The Candyland Chronicles

Hubby is at (another) birthday party with Will, and Sean and I are doing Christmas stuff.  As in, wrapping Daddy's gifts while he is out of the house!  After a couple of gifts Sean says "Mom?  I want you to play a game with me."  I suggest Candyland and he scampers downstairs to get it.  I'm kind of relieved for Candyland being the game of choice because Sean's at that stage where he throws fits when he loses.  And I'm a ConnectFour SAVANT.  I played this game for hours with my brother growing up and I kicked ass and took names.  It's hard to shut that off with a four-year old, and they've got to learn that it's impossible to win every time.

This is the same Candyland we all grew up with and loved, but with one major improvement:  no more cards.  Instead, they've replaced it with a spinwheel, so every parent rejoices over not having to search for missing cards all over the playroom.  (What, you don't mix up all YOUR gamepieces and playing cards into a big mashup?  That's how we roll around here.)  Sure, we're already missing one of the gamepieces but what of it.....it's still completely playable.  So we play our three games and at the first one, Sean is crying over the fact that "he didn't get blue to go over the peppermint bridge." .  We win, we lose and at the end, we only remember that we had fun.  Half an hour of Mom and Sean time.  Thirty five minutes if you allow for the tantrum.

My Yarn Helper

The day before Thanksgiving.

We don't host Thanksgiving, as we travel to Philly the day after for a second Thanksgiving with Brian's side of the family.  So my mom and dad usually host, and Brian makes something scrumptious for dessert.

In order for the scrumptious-ness to take place, we need to get outta the way!  So Will occupied himself downstairs on the computer.  And Sean and I decided to play with some yarn.

First, we chose a bunch of yarns for Christmas gifts, ornaments and charity mittens.  Sean loves to pick out colors for things.  Little does he know, he was picking out some for himself as well.

 Then naturally, we need to pose with ALL of the yarns.  Sean really enjoys getting buried on the couch.

Then comes the winding.  It's kind of hard to have the patience that it takes to let a four-year old help wind the yarn.  But the mantra "Be the kind of mom that they deserve" helped a little.  That and "What are some tangles??"  Well.....tangles and knots are the DEVIL, I'll have you know.  They didn't rear their ugly heads though, all winding went smoothly.

And now I have a whole bunch of lovely center-pull balls for Christmas knitting.  Thanks, Sean!

Totally Random Thursday

Since my mind's a bit disorganized, a random post it will be...

-I've got the first cold of the season.  I'm hoping it's the last but I'm not that naive.

-Tomorrow's parent-teacher conferences for my son's class.  While things are not perfect, I'm still in awe over how much better they are than they were at this time last year!

-And the knitting.....oh the knitting.  I am a machine!  Gifts are getting made and things are going well.  And just saying that I've probably smited the knitting gods.  Hats, socks, ornaments, a sweater, a couple of shawls, I've got it all going on.  I've already hit the ten mile mark for the year.

-That being said....there's a certain cockiness that goes with things going smoothly.  For one thing, you start to think that yes, I can get it all done!  And you start adding more projects to your queue, figuring you have "all of this extra time."  Not true, my friend.  I have four more items to cast on before Christmas Day gets here and I'm limiting myself to them.  

-Please feel free to laugh at what I've just written.  

-Want something else to laugh at?  I've agreed to go "cold sheep" until May.  Meaning, knitting only from my stash this winter and not buying any yarn til the tent sale.  Can I do this??  I should think so.  I've got a lot of projects lined up with yarn in house and I'm going to start my baby hats and blankets again after the holidays.

So that's pretty much it for today.  Maybe tomorrow will bring better organized thoughts.  HA HA HA!

Happy Birthday, Will!

As with every October 21st...I greet the day with happiness and just a hint of sadness.
It's my older son's 8th birthday, and I'm thrilled that "his day" has arrived.

I love the person that he is becoming.  He loves learning about things, and has a ridiculously strong memory like his  Mom.  He's really creative, and loves to draw and build things.  He is curious about how things "work" and loves conversations with Dad about these things.   He's a voracious reader, now that he's discovered a genre of books focusing on magic and fantasy.  He has a great sense of humor, and some of the things that he comes up with leave me in stitches for days.  He is a kind soul and really goes out of his way for his friends and family.  Although there is definitely some of that "brotherly love" present and they bicker sometimes, he really includes his brother when playing with friends and loves to hang out with him.

The sadness for his birthday is what all Moms face.  My baby, my first-born, is growing up.  Which is of course what I want, but it's hard.  He's still affectionate, still gives bone-crushing hugs and isn't (yet) afraid to be seen in public with his old Mom.

Tonight my parents are coming over for his favorite dinner (cheese ravioli!) followed by chocolate cake and presents.  We're having a Pokemon-themed birthday party this weekend.

Happiest of Birthdays, Bubby.  Your dad and I, plus Sean, love you to the moon and back.

Draggin'

Still not feeling 100% after the surgery.

Still have a stent, which will be removed on October 20th.  That's in six days.  Yes, I'm counting.

But I'm draggin' along, trying hard not to do too much.  I'm kind of a stranger to this "resting" thing.  I found out the hard way over the weekend that it's necessary though, because if you do too much you feel like crap the next day.  The goal is to continue to improve.

All that being said, I'm getting a lot of knitting done.

This here is the "Who?" hat.  Made it in about 24 hours.  Will loves it, especially the cabled owls. The first picture doesn't do it justice, so I included another of the "in-progress" so you can see the owls more clearly.

Since the New England weather was getting downright chilly (heat's already been turned on a couple of mornings!) I decided that Sean needed a new hat, too.  This hat is called "Barley" from the Tincanknits "Simple" collection.  Also done in an evening and an afternoon.  I originally thought it would be too slouchy but Sean loves it.  He immediately put it on and wore it all day.

I also finished my Halloween Swap item for my knitting group's event next week.  Can't show you till later, but it's great!

Will's birthday is a week from today and I have a wallaby sweater on the needles for him.  I started it in June, while binge-watching season 2 of "Orange is the New Black."  I honestly thought it would be done by now, but I got intimidated by the front pocket.  Too bad....it actually worked up like a dream.  I hate it when I second-guess my knitting skills.  I'm not sure if I'm delusional, but am hoping to have this done in time!

Fifteen Questions

In an attempt to entertain myself outside of Bubble Witch Saga 2 and yarn....I'm copying Mindy Kaling's interview-style questions in this month's copy of Good Housekeeping.  Because, why not?

At My House

What you'll always find in my fridge:  Hershey's syrup and grated parmesan.  Not to be used together, of course.

Recipe I'm scared to try:  Making my own bread.  It makes your house smell awesome but is so easy to screw up!

signature dish:  Mexican Chicken and Rice

Household chore I enjoy:  Loading the dishwasher.  It's the same satisfaction as when you complete a jigsaw puzzle.

My secret cleaning weapon is:  Simple Green, that stuff works on just about anything!  My favorite trick though, is to make the kids think it's a game.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't!

Last thing I bought online:  yarn and a knitting pattern.

I hate to shop for:  birthday presents.  Not all birthday presents, mind you.  Some people are just harder to shop for than others.

On My Bucket List:  A trip to Hawaii someday.

I sleep in:  pajama shorts.

I sleep on:  a creaky queen-size bed.

I stay fit by:  I'm working on it.  Before the surgery I was up to twice a week on the treadmill and taking a yoga class at a studio once a week.  That's the most exercise I've had in years and I'm missing it this week.

I drive:   a leased Honda CR-V.  I like it a lot more than I thought that I would.  Seems like almost everyone in America has one, though.

Etiquette Pet Peeve:  Not saying please and thank you.  Those words go a long way!

I will never care about:  The Kardashians.

I'd tell my younger self:  Drink more water and surround yourself with positive people.  And don't take yourself so seriously!

Random Sunday Grateful Post

-My kidney surgery was a rousing success.   In fact, all of the kidney stone from hell was removed and I will not need a second surgery! I was super-nervous and I cannot begin to describe how wonderful the hospital staff was to me.  From warm blankets to cracking jokes....they really put me at ease.

-I even wrote a thank you note.  Because I believe, in these days, that there's so much emphasis on bad customer service.  When someone does a good job, tell them!

-All of that being said, I'm quite thankful for pain meds.  And anti-nausea drugs that enable me to take those pain meds.

-Thanks go out to my awesome parents, who helped out with the boys while all of this was going on.

-Honestly, Brian deserves his own grateful post.  Feeding me homemade chicken soup, doing laundry, taking care of the boys....these are all things that he does normally.  I just feel extra-grateful today and want the world to know what a wonderful man I married. 

-thankful for yarn...which has been keeping me busy.  That, and silly Facebook games and the return of primetime television.

I think that's it.  Just wanted to put all that out there...I'm a lucky lady.