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.

a christmas cheat

Ok you caught me.  I'm adding in our Christmas photos in February, oh yeah it's March now.  I'm totally back dating it though, hence the "cheat".

 Little man was not cooperating for the photo taking this day.  Apparently there was something on TV that was more interesting than the lens of my camera.

I don't think I got a single picture of him looking at the camera.

My sister in law told me that the older your kids get the more excited you are at Christmas.  Well Christmas has always been a fun time in my of the family, we have always found the holiday spirit, but even so she was definitely right.  This year was so much more fun than last.  This year Gammy, Aunt Heather, myself, and the kiddos loaded up one night to drive around and check out the Christmas lights.  I hope I never forget the image of Heather and Cohen, she calls it car dancing, I call it seizures, whatever it was it was some funny hand movements, in the back of the car jamming away to Christmas Carols.  The kids really seemed to enjoy the lights.  I can't wait to do it again next year.  And of course we have our second annual Santa pic...

Heather and I are going to have to start dressing all holiday-y if these kids don't man up and start getting their picture taken with Santa by themselves.  That was the picture Gammy liked, I think it was because of Morgan.  I mean who can blame Gammy really, your eyes go straight for her, she is so happy.  Heather however preferred this picture...

And who can blame her.  I mean what was she doing in that first pic.  I, on the other hand, would prefer if the kids would've sat with Santa alone.

It was so great to see Cohen wake up and stumble out to see the tree.  He had woke up in the middle of the night and I carried him into our room to go sleep in our bed.  For some reason Jody had gone outside after we woke up that morning, I'm sure he had good reason, I think he was checking something out.  I was trying to keep Cohen in our room until he came back in, without being too obvious, because when your kid is 2 you don't want to be too obvious I guess.  Anyway I failed.  I didn't get to see his expression because I was behind him, but I could picture it.  He walked to our door and just froze in awe.  Then the rest of the day was just kind of chill.  We opened presents, played, ate, and just hung out.  It was really nice.  PS, the tool bench is from Aunt HC, Uncle Rob, and Morgan and there were a couple presents under the tree from Gams as well.  

I can't decide which of these is my fave, this one of the first (the one that is pulled back a bit).  

it's been a while kyle

Yeah so apparently the month of September just doesn't exist around here, since I skipped blogging the whole time.  I have no excuse...no I have excuses, just no good excuses.  However I'm going to ease back into this whole blogging thing with a short but sweet post today.

So we went to Aunt Heather's this past weekend.  It was filled with fall festivals, pumpkin patches, and screaming kids...lots of screaming, mostly from Morgan...ha ha ha, ok ok Cohen did his fair share plus more too.

I didn't take my camera out anywhere near as much as I should have.  The only reason it went with me to the pumpkin patch was because Heather's was dead, then all my pictures were way over exposed.  To say I was lazy in the photo area is an understatement.

We have a few pictures of the two punks because Uncle Rob suggested we toss them in front of the pumpkins once we got home.  Good call Uncle "Rah" (as Cohen says).  So Gammy did get to see the little ones after all, not many pics mind you, but beggars can't be choosers.