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No longer is the excuse, "Sorry, I have to wash my hair." Heheee! My girlfriend called earlier to invite us over for a playdate and lunch at her house. And its a big deal for me to say no... because she is a very gracious host! But I stood there on the phone looking at my completed-not-yet-felted French Market Bag and said, "Sorry, I have to felt my bag. But we'll take a rain check!" The great thing is that she totally understands because though she's not a knitter, she comes to my knitting circle to hang out, chat and drink Starbucks with us while we SnB. LOL Oh girls, I have it bad!!!! Its all done up, and is on my son's T-ball post out back dripping! LOL I can't wait until the drippys are gone and its to the damp stage so I can shape it up and get it formed. Woowoo!
On Saturday, I went on a yarn field trip with 3 women from my knitting circle. On the right is Margie (with her daughter), who taught me to knit over the winter!
While I didn't purchase a single thread of yarn, I did come home with so much! I have a much better knowledge now of just how yarns are spun and how they are constructed. It was an amazing day! Now, when I see a pattern I like and read the yarn requirements, I'll know much better what will work.
My favorite find of the day was the hand-dyed Merino wool by
Malabrigo, from a women's coop in Uruguay. It is the softest wool I've had my hands in!
At the park with his buddy, B. Andrew was "saving" her all day, as he called it. Every time she'd toddle off into trouble, he'd go bring her back to her mom. It was very dear.
Here's a great shot my girlfriend snapped from last Thursday's Knit Night at Barnes & Noble. I love this knitting circle!
I'm done with the increases (faints) for my French Market Bag Since I'm a new knitter, this was actually my first time to do increases. Well. I got quite the exercise in increasing! It was so nifty for me to see and understand how things can actually "grow." And I loved using double pointed needles for the first time. Very neat, and now I'm not leary of them any more.
Here's the bottom. Time to go up, up, up now to the sides, then the handles.
Via my mom-in-law, here is her mother's cobbler recipe. Peaches are on my shopping list to give this yummy recipe a try this week! My own mom always made cobblers in the summertime.Grandma Reedy's Peach Cobbler
3 cups fresh sliced peaches
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 and 1/2 cups sifted enriched flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 well beaten egg
Arrange peaches in 8x8 greased baking pan.
Sprinkle with mixture of 1 cup sugar, extract, lemon juice and peel.
Heat in 375 degree oven while preparing batter.
Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Cut in shortening till mixture is like coarse crumbs.
Add egg and milk all at once and stir until flour is moistened.
Drop dough by spoonfuls over peaches, spread gently.
Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake in hot oven 35 minutes or till peaches are bubbly and top is nicely brown.
Today is my least favorite day of the year.
Don just left, headed for BWI with 2 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and my precious Mary Grace. I hate this day as much as I love the day in May when she arrives once school is out. MG starts school, the 5th grade, next Thursday. How can it be that my 1st baby girl is starting 5th grade? My, how time does fly.
She's headed back south after a nice full summer of fun. She left here with knitting on her lap... I'm so proud of her having the patience to learn and for sticking with it. She will never forget her newest art. And she may never put it down for that matter. This girl has the bug for knitting. I owe that to my dear friend Margie. She's going with a yarn stash that even I'm jealous of, again courtesy of Margie, and a brand new 29" #7 circular needle. She picked it out at AC Moore yesterday, telling me it would give her more flexibity to knit small projects, or larger projects in-the-round. It makes me beam with pride to hear her rattle off knitting jargon and anticipate that she will need that flexibility. She's such cool kid.
She's also headed back with a very fun new binder/satchel that we got yesterday at Target. We went out to lunch with girlfriends and their children. Then they also went along with us to Target for the hunt. We'd hoped to find an obnoxiously sparkly and very girly binder, but Target didn't have anything quite over the top. But MG managed to pick out a tasteful and VERY practical lipstick-pink double binder with a handle and strap option for carrying it. We picked up lots of add-ons too, including a silver sequined pencil compartment that hooks into the binder. I'm totally jealous. I always wanted some thing so cool. Of course we filled the pockets with new gel pins, colored pencils and mini-markers. It was quite the scene actually, me and my two girlfriends TELLING her what she needed. We were totally picking out what WE'D want if WE were still 10 years old. We were so puzzled why MG wouldn't go our way, then we all suddenly realized that we wanted her to have what we wanted. We're all still girls at heart, I suppose. Always will be.
So she's off. Another summer done. Another moment of her childhood X'ed off the little chalkboard I carry around in my heart. Sadness consumes me. I'd like to go to bed and cover my head up for the rest of the day. But these other little busy bees need me. So off I go to mommy the two I'm blessed to be with around the entire calendar. Today, despite my qualms with letting my big one go south once again, is just one more day in the life of my children. And another chance for me to help my children grow and learn and become strong little people.Thanks to everyone who made this summer so special to my girly... and to those of you who are my crutches. I certainly couldn't do anything without your love and support.
Time to put the breaks on and sit back and re-evaluate again. I'm going to say, "whooooaa nelly" to my local playgroup, because honestly, I'm all played out. All thought out. All debated out. All worn out. While we can't leave his dear friends, I need to rest my weary head for a while.The fall will soon be here and our schedule is going to be turned upside down anyway. Andrew will be in pre-school 3 mornings a week. I'm considering toddler gym again and my dear friend, L, reeeealllly wants me to join her at MOPS every other Tuesday. Its at a church close by and its for moms, where moms do activities and attend talks together while the children have surprised playtime with each other. Mommies play. Children play. Sounds good. Ahhhh. Time to shift gears.
Andrew has an ear infection. He's been sticking his head under the tub spout for fun during bathtime and now his eustation tubes are infected. The eardrums are fine. Crazy boy.He told me this morning that his ear was sunburned, but I didn't think anything of it. Then this afternoon I heard him tell MG that his ears hurt down deep in the holes. Hello! That got mommy's attention. So I called the doc and we were seen right away.So now he's on Zithromax. Argh
Mom's doctors have signed her up for a new medical study for a cancer chemotherapy drug. Its still in the development stages, so she is participating in a blind study. She received her first part of it last Wednesday and then another one yesterday. She'll have several rounds of this sort of double-teamed series and then they will re-evaluate.
There is a possibility she might be receiving the placebo. If her numbers aren't coming down after a few weeks, the docs can contact the research company and ask for them to switch her to the actual drugs. I guess this is the process that must be followed, since its not an FDA approved pharmaceutical yet. The good news is that after the first two times going, she's had some side effects. So we are praying that it means she's getting the drugs and not the placebo. She had some shortness of breath, elevated BP and nausea... so we hope those icky things mean good things in the long run.
Why are women so hard on each other? I am one... and I'm totally guilty of it. But why is it this way?I travel in several mommy circles, in person and online, and there always seems to be some drama going on. What is it that keeps us stirred up? Just recently I've seen people take their toys and go home over the darndest things. Peanut butter, the raging breast feeding vs. forumla debate, who posts more often and contributes more to the group, junk food at playdates, moms having babies via Csection being treated as second class mommies.Ugh.I used to say that I hated working with women because they are so emotional and hormonal. And its just always true. Men were, at the very least, predictable. Even if you can't count on them to do the best job... you know they will shut up and work. Isn't it hard enough work to be a parent and a wife? You have to be right all of the time too? Sigh.
Yay, my yarn is here for my French Market Bag and I wanted to do a test felt of the yarn. Instead of just doing a swatch, my friend K suggested that I do a little needle cozy. She had done a few from patterns in Cat Bordi's book, Second Treasury of Magical Knitting so I gave it a go. I adore the way it turned out! So much so that I had trouble taking the needles out of the cozy to start my bag! Hahaha!!
Ahhh... Abi is one. Its exciting and sad all wrapped up together. I'm so glad to see her happy and growing so healthy. But watching each day of her infancy tick away was enough to make me teary-eyed. Now she's a toddler and learning new things every day. This girly is just not happy to stay the same and revel in the familiar. She wants to know more and do more and strive for new things.
Mommy is not ready. But I don't think I have much of a choice in the matter!
This is NOT funny! This little almost-one-year-old has an iron will. I can't count how many things I've taken her off the stairs today!She is quite the contrast to her big brother, Cautious Andrew, who didn't attempt the stairs until he knew he could walk up and down them safely at 18 months old. Argggghhhhh!!!!
I've got two things going right now, and one new knit I'll be starting next week. I'm so excited!
First, I've been working on this dress for Abi. Its 100% cotton, for fall. I just love it! I'm about 60% done now. After this 2nd set of polka dots, I'll knit up to the bodice. I can't wait to see her in it! I hope to be done with it by the middle of September. We shall see. Knitting is quite the challenge, with 3 kiddos on my heels.
I also have just started this fun and chunky yet skinny scarf for Mary Grace. Can you believe its only 4 stitches cast on? My girlfriend, M, gave me the yarn to use for something for MG. Its harder to work with that I anticipated, so I am knitting it together with this aqua cotton (Sugar n Cream) and its going much smoother.
Next week, our knitting circle is going to start this French Market Bag as a knit-a-long. I can't wait! I'm picking out colors as we speak, but I can decide between shades of teal, orange, perwinkle or raspberry. Maybe one of each by the time I'm done? I mean, who can't use more than one market bag?!?! It will give me several new skills to master... knitting in the round on double pointed needles, felting and learning the kitchener stitch for seams.
CLICK HERE to see some of Abi's first steps. She started walking today! Hooray! Just a few weeks before her first birthday.
Oh, I can hardly believe my last baby is walking!
After several months of rocking along rather nicely, mom had some bad news yesterday.
About a month ago she has a second pleurodesis done after being admitted to the hospital for the procedure. It went very well and she was only in the hospital for 4 days. Her chest xrays since then have been promising, with no changes. Meaning the fluid didn't seem to be building back up.
Last week, after a few weeks of feeling a bit blue, she contacted the oncologists office for some tests and they sent her in for some bloodwork, including a CA125, the marker for ovarian cells within your body. The last test just over a month ago, brought back the results of 68. But last week's test revealed an elevated number of 331.
We are all crushed with this news. You can imagine the range of emotions mom is dealing with. And there is just no outlet for her. Other than tears. And they just don't wash this away.
Please continue to pray for my sweet mama. We expect another round of tests, including a CT to look into the cause of the elevation. Its been since March that she's had any chemotherapy. Pray for her strength to find out what the next step of this year long battle will be. Pray for healing and comfort. Just please pray.
One bright note, which I'm so thankful for...
a good friend called yesterday to offer them a trip to the Alabama coast, starting this weekend. They are going to gladly take them up on their offer. Pray that they can squeeze it in between the tests and what not. Mom REALLY needs to get her toes in the sugar white sands of Gulf Shores. I wish I could lay on the beach with her and drink frozen daiquiris.
My little nest of 5 I mean. And I'm not talking about the normal husband to wife and mom to kid sort of love. I mean I love how we all fit together. Like a little 5 piece puzzle, snapping into place to complete it. How we have so much fun together. How funny and goofy we are. How we're silly and giggle. How we have such an array of personalities and quirks within the 5 of us. I love how our children accept us, as parents, and don't question our rules (not that they always follow them). I love our routines and that they all know what to expect out of each day and how excited they get over the smallest things sometimes.
I just love the wholeness we share together. I love how Andrew dotes on MG. How MG just rolls her eyes when Andrew is being THREE. How Andrew is so cautious with small toys and not leaving them on the floor because Abi picks them up. How Abi cries for MG to stop and pick her up. I love looking at the 3 of them in the back of the car, all lined up and eager to go. And yes, even when they are poking and pulling at each other I snicker under my breath.
I love how Don fathers them. I love how he's so anal and meticulous about every little thing, even though it does drive me up a tree sometimes. Its because he wants the best for them always. I love how he gets down in the floor and lets them crawl all over him. How he naps with Andrew on his chest. How Abi cries for him if she hears for him in another part of the house.
I just love the whole little picture of our home and family. The noise, the mess, the smells, the exhaustion. I love it all.
I am one very well pleased knitter. I love, love, love everything about how this project worked up and finished up with the felting process. Which, I might add, is pretty simple... just time consuming for the drying really.
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