Thursday, May 31

I "heart" spinning!

I thought I'd post quick before going to bed. I'm not sure if I'd have time to tomorrow so I guess staying up a bit late won't hurt ;o) right?!

Tonight was knitting night. I had fun! I brought some rhubarb kuchen, it was gone pretty quick, I think I'll post the recipe here soon. Maybe tomorrow or the next day...Since people have asked for it, of course. Its super easy and yummy! Its a must try if you like your rhubarb.


I finally broke out my spinning wheel today and spun. Oh how I love to spin! I need some more roving.... maybe something with color... can you say birthday wish list? Hmmm.....

Anyways it was a beautiful day out and when C went down for her late morning nap I took my wheel and other two kids out to play. It was great, they played while I did some spinning. I was only out for a little over an hour but earlier tonight I noticed that I got a bit of sun burn. oops, I need to remember that sun screen! I'm so white and I burn so easily. And no it wont turn into a tan, I'll peel and then return to a nice pasty white, with a few more freckles.

Ok so back to the spinning. I had a bit of roving back from the stuff that I was spinning before I had C.... anyways I figured that I should finish it. Silly me forgot to take a pic of it all plyed and done in hanks/skeins. Here it is all spun.

I love the weather, Its so nice to be outside with the kids! They always have a blast. I said I'd never have a sand box.... but lookie what we have here. They j
ust love it. But its so messy. I can't deprive them of a sand box can I?! That stuff gets all over. Oh well It keeps them busy for at least a good half an hour:) Hence, I finished my spinning.

Sorry for the crazy little sporadic post, its getting late, I need sleep!



Tuesday, May 29

FO's and Pictures



So I finished L's little pink shrug thing and put a button on it. It helps to keep it on. Although the next one I make I"ll put the button a bit further down. These go really quickly, I love em! I want to make L a white one and purple one (and maybe some other essential girly colors). I told my niece Lilly that I'd make her one, she wants a pink one too.

With all that has been going on this past week or so I totally forgot to make a wedding gift that needed to be done on Sunday. On Saturday morning Hubby asked if I was still planning on making the wedding gift, for the next day. Luckily I was going out to the shop for sheering days (we had them two weeks in a row)(cute llama pics below). I was able to buy the yarn and knit most of them on the down times. I made them little sweater ornaments for Christmas. I know its kinda out of season but I had done it before and the last couple really liked it, so I thought I'd do it again. This way they can think of their wedding day when they are decorating their tree every year. I also made tiny little hangers, I think they are my favorite part! Then I embroidered the date of their wedding. I also didn't feel bad not spending too much money on them because both hubby and G were standing up in the wedding, just between those two we spent over $200. Weddings are crazy expensive!

Of course being at a wedding gave us a great reason to take some family pics! By the time we did though L was totally ready for bed. I know it doesn't look it but it was 8 o-clock.

G loved having a tux on. He didn't want to get it dirty. I had to tell him that it was OK to sit down to get this pic of him and C. Like I said L was being a stink pot and didn't want to be sit down with them. too bad it would have made a really cute pic of the three of them.

Yes the girls match. Is that bad of me?! I think I'll make them match whenever I can. Secretly I've always wanted to have twins. Ok so I guess its not a secret anymore. I think that would be so much fun, except for the whole pregnancy thing. Its hard enough with one in there!

Anyways I snapped these pics before the wedding. You know, when L was still happy. The best thing about these dresses is that I found them on clearance for $7 each! Not too shabby eh?! I love a good deal!

Other than the wedding things have been kinda quiet lately. I need to get my wheel out and spin a bit, Its so relaxing. I hope you all had a lovely weekend!



Cute llama pics! as promised:)

(click for bigger)







































Bye!

Friday, May 25

we lost a loved one

I'm still here. I just haven't felt like blogging.

Our family had a very hard week. My husband's brother passed away late Saturday night. It was unexpected and quite frankly a shock. It has been so hard going through this and even harder watching my husband and our family go through this. I feel helpless.

But God is good and doesn't make mistakes. All I can do is pray th
at he will help me through this and help his family be comforted in this hard time.

I really want to do something for his family in the way of knitting, but I'm not sure what. I just want to use my talents somehow to comfort them. I was thinking of knitting a big throw with his name in it or something along those lines. But I'm not sure if that is even a good idea. I guess I'll think on it a bit more. If anyone has any ideas I'd be glad to hear them.

I felt like I should let you all know whats been going on. Hopefully I'll feel like crafting again soon.

Thank you in advanced for your prayers!

Saturday, May 19

Sheering days

Today was sheering days out at the shop! It was fun, and actually it is going to be next week Saturday too. From 10 - 4 if anyone is in the area! Come and visit the cute llamas!

I thought I'm bake some cookies to share out at the shop. I actually tried a new recipe! And for those who know me I usually stick to the same old chocolate chip cookies(with a hint of cinnamon). I was pleasantly surprised, they were really yummy!

They were so good I'm going to share the recipe with you all!

My mother actually forwarded them to me a while ago but they
came without a name...

so here they are:


1c. butter
1c. sugar
1c. brown sugar

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2c. flour
2 1/2c. oatmeal (measure then blend in a blender to a fine powder)
1/2tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
12 oz chocolate chips
4 oz Hershey Bar(grated)
1 1/2 c nuts (your choice) *I used walnuts

Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking soda, and powder. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 11 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

They are really yummy, like a cross between a chocolate chip and an oatmeal cookie

I think I'll dub them the Oatmeal Chip Cookie. Sounds good right?!

Ok, so sheering days... here are one of the Llamas new do's. Isn't she cute?!

They are so skinny under all that fiber!

Here is another one before Sheering. I just love llamas, I can't wait until I can move out of the city and have a wee bit of land and have a few animals of my very own! I'm not sure if that will ever happen but you never know.

A fellow spinner and goat raiser brought some of her cute little angora goats(this is just their name, they produce mohair, weird I know)to join in the fun. They are only 7 weeks old! I captured the darker one nibbling on the others horn. I thought it was too cute! (click for bigger, on all pics)

I'd like some of these too. On my land I'd also have some chickens so we could have fresh eggs every morning. I'd probably have to get some sheep to just so I could have some wool too. I'm not asking for much but a few of each type of animal. *grin*

I'd love to live in the middle of nowhere and j
ust live off the land, as much as we could anyways. Have some animals and a great big garden. You know go back to the simple but hard working lifestyle. Hubby would totally go for that too. He loves to hunt too so we'd be covered in the meat department too. So really its just a matter of the funds. I really dislike how almost everything comes down to money. I know its not really in my hands, God has a plan for me and I'm just suggesting what I think I might like. But he is the only one who really knows what will become of me and my dreams of living nowhere raising my animals and growing a garden....


So I singed up to bring in treats to our ABF(adult bible fellowship) tomorrow, and I instantly thought of rhubarb. My MIL gave me this awesome recipe for rhubarb kuchen. Its one of my favorite things ever! The rhubarb came from her backyard too. Anyways it just came out of the oven. It smells soooo yummy! Here is a pic! If we could only send smells through the internet...

Have a lovely weekend.

Friday, May 18

Progress?!

Last night was knitting at the shop. As much as I love to go I sometimes hate to knit there. I know you thinking why would you not like to knit at a knitting night?! well this is why.

I started another one of these capelet/shrug thingies for L because the first one went so fast. I took it to knitting and then returned home again. When I picked it up I saw a huge ugly
mistake. I instantly tried to undo it... but couldn't. Somehow I managed to move the raglan decreasing over one stitch, on one side. I should of taken a pic before i did anything, but sadly i didn't. So I picked up stitches and frogged back to where it was all good.

I didn't think I'd have to think that much about this pattern but i guess looking at it once in a while would have helped.

What I think happened is the stitch marker got moved over one stitch... argh.

Here C is trying to lift her head...





And L's new summer do. It keeps the hair off of her neck and out of her face, this hairstyle is brought to you by Amy:) (*note to Amy, I did three, two on top and one in the back. This way the hair doesn't' fall out) Thanks!

Wednesday, May 16

FO

So this was one quick FO. I used one ball of peaches & creme and size 7 needles. Some how through the wonderful world of blogland I found this pattern, Anthropologie-inspired capelet from craftster. It called for thicker yarn and size 11 needles, but I took a chance and used smaller of both and it worked out perfectly! its super cute! Here is a close up of the raglan sleeve increases. I loved that I didn't have to do any seaming. You could easily do this in one day! I think I might make a few in all different colors!

L is taking a nap right now but I'll take pictures of her in it right after she wakes up. Providing she corporates. *edit* She did!


I joined a group.




I'm really excited about it. I'm glad I'm finally doing something to get back into shape! I've been doing some resistance training for the past month and have just started jogging(as most of you know).

As for the resistance training... He he he *grin* let me just say that an infomercial got hubby and I hooked. We saw the My Gym on TV one day and thought it looked pretty cool. We don't have a lot of room in our house and wanted something small.(Hubby has wanted something like this for a while now. He has always wanted the bow flex.) I looked on-line for it and it was out of our price range. Then I tried e-bay and found one for a reasonable price. This was the first time using e-bay(I know I'm behind the times) and wasn't sure what to expect. I was worried that this thing would be in crappy condition, but to my surprise it looked brand new. Still in the original box. Then I tried it. It totally made my whole body sore. I really like it and have been doing it 3 times a week since we got it.

As for the jogging, I've only been able to go for 15 minutes or so. But I feel better today than the first day. I can actually breath and feel really good afterwards. I've been going in the morning before the kids wake up. It helps get my day going! I even started some laundry before I went today. Go me! Sorry, I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I'm j
ust excited about my lifestyle changes! Blogging about it helps me stay accountable, so I hope you don't mind:o) Maybe I'll start up a regular posting... fitness Fridays... weigh in Wednesdays... stay is shape Saturdays...hmmmm I'll have to think about it! Any ideas?!

Have a wonderful week!

*edit*

I was able to snap a few pics of L! Isn't she a cutie pie?!



Also oh-so-sweet Hubby came home fom work with these in his hands for me! I lov
e lilacs! So pretty and they smell so sweet!

I love spring time!

Tuesday, May 15

crafts revealed


I hope all you mommies out there had a wonderful mothers day... I know I did. The only down side of it was that I had to go to bed early because I had to work in the morning.

I finally get to show you what the kids and I have been working on. Remember the salt dough? well that being transformed into some mothers day gifts for the grandmas and great grandmas.

The grandmas (my mom and my mil) got the big ones and the great grandmas got the little ones. The kids loved making them. G asked why all the girls were getting something. then I told him all about mothers day and fathers day. He keeps asking if its fathers day yet. I better think of something good that they can make for the boys:)

I couldn't just let the kids have all the fun, now could I?! This is the one I made. I like it a lot even though its not the best looking. But I could see making ones for all the different seasons.

Last night we had a fire and roasted hot dogs. I don't know why but there is something so good about a hot dog roasted over a fire. Yummy!

And of course we had marshmallows and smores. I was a little camera happy... enjoy!

































It was so stinking hot out that C got to only wear a one-sie outside. She was laying in the stroller and was having fun sticking her leg out.






















This little girl always gets so messy. throw some marshmallows into the picture and she is super messy. Thankfully she doesn't eat dirt anymore. Really she did. here is proof.

Last year we had dug out some big bushes from the middle of the yard. It left a huge kid magnet... a dirt pile. They had a blast...

I'm in the process of making L a little
caplet. She got to choose the color and type of yarn out of my growing stash. Hubby said that I can't buy any yarn until its all gone. Ha! like that's going to happen. (I do talk to him before any purchases) But I will try to use what I have when I can. If I happen to need a certain kind of yarn that isn't in my stash I'll just have to go and get some.

Kind of like this. I went back to exchange the extra ball of yarn
from G's wallaby and saw that it was on sale. I took it as a sign to buy some yarn for the girl's wallabies. *grin* This is L's wallaby in the making. I took a break on it to make her caplet, I want to finish the caplet first so she can wear it on cooler days when she is wearing just a strappy dress. Its going rather quickly. I just started it yesterday. I think I might be able to finish it tonight or tomorrow. We'll see;o)

till next time!

kNiT hApPy!



Sunday, May 13

Mom, this is for you.

I never really knew what you felt, when you were my mother.
But...
Now I know how much you love me
Now I know the day I was born this indescribable feeling came over you... called love
Now I know how much you worried about me when I was teeny tiny
Now I know what it feels like to be the source of everyday life (feeding and changing diapers:)
Now I know that hearing my cry made your heart hurt
Now I know that hearing my laugh made your heart leap
Now I know how hard it was to punish me
Now I know the feeling in your heart when I first said "i love you"
Now I know why you liked snuggling so much
Now I know why you like hugs and kisses
Now I know how hard it was to tell me "no"
Now I know that you had to set limits
Now I know the proud-ness you had when I made you a picture
Now I know the accomplishment you felt when I said my "pleases and thank yous" without your help
Now I know how hard it was to see me reach a new milestone
Now I know how hard it was to see me grow up
Now I know how happy it made you to see me grow up.
Now I know the joy in your heart when I began to learn about Jesus
Now I know the prayers of your heart for me
Now I know how sweet it was to wake up to my smiling face two inches from yours
Now I know how much you only wanted the best for me
Now I know that you didn't want me to get hurt by anyone or anything

Now I know that you cant control if I get hurt or not
Now I know what it felt like to get mad and yell at me

Now I know how fun it was to dress me up
Now I know how fun it was to do my hair
Now I know how seeing me having fum made you smile

Now I know that you are the best example of a mother that I could have ever asked for!
Now I know that i want to be just like you... A wonderful mother.

Thank you for being my mom

I love you!

Friday, May 11

The garden is in

So I did it. This morning I got up and decided that today was the day I was going to start running. Well i guess I should say jogging. I guess posting about wanting to gave me that extra push. Anyways I went out an ran for about 15 minutes! I have to stare some where, right?! I felt like my lungs were going to collapse and like my legs were going to fall off, but now I feel great! I love how when you exercise you get that fitness high. The energy just keeps giving. Its a good feeling. I can't wait until I'm over that week or two hump where I just want to quit, then I'll be in the habit of it and it hopefully will be smooth sailing from there.

Today we weeded out our garden and used a rototiller in it. Thanks to Heather! In the past Hubby has to dig it up with a shovel and turn it all over. It kills his back. Then we went and bought our starter plants and planted. I love having a garden! All the yummy fresh veggies, I can't wait! G's favorite veggie is broccoli, so this year it is his responsibility. He will plant it, water it and pick it. He is very excited! We will see how long it lasts;o)

Here we are planting his broccoli. As for the jacket on this beautiful day, he had just woke up from his nap and was cold.

Here is a rundown of what we have, from left to right from the back to the front. (click pic for bigger)We have cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, green beans, red peppers, yellow peppers, and green peppers, a few different kinds of large tomatoes, roma tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes and last but certainly not least sunsugar tomatoes which are my most favorite. They are little orange tomatoes that are super sweet!

Last night was knitting out at the shop. I love going its so much fun. A good friend of mine kicthenered the toe of her first sock! She was so excited. She was on top of the world! She even said that when she dies she wants to be buried with it on:o) hehehe too funny! Here is her beautiful sock. You know who you are and I'm so proud of you! You are a wonderful person and knitter.

Hubby told me that it was mothers day in Canada, I'm not sure if it is but for all you Canadians out there (Renee) Have a wonderful mothers day!

Have a great weekend!
kNiT hApPy!