Dazed and confused

Do you ever have those weeks where you just can't seem to get ahead and nothing goes quite how it's planned? I'm having that week.

I seem to be stuck in a rut where things that are already done & taken care of need to be re-done, and then of course there is the new stuff that pops up thrown into the mix, just to liven things up. To top it off I am PMS-ing and practically narcoleptic... my days and nights are all messed up. I'm a joy to behold.

Soccer camp is finished. He begins regular practices next week, and our first tournament is the following weekend in Saginaw. Just made reservations in Birch Run. Gonna try to sneak in a little back-to-school shopping.

Trying to work out a trip to Canada for Emma. It will probably be the Saginaw weekend, as there are just a few weekends left before school starts.

I have tried twice this week to get my tires rotated and can't get it done. I called someplace today so I think I'm gonna go tomorrow morning. And I may be getting unemployment again! It involes a trip to the MI works office, which I will probably have to fit in tomorrow too.

I still haven't finished the teddy suit, because I keep making mistakes and having to frog inches at a time. I don't know what my deal is, but I am frustrated over it!

A few pix of the lack of anything going on at my house...

Emma & Ben lazing out in front of the fan. For hours.

My new Clematis in bloom

Hasta la vista!

tis the season!

Soccer camp started today. Good for Evan, good for Emma. Better for me. These two seriously need a break from each other, so a few hours a day @ camp totally fits the bill.

I had to take this photo of Evan in his new cleats & socks, because I'm sure they won't look like this very long :) FYI- he chose the white cleats, not me. And one of the coaches told him today that white cleats are lucky and he will score lots of goals.

Guess what I learned to do this weekend?

I played poker! And I didn't suck!

We joined the Johnston's in a little poker action on Saturday night. They were all more than happy to take money from a newbie. It was $20 to buy in. I got the gist of the game, although it probably would have been better had I not had several beers. I did smoke them on one hand, and won the pot, which was very cool and they were floored, these poker veterans! They all agreed that I could play anytime, and that I was a 'conservative' better. Little do they know that I didn't really know what was going on half the time, so I didn't bet much :) We walked out with $20 bucks and donated a few, so all in all we didn't do too bad. The kids college fund is safe.

Happy Monday!

teddy suit

my latest project...

I am making this

for this sweet thing

Isabelle Anderson, aka 'my baby Isabelle' (according to her sister, Olivia.)

although it could be argued that I'm making it more for me, because I love it so.

I suppose it would be possible to adjust the pattern to fit an eleven year old, but the math alone might make my head explode. 

Happy Saturday!

bossy or friendly?

I don't know quite how to feel about fruit that gives orders.

Today, I'm going with friendly.

Happy weekend!

boobies vs. groupies

The first few times I heard this song, I had to laugh. I mean, the Pusycats Dolls. C'mon. Right there, that's worth a chuckle. So listen to the chorus of this song:

When I grow up

I wanna be famous

I wanna be a star

I wanna be in movies

When I grow up

I wanna see the world

Drive nice cars

I wanna have boobies

Hello!

Way to put that out there, Dolls. 

Then Bart informs me that the lyric is actually 'groupies' and not 'boobies'. I was understandably disappointed. 'Boobies' makes the song interesting, at least. What young girl doesn't wish for boobies? I know I did. However I never once wished for groupies. I doubt I even knew what groupies were. I was, however, familiar with boobies.

Bart: "I can't believe you would think that they are singing about boobies."

me: "Um, it is the Pussycat Dolls. Not that far of a stretch."

Bart: "Hey, they are nice, wholesome girls."

me: "Uh huh."

Imagine my feeling of vindication when I received this weeks' Entertainment Weekly, and an EW poll revealed that 66% of people thought the lyric was 'boobie'.

SUCK IT, SPARKY!

take a moment to enjoy this fine piece of music.

it's good

The heat & humidity have finally gone away and I can open up my windows again.

I have all the ingredients for the perfect day, right here at my fingertips.

knitting

sunshine

kitty

fan

open window

cold drink

birds chirping

smelly dog

& the internet.

Who could ask for anything more?

froglets!

froglets!, originally uploaded by dogglips2.

Emma discovered this afternoon that some of our tadpoles have turned into frogs. Or toads. We don't know. They are super tiny, and spent several hours trying to evade curious little fingers. They were not successful. Em counted 21 before I made her release them.
We also have a little hummingbird visitor. A couple times I day I catch her flitting between the bee balm and the butterfly plant. For years we put out a hummingbird feeder and never saw a single one.
Well we are obviously doing something right!
Happy Monday :)

fab five, together again

My SIL Shannon came in with the kids this weekend. We were most excited-it seems like forever since we have seen them. Emma spent the night with them on Friday, and we all spent a majority of the day together Saturday. We swam a lot. They have grown so much since last summer! Luke can touch the bottom and was able to take of his floaty suit for part of the time. 

Isabelle is four months old, and such a doll.

My Mom & I both think she looks just like my brother. Except for the red hair. She is the most content baby I have ever known.

Luke couldn't wait to jump into the pool just like his idol. They did this about seventeen thousand times.

We bought Olivia a bunch of Ariel dress up stuffs for her third birthday. Adorable! I think she was speechless about how 'princessy' she looked!

Isn't this a strange perspective? Luke looks like he is hovering above the pool.

Ev, Is, Livvy & Em. Totally impromptu and unplanned. The best kind.

Hopefully they will be coming back in a few weeks. We miss them so much when they are gone!

monkey vs. monkey

I'm almost done with the monkey socks. I've just turned the heel and begun the foot on the second sock. I really love this pattern and the way this yarn has worked up. It's beautiful! I will definitely make more monkeys. And next time they won't be so slouchy.

P.s. Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of yourself wearing a sock?

This is my second monkey of the week. He was purchased at the Plymouth Art Fair last weekend, and will make a fun addition to the garden. I'm thinking of painting him bronzy brown and making a little faux vine for him to hang from.

So I maybe just a little cheated on my no-buying policy, but he's for the household, so technically he's not just for me. Plus, we walked around in the heat for three hours and I was taking something home to show for it!

Have a good weekend & stay cool. I will be at the movies tonight singing my lungs out.

keeping our cool

My monkeys decided to cool off with water balloons last night. It was hot, and they needed to burn off some excess energy, so I was all for it.

Sometimes the balloons don't actually get tied before someone gets soaked. In fact, this is usually the case.

It's 90 degrees and Evan feels the need to wear a water shirt. Okay then.

Em is diligently filling balloons, so as to attack her brother with a large arsenal.

She thinks this is a scary photo. I like it. She is also sitting here watching my every move.

I love summer.

Here's a shot of my back yard, looking green & lush. Everything is thriving. Except me. It's too hot to thrive.

Today isn't much better. I am only stepping outside if I absolutely have to. I'm sitting in front of a fan in the air conditioning and still sweating. Even the dog can't muster much energy. I am muy grateful for central air right now. Peace out!

it's hot

Crappy photo, courtesy of my cell phone

It appears that summer has finally arrived in these parts. The temp is around 90 today. It's hot. I don't particularly like hot. Being hot makes me want to do less than I already do, which is not easy, let me tell ya.

Luckily we have grandparents with a pool, and their rates are reasonable, so we can go as often as we like :) We had the perfect combination today-hot sun, few clouds, light breeze, and 78 degree water. Nice.

Hope you are all staying cool.

Mama Mia!

Today I downloaded the soundtrack to Mama Mia and I am wondering how I made it this far in life without this soundtrack! I have listened to the whole thing like 4 times, and some of the song many times more. Is the Broadway cast recording this good? Do other people know how good this is?

I like ABBA just fine. Always have. Know the lyrics to their popular tunes and can hum along with the best. But an entire movie based on the lyrics of ABBA tunes? Ridiculous. Who's want to see that?

Count me in. I will go see this movie on Friday, come hell or high water.

It must be said that Meryl Streep can sing! I have a crush on her. She rocks my world. When she sings "The winner Takes it All", It's so poignant and heartbreaking. And who knew that Amanda Seyfried had such a beautiful voice? (she's the main character). Positively adorable on 'Big Love'. I have a crush on her too.

So get this soundtrack! It will improve your life. Or at least it will give you something to dance to!

the room

Before: lavendar walls, wrought iron bed, white & purple valances, too much furniture

view from the doorway

view from the corner, facing doorway

After: white walls, loft bed, duck shelf, cool comforter, way less furniture

putting together the bed

the completed bed area. There will also be a desk under there for her to study at.

duck shelf. and me.

After 2 weeks, Emma's room transformation is almost complete. All of the main components are finished...we just want to build her a desk of some sort. Don't know when that will happen, but sometime before school starts. Her room is WAY less cluttered. We removed 2 large and one small piece of furniture that she didn't really need and was just a place to collect junk (I mean important stuff) I also want to have some type of comfy chair in the corner, for reading or visiting or whatever. Right now she just has a beach chair in there, which works for summer.

One thing that won't change- her 'E' wall. For years I have been collecting E's to hang in her room, and those are going back up. We just ran out of steam this weekend. They will add a nice punch of color to her room, and help tie all the colors together. Oh help me-I sound like an HGTV show!

She & I spent a few hours reworking her closet to accomodate all the various things she had shoved into the now defunct furniture. And getting rid of the vast amount of clothing that no longer fits. Amazing how much actually fits in there!

Cross your fingers for her sake (and mine) that she keeps it looking this way!

Syd

I don't know many 15 year olds

but this one is close to perfect!

Em & Ev love Syd like crazy. She's the closest thing they've ever had to an older sib or cousin. She's always played with both kids equally and made Evan feel part of the group. She has a great sense of humor, puts on an entertaining show, and plays a mean Guitar Hero.

Syd rocks!

FO- Central Park Hoodie, Lisa version

My friend Lisa celebrated her 40th birthday in May and I wanted to make her something , so I went with this, the Central Park Hoodie.

My model, Emma, demonstrates the sportiness of the sweater.

Here's a view of the back cables. Someone needs to brush her hair. Ahem.

...and here's the hood. Lookin' good in the hood.

Sorry, that was cheesy.

Lisa & Sydney came over today to spend the day with us. The kids haven't seen Syd since last summer, so they had a bunch of catching up to do. She's 15, and has known the kids forever. They adore her, and so do I. I'll post a few pix tomorrow of them.

The good news is the sweater fit perfectly! Not bad, considering I guessed on the size. I should have made her model for me, but I didn't.

Happy Friday!

it's like Wild Kingdom over here

Emma's onto her second job of the summer...pet sitting a dwarf bunny.

'Shadow' has been in our house for 4 1/2 hours and already I have told her 127 times that she can't be touching and holding and walking the bunny all day long.

It's like talking to a wall.

Shadow is cute and small and doesn't make any noise. yet.

Guess who else likes the bunny? And I was worried about the terrier factor.

"oooo! That's not supposed to be in the house!"

"If I can just get my paws in thru here..."

Ben doesn't know what the heck it is, but he knows it's fun!

there's a monkey on my back

I have been working on these socks for two days and two hours. TWO DAYS. I can't even guess how many times I started and then frogged (ripped it apart) this sock. Knitting is supposed to be fun and non-stressful. HA! There was a large amount of stress going on here. No matter what I did, I couldn't make the pattern line up. I researched  on Ravelry, I tried contacting Cookie A. (author of said pattern), I tried putting down the needles and walking away. But I had monkey fever, and couldn't forget about it.

I bit the bullet and went to my LYS today and a very nice woman helped me figure out what I was doing wrong. I had a yarn over problem. It's fixed now, and I have 3 inches of sock to show for it! The color here is bad, because it's late and I didn't use my flash. The color is called 'fruit breeze' and I love it. Now that I know what the heck I'm doing :)

My pal Jan came over today after we met for coffee. My kids were extrememly entertaining and talkative. Emma led a tour of the house (even the furnace room) that most guests never get. A behind the scenes tour, if you will. Jan, my kids thought you were "funny, friendly, and had good taste" because you like Wipeout and tadpoles. You are welcome back anytime :)

Later!

wee lil' finished object

I'm all out of order with my fo's, but wanted to post a few pix before I forget.

Ruffled Dress from

Baby Knits by Lois Daykin

size: 3 months

yarn: baby Bamboo by Sirdar; 3 skeins

needles: 3 & 6 circs

doll: Emma's baby doll Alice

This is the back. I wanted to make this just because the ruffle was so darn cute.

Close up of the ruffle.

And a close up of the front.

I love the baby Bamboo yarn. It really feels so soft and cozy and the colors are lovely.

I made this dress for a friend who is about to pop any day now with her third child and first daughter. Little girl clothes are fun. She is a fellow knitter, so I know she will appreciate it.

I want to make a set of matching dresses for my nieces Olivia & Isabelle. They are coming for a visit soon and I will take their measurements so I make the right sizes.

I have to give a big thank you to my new friend Sue who was kind enough to offer a little help deciphering the pattern so that no one was harmed in the making of this dress!

Until tomorrow!

fourth weekend

This weekend was truly lovely...the kind that makes you glad to be alive. The weather was picture perfect. As if someone knew we wanted to have a pool party. So we did! All the grandparents gathered at the Snitgen's for our traditional 4th of July pool party and eat-a-thon. We kept things simple this year, dogs & brats, a few salads. Pie. Lots of pie. Pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company. If I ever doubted Bart loved me, I know he does now!

This is the response to "Give me a nice smile!"

Evan & Hans, my in-laws puppy.

Bart bought this ginormous beach ball and the kids had a great time trying to land on top of it. Even a few of the men tried it. I'm smarter than that. Especially when there is a camera lurking nearby. Thank you, NBC and 'WIPEOUT' for the gut busting laughs.

Emma & Grammy Cozy

Evan and sparkler. Bart bought a small box of fireworks, and they were totally underwhelming but fun for the kids. I think every year they get smaller and smaller. Fire, good!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing yard work and more yard work and a little painting of Emma's room. We got the first coat on, but it totally needs another coat. Phooey.

Hope you had a good weekend!