Hello there! Couple things to post about. I finished the Cascading Leaves socks made from Heather's Witchy yarn. LOOOOVE IT!
On the needles now are a scarf and some jaywalker socks for mom.
I also had the sewing machine going this week and finally figured out a way to make some sock projects bag!! I have some Elvis bags in the wings, they just aren't sewn up yet. A couple kinda puckered but once you get the drawstring in and cinch the sack up, what's the difference? It'll be fine :) They were fun and I'll probably put a couple on my etsy and some will be gifts for ??? who knows. I do believe that bag with the elephants will remain with me though :):) Hey Jackie, you're not the only one with a cute hat. This was made by Ericka and boy it is soft and warm. I'm trading some beading lessons for her sister for the hat. Is that sweet or what?!? And yes, it fits over my big melon head and mop of hair!!
In other fun news!!! My parents booked a flight to come for a visit!! I can't wait!!! They'll be here the end of Feb!! WOOHOO! Only 8 weeks!! I can make it!

My Husband thinks he's funny....putting my yarn in my craft trash bin. Luckily it was clean and empty!!! (If you know me you know I never throw anything away!)Check out this stash!! Let me tell you what's there.
On the top row we have Lorna's Lace ShepSock Yarn. On the left, the purple and green is called Jungle Stripe and yes it's self striping! Mom bought that for me. Next to it...the pretty browns is called Safari, mom bought this for her, gladly put it in my bag and said "Make me socks!" with a big grin! How could I resist!??

Second row is Wildfoote Sock yarn. Left to right we have Desert Grass (mine), Elderberry in the middle (more socks for mom), and then Bluegrass (also for mom)
Bottom row we have Noro! Three Silk Gardens and four Kureyon's. Now...do I make the stole I want out of the Silk Garden or the Kureyon?? Either way I'll need more yarn!! MORE YARN!! I thought maybe I could mix them but there is a definate difference in the feeling of both of these, so I don't think that's an option. What to dooooo What to doooo!! Who cares!! It's YARN!

Happy New Year!! We are home in New Hampshire. We came home to Snow!! What the....??? We left 60 degree weather for this?!?! Oh Please!! We haven't left the house much since we got home. I did go to the grocery yesterday, and that's the only time I've left the house since we've been home. The flight home was good but LONG!! Our plane was scheduled to leave KY at 6:35 but it was delayed until 7:00...no big deal... but we were flying to Chicago... when we got there our plane was delayed yet again, no big deal, oh wait, they are an hour behind us so that adds up to 1...2.... 2 hours and 50 minute delay! OH BIG DEAL! So..here we are spending time in Chicago's airport waiting "patiently". We played games, rode the walking sidewalks, A LOT, Jake watched a movie, I read some of my book (Nope, didn't have my knitting with me, I could have finished that second sock, dag it!) Brent and the boys went and found us some food to eat. I sat with our bags. While I was sitting there reading, I stopped to look at what was around me. Christmas music playing, Christmas decorations all over, tired and weary travelers.....hey wait a minute...am I in a Christmas holiday travel movie gone BORED?? Where are the cameras? It was humourous at the time, trust me. Jacob watching a movie.
Nathan and Brent rolling the soccer ball we forgot to deflate to pack. haha.


This is a great shot of the boys and Brent on the way to Kentucky on the plane. Both of the boys first plane trip. They were great! Going to Ky and coming back to Nh.
Here I am Skymall shopping... OH LOOK a Christmas Palm tree!! Cool.
Nathan taking in a movie on the trip to KY.
Jacob snacking on the airplane crackers.
And this picture just cracks me up! Lana knew the exact moment to reach for that tree! But Brent had her just far enough she could barely touch the tree. This was taken at my grandmother's house Christmas day. Seems I've gone overboard on pictures the past couple post, but this had to be the best Christmas in a long time. I was a joy to see my family after 4 months away from them. What was my best Christmas present this year you ask??? AIRPLANE TICKETS!!! (yarn was a close second, haha)

Well what a week!! Tomorrow we make our final rounds to see friends then it's back to New Hampshire. It has been a week full of friends and family. Wednesday night Brent and I went out with some friends to a piano bar and hung out and sang Billy Joel and Elton John songs all night! FUN! Thursday night we had Christmas with my mom, dad, brother and his family. Can you say WILD!! It was fun though, always is!
Brent has been packing like crazy to see how the heck we are going to get all our new goodies back. I have done NOTHING in the line of packing because I fear he would just redo it, so that's his baby, and he's pretty darn good at it!!
Mom and I did some shopping one day and I have enough yard for 5 pairs of socks.....three pair are for mom! haha I did finish the one sock I was working on last week that I posted on Nathan's cute little leg and I'll get a shot of it when we get home.
Now for some random pictures of our holiday here at mom and dad's house since I have access to ALL their pictures!!! :):)

Stockings at my parents house are always tooooooo heavy to hang up, so they just sit under the tree looking stuffed and pretty.
Brent and I goofing with mom's camera. I kinda like this picture.
My dad laughing at the coffee mug he got! He's already checking out airfare for a visit! YEAH!

Brent and our niece, Lana. Everyone looks good in camo!
My mother and her knit hat!! She hasn't knit in years and this was her first project as a returning knitter!!
Great Job MOM!!! You'll be super warm!
My brother Scott, holding Lana.
Me and my SIL, Amber opening presents!! A KNITTING BOOK!!! YES!!!!
See you all from NH next time.

Merry Christmas from Kentucky. Brent, the boys and I made it safely to Kentucky and the boys were GREAT on the plane ride too here. It's been a whirlwind of visits with Family and friends already! This morning we are sitting at my parents house relaxing for abit and trying to figure out what we're going to do, who we're going to see, and where we want to go. It's so fun.
Santa was able to find us here in KY and the boys were so glad about that. Now for some pictures of happy moments from the past couple days.
This is Brent holding our niece Lacey. That's my dad at the table.

Santa left this fort for the boys and all their Santa presents were inside the fort!
This is Brent sitting beside my grandmother on Christmas day at her house. I try to call my grandmother every Sunday, but this time we got to talk in person on Sunday! It was great!
This is me and my niece Lana, I could not wait to get my hands on her!!! She's so tiny! She is 7 almost 8 months old!! Beautiful!
Here's Nathan, Luke (my nephew) and Jacob all in their Santa hats. My mom takes pictures of the kids every year with these hats!
Brent, the boys and I are staying at my mom and dad's house. We are camping out in my old bedroom!! It's so cozy. Mom got the boys cute sleeping bags that blow up!! They love them.

I'll post more another day with more pictures :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My witchy sock that I casted on Wednesday is going well!! I've already turned the heel, but this is it on Nate's little leg before I got to the heel flap yesterday. I LOVE the pattern.
Jake made a cute gingerbread house a school yesterday.
And the boys let me open my christmas present from them....a comfy ROBE!! I've always wanted a soft robe and now I have one. But look...I think I'm going to have to share. :):)

My good friend Sonya sent me this cute Chritmas Knitting Story!! I Love it!!

KNITTERS CHRISTMAS EVE
'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
Was unfinished knitting not under the tree.
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care'
Cause the heels and toes had not a stitch there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
but I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep; he was no help at all,
And the sweater for him was six inches too small,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tripped over my yarn and fell down with a crash.
The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how much I still had to go.
Out on my lawn I heard such a noise,
I thought it would wake both Dad and the boys.
And though I was tired, my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
But what I heard then left me perplex-ed,
For not a name I heard was what I expected,

"Move, Ashford! Move, Lopi! Move, Addi and Clover!

Move, Reynolds! Move Starmore! Move Froelich

--move overPaton, don't circle 'round; stand in the line.

Come now, you sheep will work out just fine!

I know this is hard; it's just your first year,

I'd hate to go back to eight tiny reindeer."

I peered over the sill; what I saw was amazing,

Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing.

And then, in a twinkle, I heard at the door

Santa's feet coming across the porch floor.

I rose from my knees and got back on my feet,

And as I turned 'round St Nick I did meet.

He was dressed all in wool from his head to his toe,

And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.

A bright Fairisle sweater he wore on his back,

And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.

His cap was a wonder of bobbles and lace

A beautiful frame for his rosy red face.

The scarf 'round his neck could have stretched for a mile,

And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.

The back of his mittens bore an intricate cable.

And suddenly on one I spied a small label,

"S.C." was duplicate stitched on the cuff,

And I asked, "Hey, Nick, did you knit all this stuff?"

He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.

I learned how to knit when I was a kid."

He was chubby and plump, a quite well-dressed old man,

And I laughed to myself, for I'd thought up a plan.

I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,

And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair,

He spoke not a word, but looked in his lap

Where I'd laid my needles and yarn for a cap.

He quickly began knitting, first one cap then two,

For the first time I thought I might really get through.

He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks.

While I sat back drinking scotch on the rocks.

So quickly like magic his needles they flew

That he was all finished by quarter to two.

He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,

And over his shoulder he looked back at me,

And I heard him exclaim as he sailed past the moon,

"Next year start your knitting sometime around June!"
Author Unknown

ok, Jackie and I think Nichole both tagged me and said I had to list 6 weird things about myself. I hope I don't have to double up and do 12!!! anyway, I may need some help you guys...I'm as normal as they come!! haha! OK OK ...here it goes.
1. I like spagetti in my chili and I have to have a peanut butter sandwich with it!
2. I can't stand it when the corners of the fitted sheet pop off the bed. I don't make my bed, but the blankets have to be straight when I get in at night.
3. I like to peek in open windows of houses as we drive down the street to see what people are doing. I know....sounds like I'm a stalker doesn't it.
4. I like to look at maps. I LOVE google earth where you can see actual satelite pictures!!
5. I don't like to cross bridges. When I drive over a bridge, you can bet I'm going a bit over the speed limit!! OMG the Tapenzee Bridge in NY....ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! And dont' let me get stuck on one during a traffic jam!! I'll go crazy!
6. Grates on the ground freak me out. I'm afraid I'll fall in them, and the crazy thing is, Nathan Loves to SIT on them and that just makes me go crazy!! I mean come on!! What if he fell in?!?!?! ack!! Even at the Christmas party the other night that big Steam Engine had a section you could walk through and I got all excited...until I saw that the flooring was just grating...I RAN across it .... I'm sure Brent's co-workers if any saw me, thought WTF? Why is she running through the engine?!?!

OK..I tag...um... well seems that most of the people's blogs I read have done this...so if you happen to stumble across this and you haven't done it...then... TAG!
And just to keep the weirdness going.... I like this song.... :P

Brent and I had a wonderful time at his company holiday party! We got to roam around Dean Kamen's home, and MY MY what a home it is!! We went out on his observatory deck that overlooked Bedford and Manchester, I believe, but it was cold so we didn't stay out there long, haha! Then we found something by the pool that would remind you of the batcave and we went behind there and low and behold a spiral staircase doing down stairs. So down we went. We found a beautiful wine cellar with lots-o-wine. Dean even has his own label! Too neat. We were able to see all of the past Christmas presents that the company built for Dean, which was very neat! There are some great engineers and machinist at Deka, I'll tell you that much.
This is me in Deans Machine shop which is in his basement.
This is Brent in the Steam Engine which sits right at the front door when you walk in. Here's a better Picture.
And here's me. From what I understand, the house was built around this contraption. The story I heard was Dean learned how to use CAD so he could design his own house. It's pretty friggin' awesome!
Of course we took a photo of ourselves. This was us sitting beside the pool... No we didn't skinny dip.
Dean had a time clock in his living room. Here is Brent posing as he clocks in...or out...?? Not sure which.
The dinner was wonderful and Brent participated in working on the gift for Dean this year. They made him a chess board and there is a robotic arm that is the opponent!! TOO COOL! I forgot to get a picture of it. DOH! If you go here, you can read more about Dean's House!! Very Interesting!

What a wild weekend. Friday we went to the mall to get our family portrait taken. All went well and after much much bribing we finally got a shot we liked. This is something we TRY to do yearly and did well with it until Nathan was born. We got a picture when he was 3 months old and we haven't had a family picture since!! How horrible of us not to mark the years, but we've started again so all is well. Here is the Family Picture. Aren't my boys (all 3) so handsome! So after we FINALLY got the shot we wanted we headed down the mall to see ole St. Nick. Well wouldn't you know it, our luck, we missed him!! We didn't realize he was only there until 8pm and it was like 9pm by the time we finished with our pictures. Jacob was not happy. So we told Jake that we could go back on Saturday. SO!!! Saturday rolls around and we go to the mall and we drove and drove and drove and FINALLY scored a parking spot!! We go in to see Santa again....and guess what... THE FRIGGIN' CAMERA was BROKEN!!!!!!! So again...No Santa. So as we're walking out of the mall Jake says, "We never had this much trouble finding Santa in Kentucky!! And then we're driving home and Jake's on the phone with his Grandma and he's saying "This is the worst Christmas EVER!" So I "phoned a friend" and Santa called Jacob on my cell phone but we missed it (yes we are having a hard time hooking up here, can you catch my drift??) So Santa left a voice mail for Jacob reassuring him that if they didn't talk, he knew Jacob was a great kid and that he'd leave plenty of toys under the tree for him on Christmas morning.
So today, Sunday, we are on a mission. SEE SANTA!! Yes this WILL be the day!! So we get to the mall. Lots of available parking, good...good....we get inside and there's a line for Santa and I see a flash!! Things are looking up!! So we get in line, wait patiently, and right as it's our turn..... Nature calls out to Santa!! Yes!! I kid you not, Santa's on a potty run!! And he did RUN! LMAO!!! But he did return QUICKLY, I must say, and was a jolly ole fellow when the boys sat down to get their picture and speak with him.

Doesn't Nathan look excited......He wasn't into it after all the hoop-la. But as you can tell Jacob was happy that he finally got to speak to Santa. Santa even kept Jake's list of toys he wanted. How great is that?! ARGH!! LOL
I finished the other pink and black sock today. I have them on my feet right now and they feel great! I also found my witchy yarn that I had misplaced!! Sarah you were right, stop looking and I'll find it. And I did. yeah me.
So now tonight I have to finished my Christmas cards by putting a return address on them...I should go grab some labels from a store tomorrow and save myself all that writing. I may just do that! I also need to dream of my next knitting project because I have nothing on the needles for Wednesday night "knitting practice." Oh and gals, I made some Tequila balls today. I'll bring them Wednesday night if I don't eat them all before. :)
Next Saturday we head to Kentucky for the holidays! I am very excited.

Wow it's been a week since I've posted. Well let's see what has happened? OK ONE SOCK,

yep

that's it
One Sock Wanna see??

This was done in Cascade Fixation, hot pink and black! It's cool baby, coooool. The black really makes the hot pink POP!! I was going to start on the second sock today. I every intention of doing it, honestly!! But... I left my knitting needle for this sock at Gina's house last night. She had her 3rd annual Holiday party (1st one for me, so it's the only one that counts, tee hee) I really had a wonderful time. I ended up getting the gift that Sarah brought, I got a yarn cutter pendant, some hot pink yarn (gee I'm starting to sound like Gina with all this pink), and 2 skeins of Araucania Yarn. Yummy, let me get a picture :)

Jealous? OH but yeah, I was going to start the sock today and like I said I left my knitting needles there and so I called Gina. She said Ericka would bring them to me at "knitting practice" so I can only assume they will be held ransom for a certian boozy recipe that Ericka's been asking for.....
Anyway, the party was fun and the food was great and the company of other knitters and crocheters, the best NH could possibly offer I'm sure!! It was grand! I'm so happy I've found this group of people. I'd be lost and loney here in NH if I didn't find them! Thanks to Gina for hosting, it was wonderful meeting Ian and Timmy and seeing Ben again! :)
After Christmas I plan on starting some mittens.... THESE mittens Jackie and I, I believe, are going to knit these together as a knit-a-long for fun, so anyone else who wants to knit mittens with us we'll be doing this sometime in January! Nothing official, just for fun and the prize is YOU finishing your mittens for yourself :) haha

So anyway.... Ericka, if your reading.... GIVE UP THE NEEDLES! Here's the recipe.

Tequila Balls
1 box vanilla wafers
8 oz. almonds
4 oz. white chocolate
1/4 cup marmalade
1/4 cup tequila
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Process wafers and almonds until crushed very fine. Melt chocolate.
Mix marmalade, tequila, lime juice, and corn syrup. Blend until smooth. Add dry mixture and chocolate. Mix well, into stiff dough.
Roll into balls and roll balls in sugar. Store in refrigerator.

Happy Monday, Sit back and great ready for some knitting FINISHED OBJECTS!!

I made a cute little sock blocker keychain! I did this last Wednesday night at "knitting practice" and finished it at Famous Dave's later that night after "knitting practice" while having some refreshments with some fellow knitters.

Secondly, I made a pair of Fingerless Mittens. This was done with some left over yarn and I love how they turned out!!

Next in line is a cute Wee Bird from KnitSimple's holiday magazine. I plan on making some more of these little gems! I made this one yesterday while knitting with the Concord group of knitters.

Next we have little thumbless mittens for my niece, Lana. She's 7 months old and just a precious little thing, and I miss her dearly! Can't wait to see her Christmas!

And finally, this is a hat for my niece, Lacey, Lana's older sister. Lacey had started a hat with this yarn when I lived in Kentucky on one of my knifty knitters. I took it off the knifty knitter and just did a 2x2 rib and then some stockinette on the top for a simple but cute hat!! I love it!

Now...off to knit some more birds :)

Dear New Hampshire Gift Angel,
I have NO CLUE who you are but we received a wonderful card and gift from you today in the mail!! Thank you for caring about us. It's just .... honestly I just don't know what else to day except, Thank you.
Lora

I went and got the mail today and there was a card addressed to me. I opened the card and a gift certificate for Toys R Us was in there and it was signed from the NH Gift Angel. I am just in shock here. Brent kept asking me who is it who is it? I don't have a clue. Not one clue. But who ever the Angel is, she has a warm spot for my children, I can feel it, and that just means she has to be awesome.

I have my five people to send art to now, so thanks to everyone who responded!! It feels fun to create things for you all and I'm excited to get going on some crafty stuff!

Denise posted this on her blog and I dived in and now I'm waiting for some art!! :) So in the fun of it all...here it goes:
"The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of art made by me. The only catch, of course: as with most memes, if you sign up, you have to put this in your own blog as well."
After I see your comments email me your address and when I get a chance I'll mail your goodie off. It may be beadwork, it may be a knitted item, it may be a sewn item, it may be a rubber stamped item... I just don't know yet! If you're in the knitting group here in Manchvegas, you'll get it hand delivered next Wednesday.
SO.........who's the first 5 to comment??
I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow of my fingerless mitts and my sock blocker keychain I worked on at "knitting practice" the other night.
Happy Thursday!!!

You Are Pumpkin Pie

Even when people are full - they make room for you. Good or bad, your smell is most likely to arouse a man.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

How fun. I got this off of Heather's blog. Too cute! Glad to know people make room for me. And as far as arousing a man...um... ok... that could be a good thing I guess **Grin**

Nothing new on the knitting needles. I just don't know what to do next. I made some fingerless mitts, I'll get a picture tomorrow in the sun and post them. I just don't know what to make next. Maybe I'll just get the sewing machine out until Wednesday night. I'll go to "knitting practice" and see what I can dive into there.

On the potty training scene. Nathan is rockin' right along and has almost emptied the first bag of suckers (a.k.a. lollipops) for his peeing efforts!! Every time he finishes peeing he says "I get a sucker!" and I say "Yes you do!" and I let him pick his color! A couple times he's even said he needs to call Mom-mom and Pop-pop because he pee'd. They are wonderful and make a BIG deal out of it over the phone to him! He's growing up too fast!

Yesterday was the Christmas parade here in town. A big deal apparently!! I didn't know there were that many people here in Manchester! The streets were packed!! Jacob got to walk in the parade with his cub scout pack! He was super excited, and Brent, Nathan and I walked with him, handing out candy and such! Take a look at this cutie!

This is a picture of Jacob holding his candy ready with other tiger cubs (who I cropped out, not my kids so I don't wanna show them with out permission) to hand out the candy! He did a great job and did not complain ONCE during the long walk (for little legs).

2006.... First New Hampshire Thanks Giving....
My ratings on the day.... a 10 baby!!
We went to a fellow knitters house, Heather, and celebrated Thanksgiving with her and her husband Jim, 2 children, her mother and brother and sister! The food was very good, or as a NH person might say, "WICKED AWESOME" (I'm catching on here)
Later in the evening, her husbands family started showing up, and bless little Nathan, He just went up and hugged Jim's Father. It was the most precious thing! And it warmed my heart and made me feel good that he just picked him up and loved him back, as if he was one of his own grandchildren. I love people like that!!! But that moment also made me reaaalllllly miss my family! This is the first Thanksgiving I've ever missed with my family. But I think I did well all day and just knowing the boys had a BLAST made the day even better.
So a BIG BLOGGY THANK YOU to Heather and Jim! You guys made our Thanksgiving wonderful and made us feel so welcome!! We appreciate your hospitality! ( and the left over turkey sammich today was "wicked awesome" tee hee)

Happy day before Thanksgiving. We are staying here in NH for Thanksgiving and we've been invited over to a knitting friends house, Heather, to share Thanksgiving with them! I'm very excited!! She has a son the same age as my Jacob. I told Jacob this and he got very excited!!! I just hope she hides her yarn stash because 1. I know it's bigger than mine, and 2. I don't want Brent to know how crazy and outta control yarn can get! LOL

AND GUESS WHAT!! I have a finished project!! Yes I do!! That lovely goblin yarn is now on my HAPPY FEET! SO COZY!! Take a look!

I am very happy with how they turned out!! I bought the yarn off Etsy from Handspun and Dyed Too. Check her out, she has some pretty yarn!

Wow!! Has it really been a year?! A whole flipping year?!?!?!
Today is the date I got laid off last year from my job of 9 years.
I am happy!
I can't believe I made it a whole year as a stay at home mom and only two emergency room visits!! OK OK one was not my kid but my nephew. He cracked his head on the boys bunk bed and had to go get stitches. And then Nathan's visit to the ER for his broken leg. So I think I'm doing pretty good! LOL
Gina's 3rd podcast is online! Check it out. She references my southern accent LOL!!
No pictures to show today.
Happy Birthday HEATHER!!! Have fun at Disneyland.