a is for apple

Little man started school last week, let's ignore the fact that there has only been oh 10 posts since this time last year.  He's growing up.  This year he's in the two class at preschool next year we'll be touring college campuses.  

He started crying again at drop off.  We were doing pretty good at the end of summer session.  I had to walk him in and hand him to someone but the last few weeks we hadn't seen any tears.  But boy are they back now.  They tell me it doesn't last too long and every time I've walked in he is happily playing with all the other boys around the garage with the cars and monster trucks.

The girls are playing in the other corner with the dolls and kitchen, or up checking out who's coming in and what they are doing there.  Nosy nellies those little girls are, it starts so early and never ends!

We are fortunate that we found a school with great teachers and a great bunch of friends for Cohen.  It sure makes drop off and the tears that come along at that time easier to bear. 

The dog in case anyone is wondering is for sale for 50 bucks, according to the Mr.  Actually he's doing quite well and at times I can see where he is learning the ropes and will make a great dog, other times I find myself on craigslist making a dog for sale ad...kidding.  He keeps me company when the kid is napping, like now.  He makes the little man's day by jumping on the trampoline with him and chasing after him when he's riding on his power wheels.  I think he is a great addition to the family, one day the Mr. might even agree and you can bet your bottom's dollar he will hear a big "I told you so" when he does.

Titus

What a better way to make a come back than to introduce you to the newest member to the fam.  Please meet Titus.

We brought him home the week of the Fourth of July and he has definitely been a handful ever since.  I obviously had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy in the house.  Or maybe we just got lucky the other times around.  Or maybe life with a puppy and a 2.5 year old is different than life with just a puppy.  I suspect a little of all three.

He was without a name for a brief period and truth be told I don't think any of us are completely sold on the name.  after he had been here two weeks the hubs was trying to change it.  A couple days ago I was asking why didn't we name him Tucker.  Honestly I think Tucker would've been better.  Oh well Titus it is.  In four years we won't think anything of it...or we will still be asking why didn't we name him such and such.

He is one smart cookie.  I taught him "leave it" in two days.  He will also sit while you make his food bowl, and politely wait until you say "eat".  We are still working on it, I'll admit, however this morning he did it flawlessly.  He is a fetch champion, if fetch doesn't require one to bring the fetching item back to the thrower but instead run around the thrower, lay down, and immediately start chomping of the fetching item.  We are obviously still working on this too.  

A bit of a side note...this picture reminds me so much of Buckwheat and makes me a bit sad, I must admit.

I must say I'm looking forward to years down the road to see the bond that Cobra and this little guy will hopefully share.

project wool eater

is a miserable failure...ok not a miserable failure.  I actually wouldn't call it a failure at all, but I did not complete it.  Man those chicks can crochet!  I just couldn't keep up, even with the 9 hours a week I have to kill while Cohen is at preschool.

This has taught me how to crochet...I say that very loosely.  I still have no idea what I'm doing outside of this pattern.  

I was going strong on the old blanket here, then I read Susan B. Anderson's "How I Make My Socks" post and found myself in a yarn store holding enough yarn to make 2 pairs of socks and a random scarf.  

I will say though that my socks are almost done.  I was about an inch away from the toe on my second sock when little man broke my wooden needle.  This was after the Mr. sat and splintered one already.  Somehow I don't think I'm going to get very far with three needles.  I will finish them this week though, I just need to locate another set, because lord knows I've got a couple floating around this house somewhere.

But back to the blanket.  I made it through week three...out of 8.  That's 13 different color rounds out of 26.  Not a complete win but a great start if you ask me.  Remember this is my first project bigger than a potholder.  So I'm saying its not too shabby.

happy vday

Cohen had his first Valentine's Party yesterday at school. I managed to get a few pics of him before we headed out the door, shocker I know.

He's actually becoming somewhat cooperative when it comes to me taking his picture.  For everyone else he'll give them a big ole cheese but not me, he would always turn the other way.  However maybe just maybe the tides are turning.

He's getting so big, and yes I am perfectly aware of the fact that it may just be time for another hair cut.

 In terms of valentines, he scored, he came home with a big bag full of goodies.  I must say I had fun putting his together too.

The kiddies got a bag of Hugs and Kisses...

tied to a board book.  Pretty cute if you ask me.  No, I'm not biased or anything.

The teachers got a reuseable cup filled with Hugs and Kisses too, as well as...

a starbucks gift card, for a small amount, cleverly hidden behind the tag.  Cute again if I do say so myself.

Hope everyone had a great Vday.

XOXO

look ma i'm crocheting

Don't let this post fool you.  I still have a ways to go before I can call myself a crocheter, like learning to read a pattern.  No joke I can't.  I actually found this video on youtube to learn how to do this pattern.  Then I went back to the Sarah London site, and upon seeing how my blanket was just a tad different I started again using the numbers and directions from that site, again only after I learned how to do it from youtube.

I'm not sure how I'm loving the colors yet, but seems as though this is my second time starting and I've ripped out two colors on this one alone, these colors are staying.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of it.  I mean I can't say I'm a beginner, you know what with those two potholders under my belt and all, but I can say that I wouldn't have expected myself to get the hang of it this quick.

Now I'm not saying she's perfect.  Actually she's a  bit wonky, not quite square, the middles are sticking out a bit further than the corners.  Oh well, nothing a little blocking can't fix, isn't that what they always say.

And shhh...don't tell anyone but I'm hiding a dirty dirty secret.

I haven't been weaving in the ends as I go.  I have made a deal with myself though, I won't weave in as I go but I can't continue on with the next week's rows until I weave in the past week's ends.  

you mean i have to write a post and come up with a clever title

I know what you're thinking, it's the second week of January and since I didn't post last week I have already become a failure where my resolutions are concerned.  Nope, ok so maybe I did somewhat when it comes to blogging but I'll just throw in another post this week to make up for it.  

I have however been making improvements when it comes to other areas.  We haven't eaten out once, well I did get a Mountain Dew at Taco Bell but that was it, there was no food involved and it was only once so we will just erase it from our memories ok?  Ok.  I have cooked every night, if you include chicken nuggets and frozen pizza, at home.  Thanks to pinterest we have added a few new dishes our menu as well.  I've starting going through each room in the house, giving it a good ole deep clean and decluttering.  Does anyone else find it disturbing when you go into your child's room, think 2 here not 16, and come out with a full bag of trash.  Given it was old toys that I thought would be better off trashed than donated but still some part of me just thought that was wrong.

Book number one was completed Saturday afternoon.  I decided it would be a good time to finish off the Maze Runner, and read the last book The Death Cure.

Not too bad.  I don't know that I am in love with how it ended, or the series as a whole for that matter.  Really the first book was the best, isn't it always, and I don't know how else it could have ended so all in all I guess I'm satisfied.  It definitely wasn't a waste of my time and my niece was able to borrow the books and seemed to enjoy them so all is good in the world right?  Yesterday, instead of driving all the way home and back while little man was at school I headed over to the library.  I know shocker right?  The real kicker is that after I finished writing up the thank you notes for aforementioned little man's b-day, I not only got a library card...gasp...but checked out a book...double gasp.  I have not had a library card for at least the past 7 years.  Don't ask me why.  When I lived in Georgia I frequented the library on a regular basis.  I was never that girl who had her nose in a book while walking down the hallway at school, but if I find a good book I am the type to read it in one day.  So anyway this week's book is A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay.

I read Sarah's Key  which is also written by her and was hooked, so when I saw this one on the shelf I thought eh why not.  Am I the only one who isn't a one author kinda gal.  For some reason I tend to start reading the second book and keep flashing back to the first and wonder why isn't so and so in here yet and what does this have to do with whatever happened in the first book.  I just can't separate the two for some reason.  In less of course it is a series in which case it basically is the same story and all is good.

I've been trucking right along in the world of crochet.  I found this crochet-a-long, for the wool eater blanket I'm going to try to finish this year.

  

I super excited about finding it.  This is just the motivation I need to keep the blanket going til the end.  Yep that's right, keep it going.  I've already started it, twice actually.  Once using a youtube video, hey I said I can't read a pattern, then again when I figured out how to do it but decided I liked Sarah London's version better.  I'm on the fifth color change already, but after this I'm out of yarn and I don't really know how the no spending in January and need of yarn will work together but I'll figure something out.

So all in all the resolutions have been going well.  Time to keep up with what I've already been doing and keep adding to it.

do better

Here we are, another year gone, another year eagerly awaiting.  And what comes with the new year?  New Year Resolutions of course.  I've never been one to join in in the whole resolution thing but this year I think it would do me a bit of good to give it a go.

So what's mine you ask?  To do better.  That's it, simple and to the point.  There are so many things that I could "do better" and this is the year I'm going to.  

I'm going to read more, blog more, eat better, feed my family better.  I want to spend better and ultimately save better.  I want to take time to knit, and learn to crochet.  I want to get organized, to clean better, run this house better.  Yeah I know that's a whole lot in one little resolution, my first one none the less, but the way I figure the more it includes the better my chances are to follow through with something in it.

I have a few concrete plans...I want to commit to read a book a week, blog twice a week...ok ok once a week, twice would be a bonus in which I would earn a cookie, start planning a menu each week/month.  The hubs and I have already decided that this January is no spending month, and one place I shamelessly admit to wasting money is fast food, so January I am going to eat out at most....once!  I would say none but as soon as I do the hubs will want to go out to eat so I will give myself one meal out.  This isn't the only way I/we will be saving and lessening spending, it's more of a tid bit of info for the time being.

I already have my first crochet project picked out.

Pattern

Obviously this isn't my picture, it is a picture I found on flickr of this blanket.  I can only hope mine turns out half this nice.

I must say that I have taken a crochet class, and did well.  I have also crocheted a pot holder.  So maybe "learn to crochet" isn't exactly the best terminology, but I wouldn't go as far to say that I "know how to crochet", so I'm sticking with it, maybe I'll just add a disclaimer.  I want to learn to crochet...even though I know how to chain and technically do not only a single crochet but also a double crochet, however I haven't the slightest clue as to how to read a pattern or how to actually construct something!  Anyway you look at it I want to have this finished by the end of the year.  I have no concrete way of adding in more knitting time, all I know is that I haven't knit anything the entire month of December, and not much prior to that, so at this point anything would be an improvement.  Honestly I love knitting and I want to make my lazy self get out the pointy sticks while I'm watching my trash tv in the evenings, that's really as simple as it is.

Organization...oh how I've let you go.  I want to find you again...  You know really a meal plan has to be one of the simplest things you could do around the house.  I mean it takes 5 minutes to come up with a week worth of food, so why don't I do it...LAZY!!!  That's it.  I've also come up with a plan to make next month, year, ect. even easier.  Simply keep up with what we are having each night and copy it the next month.  Obviously switch it up with the season or change a meal here or there depending on grocery sales but really this takes 99% of the work out of meal planning.  2012 will also be the year of decluttering.  Our house is shrinking, ok fine my stuff is growing.  Either way I have to do something about it.  I found this great calendar for decluttering in the year 2012, so here is where I'm going to start.  Also I'm going to create and stick to a cleaning/chore calendar.  

This is just a small sample of all the things that are floating around in my head for the upcoming year.  It's not really as broad and general as "do better", but do better just covers it all.  So here's to a new year, hope yours is even better than the last.