End of the Year Lull

I feel like I'm in such a rut this last week. I can't seem to get anything done. I start off the day great, but by noon, it's shot. The afternoon rushes along, and before I know it, it's dinner time and little has gotten done. I think I need to start a new routine and stick with it. Abigail needs more time focused on her. Isabella is more laid back these days, and Vincent is playing more independently. Abgail, though, is in a stage and needs my attention a bit more than she had been. I'm thinking of taking a couple 15-30 minute blocks two or three times a day and simply focusing on her and what she wants to do. We started off today by playing Connect Four together before Isabella woke up. She's working to grasp the logic of the game rather than simply putting in checkers randomly. She also read me a book when we woke up ("You've got to hear this one. It's so funny" she told me).

The kids got so much for the holidays from our families. I'm struggling to find places for some of it, especially those items which are too small for Vincent. Luis' family went way overboard, as usual. I think MIL thinks of our children as hers still because she buys gift like she's giving from Santa too, not the gift or two from a grandparent like I was raised with. BIL has only our children to buy presents for and always gets too much. The kids got more from BIL and M/FIL seperately than they did from us. My family kept the gift giving to a minimum, but one present for each of three kids from each of an aunt, an uncle, two great-aunts and two grandparents adds up quickly, even when some of those presents are clothes.

I managed to get another little pair of booties done for our friends before dinner last night. Thank you, Kathy/pritty for sending me a pattern booklet! I'll get that back to you when I go to the PO next. Vincent's sweater didn't get finished in time, it still needs two and a half seams. We found out on the morning of the 24th that my dad's wife's parents were going to be at Dad's on the 25th, and we had nothing to give them. Dh had a new box of golf balls for him, but we had nothing for her. So, I grabbed a ball of yarn and knit furiously during our two drives that day to create a bias-knit scarf instead of seaming the sweater like I'd intended to.

I'm having a work panic. The diapers have been really slow this fall for some reason, and my sewers decided to quit. Both of them, yesterday. I'm going to have to advertise again and hopefully find someone quickly. I can sew the regular diapers if I need to, but I am an awful serger (and don't even own a serger anymore), so I can't do the knit terry or overnight diapers. AACCKK!! I can't even think about it right now. Plus I've got to slog through my end of the year accounting, ugh.

DH was called back into work finally yesterday. :happy dance However, he will have to work tomorrow, New Years Day, so there goes our plans for tonight. :( :( He's going to call the union and see about other work. This company is having too many layoff days and is too unorganized. Plus the jobs they are doing are freakishly far away. He's had to drive 1.5 hours each way many days, and now the next job is over by Milwaukee! Uh, I don't think so. There's no way that will work. So, more changes are coming here. This has not been a fun fall.

Well aren't I a downer today? Time to get offline, play with the kid and brighten my mood.

Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year is here again. We will honor today as a family by having the children make suns to decorate our tree, making wish bread together tonight for tomorrow's breakfast and telling the kids stories about the winter solstice. Tomorrow, we will awaken to watch the rebirth of the sun. Labor safely tonight, dear Goddess.

Adding and Letting Go

Vincent isn't getting his pj's tonight. He really does have enough, and the ILs visited yesterday for hours, so I ran out to time. Everything else for tonight is done, though. His sweater is nearly finished too, and *should* be ready for him to wear at my dad's house on Thurs.

I started making the felted moc slippers finally. Isabella's are felted, and Abigail's are awaiting their turn in the washing machine today. Luis thinks they are great, and actually requested a pair. He was going to get one anyways, but yay that he finally asked me to knit him something! My sister saw Isabella's and wants a pair too. I should have enough leftovers from making our slippers to make Amy a funky multi-color pair, which she thinks sounds really fun.

I've got to cut out diapers today. I meant to do it this weekend, but it totally slipped my mind yesterday. I didn't want to work today, but these were supposed to go out to the diaper sewers on Friday, so I really need to finish cutting them ASAP.

It's Done!

My Craving to Knit cardigan is finished and awaiting blocking! :happy dance for me: Vincent's sweater needs only half a sleeve. One bootie is completely done and the other needs only seaming and the ankle strap. I've been a knitting fool! I'm a bit disappointed in how big the booties are, though. I made the Bobble Booties from Debbie Bliss' Cotton Knits for All Season. They are supposed to be 25 sts/4" and fit about size 6 months. I made them from a yarn with a gauge of 28 sts/4", and they seem really big. They would even almost fit Vincent if they were stretched a bit. I'm hoping to find another bootie pattern that is very feminine and would fit a newborn, but we are having our friends over for dinner in only about 10 days, and we wanted to give them the baby gift then. Running out of time!

Isabella and Abigail were grumpy grumpy today. We went to the IL's last night for dinner, and didn't leave until almost 8:30. The girls usually go to bed around 8, asleep around 8:30, but both of them stayed awake all the way home, a 45 minute drive. Abigail has managed to stay awake once or twice before coming home at night, but Isabella is usually asleep within 15 minutes. Naturally they were up a little early today, so they were grumpy, whiny and just plain weird sometimes today.

This morning when we woke up, there was a lovely snowfall. Huge fluffy flakes falling thickly. I was picturing a day of snow, sledding later. It was done by 9 am. :-(

I must finish up the pajamas tomorrow. Mine and Abigail's are nearly done, just needing buttonholes and buttons. Isabella's are cut and I've sewn the pants seams. Vincent's aren't even cut! Ack! Solstice is on Monday! I've got to get cracking on those.

Ramblings

No news on the house. The people who saw it last weekend were not the same ones as the previous weekend. Apparently they were very interested, but we haven't heard anything more back from them.

Abigail has another loose tooth, one of the top ones this time. She's so excited. She said "I've been waiting and waiting. It took a long time!" Her other two lost teeth were on the bottom, this one is on top. I can't wait to see what she looks like with a gap on the top. :)

My Craving to Knit is almost done. It's completely seamed. I just need to knit the two button bands and block it. Vincent's sweater needs a sleeve still. I got distracted knitting a baby hat, and I just started the matching booties.

I survived rush week for PBK. Wow, I can't believe how many orders I shipped out on Monday and Tuesday. What a couple of days. Things should be more mellow now.

Isabella has started to recognize some letters. She's picking out her name, and can write I, A and L.

My mom came to stay with us for a couple of days. I love my mom, but gee is she having her her can be trying. Amy and I wanted her to come down so that we can see just how she's doing these days. She seems to have recovered pretty well from her strokes, but her short term memory, ability follow verbal directions and problem solving abilty are not what they used to be. She should be going back to work at New Years. I admit, we (Amy, Luis and I) are a little worried. We are hoping her employers are understanding and give her time to get acclimated again. She seems so "normal" that her lack of problem solving skills and her memory issue catch me off guard sometimes.

Show and Tell

Isabella's waldorf doll is finished. I still need to make her some pj's and a dress, though.



Here are the bendy fairies I made last week for Abigail. The larger one is a bit shorter than my hand, and the smaller one is about as long as my ring finger.



The first sleeve is finished on Vincent's Square Neck Sweater. I'm still working on seaming my cardigan.

Off now to start cutting out pajama's!

Please send good thoughts our way!

We have another showing tomorrow morning! Two showing, two weekends in a row, in early December, for a house that's been on the market a few months? We think it might be the same people as last weekend, which could be a Very Good Thing.

Please send some strong vibes our way for an offer we can accept!

Entering the homestretch

My cardigan is almost done! I've got the shoulders seamed together and the neckband knit. I only have to sew the sleeves on, seam the side and knit the buttonbands. I can't wait to wear it!

I have two happy girls today. We had our food coop pickup yesterday, so we have soygurt in the house again. :D We were letting Isabella eat yogurt a few weeks ago, but we realized that she started waking up a lot more about the same time she started eating the yougurt. She was so upset when we told her no more yogurt.

My house is such a disaster today. Luis was home Wednesday and Thursday. Why is it that when he is home, the house gets SO much messier? I've got laundry all over the upstairs hall, and the kitchen, well, forget about it. I have to take Abigail to get her haircut this morning, then fax in a new Stockmar order, and sew a couple of capes. After that, it's time for some power cleaning. I can't stand my house right now. This is not good.

For Chantele, my recipe for Oven Caramel Corn:

2 c brown sugar
1 c butter
1/2 c karo syrup light or dark
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
5 quarts popped popcorn unsalted

Place popcorn into a large roasting pan. Combine sugar, butter, syrup and salt in a large sauce pan. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from stove and immediately stir in baking soda. Immediately pour over popcorn. Stir well. Bake in a slow oven, 250 degrees, for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes. Pour onto waxed paper and let cool.

Have you seen it?

There's a new site out there. Good Gravy Stop on by and take a look. A big round of applause to Rhonda, Heather and Lisa!

Vincent's scarf is done, and I'm zipping along on the sleeves for my Craving to Knit cardigan. I was working on them last night while I watched Chicago all by my lonesome (!) after everyone had gone to bed. I tend to love musicals, and Chicago was no exception. What a great movie! The way the integrated the songs into the plot by using the stage and shifting focus was really interesting. It really conveyed the sense of Roxie's using the stage and her imagination to cope with life. It was so much better than I expected it to be.

I should get the next batch of silks today, woohoo! There will be so much to sew up once I get them. Today's goals: sew some silks, finish the bendy fairies, finish one sleeve of the cardigan, clean my kitchen, sink/float experiment for Abigail, grocery store.

Unashamedly stolen from Toni's blog.

This actually has been a favorite carol of mine for years...


You are 'Deck the Halls'! Let's be honest, it
isn't Christmas you are celebrating, is it? In
fact, you know full well that there were no
shepherds in the fields in December, and that
the date of Christmas was put at midwinter
specifically to coincide with the older
celebrations of Yule and the birth of Mithras.
An unashamed Pagan, you take great glee in the
number of carols referring to holly, evergreens
and Winter's end, and will sing them with
gusto. You know where they really came from.
And you do enjoy the seasonal celebrations,
regardless of their name... A merry Yule to
you!


What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Last night was our first Soup Night. We had a bunch of friends over for soup and conversation. It was a great time, and definately something we'll be doing again in January.

Luis was told he'd be laid off this week, but they called him today and asked him to go to a job tomorrow after all. As much as I love having him around the house, that's a good thing. He was already laid off two days during Thanksgiving week and three days next week. The company is waiting on the big winter project, which has been delayed, leaving this lull time.

I really must start my holiday baking. I don't make too many things, but I do like to make caramels, fudge and one batch of cookies. I'm almost out of flour, so I've been putting off doing this until after the co-op order comes in on Thursday. That, and the fact that the longer these things sit in the house, the more of them I'll eat.

We actually had a showing this weekend! We didn't expect to have any in December, knowing how dead the house market is right before the winter holidays. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we hear something back from these people. Please, please, please. An offer we can accept would be a great present!

The kids are so tired today. They were all up late with the company yesterday, particularly Abigail. Isabella has been really whiney today, and I need to keep reminding myself that she is tired. They are definately going to bed early tonight.

We have snow! It's just a little, less than an inch, and I'm sure it'll be gone by this evening, but it's SNOW! The kids are thrilled. Abigail and Isabella have already played out in it for over an hour, and we bundled up Vincent and took him out too. He was fascinated by the snow, but not too sure about it. He finally mastered walking around in his snowsuit. We couldn't get his feet into boots, so we just put on his Robeez and folded the feet flaps over his feet. Luis and I pulled the girls around in the sleds, but Vincent wanted nothing to do with that. Isabella really likes the snow this year. It should be a fun winter! We plan on trying to take the girls skiing this year. Luis has found some kids' skis that are the right size for each girl, and kids 5 and under ski free at the small ski hill closest to us. It should be interesting with Isabella, but I think Abigail will do well and enjoy it.

Isabella's doll only needs hair and it's done. I'm still undecided about what hairstyle to do. I'm thinking of short fluffy ponytails. I wish I knew how to crochet so I could do the multi-style hair.

My Craving to Knit cardigan is coming along. I have the right front done almost to the neck shaping now. I'm also about halfway done with one of the sleeves on Vincent's Square Neck sweater. I've decided to knit him a simple scarf quickly for a Santa gift too. We realized this morning that he really should have one for playing in the snow. I decided to whip up some hats for the girls' waldorf dolls, too. One is done and one is nearly done. Now I only need to finish Isabella's doll, make 3 pair of pajama's, finish the two sweaters, make Vincent a scarf, sew some pj's for Isabella's doll and finish the clothes for Abigail's bendy fairies. 17 days until Solstice, 20 days until Santa. I can do it! I have a bit of a lull with PBK until the next batch of silks comes Monday or Tuesday. I'm practically sold out, so all I can do is ship out toy/art supply orders until these come. That means some manic knitting and sewing time!

We had friends over last night for dinner, and then we all went to the puppet show at the library. Our library does at least one evening family event every month, and puppet shows every few months. This one was A Christmas Carol, and they did a great job. The kids loved it. The show is organized by the children's librarian, but completely done by the library "volun-teens". Looks around the audience, I noticed there were a lot of homeschool families there. When the kids came out for their bows, I found out why. Every one of the volun-teens was a homeschooler. For a community of 10K, there are a lot of homeschoolers here. At the park days last fall, it was wonderful to see the huge age span of the kids and so many teens.

The playgroup and parents' meeting I organize meets this morning, so I'm off to finish cleaning the house and washing dishes. 50 minutes to get ready!

'Tis the Season

Whew, I survived last week! Deb, who dyes my silks, delivered a batch of 70 pieces Tuesday night. I've been a sewing and packaging fool ever since. I'll have to call Deb to give her the colors for the next batch today already since almost all 70 pieces are gone. There is a large stack of packages waiting at the door for UPS already, and I still have more to sew. I've also got to order more toys today, even though a shipment arrived last week.

Thanksgiving was nice. We host both of our immediate families here for Thanksgiving, with me making the turkey, pies and potatoes. This year my sister wasn't here, and I did the green bean casserole too. The turkey cooked really fast for some reason, and we ended up eating almost an hour earlier than expected, but it all worked out. I can't figure out why the turkey cooked that quickly. I make turkey often (I make a really good turkey if I do say so myself), and this was weird.

I have to get a present idea list to my MIL this week for us all. I'm struggling to come up with non-toy ideas for Vincent. We are drowning in toys; there are boxes and bags of them up in the attic. I think that I've got MIL considering some non-toy ideas after some comment by mom and me on Thanksgiving while washing dishes. Mom, the tricky lady, neatly gave me an intro to give MIL some suggestions, and I never even asked her to. Before she left, MIL asked for a list of ideas for the kids. I'm going to put down gift certificates for art lessons or dance class for both girls. Maybe a magazine subscription for Vincent, like Babybug.

I have the left front of my Craving to Knit cardigan done, and the right front is done up to the armhole shaping. I've only done the ribbing on Vincent's sleeves yet. I've been to unfocused to work at keeping the stripe pattern and arm increases straight. Abigail's bendy fairies have the bodies shaped and covered with wool, and the heads attached. Now I just need to give them hair and acorn caps, and some clothes. I think I'm going to felt Vincent some fish.

Luis did something weird to the computer Saturday night, and Outlook went funky. When I opened it up, the emails in there were from 2001! Huh? He recovered most of the lost emails, but nothing after 11-13. It wouldn't let me in to most of the folders, so I had to delete and recreate most of it. I still can't get into the address book though. It says either it's missing or I'm not authorized. I think what happened was he was messing around with the users. I've stopped him from doing that so many times because the last two times he actually tried, it messed everything up. Luckily I can access the orders through the shopping cart online, so nothing really is totally lost except the address book.

We've decided to have a Soup Night next Sunday. We're making a big pot of chili and some bread, and we're inviting the neighbors and many friends. Hey Chantele, if you're free, we'd love to have you join us! I would have emailed you, but I can't get into my address book, LOL! I also found those pants for Sylvie.