Lest I Forget

 I need to find some buttons and the sweater for the new baby will be done!  I made a 6-12 months size according to the pattern, but I used smaller needles since they made my swatch closer to the called for gauge. The color of the yarn is called copper. The first picture is more accurate in that respect, though I wanted to get a close-up of the cables and the i-cord bind off. The bind off made an especially nice finished edge. I am still reading Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. So far, I really am enjoying it. Today I got some very good news, which I needed after the bad news of yesterday. An ultrasound revealed that the placenta has moved far enough away from the cervix that I no longer need to worry about a c-section! Praise God! The bad news? We discovered a chronic leak in the wall of our house that has rotted the wood almost completely away. The repair will be costly. The insulting news? Somehow, the doctors failed to notice that I was now ...

What can spark a child's imagination and desire to color a picture more than a fresh, new box of crayons?  Not much, I tell you.  Since the kids were itching to start the new school year yesterday, I went to pick up new supplies at the store. It was like Christmas as they peered in the bags, squealing and laughing with delight.  This is Jack's drawing of my dad's pontoon boat. He drew it for Sophie. Anna chose to draw herself and two friends picking strawberries. I hope you have a happy, colorful day!

 This morning as I sip my coffee to the whir of the washing machine that will be running all day, I am recalling the past week at the lake with my family. It was mostly good, with a touch of not so good, which really is what I am thinking about today. How life, and the routines of it, can change in an instant.  This was no glamorous Better Homes and Gardens showcase home, which is why I felt at home the moment I walked in the door. It was cozy and we could relax. I didn't think I could relax with my children being so close to the water, but I was wrong. Every morning I snuck up the wooden stairs to the tiny little kitchen tucked away in a corner and started the coffee. Then, I just sat and admired the beauty before me. The calm of the water, the call of the animals to one another, the green that was everywhere.   The days were long and lazy. There was no routine other than doing just what we felt like. We fished from the dock, we tootled arou...

Like I said in my last post, I could not access my blog all week. So I am playing catch up this morning instead of doing all the things I need to be doing. This will not take long, I promise.  I learned to crochet before I learned how to knit. But in the last three years, I have almost exclusively been knitting. Somehow, I saw this crocheted owl on Ravelry one day and knew I wanted to make him.  It is my first thing I have made for the new baby. I cast on this sweater yesterday, in a 6-12 month size, since he most likely won't need it till then.  The books are the start of my summer reading. I will be taking both of these with me on our upcoming trip to the lake. Yes, my kids will be entirely to close to the water, so I am not sure how much reading will actually happen. Notice the broken needle. Therese stepped on it. A new one is on its way, so the dish towel I am making will have to sit until the new needle arrives. May you all have a lovely week...

  For some reason, I haven't been able to get onto blogger all week. I had Sophie switch my browser and amazingly, here I am typing!  These pictures are from Sunday afternoon, in Norfolk. The event was called Opsail 2012. It was a gathering of tall ships and a craft fair all in one.   The kids really liked seeing all the ships. Me? I appreciate their beauty, but I have an irrational fear of the water and my kids being near it. I was nervous and that is putting it mildly. The minute we were off the docks and back on dry land I felt much better.  Each big kid was assigned to a little kid. Olivia is doing a great job of keeping her brother safe.  I did let them loose to play with the ship's wheel, since it was in the center of the ship and the possibility of them falling in the water seemed slightly less likely.  No one is really looking at the camera, except Olivia who is taking a ...

First of all, I am feeling old because Olivia, who is not my oldest child, turned 17 on Friday! How can that be? It seems like yesterday she was this fiesty little toddler, who taught me that I had much to learn about parenting. Her reply when I asked her why she colored on the walls when she was only supposed to color on paper? "It's wall paper. " Her solution to not wanting bangs? Cut them off at the scalp. Now she stands much taller than her mother, getting ready to begin her senior year of high school. I am proud of the young lady she has become. So. I was feeling like I had this no-dairy cooking down to a science. Then I tried to make some desserts recently. Complete failures. One of them I suspect was a misprint in the cookbook. There is no way that 2 cups of liquid ingredients and 2 1/4 cups dry ingredients is going to produce a thick dough that can be rolled out and sliced into bar cookies. Then I tried to make a dairy-free key lime pie for Olivia's birthday...

Thank you to my friend Selena who is a much better photographer than me. At this particular moment, I was trying desperately to see over the rather tall man in front of me.

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for little Therese. She is doing ever so much better this morning. The only down side being that no one told me that steroids could turn my sweet girl into a hysterical, tantrum throwing evil twin at the drop of a hat. I have been assured by the pediatrician that this too shall pass in a few days. This last week has felt like such a test of my faith. I really feel like God is telling me to be more humble. I know this is something I struggle with, thinking I can do it all. I need to surrender my pride and let God (and sometimes other people) handle things. Another thing about being humble. I find myself all too often looking down on how someone else does things, thinking my way superior. I immediately ask God to take this from my heart as soon as I think it, but still, I think it. I wish I didn't. I also wish I was good at quoting verses from the Bible. I know there is one to go with the next part of the story. Yesterday, as I backed...

Please pray for my sweet little Therese who was diagnosed with moderate to severe croup this afternoon. When I got her to the ER her fever was over 104 and she was having trouble breathing. They gave her steroids to help ease the swelling in her airway and for now they let us come home. If she has any trouble breathing tonight, we are to return immediately.