I knit stuff.

So, I mentioned at the beginning of the year, that I was hoping to knit through 5 miles of yarn in 2011. By mid August, I had met that goal.

Obviously, I haven't posted many of the finished objects I've knit. That would be because I haven't photographed them. Two of those items are sweaters which, frankly, it's just too dang hot to be wearing long enough to get pictures of.

But I do have two items to share with you.

 The first of which is this adorable sweater vest which I knit for a colleague of my husband They just had their first little baby boy. And if we're being honest with each other, we can admit that there isn't anything cuter than a baby boy in a sweater vest. Right?

 And the back. It ALMOST makes me wish I had a teeny boy to wear it.

 As it is, Libby looked adorable in it. This was just so I could make sure of sizing. It's about 12 months.

The other project is probably the most favorite thing I've ever knit.

 This is the Clara Dress. Unfortunately, you can only get the pattern by purchasing it as a kit. But I was desperate. I had to knit this tiny dress.

I think you can see why.

 I only wish I'd have made it a couple inches longer. I was worried about running out of yarn, but I totally shouldn't have been. I could easily have knit another 2 inches and still had plenty left over.

But I actually adore the length. I just put a pair of frilly bloomers on her and we're good to go. And I think she can continue to wear it as a tunic type top for quite a while.

I'll be back with more knit items soon.

Read More

And Good Riddance.

Due to the nature of our incredibly long summer spent cooped up here at home, I was really about to lose it.

School couldn't have come soon enough. I'm not kidding. Not even a little.
Monday was the day.

 We all, the entire family, trekked on out to the bus stop.

 There was a great fanfare as Miles headed out to his first day of Kindergarten. You know, where he will probably be extremely bored. I was informed they are working on the letter C this week. Have I mentioned Miles reads on a 2nd grade + level?

 And ohmyword, I have a 4th grader. FOURTH. As in, old. As in, the originator of all that sass. Save me.

 And I also possess a 2nd grader. Everytime I look at her, I have the sneaking suspicion that in about 6 years, I'm going to be in a LOT of trouble. BOYS BE DAMNED!

And there they go! Buh and Bye. See you at 3:30. But I can't celebrate too much. I've still got these two waiting at home for me. 

 Herein he informs me that it is time for us to go buy HIM a Star Wars Tshirt. 

And my Libby Mae, who I'm fairly certain thinks Abbie is her mom. At least a little.

Read More

What I did last summer. A report.

As you probably know, on the Saturday before Memorial Day Matt decided to take Anna to a wall to wall trampoline facility. Fun times. Except the part where he shredded his patellar tendon. He had NON arthroscopic knee surgery on Memorial Day.

It would be 10 weeks before he could drive again. 10 weeks = our entire summer.

So, our summer. Yeah. Blown, mostly.

We did end up flying to a family reunion in Branson, MO. Our original plan had been to drive the 20 hours. Not really all that broken-hearted over that one.

But the truth is, having to load all five of your kids into the car and drive your husband the 20 minutes to work and then home and then turn around at 6pm and do the same thing, really wears one right out. So, we had an incredibly low key summer. With an enforced quiet time between 1-4pm. Yes, my children read a lot of books.

The last thing I wanted to do was any more driving. So we spent a long summer here at our house. Several times a week, it looked almost exactly like this:

 Bikes.

 The sprinkler.

 Playing in the gutter.

 The kiddie pool.

 Races.

And sass. So much sass.

Today is the first day of school. That's why I can post this.
Matt can drive. His knee bends again.
Here's to hoping I'm on the other side of this Bummer Summer.

Read More