The Wiltin Rose

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:45:00.001-05:00

Surprise! Yes, it's me updating my blog! Just wanted to make a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Beach Day!

2009-09-20T17:57:00.003-04:00

We had our first beach day of the summer! Wow, what took so long? Mostly the heat and the fact that other activities took priority. Today was perfect...temperatures around 75F...crystal clear blue sky with a few puffy clouds. The water was a bit cold but not cold enough to keep my kids out! We took a picnic and spent the day. All in all, a most perfect day!

One or two photos below...the rest are on flickr...here.

Back to school!

2009-09-09T13:26:00.002-04:00

We've been extremely busy over the past month...a visit to Grammy & Pappy's house in PA in August...a trip to a nearby lake, Dutch Wonderland...back home for YMCA camps and school shopping...back to PA this past week-end for the PA Renaissance Faire...and a family picnic in York where we set off water rockets! School finally started yesterday. Everyone was quite excited and had a GREAT first day. William told me last night that he was excited to wake up and go to his "next first day!" You can find photos on Flickr. (click the Flickr badge on the right hand side of this blog)

Review of the past two weeks

2009-08-09T07:31:00.006-04:00

My husband is finally finished with his job on the USS Harry S. Truman. No more sea duty for us! He has been at home on vacation for the past two weeks. Most of the first week we spent in Fredericksburg at the KOA campground. While there, we spent two days at Kings Dominion (theme park) and part of one day at IKEA. The kids LOVED Kings Dominion, even though the twins were too short for many of the rides. They are hoping to grow 4 inches this year but I don't think that will happen!

This past week was spent doing things around the house. I had some doctor appointments and tests. Dena (the cat) saw a dermatologist earlier in the week. Her paw is finally healed! We are still doing one final experiment (steroid shot) to see if the infection will flame up again in a few weeks but we are hoping it won't and that the paw issues are finished. Now to get her poop back to normal! Yesterday, we had a very successful yard sale. I still have a few things to find new homes for but we managed to get rid of all of our "large plastic objects" and the old pool so I am happy about that.

A few photos of the past weeks:

At the beginning of the park

The view from the "Eiffel Tower"

Meeting Scooby Doo!

Old car in the park, pretty cool! (My dad would like this area of the park)

At the top of the ferris wheel

Paddling around the campground pond

Paddling around the campground pond

Steve and the kids did some geocaching on the way home - I sat in the car and knitted! No way I was tromping through poison ivy, weeds, snakes, and bugs!

This is my "Josy" shawl. It is still a work-in-progress and being made with some beautiful yarn Anne Lise sent me from Norway.

My "Winterbild" socks are FINISHED! I love the patterned yarn like this.

Hello...Kitty!

2009-07-27T08:34:00.006-04:00

We took the girls to the mall this week-end to the Sanrio store. They were having $20 grab bags...$20 for $80 worth of Sanrio goodies. Of course it's all a surprise until you walk out of the store and rip open the bags...which is exactly what our girls did. After Sanrio, we hit the Indian grocery and the Asian market for some other items...then we took the boy to Toys R Us for a new remote control car that he can take when we go camping. Fun, fun.

Yesterday was spent at home, mostly in the pool as it was over 90F here. Even though this summer hasn't been sweltering like the last two, the pool has proven itself a good investment. The kids love it and swim every day. The water temps are finally where I want them to be...right around 90. Yes! I don't like to freeze when I get in for a swim!

The cat goes back to the vet AGAIN today for a look at her paw. It's still sore despite a topical ointment and antibiotics. The next step is to take her to a dermatologist. She also still has blood in her stool. I'm beginning to think we'll never get her well again!

A few pictures from the week-end...

William and Steve playing with the new remote control car in the yard

Delaney modeling her new "Angry Little Girls" purse

Opening their grab bags

In the Sanrio store...

A neat Volkswagen "trike"...if you look closely you can see that the car still has the back seat inside!

Norfolk's symbol is the mermaid and you can see these all over town. This one is at one of our local malls and she looks like her tail was dipped in chocolate...and then someone took a big bite out of it!

When the truth hurts...

2009-07-24T12:59:00.005-04:00

Dear Children:

Your playroom is too messy. Please clean it up. I do not want to see another injury like this one again.

Love,
Mama

(The above photo is Delaney's foot. She was running across the playroom to come upstairs and stepped on a Lego snowflake about 1.5 inches in diameter. There was lots of screaming and crying and blood. We stopped the bleeding, took Motrin, doctored the wound with bacitracin, and iced the swelling. She is able to walk on it to go to the bathroom and says that actually makes it feel better. Odd kid, but I won't complain if she can walk! 60 pounds is a lot for me to carry.)

I also realized I didn't post pictures of Delaney's finished room...

On the wheel...

2009-07-23T19:05:00.003-04:00

Summer and kids have rather taken me away from this blog. Not sure when I will return to a more normal posting schedule...maybe in September when they all go back to school.

I've been knitting socks and spinning up some wool from my stash. The socks are Opal Hundertwasser in "Winterbild" or #625. The yarn is lovely. On my first go I hated the toes and made both socks (doing two-at-a-time) too large so I frogged them. (rip it, rip it) Started again with a smaller needle and much rounder toe and am almost to the point where I'll start the heels. Very happy now.

I finished spinning my "Inside the Glacier" Falkland Top that I got from Vilde at the Vildish Twist on Etsy. I haven't taken it off the spool yet but I'm hoping I got a few hundred yards and might possibly be able to make a hat out of it. This afternoon I dug around the stash for awhile and decided to try my "Party In A Bag" that I bought at MD Sheel & Wool back in May. Ugh. What a pain in the butt this stuff is. It isn't a nice tidy top but rather a bunch of batts that were thrown into bins that people ran their hands through during the fest. It's going in all directions, falls apart everywhere, etc. I'm really not enjoying it much, but I do like seeing the colours come up in the singles.

Ready for the week-end here. Wishing for rain but so far we aren't getting any. The cucumbers are done producing, we've eaten two eggplants from the garden and have about 5 more on the bushes.

Here are the photos of the frogged socks and my latest spinning efforts...

Party in a Bag singles

The actual "Party"...not very fun!

Inside the Glacier

Opal Winterbild socks...this was the first pair that no longer exist. Just wanted to show the beautiful colour changes with this skein of yarn.

It took me a day or two to find someone who could help me make a nice heel on toe-up socks. I was very proud of this pretty little heel...will be doing it again in the new pair!

New laptop!

2009-07-06T20:17:00.004-04:00

A quick update...my old Dell is still being worked on by a friend. Not sure when or if it will ever be functional again. We went to the Apple store on Sunday and bought a brand-spankin'-new MacBook Pro. It is very nice but will take some time to get used to.

The 4th of July was fun. Had some friends over and went to see the fireworks at night. Didn't get home until about 11pm and kids slept in very late Sunday morning! We spent most of the afternoon at the mall: Apple store, Sanrio (Hello Kitty) store, and Barnes & Noble bookstore. The play area at MacArthur Center mall is very nice so the kids were happy to play there for about a half hour also.

We are in the process of moving Delaney into the room over our garage. It gets very nice sun during the morning and I think she will like to finally have her own room. I'm hoping to put my IKEA chair up there so I can steal some time there during the day when everyone is in school (in the fall)!

Some photos:

The twins in the pool...

The garden

Flowers

Some Border Leicester I spun during the winter

I finished this sweater for Delaney last night at midnight. She picked the yarn and really likes the way the sweater turned out.

Everyone pitched in to scrape paint in Delaney's new bedroom

Down and out...

2009-06-07T12:27:00.002-04:00

Somehow I got a virus on my laptop (thanks for that "protection", McAfee!) that we cannot seem to resolve. Steven is working on it but we aren't sure how long it will be until I'm back up and running again. So here's the brief update of last week without photos.

William had his school physical and immunizations on Tuesday. No tears in the least, he was brave and did great! Steve was off work Friday and our new pool was supposed to be installed but due to rain, it wasn't done until yesterday. Early Friday evening we took the trailer down to the dealer because we still had problems with the C02 monitor when we camped over Memorial Day week-end. After dropping the trailer, we stopped at "Spice of India" a new-ish Indian restaurant in the Greenbrier Mall area. YUMMMY! I had lunch from there a few weeks ago and knew Steven would love it. The kids even enjoyed the meal out since they have chicken nuggets on the menu! Saturday, the pool was installed. I have a lot of photos of that and will post them as soon as I can. Today, we are trying to straighten out the 5 foot pile of dirt that was left in our yard. Later tonight we are actually having a night out without children and going to see "Celtic Woman". Looking forward to that!

Tinna has her physical on Tuesday and Delaney's last day of school is Thursday. While this is the beginning of true summer break, I am ready for it...next week the twinkies will be in Kindercamp for a week, then Delaney will have day camp for two weeks! It means getting up and out of the house and a bit of a more normal schedule for everyone. Tinna has been struggling emotionally with not being in school or around her friends. Summers are definitely going to be a difficult time for her. I'm hoping, too, that this new pool will be a good distraction once we can start swimming in it.

I'll update you again when I can but I don't think it will be very often now that I am dependent on Steve's work laptop. Bah. =( Viruses SUCK.

Wow

2009-06-01T12:59:00.003-04:00

It's been almost an entire week since I last updated the blog. Facebook takes up most of my online time...so if you truly want to know what's up with me, check there first! The week has flown by, lots has happened...

The kids all had their final music lessons of the school year. Delaney had her final Brownie meeting last Wednesday night and is now being enrolled in a new troop. Tinna started Daisy Scouts Wednesday night. We went strawberry picking Saturday morning, bought a 15'x26' above ground pool (being installed this Friday), Delaney had a piano recital Saturday afternoon. I canned strawberry jam Sunday morning, we attended a birthday party Sunday afternoon, and I canned MORE strawberry jam Sunday evening. (To date, I have 18 8-oz jars of strawberry jam and 6 8-oz jars of cherry jam. Soon I'll be getting raspberries from Trish, and then I'll have a day or two where I'm canning up them!) Busy, busy, busy.

I had planned to clean out the girls' room today but tummy troubles got the best of me at 3:45 this morning, so I've been sitting around most of the day. I did make it out to enjoy the beautiful, breezy, cool day...I sat in my chair and knitted while the kids played. I trimmed a few weeds and deadheaded one of my rose bushes because it is getting ready to bloom again. It is such an incredible bush. The rest of the garden is going nuts and looking completely out of control. The corn is over 6 feet tall, with tassels, and little corn cobs forming. Little cucumbers are forming. We are finally getting some flowers on one or two of the tomato plants. The lettuce is about done due to the heat.

Below are a few photos for you. If I get time later, I will upload the video of Delaney playing at her recital. She played "America the Beautiful" and "Alouette". If you are on Facebook, I already have it uploaded there.

Delaney and Tinna at the new Girl Scout meeting. This was Tinna's first night with the new troop. Delaney will be joining them for the next meeting. This troop has both Daisies and Brownies in it and meets at the primary school so I will not have to spend my entire evening running all over town.

William picking strawberries

Kids posing with their berries

See Delaney making a heart with her hands?

Delaney at her recital, just after she performed.

VARF week-end wrap-up

2009-05-26T08:13:00.003-04:00

A wonderful week-end was had by all in Fredericksburg. We drove up Friday evening, set up camp, had a small fire (large enough to roast marshmallows), kids went to bed very late. Saturday was RenFaire day (VARF - VA RenFaire). It was hot, close to 90F, but we stayed at the faire until closing time (5pm)! As we walked into the faire and saw how small it was, we thought "There is no way we will be here more than 2 or 3 hours"...but our friends Judy & Michael and their kids met us there and there were a TON of children's activities...so we stayed until close and then went up to Lake Anna Winery to hang out after! It was great to see Judy and Michael...they left Iceland in June 2003 and we hadn't seen them since that time, although we have kept in touch via phone and email. It was wonderful to hang out with them for a few hours.

Sunday was supposed to be a trip into DC to see the monuments. Being a group of mostly females, we changed our minds, and stayed at camp, opting for a day of fishing, swimming, and cooking Mountain Pies on the campfire instead of walking around city streets with aching feet. That was the best decision we could have made. Delaney caught not just one, but TWO fish. The kids were allowed to walk alone to the playground where they played with some new-found friends. Steven and I had some time to relax. The Fredericksburg KOA is the best KOA we've stayed at to date.

Back to school for Delaney today. Back to reality for the rest of us. I have mountains and mountains of laundry to tackle. Guess I should get started! I'll leave you with one or two photos and the link to the complete set on Flickr.

Making mountain pies...

Steven and William fishing together

Delaney's first catch...ever!

Learning about leather stamping

William took an archery lesson and really enjoyed it.

Meme...

2009-05-21T20:02:00.002-04:00

I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment, but I thought I would respond to this little meme from VAPurl. Here is the quote from her blog, so you will know what to do if I tag you...

I am supposed to list six unimportant things that make me happy and then tag six other people. They must mean little, not unimportant things. If they make me happy, then they're important - well, to me they are.

1. The smell of my children...and I'm not talking pee or pooh smells here, but the smell only a mother knows...the smell you smell with your entire being when you hold them close at the end of the day.

2. Unconditional doggie love.

3. Kitty purrs.

4. Like VAPurl, I enjoy being in my yard and watching my garden change and grow. It amazes me that just two years ago there was one little raised bed out there and now there's a whole lot more! I'm proud of what we've done and I like to just sit and look at it.

5. Coffee in the quietness of the morning before anyone else is up. This is one of the reasons I'll pull myself out of bed at 6:30 when I could stay in bed until 7!

6. Cool mountain air in my lungs. I love to be at home in the mountains in Pennsylvania. The air has a certain smell that isn't found anywhere else. I like to go for a walk in the woods, find my favourite rock, and just sit there and breathe.

Here are the people I'm tagging for this meme...can't wait to see your responses! Sorry I don't really have six people...maybe you all know more bloggers!

Rebecca
Rose
Yarnstormer
Ashley

What I did yesterday...

2009-05-18T08:24:00.003-04:00

Since it was ugly and rainy and I didn't have an extreme amount of motivation (actually I felt quite nauseous all day and today I have a cold!), I accomplished very little. I put away laundry, changed Delaney's sheets, made a cake, did dishes, and finished plying and skeining up my Border Leicester that I've been working on for months and months. So glad it is finally done. I ended up with 6.7 oz, 885 yards! This is my best spinning yet!

Steven took the afternoon to start working on the shelves in the girls' closet. It's pretty close to being finished...he just needs to add the metal strips that hold the actual shelves. Maybe it will get done tonight and I can post a photo of it tomorrow.

Today the twinkies have their end of the year school party. It was supposed to be held at a local park but it's still raining so now it will be at the YMCA. They will have their "graduation", an hour of swimming, and then lunch afterward. Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it! I think Tinna is fighting this cold because she is already complaining that she does not want to go. Very odd for her.

Swedish Sugar Cake - recipe below

The cat has found a nice place to sit and view the world

Border Leicester on the bobbin

Now on the niddy noddy. The photo of it in a skein did not turn out well.

Dena was hanging out with the girls before bed last night.

Sockerkaka - Swedish Sugar Cake - from Harpa in Iceland

Here it is :

50 - 75 gr butter (3.5 - 5 tbsp)
2 eggs
2 dl sugar (.8 cup)
3 dl flour (1.2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
the scraped insides of a 1/2 vanilla pod or 2 tsp vanilla suger
1 dl water (1/2 cup)

1 - 1 1/2 apple in slices
Cinnamon and sugar mixed together

Melt the butter, mix the sugar and eggs together and fold everything together in a bowl and pour it in a buttered baking form.

Then you put one apple in thin slices on top and sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of everything.

Bake for 40 - 50 min at 175°C (about 350F - begin to check cake around 35 minutes, mine was a bit too brown)

More Dena

2009-05-17T11:16:00.005-04:00

Dena is settling into our family nicely. She and Henry get along just fine. The kids love her. She seems to be a perfect fit for us. I have a few more photos of her with the kids. Also photos of our fire bowl...we used it Thursday evening to roast marshmallows and everyone had a great time, even though it was a little windy and we had to say "I hate fuzzy white kittens" every time the smoke blew in our faces. It has been proven that saying this phrase with meaning makes the smoke blow a different direction!

Today is rainy and not much going on. I just put away some laundry and am getting ready to spin. That's about it from here!

Sitting on the couch with Will & Delaney - she's obviously a Steeler's fan..black fur and gold eyes!

All pooped out at the end of the day! She went in her carrier and fell asleep.

The start of a patio and our new fire bowl

Starting the fire

Moon & stars...so pretty with the fire behind it

Roasting marshmallows

Welcome, Dena!

2009-05-15T10:27:00.003-04:00

The big Friday surprise...we have adopted a cat into our family! I always said I wouldn't do it until we had our final house, but since we will still be staying in VA for at least 3 more years, I went ahead and did it now. This wasn't even a planned adoption...we were at Pet Smart the other night when Steven got home and there was the cat. The kids looked at him with their little "please Daddy" eyes and I looked at him with my "please, sweetie" eyes...and the next thing I knew, he was going over to the register to find out how we could adopt her. We filled out the application and 2 days later we received a phone call stating we could come and get her! I picked her up this morning right after I took the twinkies to pre-school...

Oh, and speaking of pre-school...today is the very last day of pre-school EVER! From here on out the twinkies are big Kindergardeners!

Heeeere's Dena!

Modeling her new litterbox!

Just looking all pretty

Playing peek-a-boo from under the bed

Phew!

2009-05-13T16:51:00.002-04:00

There's been a lot going on this week so sorry for not having much time to update you. Steven got home on Monday evening after a 3 week trip. We were all happy to see him. (He was off work on Tuesday so we did some work in the yard and ran a few errands) Also, on Monday I also took a 2 hour hammered dulcimer class. That was a lot of fun. I'd like to save my money this summer so maybe I can get my own hammered dulcimer in the fall and start taking regular lessons while the kids are at school. There is a club in the area that gets together and plays a few times each month. I think it would be fun to be part of that.

I went to the YMCA today and did the strength test and registration for ActivTrax. ActivTrax is a computer generated work-out. Each time you complete a work-out, it prints out a different one to do on your next visit. I just signed up for the 30 day trial to see if I like it. Anything to try to get motivated to get my exercise!

Tomorrow is a work-out day and then "restorative" yoga afterward. Delaney has an appointment with her doctor after school for a physical. She needs that for her day camp at the YMCA.

I cannot reveal my plans for Friday yet as they are top secret. You will just have to stay tuned to see what will happen around here. It's something major so be sure to check back over the week-end if you can!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T20:25:00.003-04:00

Hope all the moms out there had a great day!

We spent our day with my friend Trish and her 3 kids. We dined al fresco at Plaza Azteca. The weather was absolutely beautiful...mid 70's, very low humidity. A day like this was worth the bad weather of the past week. The kids were very well behaved at the restaurant. Afterward, we came back to my house...kids played, mom's knitted. Dinner was chicken and mac-n-cheese and chocolate cake. Great day!

2 crazy moms + 6 kids!

This waiter had 10 plates lined up his arm...very impressive!

My mother's day gift from Trish. She made this just for me! She, of course, is QUEEN of the Dark Side...I'm just the princess. Ha! She's so funny.

Lucky girl!

2009-05-08T22:24:00.005-04:00

Tinna found a four-leaf clover in the backyard tonight. What a lucky girl! Can you see her Irish eyes smiling?

I stopped by Norfolk County Feed & Seed to get some advice on my gardenia bush (it's yellow and dropping leaves) and something to treat the flea beetles that are attacking my eggplants and tomatoes. I came home with a few more plants for the garden and a little surprise for the kids. After school, we hit Wendy's for dinner (lazy mom syndrome) and then I had our babysitter come so I could go out to Mary's farm and spin for awhile. That was so nice and relaxing! I was able to start plying my singles and might possibly have a new yarn to show you by the end of next week. Of course Mary's studio is always loaded with pretty bits of fiber so I came home with some beautiful purple merino to add to the stash. I wonder what happened to that fiber diet I was supposed to be on???

My Josy shawl is coming along so well. The yarn Anne Lise sent me from Norway is just perfect for the pattern. The colours are gorgeous and the yarn itself is very light in weight but with the mohair, it will be nice and warm for chilly days. I'm excited to see the way this shawl is progressing.

Today's photos:

Some new plants for in the garden

The surprise for the kids! Sooo cute!

Raspberries on the vine...I cannot wait to taste these!

A few of Mary's sheep in the pasture

Mary's granddaughter's painted Louet wheel

One of Mary's many wheels

Shorty relaxing at Kelly's wheel

The Josy shawl is progressing nicely

Jaywalkers...DONE!

2009-05-05T16:25:00.003-04:00

I finished up my Jaywalker socks about 20 minutes ago. The pattern was quite simple (suprisingly!) and I enjoyed making them. There are a number of errors in the socks...mainly one is longer than the other and the stripes do not work out the same. I think they will look ok with jeans. The yarn is Austerman Step with Aloe and feels very luxurious on my feet. I want to make this pattern again but doing it two-at-a-time with magic loop instead of the traditional 4/5 needle for in the round.

So...here are my completed Jaywalkers!

Up next: lots of spinning. I finally have two bobbins of natural coloured singles to ply. I might start that tonight or I might just take the night off. I like to ply in the day when there is lots of light and I'm not so tired...but we'll see how I feel after kids are in bed. I also have the baby dress to finish. All it needs is I-cord buttonholes. Can that be THAT hard? I've been procrastinating it for about 3 weeks now because I've never made I-cord before. Do you know what the "I" in I-cord stands for? It stands for "Idiot". Because any idiot can make I-cord. We'll see. I'm sure I can dork it up! After the baby dress is finished I'm planning on starting the Josie shawl and a pair of socks for my BFF. I have the yarn picked out and I think she'll like it...but all will remain top-secret until they are done and delivered.

Wool diet!

2009-05-04T11:26:00.004-04:00

It's now time for some serious stash-busting. Saturday was MD Sheep & Wool...I did manage to control myself, for the most part. I came home with three rovings and one skein of yarn for myself. The day was a bit wet, on the cool side (no complaints from me...I'll take 60s/70s over 90 any day!). I went to the fest alone but was able to see a few of my friends there. I think I like the fest more for the music than for the yarn. I would say I spent at least 60% of my time sitting and knitting and just watching the stage. I saw The Martin Family Band play...awesome, just like last year. I'm really looking forward to their new CD. I was able to catch Maggie Sansone's performance before I left. AND I discovered a new group called the "Speakeasy Boys" out of Shepherdstown, WV. I'm listening to their CD as I write this.

The Speakeasy Boys

The Martin Family Band, missing Lydia...she came a little late.

We arrived back home yesterday to the normal heat and humidity of VA. My rose bush, which had two full blooms on it on Friday, looked like this...

beautiful and the scent is heavenly!

My purchases from S&W...

This is a surprise gift for my friend Trish...Creatively Dyed Yarn in "Leaf"

"Party in a Bag"...wool with glitz to spin! I looked at this 3 times before I bought it.

"Gale's Art" merino top in "Crayon Box" colourway. I saw some of this already spun up and it was super soft and squishy. I can already foresee lots of spinning time in my near future!

Creatively Dyed Yarn in "Shuffle" - to make socks for my girls.

MD bound!

2009-05-01T10:06:00.002-04:00

MD Sheep & Wool or bust, baby!!! I'll have a report Sunday or Monday...right now, I'm still packing!

20

2009-04-29T09:43:00.002-04:00

It's 20 degrees cooler today. Yay!!!

I have a doctor appointment this morning. I noticed an odd spot on my side when I got in the shower yesterday. I thought it was a tick but my friends said it wasn't/isn't. It's in a spot that is hard for me to see well...so, off to the doctor I go. Can't tell you all the things that have crossed my mind from weird spider bite to bubonic plague. I have no other symptoms, so I'm taking that as a good sign!

Busy day planned. Doctor, laundry, mowing, Brownies tonight (I'm really over all of this running on Wednesday nights). Eventually I need to pack our suitcase for the week-end. It's Maryland Sheep & Wool week-end and I am very excited!!!

Oh well. Off to the doctor. More later, perhaps.

Long week-end

2009-04-27T14:11:00.007-04:00

Too hot here...it hit 95 on Saturday. Absolutely miserable. We went out to my friend Robyn's for a cook-out. Kids had a great time playing together and the adults actually enjoyed beer and conversation without too many interruptions!

Yesterday Trish came over with her kids...more adult beverages (Summer Sangria), lunch, then we took everybody swimming at the Y. Fun day, but again, too hot.

Twinkies had a Tea Party at school today. Photos below...and a few photos of things in the garden...some seeds are sprouting but I'm not sure if they are the Santa Barbara Daisy or the Sensitive plants! I neglected to mark the pots, so we shall have to watch and wait! Excitement abounds in our garden!

William in his hat

William escorting Laney to her seat

Zach escorting Tinna to her seat

Finishing up their "tea" (pink lemonade) and cookies

Will and Laney - he is starting to get silly

Laney, Will, and Zach - by this point no one can behave any longer!

Unknown flower in the fairy garden

Montego Yellow snapdragon - planted last year!

Thyme

Iris

Bleeding hearts

Hunter's Run

2009-04-25T07:11:00.002-04:00

Everyone was well enough to go to school yesterday. Tinna didn't miss her field trip to Hunter's Run stables afterall. It was a nice trip for the kids. They were able to go into a stall and see where the horses sleep, they learned a little bit about grooming horses, and they even had a short ride. The day was lovely...close to 80F and clear blue skies.

After the field trip, we made a stop by Norfolk County Feed & Seed. I cannot say enough nice things about this store. It is locally owned, not a big chain. Prices on the plants are more than fair. I paid $1.18 for 3 tomato plants, and honestly, most plants in there are under $5 unless they are large. I picked up 9 tomato plants (3 varieties: Brandywine, Early Girl, and Juliet), 3 eggplants, 10 small plants for in the fairy garden (such as lobelia), a rather large bleeding heart plant, AND a small gazing ball for in the big flower garden...all for $26! The store was busy on such a nice day and William and Tinna did a very good job of not touching everything!

Photos of the stable visit are on Flickr. Here's the link.

Pictures for Sue

2009-04-23T18:01:00.006-04:00

Still a bit sick here...girls are running very low fevers. We saw the doctor today and Delaney does NOT have strep. Yay!!! So, once these fevers break we can get on with our regular lives. There is still hope for the week-end.

Bored out of their minds this afternoon so I put on the ABBA DVD. They watched it no less than 5 times on the way to and from FL...and Mamma Mia! at least 2 times that I remember. They are WILD for ABBA. Love my kids!

So...here are the photos of William playing sax and guitar. The girls were sitting on the floor playing "drums", which I really hate but I allowed it for a little while since it's a sick day.

Blowin' on the "sax"

In the next song, the sword becomes a guitar!

Slam on that guitar, buddy!

We now bring you the ickies

2009-04-22T20:23:00.007-04:00

We've managed to catch some crud here. I woke up around 1:15 this morning feeling sick to my stomach. The rest of the night was full of bad dreams and spent tossing and turning. I managed to get it together enough to get the kids to school and go get some groceries. Dropped by the NEX where I saw a fire bowl for in the backyard. Happy early Mother's Day to me! Photo of it below. While I was waiting for the man to help me load it in the car, my cell phone rang and it was Delaney's school nurse. Delaney was in her office with a bright red sore throat and fever. So, I went and collected her at school, came home, unloaded groceries, etc. then we picked up the twinkies at noon. When we got home, Tinna said she did not feel well. I took her temperature and she also had a low-grade fever. Sheesh!!! The rest of the afternoon was spent watching tv (Tinna and I watched old episodes of CBeebies' "Balamory"), playing Wii (Will & Delaney), and napping (me). Everyone was in bed early tonight and I plan to do the same. Sorry I haven't had blogged much...until today we've been spending all of our time outdoors because the weather has been just beautiful.

Lots of photos from my garden:

Petunias

Nasturtiums

Flower garden

Unsure of this...Auntie Lori says Dianthus

Again, not sure of what it is but it is pretty!

Sandwort

Rose bush

Clematis is taller than me in just two weeks!

Kids blowing bubbles

Another view of the flower garden

Corn

Kids swinging on one swing!

Fire bowl

New project

2009-04-20T11:20:00.005-04:00

I got these chairs off my neighbor last night. He had put them out for bulk trash and I noticed them as I walked by with the dog and kids. Lots of life left in them, they are very heavy so I want to scrape them down, sand them a little, and repaint...red or white...I haven't decided yet. I'm not sure if my yard is ready for 2 big RED chairs. I might chicken out and go with white.

I was supposed to get lots of housework finished this morning. The kids are finally back to school after their spring break. So far I haven't accomplished much except putting away laundry and taking the dog for a little walk. I just had to get him out for a little exercise...the boy weighs 88 pounds (he used to be 65 in his prime!) and deserves a bit of extra attention these days. It's also very cloudy here today and the forecast is strong to severe thunderstorm activity this afternoon. Guess I'll have public radio turned on so I can be warned if there are any tornadoes in the area! Our temps are in the 70s right now. It is supposed to be in the 80s by Friday. If it is nice this week-end, maybe we'll have a few hours at the beach.

Also a photo of my Jaywalker sock. Two major flaws in it...don't know if you can tell from the photo. There is a big gap where I started the gusset, I can fix that with a bit of spare yarn at the end. Then there is a little zig zag down one of the seams where I miscounted or dropped a stitch or something. As soon as I put it on my foot, Steven said "What happened there?" Grrrr. I'm further along than this photo shows...that was taken in Georgia, I believe. I started shaping for the toe area last night so tonight it should be all about learning Kitchener Stitch. Looks pretty easy from the Knitting Help video I watched.

TTFN! There's work to be done!

Zoo!

2009-04-17T20:26:00.002-04:00

My plan for today included going to yoga with my friend Trish at the YMCA and then heading to the commissary for groceries. Late last night, my friend Kathy emailed me to see if we wanted to go along to the zoo with her and her two kids. She was willing to wait for me so I could go to yoga and she even offered to watch the kids while I went to the store! How could I turn down a deal like that??? Sooo, today turned out to be a very big day...yoga, zoo, but way too much tunnel traffic to make it back to the commissary in time, so we went to IHOP for dinner while traffic died down. It was a very wonderful day. The kids are completely wiped out (yay!!!) and now there are only two more days to get through until spring break is officially over and they all go back to school. Tomorrow is grocery and laundry day and I'm looking forward to spending a little time here at home in the afternoon.

Photos of the day are on Flickr. I think I got some really good ones of the animals, I mean kids! =)

Photos on Flickr!

2009-04-15T22:06:00.002-04:00

We are finally home from Florida. The trip was great. Time at Magic Kingdom went too quickly, we missed seeing Tinkerbell flying during the fireworks (too windy), and we didn't get to ride Space Mountain. BUT, we DID have fun with Sue, AND we got to see inside Space Mountain with the lights ON! Soooo cool! The ride is very compact and our photos don't do it justice but it was incredible to be able to see it. (the lights are off when the ride is running so you feel like you are flying through outer space)

We haven't even unpacked everything yet. I'll be doing laundry for the next few days. Tomorrow we have to take the trailer to the dealer to have a few problems fixed. All in all, this was a GREAT first camping experience and I cannot wait to start camping on a regular basis.

Here are the photos Steve and I took. I still have a few more on the camera and we haven't even uploaded the few hundred Delaney took with her camera while she was there, so I'll probably have even more in a few days.

So long for now. I'm heading to bed to (hopefully) get some (good) sleep in my real bed!!!

The quick, dirty blog post

2009-04-11T08:07:00.002-04:00

Well, we arrived in Yemassee, SC to the Point South KOA Kampground last night around 7. A little later than I wanted. We quickly set up "camp" and kids had fun playing frisbee while waiting for food and fire. I boiled up some hot dogs, Steven got the fire going and the kids were able to roast a few marshmallows before going to bed, sometime around 9 or so.

They didn't sleep well. We didn't sleep well. Beds in the camper are comfortable enough, I was worried about that but all was well there. We noticed last week that when the trailer is all plugged in and turned on, the CO2 monitor goes off periodically...even though there is no propane being burned! It started going off around midnight, then again at 2, then again every 45 minutes after that until Steven decided to disconnect it. There was nothing else to do when being faced with 4 more nights of it. We'll be placing a call to the RV store later this morning once we are on the road. I'm not sure if they will be open this week-end since it is Easter. Also discovered the outside shower had a crack down the handle and water sprays out there!

Oh, yeah, and I forgot about the thunderstorm that rolled through around 3am. Our "neighbors" were up and out of here around 6. Kids were up at 7, even though they were up half the night kicking and pushing each other and fighting for their spots in their bed.

We are having breakfast and coffee now. I don't have any of yesterday's pictures uploaded, maybe tonight once we are to Disney. We had a pretty uneventful ride...only saw one accident and that was in Suffolk! Steven was able to get one cache on the way...seems like there are more northbound.

I'll do my best to update later if I can. Am hoping Disney's WiFi is a bit faster than this one!

Vacation

2009-04-09T16:17:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter and Passover to everyone! Since next week is spring break in our school district, we decided to take the kids and the new camper to Disney World for a few days. Everyone is very excited and I've been running around like crazy trying to get everything ready.

Delaney had a Brownie awards ceremony last night so I have a few photos from that below along with pictures of the kids opening Easter eggs from my friend Anne Lise in Norway. They are beautiful paper eggs filled with chocolate and candies. She sends these to the children every year and it is becoming a nice tradition!

Also a picture of my latest knitting project...Jaywalker socks in Austerman Step yarn #21. These are a very fun knit and I love seeing the stripes come into the knitting. In this photo you can only see the beginning and none of the stripes. Hopefully I will get a new photo shortly. I must admit I am looking forward to sitting in the car and knitting for many hours over the next few days. Maybe I will even have these socks completed when I return from the trip!

Red!

2009-04-06T06:56:00.004-04:00

I'm painting the garden red! Can you hear the Alice in Wonderland song "Painting the roses red" when you read that sentence? We painted the giant mushroom yesterday...now I'm thinking it shouldn't be red...maybe if I add some orange and yellow flowers to that area it will blend in a bit better? If not, I'll paint it pink later this summer.

Another gorgeous day spent outside. We loaded stuff into the camper, tested different things to be sure they are all working and we understand how to use them. We took the kids for a bike ride around the neighborhood. I sat outside to do some of my spinning for awhile. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Today, back to the grind. With all of the outside time, the inside of my house is out of control. I going to spend today getting things tidy and clean again! Busy, busy, busy.

For Melvin

2009-04-03T17:55:00.005-04:00

My friend Kathy and I went out thrifting and antiquing again today. I found a few things, not quite as many deals as a few weeks ago. Below are photos from that and more of what is coming up in the garden...

Bulb box

Rowan DK Handknit Cotton (retails for $5+ per skein online. I picked up these 5 for $1.48 at Thrift Store City)

Leprechaun trinket box for William

Flower platter

I bought an old cap gun for William today at an antique store. Yes, I AM the kind of mom who allows her children to have fake guns. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Children must be taught respect of weapons and that cannot happen if they are never exposed to them! (Can you see the look of sheer joy on his face?)

In the garden today, we have...

Something my dad planted with the kids in the fall (crocus??)

Flamewitch Dianthus

The start of nasturtiums from Pia in Norway

The start of cosmos that were planted as seed last week-end

Kids twisting each other on the swingset so they can spin around and around and around

Egg hunt!

2009-03-30T20:27:00.006-04:00

We went on an egg hunt yesterday. It was at the Botanical Gardens in Norfolk and sponsored by Steven's ship. Not a big turnout but big enough that the kids had fun. The Easter Bunny made an appearance, too. The poor guy in the costume must have been dying as it was about 80F!

I got a nice treat in the mail today. Seed packets from Swallowtail Garden in CA. I found them online and they carry the Santa Barbara Daisy (Daisy Fleabane from a post I made last year) that I've been searching for for over a year! I ordered the Santa Barbara Daisy seeds, Been Balm, Moon Vine, and Sensitive Plant. I have fond memories of this plant which my neighbor used to grow each summer in her yard. When you touch it, the leaves fold closed. It is very fun for children so I am looking forward to growing it for my kids.

Photos:
Delaney and Tinna by the water

William and Tinna by the water

Sitting with the Bunny

Delaney - doesn't she look happy?

Tinna putting in her feet...you can see the water level is very high from all of the rain we've had!

William touching the water

Delaney always has to put her feet in...

Group shot

William walking around

This one is blurry but we ended our day by grilling hot dogs and chicken and sitting in the yard at our new table!

Seed packets! I'm very excited about these.

Sun!

2009-03-29T08:23:00.006-04:00

Surprise! We had an unexpected sunny day yesterday. It was warm...I was able to garden in a tank top...so, more sun on my shoulders to get me ready for the FL trip in a few weeks. Yay!

We made a trip to Home Depot to return a few things and get wood and soil for a new garden bed. I'm very excited about our "Victory" garden this year...we are already eating lettuce from it...even the kids will taste the lettuce as they play in the yard and say how good it tastes. A first for Delaney, that's for sure. She would never even put lettuce in her mouth before. I told her that everything grown in one's own garden tastes better!

Here are some photos from yesterday...

Kids trying to ride their bikes in the yard...Daddy broke down and took them for a real ride around the neighborhood.

New gardening shoes!

The fairy/mushroom garden...I added Firewitch Dianthus...

Another view of the same garden...here I put in Autumn Sedum and a second Firewitch Dianthus.

Steven building the new veggie bed

Built...

and filled! We put the corn in one end yesterday. Now, just to wait for beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers to be available at the nurseries!

3 Peony plants and some Cosmos went in here...this is the kitchen wall...I'm not convinced the peonies will grow. The root stocks seemed pretty dry and hard in the package. Maybe water revives them?

Sad news

2009-03-26T13:37:00.005-04:00

My camera has died. It wasn't a horrible, painful death...it just sort of faded away. It will still turn on, just won't take a picture! I was able to download the last photos, but I don't know how long it will be until I get a new camera...I'll have to make due with the old digital Polaroid (which is decent, don't be fooled by the name) for awhile. Maybe I'll make a break from the Sony Cybershot and look for a nice professional digital camera. They are a bit bigger in size but I'd really like to be able to take better quality pictures for the blog.

Busy few days here. Steve's dad was in town Saturday through today. Steven got back from his latest deployment (a short run) Monday afternoon. We went out to dinner that night at the Ships Cabin. Beautiful place, right on the bay. Cannot wait to go back in the summertime! Tuesday afternoon, the Twinkies had a birthday party at City Park and then my dad and Kathy came down from PA for a quick visit. They left today, also.

Tomorrow is back to normal! I will try to do some grocery shopping and laundry and general straightening around the house. It's raining today and I expect the week-end to be rainy as well. I put some new plants in the garden yesterday (sweet white onions, chives, autumn sedum and two other plants that I cannot remember the name of went in the mushroom garden, a heather at the mailbox, a bunch of daffodils and tulips that I bought at WalMart for $1 each) so the rain is perfectly timed. I bought some silver queen corn but I think we will be building one more box in the yard and I want to put the corn in that...maybe we will get enough of a break in between rain storms this week-end to get it done.

Here are the photos...

Ships Cabin, the front of the restaurant

The view from our seats! Killer! (click to enlarge this one - beautiful!)

William holding up a shell

See Delaney? She's heading to the water! Brrrr!

Happy #7, Delaney!

2009-03-22T20:09:00.007-04:00

Delaney is 7 today. Hard to believe, she is growing up so fast. What a joy she has been in my life! Happy Birthday, little one.

So, to wrap up the past few days...the Twinkies had a field trip to the Children's Museum on Friday. We've been there before, so not too much to report about that. Most of my day after the field trip was spent cleaning the house. I can report that it looked nice for the week-end and so far, it STILL looks pretty good! Maybe I can keep it this way now? Old habits die hard, but I'm going to try!

Yesterday I had a little party for the kids. I called it a play date and told guests that gifts were not expected...it was just cake and ice cream to celebrate everyone's birthday. A few guests brought gifts anyway and my kids were thrilled. I think most people had a good time. There was one incident with William and another little boy fighting over the swing...William got mad and threw it at the boy...he (the boy) ended up with a big goose egg on his head and Will got his butt smacked and had to go to his room. Sheesh! Why is it always my kids who act up at the most inappropriate times?

Today we had a quiet day at home with Grandpa NY. The kids got to ride their Big Wheels around the neighborhood for a little while, Delaney opened her gifts, and I did laundry.

Here are a few photos. The rest will be on Flickr shortly.

William driving the fire truck

Sliding with his friend Laney

Blowing bubbles with Tinna

Watching the trains

Riding a motorcycle with Tinna

Putting the candles on the cake (it was a butterfly design)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Blowing out the candles

Her big gift...a very nice PINK camera! She also got a few Nancy Drew mysteries, and a Taylor Swift CD. Lucky little girl!

2009-03-19T20:44:00.003-04:00

Today was busy...I spent the morning cleaning up the house, trying to get ready for the company that will be coming (Steve's dad this week-end and also a playdate/birthday party for the kids on Saturday afternoon). I cannot say I succeeded. The time went by too fast, the sun was too sunny, and the day was too warm. I was highly distracted. I did manage to tidy the playroom and a few other areas of the house, but for the most part, my house is still a mess! Tomorrow morning (Fri) I must go on a field trip with the twinkies to the children's museum and then spend the afternoon running around here trying to get everything put away in it's place and get the dusting done, too. I hope my coffee is extra strong in the morning!

Delaney had a little performance at school tonight. They sang patriotic songs and waved flags...very cute. You can see Delaney in this photo to the left of the man's hand (thank you, man, for ruining my photo!).

This is Tinna, who has been obsessed with the paint pens her Grandmother sent to her from Texas!

She seriously cannot stop painting with them...she goes straight to the table when she wakes up in the morning...

My latest treat came in the mail today. I found this book on Amazon.com last week. It cost me less than $10 but some copies are selling for as much as $60. I almost felt like I was stealing this when I placed my order...it was the cheapest copy available...but I am very much in love with it already. The front of the cover says "Myths and Legends of Mankind". Printed in 1934, it contains sagas, Beowulf, The Nibelungenlied, and many other stories from the northern parts of Europe.

A view of the inside...

The big green birthday day in pictures

2009-03-18T11:30:00.004-04:00

Because I'm short on time and don't feel like writing! This is the abbreviated version. If you want the full version, look at my Flickr page.

Here are the big 5 year olds goofing around after school...

Eating cake

Checking out one of William's gifts

William's big gift was the Imaginext Batman Cave. I also got him the bat car and motorcycle...just need to find the Joker now!

Tinna hugging her new Bitty Baby...she completely loves it but cannot seem to find a name for it yet!

5

2009-03-17T08:10:00.007-04:00

Happy 5th Birthday to my little leprechauns!!! Below are a few of my favourite photos of the twins as wee bairns. Today, 5 and no longer babies!

Steeler Nation

2009-03-16T19:15:00.003-04:00

It's been a rainy few days here. I finished up the blue BSJ and noticed some little brownish-yellow coloured spots on it. Bah! I never have it close to my drinks so I don't know where those spots came from! At any rate, I gave it a shot of OxyClean and that didn't help so I pulled out the bleach pen...I *think* I removed all of the spots without causing any damage...I gave it a good soak in Woolite and now it is drying upstairs. It should be done tomorrow and (hopefully) I'll take it outside in the light (sun?) to see what it looks like. Fingers crossed! After all of that, I didn't feel like knitting last night. I have two projects sitting here waiting to be started. One, a matching hat, using left-over blue yarn. Not sure if I want to even use it now that I know there are spots on it! I'm thinking to just chuck it. The other project is a little dress for another to-be baby. Cute pattern but I'm feeling overwhelmed with starting it. Mostly because I've never made it before and don't really know what to expect once I start it. Tonight, the spinning wheel is staring at me. I unpacked it and brought it out to the couch, thinking maybe I'll give it workout while I watch "Breakfast At Tiffany's" (which I've never seen)...but now I'm not sure. Tonight I feel like...knitting!

I took the kids swimming at the YMCA yesterday afternoon to pass some time. They had fun, although my hands and arms ache today from catching them and pushing them back the wall. It was crowded but I'm glad we went there rather than MacMall like I was thinking. I heard (read on FB) that the mall playzone was PACKED yesterday. Guess all the mom's in Hampton Roads were thinking the same thing after all the rain we've had!

Oh! So, after all of that with the spotted yarn, I decided to bring out my cutting mat and rotary cutter last night and make my Steeler's blanket. It's done and ready to be my most favourite blanket in the whole world!

Tinna has commandeered William's cowboy boots. Poor boy. Nothing is sacred in this house.

Thrifty finds...

2009-03-14T09:10:00.009-04:00

I was able to get out yesterday with my friend Kathy. She grew up in this area and knows all of the good antique places to go to. We made a quick stop by "Thrift Store City" and then on to Deep Creek to "Granma Had One". Granma Had One is just one of four little houses jam packed with goodies. We only made it to that one before I had to get back to the Y to pick up the twinkies. Will definitely be going back now that I know how to get there!

Here's what I found...

A quiche dish with pretty little flowers

Flower "frogs" of various sizes and prices

A stair basket...signed by the artist...$1.98!

Nurenberg Lebkuchen tin - beautiful condition, no rust, .48

Bodum tea press - new - retails on the Bodum site for $35...I paid $3.98!

Some unique cookie cutters that I don't have in my collection

Here are better photos of the "Red" project. "Red" was/is a pair of heart-motif fingerless mitts for my Auntie Lori, who collects hearts of all sorts. Hope you like them, Lori! They were made with love. Awww!

It was a very busy week...I didn't spend but one morning here at home. On Wednesday, I went over to Ashley's to hang out with other Yarn 'Ho's. Some knitted, some crocheted...I spun a little bit because I really need to start doing that more frequently. Below are a few photos from that morning.

This is Ash winding some yarn into yarn cakes...

This is a little yarn display she had on her coffee table. It looked very pretty in the sun. What a great idea!

One other thing I did this week was rake up all of the fall and winter debris in the backyard. I cannot believe the difference it makes to be all cleaned up! I moved all mushrooms and fairies from the front yard to this little area in the back. When the temperatures are consistently warmer, I will add some plants here. Right now it is just dry and dirty. It does receive full sun so it is kind of a tricky area to plant well.

Look, Ma!

2009-03-10T19:53:00.002-04:00

No cavities! All 3 kids had their first dentist appointment today. Our new dentist is GREAT! The kids had fun and Tinna was even sad to learn she could not go back again tomorrow. I am very happy.

After the dentist it was business as normal. I took Delaney back to school and the twinkies went with me to get groceries. Then we got home and they played outside, I put things away and knitted for awhile. It never did rain today but I think we should get something in the next day or two. I'm going to Ashley's for knit group tomorrow...I plan to take my spinning wheel and try to get some spinning done. I'm about 2/3 of the way finished with my latest BSJ (baby sweater). Then only one more to go!

That's it from here for today. I'm off to watch "A Room With A View". I've seen it at least ten times but at some point in the past year I bought the "Special Edition" DVD and I'm looking forward to seeing the extras on it. Ciao!

Sunshine on my shoulders...

2009-03-09T07:53:00.004-04:00

Makes me happy! We spent the entire day outside doing yardwork yesterday! 80F, sunny, light breeze. Perfect day. Another perfect one is forecasted for today also. Tomorrow it will be 50F and rainy. I'll take the sunshine for today...and the rain tomorrow will be perfect since we added a few things to the garden.

We did our part to stimulate the economy yesterday. Bought a table and chairs for the yard. Now we can have lots of meals outside (until the mosquitoes start to attack)...

Steven put up a new swing in the yard. I predict this will not last long. As the kids grow and get the hang of using this type of swing, they will begin to kick the fence...and I will not be happy about that. But for now, it's ok.

We planted two varieties of lettuce...romaine and red...and that's the garlic coming up in the front. In another month or two, this bed will also have beans and tomatoes.

Steven added a trellis for the raspberry bushes to grow on. We relocated both bushes to the same end of the bed and put in a few strawberry plants just to see what happens.

5 lavender plants have been relocated from the veggie garden area into the flower garden.

We relocated the butterfly bush and weigela to behind the bench in the front yard. Also added a forsythia and some creeping flox that will hopefully begin to cover the ground there.

This "trash" is something I picked up along the road during a geocache outing. The plan is to paint it so it looks like a mushroom. I'll post more of that when I get it done. I bought the paint yesterday. I have a number of different mushrooms in my front yard that I will be relocating to this backyard bed...in addition to some plants when the weather is consistently warmer.

About time

2009-03-06T10:00:00.008-05:00

I guess it's about time I update you on what's been going on around here. Not a lot, honestly...just a ton of illness!!! I don't even want to get into all of the details but both of the girls have been sick since Sunday/Monday. Delaney just went back to school yesterday (Thurs) and Tinna today (Fri). Waaa-hoo! Quiet time for ME! I've been knitting...finished the "Red" project and got that in the mail today. Finished the PSU/APO scarf for Taz and got that in the mail today, also. I've started the latest BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) for Sarah's new baby-on-the-way...I was one of Sarah's babysitters in the mid-80s. I have one more BSJ to make after that and then I'll be on to some socks or something, I think.

I mentioned in another post that Ashley bought some yarn from Hawaii for me and it hadn't arrived yet...well, she showed up on my doorstep at 8am Wednesday morning (one of my lowest days this week) saying "I thought you needed a surprise!"

Here is my Hawaiian yarn...GORGEOUS!!! Thanks, Ash!!!

Let's see...other happenings this week...Steven and Delaney brewed up the mead and now it will sit in a quiet closet (in the bathroom) for 2 weeks. After that, it gets put in a glass carboy and must rest for at least 6 months before we can drink it. Should be ready in the fall. Yummy! We are planning to brew up a hefeweizen-style beer this week-end, too. That should be ready much sooner than the mead. I can't wait to try it!

Here are some photos of Delaney and Steven brewing up the honey for the mead...

A few more photos:

Taz's scarf...

The girls painted their nails on Monday...a nice calm, quiet activity for the sickies.

SNOW!

2009-03-02T07:08:00.003-05:00

It's about time! We have approximately 1" now and it is still falling...schools are operating on a 2-hour delay, which is surprising since the canceled school all-together with no snow a few weeks ago. It doesn't matter much in this household since Delaney is running a fever (103 last night - 101 currently) and isn't going to school anyway. So much for her year of perfect attendance. (I'm not really upset, I'm proud of her for making it this far with no missed days) I'm very sad for her today since she will not be able to go play outside. It's gonna kill her when the twins go out later.

As close as she'll get to it today.

Delaney lost her 6th tooth two nights ago!

Oh what a tangled web we weave!

2009-02-27T15:28:00.006-05:00

Can you suss out what happened here?

Those would be Trish's hands holding a skein of Cascade 220 that we were winding into two center-pull balls. (see the ball winder with part of the skein already on it?) Wind, wind, wind...we decided we needed to weigh the yarn to see if we reached the half-way point. Trish kind of scrunched the skein all together and plopped it on the scale. When she lifted it up it was all tangled! Horrifying! We worked for at least an hour trying to untangle it...then it was time for dinner...we worked at it a bit longer after dinner. Eventually she took the whole big mess, the ball winder, the scale, and her kids home with her. (She still had 2 other skeins to wind). She had all of it straightened out by midnight!

Yesterday, I had a heck of a day. Tinna had a doctor appointment at 2. We got out around 2:15 so I went up the street to JoJack's for a cup of coffee and a smoothie for the kids. When I pulled away from the drive-thru, my car was acting very strange...engine was revving fast and it was all I could do to stop it with the brake. I had to put the car in neutral at the stop lights so it wouldn't go into the intersection. When I took my foot off the gas, it would not slow down lower then 40mph. Wow. Very scary. I called the Honda dealership to tell them I'd be bringing it in and then I called AAA to get it towed there. I was without a car all day today. Trish took my kids to school and Ashley picked up milk and bread for me at the Commissary. Turns out that the guy who installed the battery at Wal-Mart last week ran the cables the wrong way so the battery was causing the alternator to arc. (Ok, I might be wrong about this, it's a little out of my league...but that's the best of what I remember him saying. Ask me about knit or purl stitches, not engineering!!!) Thankfully, the mechanic thinks the problem has been fixed and it only cost me $75 and not the thousands I was terrified I'd be paying!

I also made a new recipe yesterday. It's from the book "What To Cook..." by Arthur Schwartz. Great little book...I picked it up at the Book Owl for my birthday.

Tuna and Beans

Serves 2 for a light meal, 4 as an appetizer

One 6 1/2 oz can tuna (preferably light, not white), drained
One 16-oz can cannellini beans, drained
1 small onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped (optional)
1 small rib celery, finely chopped (optional)
1 to 2 TBSP lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 or 2 TBSP olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a small mixing bowl, using a fork, gently blend all the ingredients together, being careful not to mash the beans
2. May be served immediately or chilled before serving.
3. A Fresh Touch: Finely chopped fresh basil, mint, or parsley is always welcome.

Delish! I put mine on a bed of butter lettuce and topped it with some feta and a drizzle of balsamic dressing.

For Pia: Here is what I got from Sephora...

Four free samples

Free red satin gift bag

Aquolina Pink Sugar (amazing smell - just like cotton candy!), Juice Organic skin care, Too Faced "Smurfette" eye shadows, and lip glosses (they were free because it was my birthday...that is one of the perks of having a Free "insider" membership at the store)

A close-up of the Smurfy eye shadows

Gifted!

2009-02-25T06:50:00.002-05:00

No this isn't a post about my talents or my intelligence (ha!). My friend Tricia gifted me with this beautiful yarn below for my birthday.

Schaefer Yarns, "Anne" in the colourway "Emma Jacobsson". I had no idea who Emma Jacobsson was until I received this yarn, so I did a quick search of her last night and found out she was the leader in the Bohus knitting industry in Sweden. Bohus sweaters are yoked sweaters with intricate colour patterns. Just gorgeous! If I ever get off my sock kick, perhaps I'll make one.

Most of my morning was spent getting groceries and going to Wal-Mart. I picked up this crazy finch feeder...it really looks like a man-o-war jellyfish, doesn't it? So far the finches haven't gone to it...perhaps today!

Spoiled!

2009-02-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

That's what I am today.

I dropped the Twinkies off at school this morning, came home and took Henry for a nice walk (about 10 minutes, it is the most he can do these days). It was cold! Back inside, I rode my exercise bike for 30 minutes and planned the rest of my morning. I needed to make a trip to the Post Office and also decided to go to the Book Owl and treat myself. I took a bag full of books along with me. Perfect! When I got there, it turned out that I had a $5+ credit and combined with the books I took along, I was over $40 in credit. I promptly spent it on the stack in the photo below! Very fun! After the Book Owl, I made a quick dash into Food Lion for apples and bananas before picking up the twins at school. Ashley came over after lunch and we knitted and had a piece of her homemade chocolate cake (OMG sooo good!!!). Thanks so much Ashley for being a great friend, not just on my birthday, but every day!!!

Right now I'm sitting here waiting for Delaney to get home from school so I can hug her and kiss her and be thankful I'm her mom and that I've made it through another year. (Never fear, I've already hugged and kissed William and Tinna today...Delaney, too...but I still want more!)

My stack from the Book Owl.

Gift bag from Ash. In it: Perlier Lavender Moisturizing Body bath and cream, lavender diffuser oil, Fireside Chai tea, 2 plain Hershey's chocolate bars (don't spend money buying Godiva for me, I'm a Hershey's girl!), Harold & Kumar Go To white Castle: Extreme Unrated version - because I need to spend more time laughing!, Perfect Indian cookbook, AND yarn from Hawaii that has not arrived yet!

Screw Punxsutawney Phil!

2009-02-23T09:34:00.003-05:00

The way you really know that spring is coming is by seeing a robin in your yard! I saw my first one a few days ago. This morning there were about 20 out front...all eating my grass seed!!! I don't know if I should laugh or cry. I didn't get any photos of the robins but they are most definitely here in our part of VA. I did get quite a few photos of the birds at our feeders yesterday...some especially nice ones of birds at the window feeder. It was a very rainy day and they fed in full force in between rain showers.

Had a nice time with my friend Tricia and her kids yesterday. They came over late in the afternoon and we had dinner together. Other than that, it was a quiet day. Today should be quiet too, despite it being my 39th. No major plans except to workout, run errands and then spend the afternoon with Ash, probably knitting!

At one point I counted at least 20 birds on this platform feeder!

Week-end wrap up

2009-02-22T08:06:00.005-05:00

And thank goodness the busy part of it is OVER!!! This past week was crazy with activities. In addition to our regular schedule of piano lessons, Brownie's, and Kindermusik, we had Math & Science night at Delaney's school and a Girl Scout Awards and Re-dedication ceremony to attend. Saturday we had a cookie booth from 11-2 and then Delaney went to a birthday party from 2-5. Phew! Today, is jammie day. My plan is to get dressed, walk the dog, tidy the house just a little (it's not THAT messy since we haven't been home much this week!), and later our friends will come over for dinner. I'm hoping to fit in a bit of knitting here and there.

Thursday I spent the entire day working in the yard. I relocated some daffodils to this spot and added violas and pansies.

An earthworm "escapee" (don't worry, I put him back in the dirt before he dried out!)

Garlic!

Some things are sprouting that my dad and the kids planted in the fall.

A few photos from the GS Ceremony on Friday night. My camera battery was almost dead so I didn't get many good shots. I'm hoping Delaney's leader will have some better ones. Here are the girls presenting the colors. (carrying the flag from the back to the front of the room)

Lighting candles - each candle represented a different part of the Girl Scout Law.

Delaney receiving her patch from Miss Kristi. The big girls are Cadets/Juniors and are part of our "sister" troop. They earn service hours by helping the Brownies each week.

Socks That Rock "Love". My Valentine's Day gift from Steven.

The latest knitting project. All of the white strings are "lifelines" made from dental floss. The lifelines protect me from having to start the project over if I make a mistake. I will move them along every few rows for insurance! This project will have quite a bit of cabling and is probably the most difficult project I've done to date.

No photos today

2009-02-19T06:51:00.003-05:00

No photos for you today. I'm tired from this week already and it's only going to get worse...the Twinkies have been home with mild colds for the past two days. The only reason they didn't go to school yesterday was due to swimming lessons...I didn't want them to go swim and get cold, etc. so I kept them with me. Had to deliver some cookies and wanted to leave the house around 9. We got in the car but it wouldn't start. ARRGH!!!! Dead battery. There was just a little juice in it because I could hear it trying to turn over. I called Ashley, she was already on her way to her friend's house but she graciously offered to come to my house so I could jump my car. Nah. I called Steven at work because I thought he was coming home early and I wondered what time that was going to be (ha, yeah, WRONG. there's never EARLY in the Navy)...while I was on the phone with him, I tried starting it one more time and what do you know? It started, very roughly, but I gassed it and then it was OK. Phew! I just do not need car troubles right now!!!

We delivered those cookies (without turning off the car) and headed to Wal-Mart for a new battery and some groceries. Then back home and I realized I didn't have my apples and oranges. The rain was pouring down, the kids were tired and complaining. I didn't go back for them. Maybe today. Can I just say, I HATE the way Wal-Mart bags things with those circular bag holders!!! You never know if you've got it all until you get home.

So, last night was Brownies. Tonight we have piano lesson and Math & Science night at school. Friday night is a Brownie awards ceremony/troop re-dedication. Saturday is Brownie Cookie Booth and a birthday party. Sunday...I'm sure I'm going to want to collapse by then! I think my friend Tricia will come over in the late afternoon with her kids and we'll have dinner together...but maybe they kids will "sleep in" for me just a bit?! I can always hope.

I love my BFF!!!

2009-02-17T14:05:00.006-05:00

Because she still lives in PA and spoils me rotten! Here's what came in the mail today...

A "Sixburgh" t-shirt, "43" magnet (because Troy P. is my favourite...I LOVE his hair and the way he jumps around!), AND a "German Pittsburgh Fan" coaster (already in use). Thanks, Sue! You are the best!!!

I spent all morning sorting our Girl Scout cookie order...it doesn't look like much in the photo but it was serious, time consuming business!

I finished knitting the latest BSJ two nights ago. It is cute. Still need to seam up the shoulders, wash/block, and add buttons.

This afternoon I washed Taz's scarf and now it's drying upstairs. Hopefully it will be dry by tomorrow night...at that point I'll add the fringe and the patches to it. The plan is to get it in the mail to him late this week. I'm sure it's still cold in Indy so I hope he likes it and will use it!

Tinna helped me wind new yarn into center-pull balls. These will be used for some very special socks for someone near and dear to me. Stay tuned because I cannot reveal the details until I ship them off at the end!

Lastly, Delaney had a project to do about Natural Resources over the past week. She wanted to make a recycling truck. Steven helped her make it out of some things we recycled and a few items from nature. That's Nick Jonas driving and Miley Cyrus assisting him. I guess they will drive recycling trucks when they are done being superstars!

Surprise Visitors!

2009-02-15T20:40:00.004-05:00

Hubs was away for a few days this past week...I was alone with the kids for Valentine's Day and that was ok. We'd had a busy week and needed some down time anyway. I've been busy with my latest BSJ in my spare time in the evenings. (5 more rows...hope to have it done tonight!) I planned on baking a special cake for the kids and covering it with icing and little heart-shaped sprinkles. Steve was scheduled to be home late Saturday afternoon. Imagine my surprise when there was a knock at our door at 8:15 Saturday morning and it was my dad and Kathy! They drove all the way from PA (leaving around 2:30 am) to take us out for a Valentine's breakfast! Awww, how sweet! After breakfast there were also a few Valentine's Day gifts for everyone and birthday gifts for me. Then they went home to PA at lunchtime and we were all alone again.

Steven ended up not getting home until after 10pm last night. He slept in a little today and then we ran out to Lowe's. I picked up some soil for the garden and some pansies...even though we are supposed to have snow tomorrow (no, I am NOT excited and I am NOT holding my breath for it) I think they will be just fine until I can get them in the ground on Tuesday or Wednesday. We also got a set of little solar lights to line our walkway and two new sconces for at the front door. A bit of sprucing up never hurts anyone. After lunch, the kids were told to clean their bedrooms. They did so and were rewarded with a swim at the YMCA before dinner. We had a lovely time, even saw one of their little friends from the summer pool we sometimes go to, so that was nice.

Tomorrow, every one is off work and school since it is President's Day. My friend Robyn, who I've known since high school, lives in the Norfolk area and we are getting together to reminisce and for the kids to play. We haven't seen each other in 20 years so it should be a nice time. I didnt' even know she lived down here until I caught up with her and her brother James (who I dated briefly!) on Facebook. I cannot say enough great things about that site!!! Tomorrow afternoon, our friends Bob & Bernice, who we used to pal around with when we lived in DC, will come by for a visit. They are in VA Beach this week-end to visit their daughter. We haven't seen them since 2004 when our twins were just 6 months old. Looking forward to that, as well. We always have a laugh when we are together!

Here are a few photos from the past couple of days...

I think I'll call this one "Too Much Technology". Playing Leapster AND computer at the same time!

Playing games with Grammy

More games with Grammy

This was my great thrift shop find of last week...Pimpernel Holly & Leaf coasters. Beautiful!

I finally found an affordable stand for my drinking horn. From White Hart Forge.

Birthday gift from hubs...the lovely wrapping under it. =)

Chocolates from The Candy Kitchen in my hometown, Waynesboro PA. Despina Leos is the name of the woman who started the company. She died last year. You can read about her here and here.

A bunch are gone already! These were from my dad and are a wonderful treat.

Tinna

2009-02-12T21:53:00.002-05:00

Another quick little post since it's getting late here. Tinna has been complaining all week about a sore throat. She never had a fever so I tried to ignore it. This morning as she was eating her breakfast, she pushed away her cereal and said "I just can't take it anymore!" And when I asked her what that meant, she said "My sore throat!" So I called the doctor and was able to get her an appointment for tonight at 6:15. She does not have strep...I was worried about that because some of the children at the YMCA had it last week. They were school age and not pre-school...but they all still share space, so who knows. It turns out that she has an ear infection and swollen tonsils. She'll be on amoxicillin for 10 days and then the doctor will re-check her.

I was able to get out and do a little thrift shopping this morning and also went to the post office and the dollar store. If I have time I'll tell you a little more about that tomorrow. I had one really good find at the thrift store!

Now, it's time to walk the dog and go to bed. I'm wiped out!!!

I did it!

2009-02-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

I did. Really. I swam laps for 20 minutes today and rewarded myself with 10 minutes in the hot tub. Yay me! Nothing else to report from here today. Maybe tomorrow will bring some new blog fodder to me.

Just Do It!

2009-02-10T14:55:00.003-05:00

Relatively busy day...dropped the twins at school, came home and took the dog for a walk...did 25 minutes on the stationary bike while watching the construction guys tear up the road in front of our house AND "Cash In The Attic" AND all the while reading a Martha Stewart Living magazine (multitasking, folks!). I took a shower, knitted for awhile, then picked up the twins. We came home, had lunch, and took off for TJ Maxx and Wal-Mart. We are finally back home and now waiting for Delaney to get here!

Here's the main purchase of the day...

Cute and trendy...so unlike me!

Inside zip pocket...which is lined with a felty, flannel material. And a shoulder strap, in case I decide to carry it that way.

And there's this big, built-in, drawstring bag...perfect for holding a wet swimsuit while keeping other things dry!

My new Nike work-out bag! See, I needed some inspiration. I found a lock that I can use on a locker at the YMCA...all I was missing was a bag to carry my clothes/swimsuit/towel in. Now I have it. And there are no more excuses. I must start...tomorrow!

Lots of photos

2009-02-09T14:55:00.008-05:00

Not much writing today but lots and lots of photos for you. Steven and Delaney went to their first Father/Daugher dance sponsored by the Girl Scouts on Friday night. Delaney had a birthday party to go to on Saturday so we stayed home most of the day. All of Sunday was spent geocaching at a beautiful place called "First Landing State Park" in Virginia Beach.

I've got all of the ends woven in for the scarf and will block it tomorrow. I just cast on for a second BSJ...this one in yellow as the gender of the expected baby is unknown. Ashley came by earlier with some red alpaca and I'm going to make another Amanda hat out of that. I love my green hat. I'm pretty sure I will keep the red one for myself, too. I'm greedy like that. She also gave me a skein of Austermann Step in turquoise/gray so I'm looking forward to making up some socks with that. Fun, fun.

Here are photos from Friday night:

Before the dance

Dancing

Dancing

Delaney was the winner of this basket full of candy and movie passes!

First Landing State Park

Beginning our hike, checking out the bridge

View from the bridge: swampland!

Map of trails

William is the leader today

View from the trail

Frog cache container

Tinna playing with Spanish Moss

Snack time

Beautiful Wood Duck (click on this one to view full size - he is truly gorgeous)

Delaney testing the water with her toes and the Wood Duck in the background. I think it wanted to be fed...it kept getting closer and closer to us.

Swamp land turned grass land (still very wet but not as drastic as the swamp land at the beginning of the hike)

After hiking the kids wanted to go to the beach. Delaney, of course, wanted to swim. We all just stuck our toes in instead.

Family photo on a perfect day.

Blue...

2009-02-06T11:12:00.004-05:00

One little...

Two little...

Three little Blue Jays!

Quiet days here. I've mostly been spending time around the house. It's been so cold here that I can hardly stand it! Ash and I did run out to the yarn store a few days ago. I bought some black and gold Encore...a little something I'll work up later this spring. I'm still knitting away on the scarf. I'm at about row 16, I think. I think, unfortunately, that I will have to add a few more stripes as it just does not seem long enough! Not sure why this one is knitting up differently than the Hogwarts scarf I made for Sharon last year, but it is and it's a pain in the arse. There are so many other things I want to be doing! I cannot believe I originally thought I might make two or three of these...I must have been out of my mind.

Steven and Delaney are going to a father-daughter dance tonight with the Girl Scouts. They are both very excited. I'll post pictures later this week-end or early next week. Not sure what trouble we will get up to...weather is supposed to be just about perfect tomorrow (65F) which makes up for yesterday with our high of 30F. I seriously thought I'd freeze to death last night...two down comforters and a heated "bed buddy"...I even turned the thermostat up a degree (it's on 66 now)!

I caught the twins looking at a book together yesterday afternoon.

One of Tinna's latest creations. This is a monster.

Guess what!?!?

2009-02-04T06:45:00.003-05:00

We had a 90% chance of snow for last night and today. Did we get any???

NO!

Why am I not surprised? The storm found it's way to NC...again. Guess we have to move further south if we want to shovel. Some progress was made, however...they didn't cancel school this time so at least the kids aren't stuck at home feeling sad because of a "no snow" day.

Temps by Saturday will be in the 60's. Good for my gas bill, which was over $200 this month!

What I'm working on now...

2009-02-03T13:28:00.003-05:00

And what to do about it?

I'm making this scarf for Taz, who is one of my APO brothers. He was on Facebook one night and asked me to make him a scarf...he didn't have any preference as to colour or type. So I started this scarf in the car when I was on my way to Pennsylvania the other week. I purchased a few of these Penn State patches a year or so ago...I cannot remember why I bought them in all honesty, but I'm sure I had a project in mind at the time. Last week I ordered APO patches from the National Office and they arrived yesterday. I thought I might put one patch at each end of the scarf (which will be pretty long - 19 or so stripes plus fringe) but now I'm having my doubts. What do you think??? Should I add both patches or just one? Should I put them at the same end of the scarf; one on each side? I thought it would be a nice touch to add the APO patch...maybe I need to leave off the PSU patch since most people know blue & white = Penn State? Post a comment if you have suggestions.

Superbowl Happiness

2009-02-02T12:51:00.003-05:00

So the Steelers won the Superbowl...can't say how nerve-wracking that was, though. I serioulsy had my doubts that they would win. I almost turned off the tv with about 2 minutes left. But, they managed to pull it out and I wonder if it was my good-luck Steel City meal that did the trick???

That's cabbage, pierogies, and kielbasa all cooked up together. It was a new recipe and 4/5 of us found it most delicious. It's a keeper!

Yesterday in the early afternoon I had to run to Norfolk. Ashley had found an add on Craigslist for a set of hand-carders that were $25. I emailed the girl and she still had them available...what a bargain...they are brand new and retail for $56! (That's the main reason I never bought a brand new set. I never wanted to spend that much money on them because I knew they wouldn't be used an extreme amount...I do however, have a little bit of Alpaca that needs to be carded and the dog brushes I bought just aren't doing the trick!) Sooo, while we were in Norfolk, we did a bit of geocaching. Below are some photos from our afternoon.

HERE WE GO...

2009-02-01T08:48:00.003-05:00

Needless to say, *I'm* ready for the big game!

Busy week, this past one. We had friends over on Thursday. Chandra henna'd my hair for me again and it turned out really nice this time...I used LUSH's "Caca Brun" and mixed it with coffee instead of water for a nice dark brown colour and not a lot of red. Yay! It is the best yet! Kids made it to school every day this week. I got things done around the house AND started working out again after so many months of procrastination. Yesterday we took a run up to Newport News to Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Dick's (sporting goods store). We got 5 geocaches while we were up there, too. I was able to pick up some new books: "2-at-a-time Socks", "Son of Stitch 'n Bitch", Nabokov's "Pnin", and Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." Not sure what that selection says about my reading habits...could probably be something scary so I'd better not try to analyze it! We got back home around 5 and Steven treated us all to some delicious fried chicken. I love to eat it but I hate how the house smells now.

Not sure what we are up to today...it is supposed to be pretty warm here...about 58F from the reports I've seen.

Here are a few photos from last week:

Delaney, Tinna & Laney

Chandra playing Barbies with the kids

I noticed the pair of mated cardinals on the feeder the other day (same day I made the post about them) and tried to get a photo...THIS is what happened as I snapped the photo...and the male flew away...I was quite annoyed...

Until I realized it was the red-breasted woodpecker flying in for a bite!

And then later, the male cardinal came back and I finally got his picture...so I was happy!

It's the small things...

2009-01-28T09:46:00.004-05:00

that thrill me.

Watching the birds at my feeders...

Finally the cardinals have discovered my platform feeder! It has only been up for a year!!! Two days in a row I have spotted the male and missed my opportunity to take his photo. I did catch the female and here's the proof. This is probably my biggest thrill of all!

"Finchville"

Living together in peace and harmony...a goldfinch, a purple finch, and a squirrel on the fence.

Three finches fighting for spots at the window feeder.

Discovering a milk jug that matches my tea set! (this one wasn't cheap...the plan is to slowly add to the collection)

Seeing art that Delaney makes in school. It says "My faverit part is wene humpty dumpty falls off the wall." Indeed, the child does like to push her brother and sister so this does not surprise me in the least!

More reasons why I love PA...

2009-01-26T13:09:00.005-05:00

We went to PA for the week-end. Our goal was to find snow, go tubing at Ski Liberty, or go geocaching. We found snow in our neighbor's yard so the kids were able to go sledding on Saturday morning. As soon as they went out the door, snow started falling from the sky and they were able to play in it. While we were sledding an hour later, the sun came out. Best of both worlds. After sledding, Kathy and I went down to Wal-Mart so I could pick up some PSU fabric, PSU fleece, AND some Steeler's fleece (the fleeces will be made into blankets for in the trailer) When we got done it was lunchtime so we hit Sanders Market in Cascade for REAL hoagies!!! Sooo yummy!!! I love being home.

We went to Ski Liberty around 2pm and had to take a shuttle bus from the far parking lot up to the tubing area (because it was super crowded with the DC crowd). As we sat at the lodge stop waiting for folks to get on the bus, the driver told us they were already selling tickets for 5pm and we wouldn't be able to tube until that time...another lady told us there was a 20-30 minute wait for each turn to tube...so, back to the car we went. We stopped by the liquor store for some beer, went home to relax for a while and then we took the kids bowling at Sunshine Lanes in Rouzerville and Pappy and Grammy went along. Dinner was at Mountain Gate (my favourite). Sunday morning's temperatures were around 15 - 18F so we passed on trying again at Ski Liberty...we called my friend Patrick who was supposed to go geocaching with us and between us decided it was just too cold and we will now wait for warmer weather. The kids and Steven went back over to the neighbor's property for another hour of sledding before we started our drive back to VA.

Lunch was sandwiches from Sheetz in Thurmont, MD (turkey on pretzel bread - another of my yummy faves) then we stopped by the mall at Tyson's Corner (McLean, VA - DC Metro area) to go to LUSH. I'm not the only one addicted to LUSH in this house...this stop was actually so my husband could pick up some Tramp. Hahaha, I love how that sounds! Tramp is a patchouli-scented shower gel that we both love...but he uses way more than I do! I got some brown henna for my hair and Angels on Bare Skin scrub...the kids each picked out a bath bomb. We stopped into LL Bean and looked around a bit then got coffee and hit the road again.

Photos from the week-end...

Playing in the left-over snow.

Pretty girl.

Walking over to our neighbor's property.

Sledding.

Sledding.

Sledding.

The sled run. Quite a bit of grass but there was enough snow to pick up a little speed!

Steven & William on the sled together.

Finally a HOAGIE and not a sub!!!

Tinna and Pappy.

Bowling.

Bowling.

Bowling.

FO - Prelude Fingerless Mitts...

2009-01-22T20:59:00.005-05:00

On my lap in the afternoon sun

FINISHED!

A fast and satisfying project. In this one, I learned how to do a thumb gusset. The second thumb is much nicer looking than the first, c'est la vie. Next time I'll know exactly what to do and both mitts will be perfect!

I spent a little time spinning yesterday...proof is that my wheel is in the kitchen and not in the front room where it has been living since the beginning of January...

I'm going to be casting on for 2 PSU scarves soon...they are for 2 of my A-Phi-O brothers. One lives in Indiana and the other in Florida. I plan to make them in the "Hogwarts" pattern but with navy and white yarns.

I also wanted to post a photo of the drawing Delaney made on her "snow day"...it says "Dear Mother Nature may you please send us some snow". Pay particular attention to the windows...that's us looking out and waiting for the snow. Sweet girl. She even put it under her pillow Tuesday night, just in case Mother Nature came by to visit us. I guess if it works for the Tooth Fairy, it ought to work for every other member of the make-believe world!

Very (very) short update...

2009-01-20T19:17:00.002-05:00

On the snow front...

NO (significant) SNOW FELL IN OUR TOWN TODAY.

What a ridiculous waste of a day. All of the high hopes, all of the dreams of making snow angels and throwing snowballs and making snowmen...it was all for nothing. Nothing. There are three very sad children and two very sad parents in this household. I will be glad to go to sleep and wake up to a new day tomorrow!

Whatever you do...

2009-01-20T07:14:00.002-05:00

DON'T PANIC!!!

Because all of the schools in this area are CLOSED today. There's not a snowflake to be seen, but JUST IN CASE it snows, we will be here at home warm and safe...and waiting for it. The folks back in PA will laugh their a**es off when they read this. Of course, as Steven reminds me, "You're in the south now, baby. They don't have the same snow removal capabilities as we do up north." Yeah, yeah, whatever. But close schools with nothing on the ground or falling??? BWAHAHAHAHA!

Supposedly we shall see anywhere from 1 - 5 inches today. I'll keep you posted...

I did NOTHING

2009-01-19T16:16:00.005-05:00

Yesterday except sit on the couch and get up to pee and feed the kids. (Oh, yeah and I watched the Pittsburgh Penguins play for a few minutes and then watched most of the Steelers vs Ravens game after the kids went to bed) Pitiful, though. I'm fighting off a cold (still - but I'm staying just ahead of it I think) and Steven had 24-hour duty...and it was raining outside...so I felt justified in my actions. It also afforded me the opportunity to do this...

Work on my Prelude fingerless mittens...

And get started on the thumb gusset...which is turning out to be easy but had me royally freaked out just thinking about it! I even ran a "lifeline", which is the white dental floss you can see in the picture...just in case I had to frog...I didn't want to lose the work on the whole mitt!

and I had onions cooking in the crock-pot for today's lunch...French Onion Soup.

What a way to warm up and nurse a cold! Very yummy. I only made a enough to serve two but I should have made a big batch so I had some leftovers for the rest of the week. Oh well. Next time I'll know.

We went out for a short walk this afternoon. So there are a few photos below from that.

Henry enjoyed an outing with us...

Inspecting a big root system on a fallen tree...

2009

2009-01-18T22:25:00.001-05:00

I'll give you a better update tomorrow...I really need to go to bed but for now, I'll leave you with this...thanks, Sue!

Beginnings...

2009-01-14T07:58:00.005-05:00

With only two projects left to finish up (Sue's Christmas gift and good ole Pel, which might actually get washed and blocked TODAY! *gasp*...Mary, are you reading this???), I decided to make a start on a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. The yarn is Knit Picks "Imagination" in the colourway "Gingerbread House". It's part merino, part alpaca, and part nylon. (I think - I'm writing this by memory and am too lazy to go look it up) The ribbing is oh-so-squishy and I'm tickled pink about these already. I'm using size 2 circs, Magic-Loop method, and right now working a 1x1 ribbing...it feels like it's taking forerver...I sure hope the straight knit goes faster!

Tinna had a visit to Patient First yesterday since our new doctor's office could not get her in...apparently they only make so many new patient appointments each day, cannot have them back-to-back, and had already filled the ones they had available. I think this is probably a good doctor but I'm frustrated already. Today I will have to call Tricare to have the referral approved...and I'm just not looking forward to dealing with it at all.

It is cold...the bird baths are frozen over but no chance of snow. It's bright and sunny. I'm hoping this will inspire me to do some actual work. I didn't do much at all yesterday with the kids being sick (William is sick now, too) and I was exhausted by three nights of broken sleep. I was in bed before 10pm last night! I have high hopes for today but with the twinkies being home, we'll see what gets done...

The gloves:

Here's a bonus photo: while I was sitting here proofing this post, I heard "tap tap tap" on my window...my dad put up a window feeder when he was here and it seems the birds are finally discovering it! In this photo (look beyond the chair and the mess) sits a purple finch. To date we've had nuthaches and purple finches at it! Sooo cool!

Progress

2009-01-12T15:29:00.003-05:00

One step forward - William's eye is looking much less puffy and there are many beautiful colours in it now! (photos below)

One step back - Tinna has had a fever since Saturday evening. She got up this morning feeling cool but her nose was still stuffy...it didn't take too long for her temperature to go back up, unfortunately. She's been in my bed watching tv for most of the afternoon.

True progress - I finished the laundry today...well, one more load to dry, fold and all of it to put away! And I SWEAR I will not procrastinate. I WILL put it away before the kids go to bed tonight! Thankfully the sun was out and I felt like I had bit more energy than recent days...even despite another night of Tinna waking me at 2:30 for a snack because her tummy was hurting!

Photos of William:

What a tough guy!

Popeye

2009-01-11T11:02:00.005-05:00

A quick little update for you...

Friday night was Girl Scout Cookie Rally night. Delaney is now officially selling Girl Scout cookies! If you want cookies, please email or call. Our goal is 125 boxes...of course if you don't want to order cookies but would like to give a Gift of Caring to the troop, you can do that as well. Thanks!!!

Before we left for the rally, Steven and William were goofing in the bathroom...and William hit his face on the corner of the cabinet. His eye was swollen and puffy, we put ice on it and looked at the actual eye to be sure there was no damage there. Saturday morning found it swollen worse than it was Friday night. I went to Yarn For Breakfast (a local knitting group which meets once a month at a coffee shop in Portsmouth) and Steven took the kids to Patient First so a doctor could look at Will's eye. No broken facial bones, just swollen blood vessels.

Here is what it looked like yesterday morning...today, the swelling is down a little but it is starting to turn blue.

After my YFB meeting, we drove out to VA Beach to a Hampton Roads Geocaching Meet & Greet. That was fun...we were able to put faces to names we had seen around, get some "discoveries", and add 1 find to our total. We also picked up a few travel bugs to place...the kids were excited about that. Lunch was chili (3 different kinds!) and lots of desserts...the kids liked that, too! We decided last night that we will be
going to "GeoWoodstock" over Memorial Day Week-end...a perfect opportunity to use our new travel trailer and see a different part of the country we've never visited before...Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Waa-hoo! Our reservations are already made. "On the road again"...

While we were in VA Beach, we also made a stop by Joann Fabrics so I could pick up buttons to...

Finish my BSJ! I also completed the matching hat last night. All that's left is to wash gently, block, wrap, and mail! I sure hope my friend and her baby like it!!!

Tales from Portsmouth, VA

2009-01-09T13:08:00.007-05:00

Sunny day but cold and windy here. We decided to do a bit of geocaching while the kids were at school. We went to the Olde Towne area of Portsmouth...at the waterfront. We had a DNF (did not find) at the first park and then went down the street a bit further (south, I guess). Walking from the car to the 2nd cache, I had to pee (go figure) so we stopped by the information center...the lady working there was very nice and told us about a lot of different activities that we didn't know about. There's a cool ferry that runs over to Norfolk and we think they kids will enjoy riding that this summer...there are a number of small stages down there for performances and plenty of good food. After our 4th cache, I wanted to warm up so we went into The Deck to get some soup and a beer. Great decision. It was yummy and the views were beautiful...we will definitely be going back there again! EDITED: I forgot to say how nice the owners of The Deck are...they were supposed to open at 11 but it was only 10:35 when we walked up...they opened the doors just for us brought us the soup and hot bread in a very short time. Awwww, thanks!

Photos from this morning:
Squirrel visitor parking, obviously! (click to enlarge)

The Portsmouth Visitor Center - I love the mermaid

Am I in England or the USA? This was someone's "home" as it had a lot of clothes on the floor and in a bag. Thankfully the person was not there when I opened the door.

Steve at a cache site

The Elizabeth River Ferry

Navy ships on the water

The view of Norfolk

The walk-way to The Deck restaurant

A view from The Deck restaurant - I was sitting at my table when I took these next three or four

More view from The Deck restaurant

More view from The Deck restaurant - that white building is the Naval Hospital

She-crab soup...yummy!

Look how big the bowls are! That's my hand!!!

View of a large ship going up the river

Nothing new here...

2009-01-08T11:31:00.003-05:00

Before I start getting hassled for not updating my blog...you aren't missing much. We've been cleaning the attic over the past two days. No sun, no geocaching...well, there's some sun today but chances of rain this afternoon. They are calling for sun tomorrow so we're trying to finish the upstairs work so we can go out and play tomorrow.

I started knitting a baby hat last night...I'm probably about 50% done. I'll post photos when it's finished. I used to quilt, as evidenced by my huge fabric stash that I'm rediscovering upstairs in the attic. (Along with 4 Bridgewater mugs that match my teapot! I completely forgot about those as I bought them just as we were leaving FL or CA - I cannot remember which now...but they are very difficult to come by. I was very tickled at that find yesterday!) I cannot tell you how many unfinished projects there are up there. I got out of quilting when we moved to San Diego and there wasn't any room for my sewing machine. Then we moved here and the twins haven't taken naps since that time. I'm really looking forward to everyone being in school next year so I can sew in the afternoons again. I will probably sort through some of that fabric and sell on Craigslist or Ebay. There's no sense to have so much! (It's really all about wool and yarn now anyway since knitting is so portable...and now that we have the camper...I'm so very thankful I bought the Lendrum wheel...it will fold and travel with me!)

Better get back to work! I'll post some photos in a few days...but really, you aren't missing much!

Semi-kidless Cachin'

2009-01-05T15:54:00.004-05:00

Two posts in two days. Don't hold your breath for many more days like this! Today just happened to contain some blog fodder so here ya go!

Dropped Twinkies off at pre-school at 9 this morning. We had already planned out our geocaching route last night. We had our first find about 5 minutes after we left the school. The next 3 or 4 were very quick as well. Who knew Western Branch/Churchland would have so many micros?! Headed out to Bennett's Creek Park in Suffolk, the same park where we discovered our first cache accidentally...there were three out there we hadn't found yet. Some very fine containers and definitely creative minds that made them! We found 10 caches before we had to pick the twins up at noon.

Picked them up, came back home for a quick lunch, and back out again by 1. We did a few more micros, again in some interesting places. One location held a larger cache with items to trade but we had to bushwack quite a bit to get in to it. Twins didn't like that one because there were some briars around. Luckily I had convinced Tinna to wear pants today! (the clue actually said bushwacking was necessary so I was forewarned)

At our last cache, the rain started. Count for the day was 15. That's our best yet! On the way home, we decided to stop by the new doctor's office to complete insurance/new patient paperwork only to discover they were closed until 3pm. We had to be back by then to get Delaney off the bus so that didn't work out. Everyone seems a bit quiet and tired from the first day back at school but it's nice to be in our normal routines again. Tomorrow the weatherman is calling for more rain so we are planning on going grocery shopping and working up in the attic after that. Steven wants to put a second light in the small attic area and then we are going to try to get all of my sewing stuff together and empty some boxes that haven't been touch since we moved in!

Can you see the cache container here? (yes, that's Henry out enjoying the day with us)

We walked past this at least 30 times and dismissed it until Steven picked it up to look under it and it made an odd sound.

Bark covered container.

Can you see the cache here?

The same owners of this cache hot glued bark around a plastic holder and then glued the tube to the tree. The cache container itself had a piece of fishing line tied to the top to assist with retrieval.

This is the innards of the cache tube.

An odd holiday season

2009-01-04T20:44:00.005-05:00

Well, it has been an odd holiday season here. We have had company non-stop since December 23. We were also visited by the stomach flu and colds. Lucky for me, I only ended up with the stomach flu! Even though it is not pleasant, I almost prefer that method of illness as it is usually over within 12 - 24 hours, whereas colds can sometimes linger on and on for weeks at a time.

The last of our company left on Saturday around 11. I had canceled my friend Sue's visit...she was supposed to come see us for New Year's Eve and the (shitty) Rose Bowl game, (in which Penn State didn't even bother to show up to play, so what a waste that was. But I'm proud of the team for the good season they had.) Phew, what tangent there...Sue didn't come because we were all so ill...so we made plans to meet up in Richmond on Saturday afternoon. She joined us at Dutch Gap Conservation Area (part of Henricus Historical Park) for some geocaching and then we had decent Mexican food at a nearby restaurant. Lucky for her we had some pretty interesting finds...you can see in the photos below. It was a rather warm day, about 50F with wonderful sun. We had a really fun time together...like always!

There has been virtually no knitting or spinning, what with company and illness here. I am completely ready for the kids to be in school and for us to have our routines again. Steve is home with us this week and then he will be slammed at work again next week. We (me and Steve) are taking some time tomorrow to geocache while the kids are at school. It is quite enjoyable when there are not little children dragging behind and whining "I'm too tired to go any further!"...they do walk far for being so young...they have been over 3 miles...but they whine an awful lot about it sometimes!

So, here are a few new pictures for you.

Sue, Steve & kids finding the first cache of the day...hidden in the guard rail!

The view of Dutch Gap Canal

Kids on a curvy tree...

Yes, that IS the cache container you see in the photo! Would you want to reach in and grab it? It was a bit freaky!

Steven holding the foot container

Me, holding an alien cache container

A traditional cache container - an ammunition box

A Saint Patrick's Day geo-coin that was in the ammo box

A cache we found last week near the mall. The box is magnetic. Cool, huh?!

Whirlwind

2008-12-29T12:12:00.002-05:00

It's been a whirlwind holiday season. We've had company non-stop since Dec 23. On Saturday I took the kids up to Williamsburg to see my friend Stacey's parents and her children (Stace died in March 2007). We've been out geocaching a little but mostly we have been at home spending time with family. I haven't had much of a chance to sit and update you. Sorry about that.

Last night around 10:30, Delaney started vomiting. Everyone (Grandma, Aunt Debbie, Daddy) insisted it was because she had a bunch of junk food yesterday...popcorn, soda, candy at the movies, dinner at Red Robin, etc etc, but it turns out there is a stomach virus among us. Tinna started vomiting around 11. Both girls continued just about every 30 to 45 minutes all night...ending this morning around 6. I slept on their floor for most of the night. I use the term "slept" lightly. I had about 1 hour of sleep throughout the entire night. At 6:30, William woke up because he had slept through the entire night and was ready for the day! I told him to go back to bed and be quiet. I came into my bed (because Steven had left for work by then) and fell asleep. William came in at 8:44 crying because he had been sitting awake in his bed for those 2 hours waiting for me to come and tell him to get up like I usually do. Poor boy! Everyone is up and awake now and I've been banished to my bedroom to get some rest. So, I thought I would take a few minutes to update you before I close my eyes...and now you know!

Happy holidays!

2008-12-24T21:19:00.003-05:00

There have been a few complaints flying around about me not updating my blog often enough. In my defense, I have been just a *wee* bit busy with holiday preparations and doing things for kids and getting ready for company, etc etc. AND, I will admit to a Facebook habit...so if you really want to know what's going on with me, you will have to friend me over there...it's just wayyy more fun than this blog!

For now, here is a brief update: Chanukkah started last Sunday night. We are an interfaith family...I am Jewish, my husband is Catholic. Delaney lit the chanukkah candles for the first time this year and she did it so well that I have allowed the twins to do it also (with my supervision, of course!) The kids enjoy playing dreidel for M&Ms and we also fried some latkes (potato pancakes) on Sunday evening. Those were really yummy. Delaney had school Monday and Tuesday. She lost her 4th tooth during lunch on Tuesday, which was a good day to loose it because now we can harass her about wanting her two front teeth for Christmas..just like the song says! Tuesday was also a fun day because her daddy went to school to make gingerbread houses with her class. (See hers below, complete with slide)

Grammy and Pappy arrived here Monday evening and it is nice to have them around to do things with the kids. Today Grammy cooked and baked all day so there are lots of goodies to make us fat! The kids got to decorate cookies with her and Pappy and I think everyone had fun.

I'm putting a few photos below and will have more late tomorrow (Christmas Day) or the day after...

Oh, ps...I have a knitting/spinning friend who is looking for blog followers so she can win a little contest. If you have any interest in reading her blog, I'm sure she'd appreciate it. www.sockladyspins.blogspot.com Thanks so much!!!

Taking time out...

2008-12-16T11:01:00.004-05:00

To bring you some photos of the kids and Steven decorating this year's tree! It is MUCH larger than last year's. It is beautiful and smells sooo good in the house!

I am far behind this year with all of my holiday projects. I just got the rest of the cards in the mail today. I went to the store for the items I need to make the White Chocolate Trail Mix (Thank you, Annette, for that recipe! I make it every year and give as gifts!). This is part of the teacher's gifts...and there are a total of 12 teachers if you include Piano and Girl Scouts. Phew! I found out yesterday that the twins' last day of school is tomorrow (Weds) and I was expecting them to go until Friday. Ack! So, today I am going to be running around like crazy trying to get these gifts all made and ready to go. No knitting or sitting for me!

Oh! And Mama Mia! came out on DVD today and I was right there to pick up my copy. I will be playing it this afternoon while I make the goodies. So happy the family room and kitchen are one big room!

Here are some photos for you to enjoy.

Our house with all of the lights my husband has put on it this year.

My "Kallt" from IKEA. It looks much prettier in person and I love it!

Everyone was very excited to decorate the tree.

Decorating the tree

Tinna was the only one who would even go near Santa at Outdoor World on Sunday!

JoePa stopped by to see my Penn State tree...what a great guy! I still have not found the blue and white tree skirt or the PSU Barbie for on the top.

Unfinished "Baby Surprise Jacket" otherwise known as "BSJ"...this still needs the shoulders seamed up and buttons added to the front. The yarn is Bernat Baby Softee and it is extremely soft. I will make a small hat to go with it.

Of course I have to add a photo of what I am spinning these days. Still working on the Border Leicester from Serendipity Farm in Suffolk.

Jimmy...and Steve...

2008-12-14T09:06:00.002-05:00

Until I can find some time to sit down and write, here is a little challenge for you. If you know what my husband looks like, see if you can find him in this video!

He escorted Jimmy Buffett around the Truman last spring and he IS in this video at least 3 times. Pretty cool! Thanks for supporting the troops, Jimmy!

Blah, blah, blahbitty, blah, blah...

2008-12-12T13:15:00.002-05:00

Blah.

No real update. Busy here. Steven has been decorating the house for Christmas now that the yard is done. I'll have some photos after the week-end...which will be busy with two children's birthday parties and a large holiday party on Saturday night for the families of Steven's ship. I'm hoping to win some money or something nice as it is a "Vegas" themed evening and there are LOTS of nice prizes being given away! Keep your fingers crossed for us, ok?

I have about 100 bind off stitches left on my Baby Surprise Jacket. Should be done with that tonight and I will post photos of it as well next week. It looks a bit strange on the needles so I am hoping it will seam up the way it is supposed to! Up next: socks for Tinna, even though I really want to make some mittens for myself!

Well, I'm off to tidy the house. I cannot seem to keep up with everything these days. We've had some really crappy weather (the big drainage ditch beside the house is almost completely full. Another day of rain and it would have been in our yard) and the sun is making it's appearance today. Hopefully this will give me some energy!

Delaney's 1st Piano Recital

2008-12-07T21:28:00.001-05:00

Here is a video of Delaney performing at her first piano recital. She played "Silent Night" with her instructor, Miss Julie. Enjoy!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Blech!

2008-12-07T08:10:00.003-05:00

Which is just how I'm feeling lately. Blech. I have had no motivation to write, which is why I haven't updated this blog since last Wednesday. Steven was away all of last week so it was just me and the kids. The most exciting thing of the week was on Thursday when Tinna woke up with a rash all over her tummy. So we had to go to the doctor that afternoon to be sure it wasn't contagious. (It wasn't.) We had a 1 1/2 hour wait at the doctor's office and I'm heading over to the TriCare office this week to change their doctor. That is absolutely ridiculous and I'm just tired of it. I should have taken Ashley's advice a year ago and switched their doctor then, but I didn't because I always hope things will improve. Obvioulsy, it won't and I'm just done with the situation...so new doctors for all of us now.

Speaking of Ashley...she has opened an Etsy shop called EleLove Creations! She is knitting up very cute stethoscope cozies, among other nice items. A perfect gift if you know a doctor or nurse! Congratulations, Ash!!!

I am knitting up a "Baby Surprise Jacket", pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It's coming along well. I know a total of 3 pregnant women right now and will attempt to make one of these for each expected baby. Gosh, there's always so much to knit and never enough time to get it all done! I wish I could just suspend the world and the kids for a day or two while I get caught up.

Here's mine so far:

Let's see, what else to tell you...Friday night I went out to Mary's farm to wander (wonder!) around her studio (checkbook in hand) and spin with some very nice ladies. I was able to see two of the women from my spinning class and it was great to catch up with them. I bought just 2 skeins of a beautiful little grey/silver yarn. But now I'm thinking I should pick up a few more skeins...just in case I need extra for the project I have in mind. Will post more about that after it happens.

Last night I went with Ashley and our friend Trish (also Delaney's bus driver) to the Yarn For Breakfast Christmas party. Another nice group of women. YFB usually meets once a month on Saturday mornings. I tend not to go because I like to be home with the kids and Steven on the week-ends or we are usually out running around somewhere. At any rate, I might try to make more of an effort to go now that I've met a few of the women. All in all it was a great night. I always have fun when I get together with Ash and Trish anyway!

Steven picked up the TrailManor yesterday. Brought it home and set it up while I was gone. Apparently the kids had a great time checking it all out. We are very excited for warmer days so we can start travelling around and seeing new places!

Today: Delaney has her first piano recital. She will play "Silent Night" as a duo with her instructor. I think she is more excited to wear her pretty new dress than she is to actually play piano for an audience!

COLD!

2008-12-03T10:22:00.002-05:00

Temperature was 30F when I woke up this morning. Brrr! We had a hard frost so I had to scrape my car windows with a spatula since I could not find my ice scraper. Have an idea it is in hubby's car. Go figure! Twins were all excited when they got in the car because Delaney had spelled their names on their windows (backwards) in the ice while she was waiting for the bus. Too funny.

It's been quiet here this week. I've been spending time working out in the mornings and taking the dog for longer walks than usual. I'm starting on a new knitting project...a few things for a new baby that is on the way in the spring. I think I'm pretty much done with my holiday knitting now. Just one thing to seam up and that's it. Am planning on meeting up with my spinning ladies at Mary's house Friday night so that will be a nice, relaxing evening. Need to get back into my spinning...I've let it go for far too long now.

I went to the post office this morning to mail boxes to Iceland and Norway. I wanted to have it done before Thanksgiving but I didn't quite meet the goal. Oh well. There wasn't a line at all, and that was a nice surprise. Either people aren't sending much this year or the craziness just hasn't started yet. I bet next week will be a different story. I still have my cards to do and one more box to get in the mail to my friend Slurpie in PA and then I'll be done with mailing. Sooo glad to be a bit ahead of everyone else!

Why I love PA...

2008-11-30T22:41:00.007-05:00

We had a GREAT visit to PA. Drove up Wednesday night and back home to VA today. Visited Aunt Jo and Uncle Bob's house for Thanksgiving Day. Drove to Harrisburg to see Jill and her family on Friday. Saturday we did some geocaching with Mike and his family. (I was in the same class as his sister. His mom, dad, and wife joined in the cache hunt. We got 3 caches together, made a start on a 4th difficult cache, and received clues to yet another cache in Waynesboro...which we went and found on our own. All in all, we got a total of 6 cache finds this week-end!!!) Last night, Grammy helped us work on the clue to "In The Lion's Den" and we went there again this morning to find the coordinates and the cache box. Worth the work it took to figure it out!!! We are already planning next week-end's hunt...it is definitely addicting. Lots and lots of traffic on the way home but we made it with no problems.

A photographic essay of some of the things I love about PA...

My grandparents are at rest here and there is a beautiful view of the surrounding orchards and small towns from their grave...

Friends and family...(this was the "Estrogen" room)

More friends and family...(this was the "Testosterone" room, Little Estrogen was only in there to take drink orders)

Grammy...

and Pappy...

Wild turkey and deer that I can view out my bedroom window...

My friends (hi Jill!)...

Views of beautiful valleys...

Marshlands with views of beautiful mountains...

The Blue Ridge Summit Library (no, this isn't the REAL library, it's the FIRST library that existed in BRS)...

Little geocaches...

and BIG geocaches...

History...

Happy kids and being able to stand in two states at the same time (MD/PA)...

More happy kids (Tinna with her cache - a tube of toothpaste)

and even MORE happiness! (William with his cache - a green car)...

And the last thing I love about PA...I can walk into almost any department store and buy a new Penn State t-shirt! GO STATE!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T07:54:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my family and for the fact that this year, I will be able to have a Thanksgiving meal with them!

There's no hope for the newest knit to be done by the time we go to PA. I was about 1/3 of the way through and had to frog it two nights ago because it was just TOO BIG. Oh well. There's always the USPS, eh?

Twinkies were able to make it to their Thanksgiving feast at school yesterday. That was fun for them. I have a few photos below.

That's about it from here. Hopefully I'll have some new fodder for next week!

Will wouldn't put his Indian hat on...he was being goofy.

Tinna

Will and his buddy Zach.

Tinna learning a new skill on the playground.

Welcome to the newest member of the family!

2008-11-23T15:57:00.005-05:00

Our 2009 Trail Manor 2720 travel trailer!

We've been thinking about one of these since we saw Karen and Craig's Jayco in York over Labor Day. Most of the trailers on the market are too heavy to be pulled by our van...but this one, a pop-up with hard shell is just right! Being the end of the year, we got an AWESOME deal on it as the dealer wanted to move it to make room on his lot for newer models. The only down side to getting it in December is that it is COLD outside! We won't be doing any camping until the temps come up a bit, I'm afraid. Anyway, it's pretty neat...our own little "Transformer"...everything inside folds down...the bathroom walls, the wardrobe, the cushions on the couch, etc. There is a full bath (you can't see the shower in these photos), a queen bed, and a double bed. The thing has heat/ac/stereo/tv antenna/satellite hook-up and even an outdoor shower so you can rinse sand off your feet or what-have-you. Our sweet little home away from home!

Here are a few photos of the inside:

We went out for about an hour this afternoon looking for geocaches (we only took clues - no GPS yet - Santa is supposed to be giving us some money for Christmas so that is what we plan to buy with it!). Didn't find any caches but we did run into a Letterbox. Of course we couldn't stamp it because our stamp is still not made!!! It reassured me, seeing this person's stamp, that I don't have to be an artist...I just need something to get the job done. So, that will be the goal this week. Oh, and no, the GPS in our car will not take coordinates and the battery is wonky so it shuts off when it is removed from the power source.

I'm working on one final knit for the holidays. Hoping to get it finished up this week so I can take it to PA with me and give it in person. If that happens, I'll make a post about it after Thanksgiving.

Below are a few other photos. They are a bit out of order, for some reason Blogger is posting photos opposite of how they are uploaded. It is quite frustrating and I struggle to think "OK, I want this one to be first, second, third" and they never come up the way I want them to!

Delaney's Hogwarts leg warmies are finished! They are a bit longer than I expected but she seems to like them.

The Letterbox we found.

Can you see the Letterbox in this photo?

Playing at a park today.

Tinna during the Penn State game last night with my scarf that I've had since I was about 10 years old.

First flurries!

2008-11-21T14:47:00.006-05:00

We had our first snow flurries of the season today. The kids got to see it before school and had loads of fun trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

It was a somewhat busy day. I went to the Commissary for groceries. Stopped by Ollie's to see about an MP3 player for William (advertised for $7.99) but they were sold out already. Back home to put away the groceries and workout a little bit. Nothing too strenuous as I didn't have much time.

Ash came over after lunch and gifted me with a BEAUTIFUL pair of cashmere gloves that she got at TJ Maxx...that place rocks! Thanks, Ash!!! Now my hands will be nice and warm this winter. She helped me block the "lacy thing" today. What a pain that was. I hope it looks ok when it is dry. I'd hate to have to wash and block it again but I will if it doesn't look right. Not looking forward to washing and blocking the Pel at this point...but at least it's not lacy! I have one of Delaney's leg warmer's finished and am two stripes into the second. Might have them completed before the end of the week-end if we stay around the house. Here's hoping! I know she would like to be able to wear them with her dresses and skirts as soon as possible.

Hogwart's Leg Warmie

We had the piano tuned yesterday. I never knew it had to be taken completely apart during the process! Pretty interesting. Below you can see all of the keys and the completely "naked" piano.

My new gloves...aren't they pretty? They are soo soft!

I hate to jinx it...

2008-11-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

I bought a new pair of pajamas on Sunday at Sam's Club. It was a spur of the moment decision. Usually I sleep in a t-shirt and old pajama bottoms but these pj's were just sooo cute...little Parisian print, 100% cotton, "Cuddl Duds" brand. I had a pair of Cuddl Duds long underwear when I was in college (slept in those, too) and loved them. SO, I got these home and I didn't even WASH them before wearing like I usually do. I had them on as soon as the kids were in bed. For the past 3 nights I have slept like a baby. Is it the pj's or the colder temperatures? I don't know but I'm afraid to wash the pj's for fear of jinxing it. This is the best I've slept in years!

Ok, so you know it is getting bad when I start blogging about sleepwear. Honestly there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here. Still knitting away. I am working on a pair of Hogwarts leg warmies for Delaney. I have the first warmie about 3/4 of the way done. I might even be able to finish it tonight if I work diligently while she is at Brownies. I probably won't get too much done this afternoon because Chandra is supposed to come over and henna my hair. Maybe I'll make a post of that when it is finished...if it looks good. If it doesn't, you'll be seeing only photos of me with a hat on my head!

I need to send out congratulations to my friend Gunn Kristin in Norway. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the wee hour (00:30) of November 18. I hear he is beautiful so I am anxiously awaiting a photo of him! Welcome to the world, little one!!!

The DISH guys are here right now...not sure they are so happy about having to work on replacing my DISH in these temperatures. It feels cold enough to snow. Brrrrr! And that's about all from me today!

Fun accidents...

2008-11-17T20:35:00.006-05:00

We went out Sunday to spend some time in the Great Outdoors. After 3 rainy days we were in desperate need of sunshine and fresh air. I suggested heading out to Bennett's Creek Park in Suffolk because it's big and open and the kids wanted to play at the playground on Tuesday when we were there, but I wouldn't let them because they were in their brand new holiday clothes. I also had it in the back of my mind that there is supposed to be a hidden Letterbox somewhere in the park so I thought maybe we could take a stroll through the woods and look for it.

Well, we didn't find the Letterbox but we found 2 geocaches! Without a GPS! How funny. We went ahead and signed our name as "Wiltinrose" and hoped it would be available when we got home to register online with it. Talk about doing it backwards. But it worked. And now I think I'm hooked. More walks in the woods, more hunts for caches = sooo much fun! The kids were excited by it. We have read some of the rules and understand the whole thing a bit better. My friend Jill and her family have found over 3,000 caches so she is a great source of encouragement and information. Woo-hoo!!! Now all we need is the GPS. Hmmm. I will have to discuss this with Santa.

Photos from our day yesterday...I will upload the complete set to Flickr so look there if you are interested in seeing them all.

Mushrooms in a hollow tree

A different hollow tree

Even MORE hollow trees! These two trees had huge holes. Pretty amazing. One was filled with rainwater and looked like a wishing well.

The view of the Nansemond River from the trail.

The mama with Tinna and William

Delaney

William and Tinna

Saturday: The good and bad of it...

2008-11-15T20:18:00.003-05:00

The day started out well. We got going a little after 10, drove out to Suffolk to a hobby shop where Steven needed to get some rc (remote control) airplane items for himself and my dad. On the way there we saw people barbecuing beside the road and I made a joke about the sign "Smoked Pork Butt". It smelled so good as drove through the smoke that Steven decided to turn around and see what it was all about. We ended up buying a ticket for 8 lbs of "butt"...but couldn't pick it up until after 12 so we headed on down to the hobby shop. Steven got what he needed and said we were going to head up to the flying field because there was a Fly-In today and he wanted to see what was going on. So we drove there.

It was very muddy due to all of the rain we've been having. The guys were selling raffle tickets when we got there and Steven bought some of those. Since it was extremely windy, they closed the field to airplanes shortly after we arrived. We got to see one plane fly and it was loaded with 4 pounds of Tootsie Rolls. Those were then dropped out on the field and after the plane landed, all of the kids were told to go retrieve the candy! How fun was that?! With the field being closed, there wasn't much else to stick around for and we didn't win any items at the raffle, so we drove up to pick up our "butt" and headed out to Great Bridge where we were going to look at campers at an RV dealership.

We looked at two campers that we thought would fit the towing capacity of our van. One was used, one was new. It turned out that the used camper was too heavy. The new one (a TrailManor) is perfect and we are seriously considering it. It is also the end of the 2008 season and the dealer needs to make room on his lot for new 2009 models so the price is *very* significantly discounted so now is the perfect time to buy. There are quite a few factors to consider so I will keep you posted on our decision.

It was getting quite late in the day when we left the RV place so we stopped at Subway (per Delaney's request) for a late lunch. After Subway, we continued on, homeward bound until I realized we would pass Ollie's and I wanted to get a few Christmas gifts for my friend Michelle's girls. That done, we were DEFINITELY on our way home.

Got in the door, we unloaded our packages, I walked the dog. Kids were starting to settle in and I put on the TV. The satellite wouldn't come on, it kept searching for a transmitter (or whatever it is called) but couldn't seem to connect. We disconnected it from the wall because sometimes that fixes any glitches that occur. I knew it had stormed while we were away and that sometimes causes things like this to happen. Steven called DISH network. They asked him to go look at the satellite. He said "Ok, but you'll have to hold on a few minutes because it is down the block and on a pole at my neighbor's house." He wasn't gone too long and he was pissed when he walked in the door. I heard him say "You aren't going to believe this but someone stole our satellite dish!" He said there was nothing left on the pole but cut wires. So, DISH is going to make us pay for it (about $300) and we cannot even order a new dish or schedule installation until a police report has been filed! We called the police, the person on the other end took Steven's name and number and said someone will call to take the report...that was 2 hours ago and no one has called back yet. I just feel like screaming "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, YOU ASSHOLES!!!" So that was how our day ended up. I'm just sitting here in disbelief that someone would even do that in broad daylight. What is more amazing is that they only took OUR dish and our neighbor's is still attached to the pole. Assholes. So...no new Doctor Who this week, no EastEnders, no Surviror, no Unit, no ER. I know we'll survive and that's not the point. I spent the rest of the evening playing Uno with the kids, but it just gets to me that people can be this shitty to other people. I wish we lived in a country where you could get your hands chopped off if you are caught stealing. It's only fitting.

Photos:

Gas prices are under $2.00/gallon again

Smokers all lined up...I believe there were 10 of them at this place

Not only is it "Pork Butt" but the area is called "Possum Hollow". This is out in the boonies, folks!

Collecting candy

Collecting candy

November 14, 2008

2008-11-14T11:24:00.003-05:00

Busy day today. I've already gotten my groceries. Soon it will be time to pick up the twinkies at school, feed them lunch, put away laundry, and clean the house...all before Delaney gets home from school. After she gets here, we are going to play at Trish's house...she lives down the street and has three children, too. I bought some hot dogs and frozen pizzas so we'll eat dinner there as both of our husband's are busy with work this evening. I'm sure it will be a fun time for all.

This week-end we'll run errands. I'm hoping to finish up some knitting by Sunday. I have one more project to get done and I'd like to be able to take it to PA with me at Thanksgiving.

Last night Steven and the kids made homemade butter. They had fun doing it but he put too much salt in it. Blech. I think they'll try again this week-end. I'd like him to try to make a batch with honey and see what happens. Maybe I'll make some fresh bread to go with it. Mmmmm! Supposed to be 73F tomorrow but in the 50s Sunday so that will be a perfect day for homemade soup and hot bread! Wal-Mart had pumpkins for .01 today. Can you believe it? I got two for Ashley and one for myself. I'm going to try my hand at crock-pot pumpkin puree and then freeze it for another time. I might go back and get more pumpkins if it works out well. I could use it in breads and soups and who knows what else. Too cool.

My photos today are of food and not kids. Sorry! We took our holiday photos on Tuesday because Steven was off work and it was beautiful outside. I won't reveal them until I send out the cards. We have one or two good ones. Delaney pitched a fit about her shoes and swore she wouldn't smile in any of the photos. There were tears for at least 30 minutes. Ridiculous. Anyway, she ended up smiling after all. Glad she forgot about being miserable.

Homemade butter!

Hot reubens we made Tuesday with the leftover corned beef from Monday's crockpot dinner...served with an icy cold Penn Breweries Oktoberfest beer. Life doesn't get much better than this. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be some potato salad to go beside it.

Update

2008-11-13T16:53:00.002-05:00

It's not going to be a long one because there really hasn't been much to write about. I've been hanging out with Ash in the afternoons, working on my knitting, and doing normal household activities. This morning Ash and I went to Michael's where I proceeded to buy way too much sock yarn (in "Olive" and "Sugar" colourways). It adds to my way too big sock yarn stash. I am going to start knitting William a pair of socks just as soon as I get these Christmas gifts finished up! Maybe another week or two and my knitting time will be my own again. After Michael's, we went to Target where I purchased a few gifts for the kids (Big Wheels from my Dad & Kathy and sleeping bags from Santa - of course they didn't have a 40F-rated boy sleeping bag so now I will have to hunt around and hope I can find one!). I got a bit of spinning done yesterday and was happy for it. I'm so glad I took advantage of the sunny day and didn't wait until today...the rain started around 9 this morning and hasn't really stopped much since then.

Right now: Delaney's at music lessons, Will's in the bath, Tinna's watching TV and we are all waiting for Steven to call so I can notify him that I'm not cooking tonight! Ha! Chinese for us...wooo-hoo!

Leaf play

2008-11-10T13:51:00.003-05:00

Steven had 24-hour duty yesterday so it was just me and the kids. Thankfully we had warm temperatures and a sunny day! I got out the leaf blower and made a big pile for the kids to jump in. Below are some photos and a video of their fun!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The day her life changed forever...

2008-11-09T08:32:00.004-05:00

That might be a bit dramatic, but yesterday Tinna embarked on a new stage in her life. She got her ears pierced. I didn't want it done yet but Steven was all for it. Tinna was all for it. Delaney has been back and forth about wanting hers done...a few of the girls in her Brownie troop have had their ears pierced within the last 2 weeks, so she said she wanted it done "to fit in". Never a reason, I tried to explain to her. I really want my children to think for themselves, even if it means being different from their friends. Since it was a rainy day, nothing more to do but go be Mall Rats and get Tinna's ears pierced.

Can you guess who else was at the mall on Saturday, November 8? SANTA. That's right. It's not even Thanksgiving and Santa and full-blown Christmas decorations are already out. So is the Salvation Army ringing their bells for charity donations. Santa. Give me a break. On November 8. Talk about the retailers wanting to make up for a poor economy. They know there isn't much hope for good sales this year. I understand that, but still. I was disgusted to see it this early in the season. Here are photos of the kids, not standing in line, but just looking at Santa.

After the mall we hit Sam's Club for some apples, bananas, gas, etc. Back home to watch the Penn State - Iowa game. What a huge disappointment to lose the game in the last minute. I was so hoping for a perfect season, if only for JoePa's sake. Maybe we'll still be able to will the last two games of the year. Time will tell.

And that's the update from here.

Why do they do these things???

2008-11-07T06:57:00.003-05:00

Delaney got off the bus very upset yesterday afternoon. I asked her what was wrong and she said "My star fell at school and I wasn't even allowed to move it back to twinkling star!" (translation: she did something REALLY bad) In horror, I asked her what she did to have to move her star. She wouldn't tell me, she only replied, "Look in my homework folder. There's a note from my teacher." and hung her head. Ugh. When we got inside, I read the note...

Dear Mrs.M,

Today at school Delaney cut another child's hair. Please have a discussion with her about this behavior.

Sincerely,
Mrs. C

Oh, holy crap. CUT ANOTHER CHILD'S HAIR?!?! This child and scissors just do not get along. Delaney Scissorhands. She has cut her own hair no less than three times and her sister's hair twice. William is the only one who has escaped her wrath so far.

I cannot begin to tell you how pissed I was at her. She got mad because I told her father and then proceeded to do MORE naughty things! (like scribbling on my dining room table with crayon while she was supposed to be doing homework!) ARRGH!!! We ended up the day with her crying and going to bed at 6:45. Our punishment is that she is never going to talk to us again. Her punishment is no Wii, no TV, no video games, no FUN for a week. We will re-evaluate her behaviour on Monday and decide at that point if she has earned back a Tuesday playdate (she's off school that day). Also, she must be in bed at 7pm for the next week. Needless to say, this is why she is hating us so much right now!