Happy Birthday Anna!

Happy birthday my sweetest Anna Marie! You have blessed my life with your precious spirit! I have become a better person because of you. I can remember the day you made me a mom like it was yesterday. How I loved to hold your little baby body next to miss and kiss your head and whisper promises of the future to you. How I now love to hold you to me, kiss your head, and still whisper sweet promises to you. You have always had an adventurous spirit. Happy birthday!

My sweet Anna turned 11 years old today. I can't believe I've been a mother now for 11 years! How time flies. I still feel like I just graduated high school.

So, I added some of my FO's on the sidebar. I added a pattern I wrote up for Madalyn's birthday. Don't you just love that photo of her. lol. She was trying to take a pose for the photo like we did for the photo shoot. The photographer was trying to get us to look away from him, like just slightly over his shoulder and stuff. Madalyn did a great job, but she looks a little forlorn. You can take it as her trying to model for me. hehehe. Gotta love 'em.

We are going to celebrate Anna's birthday tomorrow as Tim has to work late tonight. Should be tons of fun. Sunday we are going over to a friend's house to play cards. I'm jumping up and down as giddy as a school girl. How I long for adult interaction. The only adult in this house is me and I get bored talking to myself or tired of the arguments. (What did you just say? I told you to shut up!) Tim gets a little worried when that happens. Oh, that's right... Tim is physically an adult. I should say that I long for adult minds interaction. snicker. Anyway, dinner is ready, shepherd's pie, and the kids are circling like wolves. :)

Tisket Felted Basket

Tisket Felted Basket
4 skeins Cascade 220 or approximately 900 yards feltable wool
Size 13 needles

Yarn is double stranded throughout entire basket.

gauge: 2.5 stitches per inch

Cast on 14 stitches.
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: (RS) k1, M1, knit till 1 stich remains unworked, M1, k1.
Repeat row 1-2 until you have 20 stitces.
Work even for 3 rows.

Row 3: (RS) k1, M1, knit till 1 stitch remains unworked, M1, k1 (22 sts).
Work even until piece measures 9.5 inches from cast-on ending with a WS row.

Row 4: (RS) k1, SSK, knit until 3 stitches remain unworked, k2tog, k1 (20 sts).
Work 3 rows even.

Row 5: (RS) k1, SSK, knit until 3 stitches remain unworked, k2tog, k1.
Row 6: Purl
Repeat rows 5-6 until 14 stitches remain.
Leaving stitches on needle and with RS facing, pick up and knit 32 stitches to cast-on edge. Pick up and knit 14 stitches on cast-on edge. Pick up and knit 32 stitches down side and join in the round (92 sts). PM.

Round 1: knit
Round 2: k7, M1, *k23, M1* 3 times, k16 (96 sts).
Knit 4 rounds even.

Round 3: k8, M1, *k16, M1* 5 times, k8 (102 sts).
Knit even until sides measure 8 inches.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 1 round.
Purl 1 round.
Cast off in knit next 28 stitches, k11, cast off in knit next 40 stitches, k11, cast off remaining 12 stitches.

Handle:
Join yarn to 1 set of 11 stitches.
Row 1: k6, bring yarn forward, slip 5.
Repeat until handle measures 27 inches.
Bind off both sets of 11 stitches together using the 3 needle bind off technique.
Weave in ends and felt to size/look desired.

It's going to be a great day!

That's what I woke up saying. It is going to be a great day!

Ok, so I last blogged on Friday. I wish I've done better blogging. Anyway, so Saturday started off great. We had been playing badminton off and on all day. I finally won a game, woo hoo! I was so excited!!! I think my batting average is 1%, hehehe. I was just sitting down to blog I was so excited. Rowan and Bella were playing in our coat closet. Cutie bugs. I pick up my laptop and Rowan starts screaming in front of me. He had a hanger hanging out of his eye and he's trying to rip it out. I started screaming at Tim. Madalyn is on the couch screaming and totally flipping out. I throw down my laptop and run over to him as he's madly flailing. I pull the hanger out which is now hanging on his lower eyelid. I sit down with him putting pressure on his eye. I just know he's blind in that eye and expect to see blood everywhere when I move my hand. Tim finally walks out of the bedroom, that's where he's freaking with EQ, and says, "whasshappening?" Madalyn and I both start blabbering to him. He grabs Rowan, checks him out, then sits down to munch on some watermelon with him!!! I can't believe it. He's unharmed! Tim hadn't even realized anything was wrong because he couldn't hear over his 7 point computer sound system. grrrr. Anyway, I had to lay down because I was blacking out. I've rarely been that scared! Madalyn packed Rowan around for the rest of day. She was pretty shaken up over it.

So, Sunday. We went to the photo shoot. I was hoping that they wouldn't need me, right? Well, they did so I helped out. I don't know how many shots they'll be able to use from us. Anna was thrilled to do some modeling. Isabella was uncooperative. Rowan didn't model anything as the sweater's neckhole was too small. Lily got to model a sweater and a hat. Even Tim got in on the action. We weren't expecting that so don't know how many good garment shots they got from him as he was wearing Hawaiian shorts... doesn't complement large heavy winter sweaters. lol. I even forgot to take out my piercings, sorry bout that! So I call on Monday to see how they turned out. Like I thought. Not gonna be able to use a whole lot of the shots, but they want to know if I'm comfortable being on the cover!!! I'm ok with that... really I am... I'm just so super self-conscious that I would never choose for myself to be on the cover. I'm the type of person that goes to a party and then spends the next 3 days going over every bit of conversation to see if I sounded stupid, ignorant or just plain tard. *sigh*

Monday felt like a total waste to me. I didn't get any homeschooling finished before we had company. We had a couple o' grandmas and other relatives over. Then I realized that I HAD to go grocery shopping. crisis level here. By the time we got home the day was practically over. But, yummmmmmm we had honey salmon, baby greens and peas for dinner.

So that sort of catches us up. Feel better? I do. hehehe.

Fiber world... I bought some more yarn. (hide my face) More wool to try out on soakers. It's for business, that justifies it, right? I haven't done a whole lot of knitting or crocheting. I finished the new Harry Potter book yesterday. I was a little disappointed with the size of it. I thought it was going to be a big book. 650 pages of large print doesn't count as a big book to me. I read the first 1/4th while taking a bath. I finished the book in less than 2 days all while playing badminton, homeschooling, shopping, etc. Normally I sit down and read a book in one sitting. hehehe. Anyway, so knitting. Have about 9 inches more to go on the pillow cover. Hope to finish that up in the next couple of days. Then finish the scarf. I am *so* torn. I keep buying yarn. I'm not buying it nearly as fast as I used to. I have this *need* to move to Ireland though. I'm hoping to move there in 8 years (when my oldest can choose to come with us or stay here with her dad). I cannot ship my whole stash over. I just won't. But my only options are 1)use it up and stop buying more until it's all used up 2)sell it off or 3)pay for it to go into storage. I'm rooting for option 1, but I'm too undisciplined I'm afraid.

Time to get off the cpu and tend to my little ones. Time for schoolwork and boobie munching (breastfeeding). See you all next time at the Crazy Station. *waves*

Cabled Shrug

Ha ha! I finished it! In less than 2 weeks. It is an FO, not a UFO. So there dork!!! I finished the knitting on Wednesday and blocked it out. I sewed it up on Thursday. I got it done in 12 days total. hee haw! You can see a photo of the rest of it down below. Looks a little patchwork-y, doesn't it. That would be thanks to the Manos. Each skein was a slightly different color even though it all came from the same order. One of the skeins was quite a bit darker than the rest. Most of it blended with the first washing. Unfortunately the yarn also faded quite a bit. I am hoping that with time that it will all blend together. If it doesn't I'm going to try to over dye the whole thing. I love it though. Perfect for someone who doesn't wear a coat in the snow. hehehe. So now I'm working on the Ruffles scarf and a crochetted pillow cover. I'll post the pattern when I finish it. I have the pattern written up, except for the buttonhole band. I'm crocheting it in aweful Red Heart. No flaming please. I know better than to use that stuff. I have an afghan that I WILL finish it in even if it kills me. The pillow cover matches. Then I will never have to touch the stuff again. lol.

Tman was gone for part of this week. He was in Provo, Utah at Novell's headquarters on Tuesday, Wednesday and came home on Thursday. I missed him so much! Although, I had to laught at him. He tells me that he felt bad about leaving me with 7 children. all alone. with no break. Right? First, I'm alone with them 5 days a week until 6 p.m. I'm pretty good at hiding from them for that many hours anyway, snicker. Second, while he was gone I didn't have the frustration of dealing with all the kid issues by myself while he plays EQ2 all night long. It was easier when he was gone as I didn't get frustrated with him. lol.

Friends are having a photo shoot next Sunday for their next newsletter for their yarn shop. They asked if my little ones can be in it. They will have so much fun doing that. They asked me to be in it. I'm hoping they asked me just so they could get my kids, lol. I have such a hard time showing people my photo. My face gets so fat looking with excess weight. Still 45 pounds to lose. I haven't lost any weight this month. What a total bummer! No, I'm not dieting or exercising. I'm hoping that it will just get lost. lol. I almost had my daughter wear my shrug for the photo above, but broke down and had hubby take these shots for me. I know its over-exposed. Blaim the lily white skin on that one.

Roast Beast anyone?

I'm sitting here talking to my oldest, Anna, about music. I recently purchased a Coldplay CD and Cure's 2004 CD. I said that the Cure is really old and has been around since I was a kid. Grace says, "you was a kid?" Yes, momma was a kid. She's always telling me that she's gonna grow big and grandma is gonna grow small like her. lol. In many ways, grandma IS growing small like her. snicker. So then Anna asks, "what's for dinner?" Before I can say enchiladas Grace answers back "Roast Beast!" lol.

"What's for dinner?" The single most asked question in this house. It's like the kids wake up and decide whether or not the day is going to be good by the dinner menu.

I was informed by my oldest that I'm lazy. Man, was I upset! We sat down for a discussion. I found out that I'm lazy because I don't help her with her chores!!! She's almost 11 years old! So we added up the minutes it took for her to do an excellent job on her chores. Ha! I wish! Like that ever happens. Anyway... 26 minutes. A day. I explained to her that some days I work from the minute I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Often with multiple children. So, it's 1 p.m., we're chatting, right? I ask her how much time I've spent doing things I want to do. I had knit 2 rows on my shrug. Less than 10 minutes if you don't count my shower. I think according to kid standard I should count that though... :p So then I ask her how much time had she spent doing things she wanted. An hour and a half. And since we'd already done our chores and schoolwork, she had 4.5 hours till dinner time to do whatever she wanted. Oh, the misery and agony of being a child. How I wish to be punished and put on a child's schedule. lol. To sleep... like a child... instead of with 3 children... *sigh* Life would be so good. hehehe. I don't think there is a more challenging job out there. To be a parent. A good parent. But to be a great parent... I know the older I get, the more children I have, the better I get. It's a long road with a precious reward at the end of it. The whole journey... the most precious treasure of all!

Death By Shuttlecock?!?

T-man and I have been playing badminton almost every night now for about a month. Yesterday, he starts making fun of me for flinching every time the birdie (shuttlecock) comes at me. Ok, so he makes fun of me for just about everything, but hey, we're talking about badminton, right?

Well, I can't handle playing out in the bright sunlight. Playing completely blind. He slams the birdie straight at me... and... Bam! Right in the eye!!! If I end up with a black eye I'll... I'll... I don't know what I'll do! Maybe take photos and hold them for blackmail.

"...really now, I think you have plenty of yarn to run a freakin' internet store..." Bam! Out comes the photos and I'll do something like clutch my eye remembering the pain... hehehehe.

Now I'm blind from the sun and the attack of the shuttlecock. I start wandering blindly towards our front steps so that I can clutch madly at my eye when POP I step on a slug!!! Oh how grody! So now he's laughing at me because of the sun, the attack, and the slug. Is my only value to you of that of entertainment? Why, oh why? Why have *I* chosen to hitch my wagon to this madman? He tries to justify all of this by bringing up the things I do to him. Come on! How does pouring water down his shorts compare? Or even spitting water all over him? I mean, even waiting in the dark so that I can scare him doesn't compare.

Now the plotting begins... how can I extract my revenge? Nothing simple. Nothing he can expect. Muh-ah-ah-ah-ah........ .

Help, my 3 year old has a fetish already!

Grace runs up to me yesterday all excited. "Mommy, mommy!" I was cabling at the moment so didn't look up till I heard... "mommy, look at my dick!" I think I got whiplash from looking up so fast. hehehe. Like her dick? It's such a lovely dick. Here's a better one. A couple of weeks ago she runs up to me and says, "Mommy, there's a huge penis in my room!" I asked her to repeat it with this sense of panic. I mean, what the heck is a huge penis doing in her room. "No, mommy, there's a huge penis out my window!" Great, in broad daylight, in our little neighborhood, there's a freak flashing... what else am I to think? I run into her room and ask her to point to it. Outside her window... is.... a.... bee nest! *sigh* Gotta love 'em. If they aren't doing something, they are saying something. hehehe.

My cabled shrug is coming along. I am working on it diligently so that I can move on to other projects that I'm desperate to start. T-man says Sculley and Mulder are investigating. He says they are certain a UFO is about to land in our garage. That's where I store all my unfinished projects. As I'm sitting outside with my little ones and Gracey's stick I hear the theme song from X-Files playing in our bedroom. He had remotely logged in and turned the song on his computer. What a tard!


I received my KnitPicks order today. 5 skeins of lace weight yarn and scarfStyle. Omgoodness! There's a ton of scarves I HAVE to knit up in there. Life is way too short. I soooo wish I was independently wealthy! Have a household staff, have a few personal assistants, and all the money to do all the things I want to do. Wouldn't that be nice. Wake up to a clean house. Have breakfast waiting for us all. Clean clothes sitting out. I could school the kids first thing in the morning and then have the rest of the day for fun, cuz hey, I don't have to cook, clean, nothing I don't wanna do. I have so many knit designs running around my head. I could have someone sketch it out after I describe it to them. Another could swatch it up for me. I could write up the pattern and then have someone knit it up to test out my pattern. That's only the items that I don't want to knit myself. Oh, how I could go on!

Well, Lily woke up and is STARVING, wasting away to nothing. Gotta run.