My Little Sweet Talker

About a week ago, N said "Mama" for the first time. Now he says it all the time. It's his first word. It's so exciting--especially since he's saying it, not crying it. If you're a mom, you know what I mean by that. J said "Dada" for about 4 months before he finally said "Mama" so this is yet anther way my boys are doing things differently. Anyway, I am loving hearing my sweet N say "Mama."

Just spoil the hell out of her

That's what the vet told me when he called to tell me Zoe's biopsy results. The masses were cancerous--a bad kind. So even though he didn't see anything else in the abdomen region during surgery, most likely the cancer is spreading elsewhere and we just don't know where yet. So that sucks! But on a happy note, right now Zoe is doing great. She is perky and playful and seems much younger than she did before her surgery. So I'm happy we found the masses when we did and that we chose to do the surgery. I'm happy that Zoe will be pain free for at least a short while and that I am lucky enough to spoil the hell out of her before the cancer causes her to be in pain again. And as our vet also pointed out, there is a tiny chance that we got it all. A tiny chance isn't much, but I'll take it. Off to spoil my Zoe girl. Happy Friday, everyone!

25 Random Things About Me

I got tagged multiple times on Facebook to do this and since I never did the 7 Random Things About Me that I got tagged for on here, I thought I'd just copy my note from Facebook onto the blog. And without further run-on sentences, here are 25 Random Things About Me:

1. My favorite beverage: milk (I drink at least one HUGE glass every night with dinner).
2. My favorite mixed drink: Bourbon and Ginger.
3. My favorite beer: a cold one on a hot day.
4. My favorite wine: Reisling.
5. I eat at least 2 bowls of cereal (usually 3 or 4) each morning for breakfast.
6. I love Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter cereal. I also love Count Chocula, but rarely eat it now that J is old enough to notice what I'm eating for breakfast. He also is a huge cereal fan.
7. I was a really picky eater as a child and never tried a lot of my now favorite foods until I was in college including: salads, asparagus, cream cheese, sour cream, and Taco Bell.
8. I often go 2 or 3 days without eating a single fruit or vegetable (unless you count ketchup as a vegetable.)
9. I wish I was a healthier eater for my children's sake.
10. I thought having children would make me a healthier eater, but it hasn't.
11. We have owned a treadmill for several years, but I just started using it a few weeks ago.
12. I'm walking around 30 minutes a day (about 1.25-1.5 miles).
13. This is the longest I've ever stuck to any kind of exercise/workout program EVER and I'm excited.
14. I feel better about myself and feel like I'm making a healthy life choice.
15. I've always been blessed with good metabolism and didn't reach 100 lbs until I was in college.
16. I used to hate my legs because I thought they were too skinny.
17. No such problem after turning 30 and having two children.
18. I have an addictive personality which is why I avoid coffee, most soft drinks, recreational drugs and gambling.
19. My current addictions include knitting, the internet, and chocolate.
20. When I'm done with this list, I'm going to bake brownies and eat them all before tomorrow night. Once I have the first one, I won't be able to stop.
21. I love to knit because I'm okay at it and I like to try new patterns and make new things. It makes me feel more productive if I watch TV and knit instead of just sitting there and watching TV.
22. Even though I love to knit and have been doing it for over 4 years, I still feel somewhat like a poser when I get amongst serious knitters. I like to knit with acrylic, have never knitted socks, have only knitted two adult garments, and am not very talented when it comes to creating my own patterns (although I love to adapt other people's patterns to meet my own needs).
23. When I was a baby, my dad thought I looked like Wee Willy Winkie so he started calling me Willy. He still calls me Willy to this day and my brother calls me Willy or Wilbur.
24. I just went back and renumbered items and split things into multiple lines so I was almost done because I'm tired of doing this and want to go make/eat brownies.
25. I wonder if anyone will care about any of the items I just shared.

Zoe Update: Good News

Just wanted to let you know that I just heard from the vet and Zoe's surgery went well. The growth was a spleenic mass (actually two--both the size of baseballs). The vet removed Zoe's spleen and the masses and sent the masses off to be biopsied. Zoe will spend the night at the vet's tonight and will hopefully be ready to come home tomorrow morning. The vet expects her to be back to her usual self in about a week. So that's the news for now. Thanks for all your prayers and kind words.

Movie Monday: Dance Dance Dance Edition

My friend Nicole and her son W came to visit this weekend. We had a blast! Here's a video of W and J during one of their many dance sessions. If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will.




Happy Monday, everyone!

And I'm Still Knitting Too

It's been a while so I thought I'd give a quick knitting update. Despite the two boys and the two dogs and all the drama, I am still managing to knit some. Here are my two current projects:

This is a Wonderful Wallaby (Size 4) that I am making for J. He had a size 2 one that he wore all the time when he was one and two. I just got to the hood part. J just told me he doesn't want a hood so this project is on hold until I decide how I'm going to finish off the neckline.

This is a close-up of the Wallaby. I thought the yarn was fun with the variegated thread wrapped around cotton. I got it on the bargain table at my knit shop.


This is my next project I started since the Wallaby is on hold. It's for my nephew in Oregon. It's the Harvard Cap from the Winter 2008 Interweave Knits. I've been getting this magazine since Fall 2007 and this is the first pattern I've done. Crazy, but true. I am following the directions for the Aran weight pattern, but only cast on 96 stitches to get the 19" size I am going for.


Also, inspired by Yarnhog, I bought a copy of Vogue Knitting Holiday 2004. I am hoping to make myself this cabled cardigan (but I will probably try to do a zipper instead of the toggles). I've had the ambition to make myself a cabled cardigan for a while. We'll see if I ever slow down long enough to actually do it. I'm really excited about the magazine as there are some other fun things in there that are now "on the brain" and may eventually end up "on the needles."

And if you are looking for past issues of knitting magazines, I highly recommend Rosie's Yarn Cellar. They sell magazines at cover price with NO shipping. Very exciting!

That's all for now. I hope to start teaching my neighborhood friends to knit sometime in February. Right now I'm just gathering up some resources. I plan to teach them in groups of five and then do follow-up "open knit" nights. Ought to be fun!

My good friend Nicole comes in town tomorrow with her son who is J's age. He's woken up crying from his nap for the last two days because they weren't here yet. They are driving up from Austin and we can't wait to see them. It ought to be a fun weekend.

Take care and have a good one!

Pepper Update: The Good, The Bad, but No Ugly

The Good...
Pepper got into her crate at bedtime last night BY HERSELF! NO whining!


The Bad...
During dinner she chewed on N's highchair. I was sitting right there thinking, "Pepper look so cute lying under N's high chair. What's that noise?" Oops! Luckily, no major harm.


Luckily, no new ugly to report! Zoe's surgery is scheduled for next Monday. She seems to be feeling okay.


As you can see, Pepper's not the only one taking to her crate. J thought this was just HILARIOUS! Nice, huh?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good...
Pepper is blending wonderfully into our family. She has not had any accidents and has not chewed on anything she's not supposed to chew on. She's picked up a few toys that were not hers, but easily gave them up and then chewed on a dog toy when redirected. She loves Zoe and likes to give us all kisses. She's not 100% sure of J when he gets his wild on, but did have fun running through the house with B and J last night. Pepper is sleeping in her crate at night for now. She whines when we first put her in, but each time the whining time is less (kind of like making a baby "cry it out."). Eventually, I think she'll go in with no problem. All in all, life with Pepper is very GOOD.

The Bad...
Zoe's been acting kind of strange for a week or two. More skittish than usual, unsettled, staying outside more. Hard to explain, but she's just not been herself. Well, I learned my lesson from Pauli that "acting weird" could mean something BAD so I decided to take Zoe to the vet. They ran some tests on Friday and found she had a low red blood cell count. While we were at the vet's office, J kept asking if Pauli was there. He thought that might be where heaven was. We went back today for x-rays.

The Ugly...
The x-rays showed a growth about the size of an orange in her abdomen. Let me tell you, that x-ray was one UGLY sight. They can't tell what is attached to--the spleen? the kidney? the abdomen wall? They are hoping the spleen because that makes it operable with a good chance that it is benign. That's what I am hoping. She will probably have surgery sometime soon. Will keep you posted.

If you have any extra prayer time, please pray for my sweet Zoe. She's 10 years old and they have been 10 wonderful years that I've loved her, but I'm not quite ready to let her go.

Well worth the wait

Just wanted to share a few pictures of our new puppy. We adopted her today from the SPCA. She'd run out of time at a different shelter and arrived at this one two days ago. She is a five month old, 33 lb "Shepherd Mix." I think she has some Rottweiler in her--she reminds me a lot of our dog Clover that we had growing up. Anyway, we've named her Pepper (inspired by Dr. Pepper) and she's a total sweetheart. We considered a variety of "Texas" inspired names--Dixie, Dallas, Star--but J liked Pepper best so Pepper she is. Pepper loves to give kisses and is always close by. She and Zoe have had fun running around the yard together. Zoe has no problem reminding her that Zoe is the alpha dog. J is already a big Pepper fan. N has gotten many a face washing. Pepper seems to be at least mostly housebroken so that's a huge bonus. We are so thrilled to have her as part of our family.

8 Months Already!

Little N turns 8 months today. He is finally getting a little bit of hair. He has 6 teeth now (4 top and 2 bottom) and is eating lots of baby food (fruits, veggies, meats) and some finger foods (mainly Puffs). N is a force to be reckoned with these days. He is crawling ALL OVER the place. He is pulling up on things to stand up. He is clapping. He's into everything he shouldn't be into (like cords, Zoe's water bowl, puzzle pieces, stickers, the toilet, etc.) He's a handful (new nickname: Trouble), but a very fun and loving little guy. Here are some recent pics of my baby who's not going to be a baby much longer:

This last picture looks SO much like J's first Christmas card picture it just amazes me.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

My Fellow Knitters: Advice Needed

Hey everyone. Hope you are all ready for a long (hopefully fun) weekend. I know I am! It's amazing how much I look forward to the weekend even though I don't work. It's a mentality thing I guess. Anyway, I need some advice from my fellow knitters.

As most of you know, I belong to a moms group in my neighborhood. They are a wonderful group of moms and I feel really lucky to have them as my friends. Anyway, since I moved here they have made me feel so welcome. My only disappointment was that none of them were knitters. However, recently I've had several of my friends mention that they'd like to learn to knit. So I asked around and it looks like there are at least ten moms in the group who want to learn to knit. So I'm going to teach them! I'm so excited!

But I want to make sure I do this right. So here are my questions:
1) Are there any resources (books, websites, etc) that have been really helpful to you as a knitter?
2) What do you think is a great first project? (Please be as specific as possible. Links to free patterns would be wonderful!)
3) How did you learn to knit? (Just curious.)
4) How many people do you think I could teach at a time? (I plan to do small groups because I think trying to teach ten people at one time would be impossible. How many do you think I could do in one meeting?)

Thanks in advance for your help. Non-knitters please feel free to put in your two cents worth as well. Have a good one!

Free Pattern Friday: One Skein Chunky Cowl

The cowl craze is huge in the knitting world these days. I've been looking at them for a while on Flickr and on Ravelry, but have never knit one.

That all changed last week. My sister called me and told me she had decided to knit a gift for a coworker who had recently lost her second sister to breast cancer. I just can't imagine. My heart breaks for her.

Anyway, this call was a big deal to me as my sister is not a knitter. I'm so excited she is knitting although she swears it's a one time thing. We will see. Anyway, she was trying to decide what to knit and we decided a cowl might be a good option. So my sister went to her local Jo-Anns and found some yarn she liked--Landscapes by Lion in Country Sunset. It came with a cowl-esque pattern. Anyway, I decided to look around on Ravelry to see if there were any good chunky cowls and I only found one. This cute Freebie. Anyway, I had an extra skein of Sirdar big softie leftover from Christie's wrap so I decided to make a cowl with it. I basically made a chunky version of the Gloria cowl. This is a quickie. I was talking, watching TV and knitting and it took a little under 2 hours to knit this cowl.


Here are the details and free pattern:
One Skein Chunky Cowl
Yarn: Sirdar big softie (Super Chunky/50g/45m/49yds/51% Wool/49% Acrylic)
Needles: Size 15, 16"circular
Gauge: 9 st x 12 rows in stockinette = 4 inches
Finished Cowl size: approximately 9 inches tall by 20 inches in circumference


Directions:
Cast on 45 stitches.
Join to knit in the round. Place a marker to show the beginning of a round.
Knit one round.
Knit three rounds of seed stitch:
Seed Stitch Round 1: *knit 1, purl 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a knit stitch
Seed Stitch Round 2: *purl 1, knit 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a purl stitch
Seed Stitch Round 3: *knit 1, purl 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a knit stitch
Knit in stockinette stitch (all knitting in the round) until the cowl measures approximately 8 inches from the cast on edge.
Knit three rounds of seed stitch:
Seed Stitch Round 1: *knit 1, purl 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a knit stitch
Seed Stitch Round 2: *purl 1, knit 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a purl stitch
Seed Stitch Round 3: *knit 1, purl 1*, repeat between *s until the end of the round, ending with a knit stitch
Knit one row.
Bind off all stitches.

When I made mine with one skein of Sirdar big softie, I had about 12 inches of yarn left when I finished binding off all stitches.

Modifications:
Different gauge: Find your stitch count for 4 inches. Multiple this number by 5. Cast on that number of stitches. (If it is an even number, cast on one additional stitch--it will work better for the seed stitch rows to have an odd number of stitches). Follow the rest of the pattern as written.

Want to knit flat instead of the round: Simply follow the pattern as written except:
Seed stitch: Start every seed stitch row with a knit stitch.
Stockinette stitch: Alternate between knit and purl rows for the stockinette stitch portion of the cowl.
Seam up with the mattress stitch when complete.


This is a great pattern for beginners and can really be adapted to any yarn and needle size you want to use. Hope you have fun making this pattern your own!

Need a Name...I've Got the Place For You

As I've been looking for the perfect puppy to add to our family, I've discovered another great resource. Petfinder.com is not only a place to find pets, it's also a great place to find names. The staff at the various shelters and resource groups are very creative when it comes to naming puppies. If you are having multiples (or just like your children's names to coordinate well) and are having trouble coming up with names that go well together, this is the secret goldmine of names of you. Here are just a few examples:

Banjo and Bingo (Boston Terrier)
Stella and Star (Lab Mix)
Kazzie and Kia (Catahoula Leopard Dog)
Verdi, Victoria, Violet and Vanya (Welsh Corgi/Shepherd)
Fenway, Frodo, Federico and Fuzzy Girl (German Shepherd/Golden Retriever)
Tiffani, Tailor, Tyra, Toby and Tymora (Lab Mix)
Randy, Raymond, Rhonda, Ringo and Rodney (Australian Cattle Dog/Bassett Hound)
Wesley and Willet (Lab Mix)
Marley, Carley and Harley (Golden Retriever)
Johnny and June (Boxer)

Or maybe matchy-matchy isn't for you, there are always theme names:
Jingles and Tinsle (Boxer)
Blitzen, Prancer and Dasher (Australian Shepherd/Lab)
Lexus and Jeepster (Shepherd Mix)

Then there are the "Texas" names:
Dixie (Miniature Doberman Pincher)
Stetson (Retriever/Lab Mix)
Alamo (Border Collie)

But my personal favorites, a family of Pug/Beagle Mix puppies:
Sue Ellen, Bobby and J.R.

Got to love it!

Making Loveys...and a Hat

Got to admit that every time I say something (or write something) about making loveys, I feel a little bit like I've just shared way too much info. Silly, but true.

Anyway, here are my latest bunch of loveys.
For a little boy:

And for three little girls:


The last little girl is my newest niece. She's not due until June, but we just found out yesterday that she is a SHE. It's the first girl for my husband's family so everyone is extra excited.

And the hat is The Better Bucket by Amy Swenson. Free Pattern Download Available on Ravelry
It's for my cousin, Christie. She's currently going through chemo. I knew I wanted to make her a hat and this was one of the first patterns I found that I liked. Then I found this Malabrigo Merino Worsted (the recommended yarn for this hat). This yarn is the color that reminds me most of my cousin so I knew this hat was meant to be. I never use the recommended yarn for projects, but I'm really glad I did this time. This was my first time using Malabrigo and I LOVED it. It is wool, but so soft and just wonderful to work with. I will definitely use it again in the future. Making this hat was my first time doing a provisional cast on. The one in the pattern didn't make sense to me and I almost chickened out, but then I found this tutorial and decided to try the crochet chain provisional cast on. It was actually pretty easy and the results are wonderful. I will definitely use that again too. The hat doesn't look great on me, but I hope my cousin will like it. The button is from Jo-Anns; it's part of LaMode's Vintage Collection.


Hat details:
Pattern: A Better Bucket by Amy Swenson
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted (Less than one skein)
Needles: Size 7 (16" circular and doublepoint)
Modifications: None

Having Fun and Enjoying My Boys

We had a fun relaxing weekend of just hanging out and it was really nice. It's so nice to have the craziness of the holidays over with.

I love that J and N are already enjoying playing with each other. It is great because they entertain each other (some) and they're fun to watch together.


N is crawling all over the place these days and trying to pull up on everything to stand. His new skills and our open floorplan house were not making my life very fun, so we borrowed a "baby prison" from one of our neighbors. N actually seems to enjoy it. J likes to play in it too. It's like a little fort for the boys. J even invited B to join him and N in the fort. I was waiting for the "No Girls Allowed" sign to be posted.


Yesterday, B and I took the boys to the zoo. It was chilly, but sunny and we had a really nice time. Here are a few pics.

B calls this fountain, the Zoolander fountain. It makes me laugh everytime.

J went to the bathroom at the zoo twice yesterday. That's very exciting as he used to get really upset about using public bathrooms. In general, J is doing really well with potty training these days. I ended up resorting to "potty treats"--a jar of jelly beans, Mentos and Sweetarts that sit on the back of the toilet. J gets one each time he uses the potty (if he thinks to ask for it). It's made him go more frequently. He was trying to hold it for hours and then having "leaks" (mini accidents). Now he's gone in the potty so often, it is no longer a big deal. He used to have to get naked from the waist down in order to pee, now he just pulls down his pants and underpants. This may not seem like a big deal, but undressing a two year old in an airplane bathroom or some other dirty public bathroom so he can pee is NOT fun. Anyway, the whole potty training thing is very exciting. I'm no longer stressed out about J having an accident because he is going much more frequently. I'm passing the potty training section of the motherhood test. Yay!!!!!!

Hope you all are having a lovely Monday.

Too Late...Again

Apparently I have the same taste in puppies as everyone else adopting from petfinder.com in this area right now. I found a new puppy who showed up on petfinder.com yesterday--a little female Shepherd mix. I got the okay from Brian last night (actually he said, "Why don't you go pick her up tomorrow.") I didn't have time to drive to the shelter (30 minutes away) this morning because J had school today and I had a doctor's appointment. I called about the puppy this afternoon (in hopes of picking her up tomorrow). She was adopted this morning. I'm glad she was adopted, I just wish it had been by me. I'm way more sad about this than I should be. I'm off to pout. Ridiculous, but true.

A Sign?

Yet another dog we were interested in adopting is no longer available. Is this a sign that we should wait? We will see...

Crazy? Quite possibly.

As many of you know, my dog Pauli (otherwise known as my baby girl) died in July. She had lung cancer. It was a great loss to us and very surprising as she was only 7 1/2 years old. Anyway, Pauli was a wonderful dog. She was very sweet and loving. She loved to be cuddled, pet, kissed and hugged. She was very good with J and N. She was just a great pet and we miss her SO much.

Zoe and Pauli (February 2008)

We originally got Pauli because our dog Zoe was lonely. Zoe is very much a dog dog. She loves to be around other dogs. We always joke that she would choose a complete stranger dog over us any day. Anyway, we got Pauli 7 years ago because Zoe, then 3, was lonely. Since Pauli's death, we have thought about getting another dog but just can't bring ourselves to do it. We know that Zoe is lonely without her. We know that we are missing her. But we don't really want another dog, we want Pauli.

Anyway, while I was home for Christmas my mom was looking online at dogs and puppies because her dog passed away in June and just recently her 19 year old cat passed away. I started looking too and decided that we are ready to get a puppy.

I've been obsessed with petfinder.com ever since. It's a great source for adopting pets. There are TONS of them available for adoption in this area. But we decided to focus on female puppies that would grow up to be medium size. There are a lot of really great looking 1 and 2 year old dogs, but we feel that with the boys we really need to get a dog that is 6 months or younger. With older dogs there is too great of a chance that they have had a bad experience that may lead to a bad reaction to a curious child. We are generally drawn toward dogs that remind us in some way of Pauli. She was a German Shepherd/Hound mix so we keep going for Shepherd mixes. Anyway, on Thursday I found a set of puppies that I fell in love with. They are 3 month old German Shepherd/Welsh Corgi mixes (3 females). Imagine a shepherd face on a short stocky body. B wasn't convinced, but I decided we had to go to the shelter and check them out. Two of the three were adopted on Friday. I was sad, but determined to go get our little girl on Saturday. We drove the 30 minutes to check her out. We got there and she wasn't in her cage. We looked around. The shelter was really nice. There were some other cuties, but none that said "I'm the one!" Then we saw her. She was adorable. She was a little ball of wagging cuteness. She was with another couple. They had just adopted her. I was crushed. B tried to make me feel better by saying she was too short and stocky and he didn't think she was the one, but I thought she was adorable.

We came home. N, in his into-everything-crawling-like-a-mad-man way, crawled over to Zoe's dog dish and dumped her water all over himself. I thought to myself, am I crazy? I have a demanding 2 year old, a 7 month old who's very mobile and very curious, and a husband who travels a lot. Am I really ready for a chewing, not housebroken, not knowing the rules puppy?

I decided that I was just lulled by the joy of having B around for two weeks straight. I was just sucked in by those sweet puppy eyes and the thought of having a little puppy to snuggle with. I think I was suffering from temporary insanity. So as I sat and enjoyed a little peace and quiet (and knitting time) last night as the boys were snuggled in bed for the night and as Zoe lay peacefully on the floor, I decided that maybe a puppy is not what I need right now.

But then as I did an end of the night e-mail check, I decided to look at petfinder.com just one more time and I saw this one and the insanity began again. I need to call and find out more information. Is she the one? Are we ready? We will see...

Finished Projects Parade: Part 3

Here are the rest of the Christmas gifts I made this year.

I found this really cool handmade facial soap on Etsy at Amethyst Soaps. I just couldn't resist it! I decided to make some knitted washcloths and give them with the soap as Christmas gifts.


The first pattern I found was this flower washcloth. It can be found FREE online here. I made one for my friend Emily. I think it turned out well, but I didn't really enjoy making it. It's an easy pattern. You make the five petals, then join them and knit the center of the washcloth. I just got tired of making the petals before I got the third one done and then still had two more and the center to do.

Knitted Flower Washcloth
Pattern: Knitted Flower Washcloth by Cindy Taylor (Free here)
Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Numei Cotton Chenille in Off White (100% Combed Cotton/1.75 oz/50 g/98 yds)
Needles: Size 6 (16" circular and doublepoint)
Modifications: I added a crochet loop for hanging the washcloth in a shower


I decided to try the Mason-Dixon Washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting next. This one is knit in the round on circular needles from the outside in. Eventually, you have to switch to doublepoint needles. This one knits up quickly as well (once you get past the first few rows). I enjoyed this pattern more so I made three of these to give to friends and family.

Pattern: Mason-Dixon Washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Numei Cotton Chenille in Off White (100% Combed Cotton/1.75 oz/50 g/98 yds)
Needles: Size 8 (16" circular and doublepoint)
Modifications: None

Both patterns called for Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille. I found the Numei which had the same contents and gauge and yardage. I don't LOVE the color, but am otherwise very happy with this affordable alternative to Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille.

I also did some crafting this Christmas. Most of these crafts were silhouettes of my nieces and nephews. I framed a set of all 8 for my mom and made individual ornaments of each child for my sister and sister-in-law. I didn't take pictures of most of them before I gave them away, but I did remember to snap a shot of the ornaments for my brother and sister-in-law. The large one is their three year-old son and the smaller ones are the triplets.


My only sewn gift was a lovey for N. He used to sleep with a cloth diaper/burp cloth so I thought he needed a real lovey. He likes prints so I picked a few fabrics with animals and kept putting them in front of him. I used this one because it's the one he went to every time.


It also has his name embroidered on the white side.

That's all for now. Off to start on those thank you notes I've been avoiding. Have a great weekend!