4

My sweet pea. My princess. My angel. I could not imagine life without her. I'm so glad we didn't stop at 2. I CAN NOT believe that she's almost 5! This is definitely harder than when my oldest turned 5!

Here's my sweetie with B-Hero. This is her bitty baby. Because of the letter "B" on her cheerleading outfit and because the sailor collar on this dress looks like a superhero cape...she chose the name B-Hero. 4's favorite outfits all come with matching dresses for her doll.

This stuffy has been around for almost 5 years now. The kids call her Butterfly Head. Such a sweet name ;0). Guess that's our thing.

She loves to craft, and cook, and sew, and play with yarn. I am exited for the days we'll get to spend together...just us girls. 4, I hope that you will always know how much you are loved. I pray that you will make a difference in the world like you've made a difference in my life.

And some 4isms. I need to keep track of these. Recently she caught on the the phrase "oopsy-daisy" and now she has broadened the phrase. I'll often catch her with silly variations. Upsy-Daisy, Downsy-Daisy, Insy-Daisy, Outsy-Daisy. So cute. This winter, we've been eating dinner by candle light a lot. It helps the kids behave better at the dinner table somehow. Well, my sweetie insists on calling it a Candle Night Dinner...instead of Candle Light. I love seeing the world through her bright eyes.

6

In 2 weeks, my 6 will be 7! He's my biggest cuddle bug. I love that he's not to big to cuddle with his mom on the couch and read abook. He's the first one to give me a hug and kiss when I'm headed out the door...and at night.

He has a passion for life. Nothing is less than 100%. Sometimes this means injuries...but you're not learning if you don't sometimes get hurt. He's definitely willing to take risks for the sake of adventure.

6, I pray that you will follow 100% after God all of your days. I know that He has big things planned for you.

8

My sweet first born. I CAN NOT believe how fast these 8 years have gone by. It was about this time 8 years ago that 8 started giggling. He was 4 months old when he started laughing...and he's just not stopped. I love his laugh.

I love his heart for others. His quest for knowledge. His desire to love God.

8, I pray that you might always enjoy life. Find time to laugh every day. I pray that you will grow in your love for God and for the world around you. I'm excited to watch you grow into a young man. And...I'm so proud to be your mom.

Olympic Knitting

I didn't decide to knit an afghan until the Tuesday after the Olympics started. So, this isn't something I entered with the Yarn Harlot or in the Ravelympics. But, it is an Olympic feat. I'm hoping to finish the afghan (6 skeins of homespun) for 6's birthday...March 5th. I started into the 3rd skein last night. At this rate (2 skeins per week), I'll finish the afghan 1 week after it's needed. I haven't been working on it much during the day because I don't want him to see me working on it. I'm giving up much of my computer time to knit like a mad woman. Pray I make it. And this officially means that my Hoodie won't be finished by March 1st. I wonder if there's still a hope to have it for St. Patrick's Day?

Ducks

We were able to attend the First Flight Field Trip a little over a week ago. It was so fun! The last time we went was 3 years ago...right after I started this blog. Here's my fans!

The Ducks skated around like during a typical practice. Then they did a skills competition. 6 loved the shots measured for speed. 8 loved the shots judged for style points.

The kids learned great things about math and science. And we got to hang out as a family.

8 was 3 for 3 in blocking shots.

And 6 was 2 for 3! Great job guys!

ACK! and YUM!

ACK! I was going to start the decreases on the 2nd front of my Heathered Hoodie...after 5 repeats of the XO cable pattern...and somehow my gauge on this front was off. AGAIN! So, I frogged it and I'll knit this front for a 3rd time, checking with the other front after each repeat. I think on my next sweater I'll knit both fronts at the same time!

YUM! I got the Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas. I made her scones yesterday morning. We changed out the pecans for walnuts because we have TONS of walnuts from when M picked them in Napa. M is thrilled with this recipe. Maple & Walnuts! The only thing that could make this better for him would be bacon. This is a cruddy time for me not to be eating wheat*. I took one bite. But, I don't want to risk it with eating more.

*Healthwise* In December I gave up gluten. This wasn't some fad diet for me. In recent years, 2 of my cousins have given up gluten and felt tremendously better. For them it helps with the pain of Fibromyalgia. One horrible day in early December I ate a packet of instant oatmeal for breakfast (trying to use up things we have) and a flour tortilla (bean burrito) for lunch. I had the worst stomach pains ever. I know that instant oatmeal has added gluten. I'm sure the tortilla had all sorts of other bad things in it too. I felt like I'd eaten a bottle of glue...yes, that's gluten for you. The next day I gave up gluten. I felt SO much better 48 hours later. For 30 days I was gluten free. Then I added back oats (but only steel cut oats), so I'm not truly gluten free anymore. And I'll have soy sauce if a recipe calls for it. But, I'm still not eating wheat. At a birthday party on the 31st, I thought I'd try a cookie (my Italian friend makes the best Italian Almond Cookies with Icing). I paid for it the next day with a bloated tummy and a tummy ache. So that pretty much will keep me from trying to eat wheat for some time.

Buttons!

A couple of Fridays ago, I got to meet up with a bloggy friend and shop for buttons. You've got to look at her first photo on Button Hunting. I wish I'd thought to bring my camera to the shop. Actually I was running out of the house after dropping the kids off with M, and I didn't even grab my WIPs to match the buttons to the yarn. Even without the projects in mind with me...I was able to find buttons for my Heathered Hoodie. This green is the closest I could photograph...the yarn & buttons are really a true kelly green.

I could only find 4, but I doubt that I would ever have 5 buttoned, so I just won't knit the 5th button hole. Look how great the color matches. And I also saw these navy buttons that I had to buy. They match this Cascade 22o that my dad bought me on our last trip to the yarn store. I have 5 skeins. I'm not sure what this will be yet, but maybe a Shalom. I like NeenerKnits's with 4 buttons.

And these silvery/gray buttons were too cheap to pass up. I think I like the back side better than the front. This makes me want to knit a Sprossling. Can you just imagine that? A Sterling Sprossling. I do have quite a bit in front of me right now...but that will live in the back of my mind.

It's a good thing buttons are cheap. That's the first non-necessity that I've bought since October. My total was $10.

The Fire Department!

We took a field trip to the Fire Department with our homeschool group. It was so much fun. I think my favorite part was the vintage engine.

6 loved the fire pole. I know he really wanted to slide down. Just like he REALLY wanted to pick up the Jaws of Life after they told the kids it was too heavy for them and not to try picking it up.

Here the kids are totally intrigued by the equipment the firemen were showing them. Just seconds later they were all covering their ears when they demonstrated one of the alarms that could go off when oxygen was running low.

Here's the whole group of kids. We're really blessed to have such a great group. We've enjoyed every field trip and party and park day we've had together.

And here's a video of the boys. I shut the camera off too soon, but at least I got them both. 4 didn't even want to touch the fire hose.

This week, we've got a hockey field trip coming up. And now that the shuttle finally launched, we've got an SDO packet from NASA to plan to use. We've got a lot of science going on here.

Thanksgiving 2009

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The Rockets

My boys are involved in Treeclimbers. And January is Rocket Race time. The boys build rockets with their dads. In our case Mom had to help too since we needed 2 rockets and had just 4 day to complete the work. The designs had been decided on, then the rain hit and we couldn't pull out the power tools. The boys learned more wood working skills this year. And they learned to spray paint too.

Here's the finished rockets. 6's Retro Rocket. He really wanted to use a 2" sheet metal screw for the tip so that it would look like the Lego Power Miners. We didn't want him running around with a weapon. I do like the finished product.

8 wanted a sword. I think he was able to successfully build a sword that still looks like a rocket. He came in 2nd place over all for speed.

Tonight we have a potluck banquet where the kids will get trophies and we'll see who gets awards in the style category.

Doll Cardigans

I knit a Cardigan/Hat set for a 5yo's American Girl doll. The cardi is this pattern. I made the hat up to match. The yarn is from my Gram's stash.

I used the same pattern and some lion brand homespun to fit a build-a-bear.

Both of these sweaters were birthday gifts. So the model photos are on 4's dolls.