WIP Friday

I'm going to start trying to post weekly knitting updates, to accomplish a couple of things. First, this way I hopefully won't finish something and then take a month to get pics (like Daddy's slippers). Second, I have a nasty habit of getting to many projects going at once and a weekly inventory might help with that. Finally, my nasty habit of leaving things all-but-finished has GOT to stop!! By posting pics regularly, I am trying to guilt myself into finishing the darn things.

My purse socks are almost done. Bean is pointing out a design feature. I'm not sure what. We have had some lovely park weather, so I can whip these babies out of my purse and add a few rows while I watch the kiddos play. When I finish these, I will be casting for my other pair of Regia socks in Black, White and Red.


The scarflet continues on. It's getting longer. Really. And the ball of yarn is getting smaller. I swear.


I started the shawl for Bean's Crumpets dress. I decided to forgo Clapotis and decided on doing Candle Flame Lace instead. I am about halfway through the first repeat and I think it will be pretty.


Finally, the missing bloomers have surfaced. They still only need to be grafted and have elastic installed.

Kitty Daddy's slippers

These have actually been finished for a while, but I am just being slow posting them. These are Fiber Trends felted clogs, using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Mist (gray) and Coal (black). Those are my lovely feet modelling them, so they look huge. They fit Daddy much better. Also, the weird beige flecks are from the carpet. Our apartment was newly carpeted before we moved in and it has been shedding pretty badly. In theory, this will improve with time. If nothing else, the floor will become bald and not have anything else to shed, right?

Weird weather

We have been having some very fallish weather, which is wonderful, but today, it could not make up its mind! While we were getting ready, it was bright and sunny, promising a wonderful Indian summer fall day. As a result, we decided to walk to "close park" to play. When we left the apartment, the sky was cloudy and gray and looked like it was ready to rain any minute. In fact, it was spitting intermittantly. En route, I suggested a trip to the coffee shop instead of the park so we wouldn't get rained on. The kids both voted park, so that's where we went. After playing for about a half an hour, it was once again sunny and clear. Since it started clouding up again, we stayed for a total of about an hour and then headed to the 'Bou. We had our "coffees" (mocha for mommy and cocoa for the kiddies) and walked home in the rain and, once again, lots of gray clouds. It has been alternating gorgeous and forbidding all day.

Ha-woe-weeen!

With the beautiful fall weather, we can also start looking forward to Bug's FAVORITE holiday: Halloween. I'm not sure what makes it a favorite, but he really hasn't stopped talking about Halloween since last Halloween! He loves the "skawee" ghosts and "sketelons" and pumpkins. Ever since Target started stocking Halloween decorations, the kid has been in the mood. Mama finally gave in and we got some Halloween cookies at the grocery store this morning. We baked the cookies this noon and frosted them after Bug finished with his nap (hence the wild hairdo). We also got some ghost shaped cupcake cups and a box of cake mix. We'll probably save those for later in the week. Looks like it will be a spooky month!

Changes coming...

I just switched to the new beta version of blogger. The lack of labels is the main reason that I had kept my knitting stuff separate, but I think I am going to be merging the two blogs and taking advantage of the now available labels. In the process, I'm hoping to go back and update some of the posts and probably update the template as well. It shouldn't change anything for reading, but don't be surprised if things suddenly start looking different!

Location, location, location

One of my favorite thing about our new apartment is the location. These pictures are from our new "close park." It's a short walk (the 23-month-old makes it without complaint) from our apartment. You can't see our building in this picture, but you can see some of the building in the complex.

The grocery store is also very close. If we just have a few things to pick up, we take the wagon. There is also a postal sub-station in the Hallmark store in the strip mall adjacent to the grocery store parking lot.

We can also walk to our primary care doctor's office (including pharmacy, labs, and vision care). It's right behind the park and about the same distance to our apartment.

Finally, and somewhat dangerously, with about the same walk as the close park or the doctor's office, is the infamous 'Bou. Must exercise restraint. Especially when Bug is swinging and starts begging for a "black and white ice cream coffee" (actually a chocolate cooler...a blended frozen coffee and chocolate concoction with whip cream on top).

And finally, walking home...ain't they cute?

100th Post

Hee-hee. This is number 100! Who woulda thunk? How about some gratuitously cute kid pics? Here is the darling girl doing dishes and really *getting into the the job*! She was nekkid by the time this adventure was over. Now dishes is her favorite thing and she's there almost every day.


This is a meal the kids both prepared for the bears. Note the two plates on the floor...they are for Kitty Man and Kitten Chai.

An open message to the mean lady at the grocery store:

Yes, that was my almost 2-year-old shrieking at the top of her lungs. No, I wasn't beating her or otherwise abusing her. I was making her sit in the cart while I shopped. She wanted to be carried, which would be fine, but since she is 35 pounds and I was also pushing a cart, picking up groceries, and holding the hand of my 3-year-old, I could only do that for a few minutes at a time. She also would have stopped screaming if I had let her walk. But then she would have been pulling things off the shelves faster than I could put them back up and then who would pick up my groceries and hold my 3-year-old's hand so he didn't wander off?

While I would be delighted to take credit for bringing said child to the grocery store for the sole purpose of ruining your shopping experience (and you clearly would deserve it with an attitude like yours), I actually brought her because I needed groceries. And while it would be convenient for you if I waited until my children were 18 until I go out to buy groceries, after a while we would run out of food and, if I'm not mistaken, that would constitute child neglect. Maybe I am using the wrong metric, but starving my children seems slightly worse than inconveniencing you. Please leave your grocery store schedule with me and I will try to shop at different times in the future.

End of rant. Have a nice day.

Mosquitos!

Okay, I have just had it with these (insert profanity here) mosquitos. Our new apartment must be close to a MAJOR breeding ground. They are everywhere! It doesn't help that dear, sweet Mollie dog has decided to go on poop strike. She has been asking to go out every half hour all day, but just sniffs and browses and, oh maybe, pees. Meanwhile, I am a HUGE mosquito all-you-can-eat buffet. I'm getting cranky.

The good news is that the sun is actually out today! If it stays until tomorrow, I have promised the kids a park day. Hopefully, that will give enough time for the ground to dry a little bit. We did groceries this morning and will be heading off to Farmer's Market once the kidlings wake up from their nap.

The other MAJOR excitement for the day is that we got a new bed, which was delivered today. It is king-sized, so we can fit kids, cats, dogs, and other passers-by, without falling out of bed. It is an honest-to-goodness real matress with a box-spring and everything. We had been sleeping on the futon I bought in 1992 for my first apartment! Hopefully, everyone will sleep better now! Ha! Who am I kidding?? Well, at least we will be more comfortable waking up all night!

'Nother Geeky

I finally remembered another of Bean's use of the word "geeky." It's what she calls her big brother. If you know Bug's real name (with the y-ending nickname), that is what she is saying. Pretty cute!

Rain, rain, go away!

Oh man, as much as I adore cool fall days, this raining ALL THE TIME thing is getting to me! We have been having rain almost every day since before we started moving. And even on the days it doesn't rain, it is still soggy out, except for a short stretch of nice weather. With the stress of moving and everything, I am not at my finest and the kids bouncing off the walls from being stuck inside is just adding to it.

Meanwhile, I guess I just need to keep focusing on the fact that we are getting more settled and organized in the new place all the time and that there are sure to be some warm, sunny, glorious fall days coming for running around at the park and the zoo.

Uh-oh! Dirty Pictures!

I finally got these off the camera. These were from one of the last days we had the old apartment. I was inside cleaning and Kitty Daddy was outside loading the van and "watching" the kids. Daddy tried to hustle her out of the mud puddle when he saw her playing, but I told him not to bother. We'd have to clean her up anyway, so "in for a penny, in for a pound." She squooshed, squelched, and splashed happily while we worked and then hosed her down when we were done.

New Shoes

When I am walking down the street
I do so like to watch my feet.
Perhaps you do not know the news,
Mother has bought me fine new shoes!
When the left one steps I do not speak,
I listen to its happy squeak.
--Marjorie Seymour Watts

Both kids got new sneakers at Target last night. Very exciting!! Bug's old sneakers were not only getting small, but the soles were almost completely worn off! Lots of miles on that pair of sneaks. Bean's were getting snug, too.

The poem above was once a much adored favorite of my baby brother. He would fill in strategic words when my mom or I would read it aloud to him. "New Shoes" and "Happy Keak" were his favorite. Since his first word was "shoes," it was hardly surprising.

Wausau and Mommit

Last week at the library, after picking out several DVDs for the kids (Thomas, Blue's Clues, etc.), a DVD of the three original Wallace and Gromit animated shorts caught my eye. I loved these way before Nick Park became a household name with Chicken Run. So I grabbed them and figured I could sneak them in during a nap or something, so I would have to interrupt their video time. Last night, Bug and Daddy ran a couple of errands, so I popped it in and Bean was just transfixed. She sat next to me on the sofa and watched all three half-hour films. Bug came in at the end and didn't seem too interested, but after we came home from the park, he begged for Wausau and Mommit. Unlike the kid-vids, the kids actually sit still and watch Wallace and Gromit. I think we are on our third time through right now! Tomorrow is library day, but we may need to renew this one!

Yay!

I finally found my box of knitting stuff! I started felting Kitty Daddy's slippers. I am letting them dry and will have him try them on to see if they need further felting. Hopefully, there will be pictures soonish!

Geeky

Bean is at the age where her vocabulary is rapidly expanding, but her mouth motor skills are not quite keeping up. I remember when Bug went through this phase. He used several different words that all ended up sounding the same. I can't think of a good example off the top of my head, but now Bean is doing it. "Stinky," "Blankie," "Kitty," and "Diapey" all come out sounding like "Geeky," which just cracks me up! I'm not 100% sure that she is actually trying to say diaper, since she is usually poopy when she is "Geeky" and needs a diaper change, so she might be saying "stinky."

With Bug, I have found a BAD application of symbiosis. We bought a bag of Malt-O-Meal's equivilent to Lucky Charms for snacking. My totally anal retentive way of eating them is to eat all of the oaty pieces first so I can gorge on the marshmallows at the end. It turns out that Bug picks out the marshmallows and leaves the oaty pieces. Yesterday, we each had a cup and did our thing, but when the marshmallows were gone, Bug gave his cup to me, and when I wasn't looking, helped himself to my cup. I didn't get ANY marshmallows. Alas. The sacrifices we make for our children. LOL

Not much progress

Because we have been moving, very little is happening knit-wise. Once I unearth my box of knitting stuff, I can felt Kitty Daddy's slippers, kitchener the crotch of the shorts for Bean's dress, and continue on with the scarflet. I have added a few rows to the sock of the moment (second sock in the light blue Regia). I am better than halfway to turning the heel, but before then, I'll need to figure out what I did on the first sock again! Oh well, it will work out. Even if they don't exactly match, they will still be comfy and look good with jeans!

Progress is slow

We are making progress, but man, are we getting sick of the chaos! We have the downstairs arranged (at least for now...we may end up moving some stuff around) and the piano was delivered today. I also got bawled out by the mailman for not having names on our box. He seemed to think it was my fault that I didn't know that we needed to put our names on the box. He just got pissier when I said that no one had told us that, even though I prefaced the remark with the fact that I would take care of it. Apparently, I was supposed to tune my brainwaves to the cosmos and magically know to put our names up without being told. Whatever.

I am healing from the move. In addition to the usual assortment of bruises on my shins, knees, elbows, and anywhere else that is likely to collide with something solid, I also scored a nice little gash on my forehead after getting smacked by a cabinet as we were taking it down the stairs on a dolly. I also got bruised on the bridge of my nose from that one. Not as visible, but ouchy whenever I pushed my glasses up! My trophy is a black eye scored from my darling Bean. She pounced on me and bonked me on the eyebrow with her little concrete skull. Its still tender where it hit, but my eyelid is truly technicolor. When my eye is open, it just looks like a little tacky yellow eyeshadow, but when I close my eye there is an impressive spread of blacks, blues, purples, and (emerging) greens. It seems to have peaked...for a while it was getting scarier looking every day! KittyDaddy hardly wants to go out in public with me, because he's afraid people will think that he beats me or something! ;)

The kidlings are enjoying our yard, especially since we have been having very pleasant weather! They also seem to be finally settling in to the new place too. We were having some rocky nights for a while, with night waking for both kids, but I can't say I'm suprised with all the stress and upheaval! They have been sleeping better the last couple of nights, fortunately!