Wrapped in Hugs!

I'm just going to pretend I posted this a long time ago. You know you're really bad about posting things when a friend sees a new shawl in the living room before I blogged a Thank You. My internet connection was horrible 2 weeks ago and last week was monopolized by Little House Camp. I blinked and July is almost over. At the beginning of the month I had an MRI. I'm horribly claustrophobic. I remember how terrified I was of that little tube when I had the MRI on my knee. I took a little pill and asked a lot of friends to pray this time. And then Friday morning...I read that a friend was sending me a HUG in the mail. On top of that, I read What's That Noise and it SO encouraged my heart. How could this not be a good MRI? God had full knowledge of the scary things in my life. He has allowed it, because He knows what's best for me. He didn't just leave me there, He's holding me when I tremble. When I arrived, I was impressed with the new 3T machine. The bore is SO much bigger. I almost felt calm. I know the prayers of my friends and family were with me.

So, since M asked for some knitting, I figured that he owed me some photos. I couldn't get shots of myself in the shawl. Here I am...wrapped in a New Jersey Hug! Thanks Grace! I love the shawl. In the box there was a little mouse too, but it seems that my little mouse (5) took it to her room before I got a photo.

I love the span on this shawl...it's really generous and wraps around so cozy. It was even chilly enough for me to enjoy it a few mornings which is super rare for July. I'm counting that as a gift from God too. Since we're not running our AC, we really appreciate the cooler temps.

I really think this shawl was destined to live in L.A. I mean...don't you see Laker purple and gold?! ;0) My kids love that.

I can't wait for the cooler temps to return. So I can wear more hand knits.

Little House Scrapbook

This super cute scrapbook is the creative work of my friend S. Aren't these paper bag books cute! In the "pockets" are cards about each of the characters. On the pages we glued photos of the week. There was a bit of time to work on these each day, and we finished them up on Friday. I'm so thankful for this memory book. 5 shows it to everyone who comes into our house.

Day 1: Mr. Edwards & Ma

Day 2: Pa & Ms Beatle

Day 3: Almanzo & Laura

Day 4: Mary & Willie

Day 5: Carrie & Mrs.Olsen & Nellie.

(I just realized I'm missing a character card.)

Little House Day 5

There were so many fun things packed into Little House Camp. In fact, by day 5 we had a few things that we knew were just not going to be finished. The girls started a 9 patch quilt that they took home to finish. We skipped the homemade bread and butter. And only 1/2 the girls made the pulled candy. We're continuing to read the Little House series of books here, so I'm glad we'll have a few projects to work on at home. Here's 5 dipping candles. (video link) C had the candles sent from Williamsburg, VA. They're dipping them in a mix of paraffin & crayons.

At the end of the "Camp" all the girls went swimming in C's "watering hole". It was a great week. One that we won't ever forget.

Little House Day 4

Thursday started with a visit from Doc Baker. Then most of the day was spent on the project. I prepared 2 projects. One for the middle girls (K-1st) and one for the older girls (2nd-3rd). The littles just threaded buttons on yarn to make a necklace. I had so much fun with this project. I felt a bit concerned that the needle might be too hard for the girls...but they enjoyed it so much and many didn't want to stop. I had tree photocopies that the girls traced with colored pencils onto the banner. Then they learned back-stitch and followed the tree lines. We used brown colored pencils so that if the girls didn't want to finish the tree on their own it would still look finished. The green scalloped circles were punched ahead and attached with mini brads. The girls added photos at home. The name plaque is attached with mini brads too. Here's my sample. I love this!

The middles had their hands traced on burlap. They used backstitch and yarn to follow the lines. These came out SO cute. I had my boys do one of these at home so I have all 3 hands.

Little House Day 3

Fiber Day! C had contacted the spinning guild and quickly had over 20 responses (imagine that). I told C that fiber folks are just like that...every fiber friend I've ever met has a generous heart. Mrs. Mac (as she told the kids to call her) brought her spinning wheel to demonstrate, drop spindle kits for the kids, a collection of different fibers, and bits of wool for the kids to dye. This might have been my favorite day.

Mrs. Mac is passing around different fibers she's spun. That's 5 holding the bright green skein and passing it on. Can you guess what it is?

In case you can't read the tag: Easter Grass Navajo Ply April 1997 97.5 yds.

And more Easter yarn.
This one was so soft. She had the kids guess which animal it might be from. Raccoon!
Mrs. Mac showed them how to card and then had some volunteers try it out. She carded both cotton and wool and showed the difference between the two.

The kids made their own spindles and here's 5 spinning away. They got the hang of it pretty quick.

Then Mrs. Mac went with the group outside to dye. Each girl got a little puff of wool to go in a cup of koolaid.

Then we came back in while the wool soaked to try weaving. Mrs. Mac had prepped water bottles for the girls to weave into pencil cups. Way to recycle.

What a fun day! When Little House Camp was over I pulled out 5's spindle and tried it myself. That's a slippery slope. More on that when the Little House posts are done.

Little House Day 2

The girls started the day working on their scrapbooks (I'll post the scrapbook at the end of thes LH posts). Then they moved on to making puppets (pre-K), rag dolls (K-1st), and rag rugs (2nd-3rd). These turned out super cute.

After the dolls, the kids went down to hear some fiddle music (that's a video link) and snack on biscuits with jam and strawberries.

There was a fiddle to touch and look at as they learned about Pa.

As always, the kids are having so much fun my little one doesn't want to go home. And where do I find my sweetie. Digging in the dirt with a friend.

Little House Day 1

5 was ready for Pioneer activities at Little House Camp in her new dress.

There were 20 girls ages 3-9!

They decorated pails with fabric, buttons, and paint. These buckets will hold their crafts all week and on Friday they'll take the buckets home.

The girls got some t-shirts dirty and washed them in a tub with a washboard and soap.

The girls made lavender soap! When the soap had hardened, they wrapped it up with paper and twine.

Monday was the day for Rev. Alden to come and give the girls a devotion. I tried to sneak a photo of 5 during the devotion and this is the look she gave me.

I love that wrinkled little nose.

DARE

My husband has issued a DARE. He's going out of the country in early September on a missions trip. He'll be in a mountain region. It gets cold there in the winter. He'd like to bring hats and/or washcloths and/or scarves and/or fingerless mitts. For Men. Women. & Children. He thinks that if I put out a request on my blog...knitted things will start to show up here. I know he's right. I just don't know how many knitted things I'll actually be able to acquire in 45 days. There will be prizes for knitted items sent. I'll figure that out later. Maybe M will buy some fancy yarn from that foreign land. Or maybe I'll get M to take me to Wildfiber to pick out a prize. Hm... I've still got lots to figure out, but I do want to prove the tenacity of knitters to my hubby. Can you show him what you can do? Leave me a comment or send me an email.

When Mom Has a Blog...

Today 8 attached a flower from our backyard to my headband. Then he insisted on taking my photo so I could share his creation with you all. Isn't this sweet!

She's grown so much in 5 years!

We discovered that 5's bitty baby fits preemie sized clothes. Here is B-Hero (yes, this girl has brothers - that's what she named the doll) wearing the outfit 5 wore home from the hospital!

My little one wants nothing more than to be a mommy. She says she's going to have 100 babies. Grandma told her that was too many for her unless she was a teacher. She said she wanted babies not kids. I gave her some options, and right now she's thinking she'll be and OB/GYN. She wants to deliver babies! And have a bunch of her own.

Once we discovered that this baby fits preemie clothes, 5's been shopping with Nana and Grandma at Babies R Us. This is one well dressed doll. 5 has even picked out the carseat she wants for my car and the crib she wants for her room. She desperately wants a sister. She even asked if the tooth fairy could bring her sister instead of money for her lost tooth.

Happy 4th of July!

It was a quiet 4th for us. We enjoyed some pancakes with RED strawberry jam, WHITE whipped cream, and BLUE blueberries.

We headed over to Nana's house for bbq burgers and fireworks. The kids enjoyed a ice-cream cone while the sky lit up around us.