely exhausted and by dinner time are fighting again. Perhaps boarding school is the answer?

Eric is becoming much more confident in his old age, being a big 1st grader and all. He has been standing up to his bossy older brother a lot lately and laying claim to what he feels is rightfully his. And Ryan doesn't like that at all. No siree. Things were much easier around here when Ryan ran the show.

And recently they both ramped up the dinnertime arguments, complaining incessantly about each and every single solitary thing they are served. Treating us as if we poisoning them. Cries of despair. Every. Single. Night. And we're talking about pizza. Tacos. Spaghetti. Not the liver and onions I had to endure at their age. So Mike and I lowered the boom and no one is allowed to say ANYTHING about what they are served. Not a word. Eat it or don't eat it. But say NOTHING. Unless you want to say "thank you mom for the delicious meal. May I have more?" you are not allowed to utter a word about the completely appropriate kid-friendly meal I have served you.

So yes, having both children in school full time--things can only look up from here.

As you can see, I did manage to finish 2 pairs of socks!

Hee hee hee hee hee

And holy toledo look at this chicken! It just needs eyes and a tail and then Lora, it's all yours! This chicken pattern was a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that we're going to use it as a Knit-A-Long for the shop. Which means I have to get going on my shop sample pronto. I envision a whole display window of chickens and it makes me giggle. I hope customers think it's as compelling as I do.

And in other happy news, my husband was a sneaky guy and bought tickets to the Keith Urban concert for this Saturday night. He bought them months ago, when we were jobless and destitute, so I have no idea how he pulled that off. But he did. And it was suppose to be a surprise, but he spilled the beans when I started reminding him about the dinner party we're to be hosting at the exact same time. So now dinner is at a different house, sans us, and I'll be hosting next month instead. I am actually very disappointed to miss this time with my dear friends, because I had to miss last month's dinner group as well, but with a ticket and license to drool, you won't hear me complaining.

I started babysitting 2 month old baby S yesterday, and he's lying here on the floor next to me right now, having a little conversation with me about how much he likes to kick his skinny little legs. So I better wrap this up before we have to walk to the bus stop and get those cranky boys. It's evil half-day Wednesday you know.

Day 1 of Freedom

First Day of School!

Getting the bus number tatooed on his hand

Ryan, Eric, and Philip
Philip is Eric's buddy from kindergarten. You will notice that Philip is 2 heads taller than both boys. I'm not sure if this showcases how tall Philip is, or how short my boys are!