I have been craving a place to talk natural parenting again. So, rather than complain about the lack of places that feel right, I am creating one. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturalmama An email list will have to do since I simply cannot organize a board right now.

Here is the group description:

Who is a Natural Mama? Well, chances are you can't tell just by looking at her. She probably isn't farming on a commune and spending her days in tie dyed peasant dresses, Birks and dreadlocks. Natural Mamas often look just like everyone else, but they are different inside.

Natural Mamas believe in natural parenting. They parent gently and look for natural alternatives in healthcare, education, nutrition and entertainment. Chances are their families rarely watch TV. They probably eat many organic or unprocessed foods. Natural Mamas probably homeschool their kids or have them in alternative schools. They are likely use herbal or other natural medicines. They believe in parenting without force, without belittling. Are you a Natural Mama?

This group is for families with children of all ages, but it has been specifically started for support as our children grow older. There are many places out there to find support for parenting a baby naturally, but few for parenting school aged children this way.
I hope you'll decide to join if the group sounds like you.

We are trying to decide if we should have Isabella's hearing tested, once again. She's had problem occasionally for a couple of years, but if we candle her ears, the problems stop. She definately has an excess amount of wax production in the one ear. On the one hand, my gut says she doesn't have an actual hearing problem because when we candle her ears she can hear our words and repeat them even if we speak pretty softly while she is across the room with her back turned. On the other hand, maybe it would be best just for our peace of mind?

I had an Usbourne books party last weekend. Wow, I had NO idea they had so many terrific books. They really are a homeschoolers dream. I haven't closed out the party yet, but hopefully will be able to get a $100 set of texts on science, history and geography/social studies for $25. My mom and sister bought the kids a lot of really neat books for the holidays.

Our chickens are now laying 3-4 eggs a day. This is so cool! It's neat to go out every day and get more eggs. We still have two young birds that haven't even started laying yet. I'm also getting 3 more birds (barred rocks this time) from a friend soon.

Drats, Vincent's awake.

Sure enough. Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes I don't even know what to say anymore.

Count me among the many, the depressed, the Kerry supporters. We felt so deeply about this election that we even had a yard sign (two actually, one was stolen) and a bumper sticker, two things we've never even considered before, and we were bugging other people to get out an vote. I was deeply saddened to wake up yesterday morning to the news that Bush was in all likelihood the winner, and then have Kerry concede midday. After things were so neck and neck in the evening before I went to bed, I really felt that Kerry had a good shot. Luis and I are very concerned about the path our country is heading down. Bush has another 4 years to screw things up, but the long term effects will be felt for many more years, especially in the judiciary and the world view of the US. I believe that our time as a superpower is ending, that within the next 10 years our role in the world will greatly changed. America has always been a great country, never the greatest in any one thing, but pretty dang good in lots of them, but I believe that our time is passing. We also fear for Luis' job as a union member.

Luis is a conspiracy theory kind of thinker, and last night he was speculating about the electronic voting machines. Out of curiousity, I started looking around last night. Okay, it was more out of "I really don't want to go to bed yet, so I'll waste some time online". Wow. The stuff I came across regarding those machines is scary.

Taken from kp and Lynn


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Who knew? I wouldn't call myself a guru, but I do love working with yarn daily and the vacation thing is right on...

Just a long ramble tonight...

I just walked Hobo. We walk every evening, usually after the kids go to sleep, sometimes after dinner if Luis isn't busy with a project. Tonight wasn't our longest walk (30 blocks), but it was our best time. 20 blocks in 22 minutes. Woohoo!

Today's science club activity was at a local state park - a tree walk, nature scavenger hunt and then a chromotography discussion. I even learned something, what makes the leave yellow/red/orange/purple/brown in the fall.

We had our first soup night of the fall yesterday. Soup night is when I make a couple of large batches of soup or chili and a bunch of bread, then we invite a bunch of interesting people over for dinner. Whoever can make it, comes, but we never have any idea what type of group will show up for sure. I tried cream of broccoli soup yesterday, and it was very good.

We picked up three more chickens last Friday. I didn't want to pay shipping, and I didn't want to get 2 month old birds this close to winter, so I found someone through the Backyard Chickens' board who lived about 1.5 hours away and had grown hens we could have. I picked up two Rhode Island Reds (1 year old) and a Brown Leghorn (6 months old) for myself, plus two birds for my friend P. Even with the stress of moving them, we've gotten two eggs every day so far. Can I just say that it is SO COOL to go out to the garage and come back with eggs? I can't wait for the others to start laying. One or two are very very close to being ready to lay, the others need to grow a little more still.

Abigail has her first Brownies meeting tomorrow night. She is very excited about the idea of Brownies. I hope the leader and the other girls are nice.

I have finished another pair of socks for Isabella. I've also almost finished the second sleeve on the cable weave sweater, but I've realized I do not have enough yarn for the neckline. I called the store I bought the yarn at (an hour away) and luckily they had some left. They are shipping it to me. I've also got one sleeve on my Rosemary's Sweater nearly complete. I've completely stalled on the Jig sweater. Maybe once I get some of the other projects actually finished, I'll be ready to pick that up again.

Swiped from Larissa

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg

20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (and really, who the hell hasn't done this?)
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (Does Montreal Count?)
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing

60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater

80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest

100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on (specifically, the underside of people's tongues. don't ask)
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off

120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ...more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.

140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery159. Had sex on a moving train

160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes

180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read,
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them
183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions (not on purpose) ON PURPOSE!
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested

Summer has wound down and life is back into full swing here. Art class, 4-H, homeschool gym, science club and playgroup, plus we are thinking about a dance class for both girls and girl scouts for Abigail. The kids are loving it, and I'm not feeling overwhelmed yet. Everything but girl scouts is during weekdays (the 4-H club and dance class are organized by homeschoolers), so weekends and evenings are still free. That makes such a huge difference imo. Not having to rush around during the evenings or weekends, being able to keep the weekends and evenings open for family time, that makes life seem more relaxed and open to me.

Since we have decided not to sell our house, I wanted to change the chicken coop and run. We ripped out the raspberries, since they haven't produced much the last few years anyways, and put the run there. This way I also get my 5th garden bed back. Then, Luis built a coop in part of the garage, and there are ramps that go up to the window from both the coop and the run. They have so much more space now, and I don't have to worry so much about them in the cold winter. We can just close the window of the garage to keep them in on the cold days, and there is electricity to put a light on a timer or plug in a heater if needed. Luis did an amazing job building it all.

Speaking of Luis, a teenager called him "sir" the other. He isn't coping with it well. ROFL

On the knitting front, I have been jumping projects like mad. The cable weave sweater is nearly done, about 1/3 of a sleeve is left along with the collar. I've finished a pair of socks for Isabella, and another sock up to the toe decreases. I've made Lynn's poncho for her as well, except for the furry fringe along the edges. I need her to try it on again in good light; I think the hood might be too short, as much as I'd hate to rip that out. I've done a little work on the stripey sweater, the Jig sweater and my Rosemary's sweater too. I need to focus on finishing some of these up! I want to cast on a heavy poncho for me and water bottle holder too, but I'm making myself wait until something is finished!

A Hobo finds a home

Hobo the dog has found a new home with us. He's an Australian Shepherd/Heeler mix that we recused from the Humane Society a few days ago. He was a stray, but we believe he had a home before. He seems to be housebroken, but not really trained well for sit, stay, etc. He's quite intelligent and has been learning qickly. He's a great dog, pretty calm and good with the kids. He does have a slight tendency to jump on Luis and me, particularly first thing in the morning, but is quick to stop when we say down. Vincent and Isabella are still somewhat nervous around him at times, but they are starting to relax. They really like him, it just makes them nervous when Hobo tries to smell them.

Here's our Hobo:

There is nothing like a good piece of pie. The way a truly flaky crust feels on the tongue. The contrast between the mellow crust and the burst of flavor that is the fruit. (The only real pies in my book are double crusted fruit pies. Creams, merigues, custards - those are just gussied up puddings and whatnot.) The smell that floats up as it bakes, that sweet spicy combination of sugar, fruit and nutmeg. The feeling of pride one gets when sharing a good pie with others. I love pie.

Pie lives in the shadow of the showier cakes. Cakes get all the events. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, retirements. They all have cake. Pie, on the other hand, is family gatherings and potluck dinners. It's sitting on the front porch on a cool summer evening, visiting with the neighbors as the kids ride bikes.

Cake may have claimed all of the milestones, but I think pie got the better end of the deal. Pie gets to be part of the true essence of living.

I've got two pies cooling and another in the oven. Why don't you come on over for a slice and chat awhile?

I can tell that we are emotionally invested in the house again. We are almost done repainting the bathroom, we finally bought the window glazing we've been meaning to all year, Luis has replaced all the old switches and I've been going to town in the garden. I moved the sage out of my veggie garden and into one of the flower beds. It was getting way too big for the veggie garden, and it looks so pretty that it does well in the flowers. The plants were both very large, but I'm happy to say they are doing well after the transplant. I was worried.

I've been ruthlessly ripping stuff out of the flower beds. There are plants I no longer wanted, or had too many off. I'm trying to find a home for three rose bushes that were here when we bought the place, but I don't want. I'm also collecting the calendula seeds faithfully. I have been letting it reseed itself, but I want to move the patch next year, so I need to collect. I'm going to fertilize the west flower bed heavily with compost this fall and put the tomatoes there next spring, so I have to rip out or most of the flowers there. I'm also going to put in a lot more lavender over there.

I'm really into gardening again now that I know I'll have this land longer.

A friend got married last weekend, and it was just the push that I needed to finish up my Cape sweater. It's a little wider than I had hoped, but still fits pretty good.

I'm zipping down the sleeve on my Rosemary's sweater finally. I decided to heck with it and used my 24" circ until I got down to the point where I can use dpns. I still need those size 8 dpns to finish up the sleeves on the two sweaters for the kids. These are driving me nuts. I also am planning a new sweater for Vincent in the gypsy cotton I have left over from last summer. I think I might have enough of the yarn left from the stipey sweater to do a second sweater (in wide stipes this time) or at least a poncho for Isabella. I made Abigail a poncho last year, and Isabella really really really wants one too.

I think we are going to take the house off the market. It's been really annoying getting ready for all of these showings for the last year with no result, and what with refinancing a few months ago, we wouldn't have all that much by getting a cheaper house, unless we go under $90K and even in this area that will get a you a house that needs some to a lot of work. So, I think we are just going to struggle through Luis' winter layoffs somehow and stay here for a few more years. Now that that's pretty much decided, I want to move where the chicken coop is, modify the garden, and plant some fruit trees. I figure if I get dwarf ones, I could fit one on the garden, one in the side backyard flower bed and one by the driveway or in the front. Of course, I need to price them out still to see if that would even be feasible.

Apparently I've reached a new level of hippie-freakdom. Our microwave died about 5 weeks ago, and we haven't replaced it. *gasp of horror* I thought people looked at me like I was weird for not watching TV. That's nothing compared to the looks one gets for not having a microwave. *shrug* It hasn't been inconvenient, except for me having to remember to get the butter out to soften before baking cookies. It's actually quite easy to heat things up on the stove or oven, and I love not having the micro on the counter.

Abigail lost two teeth yesterday, in addition to the one last week. Both of her front upper teeth are gone now, and one on the bottom. Her smile is too funny. She is lounging one the sofa right now reading Amelia Bedelia. I love Amelia Bedelia books!

Isabella got her first library card today. She was so proud when we all checked out our books on her card.

I packed away Vincent's diapers today, except for 3 for nighttime use. He's been dry 12 of the last 14 nights, so I suspect those three will be boxed up soon too.

I love fresh summertime meals. Tonight's dinner is corn on the cob and bruschetta, made from garden fresh tomatoes and basil on homemade french bread. Dessert is blueberry pie made with fresh berries. Mmmmmmmm

I bought a case of the blueberries this week and indivually froze them, then bagged in 4 c portions. That's the perfect amount for a pie or a double batch of blueberry muffins. We've got 26 c in the freezer and another 6 c in the fridge right now waiting to be snacked on or turned into something baked. I'm on a baking spree these days. I got a baking stone free from my pampered chef party and I'm LOVING it. I must get more. These things are incredible!

We took the boat out today on an aborted journey. The water pump went out about 3 minutes upstream. So, we got out the paddles and played, making the trip back last about an hour. :) It's just a little boat, nothing heavy, so it was fine to paddle around. Luis would throw a cushion life preserver in, and then the kids and I would paddle to it and one girl would try to hook it with a grabbing pole we keep in the boat. Repeat about 15 times. It was great fun and we never even missed the motor.

We had a pretty nice weekend. The country fair sponsored by Organic Valley was very interesting. We took a tour of one of their dairy farms. It was a lot like the farm I grew up on, rather than the more industrial type that we've always seen at the breakfast on the farm. It was really nice to be able to show Luis and the girls the "real" small family farm that I remember. We didn't actually get to attend any of the workshops or presentation because of helping out Lisa and John. John decided to go with Lisa to her presentation, so I covered their booth for them and Luis had the kids. However, I had some really neat conversations wih some people walking by and some of the vendors in the market, and I finally got the name of the contact person for the Viroqua Waldorf School holiday fair. I plan on participating in that this year if the booth rate is reasonable. Luis and the kids took the tour of Organic Valley's new headquarters. It's amazing how enviromentally responsible the building is - almost everything is recycled, energy efficient, etc. The more I learn about Organic Valley, the more I like them.

Vincent is well on his way to using the potty totally. He's been out of diapers for a week now, and he's doing great. He's still having some accidents, while wearing clothes particularly, but only one or two accidents a day. Saturday at the fair I was concerned because he'd be spending the entire day in clothes, but he didn't even have a single accident.

Vincent was diaper free yesterday. He used his little potty all day (with reminders from me, but twice he told me he had to go)and had only one accident in the afternoon. Hurray! It would be so nice to be done with diapers already.

I'm having a Pampered Chef party tonight. My friend and neighbor, Darla, is starting as a consultant. I hope it is a good one for her. I really want to help her make a go of this. She needs to quit doing daycare, and has high hopes for her PC business.

The stripey sweater is zipping along. It's a top down raglan, and I only need a few more inches of body. I ended up doing a lot of knitting yesterday.

It's been a while since I've done a long stream of conciousness ramble...

We went to dinner at the ILs last night.  It was a pretty good visit.  After dinner , instead of twiddling our thumbs we went for a walk to a nearby playground.  The kids had so much fun and the walk was really nice.  It gets so boring sitting in the ILs living room with nothing much to talk about and just watching the kids play for a couple of hours, so it was great to be outside and moving instead.

Our chickens are getting really close to laying.  Their combs have gotten larger, and the combs and wattles are getting quite red.  I can't wait for the first eggs!  I'm very glad we got the chickens.  Even without the eggs, they are a fun and low maintenence pet. 

Speaking of pets, we are babysitting our neighbor girl's fish this weekend.  LOL  The kids are thrilled, and love feeding it (three flakes for each girl and one for Vincent to give three times a day).  It's quite the pain to count out individual flakes, but we have to make it fair doncha know.  :D

We are going to our friends' cabin next weekend, and all going to the Kickapoo Country Fair sponsored by Organic Valley.  Lisa is doing one of the Sustainability Presentations, and John has to man a booth for their book, so we'll help out with Liam, their son.  It looks like it should be a fun day.

The Cable Weave sweater body is finished.  I love it!  I want one in my size!  I still need to do the sleeves, but that's on hold until I get some size 8 dpns.  I could work them in a magic loop way (even thought my circ isn't a super long one), but I'm really not fond of that.  Maybe I'm not getting the concept correctly or something, because I've not met anyone else who didn't like the magic loop.  I started on Isabella's stripey sweater yesterday.  It's a top down, in the round raglan, done in stripes of purple, yellow, pink and blue.  I'm randoming the stripe size, and debating if I'll random the order too. 

I so need to finish sewing up my Jagaer Cape sweater.  Two little seams and the neckline, and then it'll be done.  I'm not one who loves finishing, which is why this has languished.  I guess that's why I love designs that are worked in the round or the ones like Green Mountain Spinnery has that are done bottom up in the round, and then the shoulders are bound off together.  No seaming sounds great to me!

I've found a pick your own blueberries place about an hour away.  I want to go, but I want to know how much they charge and when they are open.  I've called three times in the last 2 weeks, and they haven't returned any one of my calls yet.  Argh.  I might just buy a case from Brennans (a local fruit/veggie, cheese and wine store) if they don't call soon.

Our local farmer's market moved up to the square.  It's closer now, and we are always up on the square, so I'm actually getting up there.  It's good stuff, very cheap, and everyone I've bought from so far doesn't use chemicals ("those are too expensive" they say when I ask).  Can't go wrong with that! 

Goodness, but I am up waaaay too late tonight.  Luis was home by noon today due to all of the rain we had here, so he decided today was the day to reformat the computer.  He's been wanting to do this forever, and he finally did.  Oh my gosh, how scary is reformatting???

He put in a new operating system (windows XP) with profiles for each of us and the kids.  Now he won't worry about the girls messing something up when they play nickjr.com.  He also got me a new version of Outlook. I can actually use my address book again, woohoo!  Somehow he messed up our old Outlook last fall, and I was never able to get into the address book again.   HOWEVER, he didn't back up our bookmarks correctly, so I have lost alllllllll of my bookmarks.  ARGH.  All the knitting patterns I had saved, all the birth and breastfeeding site, all the homeschooling resources, everything is gone.  Talk about frustrating.  I must say, though, that if he had to lose something in the process, the bookmarks were not a horrible thing to sacrifice.  Much better to lose those than my pbk stuff or emails I needed. 

On the knitting front, the Galaway Sweater is zipping along.  I'm having so much fun knitting this one that I just can't seem to put it down.  The front is completed up to the neckline, and the one side is finished.  I just need to finish the other shoulder now, and then do the sleeves and neckline.  I'm going to have to commit on a neck pretty soon.  Welts or ribbing - which will it be?

I've taken the plunge and am creating my own sweater out of the Galaway yarn.  I'm doing a pullover, working in the round from the bottom up.  The bottom has a slight rolled hem (I love those on kids sweaters) with an inch of ribbing, then is straight stockinette.  At the armhole divide, I did a garter stitch ridge, added some stitches and began the texture.  It's a cable weave pattern that is absolutely gorgeous.  I took it off a sweater in the Green Mountain Spinnery book that I love.  It will have a simple crewneck, but I'm still debating if it'll be welt like in that sweater, or if I'll do a plain ribbing to coordinate with the hem. 
 
I cast on too many stitches when I started, so Vincent will get this sweater, but not until Abigail and Isabella have had their turns.  :)  It will be the perfect size for Abigail for winter this year.  I have the bottom completely done, and I only need about 1" more of the cable pattern in the upper back.  I can't believe how good it looks.  This yarn really shows the texture nicely, and the dark red it lovely.  It will look so good on all three kids, and it's a classic, unisex style so I know they will all be able to wear it. 

We took the girls to the dentist for the first time. I was positive Isabella had a cavity or two. Two of her top teeth chipped when the teeth under them came in back when she was about 1. We've been keeping an eye on them, and they were darker in the back than the rest. A couple of weeks ago, she mentioned it hurt to eat meat, so we took her in to get them checked and to get Abigail her first checkup too. Given Isabella's nervous personality, we weren't sure how this would go.

It was great! The hygenist was fabulous with them both, and both enjoyed it. While her teeth are badly chipped and worn, there are no cavities. Talk about a relief. Both she and Abigail got their pictures taken for the "No Cavity Club". :D They think they are pretty cool stuff now.

Our library is doing a really great summer reading program, with both a program for keeping track of how much you read and weekly events. Abigail is really into it. She has been going to the events and having a blast. This week is Gold Rush week, so they'll be panning for gold and learning about rocks.

Time for a little knitting update today...

My Cape sweater is nearly done. All of the pieces are knit, one sleeve is attached and one side is completely sewn. I just have to attach the remaining sleeve, sew up the side and do the collar. It looks really nice; I love the olive-sage color.

I've started a new project, also one from Jaeger. This one is using Jaeger Aqua, a really nice mercinized cotton, in a mahogany brown color. It's called Jig, and it's a rib (6x2x2x2) rather mock turtleneck. I think it's going to take a while to do, what with the ribbing and being 6 sts to the inch. It's something I'll wear for years though.

The latest pair of socks in the Fortissima Colori Mexico Demin are complete. I'm nearly out of sock yarn! Ack!

I bought some Galaway wool this weekend to do a sweater for Vincent. It's a dark red color, and I think it would make a really nice crewneck sweater with cables. The only problem is that I can't find a pattern for what I'm thinking of. I'm thinking of adapting one, taking a pattern I have for a simple crewneck and putting cables on the upper chest like an adult sweater I like from the Green Mountain Spinnery book. Do I feel brave enough for such an undertaking????? If not, I'll probably do a modifcation of ribbed sweater from Debbie Bliss' Cotton Knits for All Seasons or a cabled jacket from the same book. This yarn is screaming for texture.

My Rosemary's Middle Sweater (Green Mountain Spinnery pattern) is coming a little farther along. The body is completely finished, so now I need to either buy the Denise set of needles or a 16" size 9 circular to finish the arms.

I did up a cute little stripey hat for the baby of one of my sister's friends. It's in Jaeger Aqua, a slate blue and sage green striped pattern, and has a little I cord topknot at the top. It's just darling.

I need to start planning some new sweaters for the girls for this winter too. I have this purple marl sweater I did last year for Isabella that she has outgrown. The color is just a little too girlish for me to keep it for Vincent, and I have more of the yarn, so I do think I'll frog the thing and reknit a larger one for this year, sizing it with some growing room this time! I'm rethinking a sweater for Abigail too. I have some of this Reynold's Gypsy to use up. I knit her a sweater with it last year, but I still have tons, and the sweater from last year shrunk up funny. It's also rather heavy. I need to come up with a lighter sweater with this yarn. It's supposed to be worsted weight, but I might work with it at 18 or 16 sts/4" instead to get a lighter, more airy sweater.

We had the best weekend. First some background. Our friends, Lisa and John of the cabin, got married 8 years ago. At their wedding, people were having a great time and asking when they were going to get together again. Lisa and John said "Come out to the farm for July 4th weekend." The Reunion, as they call it, was born. For 8 years, an eclectic group of people, many of whom had never met before this, have been gathering at Lisa and John's farm for a few days around July 4th. They have had as many as 65 people there, sleeping anywhere they could or camping around the farm. The mix of people varies each year, with new people coming or old people missing.

We have gone out for various activities prior years, potluck or tie dying. This year we went out on Friday with the camper and stayed through Monday afternoon. It was an amazing weekend. We'd met some of the people before, but got to know them a little better this weekend, and met many new people as well. There were probably about 35 people there, all walks of life. There were kids from baby through 12 years old, and a community of people to keep an eye on them and play. John had gotten a wagon of straw bales for the express purpose of building forts for the kids (later to go into the garden). Water balloons were flying and squirt guns were shooting. The big project was putting a composting toilet into their barn. Saturday was rainy all afternoon and evening, so the normal drive in movie was out, but we all gathered in the greenhouse and cantina for good conversation. Sunday was the potluck, tie dying, knitting circle and martini bar. :) Some musicians came out play outdoors during the potluck. It was such a great atmosphere. I haven't had that much adult conversation time in years!

We can't wait to go back next year. :)

It's our 9th wedding anniversary today. 9 years. It seems like just yesterday; it's not possible that it's been that long! 14 years and 2 weeks since our first day. Wow. I guess I'm not 22 anymore, eh?

I'm having a fireworks sale at Peanut Butter Kisses. 20% off all outdoor play toys, Woodkins and dollhouses, plus all organic cotton bedding, pillows and mattresses. Stop on by if you need anything, or pass the word to a friend! :)

Well that was a mistake. I browsed around yaaps. I had left there last fall after the Halloween candy and trick or treating thread was my final straw, but would still visit occasionally to read and keep up with certain people's lives. Somebody stop me! I just wasted far too much time reading the current thread there about the cost of eating healthy and about unschooling. I find the grad school condescendion of certain posters to be irritating and frustrating beyond belief, and the complete thickheadedness of others to make me want to bash my head into a wall. The unschooling thing gets rehashed about what, once a year? It's always the same thing, Robin (along with a few others) saying what she believes and most everyone else acting like she's passing some sort of judgement upon their life choices and invalidating their children's learning experiences. Puhleeze, how about just archiving the thread and bumping it up for everyone to read once a year? As for the healthy food thread, people make the choices they think are right. Everyone has different beliefs they hold to different degrees. Someone who thinks that non organic foods or those grown in evironmentally irresponsible ways are lesser foods are entitled to their opinions.

For me, things like this illustrate the limitations of internet societies. They are why I've been withdrawing from the online world and taking a more acive role in the real world. People have things they feel passionate about; everyone has their BIG issues. If I feel passionate about healthy eating, it doesn't mean I am passing judgement on those who do not. If I feel passionate about homebirth, I'm not passing judgement on those who have chosen to birth in a hospital. Conversely, I have a responsibility to realize that people who are passionate about things I'm not are not judging me or invalidating my experiences. They have simply made different choices, and I have a responsibility not to get defensive and read into their words. If people are able to discuss these issues calmly, without defensive "But my kids do that too" or similar comments, they can really learn the other point of view and come to a true understanding. I think this is something that plays out better in the real world. We have friends who are passionate about conserving the earth's resources. Sure, we reuse and recycle, but nowhere to the extent of these friends. Yet we can all go to a fair and not feel judged for using the disposable plates provided when our friends pull out their picnicware.

Is this making any sense? I've lost my point in this ramble.

Geez, not only have I wasted my time reading these long conversations, now I've just wasted it by writing about and wasted your time reading this. Time to turn off the computer and go weed the garden. We are having an impromptu picnic this afternoon with the HS'ing group that I've been working to organize. Should be a fun time!

We had a well planned weekend go completely awry, but it was still very nice. This past weekend, we were supposed to go to Dubuque to the Mississippi River Museum with my father on Saturday, then spend Sunday at the beach with friends. The funeral for my aunt's boyfriend was Saturday morning, so we attended that. While it was heartbreaking to see my aunt struggling and sad to say goodbye to Ron, it was still nice to see family we don't get to see often, nice to give my aunt a huge hug and watch the girls hug her while they made plans for the next tea party, and nice to talk with a cousin I have see far too little of over the years. Life is a circle, and in our community each funeral is followed by a luncheon to visit and remember.

After the funeral, we stopped by Madison, since we were so close. We had two merchandise credit cards to use up a couple of stores. Kohls was having 50% off most of their summer stuff, so I actually *gasp* bought some clothing for myself. We then stopped by the IL's house, so they wouldn't come down on Sunday. MIL had talked with Luis earlier in the week and told him that they were coming down on Sunday. After Luis told her we had plans, she got all huffy and told him we *had* to be there.

We got home to find out that our friends had a sick child, so would not be coming to the lake with us on Sunday. We took the boat and went out for a while; the girls had lots of fun and Vincent didn't scream. :) We went to the beach for a while afterwards.

It was an unplanned weekend, with some very sad points, but it was all together good and a pleasant time together as a family.

I'm back again

Last night we had an impromptu picnic potluck with some friends. Luis was going over there to do some handyman work, so the kids and I tagged along with a casserole. Add in some pasta and salad from our friends, along with fresh picked strawberries and raspberries from their extensive garden, eat under the sky, and it was a good evening. I watched the kids while Luis worked, and John and Lisa got some stuff done without their son underfoot. Our kids are sleeping late today because it was a late night.

It's so hard to enforce the normal 8 pm bedtime with the late evening sunshine. I guess the days will be shortening now, as Summer Solstice was a few days ago, but the lightening bugs won't be out until 9ish, and how mean of a mama would I be if I don't let the kids chase the lightening bugs sometimes? :D If only Isabella wasn't such a grump when she stays up late.

Speaking of Isabella, she is getting better about not lashing out hitting when she's upset. She is finally using words most of the time. I was watching her this weekend while we were camping. She definately is like me in a new social situation, unfortunately. I'm very shy and hang back on the edges, watching others. Joining into a new situation with new people is almost impossible for me. I want to, I just can't do it for some reason. People sometimes think I'm a snob or stuck up because of it. Isabella is doing the same things. I wish I knew how to help her overcome it. I feel for her so much.

My aunt's longtime boyfriend died last night. He was mowing lawn and had a heart attack. He was only 56, a year younger than my dad. My aunt must be hurting so much. They were together 15+ years. He was so young. Go in peace, Ron.

Taking another break

I'm getting a very negative feeling online lately, so I'm going to be sticking to email only for a while.

Quiet Time

It's 11 am, 3/4 of my to do list is done and the kids are playing happily. I'm taking a quiet moment.

We spent the weekend at our friends' cabin with them. It's such a peaceful spot. You literally can't see anything civilzed from the property; it's surrounded by farm and woodland. Abigail and Isabella got to try their first real fishing in the pond. They both caught a number of panfish, and Abigail even caught a small mouth bass. Isabella does an amazing job of setting a hook, especially considering she's only 4. I think she does better than me! We all took long walk down a nearby Amish organic farmer to buy some tomatoes (they grow them in a greenhouse) for dinner. Abigail was so funny on the walk, tracking horse prints in the gravel road. The kids also had fun splashing around in the outdoor shower.

It was a restful, quiet weekend, just what I needed after last week. We are hoping to go back in later summer or fall with them, if they have weekend without a rental that works for all of us.

Speaking of our friends, I finished reading their newest book. It was a great read, for those of us who long for a life closer to the earth and outside of the fast lane. It's got two thumbs up from me.

Update

Long time, no post, eh? I just haven't felt like being on the computer much. I've been withdrawing from the cyberworld over the course of the last year, and I'm spending less and less time online these days. The wonderful spring and summer days are also contributing, of course! I've been trying to plant the garden amid the raindrops. I have all of the tomatoes and peppers, along wiht lots of flowers, ready to plant, but the garden needs to dry out enough to make digging in it feasible.

Our chickens arrived about a month ago, and they are so fun to watch. They were about 8-10 weeks old then, so they are about 6-8 weeks away from laying now. We had two sick chicks with all the rain and dampness, but they are doing better now. Thank goodness! Abigail was so upset at the thought of her Annie being so sick.

I'm starting a new homeschooling group locally. There is only as extremely Christian group here. We obviously don't fit in, and we've discovered others locally who are Christian but don't fit in. So, we are starting our own. I hosted an informational gathering last week, and there were four of us there. Not much, but a start. We are gathering next week for a potluck and are planning some potlucks and park days for the summer. Just something to get the word out to others and see if there aren't more people who would be interested in our version of a homeschooling group.

No news yet on the house front. :( My sister moved out over the Memorial Day weekend. Her boyfriend graduated, and he has gotten a job at the same hospital she works at. They moved in together. I really hope for her sake it works out. Living together, working together. Long story as to the details, but Luis and I (as well as my brother and a few other people) have some concerns for the relationship. I really hope her boyfriend has matured and grown up over the last few years, for her sake.

Luis is on a kick to buy a new (used) car. He is currently driving to work a '91 minivan with 214K miles on it. He says the engine will make it to 300K miles, but he's not sure about the body. He also wants to get something with better gas mileage. He's eyeing a 2000-2002 diesel VW Jetta, about 50 miles/gallon. If he can find one around here, the payment would only be about $150 added to our budget, what with the savings on fuel. However, on a tight budget the thought of adding a payment is FREAKING me out. Short of taking on second day care child (NO INFANTS, even just our friends baby has added so much more stress to my day), I don't see how we could do it right now. Since selling the diaper business, PBK is much more seasonal and I need to build it up more to take on the responsiblity of adding that as well. If only the house would sell and we could get something about $50K less. Then we could definately handle a car payment.

On the knitting front, I've been on a sock kick. Monday we drove to Madison, drove around the city for a bit doing errands and drove back. I cast on a sock for Isabella as we left Monroe and was working the toe decreases as we pulled into the driveway. I told Luis it was clear evidence that we'd been doing too much driving that day. :) I've made her two pair of socks for next fall so far. I love the crazy stripe Regia yarn for her. This last pair was a great green colorway that I want for myself! :)

Ya know, I don't like Mother's Day much. I have very low expectations for *my* Mother's Day. Even with that, today sucked. The part of today that was actually *mine* consisted of doing my Pilates tape, taking a shower and exchanging Isabella's swimsuit at Old Navy. Big freaking whoop.

Okay, to be fair, we did go out for Chinese on Friday too, as part of my Mother's Day.

I'm glad MIL had a good day. I really am. But it was supposed to be my freaking day too, wasn't it?

Mother's Day of Peace

I'm not big on Mother's Day. It's a day that has too many obligations, seems contrived and fake. I like the idea of Mother's Day, but the way it's celebrated - buy the card, flowers and a present, and of course one must go visit one's mother if one lives within a reasonable distance - bothers me. It ought to be enough to honor one's Mother any day, any way.

A woman I know who feels similarly sent me the following email, and I really enjoyed it:

...a few years ago I learned about the origin of Mother's Day and found that it was indeed a concept I could fully endorse. It had nothing to do with gifts, cards, timely phone calls, or breakfast in bed. Julia Ward Howe, of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" fame, owns another great accomplishment. After closely experiencing some of the worst effects of the Civil War, working with families and orphans on both sides of the conflict, and feeling appalled at the death and destruction, she determined that promoting peace and peaceful resolutions was one of the two most important issues in the world (the other being equality).

She called for women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts, and to oppose war in all forms. She issued a declaration, hoping to gather women together in a congress of action.

She failed in her attempt to get formal recognition for her Mother's Day of Peace, but another woman, Anna Jarvis, picked up the cause. Upon the death of her activist mother, Anna Jarvis vowed to continue the work her mother had begun, which was similar in objective to Julia Ward Howe's work. She worked to found a memorial day for women, and the first such Mother's Day was celebrated in West Virginia in 1907. It spread eventually to 45 states, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the first national Mother’s Day.

Recalling Julia Ward Howe's declaration now, in light of current events worldwide and particularly here at home, gives me a personal and solid reason to embrace Mother's Day. I do not wish for gifts and cards; I am fortunate to know that my children love me and do not need a special day set aside to coerce them into telling me so. What I can celebrate is a day where women decide to put their differences aside and come together for a greater common good, the promotion of peace and peaceful resolution.

It is okay to celebrate as you always have, to celebrate mothers everywhere in your own personal ways. But this Mother's Day, I encourage all mothers - all women! - everywhere to also take a moment to send their energy, thoughts, meditations and prayers out to the world, so that we may remember that what we have in common is far greater than our differences, and so that the world may know peace.

Julia Ward Howe's Declaration reads:

Arise then... women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country,
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Blood does not wipe out dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God --

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general counsel of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Here's to a Mother's Day of Peace.

Birthdays

I used to really enjoy birthdays. I loved the little quirky "happy birthday" things people did for one another, enjoyed making a little card or finding a neat way to wish someone another enjoyable year. Then I got married. DH's family is very structured and traditional. His brother in particular cannot handle any break from their family traditions. Since they are immigrants, they have never had extended family to work around and established specific traditions for holidays and birthdays. Birthdays must be celebrated on the actual birthday. Everyone gathers and goes out for dinner, then returns to M/FIL's house for cake and presents. If the birthday falls on a weekend, gathering in the afternoon and going out for a long drive together is before dinner is preferred. A present must be bought, not handmade, but no one in DH's family will give us any ideas of what they want. Ever tried to buy a present for a single 43 yr old man who buys anything he needs when he needs it, or a 65 yr old woman who has more stuff than she'll ever use????

Now this celebration was okay when we lived 10 minutes away and before we had kids. When we moved here, almost an hour away, we asked that the birthday be celebrated on the weekend, because it was a hard for Luis to go out to dinner in Madison during the week because of how late we'd get home. He'd be so tired, and we'd have to drive two vehicles home. We also asked that dinner be earlier, not leaving the house at 6:30 to go to the restaurant, but actually eating by 6:30. The kids got/get hungry and grumpy. Plus eating that late meant we didn't even get back to M/FIL's for the requisite cake and presents until the kids' bedtime. Fun. MIL and FIL agreed to our request because, well, we didn't actually give them a choice. BIL on the other hand would rather celebrate his birthday without us if it falls in the week rather than deviate from "tradition". Okeydokey.

I dwell on this really badly at this time of year. It just becomes too much because BIL's bday is just before Mother's Day and FIL's bday is just before Father's Day. Rather than combination celebrations, we are expected to make seperate trips into Madison for each. {MIL and FIL would FREAK if we weren't there on their Mother's/Father's Day} So today we have to drive into Madison to celebrate BILs bday, the kids will probably be up too late because the ILs do their damndest to keep us there as long as possible, they'll be overtired and grumpy meaning a long night for me. Then tomorrow we'll have to drive in again to celebrate Mother's Day seperately. Fun. Yep, Happy Mother's Day to me.

I tell ya, the obligations DH's family puts onto us for these days has really soured me on them. Call me Scrooge, but they aren't fun for me (or DH) any longer.

The chicken coop is done. Luis did manage to find everything that we needed (except screws) by driving around on Trash Days. Today he even found a full 4x8' sheet of plywood, uncut, for the roof. I couldn't believe it. Everything is painted and the roof is shingled. Luis just has to finish up the chicken wire around the run, and then we are ready. The pullets (currently named Buffy, Ginger and Annie, but that could change) are due to arrive on Tuesday. The kids are so excited, and so am I. :)

Have I mentioned that Isabella started dance through Park & Rec? She had her second class this weekend and loves it. She looks miserable the entire time, but she is actually enjoying it tremendously.

I'm glad May is here. April is a *dead* month for PBK, always has been. I'm looking forward to doing more work again. The lack of orders leads to an April Doldrums for me, and I become really lethargic about PBK stuff. I need to get to work on the the new catalog pages, add a couple of new items, return emails more promptly.

Do you ever just want to run away and hide? Today is one of those days for me. Vincent was up early, took a 25 minute nap mid morning and has been freaking out ever since. The girls have been fighting (but are reading their latest issues of Click and Ladybug quietly now, knock on wood). My friends' baby is fairly mellow, but hasn't napped much at all. I count on the 20 minutes in the middle of the day when her mom comes over to snuggle and visit her baby during her lunch break. It's my mental break. Today J was running late and stopped only long enough to give me more EBM for the baby. I could so desperately use 30 minutes of absolute quiet right now, with no one touching me.

Vincent is screaming again....

My poor babies

A friend stopped over this evening. Abigail and Isabella were playing in the house with one of Paula's daughters while we were outside talking and watching the toddlers and older kids play. Paula had to run inside for tissue, and when she came out she commented that the girls were playing really quietly. About 15-20 minutes later, Abigail peeks outside of the back door, sweaty and disheveled, crying and looking excited. We ran in to see what was up.

The toy room closet has shelves in it, starting around 2' off the ground. The girls had taken all of the toys out of the bottom, all three got inside (it's maybe a yard long and a little over a foot wide) and then, for some unknown reason, they shut the door. It's a regular room door, not a bifold door. They were trapped inside because they couldn't reach up far enough to get to the doorknob. They were shouting for us, but since we were outside, we couldn't hear them. Apparently they were in there "a long, long, long, long time" according to Abigail and Isabella. We know it was at least 15-20 minutes. They found a stick and tried reaching under the door to open it (? kid logic). Then they tried reaching the knob, but couldn't. Finally they hit upon the plan of Isabella and Paula's daughter pushing the bottom shelf up while Abigail reached for the doorknob. It worked, and they were freed. Abigail came running out to let us know what happened.

At first, they were so happy to be out that they weren't even upset. Once they started talking to us, though, they started crying. That must have been so scary! I'm thankful that there were three of them in there, not just say Isabella, or it would have been a lot scarier.

I can't believe they would get in there and close the door! What were they thinking?????

Framed

Luis didn't find any more plywood yesterday, but we built the frame of the chicken coop and run yesterday evening. We have two sheet of plywood, and hopefully will do the roof and the short sides today. Luis then wants to wait until next weekend to finish in the hopes that he'll find the plywood on the other side of town. We put the frame out in the garden where I wanted to put it, and it fits perfectly.

We have another showing today. I hope it goes well! It's not until 4, so I have to finish the cleaning and somehow keep the kids occupied so that everything stays clean. Wish me luck. I really prefer weekend showings, or showings very early in the morning.

Reuse when you can

It's Clean Up Days here in Monroe, affectionately known as Trash to Treasure days around our house. Clean Up Days are two weeks, one for each half of town, where people can throw out almost anything, almost any quantity. Curbs can be piled high with things people are throwing out, items that often have lots of life left in them. In previous years, Luis has scavenged almost all of our outside toys, countless lawnmowers and weedwhackers that needed only a little work before we could sell them, and the other odd stuff we could use. On the weekends before the Clean Up Days, when people are putting their stuff out, you'll see trucks and vans rolling slowly through the streets, eyeing up everyone's trash. So far, people have picked up an ancient twin mattress set and a couple of plastic toys from our small trash pile. Our neighbors put out a roll of carpet padding; it was gone in less than 2 hours.

Luis is out trolling around right now. His goal is to make our chicken coop entirely from reused materials. I rather doubt he'll find two more sheets of 4x8' plywood, but he has found all the two by fours that we'll need, a roll of chicken wire, and the window screening. Go, honey, go!

On the theme of reusing, if you haven't heard of Freecycle, please check it out! http://www.freecycle.org It's email groups around the nation for passing along items that you no longer need but someone else could use. Everything must be given away free.

I'm debating reusing some more knitting too. :) I have a sweater I knit Isabella last year that is just too feminine to fee like I can keep it for Vincent. I have more of the yarn, so I think I'll frog it and reknit it into something else for her. Except this time I think I'll make it a size big so she can wear it for more than one winter!

Welcome back!

Welcome back to the rain, rain, rain
We're glad the water's coming down again
The seeds are born in the storm
Welcome back to the rain.

(from Circle Round)

It's a glorious rainy day here. We haven't one in far too long. There was essentially a drought here late summer and fall and very little snow this winter. It's so nice to have a rainy day.

The rain means no planting my peas today, though. No walk to the PO either. I hope Luis gets home in time to go for me because I have a package that really needs to go out today.

I just bound off a ponch for Abigail. It's a light blue that I paired with aqua stripes. When they are next to each other, the blue takes on a periwinkle look that is really nice. It's really simple. I took a neck down raglan pullover pattern and just didn't seperate for the sleeves. Joan S on knitlist shared that wonderful idea. I still need to picku up the stitches and finish the neck, but she can't wait to wear it. It's a little big, but I wanted her to be able to wear it next fall, and maybe next spring as well. I'm debating fringe still. We'll see how it looks once I get the neck finished.

I've been working hard on my Cape sweater. The back and one sleeve are done. I've got about 2-3" done of the front as well. It's longer than I was trying for. I tried to shorten it by an inch, but I suspect I messed up somewhere with the conversion of centimeters to inches. The color is gorgeous, completely me.

I'm stalled on my socks, but will proably get going on them again soon now that the poncho is finished. The poncho was a quicky project I did on the spur of the moment. It would have been done a week ago, but I didn't like the bind off I tried, so I put it down for a few days before ripping that out and doing a different bind off.

Rosemary's Sweater is just beautiful, but I'm stalled on that too. I need to either buy a 16" size 9 circ or get the Denise set. My size 9 dpns are shorties (5"??), too short to work an adult sleeve with.

To finish this entry - a job for you.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

"The Vanir are more mysterious than the Aesir, with no surviving mythology to account for their origins."

My nearest books was The Book of Runes, and the beginning is discussing Norse Mythology.

What are you reading?

Cluck cluck

We've been wanting to get a couple of chickens, but waiting until the new house to do so. I'm sick of waiting. Who knows how long this house will take to sell. I've figured out where in our current yard the chickens will go, found a coop for Luis to build that will fit the space beautifully and have found where to buy some pullets. It'll only be 3 chickens at the most, but that will do.

I started planting my garden this weekend. The broccoli, spinach, radishes, beets and lettuce are in. I still need to get the peas planted. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow night. Then I'll be good for a few weeks until I can plant more. We turned over Abigail's little garden yesterday, and bought her some annuals to put into it. That way, if her veggies don't grow well (they didn't last year), it will still look pretty and she'll have something to tend.

This daycare thing has me worn out. It doesn't seem possible that one little 3 month old could exhaust me this much when I already have 3 kids of my own here, but it is very draining. I expect I'll get used to it as we fall into a routine, and it won't be so bad, but it is different when it's not your own baby. People keep asking me if the daycare baby makes me long for another of my own. Nope. Not in the least. If anything, I'm enjoying the time when it's just me and my three alone even more.

Can I also just say that anyone who says bottles and pacifiers are easier than breastfeeding seriously needs their head examined? These things are such a huge PITA.

I've been feeling introspective lately, thus not saying much of anything anywhere. I think I'm ready to snap out of it now. Here's a nice long stream-of-conciousness ramble for your reading pleasure. ;-)

When we were first married, I made bread for us. Two loaves every week, using my gramma's recipe. Then I got pregnant with Abigail and fell out of the habit, we bought a bread maker, and I've been using that for the last 6 years. About two months ago, I lost the paddle to the breadmaker (okay, it's not lost, we accidentally threw it out). I started making bread by hand again. Why did I ever stop? I love the taste, Luis loves the taste (that's saying something), it's so unbelievably easy to do. Really, the breadmaker saves like 30 minutes of work, and kneading the dough is fun. Anyone want a breadmaker that only needs a $5 part to make it workable again?

Our digital camera took a dump last week. It was four years old, and starting to go, so it wasn't a surprise. We were just hoping to get a few more months out of it. We had a Sony Mavica, pretty cutting edge at the time as it had a disk drive in there, and you could just pop in disk after disk instead of having to dump the pics into the computer. Memory cards appeared on the scene about 6 months after we bought it. The disk drive was on it's last legs, and crashed last week. Luis is drooling over the new Sony T1, this tiny little thing that will set us back $650 when all is said and done. Ouch. We went to Madison today so I could see and touch the cameras, to see what's out there. He's right, this T1 is the camera for us. It has the features I want, it's sturdy, easy to use. The only other cameras I liked (another Sony and an Olympus) were not much less money, and they weren't quite "the one". I hate it when he's right.

On Monday, I start doing childcare. I'm not thrilled about it, TBH, but it'll help out a really great couple, our chiro and his wife. They have a 3 month old, and last month their childcare plans fell through. The money can be socked away as insurance against another long layoff for Luis next winter.

There was a fiber arts fair locally last weekend, and I convinced Luis to go with me. Turns out there was a park right behind the building, so Luis took the kids to the park as it was a gorgeous day, and I got to oogle yarn all by myself. Amazing. I watched a woman spin for a while. That looks like so much fun. Someday, when the kids are older, I want to learn. I went looking for a set of size 7 add naturas, and did find them, at the Meilke Farms booth. I've been looking at Meilke Farms website for, gosh, nearly 2 years now, so it was surreal to meet them. There was also a vendor of rovings who was also selling some yarns to thin her personal stash. I bought two large bags of cotton aran weight yarn for $2 per bag. There should be enough in there for a stripey sweater for Isabella and Vincent each.

I was just reading the new Knitty articles while swatching this yarn finally. It's been having to wait because my size 8's are tied up with the Meadow Flower Shawl and my size 9's have Rosemary's Sweater on them. Today on our way back from Madison, we stopped at the Sow's Ear in Verona so the girls could have cookie and I could fondle yarn. Luis hadn't been in there before with me. He was quite impressed by the yarn swift in action. I picked up a ball of sock yarn at 40% off, should be perfect for a pair of socks for Isabella, and a set of size 8 bamboo circs. I've learned that my tension is much tighter while purling, especially while working on addi turbos with cotton yarn, so I've been expanding my collection of bamboo needles. The tension difference isn't as great when I work on bamboo needles. Hey, it's not a bad thing to have a couple pair of circs in the same size, is it?

I'm loving spring. It's so nice to be outside, to let the kids run. Vincent is once again eating dirt this year. I had hoped it was just a one year thing, but nope. I have to keep an eye on him by the garden or he'll start chomping away on it. I'd like to get the peas and broccoli planted soon, along with the lettuce and spinach. Time to start working with the earth.

Abigail spent the night at my mom's house last night for the first time. My sister was going up for the night, and I asked Abigail if she wanted to go with. She did. She has spent the night at my sister's apartment here in Monroe (before Amy moved in with us), but the rest of our families live an hour away and Abigail had never wanted to spend the night there. I think since Aunt Amy was going to be there too, Abigail felt more confident and happily went along. She called me this morning, and she is having such fun. Mom didn't know Abigail was coming until they arrived there. She was so surprised, and of course had to take her granddaughter out to dinner and breakfast to show off to all of her friends that her granddaughter surprised her and spent the night. :D Amy and I predicted that would happend.

Torture

Can I just say that a healing tattoo is absolute torture for a dedicated scab picker?

Vincent is sleeping normally again, only waking up 4 or 5 times a night. Ahh, sleep. I adore our chiropractor. :D

It's a gorgeous sunny day here, so we are off to enjoy it.

Phone call

We finally bit the bullet and bought cell phones. We are not cell phone people, as we dislike the idea of being tied to a phone. We had one years ago, but quickly got rid of it. However, since Luis is working in the field now instead of in the warehouse like his old job, we've come to the conclusion that he needs something. I can't reach him if there's an emergency, he can't call me if he has to work late, etc. Not being people to be tied to a contract, and since the phone is only for quick calls, we just got a Tracfone. They were running a web special of a phone plus 200 minutes for $50, so we bought that for him and one for me too. Luis worries about me and the kids driving to Madison, especially in the winter, without having the ability to call for help if something would happen. Bleh, I'm not thrilled about having one of these things, but I can see how it is useful.

Vincent has been driving me crazy at night. For the last three nights, he's been nursing for hours on end again. I've lost the ability to sleep though the extra-long nursing sessions (happened with the girls too around 18 months). I took him back to the chiro today, so hopefully that will help with his sleeping. I also realized that he hasn't been eating many solids in the last week, so I made it a point to offer him more today. I can't believe how much he ate! He had been napping earlier lately, as he's been waking up earlier with it getting light sooner, and so he hadn't been eating lunch with us. He's been nursing like a pig for a few days now, and even with eating more solids he still marathon nursed today. Growth spurt, eh?

We have been loving the spring weather here. The girls are spending a couple of hours outside each day already, and it's only been in the 50's and 60's. We got out their outside toys yesterday, and all three were thrilled. Vincent was so funny. He stood around in awe as we brought the toys out of the hay mow, just looking at each one for the longest time. They have been playing so hard that Isabella has even taken a nap a few times. I love the transition seasons - fall and spring. Our crocus are popping up and the snow drops have been blooming for a while now. The daffodils, lilies, blue bells, peonies and other spring flowers are peeking up through the soil, and the rhubarb is starting to push through too. I can taste the rhubarb dream bars already!

My Dancing Goddesses

I'm dancing right along with my goddesses today. I love love love this tattoo! Many huge thank you's to Lynn/sweaterhag for letting me copy her. :)




(the white spot in this one is lotion)

I'm still deciding if I want some blue shading on the waves. I want to live with the tattoo for a while before I make that choice. I had him make the head of each goddess a slightly different color, so they range from nearly white to turquoise.

Affirmation

I am a woman. I am not a pre-pubescent girl or teenager. My body has curves. I have hips, a bust and a soft belly. My legs have shape; they are not meant to be sticks.

Healthy is more important than being a walking clothes hanger. I eat well (and am improving my diet constantly), and I live an active lifestyle. I am modeling true health for my children. I wear a size 12, and that is okay right now. Yes, I have a bit more fat hanging around at the moment, but I know that as the weather warms up and I get outside and moving even more, that will change. I needn't obsess over it. Living a healthy lifestyle is more important than a few extra pounds.

Just because American society has decided to idealize the body shape of pre-pubescent children doesn't not mean I am not beautiful. Women do not need to have flat stomachs, toothpick arms or bean pole legs to be sexy or attractive. All shapes are beautiful. If someone is truly healthy - eating well and living actively - then it shouldn't matter if they are a size 3, size 8 or size 14. Every woman deserves to find her own healthiest body shape and size and feel gorgeous at that size.

This'n'That

My poncho is seamed and I'm working at attaching the fringe. I've come to the conclusion that I intensely dislike attaching fringe. I've seperate the front and back of Rosemary's Sweater (it's knit in the round from the bottom up until the armholes, then seperated into front and back), and I'm working on the upper back. There's a neat cable and rib detail at the armhole that really dresses it up a notch from your basic sweater.

Remember the ankle tattoo I posted about, like, a month ago? I'm finally going in tomorrow evening. Woohoo!

We ripped the carpet off the front stairs and decided to refinish them. Uh huh. Yeah, we're selling the house and not only do we finally repaint, but Luis decided to get bring back some more of the wood floors too. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? ROFL Speaking of the house, I spoke with the realtor from last week's showing. He said the people really like the house, but are a couple of weeks away from making any decisions as they had to iron out a few details (sounded like financing stuff to me, but he didn't say that). He also was quite impressed with the house personally. *fingers crossed*

What is it with six? My sweet Abigail is becoming such a KID, and frankly is down right obnoxious sometimes. As for the other two, Isabella has been growing tremendously in her counting skills, and she doing pre-reading stuff like making up stories for books and pretend writing. She showing more interest in how I write her name these days. Vincent isn't really starting to talk yet. He communicates perfectly, but he will only say a few things - dis (this), shoes, door, yeah. He has been the perfectionist baby, not sitting up, crawling or walking until he could do it without error, so I suspect that he'll want to be that way with talking too.

I need to order some more flower essences for Isabella. I hope I can scrape up a wholesale order. Now that I'm not selling the rescue remedy anymore, I have no need to order much, but it kills me to pay retail when I know I can get wholesale. Impatiens and mimulis have helped her so much. I'm thinking of trying some water violet for myself too, along with impatiens for me. Flower essences seem like the most quirky alternative medicine to me, but boy do they ever work!

I can't believe it

Last Wednesday afternoon, I lost the main diamond in my wedding ring. I was at a store when I noticed it, so I immediately let them know so they could look for it, and I searched too. I searched my steps outside, call the chiro where I'd been two hours earlier, searched the house and the van. We even took all of the carseats out of the van, took off the covers and searched them. We'd given up and were thankful that it was insured. Last night, Luis found it! It was in the upstairs hall carpet, and as he came up the stairs, he was looking at something on the floor by the top of the stairs, and the glitter caught his eye. We can't believe it. All of that searching and still we could have just vacumed up a $2k diamond and tossed it out if the light hadn't hit it right last night.

I'm almost done with my second poncho. The pieces are knit, and today I hope to seam them and start on the fringe. Rosemary's Sweater is to the point now where I need to seperate for the sleeves and start the cable detail there. The next project I want to add to my WIP list is a simple short sleeve summer sweater for me in DK yarn.

I went to Madison yesterday, so I stopped by my favorite yarn store/coffee shop, The Sow's Ear. I love this place. The girls each get a cookie and eat it on the coffee shop half, then play with the toys there and I can shop in peace with Vincent in the sling. They love it and so do I. I was looking for the pattern for the aforementioned sweater. I had no idea that such a simple, classic sweater would be so hard to find! I searched through three pattern binders and five magazines. Then the owner finished up with someone else and started helping me. She searched through some files, then started in the pamphlets. We finally found it in a Jaeger pamphlet, a simple crewneck short sleeved sweater with a bit of ribbing on the hem of the sweater and sleeves, slightly shaped through the waist. I love at least three other sweaters in the pamphlet too, so I happily bought it. I can't wait to cast on!

Milestone

My first baby turned 6 yesterday. Where have the years gone? May each year be filled with joy for you, my sweet Abigail.

Whine

Stomach flu sucks. Especially when the todder starts puking at midnight. At least his older sisters can warn me and throw up in a bowl or the toilet. I changed my pajamas and his 3, maybe 4, different times last night.

Then this morning I had to do my best to confine him to the kitchen or bathroom with their easy to clean up floors because I needed to get everything ready for an 11 am showing. Thank goodness he was in pretty good spirits most of the time, and I managed to get the house sparkling with no time to spare. I was putting the kids into their car seats when the people and their realtor arrived. The realtor was from a higher end realty firm in Madison, so we've got our fingers crossed yet again. We rather doubt the house will sell to anyone locally, but expect that someone relocating to the area will buy it.

I just finished Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I liked his The Da Vinci Code better, but this was a very gripping book too.

A grumpy little boy calls...

Back later because I feel like talking more. We used part of my Sweet Pea's money to buy a quarter beef from a local farmer that raises free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic-free beef. It cost more to purchase from him, but it is so worth it. The TASTE! I grew up on a farm, and dad always had his one of his beef cattle butchered for our family's use. I'd forgotten about how wonderful free-range, natural beef tasted. Dad always had natural beef, not because of a belief in organic foods, but rather because it was easier and less expensive. ;-) It is so gooood.

Since I've got all this beef in my freezer, I've started planning ahead meals again. I plan out the entire week, exactly what we are having for dinner each night. I'm also doing more batch cooking, not really once a month cooking, but I'll make 3 or 4 dinners on the same day, then freeze the ones we aren't having for dinner. Planning out the meals relieves the late afternoon stress of "What am I going to make?" because each morning, I just look at my calender and thaw out the frozen meal. It makes grocery shopping a breeze too, and I always know I have the right ingredients.

If only I could get the rest of my life this organized. :)

Deal's off

I've been meaning to post this, but bummed so I kept putting it off.

We were expecting the husband on Tues with a written offer to purchase. Instead, he comes over, looks around the house and waffles. "Oh, I'm nervous about the age of the roof/furnace" "We just aren't sure we want to spend that much" Hello, you made a deal last night and you were all excited, mister. The other house they were looking at, the one the wife told us they were settling for, is only $5K less. He left saying they would call us by that evening with the decision on if they wanted to buy our home. They called with a no that night.

I'm feeling totally frustrated and hurt. WHY come look at the house if you don't think you can afford it? Why did they tell us they could spend X if they didn't want to actually pay it? We even lowered our price 10K for them because they were SO excited about the house and she was such a great person.

Back to square one.

Sold!

I'm doing some positive thinking. We might have a buyer for the house. We relisted it last week with a new company, one that does flat fee mls. $400 and they do a yard sign, put your house on their website, MLS and realtor.com. Everything else you do yourself - showings, open houses, any print advertising, etc. Since we weren't paying 10K to a realtor, we were able to lower the price. We listed it on Tuesday night, had an interested email on Saturday from someone who saw it on realtor.com. The woman came yesterday and videotaped the house for her husband, who was out of town until last night. She fell in love with it, we knew that before she left. Her husband adored it too, and she phoned us this morning to talk money. We've reached a verbal agreement, and the husband it coming tomorrow to see the house in person.

*fingers crossed that this goes through smoothly*

Geez, selling big things in our lives has been dominating this blog for a bit huh? On a related note, we got rid of all the sponge painting and it looks fabulous in here now. I told Luis that the painting worked, LOL. :D Plus we've still got some paint in the basement that we never got around to using a couple rooms upstairs, so we can use that for the new house now that we have lots of practice. ;-)

The weather was cold today, but the promise of spring is here!

I put tons of new things onto PBK again. Woodkins (Chantele, Abigail loved the one she played with at your house, I had to add them), Haba toys and furniture, Sew'n'Sew, Pommawanga, tons of new art supplies. Sometimes I think that wholesale buying appeases the shopaholic in me....

Going, going, gone

When we bought this house three years ago, the foyer, living room, sitting room and dining room were all sponge painted. The foyer and living room were (in my opinion) truly hideous, densely done with magenta paint on white. It was so not me. Here, take a look:





I've been living with it ever since because the thought of taping all of that trim off and repainting gave Luis the heebeejeebees. Well, the purple kitchen started something. We went to Home Depot and raided their "oops" rack. We came home with 7 quarts and 3 gallons of Behr paint, all for $22, each a different color. We mixed 3 quarts together and came up with a lovely melted chocolate ice cream color, which we put in the foyer. Then we mixed together 1 gallon, 4 quarts and 1/4 of the remaining gallon and come up with a taupey-grey. We put that into the living room and sitting room. It looks so much better! It was a bear to tape off, Luis was right, but it was soooooo worth it. I've got to take some pics and put up some before and afters. We still have 3/4 gallon of the taupey-grey color left, plust 3/4 gallon of another color. We're planning another trip back to Home Depot next week to get some more oops paint and redo the dining room too. I can't wait. It's been so much fun mixing stuff and seeing what color we can come up with. Luis was so scared to do the mixing up, but I convinced him and he's thrilled with the result (and the price).

We have had our house off the market for 6 weeks now, but plan on relisting next week. Hopefully the freshened up colors will help. Now, if we were planning on staying here, I'd have gone for more color instead of the taupey-grey, but we wanted to keep it neutral. The purple kitchen could be intimidating enough to some buyers, LOL.

Cast-on-itis

I've got a raging case of cast-on-itis. So what that I have four projects currently on the needles, including a sock that is probably an hour away from completion? I've got the craving for a poncho, an indoor accessory-type or spring jacket type one. I cast on last night with another ball of the silk/cotton yarn I'm using for Rosemary's Sweater, and the back is finished already. The front is underway, and I hope to wear it tomorrow. The way I see it, Rosemary's Sweater won't be worn until next fall anyways, so I can wear my poncho for the remainder of winter and spring, then frog it. I'll knit on Rosemary's Sweater until I run out of yarn, and set it aside until I frog the poncho. :D The silk/cotton yarn is making the most yummy, soft fabric and was a great choice for this project.

Now that I've got my poncho underway, I've got visions of the girls in ponchos too. I have some yarn sitting in my basket that would work, and some one the knitlist suggested making a poncho by just doing a top down raglan sweater, but not dividing for the sleeves, but rather working until the desired length. That would totally work for what I have in mind for the girls, so once my ponchos (Uh, did I mention I bought some cheap, pretty ribbon yarn from elann to make a second poncho for me? Hey, it'll be more for spring!) are done, I'll start in on one or two for them.

Someone stop me before I have ten works in progress.

It's purple!

My kitchen, that is. We've had this gorgeous purple paint sitting in the basement for months. We bought it for our room, but then decided to sell the house, and hesitated to paint the master bedroom purple if we were selling. We've been looking at the kitchen for ages, saying we really need to repain this one wall. Purple paint in the basemnt + wall in kitchen that needs painting = one purple kitchen. We started off painting just one wall, then loved it so much, the now the entire eating area of my kitchen is gorgeous purple. It looks so nice with the woodwork. Our kitchen has three distinct areas: the entry from the back area, the eating/computer area and the cooking/sink area. Each looks quite distinct now. I'd love to continue and paint the cooking/sink area too.

The kids all have a yucky upper respiratory thing. :( I've had some reeaaallly long nights this week. I ran out of Cherry Bark tincture last night. I ordered more from Kerry's Herbals earlier in the week, but it's not here yet. Ugh.

I added some new products to PBK. I now offer organic cotton and wool sheet, pillows, pillow cases and mattresses, all made in the US by the Amish. Luis is happy that I'm offering some more US made items. The Lights, Camera, Interaction stuff really bugs him because much of it is made in China.

Update on my shawl yarn knot. I solved the problem with a spit splice, and have been merrily knitting along again.

It's done

Sweet Pea's has been sold!!!!!!!!!!! :happy dance :happy dance Contracts have been faxed, and moneys transfered. Hurray! Woohoo! Yay!

Can you tell I'm happy? LOL

#*$*&#^@

I picked up the Meadow Flowers shawl last night, the one that has been languishing in my yarn basket for months. I was getting into it again, knitting away. I did one full pattern repeat, started the second and *bam* I hit a knot in the yarn. OMGosh. I am stumped. What does one do with a knot in lace weight yarn on a very open texture lace shawl? Can one weave in ends in lace? I have no idea. I've put an email through to knitlist asking for help. Darn it. I was finally working on that shawl again and enjoying it!

Since Luis was at the ice arena with us yesterday, he took care of Vincent and I got to skate! I haven't skated in 7 years, the winter before I was pregnant with Abigail. It was so much fun. I can't wait to go again. The figure skates in my size at the arena were worn out and had almost no ankle support. I have loose ligaments in my ankles, and it was a very bad combination. After 15 minutes, it was extremely painful. Luis went to see if they had any hockey skates in my size, and I changed into them. I've never worn hockey skates before, and I couldn't believe how comfortable they were. They had so much more support than the figure skates I always wore. I skated until the end in those, and was completely comfortable the entire time.

Abigail was doing so well yesterday. She used the little ice walker for about 15 minutes, then started going solo. She fell a lot, but didn't mind. She was skating very well, even trying to do some turns. Isabella skated pretty well too. She got on and off the ice a few times all by herself (a big improvement) and let go of her walker thing a few times.

No date today after all. Amy had plans to head to Madison. We checked with my friend Lisa with whom I swap babysitting, but they have B&B guests this weekend. Maybe next week.

A Date?

Luis and I were watching the preview for Fifty First Dates yesterday. We thought it looked cute, and it's playing in our small town theater this weekend. Hopefully my sister will be able to watch the kids and we can go. She's home this weekend. We haven't seen a movie in the theater just the two of us since Isabella was 18 months old.

Luis was laid off again yesterday and today as well. He's able to come with us to the homeschool ice skate this time. Abigail and Isabella are very excited about going.

We are having another soup night this Sunday. Lots of people invited and lots of maybe's or no responses, but only one firm yes. Oh well. Even if it's just another family or two, it'll be fun.

Last night, Isabella was in bed talking about a family who she wants to play with. It took me forever to figure out who she meant. She said she want to play with "the kids at the house with the girls, the dog and the two mamas." We don't have any lesbian couple friends, so I was stumped. She finally gave me the clue of the barbie jeep, and I figured it out. She meant Chantele's house because when we went there, Lorraine and Becca were there too. Hence the "two mamas". ROFL