Grandparents Rejoice!

Green thing took three days to dry. But it is now neatly folded and I've got something new blocking:

And something new soaking:

Just no pretty photographs of pretty Finished Objects to show off.

Such is life.

I do have some pretty photographs of my favorite models to share. I figured if I didn't include the children soon the Grandparents might rise up in rebellion. And everyone knows the key to a happy life is pleasing one's parents. So here ya go!

Public Service Announcement

When you decorate like this.

You can not be constantly surprised by this.

Stop being startled when the kids leave fake bugs on the floor. Your heart can't take the constant adrenaline rush.

Just something to keep in mind.

p.s. Pinterest

Moving Right Along

Everything is going according to plan.

I've got a pretty FO to add to my pile of pretty FOs.

I've got the next thing laid out to dry.

And I've got a new knit soaking in the blocking bowl.

(note= none of the pictures feature color resembling real life. I really should learn to work my camera)

I am well on my way to BLOCKING ALL THE THINGS.

Which of course means that something soon will go horribly wrong. Because nothing ever goes according to plan.

And I also think I've found a flaw in the plan. Once all my Pristinely Unblocked things become blocked they get added to the pile of things that need photographed. And of course photographs are stalled in the wait for a good hair day. Sometimes I think I'd settle for a clean hair day. But hair issues aside, moving them from one pile to the other is not enough. I must find a way to show off the finished knits. Prepare yourself for lots of bathroom mirror shots. Or maybe I can read my camera manual and see if it has a self-timer. I would probably know that if I knew how to work my camera. But I don't. And in order to read the manual I would have to find my camera manual. Which, sadly, I know the exact-ish location of. It is in my junk drawer. And the idea of sifting through all the stuff that ends up in my junk drawer makes me want to take a nap. If the mere thought makes me feel fatigue can you imagine how exhausting the actual process would be?

But I digress.

I'm talking about showing off Finished Objects to you. And today I just happen to have a finished crafty type project to show. Just not a knitted one. *shock* *gasp* *head tilt* *I didn't know there were any other kinds*

It seems to be my mission to mention Pinterest in every single blog post I write, so here is my Pinterest plug for today.

When I saw these I knew they had to be mine! So a trip to the dollar store and two minutes with my E6000 glue and there they were in my family room.

Don't you just love them? I'll admit it. I feel very clever for making them, even though it was not my original idea and no actual talent was required to glob some glue on the bottom of a vase. I added a third vase and opted not to put it on a candlestick for visual interest. I adore them. I'm thinking of filling it with pepermints for Christmas, or maybe holiday colored m&ms. So many possibilities. And I made it for less than $10. Can't beat that!

Progress

So it turns out that shame is a great motivator for me.

Shame and this picture I saw on Pinterest.

Looking at that stack of unwearable knits that just needed a bath gave me a sad. I put all that time into knitting them. I don't know why I stall out at the finishing step. It isn't even the sewing of seams or the weaving in of ends that I hate so much. It is the blocking. I've talked about this before. Blocking feels too much like laundry and I loathe laundry. I need to find someone I can outsource my blocking to, the way quilters will make a quilt top but then outsource the actual quilting of the quilt. (Speaking of quilting I've really got to get my kids quilts done. I want to have them under the tree as Christmas presents. I really hate the way Christmas is creeping up on me, creeping like a speeding bullet, but I digress).

I could not let the pile of Pristinely Unblocked knits remain. So I grabbed a garment for which I knew blocking would bring me joy. I grabbed lace.

Lace blocking is MAGIC. It is my favorite part of knitting lace. It turns a lumpy ugly blob of knitting into a work of art. There were three shawls in the pile of Pristinely Unblocked but I felt the blue one would block best. I was hoping that if I started with a bang I would keep momentum and block one thing a day. Yes, I am hoping to eventually BLOCK ALL THE THINGS!

A girl can dream.

I may not have all the things blocked, but I do have one thing drying on my bedroom floor.

This time tomorrow I should have a beautiful blue shawl to add to the pile of finished objects that need photographed to add to the blog.

And to keep things moving along I've already put something else in the soak bowl.

GO ME!

So my friend called me last month to yell at me for not blogging. "So you realize you haven't blogged since July 7th?" I was shocked. I was sure I hadn't blogged since sometime mid-June. Go Me!

So I put blogging on my to-do list. And every day it seemed to be one of the things that didn't get done, and was moved to the list for the next day. And for weeks I've carried this to-do around with me. I thought about doing it. But I played on Ravelry instead. I thought some more about doing it but I played on Facebook instead. And I went to the computer determined today was the day, but then I got sucked into Pinterest. (Side note: Join Pinterest and let me stalk your boards. I love Pinterest more than I love my Husband's dogs, but slightly less than I love ice cream.)

What else have I been doing?

Not much, just engaging in this little hobby of mine I like to call KNITTING!

I have been knitting like it is going out of style. Like I don't live in an environment whose weather is still in the triple digits. I'm knitting like I have half a prayer of being cold someday.

A girl can dream.

I have this stack of finished knits just waiting to be shared.

And I have this stack of knits that just need blocked and I can call them done.

Yeah, there are exactly eleventy billion things in that pile. I pulled out one sweater that I had completely forgot I knit. How sad is that. I really should learn to love blocking.

And I have this stack of partially knit things that I have abandoned and will finish at an undetermined future date. I was going to gather them all up for a photo shoot. But everywhere I looked there were more UFOs. Getting them all together from all the random places I have them seemed like too much work. So instead I just photographed the one that was closest to me.

The color in this photograph is only marginally related to the colors in real life. I never claimed to be a photographer.

As you can see I have knit my way through almost all of my meager stash.

This is an emergency.

SEND YARN!

Or I might be forced to finish a UFO. *gasp* *shock* *shudder at a fate worse than death*

Unexpected Conversations

So I took the children to Wal-Mart yesterday and as I was putting Sweet Pea in that handy seat on the front of the grocery cart she looked at me and solemnly said "I nev-ah met your mudder."

I have a habit of repeating everything back to her, just so she knows I'm listening and I understand what she is saying. Oh and also because sometimes I can't understand what she is saying, so I have to guess at what I think she might be saying. If I get it wrong she repeats herself, growing increasing frustrated with me, until I finally get it right.

Surprised I said "you never met my Mother?"

Gravely she nodded. "I nev-ah met your mudder." she repeated.

Feeling the knife twist in my heart I agreed "No baby, you never met my Mother."

And with all the seriousness a three year old can muster she continued, "I nev-ah met your mudder. But I would love her."

Sometimes life catches me by surprise and takes my breath away.

She then asked if we could buy bananas because "we don haf bananas."

*Sigh*

One might think that when you have dogs who are house broken and you let your house broken dogs in the back yard instead of the side yard (because the side yard is flooded from the monsoons and you don't want mud all over the house) that the house broken dogs would take that opportunity to do their business in the back yard.

One would be wrong.

The house broken dogs would instead come inside, jump the baby gate on the steps, and do their bathroom business in the upstairs hallway.

And in one of the children's bedrooms.

And I'm out of carpet cleaner solutions.

Awesome!

Some days are just crappy. (See what I did there? Crappy? Yeah I know, it was low brow, but hey, I'm sleep deprived today and my house smells bad now, and its going to give me a migraine. Double Awesome! I apologize for NOTHING!)

I'm off for adventures at Wal-Mart with four kids in tow.

Big Things Happening Here

Yesterday was a quiet day. So quiet we didn't even see any fireworks. I know. Very very quiet. We laid around. We played plants vs zombies. We went swimming. I took a nap. So very very boring. You wouldn't even have known it was a holiday.

We did have one very big thing happen.

Bird, at the ripe old age of 7, FINALLY, lost her first tooth.

Her tiny soul is filled with joy.

Usually when my child gets a loose tooth I knit them a tooth fairy bag, but this one, like everything else this year, snuck up on me. One day her tooth was loose, then the next thing I knew, the tooth was not in her mouth where it belonged, it was sitting on the computer desk beside me. In typical big sister fashion Pork Chop offered to loan Bird her tooth fairy bag, but Bird needed a bag of her very own. And a bag of her very own she got.

I knit it on size 2 needles with left over discontinued Knitpicks sock garden sock yarn (did you follow that? I barely did and I wrote it. That doesn't bode will for my writing skills today does it).

The tooth fairy is a notoriously unreliable fairy, she can take up to six weeks to collect a tooth. But she's pretty good about showing up on time for that very first tooth. She also pays well for the very first tooth. Bird can hardly wait to spend her five dollars.

Big things for a seven year old.

Friday Lovin'

It is that day of the week again. I tell you, summer is flying by. FLYING. So let's not waste any time. Let's get down to it.

This week I'm loving...

Fourth of July Decorations. Even paper balls make my house look fancy.

I'm loving...

How our dog loves to sit on your lap, with his butt actually on your lap, like he is another child. He's so gentle with the kids. He puts up with so much "love" from Sweet Pea. And all he asks for in return is that he be allowed to share his butt with you. If you're not sitting down he'll just lean his butt on your legs. He loves his butt and feels it must be shared with the world.

and I'm loving...

Bird's artwork. The preying mantis in the lower right hand corner is especially cute.

What are you loving this week?

Well, Look At That

My shame is gone. It was close. I almost gave up, but then I gave in and blocked it.

As if I could stay away from you.

The laptop is simply too much fun to type on.

Sweater-ish

My head was achey when I went to bed last night. I was hoping for some good sleep to reset my brain. But old dog is old and she had other plans for me.

She works with her own agenda and her agenda included getting up every two hours exactly to go pee and get a drink of water. I don't know why she choose last night to get up every two hours to pee and get a drink of water. Maybe she could tell I really needed to sleep and she must work counter to my needs. Maybe she has decided to get some joy from what little life she has left by tormenting me. Maybe she thinks I miss getting up every two hours with a baby and she wanted to help me feel nostalgic. But whatever the reason, I found myself dragging my weary bones out of bed every two hours exactly so I could be a spotter for old dog on the stairs lest she fall. I opened the back door for her so she could go outside because she only uses the doggie door when she feels like it, and last night she didn't feel like it. I opened the door to let her back in. I re-filled her water bowl. I spotted old dog on the way back up the stairs, and then, and only then, was I allowed to take a small nap before we repeated the process all over again.

Awesome.

So my head is still achey today. Not all splodey yet, but I can feel a little thread pulling in my head threatening to explode. Big Fun. So another quiet easy day inside. The kids built a tent and watched movies. I let them eat candy in their bedrooms. They think I'm the best Mom ever. They luv-ah me.

Luckily, with The Greatest home today, that meant lots of KNITTING for me!

It is finally looking like a sweater. Well, it kinda looks like a sweater. Imagine sleeves. Can you see the sweater now?

Well it is finally looking sweater-ish. And it is almost done. Just two short sleeves, and some blocking and I will have a brand new blue sweater.

Speaking of blocking, I still haven't pinned out my shawl yet. My shame is great. I think I will have to pin it out tomorrow. Or stop blogging. One or the other. Honestly I'm still on the fence as to which way I'll go.

Cowabunga!

My thermometer looked like this

so the only place to be was in the pool. And big things happened in the pool today.

Bird's first cannon ball(ish)!

She's a big girl now, a dare devil! Jumping in the deep end and swimming like a fish.

She's had the ability for over a year, but lacked the confidence. The deep end is, after all, deep(ish. deep to a seven year old anyways). It is deeper than she is tall, and I know I avoid water that is deeper than I am tall (yet I am a certified scuba diver, I am a walking contradiction). But this is not about me, this is about her. My seven year old who is so petite she needs a 4T swimsuit. But her imagination is larger than our house. When she swims she is a mermaid. She thinks her cannon balls splash the neighbor's houses they are so big. I love that kid.

While she cannon-balled I spent my time like this.

Life is good.

Friday Luh-va

I'm loving......

Naps! Just wearing the kids out until they sleep wherever they drop.

And speaking of Sweet Pea I'm loving the way she tells me she loves me. She gets right in my face and says "Mommy, I luh-va you!" Two syllables. So sweet. And she doesn't "luh-va" Meaty. And he is not her friend. But "Mommy I luh-va you, and you're my favorite." After years of Daddy reigning supreme it is good to finally be someone's favorite.

I'm loving....

night swimming. (I know not a picture of the pool at night, but my night time photography skills leave something to be desired). Sneaking to the pool when the children are tucked snug in their beds. Swimming with no one splashing in my face. No one cannon balling on my head. No one climbing on my raft and dumping me in the pool every.five.minutes. Adult Swim is a beautiful thing.

And finally I'm loving....

The Walking Dead. My Dad bought me the first season when he was visiting and it got tucked away on our shelf waiting for that mythical moment The Greatest and I could sit down and watch it without the children around. It took weeks, but we found a moment on Fathers Day. We sat down that evening to watch just one episode after the children had gone to bed. Just one episode was all it took. The next thing we knew it was 2 a.m. and we had watched the entire season (which was only 6 episodes, in a related rant, since when is 6 episodes considered a full season? that's more like a mini-series or a television special event, how is that considered a full season of a tv show? and the next season is supposed to have double the episodes with 13! Again, not a full season! end rant) Anyways, at the risk of sounding like Sweet Pea, zombies are not my favorite. But this show is riveting. It is compelling. You can't look away. I'm obsessed. I've googled every spoiler I can find. I'm thinking of selling one of the children so I can buy all the comic books. I'm counting down the days until October when the new season premieres. I'm loving this show.

What are you loving this week?

Gah! Tiny Men!

Whelp, my head went all splodey yesterday. Not unexpected with the way I was feeling, but disappointing all the same. Heavy drugs are a good thing. In fact I was feeling so good last night I should have blogged. Would have made for some funny reading today, if somewhat incoherent. I'm told my eyes were rather glazed like a doughnut. And my limbs were rather floppy. But I wasn't crying or throwing up, so I'll take a severe lack of co-ordination (which is rather close to my natural unmedicated state anyways) and a resemblance to tasty baked goods any day over the alternative.

This morning I feel much better, but we're taking it easy just to play on the safe side. Makes for boring blogging doesn't it?

Thank goodness I found this in my bathroom this morning. Just to spice things up.

How on earth that got in my bathroom I had no idea. Thank goodness I happen to live with a professional lizard catcher.

He caught him in under 10 seconds. It was amazing. I was so grateful. Because goodness knows I'm not about to touch that lizard. If Meaty hadn't been able to catch the lizard my only alternative would have been to stare at the lizard all day, so I knew where it was at all times, until The Greatest could come home and dispatch the lizard for me. Because I am not about to touch a lizard. I've gotten over the cricket thing, and I can squish them with a random flip flop with the best of them. I've mostly gotten over the spider thing and I can squish them with minimal crying. But I've got to draw the line somewhere, and it is lizards. I can't touch them. I simply can't. Everybody has a limit and for the moment that is mine.

I was grateful to Meaty for catching the lizard. Until the Greatest called on his lunch break and I relayed the harrowing story of how a lizard was three inches from my leg. The Greatest has a theory on how the lizard got all the way upstairs and into our Master Bathroom. He thinks Meaty snuck the lizard into his bedroom in the first place. He said Meaty was acting very odd a few days ago and appeared to be hiding something. The Great Detective can't prove anything, but he thinks the lizard in our bathroom is the same lizard Meaty has been keeping in a box on our back patio. And Meaty caught him so quickly because it is his pet lizard that he has been hand-feeding crickets for the past month and petting every day.

BOYS!

So glad I've only got to live through one of them. I don't think my heart could take more than one small boy sneaking and losing pet lizards in the house.