Knitting Thru Life

Baby Blanket & Mickey Hat

2012-01-15T23:40:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I'm so far behind on my blog! I'm going to try to catch up this week - at least on the highlights of the last few weeks and the holidays.

I did want to say I'm still here and still knitting and wanted to show this last thing that I did for a baby shower last week. Cristy and her husband are the cutest young couple, expecting their first - a little boy - and are Disney fanatics! We love Disney too and though I don't get there as much as she does I enjoy talking about her trips and getting tips for when we travel. After I knitted the blanket (to match her blue and brown colors) I just had to do something a little Disney and found this cute Mickey hat on Ravelry.

A cute, fun knit and crochet project!

Be back soon to catch up!

Busy Weekend

2011-11-20T22:39:00.000-05:00

My daughter Amy & I will soon be competing on one of the food network baking challenge shows. You know, one of those that makes huge cakes, decorated perfectly to a certain theme. Ha! Not hardly!

However we do have a good time making ~~messes~~ cakepops. Our design came straight from Bakerella (with minor changes) and we think they are pretty cute. Sophie had a good time too.

We had extra melted chocolate and pretzels and so when the cakepops were finished we dipped one end of the pretzel sticks in chocolate. Sophie showed real baking promise!

Some friends and I went shopping a few weeks ago and noticed a lot of wreaths made out of mesh. Since then I've been by a florist and garden center and noticed many more in their Christmas decorations. So we've ordered the wreath forms, watched the Youtube videos and bought the mesh to make our own. Yesterday, one friend and I went to a local Holiday Market and we didn't see even one of these wreaths! We missed our golden opportunity! By next year after we make ours they will probably be out of style! Anyway, Doris made one and this weekend I tried one also. I learned some things making it so hopefully my next will be a little better. I hung it on the front door for a picture, but am not sure where I will use it.

Now to get ready for Thanksgiving!

I'm an Older Blogger!

2011-11-18T22:45:00.000-05:00

I love to read Kelly's blog even though I am "older"! She has beautiful children, one the same age as one of my granddaughters, and I love seeing their similarities, but also have just come to love reading about Kelly's life, family, friends, faith, food, etc.

On Fridays she has Show Us Your Life posts where she asks readers to share their blog link if they fit the category. Today is "Older Bloggers", meaning over 50 and I certainly qualify!

I'm a knitter, crafter, wife, mom, and Nana to 3 beautiful granddaughters. Bethany - 14, Nikki - 4 and Sophie - 2. I'd love to hear from any of you who found me from Kelly's Corner!

On another note - just had to show you some things my friend Doris and I made at work today for the gift shop. We normally sit behind computers and are not floral designers, but I think these turned out so cute.

Someone said the little owls look a little scary, but I love them.

Everybody getting ready for Thanksgiving? We went food shopping tonight and I think I got most of what I need. This weekend Amy & I are going to try and make Thanksgiving cake pops and will post a picture if they are presentable!

Keep my cousin, Jeff Travis in your prayers. He was in a terrible accident a few months ago and yesterday had a bad reaction during and after surgery and is critical. You can read about his terrible ordeal and amazing journey on a facebook page created to keep everyone informed about his condition - Prayers for Jeff Travis. He is a wonderful Christian man who deserves all our prayers and for this terrible ordeal to have a good ending. Pray for his wife Rita also, she defines the word "faithful".

Have a great weekend!

Where are the days going?

2011-11-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

Middle of November already! It can't be - it was just summer. Slow down, please!

I love fall - the beautiful colors, the crisp air, wearing sweaters, but when the time changes, it makes such a difference. I don't like it getting dark so early, and I hate shivery cold mornings and evenings. However, it is here and we have to deal with it. Warm knits are one way to combat that cold!

I saw a similar scarf/cowl on Pinterest and made my own version. Very warm and cozy.

When Sophie saw the green and brown tam I made for Nikki she asked for one in orange and so orange she got! I just changed the top from a bow to a pom pom.

I practically had to wrestle her for this picture, but finally got a smile. Sometimes she is a ham and sometimes getting a picture is a battle - you know, she's two!

Sophie loved Halloween this year. She got to trick-or-treat at the nursing home where I work, at her daycare and then at a few houses in my neighborhood. She got the hang of it really quick and was so good to say trick or treat and thank you. She was happy to come home though and help hand out candy here too.

A cute little Elmo!

And a cute close-up while she was posing for her mom for Christmas card pictures.

This afternoon she and I went to a nearby dollar store for a few things and she was so good and so cute. She loves everything. She oohs and aahs over everything, but then often says, "I have one like it at home" even if she doesn't! I bought her two $1 books and some stickers and she was happy as could be. She also asked to buy her mom an ornament, which we did. What a blessing she is!

Next up is Thanksgiving and we'll be so glad to see our out of town granddaughters then. I have a few Christmas gifts on the needles and hopefully will post those pictures later!

It All Ends at Once

2011-09-20T20:14:00.000-04:00

After having two or three things on the needles for weeks, they seem to all get finished about the same time.

The Adah Beret by Amy Rose knitted out of Vanna's Choice Baby in Sweet Pea and Vanna's Choice brown (can't find the band on that one). Both of these were leftover yarns from the baby blanket I knitted a few weeks ago and are for granddaughter Nikki. I was knitting the blanket when she was here and she loved it. She also had a new sweater dress that had these same colors along with others in a stripe pattern and this would be a good match. Easy knit and turned out very cute.

I'm not a big shawl or lace person, but somehow was drawn to do both when I saw this pattern.

Cladonia by Kristen Kapur. I knitted this with Denali hand dyed sock yarn from Ridgewood Farm. The color is Fruit Freeze and turned out so pretty. I would do this one again.

Now I only have a pair of socks on the needles so the fun begins of choosing new patterns and yarn!

And now for a little cuteness! Miss Sophie helping Nana make cornbread and she takes her job very seriously. She amazes us everyday and she is changing and growing so fast. So smart and funny and keeps us laughing all the time. Her daycare started "school" this fall and she loves her workbook and lessons.

How Not to Remove Wallpaper

2011-09-19T16:27:00.000-04:00

Our house is 18 years old and our downstairs bathroom looked 18 years old! It had original wallpaper and cabinets from when we bought it in 1993 and if you remember, wallpaper was quite the rage then - now not so much. I took the wallpaper off another bathroom several years ago and planned to do this one also, but the first one was such a traumatic experience I just couldn't face it again. Finally, I couldn't tolerate it any longer and when I discovered I had a few vacation days I was going to lose in October I decided to take 3 days off last week and tackle this room.

My first suggestion if you are going to try this is don't - walk away and hire someone to do it for you. It is not a job for the weak at heart or body. If you read directions for taking off wallpaper, the first thing they all say is to score with a wallpaper scorer and then spray with a remover. My next suggestion is skip this step completely. It is useless. Unless you score your paper much more than I did the solution only penetrates a few spots and the underneath layer of paper is still mostly dry. This means after you get off the first layer you still have to spray again and start on the second layer and in my experience that spray bottle is killer on your hands so you don't want to do it any more than necessary. Also the top layer of paper didn't come off a bit better wet than dry so my decision was to pull off the top layer dry. You can see from the pictures sometimes this was great and it came off in long strips and sometimes little postage stamp size pieces. Once you get the top layer off ( if your arms and hands are still attached to your body) then spray the underlayer and scrape off. This is the easiest part, but still a lot of work.

Two wallpaper removers I tried. They both worked - I couldn't tell any difference. I have also heard you can use fabric softener, but didn't get to that point. (You can see ugly wallpaper in background)

Red object on right in wallpaper scorer (don't waste your money!) and yellow on left is wonderful wallpaper scraper. It is worth its weight in gold. You hold onto the yellow knob and it works much better than a putty knife and is much easier on your hands.

This shows the work in progress. You can see I sometimes had better luck than others. It was a long day!

Thursday was paint day and that went much easier. I used Behr's Ultra with primer and it was great. It just took one coat and a little touch up after. The woodwork took two coats, but even that went fairly quickly.

Friday I tackled the ugly cabinets with 90's hardware.

I first cleaned with TSP, let that dry, sanded lightly, primed with Kilz, and then painted. DH removed all the hardware before I primed and I placed the doors on the kitchen table on an old shower curtain. After the first mishap (the black paint I had bought was dark, dark green), and another trip to Home Depot for black-black, the painting went fairly smoothly except that the paint took forever to dry. The guy at HD said that the darker the color, the longer it takes to dry (didn't know that). Finally after a few touch ups we got the new hardware on and the doors back up. I had hoped to finish in three days, but it actually took part of Saturday and Sunday too, allowing for drying between coats and installing new hardware after it dried.

This is now:

It is really hard to take pictures in a tiny bathroom. We aren't finished. We are in the process now of replacing the light fixture, mirror, faucet and floor (and maybe counter top later). Also, now I need rugs, towels, new towel racks - it never ends!

Knitting Under Pressure

2011-08-28T23:28:00.000-04:00

Not that I like doing it, but I seem to get more done when under pressure. If I have all day, or week, or month, I'll find a million other things to do and take forever getting whatever it is done that I need to do (cleaning, laundry, paperwork, knitting, etc.) but give me a deadline and somehow I can move much faster.

They say knitters usually fall into two different categories, those who love the process of knitting most and those who enjoy the products that they finish. I enjoy the finished products, but am definitely more of a process knitter. I enjoy the knitting and just always want to have something on my needles and unless time is an issue I take my time with projects, unlike some of the others in my knitting group who impress me every week with all of their FOs. This week however I turned into a product knitter by necessity and finished this baby blanket in a little over a week even while having out of town company both weekends. I thought I had till October to make a baby gift, but was then invited to a baby shower for this person and had to get in high gear. I chose something simple but cute and was pleased that it turned out well. Hoodie Baby Blanket by the Thrifty Knitter.

Thanks to Pooh Bear for being my model!

I finished it last night, washed and blocked it at 11:30 pm (had to finish drying it and then steam the border flat just before I wrapped it for the shower this afternoon). Nothing like going down to the wire!

It has been quite a week!

Last weekend our son and daughter-in-law were coming to a town near us for their church and so brought the girls (plus a friend) to stay with us. They all spent Friday night with us, then the girls stayed all day Saturday. We did a little shopping, ate lunch out and took good naps that afternoon, then cooked dinner and their mom and dad came back by, ate dinner and drove the four hours back home that night. Long day for them!

Then one day this week we had an earthquake! No damage, but it was a strange feeling. There is a window behind my desk at work and the front driveway to the building is just outside the window. I had my back to the window and my chair started shaking. My first thought was that a big truck had driven up to the front of the building, but there was nothing there! Then it got a little worse and everyone around me started to notice the shaking. My first earthquake and hopefully my last. Very glad there was no damage around here.

We ended the week with Hurricane Irene. Since son and DIL live in Norfolk they evacuated to here and stayed with us from Friday night until about noon today. They brought another friend with them whose husband is out to sea and her family is in NYC, so they were in the Hurricane path also. I was glad to get to see them again so soon. Since they are 200 miles away we usually only see them every couple of months so twice in a week was really unusual. Nikki is doing so well! Her back is so straight and perfect and she has a very smooth scar that is healing nicely. The best surprise has been the way she has handled it all. We were so worried about the brace she has to wear, and expected her to fight it tooth and nail but she has been a real trooper and willingly wears it. She is doing so well the doctor has given her some time out of it every day, but she rarely asks to take it off. Brave little girl!

Last night we all went out to dinner and here are a few pictures from out waiting time and at the table.

Nikki and Sophie - the first hour or so they are together things are a little difficult - lots of jealously and each of them claiming everything as "theirs", but after they sort that out a little, they love playing together.

Nikki and her mom. Sorry Janet and getting you with eyes closed!

Bethany and dad.

Sophie & her mom. (And Pooh Bear of course)

Miss Sophie being her charming little self. Even after waiting a long time for our table and eating a lot later than usual for her she was happy and funny all night.

Back to work tomorrow - I need a day off! Thank goodness Labor Day is coming up and a 3 day weekend! Can't believe summer is almost over though.

Much Improvement

2011-07-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

Nikki is doing great. Right now she feels safe in her brace so she is not fighting that and last night and today has gone to bathroom and walked (with help). We are so thankful and feel so relieved. Obviously there's still a lot more to deal with but we will take any small steps.

Bethany has been with her other grandparents most of the weekend so I am missing her. Except for a little shopping we haven't had much time to do anything fun. Hopefully we can before she goes home.

If you have seen many pictures of Sophie she usually has Pooh Bear in her arms. She loves her Pooh - so Amy knew she had to try and take her to see the Winnie the Pooh movie yesterday. This was her first movie and she did great. I helped that it was just an hour long, but I think she could have even lasted a little longer. It was a cute, old-fashioned movie.

As you can see - Pooh went with us!

Tough Week

2011-07-15T23:27:00.000-04:00

My sweet little 4 year old granddaughter is going through something no little girl should have to go through. Since birth she has battled scoliosis and we've all hoped and prayed that surgery wouldn't have to happen for years, but it came to a point where the doctors said it had to be now. The curve in her spine had progressed to a point where it was beginning to cause other problems.On Wednesday she had surgery to place rods alongside her spine and straighten it. It was an early morning for everyone and a nail-biting nervous wait for all of us, but she came through the 4.5 hr. surgery fine. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon was wonderful and he said the surgery went just as it should - no unforeseen problems.

After they moved her to the PICU unit we got to go in 2 at a time to see her. She had come out of the anesthesia fine, and before they sedated her again she was in pain and a little agitated and kept saying, "Mama, I don't want this". It was soooo hard to see a little one in this situation who doesn't understand what's going on. Heart breaking. In a little while they got her sedated and calmed down.

This was day one after they got her pain regulated and she went to sleep.

We left late that afternoon to come home and brought Bethany with us so that my son and DIL could stay at the hospital as much as needed and not have to worry about her. Since then we have been in contact by email and phone, but really wish I could be there too.

She was kept sedated until today. Yesterday they measured her for her brace and today Jon said they put the brace on and stood her up. They have taken out some of the tubes and possibly will move her to a regular room as soon as they have one. She has such a long journey ahead of her. Please pray for her and for Jon & Janet for patience and guidance. She is a headstrong little thing and isn't going to like that brace, but she has to wear it for awhile. I know this is all for the best - but will be so glad when it is behind her and she is comfortable and pain free again.

We hope to see her like this again soon.

Catching up.......

2011-06-25T22:59:00.000-04:00

My life seems busy - but not interesting enough to write about anymore! It seems like I just go to work, come home, go to work, etc. If you work I'm sure you can relate.

Summer is definitely here - it has been very hot and dry which means lots of watering. The flowers are doing well right now though. If you remember a few weeks ago when I first planted things looked like this:

And now they look like this:

So I guess the watering is worth it. By August I'll be really tired of dragging that hose around though.

Also in bloom right now are the daylillies and the butterfly bush.

I'm still plugging away on the socks, but they are generally my take-along project so they are going slowly.

I've started the Cladonia Shawl by Kirsten Kapur and am liking it so far. There will be lace, but the body is a simple pattern easy to memorize. I like a little lace, but not too crazy about a big lace project where I have to read a pattern on every row. The yarn is Denali, a hand dyed sock yarn by Pagewood Farm. The color is Fruit Freeze,

And on a totally different note, this little guy is my companion tonight. My neighbors left on vacation today and I am pet sitting. I haven't had a dog in years so this should be interesting. He will stay in his own home during the day while I'm at work, but I hated for him to be alone so much so he will be visiting here with us some too.

Ses@me Street Live

2011-05-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! Can't believe it has been so long since I have posted! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Friday night DH & I went to a movie! First time in forever. We tend to always go to his pick, so we saw Pirates of the Caribbean. Pretty good I guess if that is your type of movie. On the way out I heard lots of laughter coming from the Bridesmaids theater and wished I had been in there! LOL

Saturday Amy & I realized the Ses@me Street Live was playing in Greensboro and she got tickets for us to go. Sophie absolutely loved it and I'm so glad we were able to take her.

When Big Bird walked out on stage she was so excited! She didn't have any idea what to expect and it was so cute!

Of course Elmo is actually her favorite so every time he came on stage she loved it. Some of the characters walked through the audience and Zoe shook her hand, but I missed getting a picture of that.

A few weeks ago my other granddaughters came to visit and I just realized I didn't post any pictures. Sophie and Nicki have a few jealousy issues, but after a little adjustment period they love to play together.

School will be out for them soon and I'm anxious for Nikki and Bethany to come down and stay for a few days. Nikki is facing surgery for scoliosis in July and she is going to have to go through so much I want to get her for a few days before she has to face that. No pictures of Bethany this time - she avoids the camera!

On the needles - two at a time, toe up socks:

Have a great week!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T23:28:00.001-04:00

Saturday started off gray and cool, but the rest of the 3-day weekend (I had Easter Monday off) was beautiful - and actually hot! We have been so lucky and missed the worst of the storms that a lot of the country is experiencing.

Saturday afternoon Sophie dyed her first eggs. She took it very seriously!

Sunday was beautiful all day. Sophie loved her dress, but getting her to smile is almost impossible. Little stinker is so serious till the camera disappears and then shes all grins and giggles again.

Monday DH and I worked outside most all day planting flowers, and vegetables. Right now everything looks small and pitiful, but I took pictures to compare to later when everything is lush and beautiful (yeah, right!) Some years things do look pretty later and some years I'm really disappointed, but we'll see how this year goes.

The two hanging baskets for the front porch -

So I won't forget later, these are three of the flowers in these pots, along with coleus and regular impatiens.

This container goes on the front walk and also has coleus (which didn't have a label).

An old wheelbarrow filled with impatiens. I did this several years ago but haven't the last couple of years because by July I'll be sick of dragging the hose out there to water it every day!

Just because I love lavender! I just added this into a bed in the back yard.

Some of my herbs. Thyme, basil and oregano. I have another pot that I failed to get a picture of with rosemary and more thyme and oregano.

I filled in a little bare spot with these perennials. The pinks say they are deer resistant. We'll see. The deer have nightly buffets in our yard - they actually pulled whole pansy plants out by the roots.

And finally - tomatoes and squash. We only have a small garden spot, but at least plant our favorites.

There you have it - my online journal of my pitiful gardening attempts. Hopefully later in the summer I'll have progress to show!

Bolero Finished

2011-04-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

I knitted this from some yarn in my stash, Cascade Pima Tencel. I had knitted me a summer sweater in it a couple of years ago and wasn't really happy with it as it stretches as you wear it, but it does have wonderful feel and I hope will do okay in this.

Miss Sophie has gotten too busy to stand or sit still for a photo most of the time, but I did get one of her going shopping with Pooh wearing her new sweater. She is very big into pretending now. We go shopping, cook, march in a parade, and have parties all the time.

My lilac bushes are in bloom! Love the smell! Spring is definitely here - thunderstorms almost every day, one day hot, one day cold, dogwoods and azaleas are blooming. Really beautiful when the sun shines, but not such a fan of the cold, blustery days. Of course we'll soon be complaining about the heat!

Back in January for my birthday my daughter and husband together gave me a gift certificate for a spa day - facial, massage, manicure and pedicure. This isn't something I do for myself, so I was really looking forward to it. A couple of weeks ago I finally made an appointment for yesterday. The owner of the shop made the appointment on the phone and we specifically talked about finding a day that I could come in and have it all done at once. I showed up yesterday at 10:15 for my appointment (this is a new salon for me, I go somewhere else for my hair). No one was at the desk and not one stylist even looked up at me to ask if they could help me, which started out wrong for me. Several other women were waiting so I took a seat. After waiting at least 15 minutes finally someone came up front from the back. I approached her and she said yes, she had me for a massage at 11:00, but checked the appt. book and I was scheduled for a facial at 10:15, but the right person wasn't there yet. She finally came in - was very apologetic and I finally got started about 10:45, I was irritated, but have to admit the facial was wonderful. The room was perfect - the darkness, the candles, the music and no talk, which I like. I have gotten massages where the massage therapist talks the whole time and that ruins it for me. I have never had a facial so have no comparison, but I thought this was great. It would be great to have one regularly. Right after the facial I stayed on the same table and the masseuse started the massage. Again, very professional, very quiet, and very relaxing, but not quite as intense as I like it. I like someone to really get into the muscles, but I did enjoy it.

After the massage she told me that apparently the owner had failed to schedule my manicure and pedicure and they couldn't fit me in! So much for all the talk about having it all in one trip. They had to make me another appointment for that. We'll see how this goes. I had worried about how to leave tips, but the experience solved that problem. No one got a tip from me! I think I'll call T@bitha and suggest a salon makeover!

Anybody Need a Bandaid?

2011-03-27T22:51:00.000-04:00

My mother was a "be prepared" person. She bought all the birthday cards she would need months ahead, sat down the first of the month and got them all ready to mail. Also, she was never out of stamps, so unlike me the cards didn't get there two ~~weeks~~ days late! I rarely ever remember her running out of anything. She always had two gallons of milk, an extra carton of eggs, two or three (or more) tubs of margarine, and plenty of detergent and spot removers. The extra refrigerator in the garage was always full of frozen orange juice, extra frozen bacon and soft drinks. She kept her house clean and straight almost all of the time, because you never knew when someone might drop in. In my defense she didn't work outside of the home so this was a little easier for her than most of us, but she was also a very hard worker and just happened to like to be prepared. I've learned later in life though that a lot of this was obsessive compulsiveness.

After my dad died, Mama went to an assisted living facility, where she lived for five years. She had a small apartment with a tiny kitchen area, and she took great pride in cleaning her own room (even though she didn't have to) and doing her own laundry. Her favorite thing was going shopping. My sister and I both lived out of town, but we always took her out to eat when we went to visit and she always had a list ready for Walmart. The facility also took them shopping once a week or so and my aunt was also great to take her out when she could. Since she seemed capable, the staff let her get whatever she wanted. Since my sister and I weren't there all the time, we didn't realize how much she was buying either, but my aunt clued us in that she was buying the same things every time she took her. She started checking her storage places before they went out and telling my mom that she didn't need some of the things she had on her list. This made Mama so mad!

As her dementia got worse and her health deteriorated, we had to bring her closer to me and into a nursing home. When we moved her out of assisted living, we were amazed at her stash. All of our family was supplied with Q-Tips, toothpaste, lint rollers, hand lotion, fabric softener sheets, and most of all band aids! Heaven forbid that anyone need a bandage and not have one! That was 2005. This weekend I cleaned out our medicine stash both upstairs and down and the above pictures are what is left of my share of her collection 6 years after we moved her! I am not and never will be prepared like my mom was - but if you have a cut or scratch, I'm your girl!

There was a big consignment sale this weekend and we found this little house! Even though it is a little faded, Sophie loves it! Sadly, our sunny weather was nowhere to be seen this weekend so it was too cold to be out long, but we had to try it out. She would have stayed out forever, but the rest of us were too wimpy for the wet and cold weather.

Happy Spring!

2011-03-20T14:27:00.001-04:00

We had an absolutely beautiful day here yesterday and my helper and I planted some pansies, pulled some weeds, and cleaned up the dead stuff around daylillies and iris. The Bradford pears and forsythia are in full bloom here and all the trees are budding. Of course there is a downside and that is allergies! We also had our windows open yesterday and so I have all the symptoms.. Hopefully allergy meds will kick in today. It is cooler today too so no windows open yet.

One night last week after a couple of rainy days DH and I came out a restaurant to this beautiful rainbow. The power lines were definitely in the way and I was hoping to get a better picture when we got home or closer to home but by then the sun had gone behind a cloud and the rainbow was gone!

I Can't Believe She is 14!

2011-02-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

Bethany - that is! She should still be 2! While their parents went to a church retreat Bethany & Nikki spent last weekend with us and we loved it. We don't get to see them enough! When mom & dad got back we had a little family birthday party.

One day we did a little shopping and Nikki made a friend!

Sophie & Nikki had a good time together. Sophie loves Nikki and copies every move and sound she makes. Nikki however has had a little bit of a hard time giving up being the baby, but did great this time.

Having grandchildren here, my knitting took a little vacation, but I have finished a couple of things lately.

I knitted a Navy watch cap for my son.

And finished and blocked Saroyan.

I'm in between big projects right now. I do have something OTN but am looking for another project. Spending a lot of time on Ravelry!

Just had to add these pictures. When I'm watching Sophie it can be a little difficult to cook, but I put her to work and she loved it. After washing hands really well, she broke and beat eggs,cut up cheese with a plastic knife and patted out biscuits. It took a little longer but was fun for both of us!

Miss Sophie Turns Two!

2011-02-06T19:54:00.000-05:00

Sophie turned two on Wednesday, but we waited and had a small family party for her yesterday (Saturday).
A few weeks ago Amy was trying to decide on a theme for her party and it was down to Dora or Pooh. The only TV show that really holds her attention for more than a minute or two is Dora, but her very favorite thing in the world is her Pooh bear. For her he is her security blanket, pacifier and pillow all in one. So Winnie The Pooh became the choice for a birthday theme. When Amy told me I had a vague memory that we had used Pooh for one of her birthdays so I got out the old photo albums. It was for her first birthday! Although this is Sophie's 2nd, it is her first with us, and probably the first ever celebrated just for her so I thought that was pretty neat. Here is Amy on her first birthday with a Pooh cake that I had made. Below you'll see Sophie's mom made her a Pooh cake too!
I also found a picture of Amy's 2nd birthday with her Raggedy Ann cake. Look at that pretty curly hair!

When Sophie arrived yesterday it was raining and a girl has to have her umbrella and snazzy raincoat!

She loved her balloons!

And cooked several meals for us on her new kitchen!

When Amy and I were in Chongqing our guide Anita took us to a bakery and showed us this birthday candle. Amy bought it and it was impressive! We had fireworks, the flower spun and opened up and it played Happy Birthday. In fact it played for hours. It had to be put out on the patio and finally dismantled. It was a big hit though!

For her first time blowing out candles she did a great job. Her friend Emily just had to help a little!

Enjoying her cake and ice cream!

She is such a joy!

Birthday Week

2011-01-22T22:07:00.000-05:00

This Thursday was my birthday and my sweet husband surprised me with these beautiful roses. He and our daughter also gave me a great spa day gift certificate that I can't wait to use (and dinner out). I also got some beautiful things from friends and lots of birthday wishes from friends on Facebook. (Don't you just love being able to reconnect with old friends, especially if you've moved away). So... even though I'm not crazy about birthdays coming faster and faster, I do have to say this one was pretty good!

Last weekend we finally got to see our son and his family, celebrate Christmas with them and have Nikki's 4th birthday party. Jon had been out to sea since July so we are so glad he is back and were so glad to get to see all of them.

We had a birthday party with our family and our daughter-in law's family too. These are the girls and their cousins.

Nikki with her Birthday Princess tiara. Sweet little girl.

Happy Girl! This birthday thing is pretty neat!

Bethany

Sophie had a good time too!

Sophie & Rachel.

Bethany and Kathryn.

Next month Sophie and Bethany have birthdays so we will do more celebrating!

Snow Storm, etc.

2010-12-28T21:25:00.000-05:00

Mid-morning Christmas day it started snowing and we ended up with about 5 inches of snow. It was beautiful, cold and windy and we just hibernated most of the weekend. We had a wonderful Christmas with Amy and Sophie and loved Sophie's first Christmas. Our son and his family didn't make it down though and the weather kept us from going there, so we are still waiting to have Christmas with them.

This is Sophie's first sled ride. She loved the snow as long as she didn't have to get in it or get it on her!

Christmas morning......

Serving tea to Pooh at her new table and chairs

Helping granddaddy (with Santa's help) put together the race track.

I love my Dora bag!

More tea!

She didn't know what to make of opening gifts at first, but learned quickly!

We're anxiously now awaiting the second round with the other granddaughters!

I don't think I ever posted pictures of the finished Bella's Mittens - they are a gift, but haven't been given yet.

I love the long mittens, so warm. Since I had a little extra time and and a little extra yarn, I found a pattern for a warm headband/ earwarmer and finished this to add to the mittens. It was a quick knit but turned out cute.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, a nice relaxing week, and then a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T22:19:00.000-05:00

This has been a blessed year for our family. My son's ship returned last night after a six month cruise safe and sound and we hope to see he and his family soon (we were hoping for Christmas, but the Navy didn't cooperate!) We are just grateful he is home and with his wife and children! We miss them, but hopefully will see them soon.

And... you know about this little angel Amy received this year.

August 16th, 2010. China.

December 24, 2010, Virginia

We are so thankful she is home, celebrating her first Christmas and learning about the baby Jesus. As an adoptive mother myself, adoption is near and dear to my heart and I always had a soft heart for the orphan, but after going to China, meeting Sophie and all the other beautiful children in our travel group, my heart just breaks for all the children still over there and in many other countries, needing a home and a family. For all the families still waiting for their referral and for all the children so desperately needing to get to you - you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Lots of Firsts

2010-12-18T21:03:00.001-05:00

Since Sophie came home in August she is having lots of firsts and it is so fun watching her excitement . First was Halloween and she fell in love with pumpkins. She had real pumpkins, stuffed pumpkins, books about pumpkins and loved them! When the Christmas decorating started we didn't know how she would do but she loves everything - the tree, lights, decorated houses, stores, etc. Two favorites quickly became snowmen and Santa. I'm sure she had no idea who or what Santa was but loved him on TV, cartoons, pictures, ads, and her stuffed Santa. Last weekend her Mom asked me to go along to let her see him at the mall. We had no high expectations that she would ever go sit in his lap. She is still very wary of strangers and we all know that Santa is just no ordinary stranger! He is a little intimidating to even the bravest little ones. She did so great! She waved at him, didn't cry and was willing to go up to see him, but there is where she drew the line. She clung to Mama for dear life! We were really proud of her though and Amy says she might even try again. We didn't try to force the issue we were so glad just to get a picture with her in the same vicinity as Santa so if she doesn't do it this year that's okay! She continued to wave at him and be excited everytime we walked back by so it wasn't too traumatizing I guess.

Another first - baking Christmas cookies. Amy, Jon & I always made Christmas cookies when they were kids, I've made cookies with the other granddaughters and so we have to keep it going with Sophie. We kept it very simple this year. I have a Santa face that I usually make but knew that her attention span would be very short and we wanted her to experience as much of the process as possible before we lost her. Another good first memory!

This week has been a blur! I had a stomach virus on Tuesday night and missed work Wednesday. We had snow Thursday and our Christmas luncheon at work was Friday. It was all crazy! I finished the Bella mittens (they are drying) last night. They were my only Christmas knitting and they were an afterthought so I'm glad I was able to finish them. (Pictures maybe tomorrow) I really like these long mittens and might make some more. I'm finished shopping (except for a couple of things I thought of today), but still have done no wrapping. I've got to get to that. I've also got to make a menu and shopping list for food.

Our son Jon is due back from his deployment on Thursday and we're waiting to see when they will be able to come down so times are still a little up in the air, but I want to get ready anyway! Next weekend is Christmas - can you believe it?

What I have been doing!

2010-12-05T21:08:00.001-05:00

My cross-stitching is finished!

and hung with all the other stockings I've cross-stitched over the years.

Bella's Mittens are in progress and I'm loving working on these!

Saroyan is still on the needles and has taken somewhat a back seat to the mittens, but I'll get back to it.

And I've done a little decorating.........

This little guy I fought for yesterday playing dirty Santa at the cookie exchange. Isn't he cute?

This has been a very busy weekend and I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-05T20:29:00.001-05:00

This weekend it feels like the Christmas season began. Saturday morning was the annual Christmas cookie exchange/brunch/secret Santa that a group of friends has every year. We have a wonderful brunch then play dirty Santa with presents, then exchange cookies. We happen to all work together but enjoy this time away from work and it is a great way to get Christmas started.

When I got home I finished decorating the tree and DH got our outside lights up and then we had snow, so ready or not - Christmas is coming!

First Snow

2010-12-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

First snow of the year and first snow for Sophie (that we have seen her experience at least). Yesterday started out as a beautiful winter day, but by early afternoon it had started to snow. I really thought it would melt as it fell, and it did on the roads but we actually got about an inch of light, wet, fluffy snow.

Sophie started out very tentative, although she had been very interested watching it from the house. Her mom didn't bring her boots so we didn't venture off the sidewalk, but she loved it. Maybe next time there will be enough for her first snowman!

After we came inside, my other granddaughters called from Norfolk and it had started snowing there and they were so excited. Hope they had enough to enjoy it!

I have to share this - before we went out into the snow, Sophie and I were in our bedroom and she opened a drawer where I have old scarves, gloves, and hats. She loved it. She tried on many and settled on these

Her mom says she is an accessories girl! The top picture shows her touching the snow (which led to going outside).

Pre-Thanksgiving Catchup

2010-11-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

I am trying to get ready for Thanksgiving here. Lists have been made, in my head and finally some on paper, some groceries have been bought and I have a new list of things to get today. I heard this week someone say that the Thanksgiving meal is 4 hours of cooking, 1 hour of eating, and 4 hours of cleaning up. They didn't even take into consideration the planning and shopping! I think it is worth it though. I love this time of year. The beautiful leaves (my husband would probably disagree here as he works in the yard 2-3 times a week just trying to keep up with the leaves as they fall), the cool temperatures, beautiful skies, fall decorations and most importantly having the family together without worrying about gifts.

**Updated** Since I started this post this morning I have been back to the store for the second time and probably will be going back again! Wish I could get my thoughts better organized, but at least it is mostly done. My DIL and granddaughters will be here Wednesday night and stay until Sunday probably so I have lots of other meals to think about too. I will be so glad to see them though. I don't see them often enough. Our son is still out to sea, but we are really hoping he will be home by Christmas or at the least the following week. Six months for a dad to be gone is so hard for everyone, but they have all done great and we're really proud of our DIL and how she has handled the children, home, a break-in, a leaky roof, all the while going to school. Too many military families go through this and worse. Our prayers are with them all.

Bear with me, I know this is random - but I have been so lax in writing I have lots to catch up on!

Back in the spring when we planted new shrubs we planted two camellias, which I have never had before. Who knew they bloom in the late fall! What a nice surprise to have these beautiful blooms when nothing else is blooming.

I don't think I have posted pictures of the red dress I knitted for Sophie after I finished it. I found a cute little cat face on another pattern and it turned out really cute.

The little girl makes the dress!

Speaking of Sophie, yesterday she had on the cutest little mini-skirt and tights. Getting her picture though is getting harder and harder. When she sees the camera she runs toward it, so we get a blur! She is doing so well. She's talking up a storm, although some of it is a little hard to interpret. Tonight I got her to tell her mom, I'll be right back. Just a little hard to understand, but so cute! I took her to the grocery for the first time yesterday. She saw this Santa and grabbed on to it. Here she is feeding him a cracker. When we checked out she held on tight afraid the checker would take him away!

She can fly up and down the steps, but is not very careful coming down - I think I may have to break out the baby gate. Notice the bow in her hair. Yesterday I got it at a Christmas bazaar and she actually wore it most of the day. Today she had little pigtails.

I'm not doing a lot of knitting. Still slowly working on Sorayan, but have been cross-stitching a Christmas stocking for Sophie. I started these years ago for my daughter and son, added DIL and first granddaughter, then 3 years ago made one for Nikki. Years ago I cross stitched a lot and bought them at a wonderful cross stitch store we had back in Kentucky. There are no such stores anymore, at least not where I live now, but luckily the same company still makes them and I can find them on-line. Each time I've looked for them they have changed a little, but I'm just glad I can still find them. I couldn't do it all the time anymore though - too hard on my eyes!

I hope all of you have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Knitting FO's & More

2010-10-31T14:29:00.001-04:00

Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante - the second in a series of patterns based on the TV show, Bones. knitted in Trekking sock yarn. I have the third pattern in the series, Saroyan, otn.

This is a simple little sweater dress I knitted for Sophie. I still have some sort of applique to add, but can't find something I like. The pattern is Baby Sweater Dress by Maryann Wu. She added cute little fall leaves to hers, which I like, but want something a little different. Still looking.

Yesterday was Amy's birthday. We didn't do anything fancy, just ate at her favorite Mexican restaurant, then had cake and trick or treating at home, but I imagine it was one of her best - her first birthday having Miss Sophie in her life.

She didn't dress Sophie up last night, but she surprised us and willingly gave out candy, putting it right in the bags or pumpkins. Tonight we are going to a fall festival at a church and will hopefully have pictures of her dressed up later.

Today in the beautiful sweater knitted by my friend Timmie.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-17T14:53:00.000-04:00

Last weekend all the grandchildren were here and we made a trip to a local farm where they had a great time petting animals, riding ponies, taking a wagon ride, going to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. It was a beautiful fall day, but very hot - wish it had been just a tad cooler.

Nikki loved all the animals and finally got the concept of how to feed them.

I think I now need a farm and some goats and sheep. Unfortunately, DH doesn't share this thought!

Nikki was so proud of herself for riding the pony. There was a really small pony that she had picked out to ride, but when her turn came they said he had had a busy day and was too tired. She wasn't sure about the bigger pony, but with mom walking along she did great.

Nikki and Sophie love the bunnies.

Sophie picked out her first pumpkin with granddaddy.

This little house is at the back of the farm and Santa is here at Christmas. While in this area we also saw the horses, most of which are rescue horses.

Picture before we tackled the corn maze. With the dry summer we've had there was no worry about getting lost in the maze - we could see over most of the corn!

The sun was so bright and right overhead so we couldn't escape it. Here are Bethany and Nikki with their pumpkins.

The little playground at the end of the tour was a big hit with Sophie and Nikki.

Looking at the baby pigs.

Great Weekend

2010-09-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

Sophie's personality comes out more all the time. We had a great weekend and got to spend some time with her. She's a joy. To think that a month ago she possibly had never heard English and now she is learning new words every day. She loves cars and points them out from the window, our front porch, the car window, etc. Today her granddaddy was watching a Nascar race and she would say, car, fast, fast, fast! Maybe he will have a racing buddy!

Yesterday we went to a children's festival and even though most of the activities were a little too old for her, she enjoyed the atmosphere and watching the activities.

Last night she learned the joys of chips and cheese dip. She caught on quickly!

When first home from China she was afraid of the grass and wouldn't touch it or put her feet down in it. Now she loves to be outside and just takes off.

Happy girl!

We'll Always Remember

2010-09-11T12:03:00.000-04:00

Like most of you I remember well this day 9 years ago. It was a beautiful blue-sky September day, my mother's birthday and I was thinking of her and hoping she had a good day, planning to call her later in the day. I had just gotten to work when we began to hear the news. What had happened? Was it a freak accident? Then other tragedies began to happen and we knew it was worse than we could have imagined.

My son was on a ship in the Mediterranean, my daughter-in-law and 4 year old granddaughter on the Navy base in Norfolk which quickly became thought of as one of the next targets. They called my daughter-in-law at work to pick up B as they were closing the base day care and closing down the base. She called my husband and he and I left work immediately to go get her. DIL felt she had to stay to work but wanted B to go with us. In the four hour drive we listened over and over to the news on the radio in disbelief. This couldn't have happened here - but it did and we will always remember.

Still a Knitting Blog??

2010-09-07T21:01:00.000-04:00

After a hard two-week trip to China where sleep was lost, and a really hard, never-ending trip home, then family visits, going back to work, and a killer sinus infection for the last week, I finally picked my knitting back up again. I made it back to Monday night knitting and was so glad to see everybody. Amy brought Sophie by to meet everyone and even though she is a little wary of strangers at first after getting a neat new book from Gaye, Sophie relaxed and they even saw a little of her personality shine through.

I started the Traveling Woman shawl before I left, but have worked very little on it since then. Hopefully I will get back in the groove soon. (Trekking sock yarn)

We had a wonderful, laid back Labor Day weekend. It was so good to have the few days off and we got to spend a little time with Sophie. Granddaddy has been worried that she wouldn't ever willingly go to him but that all changed this weekend.

Just like the other two granddaughters decided long ago, he became a favorite person!

She found my tupperware and cookie cutters!

She went out to eat with us and was so good. She waved and said hi to all the other children in the restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed her lunch!

And she learned to ride the Care Bears car like a champ. This little car has the most annoying song you can imagine and she pushed the button at least 100 times. We are going shopping for a new car I think, either that or this battery is going to die!

Not Another Red Couch Photo!

2010-09-01T23:13:00.000-04:00

This weekend our daughter-in-law and granddaughters came in for a visit to meet Sophie. We were a little worried about how the 3 year old and Sophie would do, but they did just great! A few episodes of "that is mine", but not many and we were so proud of Nikki for sharing all her toys and being so loving to Sophie.

Sophie enjoyed her first meal in our house.

We tried to get a group photo of the girls but I think Sophie flashed back to the "Red Couch Photos". She was having nothing to do with Mama putting her down.

Sophie sucks her right thumb to get herself to sleep. Today it got infected and looked terrible. I went with Amy to the doctor where we thought it would have to be lanced and might take both of us to hold her. While we were waiting in the exam room though either Sophie hit it on something or it just opened on its own and drained. She now has an antibiotic and a wrapped thumb. She cried a little in the beginning, but actually sat still and let them dress her thumb. Don't know how she will make it tonight without that thumb! I hope she and mama get some sleep.

We're Home!

2010-08-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness! After such a wonderful trip the last few days have been a blur! We left Guangzhou at 10:40 pm Wednesday night China time (12 hrs ahead of us), got to Hong Kong at 11:40 and took the hotel shuttle to the Marriott at the airport. We got in bed about 1 am and had a wake up call at 5 am - so even though it was our first soft bed since we had left home we didn't get to enjoy it long.

Our flight left the next morning at 8 so we had to get to the airport early. Keep in mind all of this is with an 18 month old, 3 check-in bags, and 2 carry-ons. Every step was an ordeal!

From Hong Kong we flew to Tokyo - had enough time to get to our gate, eat lunch and rest a short time and then board for our longest flight to Minneapolis. We were not lucky enough to get an extra seat, so we had two seats in a set of three and Sophie climbed from Amy to me at least 5,000 times over the course of the next 10 hours. She really did well for the circumstances. I'm writing the airline though - sometimes you have to fly with babies and they could help a little - they could at least have a baby changing station and some special seats for families with babies. Ever try to change a poopy diaper on a plane, or eat a meal with a toddler sitting in your lap and the tray table down where they can grab everything on the tray? Fun times!

At Minneapolis we had to retrieve our bags, go through customs (where Sophie became an American Citizen!), recheck our bags, go through security again, and then wait about 3 hours for our flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta we had almost no time to change planes, but luckily two other ladies on our flight had to catch the same plane, so they helped find the gate and lead the way there. All along we encountered such nice people who were great to help us out! The poor lady who sat by us from Tokyo to Minneapolis was wonderful. She was from Thailand, going to visit a friend in North Dakota. (Couldn't have made that up!). We barely could communicate, but she helped us several times on the trip.

Here are a few pictures of our last few days in Guangzhou. We had a wonderful time in China and will always remember this trip. We met some great people and hope to keep in touch. Some are in these pictures.

Amy & Sophie in the Mattel playroom at the White Swan Hotel.

Sophie and her friend Lily.

It is a tradition to dress up all the adopted children in a group and make their picture on the famous red couches in the hotel. This was hilarious! It was chaotic, crazy and loud. Some kids (like Sophie) were having none of it and some just looked around at the screaming ones in wonderment.

Sophie has good lung power!

Look at Lily and Grace in the front turning around to look at Sophie and Lia (next to Sophie) to see what all the fuss is about!

She was fine if Amy held her.

Our whole group.

Sophie and Grace our last morning at breakfast!

Amy's friend Tracy and her daughter, Charlotte met us at the airport in Minneapolis. Don't Charlotte and Sophie both look cute in yellow?

Guangzhou Trips

2010-08-23T04:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went on the bus to the 6 Banyan Buddhist Temple, the Old Chen House and the Provincial Art crafts shopping center. It was terribly hot and miserable, but the things we saw were beautiful. The Buddhist temple is one of the oldest here, named after the Banyan trees on the property. The Old Chen house is a large home was ancestral home of the Chen family but now owned and maintained by the government as a historical place. So interesting to see what we have only seen in movies. The Provincial Art shopping center had authentic Chinese crafts that the guides could guarantee were real and good quality. In other shops you take a chance at what you get. We did a little shopping here.

Even though we enjoyed the morning we were worn out and so glad to get back to the room for Sophie to nap and us to cool off and regroup. There was a group outing for dinner but we chose not to go and ordered pizza in the room. We were glad because a huge rainstorm came while they were out. Tonight we are planning to go out with the group to a Cantonese dinner.

Today we went to the pearl market, a huge 5-story mall with hundreds of pearl and jewelry wholesale shops. Most of the families bought their girls some sort of pearls to give them when they are older.

I'm going to try to post some pictures. (crossing fingers)

Sophie learned quickly how to point the remote at the TV!

Our hotel is right on the Pearl River. We watched this boat with big screen last night.

Lucy's restaurant - American food (somewhat)

Six Banyan Temple

One of the Buddhas representing past, present or future.

A street shop next to the temple.

Pictures

2010-08-21T08:26:00.000-04:00

Sophie's first plane ride. As long as she has a cracker she's good.

First breakfast at White Swan hotel.

Breakfast buffet.

Fish pond by our table.

Waterfall in hotel.

Sculptures like this are all over the island. Notice the soldiers in the background doing something we couldn't figure out.

It is very slow uploading pictures so I can only do a few at a time. Amy seems to have an easier time on her blog so check there for more.

We're in Guanzhou!

2010-08-21T02:50:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know we made it to Guanzhou last night. Sophie did great on her first plane ride, but decided to be more active than she's been all week. She was a real wiggle worm, but happy the whole time. Our flight was delayed on the runway an hour but they fed us supper during that time which made it go faster.

The White Swan Hotel is beautiful, although our room is much smaller than our room in Chongqing. We have to stay a little more organized here. This morning we had our first experience of the famous White Swan breakfast buffet and it was all we had heard. It was so good to have regular breakfast food again. In Chongqing there were a few familiar things, but many unfamiliar too! We caught back up with our group after breakfast and met the others in the group who had been to Beijing. It was so good to see everyone again and their beautiful girls. One family has a set of twins.

Our guides Maggie and Grace walked with us to the photo shop to get pictures for the girl's passports (Sophie's is so cute), then to the clinic for their physicals. We heard Sophie really cry for the first time today. She did not like what they were doing to her! It is so hot out that afterwards we shopped just a little then came back to the room to cool off and let Sophie nap. Amy has to go to a group meeting in a little while to fill out paperwork.

I've tried and tried to download pictures, but it just won't work - I'll try again later - just wanted everyone know we are okay. We're over halfway now!

Chongqing Old Town

2010-08-19T00:46:00.000-04:00

We had a nice outing this morning, going with our guide and a driver to Old Town, the very beginning of Chongqing. The stone streets are 800 years old, but the buildings were rebuilt about 100 years ago. It is on a tributary of the Yangtze River where most of the travel and commerce was done years ago.

Sophie is officially the easiest baby on the planet. She traveled great for only the second car ride of her life. (better than me - you just can't believe the traffic and crazy driving here) It was very hot, but for the most part of the morning we were in the shade so it wasn't too bad. We saw some of the Canadian families there that we saw at the Registrar's office on Monday. It isn't hard to spot any of us!
Sophie seems to be fine today. She still won't take formula, but as long as she drinks other things and eats well we aren't going to worry about it. Most 18 months old at home wouldn't be on formula anyway and she is a pretty big girl. She can wear some 12 months, but has long legs and a long torso so anything that snaps or needs length has to be 18 months.

Here are some pictures of Sophie and our trip to Old Town.

She gets herself to sleep like this - holding her favorite green stacking cup, her doll, her blanket, and thumb in mouth. She just lies here and talks quietly and plays until she falls asleep - every time!

Sick Baby

2010-08-18T00:33:00.001-04:00

We have canceled our trip to the zoo today as we have a sick little girl. Just tummy issues so I hope they won't last long. She slept all night but early this morning got very agitated in her bed. Amy picked her up to put her in bed with her and she vomited all over her. No food, just phlegm, but she vomited every few minutes. We called Anita, our guide, to cancel the outing and she came to the hotel. She and Amy gave Sophie a suppository and had results right away. We think that was part of the problem as she hadn't had a BM since we have had her. She may be congested some too and all of that, plus stomach acid just didn't have anywhere to go. She totally refuses formula. She will drink water or juice from a bottle, but clamps her lips shut when she sees a bottle with milk. Anita went and got her some dumplings and she ate those. They also gave her some medication for congestion and she went to sleep. She is taking a good nap so hopefully she will feel better when she wakes up. Except for a possible trip to the store for a few more things today we will probably stay close to the room

I am going to try to catch up with some of the pictures from the last few days. These are from Hong Kong.

Our hotel room - the Regal Riverside

View from our room - notice the swimming complex.

Hotel Lobby

Also in hotel lobby

Huge skyscrapers everywhere - many are condominiums to house the huge population.

This is a new condo complex being built - will be 4th tallest building in the world when finished (Hope I remembered this right)

Our wonderful Hong Kong guide Matthew. CCAI has excellent guides helping us out. When we went to the airport to fly to Chongqing, Mathew went with each family to their check-in counter and helped with everything. Anita, our guide here in Chongqing has gone above & beyond to do for us. She has Amy's notary and will do all the running around to finish our paperwork so that we only have a minimum of trips to make.

More construction - notice the beautiful blue skies and mountains in the background. Hong Kong was really picturesque .

Catching Up

2010-08-16T19:49:00.000-04:00

We have Sophie! She came right to Amy, grabbed onto her and nestled her head on Amy's shoulder and stayed there for the next two hours. We walked back to our hotel and she sat in Amy's lap and watched everything but didn't make a peep. She fell asleep and Amy held her while she slept. When she woke up she took a bottle of juice then played on the bed with her toys (as long as Amy was nearby). We ordered room service and she loved my noodles and Amy's rice but hasn't taken a bottle of formula yet. She went right to sleep about 8 pm and is still asleep (11 hrs so far). We still haven't seen her stand or walk, but we are just giving that time. Poor little thing has been through a lot.

The guide told us we would either get a crying baby, smiley baby, or serious baby. Amy just knew it would be a crying baby, but so far seems more like a serious baby - you can see her mind just clicking away as she watches us. Amy is so blessed!

Enjoy these few pictures and I will try to catch up on the trip so far later.....

Made it to Hong Kong

2010-08-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

We're here and it's been great so far. The plane trip was loooong! The first plane from Greensboro to Detroit was the narrowest plane I've ever been on - it can't have been 10 ft. wide. There were 2 seats on each side of the narrowest aisle possible. If there had been any possibility of it even flying to China (which it wouldn't) I would have gotten off right then! We were a little late getting to Detroit and of course our next plane was in a different concourse 50 miles away, so by the time we got there they were already boarding, so no waiting time there.

Before the plane took off a fight attendant came by and offered Amy & me a section of 3 seats in the front, which was wonderful. We had an extra seat for our things, plus much more leg room. That was uncomfortable enough for 15 hours, the other would have been pretty bad! Uneventful flight thankfully, and we arrived about 7:30 last night Hong Kong time. A guide from Amy's agency, CCAI, met us and another family at the airport and brought us to our hotel, the Regal Riverside. It's right on a river and we have a spectacular view. My camera is charging now so I will load pictures later, but Amy did load some on her blog if you want to check now.

After a big buffet breakfast here in the hotel where we met the other four families in our group, we met our guide for the day, Matthew, who took us on a tour of Hong Kong. We went to the top of Victoria Peak where the views of the harbor and city were beautiful, to Aberdeen fishing village and harbor where we took a Sampan ride, then to Stanley Market which is a big group of shops. On our way we went through downtown Hong Kong and stopped at a jewelry factory and showroom. There were beautiful things, but no on in our group bought anything. There will be other opportunities and we've all heard that mainland China will be less expensive. Hong Kong is amazing. Very mountainous roads with tons of traffic and driving anywhere here would be a nightmare. Very beautiful city though.

This afternoon Amy & I walked around the area where the hotel is and bought some water and drinks in a local convenience store. We hope to get a good night's sleep tonight - last night we were so tired and went to sleep easily but we both woke up really early this morning.

Tomorrow is a free day until 3:00 pm when Matthew will pick us all up again and head back to the airport where the families split up to go to three different provinces and then we'll all meet back up in Guanzhou at the end of the week. There will also be some other families who flew into Beijing first and will meet our group then also.

Will post again as soon as possible - internet is fairly expensive here and we don't know how it will be in Chongqing.

Talk to you later.

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

2010-08-11T21:26:00.000-04:00

Our plane to China leaves at 12:30 tomorrow! I just can't believe the time has come.

I am all packed . If you can tell there is one little spot left for one last small bag that goes in tomorrow morning and pray that my scales are accurate. We are allowed 44 lbs and my scale reads 42! Since Amy has to pack for herself and Sophie she was a little over - so I have a few of her things too. The bag on the left has 20 knitted hats for the orphanage from my Monday night knitting buddies. Thanks everyone!

These are the bags I plan to keep with me. I'm hoping not to have to put anything in the overhead if at all possible. I've tried to abide by all the packing rules so hope we get through security with no problems. Last time I traveled my ticket was randomly marked and I was searched at every stop so I'm hoping that won't happen this time.

Who would have ever thought I would be going to China? It is a once in a lifetime trip so I plan to enjoy every minute and especially seeing that beautiful little face for the first time and getting to know her. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to do this with Amy.

On another note - do you have lots of butterflies this year? They are everywhere and so big this year. My butterfly bush is beside the driveway and every afternoon when I drive up the bush is covered. Enjoy this beauty.

I will post as soon as possible - hopefully from Hong Kong. Wish us luck!

Our China Itenerary

2010-08-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

Amy posted this itenerary on her blog, and kindly let me copy and paste and save myself a little typing.

All times are the local time. China is 12 hours ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone:

8/12: Leave US for Hong Kong

8/13: Arrive in Hong Kong late that night.

8/14: Free day in Hong Kong

8/15: Leave Hong Kong for Chongqing around 6:30 that night (by airplane). Arrive around 8:30pm.

8/16: Free time in the morning. Go get Sophie that afternoon.

8/17: Free time in the morning. Go complete the adoption registration and notarization in early afternoon.

8/18: Morning: optional half day tour of Chongqing Zoo. Afternoon: free time.

8/19: Morning: optional tour of CiQiKou (old town Chongqing). Afternoon: free time.

8/20: Receive Sophie’s finalized paperwork in the morning. Leave Chongqing by plane for Guangzhou at 6:45pm. Arrive in Guangzhou at about 8:30pm.

8/21: Get Sophie’s medical exam and visa photo taken in the morning. Prepare paperwork in the afternoon for the American consulate.

8/22: Free day.

8/23: Consulate appointment.

8/24: Go back to the Consulate to take the oath.

8/25: Go back to the Consulate again to receive Sophie’s visa packet in the morning. Leave Guangzhou by plane to go to Hong Kong at 8:05pm.

8/26: Leave Hong Kong early in the morning and make the excruciatingly long flight back to the US.

This still seems surreal to me. Going to China? Can't be real, can't be me!

However, this afternoon I started getting clothes and toiletries organized to pack and it hit home. I'm not too nervous a flyer, but just the whole process is a little scary - getting to and from the right places at the right time, finding our way around when we don't speak the language, etc. And, the most important part - praying that what is a happy, wonderful time for Amy isn't too hard an experience on little Sophie. She is coming to a loving home and will have a great life but all she will know at the moment is that we look different, sound different, probably smell different than anybody she has ever known. It will be natural for her to grieve, but we just hope she is able to work through it without it being too hard on her (and us!).

So Much Going On

2010-08-02T23:02:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy, crazy last couple of weeks. DIL and granddaughters came down for one of Amy's showers and were able to stay for several days. We love having them here but they have busy lives back home too with church and drama practice and orthodontist appointments, etc. so they've gone back home. We hope they will be able to come back for another visit before school starts.

Nikki brought her horse to the shower!

Bethany

This past Friday her co-workers gave her another shower and I was invited. Again, everyone was so nice and generous and happy for Amy and Sophie.

The cake was beautiful and delicious!

Now, we have 8 days before we leave and I have got to start thinking about packing!

Testing, testing

2010-08-02T22:22:00.001-04:00

Just in case I have trouble accessing blogger while in China, I'm practicing sending posts by email.

Will try to catch up with everything going on ASAP.

Going to China

2010-07-16T15:13:00.000-04:00

Finally, we have definite travel plans! We leave for China on August 12, flying to Hong Kong. On the 15th we fly to Chongqing where Amy will get Sophie (probably the next day). Later that week we will fly to Guanzhou and fly home from there. We will arrive back in Greensboro Thursday night, August 26nd.

It has been such a long and complicated wait for Amy, but finally there is light at the end of the tunnel and she can begin to be excited!

We will both try to post to our blogs while in China, so follow along.

Lots of Hats

2010-06-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

My knitting group is really coming through with hats for the orphanage in China. These are the ones I have so far. So cute!

I finished the Lace Panel Vest from Claassic Elite knits. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cherry Moon.

Lace pattern on back.

I love the front, but next time I think I will do the back in a solid stockinette. That would make it a quick knit. Since I made it in cotton I was able to wear it to work today, even though it is 98 deg.! Might make another one out of wool for later.

Duck, Duck, Goose

2010-06-23T19:49:00.001-04:00

Our son and his family came for a weekend visit over Father's Day weekend. On Saturday we went to the farmer's market for some vegetables and then walked down to the river walk to feed the ducks and geese. We weren't disappointed as they were out in force.

This little family came up over the hill from the highway on their way to the river. Mom & Dad wanted the bread, but they also didn't want anyone too close.

See them squawking at B. They never got too vicious though and we kept our distance. (Click on photo for closer view)

N wanted to feed them, but then would step back if they got too close.

Come on duckie!

Follow me.

Eye contact.

Don't you wish you had invented these Silly Bandz! I sure do. Someone is making a million dollars off of this silly fad. The trick is to find something that pre-teens or teens like and you've got it made. These are B's.

We enjoyed having them here so much. Our son is leaving soon for another navy cruise and will be gone for 6 months so we are trying to spend as much time with him as possible. The girls and their mom will be down a lot while he is gone, especially this summer while school is out. Military life is hard on the soldier, sailor, etc. but also very hard on their families. Keep them all in your prayers.

Golden Raintree

2010-06-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

Years ago we obtained several (maybe 10?) trees from the Arbor Society. When they came they were just little sticks, which we planted in a bed and hoped for the best. Only one really took off and my son planted it in the back yard. Of course by then we had lost the codes that told you which tree was which, (and that is definitely not an area of expertise for me) so we didn't know what this one was. It grew and grew and in a few years starting having light green - yellow growth at the end of the branches. I tried to look up the tree by the types of leaves, but nothing looked just right.

In the past couple of years the blooms at the end of the branches really began to have more definition and color and I discovererd that it is a Golden Raintree. It is so pretty and gets prettier each year when it blooms. I've not noticed any others in this area, but love mine.

Does anyone remember the movie or book, Raintree County. The movie was filmed in Danville, Kentucky back in the 50's starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Cliff.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

2010-06-08T21:44:00.000-04:00

On the adoption front that is. Amy finally got approval from immigration, but there was a mistake on the form, a mistake that could cause big problems in China - so she has had to contact them again and try to get it fixed. I know she is so frustrated - this has been one challenge after another. In the end it will be well worth all this stress, but so hard now!

I have been knitting, just not showing anything since it was for a gift. We had a shower for a co-worker tonight having her second little boy, and since I always do better under pressure, just finished this baby blanket last night about 11pm.

Since I had a deadline, this has been my sole knitting project for the last week, so now I can get back to knitting hats for the children at the orphanage. I have a couple finished and will post pictures when I get more done.

We had a great weekend. Our son, who is in the Navy just got back from a month's training cruise and will be going out again in July for 6 months. We went up to see them Friday night and spent the night and all day Saturday. B didn't get to spend the day with us Saturday because she had a chorus performance and then a trip to Busch Gardens with the chorus. She was so excited. This is her early in the morning dressed for the performance on the way to drop her off at school.

Sorry for the glare, but it was early morning and she was in a hurry. She sure didn't want to be late, so I took the picture as quickly as I could. She's smiling to show off her new braces.

After we dropped her off at school we drove up to Williamsburg to an outlet mall. I did a little shopping for my trip to China, things I couldn't find here at home and would have had to order. It was so hot though that after lunch we headed back to the car and the a/c.

On the way home we stopped at Fort Monroe. We had driven past this exit many times but had never stopped. It was a neat historical fort and worth the stop. We enjoyed the museum and walked to the top of the fort for a view of the Chespeake Bay. We will definitely go back on a cooler day to see more. The temperature was 98 deg. A few pictures -

N sitting in a window well of the museum, which was the fort prison. I learned several things here - one that Jefferson Davis was a prisoner here after the Civil War.

See how tall I am!

The moat surrounding the fort.

Views of the Chesapeake Bay from atop the fort.

Grandaddy, Dad and N, headed down from the top. Notice the beautiful old houses. These are all private residences. Such a pretty place.

Bracelets for Sophie

2010-05-26T19:23:00.000-04:00

Amy had waited 3 years when she received the referral for Sophie, BUT.....she thought she would have a 4+ year wait so even though it was a wonderful surprise, it also has brought challenges. Adopting and traveling to China is very expensive and she had planned on that extra year to save a little more money.

For the last several years Amy has made and sold bracelets - all beautiful and of the best quality and is selling them as a fundraiser. If you would like to help bring Sophie home click here to visit Amy's blog and view the bracelets - we would be very thankful!

Baby Hats

2010-05-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

I brushed off my crochet hook last week and crocheted this cute little hat for Sophie. I had forgotten how fast crocheting is.

In searching for any information about the orphanage Sophie is in, Amy found this video http://www.viddler.com/explore/Sapp/videos/19/

Even though the children appear to be playing inside, they have on coats and hats. I am going to try to knit as many hats as I have time between now and travel to take with me. My Monday night knitting group friends are helping, but if any knitters (or crocheters) would like to help, let me know.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful day today. If you didn't get to see your children today, if you are missing your mother or if you are waiting to be a mother you are in my thoughts and prayers also.

When I first saw the nest in the fern in my front porch there were two eggs, next time I looked there were five. Yesterday, there was one little ball of feathers and this morning all 5 had hatched.

Look at this mouth wanting to be fed!

Some of the flowers still blooming in my yard.

On the adoption front, things are moving along, but there are still lots of details to worry over, especially immigration paperwork, so keep Amy in your prayers that there are no glitches. Keep Sophie in your prayer too, that she is getting good care and being loved on every day!

Newest Granddaughter

2010-05-05T16:06:00.001-04:00

Introducing.......

Sophie Eloise Qiuhong
Born February 2, 2009
Chongqing, China

Amy got her referral a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't announce any details until today. She (we) are so excited! Amy & I will be going to China in a couple of months so many more details will follow.

Amy's blog is http://www.aredthreadconnection.blogspot.com/

Look what I found...

2010-04-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

while watering my ferns yesterday. After I had watered this one I walked to the next and looked back and saw something that looked a little different - a nest. Everytime I've gone out on the front porch today the mom has been on the nest and then she flies to the nearest tree and has a fit till we leave.

Why Do I Do That?

2010-04-18T23:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I picked up my knitting again, and realized that about 10 rows back I apparently had been off a stitch on my yarn overs, which left a hole just a little out of line in a couple of places. I always do this - think I can live with it and keep knitting. Then......several rows later after it has nagged and nagged at me I decide I can't live with it and have to rip it out. I didn't see any way to fix this otherwise, so rip I did.

What a mess - and I know I didn't do it right - I should have rolled it into a ball as I went, but at the time I just wanted it done.

The next step was getting it back on the needles, which with yarn overs was a pain.

But finally I got it back and got the tangled yarn rolled back into a ball. This is the back of the Lace Panel Vest by Claassic Elite and the yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cherry Moon.

Next time I hope I will just fix the mistake when I find it instead of thinking I can live with - will save me a lot of trouble.

Finishing Up Spring Break

2010-04-17T11:09:00.001-04:00

We took the girls home last Sunday, I went back to work on Monday, and it has taken me all week to get back to normal!

Here are a few pictures to finish up the week.

N driving while we worked in the yard. Playing in the jeep kept her entertained for a long time while we were all busy spreading mulch.

The weather turned cooler and the hoodies came out again. You can tell it is spring.

Finished views of the landscaping everyone worked so hard on. We're so happy with how it turned out and so glad to have it finished. I'm anxious now to plant some annuals and brighten it up.

One day N said she wanted to "nat". I wasn't knitting at the time, so it took me a few minutes to decipher what she meant. She went to my knitting bag and found what she wanted.

I have gotten very little knitting done the past couple of weeks, but did finish a dishcloth and am now working on my vest. Pictures to follow!

Spring Flowers

2010-04-08T16:11:00.000-04:00

I'm off work the rest of the week - and loving having the granddaughters here. N and I spent the morning outside looking for butterflies on all the blooms and playing a little too!

And, nominated for the best use of a treadmill.......

Busy Week

2010-04-08T15:50:00.000-04:00

Spring has really sprung here - a little too early I'm thinking, but it has been gorgeous. Tonight though thunderstorms are predicted and then the temperature is supposed to drop a lot. It has been in the 80's and 90's all week and Monday night we had some hail. It was short-lived and didn't do any damage, but just came out of nowhere. The girls thought it was pretty fun! Bad picture - but you can see the hail in the mulch.

After the short storm -

In case you're wondering, N has a play cat bed on her head like a hat! She is so funny.

A lot of work was done here this week. DH and our son especially, but we all contributed some - cutting down trees, pulling up shrubs, planting new shrubs, and spreading mulch.

We still need a few more plants and later this month I'm going to fill in with some annuals, but it looks so much better!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

We are having a beautiful weekend. DH and son worked in the yard all day yesterday pulling out all of our old overgrown shrubs in front of the house. Jon, Janet & the girls will be here a few more days and I'm excited to be able to get this done. They are cutting down some old trees also, mulching and planting new shrubs. I'll post after pictures when finished.

Yesterday afternoon my DIL took B shopping and while they were gone N and I had a great time dying eggs. We started out very neatly, but by the time we were finished both of us had multi-colored fingers!

And shirts!

This morning both girls were a little sleepy-eyed, but enjoying their Easter Bunny bounty.

While they waited for Mom to get ready for church, we got a few pictures.

This afternoon they are off visiting the other grandparents, aunts and cousins and so I'm catching up a little (rest and blogging). I know I spoil them, but I stay very busy while they are here! I wouldn't have it any other way though.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Little Upstarts

2010-03-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

While walking around the yard today I found these two little crocus. I didn't plant them there, but wish now that I had more. Such a welcome sign of spring! It is an absolutely beautiful weekend here. Sunny and in the 70's.

DH and I ventured out to the garden center this morning and bought some new shrubs. The front of our house had 17 year old overgrown shrubs planted by the builder. They were crowding out each other and the azaleas we had planted right after we moved in. We are in the process of pulling out all the old shrubs and expanding the area a little and planting new. We bought a few things this morning and want to place them in the area before I decide what else to buy. We're trying to get away from the look of lines of hollies that have to be pruned and going with an airier look with more interesting shrubs that bloom or have color at different times of the year. I'm no landscaper though, so hope I don't screw it up too much!

I have had a strange couple of days. Thursday night I started with a sore throat and achiness. By Friday morning I felt like crap! All day I froze and ached and slept most of the day. Since I slept so much yesterday, last night I couldn't sleep, of course. I got up and watched some TV I had TIVO'd, but my back and head were killing me. I remembered that DH had some pain pills from his surgery. I know, I know, you should never take someone else's drugs, but you know you have too! I took one about 1:30 and went to bed. At 2:30 I woke up feeling like I was having a heart attack. (Since DH's heart attack we tend to think the worst!) The very middle of my chest was hurting, and my eyes were so blurry I couldn't see the clock. I got up and got a cold washcloth, but was so dizzy I barely made it back to bed. The next few hours were rough. I would drift off to sleep, then wake up to see if I was still alive, then drift off again. Let's just say today has not been my most productive day. We did go to the garden center and out to lunch, then back to the couch. I won't be taking this particular pain pill again. I g**gled it this morning and those are some of the side effects. I'm usually not sensitive to meds, but age, age, age. Everything I blame on age!

On to a more positive subject, I finished this cute little scarf - The Garter Stitch Ascot. Very simple, but fun and cute.

The gathered area is open to fit one side through the other like this:

The yarn is a merino/cashmere mix that is very soft and cushy from my stash.

Have a great week!

Highly Recommended

2010-03-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

I loved knitting the multidirectional diagonal scarf (a free Ravelry pattern). Easy enough for a traveling project, but fun and interesting too. Working with Noro Silk Garden is always fun - I love watching the colors change and this pattern utilizes short rows which is much more interesting than straight knitting.

I think this is going to be a favorite pattern.

We have had the nicest weather the past several days - 60's and even 70's and beautiful sunshine. I think spring will really be appreciated this year. DH & I went for a walk after work tonight and spotted green plants poking up out of the ground in several places. Yay!

Snow Again!

2010-03-02T18:08:00.000-05:00

The weather report predicted we might get a dusting of snow today, and inch or less they said. I didn't even think we would get that. After all every time they have predicted snow this year it actually snowed and I didn't think they could possibly continue their winning record. Also.... we have had enough snow!

However, this was my drive home at 5:00 pm.

It is still snowing an hour later and it looks like we might have about 2 inches. So far the roads are not covered but we'll see as dark and colder temperatures hit. We are ready for spring!

Two At A Time, Toe-Up Socks - Finished

2010-02-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

Two finished objects in one week! These were my first pair of toe up socks, which were also done on magic loop. I love that when I'm finished, I'm finished with both socks! I tend to have second sock syndrome and when I do one at a time, delay that second sock.

These were knitted with Sheep Shop Yarn Company sock yarn in the Lilac colorway. I used size 0 Addi Turbo circulars, which I love, and finally have socks that fit. Ready to start another pair.

It was a beautiful weekend here. Even got in the 60's today. We went on a walk in the neighborhood, but other than that just laid low. After our adventures of last weekend it was good to have a quiet weekend to cook, watch the Olympics (and Kentucky basketball!) and knit.

Have a great week!

Finished Afghan and Big Weekend

2010-02-17T22:13:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night DH & I attended his "graduation" from cardiac rehab. It was so encouraging to see all the healthy faces in the room - all who had undergone some kind of cardiac problem last year, gone through cardiac rehab and now were thriving and celebrating. We had a great dinner and visited with the wonderful cardiac rehab nurses and doctors.

Late that evening Jon, Janet and the granddaughters drove in. I had worked hard all week trying to finish B's afghan, but ended up weaving in the ends Saturday morning. I had planned to then wash it and steam the ends if necessary, but she didn't want me to do anything, she wanted it right then. She slept with it that night, so I guess it was a success.

Saturday night we had an early birthday party for B. She will be 13 on the 22^nd but this was the weekend they could come in so we celebrated a little early. All of our family plus daughter-in-law's family came for pizza and cake.

My friend Linda made this beautiful cake – you can tell we are cat people!

N got birthday presents too – her birthday was Dec. 22^nd and we had a family dinner that night, but the extended family celebrated this weekend. She didn’t care – she just loved opening presents!

B and her new Aeropostle hoodie.

N modeling her new dress.

And her pretty hair!

B examining the afghan!

Sisters being silly!

Sunday afternoon they left to go home and a couple of hours later we got a call that their van broke down out in the middle of nowhere! DH was happily watching the Daytona race and I was just resting my eyes on the sofa. Heh

We jumped up and headed out to get them home. By the time we got to them they had been sitting in the van for 2 hours so you can imagine that the 3 year old had just about had enough of the car. We had another 2 hours to their house, and by the time we got there she was more than ready – and so were we! They had just had a lot of work done on their van this past week so were hoping the dealership where the work was done would be responsible. We heard from them Monday morning and they are going to split the cost of the tow truck and then will see what the problem is. At least they are getting it home.

DH and I had another 4 hour drive back home after we dropped them off so on the way home I made a decision that I would be no good at work today and called in and left voice mail messages that I would take a vacation day. That way I didn’t have to get up early to call in and I definitely didn’t. I slept till 10:30!

We had a fun birthday party, a good visit, and even a little chocolate was eaten for Valentine's Day, and everyone got home safe, but car trouble is not fun!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

I just noticed that I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks. Since that time I think we have had two more snows, along with rain, and terrible wind on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We had a little shopping to do on Wednesday night and it was miserable! Everyone here is so tired of bad weather - but I'm not sure it is over - more snow is predicted for the next few days, but hopefuly it will be light.

Tonight we have a dinner at the hospital for husband's "graduation" from cardiac rehab. After his heart surgery he went to rehab for about 9 weeks. He just loved the nurses in rehab and look forward to seeing them again tonight.

By the time we get home our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters will be at our house. Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for N's 13th birthday. Can't believe it has been 13 years - seems like yesterday. I'll be so glad to see all of them. After a few weeks my heart starts to hurt! I know that sounds silly, but grandma's (and granddaddy's) will understand!

I have been knitting my fingers off trying to finish N's afghan so I can give it to her while she is here. I've let everything else go hoping to finish it and just have a few rows left, but weaving in the ends. Wish me luck.

I will try to get pictures this weekend of the afghan and my girls!

Snow and Birds

2010-01-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

We are in the middle of our 2nd major snow event this winter. This is pretty major for here as in the last few years we haven't gotten much snow. Luckily, (or not - if you are a kid and hoping to miss school) both snowstorms have come on the weekends, so we can just hibernate for a couple of days. I made a big pot of soup, cleaned house a little and now am planning to just knit and/or watch tv and/or play on computer the rest of the day. I just hope no one loses power. The snow so far has been mostly light and powdery, but it did sleet a little earlier. There are lots of tall pine trees around here that play havoc with power lines when we get ice.

My bird feeders have been very busy this morning. I need to get some water out there, but at 21deg. it would freeze - any ideas? I noticed this woodpecker visited several times.

Click on to see closer

Everybody stay warm and safe!

Catching Up With Knitting and even Christmas!

2010-01-24T13:40:00.001-05:00

I'm still here. I've just been blank lately. Life has been pretty normal the past couple of weeks. I'm still very sad about Magic, but know it was for the best. His brother, Onyx has always been the independent, aloof cat of the two. Since Magic died though, he has become much more loving and needy. I'm sure he misses his brother.

I am knitting when I can. Are you a process knitter or a product knitter? Some of my knitter friends amaze me by the number of projects they have going at once and how much they produce.I am very impressed and sometimes a little jealous. However, unless I have a deadline for a gift, I've decided I'm a process knitter. I like the knitting. I like watching it progress and always having something to pick up and work on. I like choices too, having two or three things going so that if I get tired of one (or hit a snag and lose my temper and throw it on the floor) I have another project to go to. I also like having a simple small project going for taking with me. This is a must for knitting group. If I get brave and decide to take a lace project or anything with a complicated pattern and counting, I usually have to come home and rip it out. Besides knitting, we do a lot of talking and laughing and that is not conducive to intricate projects. Most everyone in the group confesses to the same problem. I also try to save my bigger projects which are not easy to transport (you don't want a big afghan spilling off your lap into the floor of the doctor's waiting room) for home. I said all this to say, I don't knit very fast! I still have the same projects on the needles as several weeks ago! That would drive product knitters crazy as they want to have a finished product to admire and then move on. For us process knitters though, that's okay, up to a point. Eventually I get tired of something and want it finished!

Here are the current projects, two of which you have seen before.

My two-at-a-time, toe-up socks on magic loop. This is my traveling project, but even though I only work on it occasionally, you can see I am up to the ribbing on the cuff so it will be finished soon. I really enjoyed doing socks this way and will again.

New project - Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf (pattern found on Ravelry), using Noro Silk Garden, left over from the sweater I did last year. Robin loves this pattern and after seeing a gorgeous scarf she knitted I had to try it. I love knitting with Noro, it is fascinating just seeing how the colors turn out.

And this is the afghan for granddaughter, B, using Plymouth Encore. No pattern, I'm just making it up as I go. Very easy peasy, but sometimes a little boring just knitting and pearling such long rows!

While uploading (downloading?) these pictures I saw some from Christmas I don't think I've published. Just family, and mostly the grands!

N & B

Daugher-in-law Janet, Granddaddy, B & N

B, me, son Jon (acting silly) and daughter Amy

B & N

Christmas morning with Baby Alive.

Poor child, didn't get anything for Christmas! Ha

She let me curl her hair for once!

Taking Baby Alive for a ride in the shopping cart.

Both girls are getting ready to have extensive dental work so keep them in your prayers. With B it is braces, but also some dental surgery before the braces. With N, we're not sure yet what is going to be involved, her dentist is referring her to a pediatric dental specialist. When she was born she had kidney problems and was given antibiotics. These apparently damaged her enamel and her teeth are a mess and it is sometimes painful. On top of that she fell on concrete about a year ago and knocked both front teeth loose. They turned dark, and one had to be crowned. This looks bad as one is dark, and one really white. (I know this is a superficial problem, but kids are going to be cruel and luckily so far she isn't conscious of it, but I know it will happen) I hope they fix this too. She just turned three, has had kidney problems, scoliosis, tonsils and adenoids removed, ear tubes twice so far and now these dental issues. She's a trouper though - always happy.

And if you remember my friends Brenda and L.C. who adopted LaiCie from China in August - this is beautiful LaiCie dressed up for Christmas. Brenda brought her into work to see us and she had better watch out, everyone of us would kidnap her in a minute!

She brought us all cookies and loved handing them out! What a cutie.

Good bye Magic

2010-01-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

Today was a very sad day. Magic, one of my two cats had been losing weight for the last couple of months and drinking lots & lots of water. He was still feisty though and seemed to feel okay.

Yesterday though he started being sick, meowing, hiding from us, and I knew things weren't good. He wasn't eating or drinking, was vomiting, and seemed very uncomfortable.

We went to the vet first thing this morning and found out he had kidney failure. She was very kind and gave me several options, but all were short-term, temporary fixes that might make him feel better for a short time, but would have just delayed the inevitable. Also, he was almost 14 years old.

We debated a long time, but in the end decided to put him to sleep. It was such a hard decision. He was my baby. I got his mom from my boss back in 1995 when she was just a kitten. We had an appointment to get her spayed, but before that happened she knocked out a window screen, got out and got pregnant. She was just a baby herself, less than a year old. She went into labor while sitting in my lap on July 4, 1996. My son, husband and I watched all four kittens being born. We gave away two, but kept Magic and his brother Onyx. Of the four kittens Magic was the only one with long hair (obviously took after his father). He was always the largest, slowest, sweetest, and best natured. (to humans! he never liked other cats)

He tolerated both grands the best and was the gentlest to them. They both gave him a hard time too. From the time both of them were tiny they have always loved cats and especially these cats!

B carries Magic around most of the time when she is here. I would think he would get tired of it, but would then find him on her bed at night, so I think it was mutual.

He was such a good boy today. He let them examine him and just laid his head on my hand while they gave him the injection, looking right into my eyes. It just about killed me, but I just couldn't let him suffer. Goodbye Magic, I miss you. You were loved.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T19:39:00.000-05:00

Let's hope 2010 is a good year. We're glad 2009 is behind us and hopeful for 2010!

DH retired April 1, had surgery on his knee in August and then in September had his heart attack and open heart surgery. Think we will skip all of this excitement this year! He's doing well now though so we are thankful for that. Many are not so fortunate.

I go back to work tomorrow and look forward to and dread it at the same time if that is possible. I've loved having the girls here, was glad for them to go home, but miss them now that they're gone. I've loved staying up late and sleeping late, but I need to get back to a routine. After we got back from taking the girls home Thursday, I spent Friday and Saturday putting away Christmas decorations and getting the house back together. I must be schizophrenic because I also have mixed feelings about that. I love the house decorated for Christmas and I'm sad that Christmas is over, but also happy to get the decorations put away and the house back to normal. Making up my mind has become a problem!

It is really cold here It was 14 deg. last night and just barely 30 today. Yesterday was really windy and the wind was just whistling around the house. We stayed in Friday and Saturday, but today needed a change of scenery so we went to the movie to see Sherlock Holmes. Save your money. It is dark, violent, and the beginning was very depressing (to me). It did get better, but was not what I needed to see today. A comedy would have been much better!

At knit night a few weeks before Christmas something in our conversation triggered a memory of an old crochet project I had made several times years ago. I didn't have my old pattern (or didn't want to spend weeks looking for it) so found a few online that were very similar. I had to refresh my crocheting skills, but made this in a couple of nights and it did turn out really cute. I gave it to N as part of her birthday present and she loved it. I almost forgot to take pictures of it, but just before we took them home I remembered and thought you might want to see it.

Crocheted baby bassinet/purse

This pattern made a larger bassinet than my old pattern and I didn't have to get the tiny doll. This doll is a tight squeeze, but does fit. I found it at Target.

N taking it easy with her baby.

I had to show these pictures of N in my make up drawer. I had just washed the princess dress, and she got into some of my old make-up I keep in the downstairs bathroom. She was having a grand time (and got it all over her face and dress)

As I said, she kept me busy!

Knitting took a backseat the past couple of weeks, but I was able to knit a little the last few days. Yesterday I was able to turn both heels on my two at a time, toe up socks.

I've missed knit night the past two weeks, and am excited to go back tomorrow night and am thinking about a new project.

Here's wishing all of you a wonderful, safe, healthy, and happy 2010.

Hooray for Nap Time!

2009-12-29T14:37:00.000-05:00

My just barely turned three (on Dec. 22nd) granddaughter is a wonderful napper. She goes down easily every day right after lunch and sleeps 2-4 hours. That is my lifesaver, because the rest of the time she is full-throttle! I can regroup, maybe read a blog or two and possibly knit a couple of rows. I should clean up the house, but have found that is a lost cause so I just do a little laundry, cook something simple and get the dishes done (maybe). Having a three year old is not for the weak or weak of heart - it is a full time job, and could possibly kill you (especially at my age - it didn't seem nearly as hard 30 years ago!) However, she is also the sweetest, funniest, cutest kid and that makes it all worthwhile!

The parents left Saturday afternoon and DH and I are keeping the 12 and 3 year old granddaughters until Thursday, when we will take them back home. The 12 year old is absolutely no trouble. She is in fact a big help, especially with her sister. I love having them here, but definitely need my vitamins during that time!

We had a great Christmas. The snow was still on the ground and the kids got to play a little in it, build a snowman, and sled down our hilly yard and driveway. Even the the weather got a little warmer during the day, it got cold every night so we still have snow in places.

Yesterday we took the kids to the movies to see "The Princess and the Frog". It was N's first movie and we were prepared for the worst, but she loved it and was wonderful. She was amazed at the whole thing and did just great. She moved from her seat to my lap to Dh's lap, but happily munched popcorn and watched the movie. I worried that a few parts (the voodoo) were a little scary for her, but I don't think she actually caught on to what that was about, so she didn't seem scared. I was proud of her.

On the 22nd we had a small family birthday party, but plan a bigger party later.

She and her daddy with her cake.

For Christmas her aunt Amy gave her this fairy outfit. She has worn it almost every day since. One day we didn't go anywhere and she wore it and her pajama top all day. I have already washed it twice. I think it was a hit.

Why wear one outfit when two are available? The tu-tu came with a pair of pajamas, but went over her head like a cape!

N and B

DH got the outside decorations down this morning, but I don't even dare start inside with all this help. Maybe Friday!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T12:25:00.002-05:00

We have snow!

2009-12-19T13:49:00.000-05:00

Since we moved to Virginia 17 years ago, we have had several big snows, but they mostly happened in the 90's. In the last few years, a lot of snow has been predicted, but often it is more prediction than reality. Often, what little we get is gone by 10:00 am.

When they started predicting this winter blizzard earlier this week I was very skeptical, but for once they were right and I was wrong! Hard to believe I know!

This was the view from from office window yesterday afternoon about 2:30.

And this was the view from my front door early this morning.

We got about a foot of snow and it has snowed some more during the day, but I think it is mostly over. DH has a 4-wheel drive jeep and he was itching to try it out so he went out this morning to the store and I sent the camera with him. These are shots he took of our street, driveway, our house and yard, and neighbor's house.

Another view from the front door.

Our street.

Street from our driveway.

Front of our house

Our driveway

Back yard

All my life my mother was a person who did everything ahead of time. I heard a million times, "You never know what might happen and I want to be ready." She bought birthday cards way ahead of time and had them ready to mail months early, prepared early for every holiday, etc. I used to laugh at her, but I guess some of it rubbed off on me in spite of everything because I feel stressed if I leave anything till the last minute. Sometimes it actually pays off - like now. I had finished my shopping, wrapping, and cards last weekend and thank goodness I did. This weekend I would have freaked out if I had it all to do in this weather!

Today I cleaned and am making soup and plan later to knit! Of course I'm still thinking of things I would like to buy, but if I don't get out, nobody will know the difference.

Cookie Exchange

2009-12-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things of the holiday season is a brunch and cookie exchange with some of my favorite friends. This was our 5th year and Doris again was the gracious hostess.

The food was delicious!

Our group.

The presents for our Dirty Santa game which we always say we are going to be aggressive and cutthroat, but hardly ever do! We always like what we get so well we rarely ever change.

Jill opening her gift, which I think she did give up later!

Judy sharing her gift.

Elizabeth.

Doris and cute snowman, which ended up with Jill!

Evelyn

Kathy with a K

Cathy with a C

Peggy loving her snowman!

Donna

Then it was time for the cookie exchange. We had a great, delicious assortment and all came home with a good selection.

We had a wonderful time, great food, good fun and wonderful friendship.

Catch Up Weekend

2009-12-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

Friday night we had our work Christmas dinner at a historic little restaurant in a nearby small town, Azariah's Olde Storehouse. The food was delicious and we had a great time. I didn't take many pictures, but had to get pictures of the HUGE desserts.

The brownie sundae.

The chocolate cake.

Saturday was a terrible day - rainy with even a little snow in some areas and very cold. We stayed in all day and I didn't get out of my sweats or put on any makeup. I cleaned and decorated most of the day. I love Christmas decorations but didn't get them all out this year. When the kids and grandkids come and bring their things, and then after we open gifts the house gets so cluttered and even though I try hard to stay calm and tell myself I can pick it all up after they leave, I sometimes feel the panic attacks just right on the edge, so decided this year to scale down a little. (Could I get a longer more run-on sentence than that!)

Here are a few of my decorations, some really old, some I've added through the years.

Back in the fall I bought these figurines at a yard sale and knew I would find a use for them. This arrangement had candles last year, but I decided the elk/gazelle/deer (whatever) would fit.

I love Santa figurines, these are a few I have.

This was my daughter's rocking chair and both granddaughters have loved it. The dolls and bears are old or favorites.

Years ago I did a lot of cross stitching. I made each of my children a stocking, then my daughter-in-law, then granddaughters. When my youngest granddaughter was born and I started one for her, I hadn't cross stitched in ten years, and realized why! You need really good eyes! I don't have a fireplace, so the staircase has to do.

A little (and I mean little) knitting progress.

My two at a time toe up socks. I LOVE doing these. Once I got started and got past the learning curve of how to cast one, how to manage the yarn, what to do next, they are great to do. I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

And B's afghan is growing too.

Santa was a no-go

2009-11-28T23:35:00.000-05:00

Everyone was here for Thanksgiving. We had a great dinner, turkey and all the fixings, and we are very blessed to be able to be together, but, does anyone else feel that there is a lot of work involved in a meal that is eaten in 30 minutes or less! I cooked and cleaned in several mini-sessions at night prior to Thursday and then finished it up Thursday. Then after it was over it took another good hour to clean it all up. I hope it was worth it!

Friday dh and son went shopping the sales. Our daughter said she felt we women kind of let our gender down! We did wait till after lunch and the little one was down for her nap and we left her with her dad and granddad and daughter, DIL, granddaughter and I did hit the mall for a little shopping. I'm just not one to get up at 4:30 and go shopping. It would have to be a wonderful sale to attract me that early!

Friday night we went out to eat pizza (a little change from turkey) and tried the mall again to see if N would see Santa for a picture. We have pictures of B with Santa every year and none with N. We thought it was going to work. She loved seeing all the Christmas decorations while we were in line and was happy and seemingly not worried at all. However, when we were next in line she watched the little boy in front of us get in Santa's lap and that is when reality set in and she realized what was in store. She was having none of it! A major meltdown occurred and she was out of there! We didn't push it and I just snapped a couple of pictures of her by the tree. On the way home in the car she wanted to look at the pictures and before I could grab the camera she erased the best picture! I was so disappointed, but my son said I should learn to not let her hold the camera!

This is as close as she would get - and the only picture I had left!

B got a cute new haircut!

They all left today to go home, but Christmas will be here before we know it.

This has been such a busy week that knitting has suffered, but the 2 socks at a time are still going well and I've done a little work on the afghan - pictures later.

A New Project

2009-11-15T19:49:00.001-05:00

The sun was such a welcome site this weekend! We had a terrible week of rain - over 5 inches here with lots of wind. It was pretty miserable so we were very appreciative for a beautiful weekend. The leaves really fell too, but it has been way too wet to deal with them. I kind of like the look of the leaves on the ground anyway, makes it look like fall!

Magic enjoyed the sun too. He is usually a scaredy cat and won't go out during the day, but will follow me around if I'm out with him. So funny - if I leave the door open so that he has a quick way back into the house he loves to lie on the deck. If I close the door - he wants back in pronto, and has torn the weatherstripping off the door several times. Something apparently has scared him at some point and he is always sure to look for a fast way back in. After dark - he will go out - cats are nothing if not finicky!

I have started a new project - one that is a learning experience for me so I thought I would document it as I go. I've made several pairs of socks - on double pointed needles and circulars using the magic loop method, but never two at a time and never toe up. That's what I'm attempting this time. I will probably be crazy(ier) before this is over.

First step - divide the skein into two equal balls with the same starting places as far as the color variations. I made one ball - just estimating at it being equal.

I should have done this first, but realized after I had made one ball I should have weighed the skein. It really didn't matter - 4 oz.

Then I weighed the ball - 2 oz! Pretty good estimation.

Just to be sure - I also weighed the rest of the skein - 2 oz. So far this is going well! (Turns out I was a little premature in my optimism)

Next step - cast on using the figure 8 method.

A closer look.

After this the fun began. Keeping two balls of yarn separate is not for the faint of heart. More than once I have to admit I had to rip out and start over. Even though I have worked magic loop before, keeping two going at times got really confusing and I think at one time I must have knitted backwards, because I had one sock going in the wrong direction!

However.........

They are coming along. I'm beginning to see the toe shaping and am getting the rhythm of working two at a time. It is definitely a work in progress though - will keep you updated.

Just to leave you with a treat - last week Coldstone Creamery called and asked if they could bring us some cakes at work to share with the staff. They were delicious! Good advertising!

The chocolate had thick chocolate icing and snickers inside and was everyone's favorite!

Whole lot of knitting goin' on

2009-11-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

Monday night is our regular Ktog knit night at St*rbucks. We had a good group this week, except for Timmie who has been doing way too much partying and had to have a night to rest! We missed you!

Gaye has almost finished this beautiful shawl. She is now adding a border.

Mary Jane knitted this adorable little hat. I love the yarn and colors!

Helen is making this baby blanket with a gorgeous pattern.

Virginia's red rectangular wrap. This is going to be a great gift!

Wanda has been busy knitting Christmas stockings, but was taking a break and starting a new project.

Kelly and her heart socks that she is knitting two at a time on two needles!

Deb just finished this adorable baby sweater and her daughter Kelly is just beginning her project. Beautiful yarn!

I worked on my afghan, but am going to start a small project that is easier to take with me, as it is getting larger and bulkier! I usually have several things on the needles, but have been trying to stick to one thing and finish it. I need at least one more project though for travel.

We have such a great time - sometimes we don't get a lot of knitting done as talking, laughing and drinking coffee get in the way, but I highly recommend some kind of crafting group. I learn a lot - techniques, patterns, yarns, fiber shows, etc., but mostly benefit from the companionship we have and friendships we make.