Check this out, re: CPSIA!!

Raising Them Green has a nice post about a ruling on the CPSIA! It looks like, for at least another year, handmade toys are safe! WooHoo!!

I know, I've been awfully quiet lately. I've been busting out some knitting, though! I've just finished working the gusset on my first Hedgerow sock. If I get some good knitting time in tonight, I should have it done! I'm hoping to have the second one done by Saturday.

I've also been designing. The pattern for Charlie's teether toy is being tested right now, which I hope to have up for sale soon. Dan and I are also working on some VW Beetle themed projects. Stay tuned for updates on those!

Well, that's about it for me. Work, kids, snow, work, snow, cold, snow.....ugh...snow. Someone needs to take out Punxsatawney Phil, by the way! Stupid groundhog and his 6 more weeks of winter. (I know, they'd be there anyway, but it just makes it feel nicer when he says spring is on its way.)

Sunday Morning, Comin' Down

The snow, that is. Again. God, I hate snow! Ohio, why do you have to snow so, so much? Can't you just snow for the holidays and then stop and go back to being 40-45 until spring? I'd be happy with that, ya know.

Anyhoo, I still haven't gotten my yarn I ordered. :0( (I know, it's not like they have those tube thing from Star Trek to beam me yarn.) So, I took Ari and Charlie and went to Joann's at 8:00 last night to get some, instead! :0) Plus, I got so excited to order my sock yarn, that I forgot to order yarn for Charlie's socks. My friend Lori and I have been talking about the construction of the "perfect baby sock." And I didn't have any boy-approved sock yarn! So, we picked up some Sensation Soles and More in Green and Blue for Charlie and in a purple and pink for Ari. (I had 3 coupons....I had to use them, right?) And I also picked up a skein of brown Wool Ease Chunky to do a test bonnet for Charlie. I had picked up some Homespun at Wally World, and I HATE it! That is the WORST stuff to crochet with. I will knit a bunny blanket buddy with it, because the old ladies at the LYS that used to be right across the street from my house said it's much easier to knit with. (Of course, they unfortunately went out of business about 6 months before I learned to purl. :0( My sucky luck!) Oh, I had also gotten some brown sock yarn for Charlie off ebay, but again, the zapping thing and my impatience got the better of me. Especially when I needed other yarn. And had coupons. (I love Ron "Tater Salad" White, and I just can't say the word coupons enough. Coupons.)

Yes, I'm a little giddy today. Dan took Melodie on about a 2+ hour shopping trip to the parts store today, so I've got the nice, quiet, well behaved children at home while I work. Yay!

So, I got Sway's capelet done last night. I haven't taken any pics yet, though. I'll probably do it after work tonight. Then, onto the next project! I think I'll do my arithmancy homework next. I'll be using my numerology numbers to do a striped bag for my drop spindle...or a DPN holder. I'm still undecided.

On the Mend

I am very happy to report that my friend's baby is doing much better! Thank you so much for the kind thoughts and words. In fact, he is home and out of the hospital now. It also turns out that due to physician error before performing tests, he did not, in fact, have an infection at all! It was a non-problematic skin bacteria on final results, so they pumped him full of antibiotics and turned him into a baby human pincushion for nothing. Needless to say, my friend is furious, but so glad to have her baby home and safe, aside from his poor little tummy being affected from the high dose antibiotics. I can't believe a doctor wouldn't be more studious about diagnosing problems with a baby. If anyone ever put my baby through that, they would wish they never met me! (All of my kids, but especially the poor baby, who can't even talk and say what's wrong!)

Speaking of babies. I've got a question for ya: How does a baby get Cheerios down the back of their onesie? Charlie currently has on a onesie, a long sleeved t-shirt, and overalls. I just changed him, and there were Cheerios down the back of his onesie! This isn't the first time he has performed this feat, but I'm still stumped! lol

I'm almost done with my second sock! I plan to wear them on Tuesday, Lori! I'm ready to turn the heel tonight.

Oh, we've also got at least like 6 inches of snow since Friday. It's crazy. And my mom said it's supposed to snow all week. I HATE snow! It's snowing again right now. The kids are in heaven. They love to play in the snow. They went out and had a snowball fight and made snow angels earlier today. Of course, demanding their cocoa as soon as they came back in!

White New Year's!

Well, we didn't have a White Christmas, but it looks to be a White New Year's!! I don't know how much snow we got, but it was enough for the kids to go outside and play! Of course, Ari stayed out for about 15 minutes. She was back inside before the other 2 even got out there. Atley lasted about 10. I think they only go out long enough to justify me making hot chocolate! As soon as they walk through the door, that's the first word out of their mouths! I did realize we are woefully lacking in snow attire this year, though! I forgot we're short an Ari-sized snow suit and Melodie's abnormally large feet have grown again, and she's in need of new boots!

I finally finished Ari's sock. I'm torn. I REALLY want to start my new socks, but she loved it, and really wants me to make the other one so she can wear them. Looks like I'll be getting a new set of DPN's!

I got my Christmas tree taken down yesterday. A new year, a new start! I also went through a few boxes while I was in the attic! I got rid of 2 boxes of stuff, and a bag full of empty boxes went out to the recycling! (Which did not come...AGAIN!! Republic Waste Service is the WORST trash company we have ever dealt with. They never pick up our recycling on time. They throw our trash cans in the street. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I have to call them and complain at least twice a month!) Sorry about the little rant. At least now I got out into cyberspace they are crap!

Oooo...the snow just started coming down pretty good again!! Ari just went back out to play.

One more day down....

And only one more to go to my Girl's Night Out! Yay!

Conferences went good yesterday. Melodie got bright, shining reviews. She's reading Emily Dickinson with 2 other little girls, and they're exploring imagery and will be starting on rhyme and rhythm after break! Her teacher also asked me last night if it was okay to start her on some pre-algebra stuff. Two of the 4th grade boys are doing it, and she thought Melodie may enjoy it, too.

Ari is doing good. Her teacher said she's really opened up, which we were worried about. She said her speech is doing better, and she can understand her all the time. She's behaving well in class. (She only got her first yellow the other day. She went outside with no coat on! Her teacher's aide told her twice to get her coat before she went out...so she got her gloves and went without the coat. To her defense, she is always hot and has always hated coats.) She needs to work on her handwriting. And, we need to work on memorizing our address and phone number. I've tried and tried, but she always tells me she knows it, and she doesn't have to say it. Gotta love my stubborn, independent little girl!

We actually got an inch or 2 of snow last night. Apparently, the city Dan works in is supposed to get up to a foot today. (It's about half an hour away.) It's supposed to snow some tomorrow, too. Must dress warm for parade!

My grandparents stopped by yesterday. My grandpa said the word "eat" when asking if we were still able to go out to eat for lunch next Wednesday when the girls are off school, and Charlie freaked out. He started squirming and turning around to look at me! That boy loves his food! When they left, my grandpa waved "bye-bye" at him, and he waved back! That was his first wave!

I didn't get anymore done on my vest yesterday. I was beat after conferences and the ensuing crying when Ari didn't get 15 pens at $3 a pop.

It's still snowing

It's coming down again. We really haven't gotten more than a dusting here. It keeps falling and melting. Just about an hour north of us, they've got a foot in some places. Gotta love Ohio! We always say, if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it'll change.

Today is wear a shirt with words to read on it. (They're doing special days for book fair week.) Ari is wearing her Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix shirt! For any of you who don't know, Ari is a HUGE HP fan. She prefers to be called Hermione. Since she was about 3 1/2, she has been all about Harry. We are very sad we don't get to go to a movie opening night at midnight tonight! (Yes, I was going to take her and keep her out of school the next day. I know, I'm a bad mom.) Alas, we have to wait until July. :0( At least we get to go for our birthdays again. (For the OOTP, Dan and I shipped the other kids off to my mom's and took Ari out for a nice dinner and to see OOTP with just us. Her birthday is about a week and a half after mine, so we went as a combined treat for the 2 of us.) Plus, I've been trying to read her the books to get her caught up on everything, and to prepare her for sad things that happen at the end of #6. (I almost wrote the spoiler, but then it dawned on me that some people, if it's really possible, might not have read HP and the HBP. Oh, the blasphemy!)

I got a little more done on the vest last night. Small steps. I'm hoping to have it done by Tuesday so I can at least take Charlie for first Christmas pictures.

Today is also conference day at school. Of course, I wrote down the times of the conferences on my calendar....but not whose teacher was at what time! Ah well, you live, you learn. So, it looks like I have to call the secretary today. This is my first year for having to go to 2 conferences. Next year, I'll know better for 3!!

Picture Day

Yup, it's picture day, again. Today is holiday picture day. The girls dutifully donned their Christmas sweaters. Of course, the great big huge bright blue basket of hair implements is gone, so no one got any bows. Don't ask me where the basket went! We also had a slightly easier time of getting ready this morning. Everyone's hair was washed....with actual shampoo....this time! Melodie was still not happy, though. Apparently, she had no hot water, and was very unhappy. We got to school right on time, though!

Last time I had been outside, Dan hadn't put the seats back up in the Blazer after he got the mattress. I went outside this morning, cranky, because I just knew I had to put everything back....and to my surprise, not only were the seats up, but this time all the seat belts were properly through, and he even put the baby seat back in! Isn't it funny, how after kids, the dumbest things make your husband seem like the sexiest man alive? To me, that was more romantic than just about anything else. (The single, long stem red rose and half pound of my favorite chocolates he picked up 2 Fridays ago and surprised me with also melted my heart. I asked him why, and he said because I deserved it, and he felt bad because we didn't do anything for Sweetest Day!)

I actually, finally, am almost done with the sweater sleeve! I've got 1/2 an inch to do in st st, then I'll start the raglan shaping, then I can attach it, and I'll be done! Hopefully, tonight. I think I'm going to crochet the boys' vests. It will go so much quicker, and I found a cute sweater pattern in an old pamphlet I dug out, so I think I'm going to make that without the sleeves, and call it a day.

Here is a picture of our snow today. It's not much, but it's our first sticking snow of the year!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Ok, so there's not THAT much snow, ok so NONE that stuck, but we had our first flakes today folks!! I must say, I was as giddy as a little schoolgirl to see those flakes...or a preschool boy, as the case may be. My schoolgirls were already at school. I can only assume if they saw the snow, they were in fact quite peeved because they could not go out in it. My mom said some stations are calling for 2 inches by tomorrow...others nada. It is Ohio, I'm sure one or both of them will be right. And, I know, a mere few posts ago I was complaining about the nonexistant snow, and now I'm happy. If we get those 2 inches, talk to me then. I'll be back to hating it again in no time!