Ramble On

It is cold today. I had plans to go get started on Christmas shopping since hubs took the older two children camping for the weekend. But it's cold, as I mentioned before, and I don't want to take the baby out in this especially with all the crap going around. It looks like rain for the next couple of days as well. The best laid plans...

So instead I will do some housework, wear warm comfy clothes, and knit.



I'm working on stocking #2 in orange and white (really undyed) wool for my oldest. I let the kids pick their colors (I think I mentioned that before) which was as huge deal for me as I'm sort of (okay very) controlling. I think it looks beautiful though and not something I would have chosen at all and I sort of like that.

I just finished reading Still Alice. It was okay, the story was heartbreaking but I felt like the writing was not so good. The writing lacked emotion and depth I felt bad for Alice and her family just because of what was happening to them not because I actually cared for the characters. It might be a good read for people who really have no idea what Alzheimer and Dementia since it contains a lot of "facts" about the illness but at times I felt I was reading a child's text book. The characters were under developed and flat. I'm glad I borrow this from the library instead of buying it.

2/5 Stars.

While I don’t think that having children should be an excuse for a dirty house there is a difference between dirty and lived in. My children live in every room of this house. There are toys everywhere, if we ever move it’s going to be a task to gather all the toys in one place to actually pack them. I have a feeling that toys/games/bits will be found stuffed in every box as we unpack.

There are days when I have everything planned there are days were we all sit down and eat lunch together at 12 o’clock at the kitchen table then there’s a nap for the baby and outside play time for the older ones. We bake, we craft, then there are days like today when we are in survival mode.

My husband is out of town and my 11-month-old missed her daddy and did not sleep last night. Today has consisted of quiet restful play and a lot of DVR’d Blue’s Clues on the TV. I fed them when they were hungry we had a lot of snacks (and some caffeine for me). I sat in the play yard with the baby and built block tower after block tower she helped me put her toys in and out of her toy box. I did no housework today, oh there was laundry sitting in the washer and I should have been hung out on the line but I had no energy do anything but be there in that moment with the children not planning ahead not thinking of anything but meeting their (and my) needs. Change a diaper, get a drink, fill a sippy cup, nurse, and repeat. This is the part of being a mother that I never anticipated, getting no sleep the night before and has to be present, awake. Oh I had plans for today but if I’ve learned anything in eight years I’ve been doing this it’s to be flexible and ride it out. It hasn’t always been easy I put a lot of pressure on myself to have everything be just so and I’m a planner, plain and simple. I always have been. I’m trying to just let go, sometimes it’s nice when life just forces you to.

I taught my oldest how to knit. At the end of our lesson he did one whole row by himself. I'm so proud!

I, however, did not finish my square for the day but I did start on one and got it about 1/3 of the way done, so I'm happy. The yarn for the stockings is still sitting patiently beside my chair, I'm getting anxious to start on them!

After the kidlets went to bed I started on this:



I bought* this forever-ago but never cut it out. I set it up on the end table for the kids to find in the morning.



It's stinkin' hot here. I'm watching the tail end of Project Runway then I'm heading to bed.

* here is the link to the where to buy the mushroom cottage PDF

Today I had plans to let the kids have at the Fimo, however, it's been so.dang.hot here that I didn't want to turn on the oven. So instead we played the wii....all day. Well the kids played the Wii and I watched/changed diapers/got drinks as requested. It was a fun day. We're expecting more rain tomorrow and Friday the weekend is supposed to be clear but we'll see. I hope that I'll be able to hang the wash out on the line at some point this week.



Anyway, I got another square done today. Now I'm up to four out of the 20 I need to make.



I also got the yarn I ordered to do the Christmas stockings today, so I think I'm all set with knitting for a while. I think I'm going to knit two more squares for the afghan, then I will have knit one of each pattern, put that aside and knit a stocking, repeat until everything is done. I'm also already thinking about how I'm going to back the afghan, like I really think I'm going to finish it! I'm not terribly good with follow through, I'm hoping by documenting my progress that I'll actually be able to do it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and wearing my wrist braces at night (at least for most of the night, the braces freak the baby out).

I now have 3.5 squares done (really they are more like rectangles). I like it so far. Pretty. I might mix up the colors for the other squares, I have to do at least three of each one but dunno know we'll see how the color supplies are holding up.

Things have changed. I know now that I want to try things that I've never done before, even if it's as something as small as knitting. I want my kids to have something that I've made that maybe they'll want to keep which is why a couple of days ago I started on this blanket. I've only got one and a half squares done and I'm going to have to only work on it every-other-day due to my carpel tunnel but it's going to get done.



Now my general rule used to be not to talk about anything I was making (especially big projects) because then I'd never finish them. For some reason. That won't be happening again. I'm only going to knit things that I love from now on, why waste the time and effort on things that I won't be happy with in the end? The things on my agenda right now are this blanket and those five Christmas stockings for my family (which I have ordered the yarn for). After these are done, who knows. I feel like a weight has been lifted, it sounds so stupid but it's true.

seems to be a theme isn't it?

I got some news, some bad news, which has really changed my perspective about somethings. So I've been dealing with that at some point I might talk about it but for now I'm processing. My youngest has also started to walk so it's been...interesting around here to say the least.


Yesterday we made pickles ala the Toby Show. We tried them this afternoon and they are YUMMY I was very nervous because I do not generally like pickles but everything tastes better when it's home made (and home grown).

The cucumbers were from my uncle's garden. I want to share a jar of the pickles with him, hopefully he'll enjoy them.

We also made woopie pies (if you're not from PA you might not know what I'm talking about)

they are cake-like cookies filled with cream. I made them gluten free and filled them with my grandma's fruit dip (YUM). I'll be posting the recipe soon.


Also, I've been knitting. For a long time I've been wanting to create some Christmas stockings for my family but I've been too intimidated to even start. However due to my news I decided I better just get started so I picked up some cheap yarn from Joann's and just jumped in with both feet. It turned out SO WELL.

I followed this pattern. Now I'm planning on ordering some yarn from knitpicks and knitting five more. My kids want to pick their own colors but the snowflakes are going to remain white. I think they'll turn out well *crosses fingers*

I also want to do this.