Lest I Forget

There are currently two projects in my proverbial knitting bag. Neither are actually in a bag. One sits by me at my desk in the classroom. A row here, a math lesson there. That's how it goes. And so it goes slowly. The other is a gift and therefore it receives more of my attention. It also travels well and I have memorized the pattern, so it is going much quicker. Mondays and Wednesdays find me waiting for the middle two kids at play practice. Much of the time, the youngest two fall asleep on the way. So I put on my playlist, pull out my knitting, and sit in the car until sleepy little people wake up. The pattern is Saroyan on Ravelry. You can find my notes here . Joining Ginny , as always. The Giveaway: When Peter was a baby (how did he all of a sudden become a toddler?), I made him a sweater. I came across it the other day while sorting clothes to give away or put away, just in case. I didn't want to pack it away, possibly to not use it again, thus the giveaway...

I love this time of year. Winter is a distant memory. Everything is bursting into new life in vibrant shades of green. But mostly I love spring because of all the new little souls receiving Jesus for the first time in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Jack is one of those little souls. Oh, he looked so sweet in his slightly too big suit with his hands folded solemnly, looking up at the priest and whispering "Amen". My heart was filled with joy as I gazed at this little boy, who somehow went from a tiny babe in arms to a young boy, enthusiastically anticipating his first time receiving Jesus. He wrote me a letter earlier this week. Full of misspellings, yet full of love, expressing his excitement. Anna got him a card and wrapped up one of our prayer books. I asked Barbara if she would make a rosary for him. It is absolutely beautiful, as I knew it would be. Jack had our priest bless it right after Mass. My dear friend Misha's son also received his First Holy Communion at ...

Monday found us packing the car for our first big excursion out of Germany. We poured over travel books, and the possibilities were endless. How could we pick? But in the end, we settled on Northern Italy. Venice, Padua, and Verona to be precise. In preparation and to save some money, I made and froze three meals for the crock pot, made three loaves of bread, and packed some of the pantry staples (cinnamon, jelly, etc.). Next time, I will add olive oil and some more spices. We found a house through Homeaway.com again. It was fifteen minutes outside of Padua, with the train station being 3km away that could whisk us to Venice in an hour. It was a long drive, made even longer by encountering several traffic jams, some blizzard like conditions in the alps, and getting lost in the town where we were staying. It was dark by the time we arrived, the kids were starving, and we were all cranky. We quickly met with the owners of the house, took care of the business of payment and walked acr...