N's 1st Haircut

Today N got his first haircut. He's 18 months old, but his hair is still so fine that he didn't have a lot to cut, but what he did have was getting long and out of control--especially when styled with peanut butter or mac n' cheese.

This picture has nothing to do with his haircut. I just thought it would be funny to add to this post. The best part is that underneath that bowl, N is saying "cheese."

Here's a pic of N in my lap right after getting his haircut. He was great. He wouldn't wear the cape thing, but sat nicely in my lap and didn't cry or fuss. When the hairdresser used the clippers to clean up the bottom of his hair and around his ears, she kept touching tickle spots and N would giggle. It was really cute.

Here's a pic of N with his sucker he got at the haircut place.He looks SO grown up to me.

And here's a picture from yesterday for reference (the boys are making alphabet and train soup). You can kind of see how long N's hair was before his haircut.

Ho Ho Ho!

Way back BEFORE Thanksgiving, the boys and I went to the mall to play in the play area. It was rainy out and both boys love to climb on the waterfall, trains, stairs, slides, cow and horse there. Anyway, as we were walking over... I noticed Santa was ALREADY at the mall right next to the play area. Since we haven't had a picture with Santa since J's first Christmas (he hasn't let us get close since), I decided we'd go and chat with Santa. Since it was BEFORE Thanksgiving, there was no line. We stood and chatted with Santa for 15 minutes or so. He showed off some reindeer jingle bells and made N laugh a few times. J eventually told him what he wanted: an ambulance and fire station (to go with his train set), the Curious George book where he dresses up, and a cash register. I then proposed that the boys get their picture taken with Santa. N was suspicious; he kept smiling at Santa and then backing away. J wasn't keen on the idea either. Finally I convinced them to do it--with me in the picture and J making a silly face:

The best part, when Santa said, "Mom, you can sit right here in my lap." Actually--that part was a little creepy. So the boys were both in sweats instead of nice holiday clothes and I had to be in the picture, but we got our picture with Santa. And, I love J's awesome silly face.

Merry Christmas!

Star Tree Topper: Finished!

Pattern: Star Tree Topper by Tonia Wagner (Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009)


Yarn: 1.1 skeins of Nautical Cotton by Louisa Harding (100% Mercerized Cotton/ 50g/ 93 yards) [I had to break into a second skein while crocheting the two halves together. If I had left shorter tails when casting on and binding off, I may have been able to use just one skein.]
Needles: Size 4 Doublepoint
Beads: Darice TOHO Premium Beads, 6/0 4mm Round, Gold [I bought one 30g tube, used 140 and have a ton leftover.]
Stuffing: Poly-fil
Modifications: The only change I made was to add more beads to the pattern because I didn't just want them on the star points. I like how it looks with the addition of beads on the center of the star and extra ones on the points.
Thoughts: Easy pattern. My first time beading. Not hard, but a little bit of a pain--definitely made this project go more slowly. This was also my first time using single crochet to connect two halves. That also took a while since I am not a crocheter. I like the way it really gave the star a nice finished edge. The star outline was much prettier after the crochet edging. I really hate how this bulges out in the center (both to the front and back of the star).

It looks a bit boob-like. Not sure if this is my fault or the fault of the pattern. I know others have had this problem. Maybe gauge related. I didn't bother checking gauge. Not sure how to fix it. Will leave for now. Like it, but I don't LOVE it.


Will this stay on the tree for years to come? The jury's still out on that one.

More Holiday Fun!

I love Christmas and all the fun things that come along with getting ready for it. J's been asking to make a gingerbread house so this weekend I broke down and bought one of the kits. We had fun making it. J helped decorate the house and one of the gingerbread men that came with it. N just got to help with a gingerbread man. I was surprised that I was able to get N to actually decorate a little bit before he ate all the candy and most of the cookie:


J cracked me up. After much encouragement from me, he put most of the candy on the house (instead of just eating it all). Then he worked on his cookie. I love how quickly it went from this:

To this:
Yes, he's just squeezing the icing into his mouth. A boy after my own heart :).

Our finished house:

We also got our Christmas tree. Can you guess where we bought it?
I love that picture. I think it's just too funny.

Anyway, here it is all decorated:

I put a lot less ornaments on this year as I only put select fragile ones on (all near the top). Despite the limiting of ornaments for fear of losing them to the whirlwind that is N and J, I really enjoyed being reminded of fond memories of wonderful people (especially my grandmother) as we decorated the tree. For the first time in many years, I actually remembered the garland this year. B also decided that we needed to hang candy canes on the tree this year (a first for me). B took J shopping for candy canes so most of them are very non-traditional (Sweet-tart flavored and Dora and Sponge Bob). The star on top was knit by me this year, not sure if I love it, but it will do. More details to come in a different post.

Hope you all are enjoying your holiday preparations. I know we are. As part of our fun, we also went to a local display of over 200 nativity scenes from all over the world. It was beautiful and amazing and a really nice reminder of the real reason for Christmas.

Hope all of your holiday seasons are full of joy and fun times spent with family and friends!

Knitting Change of Plans

Well, all of you who are wondering how the Owls Sweater is going...it's not. I did a few gauge swatches. Couldn't get the gauge that I wanted (too many stitches per inch, too few rows per inch). I then played with the pattern numbers a bit and decided to put it on hold until I knit this. It's a star tree topper from the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009 issue. I added a few more beads and used solid vs. variegated yarn and here is what the front looks like:


I have the front and back done and now need to crochet the two sides together. Unfortunately, I left the magazine in Virginia so I'll have to wing the rest of it included the i-cord to hold it on the tree. Wish me luck.

The Owls Sweater was going to be my next project. I even took my yarn, pattern and needles to Virginia with me for our Thanksgiving trip, but... while I was there my mom showed me the little dress she decided to knit for her three granddaughters for Christmas dresses. It is an adorable pattern and I can see why she decided to knit them but...she was only partway through the two smaller ones and hadn't even started the third so I volunteered to knit the third one. Unfortunately, the dress is 288 stitches per round with DK yarn and the first 8 rows are a picot pattern that I screwed up repeatedly. I even managed to knit 12 rounds before realizing I had joined the first round with a twist and had to frog the whole thing. I'm now doing much better, but still have TONS of knitting to do and this needs to be done in time to mail to Virginia and be worn for Christmas. What have I volunteered for? I'm sure it will all work out, but I MUST go knit now.

If You Decorate...It will Come

Yesterday I started decorating for Christmas. It's the only holiday I decorate for and I LOVE it. Each decoration is a memory from the past and a new memory to be made. It was a rough day for decorating as I broke two ornaments and J broke a snow globe just in unpacking the decorations. Oh well. It was still glorious.

We pulled out the nativity scenes (J's favorites!):

The fiber-optic snowman (N was entranced):
A ribbon wreath I made a few years ago went on the door (my favorite feather wreath did not survive the move very well--too smooshed!):

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care:


And decorations were spread throughout the house like these adorable alligator salt and pepper shakers:
And my favorite Santa-- I bought him at 7-11 ten years ago (my first year in my own place for Christmas):
So we decorated our house and we created Christmas magic. This morning...



it snowed! In Texas, it SNOWED! It's hard to see her, but that's Pepper in the snow. She seemed confused.

We decorated for Christmas and a miracle occurred...snow in Texas. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

I am SO thankful...

I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family. B, the boys and I had a lovely week spent with my family in Virginia for Thanksgiving. We got to spend lots of time with my parents, my siblings, and my nieces and nephews. It was glorious! I am SO thankful!

The Thanksgiving Spread:

My brother's triplets:

The rest of the kids:

J, 3 years old.

N, 18 months old, on my dad's motorcycle.

My nephew, Michael, 6 years old.

My niece, Lizzie, 4 years old.
My nephew, Joe, 4 years old.
My nephew, Reed, 2 years old.
My niece, Mary, 2 years old.
My niece, Madeline, 2 years old.
Me, my good friend Emily, and my sister Cat
A little beauty in nature (my mom's cherry tree that blooms in the fall and spring):

I am SO thankful!