Meeting a New Little Man

I finally got to meet Gabriel!! He was even sporting the little sweater I made him. And I must say, he looked pretty awesome in it! It fits him well and his mom, Persnickety Sarah, said she really liked it too! Double score!! Sarah said he should get a lot of use out of it too. That just makes me happy! Thanks for coming out and meeting up with all of us last night Sarah. Too bad he fell asleep on my shoulder and no one else could hold him. I bored him right to sleep!! I promise I'll share him with the other knitters next time. :o) (yeah right, give me that baby!)

Pattern: Baby Yoda Sweater
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (Ravelry Links)

The Saddest Blog Post Ever!

Today mom and dad and Lacey are going back to Kentucky. They got here on Thursday afternoon and my house and been a wild place. We spent Thursday evening at the house. Friday we went to the Amoskeg Fishways and to the Mall of Nh. Friday night we went to Poor Boy's Diner in Londonderry, NH for dinner. It was GOOD! Saturday we did some shopping in the morning and then in the afternoon went to the Verizon Wireless Area for the First Competition. Lots of cool robots there, Jacob and Nathan even got to try the controls for a robot behind the scenes! Sunday we went to the Mall again and then came home and hung out. Brent took all three kids out for awhile and Mom and Dad and I had a nice quiet visit. Monday morning brought SNOW!! I was secretly wishing, OK everyone knows, that the snow would keep them here another day, but seems like the airport is on schedule. As soon as they pulled out of the driveway the blues set in and I was very VERY sad to see them leave. It's hard being the one left when the others are going. Luckily the boys had a snow day and didn't have to go to school, so I have their company today to get me through the day. It's a funny feeling, them leaving. It's almost like I feel like I lost something and I need to run and find it. Panicking that I've lost something, when all I lost is the company of my parents and niece. Anyway.....I'll show you some pictures from the visit. Check out the little remix I did. I couldn't find a good song that I liked and I don't know if you can add your own, so if you don't like the music, turn down the volume :o)
Mom, Dad and Lacey!! I'm going to miss you all terribly!! Call me when you get home! I love you all.

Channeling Your Inner Elton!

My niece and nephew channel their inner Elton John! I love it!!
Rock on!! You wear it well!

Happy Valentine's Day

What a great Morning. A lovey morning with the menfolk. The boys lavished me with Chocolate and a glitter bouncy ball. OH MY GOSH I love the glitter bouncy ball! It has hearts inside and lots of glitter. I also got handmade cards...I'll talk about those more in a minute.
Jacob received the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. He loves reading these.
Nathan received an Alvin and the Chimpmunks Valentines DVD. He was so funny when I gave it to him. He said "OH BOY! It's always what I wanted. (pause) What is it?" LOL OH that kid!
Brent received two long sleeve thermal shirts. He was VERY happy. He's been wanting a couple more of these.
It was a great morning indeed.
The cards were handmade. The best!! According to the back of Jacob's and the barcode, the card is worth 10 dollars. WOW expensive card.

Nathan and Brent worked on their card together. You have to click to see a larger view, but according to the card (an excuse my language here, I try to keep the blog clean) I am a lucky bastard!!! :o) Apparently this card is worth over $500 bucks!! Wow! I hope your day is grand and you have someone that is your "Everything".

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Old Days, Good Times I Remember....

Jacob, flying in our front yard back in Kentucky.
Brent, the boys and I on a beach in Rhode Island on Nathan's first birthday.

Brent and Jacob rock it out in our basement back in Louisville.

The boys at Newport Aquarium (Nathan about 1, Jacob about 4)

Thanks Chicago for the title.

In the Sticks.

Mom and Dad went down to Grayson Co. Kentucky yesterday to our little second home. It's just a trailer, but the memories from there are probably in the millions!!! As some of you know, Kentucky was hit with a bad ice store and the area where my family is was not spared. Some of my family just got their power back yesterday. Mom said that her and dad worked for 5 hours straight and hauled 8 loads of sticks/branches to the back of the lot. Mom and dad have over 5 acres of land that they inherited from my mother's parents. The surrounding lots of land belong to other family members who also inherited the land or bought it off other family. On a funny note: Lacey hopes to inherit this land from Mom and Dad. She LOVES it down there!!
It's good to know that the power is slowly coming back to the family and they are all still doing OK.
Dad and one of the many loads of branches.

Front yard with all the limbs and branches down.
More of the front yard. There aren't as many trees in the back of the lot.
More of the front yard.
I love this front yard. Many things have happened in this front yard.
Volley ball games, family reunions, blow up swimming pools, my kids and Scott's riding around on a Little Tykes Hummer/Jeep for HOURS, Scott and I riding on the lawn mower for hours (we didn't have a Jeep or Hummer!), playing Frisbee, football, hayrides with friends.
Man that yard has had some fun!

Happy Groundhogs Day

Well I don't know about the official ground hog, but my little knitted guy saw his shadow. He was NOT happy. Happy Groundhogs Day!

Pattern: Godfrey the Groundhog

There's still hope in finding lost pictures!

Back in September of 2001, right after 9-11, Brent and I traveled with Jacob (who was 1 year old) to New York for Grace and Paul's wedding (good friends that live in KY but grew up on Long Island and went back to get married as their family is there.)
The day after the wedding we went out with Grace, Paul and Fump (one of their friends, honestly I do not remember his real name, they just called him Fump) to Jones Beach out on Long Island. I had forgotten the camera so had bought a disposable one. At one point on Jones Beach, Brent was walking in front of me carrying Jacob and Paul was walking beside him. Grace and I trailed behind a bit chit chatting. We looked up at the same time and all we could see of Jacob was his feet sticking out the side of Brent. Each little shoe of Jacob's was placed in each back pocket of Brent's pants. It was a cute image, so I took a picture.
Well....yes you guessed it. We lost the disposable camera. I called the hotels we stayed in, in New York and on the way home in Pennsylvania. No one had seen the camera.
Well I stumbled upon a blog that gives me hope now. http://ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/ I doubt I'll ever see the pictures, but knowing that someone set up a blog like this kind of gives me hope.

Car issues can't get me down, no sir!

Car issues. We all have them, we all hate them. A couple months ago it was inspection and needing new control arms that hubby put on. Last month it was ordering new CV joints and axles and hubby putting them on. (Thank goodness for a car savvy husband) Last week it was a low tire that I had to get plugged. Yeah, the warranty was still good on the tire. GREAT NEWS!!
Today I'm driving around and kinda realize that my car is pulling to the right a little bit. I look at the tires and the front tire is a tad low. I figured when I went to get Jake from school I'd run by the gas station and air that bad boy up, wouldn't want to get a flat in this weather, no sir! Yeah, well, on the way to get Jacob, POP!!! I look in the rear view mirror to see what I had ran over. Hum, nothing in the road...around the corner and I was at Jake's school. After Jacob got in the car, off we go and MAN is the car driving funky now!! So, I round the corner heading back and I pull over to inspect. FLAT AS A PANCAKE!! That tire popped! After changing the tire, we were off to the same store as last weeks tire escapade since I knew we had a warranty. A different guy from last week is working. He comes out and looks at the tire and says "We don't carry those." I thought for a moment.... "Really," I say, "Last week I was here and they plugged a tire for me and said I had a warranty." The guy tells me that they are not tires they carry and that another local store carries them (one I KNOW we haven't been to because I don't know where they are). I told him it was odd that they fixed the tire last week. So after he goes back in he searches a bit and sure enough, the tire ARE UNDER WARRANTY (thank you very much, I'm NOT crazy..oh hush). So they look at the tire...it's not patchable, so I have to get a new tire, and they have to order it. They'll have it tomorrow.
Now if you know me and my car issues...usually my dad gets drawn in some way, some how. This time he showed up in a very interesting way!!
I get home and there's a box on the porch. Now let me just tell you, I am loved. I have the best parents and they are talented to boot!! Check out what my dad made for me!! (see told you he'd show up somehow, a gift for me on a day that I'm dealing with my car!)
Since I got a bread maker for Christmas from one set of the in-laws, I thought I would like a nice bread box. And nice indeed!! This bread box even came with treats for all of us. My Grandmother even enclosed 4 skeins of Red Heart Yarn, bless her heart!! It is a pretty color! I'm thinking maybe a Wallaby for Lana. Nice and washable. There were Oreo Cakesters, A tin of Peanuts, 2 boxes of Fruit Rollups, some bubble tape bubble gum that was heart shaped and some chocolate covered orange jellies (YUM!) Thanks Dad!!! I love the box!!! L-O-V-E IT! Thanks mom for the treats and yummies. Tell mamaw thanks for the yarn.Other than that, things around our house is pretty much the same. Lincoln did get a new supersized dog bed (that was MUCH NEEDED) and Nathan now loves to hang out with him. I think Lincoln likes the snuggles too.

There's been some knitting going on. I made some Bella mittens out of some yarn that Sonya sent me and they are SOOOO nice and soft!! They are made with Alpaca. Delicious yarn! Thanks Sonya.
The palms are made with Baby Alapca from Plymouth Yarns and the sleeve/cuffs are made with Cascade Alpaca. I love these mitts/armwarmers.
I have some other things on the needles, a surprise gift that I can't post because that someone might read my blog, some slippers for me, and some socks for me. And if you follow the Yarn Harlot's blog. She just made a pair of socks out of some of Heather's yarn. I got the same colorway and printed the same pattern because I really like how the pattern shows off Heather's yarn.

Small Quick Notes...

More Knitting

More knitting. Finished knitting is always so satisfying.
This is a purse for my friend Tina. The Pattern is called The Luckiest. I sure hope she likes it. It was so fun to make.

Next is the awesome and cute little Sack boy!! Jacob requested I knit him in Blue. I am now getting request from Nathan for one in Red. :o)
This is a baby blanket I made for an Army buddy of Brent's that lives down in R. I. Hopefully we'll be able to go visit in February after the baby is born. I used Bernat Satin yarn and it's so soft and very washable!! Nice for a baby.
And finally, another Baby Yoda Sweater. This is such a fun knit!!! This one is for our neighbors who just had a baby over the holidays.
Now to figure out what I want to cast on next. Don't know if I want to jump right into another Sack boy, but if I don't figure out something, I guess I will.

Picture Tagging

Here are the rules:

* go to your 4th picture folder
* go to the 4th picture in the folder
* tell everyone 4 things about that picture
* tag 4 more people1. This picture was taken at Seneca/Cherokee Park in Louisville, KY. If you're from Louisville then you know my confusion of remembering which freakin' park it was since they butt up against each other and you never know when your in one or the other.
2. It was a beautiful day. I'm not sure really what the weather was. I mean look how we're dressed. Jacob in long sleeves, shorts and snow boots. Nathan in a light jacket and jeans (in the swing to the right). And Brent in long sleeves and shorts.
3. The bathrooms in the background were probably locked on that beautiful day. They oddly always seemed locked.
4. The boys both still like to swing on the swings.

I tag Heather S., Ellen, Carol and Dot.

Just for fun, here are some other shots we took with our camera that day!!

Jacob peeking through the trees.
Nathan and a RARE happy moment with a smile!! LOVE that picture of him.And here are both of the boys. I think Jacob was probably 4 years old and Nathan was about 1.

Holiday Recap and Knitting

We had a wonderful Christmas. We stayed home this year again and didn't travel back to Kentucky to visit family. Although we missed our family greatly, we still were able to have a wonderful holiday. The boys were apparently good because Santa did not disappoint. At one point Jacob announced, "Wow Mom, we got everything we wanted!" Music to my ears!

Jacob received a guitar from Santa and a CD player from Mom-mom and Pop-Pop, so there's been a lot of rockin' along with all the new CD's he received too. If he's not listening to The Plain White T's, then he's listening to The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Uncle Chris sent Mouse Trap and we sat on Christmas afternoon and had a good round of that game. My mouse was quickly trapped by Nathan, and shortly after Jacob's mouse was caught. Jacob and I grew tired of watching Brent and Nathan battle it out. After about 20 minutes of going round and round, they called it a tie and put the game away. It was fun.
Santa brought other awesome toys that the boys wanted. They've done a good job of sharing their toys with each other too!
I have been knitting, I swear I have!!! Let me see what I can show you.
These are Mitt Envy Gloves that I made for Jacob's teachers. I found some little matching magic gloves to put under them because fingerless mitts in New England at this time of year is a bit silly!! Need to cover those digits!
Lacey requested a new Skull hat. We won't mention that my brother put the first one I made her in the dryer and shrunk it. No we won't mention that at all. All I have to say is I'm hopefully off the hook of being reminded about the cardboard box in the oven incident now...hum?? Scott?? ya think?? :)
I also made a Baby Yoda Sweater for Baby Gabriel. He's not here yet, but word on the street is he's going to make a grand appearance within the week!! Good Luck Sarah!
Sleep walker socks. YUM!! Can I just say I love these socks! I used the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns that the Connery girls got me for my birthday. The colorway is called Circus Dancer. I could just dance with these anyway!!
And last but not least, my favorite knit of December is this beautiful braided cable hat made out of Noro Iro yarn that was gifted to me from Uli. I LOVE this hat!! It fits my big melon head and doesn't slip off like other hats!! I saw a hat like this on Ravelry and thought that the cable pattern looked familiar. I looked through the knitting books I had here at home and sure enough, one of the scarves in a book I have was the same braided cable pattern. So I just winged it and this was the outcome. But if your a pattern person there is a pattern on Ravelry for a hat like this. The top of the hat their is a bit different from just the plain stockinette that I did.
Here's wishing you and yours a great new year!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!!

Happy Holidays!

Snow....and so it begins

This video was taken last year about this time in December.
It's beginning to snow now outside and looks to be a good dumping upon us.

Learning other's traditions - Froehliche Weihnachten

My friend Uli stopped by the house today to pick up some things. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, she is a sweet gal from Germany who has been living here about 2 months or so.
She told me of a tradition in Germany and left some sweets for the boys.
I was very excited for the boys to get home from shopping with Brent so I could share this with them and give them their sweets.
Here is the story Uli told me:
On the Eve of Dec. 6th, little children in Germany shine their shoes, and in the morning they will find a special treat.
This sounded like such fun I had to google this and find out more. Below is what I found:
On the eve of Dec. 6th children place a shoe or boot by the fireplace. During the night, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, hops from house to house carrying a book of sins in which all of the misdeeds of the children are written. If they have been good, he fills the shoe or boot with delicious holiday edibles. If they have not been good, their shoe is filled with twigs.
There are some more traditions here that I found interesting and can't wait to share with the boys.


Uli, thanks for opening my eyes to some new and exciting ways to celebrate the season with my boys!!

Above: The boys with their treats from Uli. Below: Mandatory picture my mother makes me take of the boys. She's taken their picture with Santa Hats every Christmas since they were born, and since we are so far, I have to take the photo and send to her. Love this picture. Just might go in the holiday cards this year.

Tis the Season...

To be jolly! And boy am I jolly today!!!! Nathan had his followup visit with the eye Dr. that performed his surgery about 2.5 weeks ago. She is happy with the outcome of his eyes, and believes that with patching and him wearing his glasses, he may get that vision corrected and even get his depth perception back! How wonderful is that?!?!!!! He did a great job today while the assistant measured his eyes, test after test, naming letter after letter. I told him he was doing a great job and winning, so we celebrated by going and buying a toy. He even insisted that we get Jacob a toy. What a great kid! Our next visit is not until April of next year. Isn't that wonderful!! I'm also glad that I had good weather to drive in today, since it snowed yesterday. Luckily most of the snow was washed away, and it was actually in the 50's in the town we were in, in Mass, so Nathan and I took our coats off and enjoyed the sun. Imagine that...no coat on Dec. 1st in New England!! Who would have thought?!?? :o)
The boys got to visit Old St. Nick a week or so ago. I swear that Santa just sends their hair into wild mode!! OK, OK it could have been the hats they were wearing since it was cold outside, but I still blame Santa. ha ha
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! May your days be Merry and Bright.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Nathan had a little program at school yesterday and he was one of the pilgrims. Mighty cute pilgrim!!
Nathan also made a Turkey. Now this has the be the cutest turkey idea I've seen!! Yep, you got it, that's a potato!

His eyes are healing find and still looking good. He's just looking at me funny in that picture. :o)

Jacob is thankful for the 4 day weekend and has already started his own count down to Christmas. Every day I get an update on how many days are left before Christmas...no stress there. (HUSH CHILD!! UUUhhhh!)

What ever you do today, I hope you are safe, happy, loved and Thankful.

I am cracking up!!

This picture of my parents is just cracking me up!!! They went to the Smokey Mountians last week with some friends and emailed me some pictures. This one was too good not to share! They are such fun people!

A wild and crazy week.

Well Mr. Bean had his eye surgery yesterday. It was a LONG day. The surgery took only 1.5 hours of the whole LONG day, but I must say that was the most stressful time. Think about it. We've met the Dr. who was doing the procedure twice. All the other people in there, yeah, NEVER seen them before. How it is that we turn our children over to total strangers during times like this, but for a night out for dinner, we really want to know the person babysitting our child? It's a scary thing.
Mr. Bean was a trooper! He didn't have any sickness from the anesthesia (thank goodness), and today he's full of energy! Know what...it's wearing me out....know what else... I am not going to complain, my child feels good and is happy today. I couldn't ask for more! :o)
Below is a before picture that shows you the amount of turn in his eye. The two pictures below are pictures from today. Still a LOT of red in the eyes, but that is to be expected. But look!! He still has the most beautiful eyes!!

Ah, Mr. Bean.... how I adore you! (yes mother, I know...he needs a haircut.)