Weekend Report

This weekend was fairly quiet.

On Friday, I came home to find my Knitter’s Treasure Swap package had arrived. It was very exciting. It contained the following:

• Three skeins of yummy yarn
• One big skein of Kool-Aid dye yarn
• Homemade stitch markers
• A sheep shaped bar of soap (which coincidentally, I sent the same one to her)
• A notepad
• A measuring tape
• Some Starburst
• 24 Hour Knitting project book
• Tea
• A handmade quilted project bag

This list is from the top of my head and I may have overlooked something. I am going to post pictures tomorrow since I forgot my camera today. Thanks goes to SwknitsMN.

Later that night, we watched Order of the Phoenix which wrapped up our Harry Potter marathon. I also worked on my sister’s Christmas present which was a bit of a disaster. I worked the first part of the pattern and got about 20 rows in when I was supposed to change colors and realized I had done it backwards. I knit brown where it was supposed to be white but I fixed it.

The screw up on this project just confirmed that I am a spaz sometimes when it comes to knitting. Take for example, the Easiest Baby Blanket for Melissa's baby. This blanket is worked with one strand of Caron Simply Soft in pastel variegated and one strand of Bernat Baby in purple. I was plugging away on it and got to where I had about a foot of the Simply Soft left and realized that I forgot about the border on the edge. It is supposed to have 8 rows of garter stitch but I don't have any more Simply Soft left. Well, no problem right? I'll just unknit it and put the edge on. Well, apparently I did not go back enough so it didn't work right. Instead it reversed the stockinette pattern on the wrong side. So unknit again, drop a stitch, pick it up before the whole thing gets ruined, and try again. Repeat same mistake. Finally, say "to hell with it" and put it down before I kill someone and move onto another project for the time being. (Interestingly, when I went through my scrap yarn for the new project, I came across another small scrap ball of Simply Soft which means I can continue making the Easiest Baby Blanket in the correct size.)

On Saturday, Princess Ivi and I got up and gave Nyx a bath after we picked a tick off of her. She was very good for her bath. She really liked being scrubbed. Then we took her to the flea market. This woman was there with upholstery fabric for $2 a yard. I found some really nice fabric to re-upholster a couch mom has for me. (We won’t do it until just before we are ready to move out.) The fabric is cream with turquoise, yellow and green wavy lines. I like it and at $2 a yard, you can’t beat it.

We also picked Nyx up a bag. She is so small and she is still skittish around people that we needed something so we didn’t have to carry her all the time. She liked the bag once she realized that we were still there beside her.

When we got home, I made chicken tenders with honey-chipotle barbecue sauce, fries and salad. (This is the dish Princess Ivi orders every time we go to Applebee’s and it was really easy to recreate.)

We watched...ummm....something while I worked on Marci’s gift and then I talked to her until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday, we went to Michael’s. I picked up some clearance wrapping paper with cute elephant’s on it and a few goodies for my envelope swap partner. Then we went to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. It was tasty. Princess Ivi gave me a beautiful necklace she beaded herself and a little statue she painted. (The statue is one my mom made). I will post pics tomorrow.

After we got home, I did laundry, knitted, watched Last Cake Standing and went to bed.

Happy Birthday Isaac!!!!

So today is a super special day. On this day four years ago, my nephew Isaac was born and he brought light into everyone's life. I thank God everyday for bringing him into our world. And I thank God for the strength of my sister and her husband who handle all the challenges of having a child with Down Syndrome and Isaac's health issues like champions. And, of course, I thank Him for the great doctors and nurses who cared for Isaac when he was in the NICU.

I wanted to send a special message to Isaac:

Isaac,

You have come so far in your life over the past four years and I am so very proud to be able to be your aunt. I love you so much and I can't wait to see how much you change and grow in the coming years. I miss you sweetie but I am always thinking of you!!!

Love , Aunt Len

My baby is turning 13!

Today is my baby's birthday. She entered the world 13 years ago today at 8:01 a.m. and I fell in love instantly.

She has endured a lot over her short years and I admire her so much. She always handles every adversity with courage and perseveres through all her trials. Most importantly, she remains true to herself.

So on this important anniversary I want to say:

I love you baby. I am so glad that you are a part of my life and I was chosen to be your mother.

You make my life complete and you teach me new things everyday. You teach me to remain true even when tempted to change to please others, to smile even when life is hard, to keep going even when you are scared, to wish even when it may not come true, to work hard even when you get tired, to see even when you want to close your eyes, and most of all, to love with all that you have.

You are my inspiration and I am so proud of you.

Love always,
Mommy

Books and Knitting. What could be better?

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That makes a total of 17 books read so far in 2009. I don't know what I am going to read next. I have to take a break for a while though and work on some knitting.

As I said in my previous post, Princess Ivi has requested a blanket. I have decided to make the afghan that is in the Leisure Arts #4165, Quick Knits with Speed Stix book. (I don't recall the name but it is purple.) We picked up the yarn for it on Saturday.

I also want to work on the Spiral Tube Socks and the Feather and Fan Shawl.

I haven’t updated my list of books read lately so I thought I would do so now.

Recent books read (actually, re-read):

Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I was missing Harry so I thought a re-read of his adventure was in order.

Due to all the reading I have been doing lately, my knitting has fallen to the back burner. But not for long, I expect to work on either the Feather and Fan Shawl or the Spiral Tube Socks tonight depending on my mood. Since I have to wait until Saturday to pick up the final two books in the HP series I need something to do. (When I read the books before I borrowed my sister’s but now since we are so far apart, I feel I must have them)

I have had a request by Princess Ivi for a bigger blanket. (She has a small throw but she is growing so fast that it doesn’t do much to keep her warm.) Before I can tackle a project like that, I need to sort my yarn and see what I have to work with. I was thinking that I may be able to hold multiple strands together so that it works up quick but I guess it depends on whether she sees yarn that she approves of. Another option is to go by Walmart on Saturday and pick up some more. I know that they have a purple-ish yarn and as that is her fave color it might work. If so, I will make a 6 hour throw and consider it part of her birthday present. The blanket will be done though because it is not often that I get a request for a knitted item from her. Normally, she is too "cool" for them.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. On Saturday I slept a little late, went grocery shopping, made homemade chili and guacamole, read while Princess Ivi watched Peter Pan, took a nap, made tapioca, and talked to my sister. (Since my brother-in-law works nights on Friday and Saturday, my mom and I talk to my sister until he gets home. Mom has Friday night and I take Saturdays. Most of the time, I am off of the phone by 1:30 a.m.)

On Sunday, I slept late again and then did laundry. I also stripped the sheets and pillow cases and sprayed the bed and pillows down with Lysol. (I am waging a war with my cold germs.) For dinner, I made baby-back ribs and potato salad.

Princess Ivi spent the day watching Anne of Avonlea. She really enjoyed it.

Then we watched Sense and Sensibility on Masterpiece Classic. What a good movie. Even Princess Ivi is loving it. She can’t wait for the sequel next week. She can’t wait to see what happens between Elinor and Edward and Marianne and Willoughby. She is rooting for Willoughby. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Willoughby may be dashing and handsome but he won’t love Marianne for the right reasons. She thinks the age difference between Captain Brandon and Marianne is "gross". I suppose by today’s standards a 35 year old man marrying a 17 year old girl is pretty "gross" but then it was acceptable. I, of course, know how it all ends because I have read the book but I won’t give anything away.

Princess Ivi is amazed with how things used to be done Like the age difference between husbands and wives, the fact that so many marriages were just for money not emotion, and the fact that relatives married each other.

There was a scene in Anne of Avonlea where Pauline told Anne that Morgan never should have married his cousin. Princess Ivi and I quite agreed. Her words were "Ick." Of course, Pauline didn’t mean they should not have gotten married because it is gross or morally unacceptable but because the two were not matched well.

Last weekend when we watched Wuthering Heights and Princess Ivi realized that both Lynton and Hareton were Catherine’s first cousins and she married one of them and was in love with the other. It was quite a shock for her.

It is interesting to see her maturing to the point that she recognizes all the complexities of older books.

Princess Ivi worked on her birthday list. In addition to a camera and a stuffed panda bear, she has put in a request for a "real, live puppy" which, hopefully, is in the works.

She also requested a gourmet meal of hot dogs, french fries and macaroni & cheese (and she suggested Easy Mac - yuck. I think I will make homemade mac and cheese and if she wants, I will pick up the powdered stuff for her but not for me.) For her cake, she wants a red velvet cake with white chocolate frosting with chocolate drizzles and shavings.

She is even happy to have a birthday party with just mom and I and then grab a movie over the weekend. I think it helps her to know that on Saturday (the 28th) we will be going to the Northeast Florida Scottish Games which is always a fun treat for all of us.

As an aside, with respect to the retail therapy in my post of 1/23, Princess Ivi was pretty disappointed because she was unsuccessful in finding a pair of shoes with an acceptable heel height. She found many that she liked but none that weren't too high of a heel. She did get a really cute bag though. (And I got two pairs of really cute shoes.)

Happy Birthday Marci!

Happy Birthday to the best big sister in the whole world!

I love you very much and I am so thankful to have you in my life. I feel blessed to have you as my sister and my friend. You are an amazing mother, friend, confidante, aunt, sister, daughter, wife, hero...you get the idea.

When I think back on my childhood, you are the center of all of my good memories.

I know I may not say it enough but I love you so very much and I would be so lost without you in my life.

I love you!