Our Weekend in Chicago

This past weekend we headed to Chicago. My Aunt was in town for a few days to attend a conference so it was a nice way to catch up and hit some great sites at the same time.
Walking from the train station we came across a few congratulatory signs.


We stayed Saturday night in a hotel located on the magnificent mile. Our room was on the 34th floor with a great view of the city and Lake Michigan. It was a fantastic spot to sit, knit, and start a new project.


We stopped by Macy's Christmas windows and the grand tree in the Walnut Room on our trek to Loopy Yarns.

I didn't realize how long of a walk it would be and ended up missing our intended train back to the burbs. I enjoyed seeing and touching the new Malabrigo sock yarn. They also claim to have every color of Cascade 220. It's so pretty I stood in front of the cubbies for a picture.


Late Sunday night, on our way back to the train station, the snow started falling and capped off a great weekend visit to the city.

Gorgeous Galena

We tagged along with husband to a conference this week held in Galena,Il. Galena is a 2.5 hour roadtrip from us. The town is so adorable with tons of kitchy shops.

The view from our room overlooked a pretty lake.

The weather didn't cooperate and it was very wet and cold. Between raindrops we went to visit the alpacas again. The alpaca's were super friendly and came running up to see the kids.

The last night of the conference was a fancy(for us)dinner.


We're off again for a weekend in Chicago. I'm hoping to make a detour into Loopy Yarns to see their new location. I need something to take my mind off the bitter cold wind and snow expected downtown tomorrow!

Good Karma

In October I knit a few hats for the 7Long project, a Stash an Burn Charity effort.

Last week I received a skein of yarn and a gift certificate to the Loopy Ewe. I had been one of the raffle winners.



How cool is that? Thanks so much to Jenny, Nicole, and the raffle donors!!

My dysfunctional family

Sometimes families are weird. Do you ever have certain moments in your life when you question if you are really related to these people?
We took a loooooong road trip this past weekend for a reunion of sorts. The goal was to have the kids spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. We only had 3 days but I think everyone had a good time hiking, trick or treating, and hanging around the campfire. The weather was spectacular and it provided us plenty of opportunity to explore the many trails of the Hocking Hills area.



I feel exhausted! When I pulled the kids from school 3 years ago I felt it was the only way to insure the best education possible. I didn't fully realize how difficult it would be to coordinate everything. I have to be a daughter, wife, mom, and teacher. I guess I'm having a hard time enjoying any of these "roles" as I'm struggling to do any of them very well. When we have school going well then housework suffers and dinners are lacking. When I get to the housework and shop for meals to make then I don't have sanity for schooling. There's doctors appointments to keep, bills to pay, piano lessons and piano practicing, taekwondo classes, and a puppy to exercise. I've had a headache every night for the past week thinking about how much more I have left to do that will have to wait until another day.
As the holidays are fast approaching I need to take more time to breathe. We added read alouds to our after dinner time. Last night we finished up Twenty-One Balloons by DuBois. It's nice to sit around as a family and listen to a good book. (I like it because husband relieves me of the read aloud duty!)
I need to remind myself often that kids grow up fast. The time I spend with them watching them learn is truly priceless and I'm so thankful to be able to put "work" on a rear burner.