A Caroling We Go

Our Cub Scout pack went caroling at our hospital's extended care facility. I don't think the kids were prepared for what they were going to see. I know my kids weren't. I haven't been in a place like that for a long time, so I didn't even think about talking to them first. My kids were scared. They didn't expect to see older, incapacitated people. Some of them were completely unresponsive as we went through. My kids hid behind me and were to afraid to look at anyone. Then, a lady in a wheelchair discovered us and followed us around, trying to hold the kids' hands. They dealt with it well and were polite about it. We had a talk afterward about why the patients were there and how boring and lonely it would be to be in the hospital all the time. I told them that their being there was exciting for them. The kids seemed to be okay with everything after that.

We had our pack meeting after that and everyone got pinewood derby cars. Woohoo! G2 wants to make his into the cheesemobile (sshh-it's a secret!).

Hot off the needles...

This second sock is the fastest I've knitted--7 days. That's really fast for me. I've realized that knitting goes much quicker if I set small goals within a project for myself.For example, if I try to get ten rows of a sock done a day, like I did this one. That's good. I end up knitting more than that sometimes, depending on how much free time I have.

This pair is going to another teacher at school. It's the least I can do for all the advice she's given me and the shoulder to lean on.

We're expecting bad weather this weekend. After our two snow days and one two-hour delay last week, I'm glad this is happening on the weekend. We're losing too much time at school. Everything will be crazy enough next week anyway with it being the week before break.

The kids and I tried our hands at baking cookies last weekend. G2 picked out cupcakes from a box and G1 and I actually tried to bake from scratch. We made Chocolate Crinkle cookies from Family Fun magazine. They look great--just like the picture. The taste, however, is not quite sweet enough for me. They need a little more sugar.

This weekend we're making brownies for the Cub Scout Pack Meeting Monday and I want to try some pumpkin muffins with a streusel topping. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

It's hard to believe, but my little sister is 16 years old today. It just seems like yesterday that I babysat for her while her mom and dad went out for a well-deserved dinner and she cried shortly after they left the house until they walked back in the door. At the time I thought that was one of the longest evenings of mylife. Looking back, it was hardly anything. Here she is at about 10 months old with a proud dad looking on. She has always liked to have her picture taken.

When she was little, she loved to watch Barney and sing. One of her favorite songs was "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Her version of it was "Fruit fruit fruit for the home team." We would ask her how tall she was and she'd answer "free foot free." One of her favorite movies was "Fumberia" (Thumbelina for those that don't speak Katie-ese!). She's always been a good aunt, even though she's only six years older than G1. She would lay on the floor with him and read to him. This was in 1998, when Katie was seven and G1 was 8 months old.
She's had some big life changes in the past couple of years, but I know she's strong and she can survive it all with her head held high. She's become a beautiful young woman. And I'm starting to cry. Love you lots, Kaitlyn Anna! I just wished we lived closer so I could see you more often.
I also realized I don't have this year's school picture.....

Just for Lyndsey!!

Lyndsey S. says I need to update my blog more often. Here it is... a couple of Thanksgiving pix I haven't posted yet. G1 & G2 and my nephew R. My boys really enjoyed chasing a newly-walking 18-month-old around. He loves to open and close doors. We played in the sheds in Sears for about an hour. He really liked closing himself in and then finding us on the outside.

This is my brother Big R and his son Little R. It was good to see my family on Thanksgiving, especially since I won't see them again until next summer.

My dad really kicked my butt walking! He walks for about an hour and a half everyday. I thought I was in pretty good shape. I walked for an hour with him--about 4 miles and was worn out. The weather was nice the first two days we were there in South Carolina--nearly 70 degrees. After that, it was cold and windy. Just like here.

G2 received his Bobcat badge at the Cub Scout Pack Meeting in November. He learned everything pretty quickly. The picture turned out very blurry for some reason. He loves Scouts.
Here is my sister Katie for those of you in 3rd period who couldn't believe I had a 15-year-old sister.

The New Addition to our Family

This is my test to upload a video. We got Little Bill, the hamster, about a month ago.

Back Home

We got back from South Carolina yesterday afternoon. Traffic was not bad at all. A lot of people were travelling, but the cars moved steadily. There was no stop and go. The great thing about the trip is that I only drove 2 of the 8 hours on the way down and not at all on the way back. I got a lot of knitting done. These first two pix are of my Jaywalkers. The second sock always seems to go faster than the first for me and these socks knit up very fast. I'm going to give them to another teacher at school. Her dad passed away a couple of weeks ago and she's been feeling pretty low.

The third pic is my Jaywalker/Chevron scarf. The yarn is Deluxe Chunky LP from Universal Yarn Inc. I love the color combination, but the yarn itself irritates me. I started the scarf and after the first two stripes, the yarn just quit. Literally. It was like it was torn apart. I put the two stripes aside and started the scarf again. After three stripes, the yarn had a huge knot in it. I haven't had any problems since, but those two were enough. Anyway, the pattern is from the Jaywalker sock pattern. Instead of knitting even every other as in the sock, I purl. Easy peasy!

Still working on the Tweedy Vest...almost to the neckline!!

We had a great visit down South. Thanksgiving was good and I got to see my family. My nephew R is getting really big. He's walking now and is into everything. He loves to give high-fives and play with the light switches. He can go to Lowe's and stare at the ceiling fans with lights for an hour.

Dad gave me a huge stack of books to read. I don't know when I'll ever find the time.

It was great to see everyone, especially since I probably won't see them again until summer.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a great holiday. We're heading out this morning to my parents' house in South Carolina. It's about an eight-hour drive, so I hope to show some FOs upon my return. I only have about 15 row left on my second Jaywalker sock and I've started a Jaywalker (chevron) scarf, too. Maybe I'll finally get my tweedy vest finished!

I'm thankful to have a warm house to come home to everyday, two kids who make me laugh with their crazy dancing, a job that's pretty secure, and a husband who is always on top of things. Lots of people in town are losing their jobs shortly after Christmas because one of our main employers has decided to move out of state. Things are not good here for many people right now. One man who's losing his job has a six-year-old little girl who has been diagnosed with a tumor on her brain stem. My prayers go out to them. Please send your good thoughts along, too...