Some pics

Okay, here are some pics of my last few projects! Here is Charlie, in his new matching get-up (minus missing slipper, which I'm apparently going to have to re-knit.) I will be taking the top button off and sewing up the buttonhole, because there's no way I can button it without choking the poor little guy!


Next, is baby Hermione. Ari likes the sweater vest look, and says she doesn't want sleeves on her. I still need to sew the blanket, though. (It will take all of 5 minutes.)
Ari's birthday was nice. She loved her doll! I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. Her cake didn't turn out how I wanted it. :0( I just tried to rush it too much. She still loved it, though.

We have another injury of the day! This time, it was poor little Charlie. :0( We had Charlie vs. the Rocking Chair, and the rocking chair won. He now has a nice vertical line in the middle of his forehead. I'm not sure how he got a vertical line from the rocking chair, but that is what the other children reported his head hit. Poor little guy's had a rough last few days!

We went to Cleveland Saturday, to take the little kids to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Melodie is at Disney World with my mom this week! They are having a blast. We initially wanted to take the kids to Memphis Kiddie Park, which is kind of like a fair/carnival kind of rides amusement park, just for little kids. Unfortunately, the "isolated" T-storms turned into an all day long shower, so we went to the museum, and were going to head back to the amusement park if it cleared up. We walked out of the museum, and low and behold, sunny skies were just opening up! We headed back to the amusement park, and it had closed. Evidently, they must have given up on the rain. (There were people there when we went by in the morning, but the rides hadn't been going.) So, we went to White Castle, where Ari got whacked in the head with a box of chicken! (It was a Church's/White Castle.) The guy felt so bad, he won her a prize out of the claw game.

All in all, the kids had a pretty good time. Then we got lost on the way home, and went like an hour out of the way. Oh well, it was a nice, scenic drive. ;0)

Poor little Charlie's bum was worse for wear after his all day long sitting marathon, though. He was in pretty bad shape yesterday, but was doing better today, you know, until the rocking chair thing.

Friday, we are taking the kids to COSI! I can't wait! I think I'm more excited than they are. I'll be taking Ari's sock to work on in the car on the way down, and finally finish that.

Some progress to report!

Well, I am very happy to say, I finished my OWL! I knit the 2 baby camo bibs, a sweater for Charlie, with matching slippers (of which the children have already lost 1) and little leg warmer/hamhock covers for winter. He also got a new pair of socks.

I did not finish Ari's socks in time to turn in for complete points. :0( I am hoping to finish them by tomorrow...when my sweet baby girl turns 6!!

I did get a wonderful present for my birthday, though. My dad bought me a new sewing machine!! It is awesome. Though, it still doesn't have all the stitch options I had hoped for, I am still THRILLED with it!

Yesterday was the first day I got to use it. I made Melodie a purse with matching coin purse (cursing my snap attacher....grrr. It's a hand press, not part of my sewing machine, and let's just say, I now have to cover the hole I accidentally pressed in her purse! sigh) And I made Ari a baby Hermione doll she had asked for, for her b-day, to go with her baby Harry. I just have to embroider the face tonight and whip up some clothes and a blanket. I ♥ my new machine!

I'm hoping to work the heel on the sock tonight, and I'll probably have to finish up the foot tomorrow during lulls in work. I've also got to bake her cake tonight. She was inspired by one of her friend's b-day cakes, so I'm tweaking it a little bit because I don't have the necessary baking apparatus to recreate that one! I'm doing a quarter sheet cake, and we're making cupcake fairy houses on top! My mom got me a piping tip and dye set for my b-day. (I had been buying tips as necessary.)

The cake!

I got it done! I think Charlie's cake turned out great. I was so proud. I kinda wish I hadn't put the nose on it, but all in all, I was very pleased. It tasted extra yummy, too!

Charlie had fun. He didn't really get into the opening the presents part, but we got him a wooden shape/color train and a wooden shape sorter thing with other little activities, and he LOVED them! He wouldn't stop playing with them after his uncle opened them for him.

He wasn't very thrilled with the cake! He didn't like the frosting on his hands. He kept trying to scrape it off and throw it on the floor. I fed him off a fork, and he gobbled it up, though. Silly Monkey. He played so good and had so much fun. It was a nice day. Before the party, daddy was hanging out with the boys (before the girls even got home from school) and they were playing cars together. Charlie would even mimic the sounds Atley was making. It was too cute! My baby is certainly growing up.

Happy 1st Birthday to my Chunky Monkey

Today is Charlie's first birthday. It has been one heck of a year! All of the drama with work, these nagging colds that won't go away (hopefully soon...it's 80 right now!! w00h00!!)

Charlie started us off into uncharted territories. I hadn't nursed the other 3 kids. That was an interesting adjustment. Now, I can't imagine not doing it and feel even worse I didn't do it before. Oh well, the girls are thriving, and we carb load Atley as much as we can!

Charlie is just learning things by leaps and bounds. We finally have what I could officially call a crawl!! Just this morning, he kinda started pulling himself with his arms and scooting his legs forward, though not a normal crawl. It's still mobility, and he's getting fast with it! My grandpa said just while he sat there watching him, he could see him get better each time he tried. I will be getting the gate out of the shed tomorrow to get cleaned up. We will be needing it! Charlie's new game is pulling up in his playpen, plopping down, and repeating. This keeps him occupied for quite awhile. He likes playing with books, and he loves watching the dog. He's trying to talk. He can say dada and mama. He has attempted to say "girls" and "brother" (bubba). He LOVES splashing in the tub! He is still signing for milk and diaper change! He randomly will wave hello and goodbye. I'm HOPING he will blow out his own candle tonight! We've been practicing, but it's still pretty sporadic. (He saw me blowing on his dinner one night and tried it. He's done it a few more times since. We'll see!)

It's been an exciting, and although stressful, very fullfilling year.

Momma loves her sweet little chunky monkey. Happy Birthday Charlie Cash!

The big 3-0

Well, yesterday went pretty good. The kids ate WAY too much chocolate. I am pleasantly surprised and shocked. The in-laws only gave the kids handmade candy!! No heards of bunnies or chickies this year. No hot wheels. Dear lord, poverty has it bonuses!

No, really we had a pretty nice day. Of course, MIL did NOT make Dan a cake this year, only because I didn't either. Good thing I had the poke cake ready!

Today is Dan's actual birthday. He's 30 and uber-depressed about it. I don't know why. It'll be my turn next year. I don't care. Heck, it's not like he's going to be 80. I told him he needs to hook up with my cousin. She refuses to even talk about being 30, and she's even got a year after me to wait. Am I weird because I think 30 is no big deal? Heck, I'll just be glad to finally not get carded to buy alcohol. I should not have to be surrounded by 4 kids to not get carded dammit! I also told him it's not so bad, that my friend's BIL is going to be 40 today. That made him feel a little better, but still bummed. Oh well, I think I'm going to surprise him with his cake tonight. We've still got poke cake left. I guess I just like having 2 cakes to choose from! ;0) I was going to make it Saturday because we're ditching the big kids and were going to have some of his friends over, but he never called anyone. I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull it off by Saturday.

Oh, I think I finally recruited my SIL to the dark side. I was showing her my pretty, soft, pettable sock yarn last night and my fun DPN's and she was talking about learning how to knit and crochet.

Oh, and last night, Dan's friend called him. He's a local EMT / firefighter. Apparently, he had gone to Canada with some buddies for a little trip. The department called him 6 times, begging him to come home (he was on his way.) There was a HUGE fire downtown last night! An 100-year-old building was completely destroyed, and one built in 1885 was heavily damaged right next to it. That main strip of road through town is still blocked off this morning. It's a shame. Those were some beautiful old buildings. Luckily, the others on that block were saved. They just have smoke and water damage. No one was hurt. The people that owned the shop were having Easter dinner in the apartment above it, and they got out with everyone but 1 cat. :0( One firefighter got some 1st degree burns from a flare up, and some were treated for smoke inhalation, but at least no one got seriously hurt.

Fun Day!

Today, we are going to the birthday party of my friend's twin boys. They are just a bit younger than Atley, and her daughter is just a bit younger than Melodie, so we all have great fun playing. The boys are getting a train cake, so Atley is just excited beyond measure. I'm just bummed he won't be able to wear his train sweater! :0( Darn Santa Claus not making deliveries until the 24th!

She is the friend who taught me how to purl, and opened the wonderful world of knitting beyond squares, rectangles, and garter stitch! I give her sewing help, and she is my knitting guru.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, today is obviously Thanksgiving. I've got to work, but we're still going to have a big, traditional Thanksgiving dinner! Dan is a HUGE help on holidays. He takes care of alot of the cooking, or at least the watching. I get everything together, and he tends it. He also does all turkey washing and tending, and ham marinating on Christmas and Easter!!

Today is also my grandma's birthday! I'm going to hopefully get her a cake baked. My grandpa never remembers her birthday, and even when he does, I'm sure he doesn't get her a cake! So, I'm going to have the kids help make her one.

This evening, we will watch Christmas movies and put together a gingerbread house! (Our Thanksgiving tradition!)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

My favorite day of the year.

Today is my favorite day of the year.....the day Daylight Savings Time ends. An extra hour of sleep without losing any time....who doesn't love that!?!?

Friday was very hectic. Nothing got done the way it was supposed to. Melodie had a wonderful time, though. I just realized this morning I forgot to give out ice cream with the cake. Oh well. More ice cream for me! She got everything she wanted. We went out on our special day yesterday. (And no, we're not trying to be like Jon & Kate. We've been doing special days for the kids birthdays long before they have.) First we picked up grandma. We went to grandma's work to get a Webkinz from the gift shop. (My mom works in a hospital.) Then, we went to lunch at Friendly's and gorged ourselves on unhealthy foods and ice cream. She got to play the claw game when we were leaving, and she won an orange Halloween gorilla! My mom had told her how my aunt Dorothy who passed away had been really good at those games, and she asked Dorothy to help her win. Low and behold, she got it! She's never won from one of those things before. Did she perhaps have a little help? Then, we went to the mall to use the birthday Build-A-Bear certificate she got in the mail, and she got a Christmas dress for her critters. THEN (yeah, I know) we went to Toys R Us to use a gift card she had left from last Christmas and the birthday gift card she got from them. She got a Pokemon art kit and a pack of blendy pens. My mom got quite a bit of the kids' Christmas shopping done. Apparently yesterday kicked off the Christmas shopping season because all Christmas crap was out in full force! I'm well on my way to getting the kids stuff done. I need to get yarnin' though! We dropped grandma off, picked up some Big Bufords from Rally's for Daddy. (His prize for holding down the fort with the other heathens at home.) Then, I crashed for the rest of the night because I think I had WAY too much sugar yesterday and got really dizzy. I'm looking forward to Tuesday so I can rest!

Happy Halloween!!!

And, Happy Samhain to my witchier readers! AND Happy Birthday to my Melodie. Last night, we finally carved our pumpkins. The kids had a blast.

Charlie took a spoonful of pumpkin guts to the face, and of course I didn't think to get a picture of that! Atley was trying to scoop his goop and accidentally flung it at him. Dan's been working alot of overtime lately, so he didn't get home in time to help and was bummed. It was almost 8, and the girls had school today. I had waited as long as I could. Oh well, he can help next year! Actually, next year we might be able to do our own pumpkins again. The last couple years, we just haven't done our own because there were so many to help with. Ari did hers all by herself, and she was the first one done. She got her pumpkin from the field trip her class went on at the beginning of the month. Her pumpkin is a witch. Atley did a really good job on his, too. His is a bat. He scooped the guts and did about half of it himself. I finished up. For the pumpkin he had, he did a really good job. It was very tough, and I think a baking pumpkin might have gotten mixed in with the lot. Melodie did most of hers herself, too. It's a spider. I helped on the legs a little, and we had a problem with the head due to bad engineering. (I always forget about the having to leave part of it not cut or the middle won't stay!) Charlie's pumpkin is a Shrek baby. It was Melodie's idea. I was quite proud of myself!

And here are all of our lighted pumpkins:

I got up early to work today, and of course our internet service was on the blink, so I didn't get any early work done. I had about an hour to finish up last night, and Dan got home so late I didn't get out to get Melodie's presents, so we had to do that after we dropped the girls off to school today. AND, I didn't get the cake baked last night because I wanted to go to bed so I could get up early, so that's in the oven right now. I still need to boil potatoes for some potato salad because the grandparents are coming over tonight for pizza and cake and ice cream. I've got to quit work around 1:00 to go to the girls' Halloween parties at school, and my grandparents will probably be waiting at home when we get home from school. The house is a mess. Oh yeah, did I mention I'm supposed to work today!?! Oh well, I'm sure we'll manage to get most stuff done. I bought Atley a pack of Thomas stickers from the dollar store this morning and told him if he cleans for me, he can have some of his trick-or-treat candy and the pack of stickers. Yes, it's bribery, and no I don't think it's wrong. If it works, use it! Anywho,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Wednesday

I couldn't think of a title for today....just random stringing together of thoughts, I guess. Yesterday was an eventful day. We dropped the girls off at school, then went right to the store for groceries. Ari's teacher sent a note home Monday night they were low on snack, and I wasn't about to go to the store down the street and pay 3 times what I would at the store the next day. Then, we rushed home (I was running late because I was looking for birthday presents for Melodie. Did you know Walmart does not sell diaries with locks? Heads up, just in case you were in the market.) I hurried up and frosted the cupcakes I made to take in to Melodie's class for her birthday. We did it yesterday since their class Halloween party is Friday, and the teacher wanted her to get a special day, and not just stuck in with the party. How more thoughtful can you get? Atley helped put sprinkles on them. Then, we ran to school, dropped off the snack with Ari's class, and ran down to Melodie's class. Well, I had only been in her new classroom for this year once, and apparently I didn't remember which one it was, because we walked into the wrong classroom (after knocking...but they had paper covering the window so we couldn't see in) and Atley yelled peek-a-boo! Oops! I apologized, but the teacher still seemed really ticked. Geez, I said I was sorry. Anyway, so we found the right classroom and shared in the cupcakes and singing with 21 very hyper 3rd and 4th graders! I have NEVER seen them THIS hyper. Wow. Friday, I think I'll take my chances with the kindergarteners! (I'm a room mom in both girls' classes.)

I finished up a cell phone pouch for my Harry Potter House Cup Transfiguration class. I crocheted it up from the wool yarn I dyed for Herbology with the black walnuts, then I felted it. I think I might give the felting another go. It's not quite as fitted as I wanted it to be. I'm torn though, because there's enough room to slip my license and debit card or a couple dollars in it if I don't want to take a purse somewhere. Hmmmm...decisions, decisions. I also started a pair of mittens for Charlie yesterday. I don't like my decrease and am going to give it another go. Plus, Dan said that my idea of V on one and W on the other is stupid, and if you don't but the VW on each one, it won't make sense. So, I'm going to try to work out a teeny weeny VW symbol. (Dan is a HUGE VW bug fan. I used to be, until I got Dan. Now, I hate those tiny little cars.) Anyway, my first intarsia work was a VW hat for Dan and one for Atley. Charlie needs a winter hat, so I did start on that after the mitten failure yesterday because it's a quick knit. I'm going to add ear flaps and ties to his, though. I got the yarn for the girls', too, but I'm going to do those for Yule.