bye bye baby

bye bye baby, originally uploaded by dogglips2.

Tomorrow I turn in my Hummer, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad.
For someone who never gave a hoot about what car she drove, I really grew to love my ugly duckling. Having a bright yellow car is a pleasant little pick me up. Sunshine on a cloudy day. Yesterday one of the soccer moms said "I'm so glad you have that yellow car...I always know we are at the right field". She was special, and fun.
If you have to give away something you love, it's always a good idea to have a friend send you chocolate in the mail! A few weeks ago I mailed Jen some Saunder's dark chocolate caramels with sea salt, and she reciporcated by send me a bag of wildly cherry M&M's, and an assortment of delicious nuggets from Gearharts. Sadly, the chocs must have gotten too warm because they were melted into each other, so I didn't get to enjoy them as individuals. That did not stop me, however, from sucking the warm chocolate goodness out of the paper cups. There may have even been some licking of the tissue paper. I'll  never tell.

my street cred is totally wrecked

my reputation as a fun person is completely ruined.

The girls' weekend that I thought we would have, that I was 50% of, did not happen. Not even close. Emma fought me at every sep, turned down every single suggestion, and barely spoke to me all weekend. Did we have an arguement? Nope. She was just in a mood.

And i get it, I get it. I was that surly teen girl every weekend forced to spend time with my Dad. I did my absolute best to not have any fun and make it as excruciating for everyone else as possible. And I was good at it. But with age comes wisdom and I can see what a spoiled brat I was, and I still apologize to my Dad to this day. I try to teach Emma the lessons that I learned, so that she doesn't have to learn them the hard way.

I guess she likes the hard way.

Last night as I forced her to drive to Taco Bell with me at 9:30,  I reminded her that our weekend was an open slate, with numerous possibilities of fun, just for us. That we stayed home, so she would know that her life and activites are as important to us as her brothers. I thought she got it.

Next time, I'll go on the road trip and let Bart stay home.

My magnolia is in full bloom and smelling fresh like spring this morning. I was afraid that the heavy rain yesterday would knock off all the blossoms before they even opened.
we have a baby bunny! Sorry for the blurry picture-he is the most skittish bunny I have ever seen. Some of them have let us pick them up, but this guy is a scaredy cat. Haven't seen any momma bunnies.

Enjoy your Sunday!

girls weekend

well, girls' weekend is turning out...ODD.

After returning home from visiting my brother & stepdad last night, Emma cleaned her room. And then went to bed and didn't say anything to me.

This morning she called a friend to sleep over. She couldn't. Em wouldn't call anyone else. Decided to stay mad about it.

French horn lesson was great. Soccer game was good, until the last minute. She got mad at one of her teammates because she didn't pass the ball to Emma. Emma decided to take it personally and get all mad . Decided to stay mad about it.

Came home, barely speaking to me. Won't shower even though she is muddy ("Why bother").

Climbed in bed and is asleep. At 5:30.

So it looks like no friends over, no going to the movies, no ice cream, no fun.

Not what I expected at all.

it must finally be spring!

y'know how I can tell?

tiny, delicate green leaves popping thru the buds on the trees

frogs singing at night

my magnolia is almost open

the lilacs will soon follow

Buddy drifting around the yard for longer periods of time

open windows

papers all over the floor from the open windows

frog eggs in the pond

warm one day, freezing the next

outdoor soccer practice

flourescent orange barrels on every roadway

one lone daffodil in my yard

The boys are packed and ready to go as soon as Ev comes home from school. I am a little bummed to be missing his tournament after his performance last weekend, but we do have another child and she also has games this weekend and french horn lesson numero uno. I'm thinking the guilt would kill me. Not to mention another 4+ hour ride in the car. I won't miss that on tiny bit. So it's a girls' free-for-all weekend!

Have a great one!

have fun or dye trying

One thing I have never tried (but always wanted to) was dyeing my own sock yarn. I bought some naked yarn yesterday so that I could try my hand at it. Guess what? It's fun!

I divided one 450 yard skein into 14 smaller skeins. They soaked overnight in water & vinegar.

I used Wilton cake decorating dyes that I bought at Michael's (cheap with a coupon!)

brush on the dye however you like it. Microwave it for 45 seconds. Wait a few minutes and then microwave it again for 30 seconds. If the water runs clear, the dye has set.

I love how bright and fun the colors are!

The reason that I divided the skein into mini skeins is because I want to start making one of these blankets. Each square only requires a small amount of yarn. I plan to use the leftover bits that I have from every pair I have made, and supplement it with some that I dye myself, like this. The undyed skein was $12.50, so around a dollar per square. Not too expensive for something that will last a lifetime!

Happy Thursday!

Sue & Heather's excellent adventure

I did something very out of character for me this weekend.

I met up with someone that I only know from the internet.

Most people know that I am shy and not very outgoing. (Until you know me, and then all bets are off). I never thought that I would actually meet any of the ladies that I talk to online, some of them daily. I have 'met' a lot of funny, generous, warm women on Ravelry, where I spend a big chunk of everyday. We talk about everything from knitting, kids, scrapbooking, husbands, vacations, and everything in between. It's one of the first places I go when I want to tell someone a piece of news, or get help with my latest knitting snafu.

When I found out the dates I was going to be in Cinci, I emailed Heather to see if she wanted to get together, if it was even feasible. And it was! The plan was that she would come to get me on Saturday after Evan's second game.

A hundred different times I thought about cancelling, but I thought 'you never do stuff like this. just do it'. So I stuck with the plan. And guess what??? I had fun!

First of all, she brought me a birthday present! How can you not love someone who gives you a gift? She drove me all over Cincinnati (and Kentucky!) for hours. We went to 2 knitting stores and a stamp store. We bonded over sock yarn, fondling fibers, fat cats & secret rooms. She treated me to a dinner at Chipotle (because she's a big cheater) that was so good. Biggest burrito ever!

We were both a little afraid that we would have nothing to talk about, but time flew by. I didn't turn out to be a serial killer and she didn't ditch me down by the river.

Thanks, Heather for a fun afternoon! I hope you'll come to visit me someday and I can be your chauffeur. I know where all the good stores are :)

our all star

I tried this yesterday but Blogger hates me. Onto You Tube I go!
Here are some pix from the games he played in Cinci.

all star

What a great weekend to be Evan.

His team won the whole shebang in their division. Undefeated.

He won the game MVP for game three.

And he won a Wii bowling tournament, complete with mini trophy.

He's on top of the world right now.

Sunday soccer

Still in Cinci

still winning

still not enough sleep

see you tomorow!

Hi from Cinci!

I had no time yesterday to ever turn on the computer! Between returning the rabbit, dropping off the dog, and checking on Papa Jim, we were hustling to get out the door!

We made it to Cinci, for Evan's soccer tournament.

Let's see, it's 9:30 and it's already been a full morning!

-woke up at 5:45 for the first game. I use 'woke up' loosely, because I never went to sleep. I dozed on & off but never realy slept. I'm a little on the tired side.

-had an entire cup of coffee dumped on me by my daughter on the soccer field.  One very trashed white sweatshirt, one very soaked captain's chair, one very wet pair of underpants = one very unhappy Mom.

-we won the first game, 8-3 (I think). Evan scored 2 goals & played almost the entire game.

-Just for added fun, I started my period too. Nothing like menstruation + porta potties.

Our next game is at 1:40. I am going to bed.

It's a beautiful Saturday!

Happy Belated Easter and other stuff

I was too lazy to take the time to post on Easter, so I have a few pix to share. We had a nice, sunny day. It was much needed. I am really getting sick of the April showers. Those had better be some swell May flower, I tell you.

The Easter Bunny was very good to the kids...lots of goodies in their baskets. They also had to find 50 eggs hidden out in the yard. They only found 49, so we have one rogue egg out there somewhere.

Hi Shadow! We are bunny-sitting for some friends on vacation, so we had an actual bunny on Easter! How's that for cool.
Emma in the sweater she swore she would never ever wear.
Bart got the kids a mini laptop, and Evan has pretty much been toting it around since. He spent a few hours composing a story...
Boston Creme cupcakes. Always good to have on hand.

Today is my birthday (woo hoo). I have one piece of advice for you-try to avoid having a birthday when everyone is home on break. Everyone has been gettig on my flippin' nerves all day. I can't wait for school to be back in session. Seriously.

FO-Emma's watermelon socks & day two

I don't have much knitting to show for the week, because lately everything I have done has turned to sh@t! I won't admit to how much frogging I have done recently.

I made her a much fancier lace sock and it was gorgous, all finished with the ends woven in and everything...but it didn't fit her foot. I made a womans' small, but the sock didn't have a lot of give. I can't bring myself to rip it apart. Yet.

These are a cuff length basic 4x2 rib pattern with purl gussets, for added texture.

The yarn is from Miss Babs, in the watermelon colorway. I love her yarn, and will gladly use it again! In fact I hope I have enough left over to make myself a little something. :)

Day two of break has been less painful than day one. We watched The Day The Earth Stood Still last night, early-ish, and the kids' got a good night's sleep. They were still up at the crack of dawn, but at least they slept better. Evan played with a friend, we did some of the necessary housecleaning for tomorrow, and I baked cupcakes. And angelfood cake. Took Em to get some new cleats, gave her & her BFF Anna mani-pedi's, and now am ready to collapse.

We ran into Anna's mom @ the sporting goods store and she was saying how bored Anna was as well, so I convinced Em to get over herself and call her (Emma was annoyed with her over something), thus ensuring the rest of break will be much better now that she has someone to hang out and commiserate with. Thank God, because I was going to have to strangle her.

Have a Happy Easter!

shoot me now

Day one of Spring break

Emma is beyond bored

and Bart is tearing up the house. It's gonna be a long 10 days.

dog gone

Look what I found this morning!

I got up to take Evan to school, and let Buddy out. He was taking his usual 6 hours to sniff every inch of the yard, so I was outside in the cold trying to coax him back in (didn't work. never does). And this big dog comes galloping at me through the trees, wagging his tail and smiling. I think he was happy to see a people.

Dog has no collar, but it's obvious he's well cared for. He smells like he just had a bath. He is sticking to me like glue.

I somehow managed to get in the house and grab a leash, which was not easy seeing as he decided he wanted to go in NOW. He let me put it on him with no problems. At this point I need to take Ev to school and I don't know what to do with this pup. I tried to put him in the garage but he kept foloowing me out, so I decided to just take him in the car with me.

Turns out big dog is a big sissy and won't jump into the Hummer. I had to lift him. Seventy pounds of unfamiliar dog I am lifting here!

When I got home I called the non-emergency police line, and they took my info. Now we wait.

Buddy and Ben were both less than thriled to have an interloper in their domain. Especially one who quickly polished off all remaining traces of dog/kitty food in one fell swoop. But he was a good boy, and we live on a busy corner without fences; I wasn't about to let him run around or try to tie him to something.

I dressed and we headed out for a walk, hoping to find his family. We got one house away before the police officer called to say his owner came in, and was ready to come get him.

They were from out of town and the pup went out to do his business and wandered off. The man had been searching for 2 hours- his wife was ready to kill him.

And we were having an adventure.
Goodbye, big dog!!

p.s. I never had a dog that drank out of the toilet before. What a riot!

horn in F

I wanted to title this post 'horny girl', but didn't want to receive hate mail about the appropriateness of such title and my 11 year old daughter. I am a model of restraint.

Today her biggest wish came true and she got to bring home her french horn. Ever since she signed up for band she has talked about the day she'd get to switch instruments. Today was the day. The music store delivered her mouthpiece yesterday. Today she got her sheet music and horn. Very heavy horn, I will add.

Only 3 kids switched to french horn, so they all get an instrument at school, and one to keep at home. Her home model is a litle beat up, but it's free. We had to rent the trumpet, but she gets 2 french horn's and we don't have to rent even one. Ok. We do have to have music lessons for an undetermined amount of time, until the teacher feels she is caught up with the class. It's a whole new world for us. Nobody in our home plays an instrument, or ever has.

Em's confidence is a little shaken because she's having a hard time reaching all the buttons, but I'm sure by the end of the weekend she will have it down pat. And it will stop sounding like a dying walrus, like the trumpet did at first.

I am so proud of her dedication!

random Wednesday thoughts

-This is the first day in 5 that I haven't woken with a ginormous headache. Yesterday was particularly rough. I had to double medicate to make it through the day and was a virtual zombie all day. Stupid Michigan weather.

-April already? Seriously?

-Ev asked me this morning if today or tomorrow was a half day, and I panicked (I am famous for not knowing what the hell is going on). Lucky for me, that's next week. Because we all need a few half days before spring break. Ha

-Speaking of spring break, we are Papa sitting. My Mom is flying west to take care of some things pertaining to my Grandmother and my Stepdad can't be left alone. I don't know what to do to entertain the kids for that long, much less him. It will be interesting to say the least.

-We will be traveling to Cinci & Columbus for 2 soccer tournament during this time.

-Emma will miss her first two games because of this. Great.

-Bart has been working hard on finishing things up in the kitchen. Here is a sneak peek of his special project:

-Evan is having a reaction to something and his entire body is covered with a fine layer of rash.

- I ordered some Moo prints and actually have a plan to scrapbook them.

-The ducks are back. This morning there were 3 males sitting on my neighbor's roof, scouting out the area. I know they are just waiting for me to not be looking so they can jump into my pond.

-while making sure there were no duck feathers in the pond I discovered something else:
-it looks like he is swimming above the Titanic! I really need to go to the pond store and get some of the good bacteria stuff to get rid of the sludge.

-I am so ready for the weather to start acting spring like! I am trying to be patient...

-Downloading lots of good music lately, my 2 faves today being Lily Allen's version of Womanizer and Gomez' Little Pieces. Love love.

-Facebook just informed me that Barack Obama & I are related! I'm sure he has nothing better to do than search for distant relatives via the web.

Happy April fool's day!