Day 93 Olympic Torch

So this is where I live!

We had the Olympic Torch come through our little home town yesterday.

Our girls were quite pumped about the whole idea. Hubby commented that he is a little concerned about when our oldest gets to the concert age. Apparently she got quite caught up in the hype, you know, like yelling, screaming, bouncing, waving arms etc.

While my kids were partying in front, I was waiting back stage trying to stay warm. Our dojo had a 5 minute performance and I performed kata with 3 others from my class. We missed most of the action that happened up front. Apparently some of the talent that travels with the torch is amazing.

I was lucky enough to be done on time to see the torch though. As I was trying to make my way through the crowd to my hubby and the girls I came up to the barricade and the torch literally 30 seconds away. Close enough to touch the torch runner. Which I realize in a small town really isn't that big of a feat, but it sure sounds good! Doesn't it?

The last torch runner was a girl named Emily Cavillan, who had cancer in elementary school and had to have her leg amputated and has gone on to be an adaptive snowboarder. Pretty amazing story.

All and all it was a neat evening. I have never seen an olympic torch lighting and don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to again.

Just wish I could have figured out how to use the camera on my phone because Hubby had my Nixon! And do you think he remembered to take the picture? Nope!

slipping by

I am not really sure where my days have gone.

January feels like a blur. Busy! At times terribly cold and gray. Seems like days flow into each other.

We have been busy with activities, crafting, reading, school, snow play and science experiments (today we were bending light).

Yet in a way everything seems plain old ordinary. I can't quite pin down the passage of time into anything "BIG". Just little moments chained together to make the days full and the weeks slip by.

And I guess that's okay too.

the everyday moments

This little girl of mine is one of a kind.

When she wants a hug or a cuddle she will literally climb up you to get one.

When I am teaching school, she often wiggles her way in between books and paper and snuggles in.

~

On the other hand, when she needs space, move away and give her some.

~

Tonight when I was tucking her, I wanted a snuggle, but she didn't and slid over to the other side of the bed. So I kneeled beside her bed in the semi-darkness and kept talking to her.

All of a sudden she was back on my side of the bed, asking if I was sad. I told her that I wasn't really, but had just wanted a hug.

~

She immediately hopped up and embraced me. Afterwards, she sat on her heels and said "Momma I love you, but there is a God up in heaven that loves you a whole lot more than I do!"

~

I was stunned by her words and the timing of their delivery. Knowing that she gave me what I thought needed (a hug) but pointed me to what I really need every day, God!

little gifts

I never realized how satisfying baby knits would be.

For one, they are fast and secondly, they turn out so cute.I have been eyeing up the Saartje's Booties for quite sometime.

I just needed to wait for the right time.

I had to learn how to crochet a chain (oh no!) for the button straps,

but it wasn't too hard.

I was trying to use up scraps on these booties

but next time I would either do the whole bootie in variegated yarn

or use it only on the bottom.

My husband didn't think it mattered that they didn't "match".

I am thinking it is just part of the handmade charm.

Since I still had yarn leftover, I whipped up the hat last night.

So fun! So easy!
Hopefully the perfect set!

i've been naughty!

Well, not really. Maybe silly would be more like it.

On Thursday, I got a call from a friend's mother that they were having a shower for her daughter's new baby on Monday.

I already have two knitting projects on the go and won't tell you what my sewing room looks like. But decided to cast on for the Saartje's booties on Friday and The Welcome to the World Hat on Sunday.

Remarkably they are both done, just no pictures until tomorrow.

It is rewarding to throw a few quick projects into the middle of some bigger ones. They are both great little projects. I definately want to make more booties as I am always looking for a way to use scraps in my knitting and sewing.

surprised by the light

I find that this time of the year always catches me by surprise.

It feels like the days have been cold and short forever. You forget what the sun feels like. It only stays for a few short hours of the day.

When I still worked outside the home, I would go to work at 8 a.m. in the dark and come home at 4:30 in the dark.

Then all of a sudden, without warning, you realize that your days have gotten a little longer. Just long enough that it gives you hope. Hope to see you through the cold and snow for a couple more months. And a sense of relief that the longest part of winter might just lay behind us.

home ec 101

Only Papaya and I were at home this afternoon. Two of her sisters had a play date and her Dad was off doing some things as well.

Over Christmas she got a Karito doll named Pita. She has been mentioning that she would like a doll quilt for her. I had told her that she would have to learn how to make one.Today seemed like the perfect day. Contrary to the complaints in the southern states, we were too warm today to do much of anything outside. The snow was melting, everything was slushy. So sledding, skiing and skating were pretty much out of the question.

Plus we had a lovely basket of scraps, compliments of a friend (thank you S!) that she had been eyeing for a while.
So we got her comfortable, which meant propping up the electronic foot so she could reach it.
Then we started reviewing the basics. She had sewed a skirt in the summer. But she hadn't done anything since then. At first she felt like things were going really slow. That changed really fast though as she started to get the handle of things.
After she knew what she was doing, I really resisted the urge to take over. Okay, if you must know, I kind of "sat on my hands" for a while. Reminding myself it was the process, not how fast it got done. Hadn't I kind of just said that to her? So I decided to get a book and a chair and read. When she had a question, I answered it. When she needed help, I guided instead of doing it myself.
By the "end-ish" of the quilt I went downstairs to help her sister make supper. Doesn't that sound nice? One sewing, one cooking! I was kind of startled by the transitions that are slowly happening in our home.

She did call me upstairs when the thread came out of the needle and she couldn't get it back in. But she was quite content to go it alone. When she said "I can do it Mom", I realized she really wanted and needed to.

Here she is with her finished doll quilt top. Completed in one lazy, for me maybe, Sunday afternoon.

So proud of her!

P.S. After posting, I realized she held the quilt top with the wrong side to me for the photo. How funny that neither of us realized!

scrappy scarf

I think I am finally happy with the progress that I am making on my Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf. I have started it 3 times. Each time I wasn't happy with it for a different reason. I didn't like the yarns together or I was messing up the pattern. The pattern isn't really difficult, I just can't talk as much as I might like (thank you Mom for pointing that out)! Apparently as a child I couldn't watch TV and cook dinner either, because things would get burnt. Sigh!Anyways, I also have found that you really need to use similar weight sock yarn, as all are not created equal, or it just doesn't lay very nicely.

Originally I had hoped that this would be for me. I am thinking now that I might be making it for one of the girls. Especially since my oldest has shown quite a keen interest in it.

You can find this pattern free on ravelry.

the birthday party girls

1 birthday girl

+ 2 sisters

+ 2 parents

+ 6 friends

+ cosmic bowling

= quite a party

Our middle daughter recently turned eight.

What she really wanted was to go cosmic bowling.

It was a pretty easy and a lot of fun.

During the evening, I finished bowling my turn and turned around

to find them all dancing on the bleachers that they are sitting on in the above picture

Don't you just remember those days?

They didn't care at all who was watching!

They let their hair down and had fun.

Happy Birthday Papaya!

Beautiful blonde in a beret

Here is the beret that I finished back in October.
Papaya usually wears it to church on Sunday.
I just never managed to take a picture of the finished project.

The alarm went off early this morning,
Not sure that anyone here was ready for it.

P.S. We were doing alliterations today

Starting fresh

I have a basket of leftovers yarns

and since I really hate to see things go to waste!

I found a great pattern to use up scraps.

The Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf.

So far I am on my third try at casting on.

Not because it is particularly difficult.

I just can't really talk and keep the pattern going at the same time.

However, I seem to have the pattern down pat now,

so hopefully I will be getting somewhere with this soon.

A "Gushing" New Year

Last night we had friends over late in the afternoon
The boys watched World Junior hockey
Canada was playing the USA
Had a casual dinner, kids played
Then early evening we got ready to go to church for a New Year's Eve party

Our friends were already out the door and gone
The kids were in the van
When hubby ran upstairs to grab something and use the bathroom

All of a sudden I heard "Oh no" and stomping feet
I ran up to find our toilet overflowing and hubby frozen in the middle of it
I grabbed any towel I could and started mopping up the water

Hubby ran to get the plunger,
Worked on the toilet for quite a while,
And then thinking it was fixed, flushed
This time the toilet seriously overflowed
I couldn't mop up fast enough
And watched dirty water pour down between the floor and wall

I was still busy mopping up water with towels
When we heard our oldest yelling downstairs
She had come in from the van, wondering what was taking us so long
Somehow, Hubby thought maybe Canada had scored a goal in the game
How could he even be thinking about that, at a time like this, alludes me

So when Hubby ran down,
He found our oldest mopping up the floor in the kitchen
The water that poured onto the floor upstairs had worked itself downstairs
And was spilling through our potlights, onto the kitchen counter, stove, floor and beyond

I had food on the counter that I just threw in the garbage
After the major mop was done, I took a second to call a friend
She came, got the kids and brought them to the party
Then we bleached and santized the kitchen and bathroom
Turned on fans and left everything to dry.

Hope the New Year doesn't start, the way 2009 finished.
I think I will be able to laugh soon.