I'm back!

We went on a nice vacation all thanks to modern technology! Travel sized DVD players. Mom, Dad, how in the world did you travel with out it? With five kids!? You must have been crazy;-)

We all had a great time! I got to see my sister and her family, and we met for the first time Bella. What a sweetie! She warmed up to us rather quickly, and wanted to be held. And Madison has gotten so tall since we last saw her. She is now in school, and is learning to read! It was great visiting with everyone. We even saw family from my dads side of the family and my moms side. One of my Uncles rented a house for all of us, and I think there were 19 of us in the house at one time. It was so much fun. There was a hot tub right outside of the house. It was really cool to be able to sit outside and see the beautiful snowow still while being toasty warm!

(Uncle Tom, with Bella and Leah)

We had a slight change of plans, and decided to go from Oakland MD to Buffalo NY. My dads side of the family lives there. My Aunts boyfriend of 20 yrs (not quite my unclee, but we still knew him very well) passed away the Friday after thanksgiving. He had been sick and had many problems for years now, he was still young, only 65yrs old. It was a sad reason, but we got to visit all of my family, most of which hubby had never met. It was good to see everyone.

We drove back on last Wednesday, and arrived home around 10 at night. One nice thing about all the driving was that I had a good amount of time to knit! I finished my leaf lace socks, and I'm very happy with them! The downside... It gets dark out by 5-o-clock. I felt like I was wasting precious knitting time while I was just sitting there in the huge van watching kid movies(too keep the boy happy). At one point I actually turned around to knit by the light of the DVD player. It wworked but it was really awkward, it didn't last for long. I decided that the next time I go on a long trip I'm going to buy a necklace that has a light on it, so I'll be able to knit in the dark.

Things have been busy since our return. Our church had a Christmas brunch where women decorate the tables and there's speaker afterwards. My friends and I decorated two tables, it was stressful but fun. The brunch was on saturday, so thursday and friday was busy with table stuff. because of course we are last minute kind of people;-) I haven't been able to keep up with all the chores, but I don't think I ever really did*grin* There is always so much to do and so little time. And then there is knitting:)

A few days ago I received a wonderful package from my secret pal! I had temporally forgotten about it. Secret pal... i don't have to call her that anymore, her name is Katie, go ahead and check her out! Ok are you back now?! Well she sent me tons of goodies. First of all she sent me some dye your own yarn, (worsted weight) and some kool-aid that I'm planning on making a Sophie bag out of. I'm really excited about that one! next are two skeins, in a beautiful cranberry color, of essential from knit picks. More socks! Gotta love that! Two candles, one french vanilla, the othere black cherry, both yummy smelling. Two cute little ceramic pumpkins, one of which broke on the way. Oh yes, and some chocolate covered potato chips, very very good. I advise you try some if you haven't had the pleasure:-) How could i forget. She was kind enough to send some gifts for the kiddos. Too sweet. For L, a musical crawl-along. And for G the ever popular Little People. They both loved their gifts! Thanks Katie, you rocked! You can be my secret pal anytime!

Knitting Updates:

I Almost for got. I started a new pair of socks, out of some Opal hubby gave me for our anniversary. For this pair I tried a new method, toe up. Allena showed me while we were up there. She even taught me how to crochet! How cool is that?! I made s dishcloth out of some orange cotton yarn we found in my grandma's attic. Allena and I searched through the attic for knitting stuff and found a few things. I got a couple crochet hooks and a circular needle, with the old package and everything! The circular needle still had half a dishcloth on it:-) I Also started my manos throw... I think that's it!




Happy knitting!