Lest I Forget

I am joining Ginny's yarn along again this week. I temporarily put down my knitting needles and picked up a crochet hook. It had been a while, but this pattern was so cute, I just had to try. The first attempt was downright depressing. There was a huge bulge on one side. The second attempt wasn't much better. On the positive side, I can whip one of these up fairly quick, so I don't feel guilty making this many useless booties. The third time, I made some changes to the pattern and made it look much more like the picture. Which brings me to a question. Is it because I am crocheting left-handed that the pattern would not work for me the way it is written? I just figured it would be a mirror image type thing. I know I say this all the time, but I love my library! I finished the book on the top, Made From Scratch, and it inspired me to check out all the books beneath it. I mentioned to Tony that the book says you can keep a few chickens successfully in your backyard and get en...

Today my son would have been 11 years old. We celebrated by going to Dairy Queen for ice cream. I believe he would have approved. We'll be going to historic Jamestown and Yorktown this weekend for more fun in honor of Ben's birthday. We always try to plan something fun that he would have enjoyed doing. On Sunday, as we were driving home from Virginia Beach, my ipod was playing some of my favorite music. (This is the part where I admit that in my college days, I was a bit of a free spirit. Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead cassettes made up the vast majority of my collection.) My man Bob started singing "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". It starts out like this: "Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?" I immediately thought of Ben, and in the next moment, Tony had reached over and squeezed my hand. My husband is not a huge displayer of emotion, so this meant A LOT to me. I am no Bob Dylan, but I had the idea to fix the song to fit our story. Here is my tribute to ...

Armed with only the carseat his mother brought inside for a much needed cleaning, and a map of the route to the moon which has been disguised as a dictionary, the intrepid space explorer Jack is preparing to blast off. Accompanying him, but not of her own free will, is the baby. It appears she is tethered to the rocket. Good luck to these mighty space travelers!

and because our 19th anniversary is a few weeks away, I am taking a stroll down memory lane. By she, I mean the lovely Hallie . When I was a little girl, I remember seeing a picture of my parents, hand in hand, with glowing smiles, exiting the Church on their wedding day. It was in my grandmother's house. I fell in love with the dress then. When we pulled it out of storage while planning my wedding, I knew as I soon as I put it on that it was the dress. I love the brocade lace overlay. The pretty flowers that are so simple, yet they make the dress. That is me. Simple. Not fancy or elegant. Boy! When you are gazing into each other's eyes for the first time as husband and wife, you have no idea what a crazy journey you are about to begin. The good and the not so good. But mostly, it has been good. When we got married, all my grandparents were still living. One of my favorite memories of that whole weekend was the morning of the wedding. We were trying to get everyone to the Chur...

Here we go... Flowers from my husband. Where I make my weekly menu Did you ever watch "The Facts of Life"? Those skates never come off! Chicken pot pie before baking.... ...and after! I have piano students again! These keys are nearly 100 years old. Freshly laundered diapers! Join Barbara in capturing everyday life!

I made this! What is it, you ask? Well, it is a case for all my knitting needles. I had seen some on Etsy, but boy were they pricey. Using leftover fabric from other projects, I put this together. I made two rows of pockets for needles and some larger ones for other notions I frequently need while knitting. I left enough fabric at the top to fold down so the needles won't fall out when it is rolled up. You could organize them in any fashion, but I sorted according to size. I like being able to lay my hands on the needed size quickly. I am no seamstress and it is not perfect. But it is what I wanted and best of all, it was not $42.00. I made it with my own hands. I feel domestic, crafty, and resourceful. And that is good.

This past week, I needed something sort of easy and mindless to knit. I found a pattern for a baby toy and it was the perfect project. I have finished the knitting and only have to bind off and stuff the toy now. I had to sit in many doctor's waiting rooms this week and my mind was restless with worry and not knowing. I had to keep my hands busy. A couple weeks ago, I went to the ER because my right arm was numb and heavy and my right leg was shaking. Then I started having heart palpitations. The doctor was concerned that I might have suffered a mini-stroke and wanted to admit me immediately. But I couldn't. Tony was out of town and I had left Olivia at home with the little ones. It was decided I could go home and the tests would be done over the next week. On Monday, the doctor called to let me know she had an answer for me. My blood tests showed that I have a hyperactive thryroid. Now we know and now we can fix it and move on. Praise God! One of the best things about this y...

How can it be possible that this sweet little baby is 5 months old today? She is such a laid back baby. She goes with the flow. She laughs at the antics of her siblings and at her mama dancing just for her. She is content to watch and wonder at the world around her. See that open mouth? Everything must be examined by placing it in said mouth. Therese is such a blessing. I marvel at her tiny, perfect hands. I can't stop kissing those chubby cheeks. They just beg to be smooched. Her gaze melts my heart. Every time. She pretends to be shy when people smile or talk to her. She will smile back and then bury her head in my shoulder. In the mornings, I know she is awake because I can see her hands and feet waving from the crib. She greets the day so peacefully. Five months. It seems like time is flying by. It seems like she has always been with us.

It's early Saturday morning and I am waiting for the coffee to brew. Therese is beside me playing with "crinkle cow", her favorite toy. The rest of the house is still asleep. I can hear the washing machine twirling it's first of many loads today. I have plans to scour the house till it sparkles with cleanliness. We'll see how that pans out. I also have plans to declutter the little kid's room. It seems to me that room has the ability to multiply stuff. Truly, if I can accomplish these two seemingly simple tasks, I will be most pleased. Oh, yes, Therese can now roll from her back to her tummy. She missed my milestones post by a day. Now my baby is in my arms drifting off to sleep. I will lay her down soon and start breakfast for my family. Bacon, muffins, some fruit and cheese. All these small little things don't seem important, but they are. I had a scare this past week and it made me stop and really examine myself. Unfortunately, there was a lot I want to...

It's been a big week around here. A particular little girl, pictured below, has issues with loose teeth. As in, they freak her out. She won't let anyone touch them and so they hang there like this.... until she finally allows me to touch it and get it out. Ta-da! I admit that I am sad about this milestone. I think kids look so much older once those big adult teeth start coming in. It seems like part of their childhood has ended. She can't wait to look older though. She keeps asking if the missing tooth makes her appear older. The other milestone is that Jack can write his own name. I was happy to see his signature on his artwork. Not so much when I discovered it on the lamp!