Out like a lamb..

Wow this month flew by. It's the 31st and I've only posted a handful of times here. Thanks to DH who reminded me of this fact on a daily basis. Life gets pretty busy sometimes. I've been crazy busy with the kid's schooling the past few weeks. I finally got around to teaching the eldest to knit(and purl, and bind off, and increase, and decrease). He's so excited about this new skill. I would be too if it weren't for the fact that the child has been knitting more than me which definitely doesn't seem fair.
I did manage to finish a pair of socks last week. They fit well and I love the 3X1 ribbing running down the length of the entire sock.


I've have spent more time sewing than knitting. The youngest child picked out fabric for his bunk bed "fort" curtains. I only have one up right now but hope to get the rest up by the end of the weekend. I sewed together a couple of bags for Chance's knitting projects.


Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. I have a week to sew up a skirt for Easter Sunday. It's probably time to start on this eh?

Spring is here

Yay, the cardigan is completed. No loose ends, all the seams are sewed up and I don't really like it. It feels just like the scratchy wool garments I remember as a kid. You know, the ones that left me in hives after I'd wear it for only an hour. Maybe I'll take it out next winter and throw it on over a turtleneck so it doesn't touch my skin. Now that Spring is officially here I am moving on to cotton blends and soft comfy knits. Another picovoli perhaps? The sexy knitters are starting a new knit sahara that looks interesting but extremely low cut for this knitter.

Hop On...

Peace Train

In like a lion....

13 years! For most people this would be a time for celebrating. I keep repeating 13 years thinking -we aren't supposed to still be here. We(husband and I) thought we'd move around, see and experience many different cities before settling down, raising kids, buying a house. It didn't help that I took myself out of the full time work force five years ago to focus on the children. This past week I beat myself up over the "grass is greener" kvetching. So yep, I need to start focusing on the many blessings currently in my life and quit obsessing over where I'd thought I'd be by this year. I'm sure my wanting move to a warmer, coastal location has a lot to do with this blasted cold weather. Anyway....
I finally finished one Jaywalker sock and casted on for it's partner.

I have officially started calling this pair the "gestational" socks. It's taken me 9 months to get this far.
Also last week I finished up another pair of felted clogs for my husband. He says they're very warm and comfy and he loves them.

I've been very Slooowly working on seaming up my Cardigan for Arwen. I feel as though I'm stuck in mattress stitch hell at this point in the project. I'm determined not to shove it aside though as I fear it may never be completed if I put it away now.
It's a day late but I hope everyone celebrated in their own "Irish" way yesterday. The eldest bought a book titled Backyard Ballistics Thursday. Yesterday we launched about 5 pounds of spuds through a potato cannon that he put together. I think I had more fun watching the potatoes fly. This counts as science right?

Bumper sticker

I saw lots of entertaining bumper stickers on my vacation.
Here's one of my favorites....

"I've got a perfect body but it's in the trunk and beginning to smell"

Back "home"

We were really lucky to have 7 beautiful sunny days with this view out our window.



All good things come to an end.
Yesterday we pulled into Chicago's Union Station with rainy, grey skies. The kid's are ready to head back, at least until it's summer in the midwest.

Spring Break

When I went to my first home school conference in 2006 both my kids were in the public school system. I really wanted to start out home schooling not totally lost and thought this would help me organize my plan for this year. It pretty much confused me even more and thought I probably wouldn't go back this year. Why didn't I listen to myself? How fun it would be to involve all the family, now home schooling pretty successfully the last 9 months. What the heck was I thinking? Last weekend we attended another home school conference. We were surrounded by the ruddest, pushiest, obnoxious people I've ever been around. And we paid to do this! The seminars for the adults were poorly put together by unprepared speakers trying to sell you their latest "inventions"(books, programs, etc). The kids loved their sessions though. It was one big art/music/science/math extravaganza for them. Will we do it again? I'll answer the way my Dad always did when I was a kid, "we'll see." (This always meant NO!)
On Monday morning with just a day of rest from the convention the kids and I headed on an Amtrak train to San Antonio,Texas. It took us 33 hours of constant rocking motion to get there but we made it. It gave me time to break out a couple of sock knitting projects I've stashed away. It's been a good 8 months since I've seen the Jaywalkers. I may have a complete sock before I get home. Not a pair but it's a step toward completing this forgotten project.
We spent a day in San Antonio before heading to the shore at Port Aransas,Texas. The weather has been sunny and in the 70's so we're loving the break from Illinois. We go to sleep to the sound of crashing waves. We walk to the beach everyday. What more could you want on a spring break?