"Mom, it's morning-time, but the sun isn't even up yet!"
"I know, isn't that funny?"
"Maybe the sun is really, really, really, really, really, sweepy [sleepy]."
"Oh, maybe."
(yawn) "Me too."
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Summer Trip to the Island
So, I've been playing with Flickr a bit more and added a couple more pictures. I've made a set for our summer trip to the island. I will be adding pictures to this set as I upload them.
PS: Eventually I'll update my sidebar...it's very out of date. :)
PS: Eventually I'll update my sidebar...it's very out of date. :)
Sunday, September 24, 2006
First day of preschool for monkey-boy
Monkey-girl is 'helping' Monkey-boy look at the book on his first day of preschool.
I was a bit worried that Monkey-boy would cry or be clingy for the first few times. He isn't too keen on Mommy leaving him (unless Monkey-girl is staying with him.) Everything went really well and he loves his school. He's even got a 'best friend' already. As he says, "I have two best friends now [monkey-girl]! You and C!"
I was a bit worried that Monkey-boy would cry or be clingy for the first few times. He isn't too keen on Mommy leaving him (unless Monkey-girl is staying with him.) Everything went really well and he loves his school. He's even got a 'best friend' already. As he says, "I have two best friends now [monkey-girl]! You and C!"
First day of school
First day of school pictures, as promised.
You can't tell from this picture, but they were both really excited about going to school. And really happy, too. They just wouldn't smile for the picture. I have 5 pictures of this pose and they are either looking confused or have really fake-looking smiles. Oh well, maybe next year.
You can't tell from this picture, but they were both really excited about going to school. And really happy, too. They just wouldn't smile for the picture. I have 5 pictures of this pose and they are either looking confused or have really fake-looking smiles. Oh well, maybe next year.
Friday, September 15, 2006
In Through the Nose
This is TKHubband here, with my second-ever blog entry. So if you're wondering why this post seems a little different from the standard fare, that would be why.
Our monkey children tend to cry a lot. Maybe we're failing as parents, but I prefer to think it's genetic. Anyway, one tactic that T (TKHousewife) has used a lot to get the tears to stop is to get the sad little monkey in question to take a deep breath in through the nose and then let it out through the mouth. The trouble is that it doesn't work. Maybe it used to work at some point in the swirling mists of the distant past, but if it did, I have forgotten about it. T is nothing if not persistent, though, and so the monkeys are quite familiar with this ineffective technique. Who knows, maybe it works when Daddy isn't around.
The monkey children are currently aged 4 and 5. An interesting thing about kids that age is that they find potty humour supremely hilarious. T says that boys of ALL ages find potty humour funny, and there may be truth to that as well.
A few days ago, Monkey Boy was set off about something during dinner. I don't remember what it was, but he was inconsolable. I decided to try something new. I told him, very seriously, to take a deep breath in through his nose, which I demonstrated for him. He ignored me completely, to my utter unsurprise. Then I told him to let it out through his bum, at which point I made a long, loud raspberry. Yup, at the dinner table. The effect was instant and dramatic. Uncontrollable tears transformed into fits of laughter, and then to, "Again! Again!" from both of the monkeys.
I performed this breathing exercise a number of times, ending with a grand finale that involved thrashing wildly in my chair with the force of the primary gaseous release, followed by a few after shocks. Yeah, at the dinner table. I think T was laughing, too, or at least I hope she was. She hasn't left me yet at least.
In the days since then, "breathing out through my bum" has become a magical cure-all. Forget about sissy stuff like kissing it better. The phrase, "Take a deep breath in through your nose" is now 100% effective. The crying stops, and the monkey's eyes twinkle in anticipation of what's coming next. Ah, the power of potty humour. I should tell you sometime about how I made Monkey Girl laugh so hard that she actually threw up (yeah, I felt bad) by pretending, repeatedly, that she scared me so much that I peed my pants.
Our monkey children tend to cry a lot. Maybe we're failing as parents, but I prefer to think it's genetic. Anyway, one tactic that T (TKHousewife) has used a lot to get the tears to stop is to get the sad little monkey in question to take a deep breath in through the nose and then let it out through the mouth. The trouble is that it doesn't work. Maybe it used to work at some point in the swirling mists of the distant past, but if it did, I have forgotten about it. T is nothing if not persistent, though, and so the monkeys are quite familiar with this ineffective technique. Who knows, maybe it works when Daddy isn't around.
The monkey children are currently aged 4 and 5. An interesting thing about kids that age is that they find potty humour supremely hilarious. T says that boys of ALL ages find potty humour funny, and there may be truth to that as well.
A few days ago, Monkey Boy was set off about something during dinner. I don't remember what it was, but he was inconsolable. I decided to try something new. I told him, very seriously, to take a deep breath in through his nose, which I demonstrated for him. He ignored me completely, to my utter unsurprise. Then I told him to let it out through his bum, at which point I made a long, loud raspberry. Yup, at the dinner table. The effect was instant and dramatic. Uncontrollable tears transformed into fits of laughter, and then to, "Again! Again!" from both of the monkeys.
I performed this breathing exercise a number of times, ending with a grand finale that involved thrashing wildly in my chair with the force of the primary gaseous release, followed by a few after shocks. Yeah, at the dinner table. I think T was laughing, too, or at least I hope she was. She hasn't left me yet at least.
In the days since then, "breathing out through my bum" has become a magical cure-all. Forget about sissy stuff like kissing it better. The phrase, "Take a deep breath in through your nose" is now 100% effective. The crying stops, and the monkey's eyes twinkle in anticipation of what's coming next. Ah, the power of potty humour. I should tell you sometime about how I made Monkey Girl laugh so hard that she actually threw up (yeah, I felt bad) by pretending, repeatedly, that she scared me so much that I peed my pants.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Announcement
I have a Flickr page now! This way I'll be able to link to my online pictures instead of uploading them to blogger. Yay!
Here it is.
(For someone who used to have a computery, technical job, I'm sure easily amused by minor technical advances on my blog!)
Here it is.
(For someone who used to have a computery, technical job, I'm sure easily amused by minor technical advances on my blog!)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Blah, blah, blah...what a bore
Bah! Things have been too busy lately.
I DO have some cool pictures of our trip. And some pictures of craft stuff. And August garden pictures. The monkey-children have been keeping up with their regular antics. I guess there's just too much to blog about... :)
Once the monkey-children are in school, I'll (hopefully) be able to get the posts up more regularly. Monkey-girl is going to Kindergarten again and Monkey-boy is going to "Junior Kindergarten" aka preschool. Friday is the first day for both of them, so I have a couple more days to get ready.
Today, Monkey-boy has his preschool music class, but Monkey-girl's dance class doesn't start until next week, so I'll have to bring a craft for her to work on during his class. She is starting to hand sew (with the felt pieces that have holes for the yarn) and has made a purse and a hand puppet, so I think I'll introduce her to real needles soon. She's almost 6 and has good fine motor control, so I think it'll be okay. She's already asked me if I can teach her how to do the blanket stitch because she likes the way it looks. (Oooo! Then I can make her a little pincushion, needle holder, etc! Maybe I'll make one similar to this...and maybe that's a little too clever for me.)
Lately in the evenings, TKHubband has been playing Oblivion on the Xbox 360. (The title of this post is a quote from the game.) So I sit beside him on the couch and knit! Yay me! I have finished the back of the summer top I'm making from KnitPicks Shine Worsted. Then I realized that I miscalculated the amount of yarn I bought, so I'm waiting for my order to come to do the fronts. I figure if the colour is from different dye lots, it will be okay because the only place you'll notice is the side seams...and it probably wouldn't be obvious anyways. Since I have to wait to work on that project, I'm back to working on my cross-over cardigan from Interweave Knits. I'd finished the back and both fronts and then stalled on the sleeves. I think I just got a bit tired of it, but now, I'm pretty excited to get it finished as fall is almost here and I want to wear it!
Monkey-girl is going to be a flowergirl in a wedding this fall, and I'm going to make some crinolines/petticoats for under her dress and for the other girls. I was thinking of buying some, but to buy them online with shipping costs/time/etc, I'd be worried that they wouldn't fit, or other stuff would go wrong. Then I thought of renting them from a bridal store, but they want $50 each to rent them!!!!! Yikes! So, I'm going to make them. It's very, very hard to find patterns for crinolines. Unless you know where to look. There's one discontinued Butterick pattern that you can buy from their website, and I saw one on ebay. That's it. So, I looked through the costume patterns and finally, thankfully, found one that will work and will be simple to make (cheap too). And the fabric store had a special on, so the pattern only cost me $2.99! YAY!!!!! I'll go get the fabric one day when both kids are at school...
I DO have some cool pictures of our trip. And some pictures of craft stuff. And August garden pictures. The monkey-children have been keeping up with their regular antics. I guess there's just too much to blog about... :)
Once the monkey-children are in school, I'll (hopefully) be able to get the posts up more regularly. Monkey-girl is going to Kindergarten again and Monkey-boy is going to "Junior Kindergarten" aka preschool. Friday is the first day for both of them, so I have a couple more days to get ready.
Today, Monkey-boy has his preschool music class, but Monkey-girl's dance class doesn't start until next week, so I'll have to bring a craft for her to work on during his class. She is starting to hand sew (with the felt pieces that have holes for the yarn) and has made a purse and a hand puppet, so I think I'll introduce her to real needles soon. She's almost 6 and has good fine motor control, so I think it'll be okay. She's already asked me if I can teach her how to do the blanket stitch because she likes the way it looks. (Oooo! Then I can make her a little pincushion, needle holder, etc! Maybe I'll make one similar to this...and maybe that's a little too clever for me.)
Lately in the evenings, TKHubband has been playing Oblivion on the Xbox 360. (The title of this post is a quote from the game.) So I sit beside him on the couch and knit! Yay me! I have finished the back of the summer top I'm making from KnitPicks Shine Worsted. Then I realized that I miscalculated the amount of yarn I bought, so I'm waiting for my order to come to do the fronts. I figure if the colour is from different dye lots, it will be okay because the only place you'll notice is the side seams...and it probably wouldn't be obvious anyways. Since I have to wait to work on that project, I'm back to working on my cross-over cardigan from Interweave Knits. I'd finished the back and both fronts and then stalled on the sleeves. I think I just got a bit tired of it, but now, I'm pretty excited to get it finished as fall is almost here and I want to wear it!
Monkey-girl is going to be a flowergirl in a wedding this fall, and I'm going to make some crinolines/petticoats for under her dress and for the other girls. I was thinking of buying some, but to buy them online with shipping costs/time/etc, I'd be worried that they wouldn't fit, or other stuff would go wrong. Then I thought of renting them from a bridal store, but they want $50 each to rent them!!!!! Yikes! So, I'm going to make them. It's very, very hard to find patterns for crinolines. Unless you know where to look. There's one discontinued Butterick pattern that you can buy from their website, and I saw one on ebay. That's it. So, I looked through the costume patterns and finally, thankfully, found one that will work and will be simple to make (cheap too). And the fabric store had a special on, so the pattern only cost me $2.99! YAY!!!!! I'll go get the fabric one day when both kids are at school...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
I've been on vacation!
Yes, that's why there hasn't been anything new for the last couple of weeks. However, I have some really great pictures and stuff, so I will be posting again soon. :D
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
A walk in the park
We went for a lovely walk at Tynehead Park. The kids remember going last summer (I don't know why I don't take them more often.) and were very happy to walk along the path and look at the plants and wildlife. We also found some huckleberries which are my favorite berry, perhaps more for the memories than for their own merits.
We live in the Pacific Northwest in Canada, and our climate is Pacific Coast Rainforest. As expected, that means we get lots of rain. Even in the dryest part of the summer (ie. now), it is very green.
Unfortunately I didn't notice that the camera focussed on the trunk, not the canopy, but I like this picture anyways.
This one just shows the 'greeness' so well. The kind of light you get under a canopy of leaves is so neat. It makes you feel cool, even on a warm day.
We live in the Pacific Northwest in Canada, and our climate is Pacific Coast Rainforest. As expected, that means we get lots of rain. Even in the dryest part of the summer (ie. now), it is very green.
Unfortunately I didn't notice that the camera focussed on the trunk, not the canopy, but I like this picture anyways.
This one just shows the 'greeness' so well. The kind of light you get under a canopy of leaves is so neat. It makes you feel cool, even on a warm day.
Flowers and stuff...
I've been trying to take pictures of my yard as the flowers have been coming out, but I keep not posting them. So, here's a recap of the flowers in July.
The first summer blooming Anemone in July. There were lots more after this, but I forgot to take pictures, and then it got hot and dry and now they look a bit shrivelled....maybe I should have watered them more.
The first summer blooming Anemone in July. There were lots more after this, but I forgot to take pictures, and then it got hot and dry and now they look a bit shrivelled....maybe I should have watered them more.
The first lily from my sister-in-law to open. Here it is just starting to open. It was such a lovely creamy colour with lots of fragrance.
Here is one of my 'fancy' sunflowers. I planted two different batches of mixed colour ornamental sunflowers and some old seed of the giant plain kind. I got quite a few different flower types out of that and I think I'll expand the garden a bit next year. I didn't fertilize or water as much as I should have, so they didn't get as big or as tall as they might have.
Here is one of the roses in my 'rose garden'. I love the contrast of the pink rose against the old gray fence behind it. I worked a lot more in this garden than I have in other years. My reward is the roses are doing really well and giving me many beautiful blooms.
This is my hydrangea. Usually it is covered in blue, but this year it was covered in Morning Glory. The nasty, invasive, suffocating weed kind. I've ripped out what I could and I'll have to go in and do it again soon. I really, really, really don't like it. My hydrangea's okay, though.
More adventures of Kitten...
...at least I got most of the clean dishes out of it before he climbed in.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Still here.....and craft update
Yeah, no motivation....whatever. That's why I haven't posted for so long.
Anyways, I do have stuff to blog about. I do. Really.
But my pictures are still on the camera. In the other room. And there's that lack of motivation thing. (grin)
I have pictures of lilies and sunflowers in my yard, and some pretty trees from a walk in Tynehead Park near where we live.
Craft stuff:
I've managed to complete the crochet part of the cardigan for monkey-girl! Just over month after my goal, but I'm okay with that. I was kind of sick of that project for a while after ripping the whole thing out and instead of working on it, I knit a winter hat for TKHubband. And then I bought some yarn from KnitPicks (which I am VERY happy with) and the new Options Needles set (which I also am very happy with) and have started a cute summer wrap top from the Garnstudio/DROPS website (so very cool how many free patterns they have!) with my KnitPicks Shine Worsted in Green Apple and Wave. It's so soft and slides super on my new needles! I've also started a pair of socks for me with the Parade yarn in Daffodil (sale!). I love that it's sport weight as it's going so quickly! Also, the colours are quite a bit prettier in person than on a computer screen. I have the "Learn to Knit Socks" book from the American School of Needlework and I'm just making the "Basic Socks" this time. All the patterns in this book use sport weight yarn, so I'd like to find more sport weight wool/nylon to make some of the other socks in it. Of course, my collection of sock yarn (fingering) has grown, so I should just use some of that up before I buy more.
So, I will update this with pictures (hopefully soon) so things won't be quite so boring around here!
Anyways, I do have stuff to blog about. I do. Really.
But my pictures are still on the camera. In the other room. And there's that lack of motivation thing. (grin)
I have pictures of lilies and sunflowers in my yard, and some pretty trees from a walk in Tynehead Park near where we live.
Craft stuff:
I've managed to complete the crochet part of the cardigan for monkey-girl! Just over month after my goal, but I'm okay with that. I was kind of sick of that project for a while after ripping the whole thing out and instead of working on it, I knit a winter hat for TKHubband. And then I bought some yarn from KnitPicks (which I am VERY happy with) and the new Options Needles set (which I also am very happy with) and have started a cute summer wrap top from the Garnstudio/DROPS website (so very cool how many free patterns they have!) with my KnitPicks Shine Worsted in Green Apple and Wave. It's so soft and slides super on my new needles! I've also started a pair of socks for me with the Parade yarn in Daffodil (sale!). I love that it's sport weight as it's going so quickly! Also, the colours are quite a bit prettier in person than on a computer screen. I have the "Learn to Knit Socks" book from the American School of Needlework and I'm just making the "Basic Socks" this time. All the patterns in this book use sport weight yarn, so I'd like to find more sport weight wool/nylon to make some of the other socks in it. Of course, my collection of sock yarn (fingering) has grown, so I should just use some of that up before I buy more.
So, I will update this with pictures (hopefully soon) so things won't be quite so boring around here!
Saturday, July 22, 2006
S-S-S-S-SMOKIN'!!!!!!!
Hot, that is. We're having a heat wave ("...a tropical heat wave...") here and we're so obviously not used to it. We don't have air conditioning because, in general, we only need it for 2-4 weeks each summer. (I love our mild climate!!!!) And what's the point spending a bunch of money for something we don't really NEED.
Anyways, we're going to look at window air conditioning units this morning...the house cooled down to a toasty 27 degrees Celsius last night (that's 81 F) and we did not sleep well.
Anyways, we're going to look at window air conditioning units this morning...the house cooled down to a toasty 27 degrees Celsius last night (that's 81 F) and we did not sleep well.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Soggy day...
So, it's been raining most of the day. Nice of it to wait until after we went to the "veggie-store" this morning. It's such a change from the weather we have been having this summer. We've had weeks of hot and dry. The rain is good for the grass and trees and might even help out the water reservoirs a bit. They're still in the 'normal' range, but we're a little twitchy about the water levels after the summer of 2004 when the levels were very low (okay, really, I'm just a geek and want to know where the level is at). The rain is also good for dampening the forests a bit.
I have yummy chilli simmering on the stove and the monkey-children are playing nice (for now). Guess I'll set the table and then sit down and put my feet up until TKHubband gets home. :)
I have yummy chilli simmering on the stove and the monkey-children are playing nice (for now). Guess I'll set the table and then sit down and put my feet up until TKHubband gets home. :)
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Closing in on 500 visits
I have a sitemeter on my site that tells me how many people have visited. We're closing in on 500, probably by the end of the week. That's pretty amazing for me because I haven't really been posting much for quite a while.
My intent with this blog was to keep family and friends updated with what's been going on here. However, more people that aren't related to me read this than people that are. Hmmm, maybe those who know me don't want to know more? ;) Just kidding. I'm also not very good at self-promotion. I don't want to nag people to visit my site, especially when I haven't updated it!
Anyways, I'm going to change my site meter settings to show the number of visits instead of being just the logo. At the beginning, I thought it looked funny when it said "27 visits". :)
My intent with this blog was to keep family and friends updated with what's been going on here. However, more people that aren't related to me read this than people that are. Hmmm, maybe those who know me don't want to know more? ;) Just kidding. I'm also not very good at self-promotion. I don't want to nag people to visit my site, especially when I haven't updated it!
Anyways, I'm going to change my site meter settings to show the number of visits instead of being just the logo. At the beginning, I thought it looked funny when it said "27 visits". :)
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Happy Canada Day!
July 1. The day we celebrate our country, and how truly blessed we are to live in it.
Just last night I was chatting with some friends of ours about how good we have it here and how there are many people who are completely oblivious to how spoiled we are.
I haven't travelled a lot, but I went to Croatia twice on short term missions trips not long after the Balkan war. My world view changed on those trips. People are the same everywhere. God chose to put me in Canada, but I could have grown up in Croatia instead. What different experiences I would have had by this point in my life.
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of tanks and guns and explosions, and grabbing a couple of things and running out your back door and running for your life. Praying that you and your family will survive.
Imagine not being able to take your children to the playground because they haven't swept it for land mines yet, and just last week, a child from down the street lost both their legs from stepping on a land mine in a field.
Imagine your spouse leaving and taking your child because suddenly, their cultural identity put them on the opposite side of the war from you.
-- I just can't imagine that happening here.
Am I just sheltered? Have I lived a fairytale life where those kinds of things just don't happen? I guess so. I grew up in Canada.
Just look around. Look at the shopping malls and the grocery stores and the many, many nice vehicles driving around. Look at all the things we take for granted: street lights that work; wide roads with smooth pavement; vast forests, huge mountains, many rivers with plenty of wildlife (have you looked at a map of Canada and noticed how much is wilderness?); phones that work all the time; fresh clean water from our taps; freedom to meet together and worship the God who created us. There are so many things that we consider 'normal', that simply aren't normal for a great number of people in this world.
No, I'm not saying Canada's perfect. There are many things wrong with our country as with all places. But, today, on Canada Day, we should be thinking of all that's good and strong and right about our country. We should put away the complaining and whining and count our many blessings. After all, if you don't like it here, there are plenty of other places that will take you.
And many, many people who want to be here.
Just last night I was chatting with some friends of ours about how good we have it here and how there are many people who are completely oblivious to how spoiled we are.
I haven't travelled a lot, but I went to Croatia twice on short term missions trips not long after the Balkan war. My world view changed on those trips. People are the same everywhere. God chose to put me in Canada, but I could have grown up in Croatia instead. What different experiences I would have had by this point in my life.
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of tanks and guns and explosions, and grabbing a couple of things and running out your back door and running for your life. Praying that you and your family will survive.
Imagine not being able to take your children to the playground because they haven't swept it for land mines yet, and just last week, a child from down the street lost both their legs from stepping on a land mine in a field.
Imagine your spouse leaving and taking your child because suddenly, their cultural identity put them on the opposite side of the war from you.
-- I just can't imagine that happening here.
Am I just sheltered? Have I lived a fairytale life where those kinds of things just don't happen? I guess so. I grew up in Canada.
Just look around. Look at the shopping malls and the grocery stores and the many, many nice vehicles driving around. Look at all the things we take for granted: street lights that work; wide roads with smooth pavement; vast forests, huge mountains, many rivers with plenty of wildlife (have you looked at a map of Canada and noticed how much is wilderness?); phones that work all the time; fresh clean water from our taps; freedom to meet together and worship the God who created us. There are so many things that we consider 'normal', that simply aren't normal for a great number of people in this world.
No, I'm not saying Canada's perfect. There are many things wrong with our country as with all places. But, today, on Canada Day, we should be thinking of all that's good and strong and right about our country. We should put away the complaining and whining and count our many blessings. After all, if you don't like it here, there are plenty of other places that will take you.
And many, many people who want to be here.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
That Will Never Happen
"Oh no, Daddy, the ball went near the kitten!"
"Well, just go get it, Sweetie."
"No, the kitten will claw me."
"What if he claws ME?"
"He wouldn't. He knows you're the big boss."
"Oh, I'm the big boss? So I get to boss people around?"
"Well, me and [monkey-boy]."
"Ok. What if I told you to go get the ball?"
"That will never happen."
"Well, just go get it, Sweetie."
"No, the kitten will claw me."
"What if he claws ME?"
"He wouldn't. He knows you're the big boss."
"Oh, I'm the big boss? So I get to boss people around?"
"Well, me and [monkey-boy]."
"Ok. What if I told you to go get the ball?"
"That will never happen."
Monday, June 12, 2006
She took it really well...
"What?" you ask. "Who?" you ask.
Monkey-girl is repeating Kindergarten. We've known it was a possibility since November. She's just kind of 'young'. (Her birthday is in the middle of October, and she's always been a bit 'young' for her age.) The problem isn't academic, it's maturity/resilience/coping/whatever you want to call it. We made the decision to go with the teacher's recommendation a few weeks ago, but I hadn't yet figured out how to tell her. I was quite sure she would take it quite badly.
Well, she took it very well. Very, very well. She was very calm, listened to us explain that she was going to do Kindergarten again, smiled when we said she'd be like a special helper to help the new kids...I am amazed. I asked her if she wanted the same teacher/class or the other one, and she thought about it for a bit and decided to go with the other teacher/class for next year. (That is what I expected her to do.)
I've been holding a lot of stress inside worrying about this since November. (A lot of things have just been pushed aside mentally, as I couldn't deal with them.) Now that it's finally decided and she knows, I can let it go. I still have concern for her having to deal with unthinkingly cruel remarks, but we can take care of that when/if it happens.
Back to life!
Monkey-girl is repeating Kindergarten. We've known it was a possibility since November. She's just kind of 'young'. (Her birthday is in the middle of October, and she's always been a bit 'young' for her age.) The problem isn't academic, it's maturity/resilience/coping/whatever you want to call it. We made the decision to go with the teacher's recommendation a few weeks ago, but I hadn't yet figured out how to tell her. I was quite sure she would take it quite badly.
Well, she took it very well. Very, very well. She was very calm, listened to us explain that she was going to do Kindergarten again, smiled when we said she'd be like a special helper to help the new kids...I am amazed. I asked her if she wanted the same teacher/class or the other one, and she thought about it for a bit and decided to go with the other teacher/class for next year. (That is what I expected her to do.)
I've been holding a lot of stress inside worrying about this since November. (A lot of things have just been pushed aside mentally, as I couldn't deal with them.) Now that it's finally decided and she knows, I can let it go. I still have concern for her having to deal with unthinkingly cruel remarks, but we can take care of that when/if it happens.
Back to life!
More crafting progress...sort of ***UPDATED***
Oh, you don't want to know...
...I started a couple more projects. Bad me!
But first! I finally finished up a couple of doll dresses I had made quite a while ago. All I had left to do was the weaving in ends and attaching ribbon and sewing on buttons.
Then..........Monkey-girl needs a white summer cardigan (and it's hard to find nice ones in the stores that will go with all her summer dresses). And Monkey-boy needs a new blanket because his is...well, it's falling apart.
Yeah, lame excuses for someone who hasn't finished any more of her huge list of 'works in progress' (WIPs).
What's worse is that I had crocheted the back, both fronts and both sleeves of her cardigan and realized when I was trying to sew them together, that my guage was wonky...much tighter for the sleeves than for the rest. (ACK!) AND I had remembered her measurements wrong, so the one I was making would probably only fit her for a couple of months and then be too small! So, I ripped it all out. That was hard. I'm starting over and paying more attention to my tension this time so that hopefully I'll at least be able to block the pieces to the right size. My goal is to finish it by the end of June.
For Monkey-boy's blanket, I let him pick out the yarn as he wanted a 'rainbow blanket'. Well, do you think I can find the orange yarn in the same brand as the other colours? Of course not! The yarn companies make it, the stores just don't stock it! Bah! I tried using a different brand, but it's quite a bit thinner (even though it's labelled worsted weight), so it's just not going to work. Of course, it's the orange I need, and I started with the red, so the blanket's on hold until I can find orange yarn that will work.
Then, the fabric store within walking distance from my house lost it's lease and had a closing out sale with fabric 70% off. You know I was bad! I let Monkey-boy pick out some fabric for some shirts as he's become SUPER-picky about his clothes (he's not quite 4). I picked up some cute stuff to make Monkey-girl a summer dress. And, of course, I bought some nice twill for some slacks and skirts/skorts for me. Woo hoo!
Then I came home and used stash fabric to make Monkey-girl a pair of shorts and a (very cute) skort. Stash fabric! Well, maybe I can say I was just making room for the new stuff...yeah, right.
(Isn't this fabric great!?!? I love it. It was in my Grannie's stash and was just a small piece. Just the perfect size to make these shorts. And I might get a barbie skirt out of what's left. :) )
Then I went to the Fabricland in Langley with my mother-in-law and went a little nuts on the flannel. I love to make baby blankets for new babies in my circle of aquaintances and friends. The blankets are about a metre square with two layers of flannel. They're the perfect size for bundling a baby even once they get quite big, and I found them to be SO practical when my monkeys were babies (very absorbent too!) Two ladies I know have just had babies and two others are pregnant, so this wasn't a completely selfish shopping spree. Of course, I did buy some more fabric for monkey-boy. It's a really nice blue with little race cars on it- my boy LOVES cars!
Once I get some of these projects done, I'll post more pictures. And if you are still reading this, I'm amazed! ;)
...I started a couple more projects. Bad me!
But first! I finally finished up a couple of doll dresses I had made quite a while ago. All I had left to do was the weaving in ends and attaching ribbon and sewing on buttons.
Then..........Monkey-girl needs a white summer cardigan (and it's hard to find nice ones in the stores that will go with all her summer dresses). And Monkey-boy needs a new blanket because his is...well, it's falling apart.
Yeah, lame excuses for someone who hasn't finished any more of her huge list of 'works in progress' (WIPs).
What's worse is that I had crocheted the back, both fronts and both sleeves of her cardigan and realized when I was trying to sew them together, that my guage was wonky...much tighter for the sleeves than for the rest. (ACK!) AND I had remembered her measurements wrong, so the one I was making would probably only fit her for a couple of months and then be too small! So, I ripped it all out. That was hard. I'm starting over and paying more attention to my tension this time so that hopefully I'll at least be able to block the pieces to the right size. My goal is to finish it by the end of June.
For Monkey-boy's blanket, I let him pick out the yarn as he wanted a 'rainbow blanket'. Well, do you think I can find the orange yarn in the same brand as the other colours? Of course not! The yarn companies make it, the stores just don't stock it! Bah! I tried using a different brand, but it's quite a bit thinner (even though it's labelled worsted weight), so it's just not going to work. Of course, it's the orange I need, and I started with the red, so the blanket's on hold until I can find orange yarn that will work.
Then, the fabric store within walking distance from my house lost it's lease and had a closing out sale with fabric 70% off. You know I was bad! I let Monkey-boy pick out some fabric for some shirts as he's become SUPER-picky about his clothes (he's not quite 4). I picked up some cute stuff to make Monkey-girl a summer dress. And, of course, I bought some nice twill for some slacks and skirts/skorts for me. Woo hoo!
Then I came home and used stash fabric to make Monkey-girl a pair of shorts and a (very cute) skort. Stash fabric! Well, maybe I can say I was just making room for the new stuff...yeah, right.
(Isn't this fabric great!?!? I love it. It was in my Grannie's stash and was just a small piece. Just the perfect size to make these shorts. And I might get a barbie skirt out of what's left. :) )
Then I went to the Fabricland in Langley with my mother-in-law and went a little nuts on the flannel. I love to make baby blankets for new babies in my circle of aquaintances and friends. The blankets are about a metre square with two layers of flannel. They're the perfect size for bundling a baby even once they get quite big, and I found them to be SO practical when my monkeys were babies (very absorbent too!) Two ladies I know have just had babies and two others are pregnant, so this wasn't a completely selfish shopping spree. Of course, I did buy some more fabric for monkey-boy. It's a really nice blue with little race cars on it- my boy LOVES cars!
Once I get some of these projects done, I'll post more pictures. And if you are still reading this, I'm amazed! ;)
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