Hey, Big Spender!

Candy Heart Snippets

Both the Valentine's Day celebration and the 100th Day of School (that wasn't an "event" when I was a kid) coincided for our Sean, and he couldn't have been more excited.  When I picked him up this afternoon he happily showed me a big paper bag that he'd decorated that was chock-full of Valentines, candy and the "trail mix" that they made as a class.  So. Much. Candy.

Immediately he brought me a lollipop and asked to open it.  He'd tried to do it, but couldn't get it open.  I gave it a shot and well, the bag won.  So quickly we had a lolly-stick and a heat-shaped lozenge.  Will asked if there was any such thing and I told him that we'd just invented the heart-shaped lozenge.  He said that he doubted that we had done that and I said until I hear differently.  "And if you hear differently?"  Well....we're the SECOND people to invent the heart-shaped lozenge.

Since the lollipop didn't work out, Sean brought over a itty bitty bag of candy conversation hearts.  I started reading them and the three of us started making up our own personal hearts.

Sean:  chicken nugget, chicken nugget.

Me:  I love Yarn.

Will:  Throw me in the nearest trashcan and eat chocolate instead.

Yep.  I don't know where he gets his wry sense of humor.

A few Somethings for Me

So, with all of the Christmas knitting behind me.  (Hey it's February, let's hope so) I've decided that it's high time to work on a couple things for yours truly.  I still have gifts to work on for other people, things that I've picked out for one reason or another.  But it's my turn.  So with that in mind:

here is the short term Project.  Sewanee, a shawl.  One can never have too many shawls.  This one is a navy blue wool sock yarn, with streaks of purplish-pink and greenish blue.  It's quite pretty, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.  I LOVE that lace at the edge.  Whether or not I'll love knitting it is yet to be determined.  (Pattern and photo credit goes to Beth Bradford, aka Bethasaurus on Ravelry.)

The long-turn project.  It's a sampler blanket.  It's 63 different squares, and supposedly by the time I finish them I will have knit pretty much every stitch pattern out there.  I chose a teal acrylic for this, since let's face it:  I am not rich and pretty much only afford acrylic for such a large project.  (this is a Bucilla pattern, vintage from 1964.)  Photo credit:  jjgordon on Ravelry.

Note:  mine will not include a cat.  However, Joey will probably try to claim it at some point.

Happy Birthday, Joey!

This sweet boy is fourteen years old today. For his "gift,"  we gave him a snowday with all of his favorite people at home, and a whole cooked chicken breast to himself!  It was going to be his favorite salmon, but apparently I left it at the grocery store.

Happy birthday, my awesome fur-baby, first baby, sweet, funny and snuggly boy!  May your day be full of hugs and kisses, and awesome treats.

 Joey on his actual birthday.  He takes over our bed everyday after we leave the house and this is his favorite blanket.

"Oh, the Superbowl is on?  I like hockey, not football."

Thank-You Hell

Sean's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and we haven't sent out the thank you cards yet.

I have a love-hate relationship with thank you cards:

 I'm an overly polite person.  I think that taking a couple of minutes to write out a card to say thanks is sweet and respectful.  Wedding thank-yous are a must.  Showers, whether they're wedding or baby, must have thank you cards.

I hate the idea of writing thank you cards to Sean's entire kindergarten class. Finding time between work,  22 Thank you cards, 22 stamps, and what feels like 22 hours of me writing out "thanks for coming to my party, and thanks for the gift" and having (cajoling) Sean to sign them.  The task is daunting.  Plus, I know that the lollipop-shaped cards that Sean picked out at Target may go on someone's fridge for a day or two, and then get thrown away and forgotten about.  But not sending them would be rude.

I'm not a rude person.  So I will sit down and write them out this weekend.  Blerg.

Just Jump

We took the kids to Maine this weekend.  It was to visit my college friends Lexi and Maureen, but ironically, we were going north and avoiding the snow.  That sounds so weird to say!

We had a good time, visiting, going out to eat, shopping, etc.  We went to the LL Bean store in Freeport, ME. I always forget just how big that place is, it's really a complex!

Another thing we did---we took the kids swimming in the hotel pool.  They LOVED it and it wore them out.  One of the things that they really like to do is jump off the side into the shallow end.  they coaxed me to do it from the deep(er) end and I told them that I was trying not to get my hair wet.

As soon as I said it, I paused:  "Did I really just say that?  REALLY?  Do I want to be that Mom?  No.  And so I jumped.

The cheers were worth it.  The awkward SLAP against the water, was not.  Nothing a little trip to the hot tub couldn't fix.

There.  I'm still a cool mom.  Thought we were slipping there a little bit.

A Rare Sighting

What's that I see coming up ahead?  Oh my goodness, it's a weekend with no plans!! No.....it's a THREE DAY WEEKEND with no plans!! No karate (we compromised to two weeknights instead) no parties, no obligations.  Nothing.  And I'm so grateful for it.  The past few weeks have been insanely busy as we're continuing to "come down" from Christmas.  I predict a lot of pajama-wearing, doing whatever pleases us.  The kids want to spend hours on Club Penguin?  Cool.  Let's snuggle in my bed and read books?  Yes, please.  Knitting and coffee in the afternoons? You betcha.