eight

happy birthday to punkin, who is beyond excited to be classified as a "tween" for four years.

let the halloweening begin

Aaah, sweet success. I love the warm rush I get when I slide the last needle out of a project and find I am then holding a finished object.

I'm sure you've all heard or seen of the fires that are raging through Southern California. I simply can't believe that there are now 18 different fires and that the majority of those that broke out today are probably due to arson. If you've read my previous posts, you're probably aware that Husband is a firefighter. On Sunday, while at work, he and his crew were called up to join a team of 15 other firefighters and head down to L.A. The last update from Husband I received was via text message this evening: he's in the town of Fillmore protecting homes. He'll probably be up through the night working the line, only resting once he's pulled off-line sometime tomorrow. I'm thinking I wouldn't be standing after 24 hours, let alone lugging 60lbs of protective gear and a charged hose line around a neighborhood.

everything pink

Today was Annika's Everything Pink Party. Here's what the kitchen looked like:
Appropriately, we had pink lemonade, strawberry marshmallows, pink shades of Jelly Bellys, and a tiered cake.
The cake itself is a white cake -- the best ever! -- with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream between the layers, and used for the swirls and polka dots, and a plain Meringue Buttercream on the outside. Yum!
Hopefully it was a birthday she'll always remember. We made three tutus with nearly 20 yards of tulle, of which maybe I'll post a picture of when I get a more internet-compatible shot. We also beaded bracelets and danced around with boas. Very fancy!!

four

happy birthday, sweet girl!

yes, i'm new...

In my last posting, I saw that I cannot change the font type (as in bold, italic, etc.) nor can I click on the little globe with the chain to link anything to another site. All of those tools that are normally in the header above the field in which I type my post are just gone! Is it something in my settings? The only tools that ARE available are the spell check and insert photo buttons.

I'm getting irked.

Now for those of you who do not use Blogger but who have found your way here anyway, I ask for your guidance as well. I have the aforementioned Fitted Textured Sweater still waiting to be seamed. Should I seam it, as a learning experience, even though I know right now that I will NEVER wear it? Or do I frog the $110 worth of yarn and re-ball it and save it for another, yet to be determined project?

Thanks in advance for your help in either of my predicaments!


**ETA: I realized the problem this morning (10/17). I had begun using Safari rather than Firefox, and once I opened the edit page in Firefox, everything was there again. YAY!**

a reprieve

Obviously I'm not a committed blogger; I usually average three posts a month, right? And if September hit the payload with six posts, then I've got a little lee-way for October...

No seriously, I haven't been posting because I've just been REALLY busy. In fact, this entry won't even include much knitting-related news, and that's because I've not had time to knit! My mom came out from Colorado last week. It was a great visit during which her focus really seemed to be hanging out with the kids. Mom left Saturday, and the kids and I were at the kitchen table that night. Annika said that she really liked playing hair salon with Grandma. Gavin (age 2) said "gwamma, gwamma", and Laurel began to cry. Then she tearfully -- and with a little genuine but dramatic flair -- cried "Grandma JUST left! I can't talk about her right now!"
mom & me, a couple of years ago

So since I've no knitting to really share (although I haven't blogged about my Spookly Socks -- click on sidebar) I thought I'd do one of those "30 things about me" posts. That way, you can say you know me better.

1. I'm young. I have an issue with being the youngest mom at a playgroup or a Mom's Club function. Recently, I've noticed that there are younger moms than me, but then I remember that they're just joining the club because they are new moms, and usually to just one kid.

2. I love pilates on the reformer, but I'm not a skinny person. I wish I were. My new resolution is to up my game in the regular gym. Then the toned muscles I have can emerge from some excess baggage. Literally.

3. As per #2, my main motivation for being fit is so I can see my kids' kids, and my kids' kids' kids, etc. My secondary motivation is because when I start knitting more sweaters -- which I WILL do one day -- I can buy fewer skeins of the required yarn. It's all about the yarn budget! ;-)

4. I hate my kitchen. You will probably never see pictures of my kitchen. Period.

5. My husband is a pack-rat. I wish I had the balls to start throwing stuff out -- stuff that he wouldn't realize he was missing -- but I don't.

6. I played volleyball throughout high school. I loved it. On varsity, we had "specialties". Mine was back-row: you know, digging balls and such. I can still dig a fast spike, roll backwards, land on two feet and get up. Quickly.

7. My dad collects Hot Wheels, and so always gave them to me and my sibs. Then he started giving them to my girls. They weren't impressed. I'm secretly happy that I have a son just so my dad can push Hot Wheels at him.

8. This school year, I'm Room Mom, on the Parent Board, and helping with a huge fundraiser that occurs this month. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now because besides this,

9. ...my two daughters have birthdays coming up. Annika will be four on Wednesday and Laurel will be eight later this month. We're hosting an "Everything Pink/Fancy Nancy" party for A and L will be hosting our first sleepover.

10. My favorite foods: baked brie & crunchy french bread; chicken tortilla soup; lemon shrimp skewers; nectarines; Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes & Pumpkin Muffins, but not the fake cream cheese junk in the middle.

11. I love getting Pottery Barn catalogs. I wish I lived in the pages of PBK.

12. I love books. All books. My favorite gifts are bookstore gift cards.

13. The kids are down with child-parent PDAs. I will enjoy it while I can.

14. I have reddish-blonde hair. That's me, as a toddler >>>>. So far, none of the kids have it.

15. I have one tattoo: a sun on the outside of my ankle. It's 10 years old. I should have it re-inked, but I'm afraid of how it might turn out.

16. I don't particularly like jewelry on me. On other people, yes, but not me.

17. So I only wear two things: earrings (24/7) and a watch (like 18/7).

18. I love sock yarn. But fingering weight only. Worsted just seems too thick to wear in shoes...

19. Acrylic -- literally -- makes me want to itch.

20. I have sensitive skin. I itch quite a bit. I'm in the process of tossing perfectly good lotions/soaps/creams because I need to find what is still making me scratch.

21. My calendar is a dry erase board (and it's Pottery Barn!) which is color coded. Each member of the family has a color. As the mom, I got last pick. I'm orange. ew. I should have taken executive rights and selected first. But then I'd have mommy guilt.

22. I struggle with mommy guilt. Especially when I'm on the computer, ignoring my kids. :-/

23. Husband is a firefighter. He works a 48-hour shift. That means I'm the one stuck with morning duties when he's gone -- which is actually three mornings a week at least. I hate mornings. Actually, I just hate getting up out of the warm bed.

24. The daughters dance ballet and tap. And Laurel is going to perform in the Nutcracker again this year. It's an honor. And this year it's in a fancy new art center. She is going to be a baby mouse during the fight scene between the rat king and the Nutcracker. She's hoping she can be the one baby mouse that gets shot in the rear, since it's the only solo part.

25. She was a gingerbread cookie in the Nutcracker two years ago, and the naughty cookie at that. It was the only solo part. She loves solos.

26. Last year, she couldn't audition because she was too young. To be a cookie, you must be selected, not audition, thus the gap in performances.

27. I realize those last three aren't about me. But I can add that because she's involved in the Nutcracker, it means that I must shuttle her to multiple dance classes a week, toting two other kids with me, sometimes until 10pm, and that I also must volunteer 10 hours of time to help the production.

28. My ex-boyfriend is a world-class computer hacker. Seriously. Like government-wants-to-hire-him good. But he refuses to talk to me, so I don't know much else.

29. I want to learn to crochet so that I can make Babette.

30. I love riding my bike to the central neighborhood mailbox to get the mail. Especially in the fall, when the street is covered in leaves and I kick them up with my tires.