the story (so far)

Ravellenics socks...

The Boy's choral MVP award...

Early spring in our favorite park...

Ladies' knit out rainbow sock KAL...

Election Day in the park...

Memorial Day parade...

The graduates...

Baby praying mantises...

Air hockey at the campground...

Day out with Thomas...

Welcome to the jungle!

We took a bus trip to NYC during thanksgiving break. It was the boy's first trip to the big city, so we chose to do touristy things. 

The bus let us off at Times Square, and had over an hour to kill before lunch.  We checked out the Disney store and tRu and rode the Ferris wheel there.  Outside we saw these characters, and I exclaimed "look, it's Mario!" and the poor kid got accosted by not only Mario but also woody and hello kitty!  We didn't know we had to tip them and woody kept making "more!" gestures. I was annoyed since we only wanted Mario's picture but didn't know better. 

(Look at the joy on his face.)

Then it was lunchtime and we ate at Hard Rock Cafe. I would have preferred a hole in the wall or a good Jewish deli but the kid is super picky, and I thought he'd enjoy the atmosphere. He got chicken fingers and this huge ice cream brownie sundae that we helped him devour.  He loved eating there.

The boy wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, so we took the subway down to battery park. He was disappointed that we couldn't actually visit it ( no time, plus it was freezing that day) 

Selfie at battery park. 

A peek of the freedom tower. I want to visit the 9/11 memorial someday.  Apparently one needs a ticket to visit, and since we didn't know when we'd arrive in the city, we scrapped that plan. 

We took the subway back to midtown to visit the Empire State Building. It took over an hour to get through the lines for the observation deck. It was an overcast day but we still had a pretty good view of the city. This is looking south...

The boy was a bit nervous being so high up. He was also frustrated that he couldn't see the Statue of Liberty (it was tiny but visible. He just didn't know where to look).  

By this time my feet were hurting me, and we had several blocks to walk to st Patrick's cathedral. I hailed a cab (I actually hailed a cab!!!) to take us there instead.  When we got there, this is what greeted us...

The was a remodeling going on, and the interior was covered in scaffolding. I did get a couple shots of the alter, and lit some candles in memory of loved ones. No wedding this time, unfortunately

We then walked up fifth avenue to fao Schwartz.  There was a line to get in the store.  I couldn't believe it. And the store was so crowded, and didn't have what we wanted anyway. Boo. The boy wasn't as impressed as he was by tRu. We didn't even get to see the piano from Big.

So we walked back to our bus drop off, passing the Plaza, back to Times Square. We wanted to go back to the Disney store to get presents, but The boy and I were tired from walking. Supper was a pretzel and water from a street vendor, with a view of radio city music hall...

Walking back to the bus, I stepped on uneven sidewalk and fell down.  Twisted both ankles, stoved both wrists and bashed up a knee. Interestingly enough, my leather pants didn't even get a scratch from the fall. I felt like a fool, but people did come to my rescue when I fell. Who says New Yorkers aren't nice?!

Driving away, a view of the Empire State Building at night, its lights blue and white for Hanukkah. 

We actually brought little home in the way of souvenirs.  I got a couple of books for the kids at fao Schwartz, and the boy got a really cool interactive map at the Empire State Building. 

It was a long and tiring day, but we had a good time. The bus trip is sponsored by my folks' church, and we plan to go again.  Next time we'll take in a show since it won't be necessary to visit the touristy spots. Hubby and I talk about planning a small vacation there, staying in New Jersey and taking the train back and forth, and taking in a show, visiting the museums and Central Park. I so wanted to see strawberry fields, but time was limited. Ah well. It was a fun day, and I'm sure the boy will never forget it. 

Double digits

Someone turned ten recently!

The boy had two bday celebrations. My parents treated him (plus us) to a weekend long party where we spent a morning at chuck e cheese, picked books at Barnes and noble, and swam at the hotel pool. Hubby and I took him to tRu where he picked up sonic the hedgehog figures and figures from another cartoon (adventure time? Can't remember). 

Kid made out like a bandit gift wise.  Sketchbooks, including two kits on drawing superheroes, a clue game, and clothes. He got gift cards from my ILs and aunt to get games or movies from amazon. 

He took cake cookies to school for snack, and on his actual bday, ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant, watched movies and played wii. Not a bad bday!

Some days I still see the little boy who loved going to the library.  I see him snuggling his snoopy in the bed that the kiddos now share, in the room that was once his. I hear him giving fire and brimstone sermons at his grandfathers' pulpits; racing around the sanctuary, his own private playground. 

I am so proud of my boy. So smart, bringing home a's and b's from school. So funny, telling jokes, making funny faces, acting like a goofball. He is also kind, helping out a classmate, a grandparent, his brother or sister. I'm proud of the young man he is quickly becoming. 

Happy birthday big kid!  I love you very much!

where did summer go?

i would like to know!

the kids go back to school in a few weeks.  it feels like they just got out of school!  we had a busy summer, with the kids going to three bible schools, the boy went to church camp, and trips to the playground and bike park filled our days.  

yet again, the summer got away from me and i didn't get to do things i'd planned.  missed some movies, didn't get to go to the pool (the boy had two free swim passes, and we didn't get to go during the last heat wave, and now that the weather is cooler - low 80s, upper 70s - feel too cool to swim.  we went to knoebels a few times, and we will go a few more in the future, but we didn't get to swim there either.  we wanted to go on a few outings - to the crayola crayon factory, to choo choo barn - but we couldn't get our schedules to work.  

my garden did pretty well this summer, but the heat wave and blight took its toll on my tomatoes.  my grape tomato plants are all but dead, and my heirloom plants are slowly dying.  my roma tomato plants are steadily producing, and i froze the ones i picked in anticipation of making tomato sauce in a few weeks.  my cucumber plants are doing pretty well, and i've made pickles with some of them.  next year i'm going to change the layout of my plants, add a bush cucumber plant, and keep track of the apples.  i want to make pectin with them, but all summer they fell on the ground and instantly turned wormy.  still have my eye on my pears.  they're still a bit small, so they should be ready soon.

i canned pickles this past week.  i made bread and butter pickles, dill pickles and kosher pickles.  i'd like to do another batch of bread and butter pickles.  i also made a batch of mixed berry jelly - i picked up raspberries, blackberries and blueberries at market and decided to make a jelly out of them.  holy crow, did that jelly come out great!

i haven't been knitting much this summer - too tired, too hot, and wavering mojo.  i finished my age of brass and steam shawl with fiber optic yarns paintbox gradient kasmir yarn.

beautiful, scrumptious yarn.  i bought more gradient yarn, this time in colorway aqua to chocolate.  i want to make a circle shawl with it, and i'm still trying to decide which pattern to use...



 i made petunia a cardi - remind me to not make a pieced sweater again!  piecing a sweater together is a pita!  i'm in the process of knitting freddie's, so i get to piece another one!  i'm contemplating knitting a sweater for the boy.  his will be a top down seamless sweater, as bob is my witness!

i have some shawls in the queue, and a lot of WIPs to finish.  i'm hoping to get some knit time in when the kiddos go to school - they'll be in school three mornings a week, so i should be able to eke out some knit time there.



i made a storage roll case for my crochet hooks.  i am taking a intro to crochet class at KDO this year (don't laugh, but i want to learn to make granny squares so i can use up my stash for blankets!) and i wanted a neat case for my hooks.  i used this tutorial to make mine, tweaking it a little bit to take a button and loop instead.  i love it!



the boy went to the library a few times for their summer program, and i took the kiddos once, but the kids who attended were babies/early toddlers.  the program met in the library that day, and the room we were in was too crowded with parents and kids.  the kiddos were actually BORED.  maybe next year, i can get my act together, and send the kids to the same program!

we took the kids to a couple baseball games - we left the first one becos i had a nasty case of hives, and hubby took the boy to see another game.  the kiddos seemed to enjoy the game;  the big kid has always liked going to games.

i'm looking forward to the kids going to school.  i think the kids are looking forward to the school routine too. it's tough entertaining three kids with different interests.  we watched a lot of dvds, and hubby took the kids to the playground and the "bike park" to give me a little break.

i have so many plans for when school starts!  the house needs a deep cleaning.  i have a lot of outgrown toys and clothes to go through and send to consignment or pack in deep storage.  i get to go to the gym three times a week!  i haven't gone all summer!  i planned to go early in the morning, before hubby went to work, but i either slept in or had the groggies and couldn't get it together.  oops.  so i gotta get back on the exercise routine.  i feel better when i do!

until then, i'm making the most of what's left of summer.

catching up

it's been a couple of months since i last posted here.  quite a bit has happened.

i went to maryland sheep and wool with my friend kristin and her mom and aunt.  this was my haul.  i see two sweaters, several shawls, two cowls, and the motherlode of wollmeise. 

the verdant gryphon had a codex update, and i bought the devil's dictionary.  at first i was thinking a shrug sweater but i think it really wants to be a shawl.


clearly i lost the april through june pantsdown stashdown.  :/

after many starts and stops and some mixed up skeins, my age of brass and steam shawl is steaming (ha!) ahead...


i'm going to KDO again this fall and am taking a steeks class and a intro to crochet (!!) class.  here is my homework (i still have a seed stitch square to do.  i loathe seed stitch.)


i took a class at a new yarn shop and learned to do a sweet tomato heel.


i signed up to do tour de fleece this year.  i am on team spindler.  clearly i am deluded, becos my spinning sucks, sucks sucks!  i really need a wheel...


black betty came out of hibernation so i stitched up some project bags...


it's canning time again, so i made two kinds of strawberry jam, two kinds of cherry jam, and black forest jam (cherry and chocolate and almond, yum!).  i'm hoping to add some sliced and whole fruit and veggies to my canning, provided i can find a pressure canner.


i got serious about my garden this year and planted three heirloom tomato plants, three roma tomato plants (for sauce!), two pepper plants, two cucumber plants, and a couple of herbs.  i have some dill drying down cellar, picked two huge (albeit green) heirloom tomatoes and downed these little beauties. mother nature has been kind to our garden and has kept our rain barrels full, so we don't have to rely on our public water.  i also shredded irish spring soap to deter the squirrels (still finding holes, the little dirtballs!) and bought slug repellent to chase the slugs away (might be working?)  i also planted my usual variety of flowers and they are flourishing as well.


speaking of rain barrels, i finally painted these after looking at their gaudy blue exteriors for nearly four years.  now they blend in with the scenery.


my mojo wavered quite a bit, so i read.  a lot.  and i have more to go.


the kids keep me hopping.  school has been out for nearly a month, and in that time they attended two bible schools (our church and my parents' church), celebrated the end of school with a trip to chuck e cheese and the book store, and play with the neighbor kid.

the kiddos enjoy visits to the park...


they graduated from preschool (the three year old class, anyway...)


and freddie is obsessed with the movie cars.  we watch it at least once a day, sometimes twice.  the kid can do movie karaoke with it, and i actually have a couple favorite scenes and songs.


the kids are learning to ride bike.  petunia quickly learned and often flies past her brothers.  freddie is more content with his trike.  not to be outdone by the kiddos, the boy is learning to ride too.  they ride up at my parents' house, who live across from a large cemetery, the same one where i learned to ride my bike.  they ride around in circles and sometimes take a tumble, but i'm glad that they are getting exercise.


the boy participated in his second soapbox derby.  he said he didn't care that he didn't place, he enjoyed just doing it.


this summer the boy will be going to church camp.  it's his first time away from home without family.  he's a little nervous, but i think he'll have fun.

prolly the kids' favorite summer activity - playing in our backyard.



we have other activities planned for the summer - visits to knoebels, summer reading at the library, sleeping over at grandparents' homes and a family picnic with hubby's extended family.  before we know it, we will be shopping for notebooks and pencils, new sneakers and jeans, and trading evening play in the yard for settling down for homework and early bedtimes.  there's so much left to do, and i don't want to miss anything!

words to live by

i found this scribbled in one of the boy's drawing journals.  i surmise he got it from watching episodes of MADtv (i think he's a bit young for the magazines) but kidding aside, it really is good advice.

valentine swag

if you are a classmate of my kids', you will be receiving these:

the bags (100) cost around five bucks...the boy's parachute guys were about $12 for 24...the candy about $20.  i'm not sure this swag was cost effective.


darn you, pinterest, for giving me expensive ideas.

happy valentine's day!