Painting :)

Last night in two short hours, I went from this:



To this:It was a little scary, but a lot of fun.

It's not a spectacular work of art, but it looks a little better at this distance:

And maybe even better at this distance:

I went with my friend Kim to Painting with a Twist. It's one of those places where they walk you through a painting step by step and everyone paints it at the same time. Here is Kim and her finished painting:If you look closely, in the background you can see our teacher Alison and her painting.

My painting isn't great, but I had a great time. Everyone was very nice and it was fun to learn a little and see how everyone's paintings turned out differently. I'm definitely tempted to go back and try again.

Book List: Food For Thought Edition

It's been forever since I've done a book list post, but I have been reading-- A LOT actually, but I haven't slowed down long enough to blog about them. To be honest, most have not really been blog worthy. They've been enjoyable reads, but nothing to write home about. Anyway, three of my recent reads have stuck out as books I'd recommend to others so here they are. I guess the difference between these and most of the others is that they really made me think a lot about different things and I think that is a good thing.

The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond: I started reading this book when I went to visit my in-laws in Ohio. I hadn't brought a book and was missing reading when I spotted this one sitting on a shelf in the guest bedroom. I picked it up and read the back and then put it back down. The next day I picked it up and read a few pages and put it back down again. To say that I was reluctant to read this book is an understatement. You see I get really into books when I read them. I get totally sucked into the characters and emotions and at times it can be very powerful...and this book is about a child disappearing and I just didn't know if I could handle it. But slowly I started reading a page or two at a time and eventually I got sucked in and went along for the ride. I found this book to be very powerful. It wasn't predictable and had some interesting twists and viewpoints. I would definitely recommend it. My only warning: ever since I read this book, I've been more anxious when out and about with my boys. I'm sure it will pass with time, I hope it will pass with time, but I definitely think about the possibility of child abduction more now.

The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs: This is a book I read while visiting my parents in Virginia. My mom had bought it after I recommended the author. Most of the Susan Wiggs books I had read were romances, but this is just a good novel. It's about a woman whose husband is an officer in the Navy. As in her other novels, Wiggs does a great job with character development--both of the main characters and the more periphery ones. This one was a very powerful, poignant tale which just seems so relevant in these times of military involvement in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. I know several people whose spouses have been overseas in the military and I just heard of a friend whose little brother was just killed in Afghanistan so this book really hit home right now. I highly recommend it. I hate it when B travels, but at least I know it will only be for a week at most and that he is not actively in danger when he is gone. This book really puts things in perspective.

Lift by Kelly Corrigan: I just picked this one up on a whim from the library. It's a mother writing a letter to her children talking about her role as their mother. It's a quick read (I think I read it in about 2 hours) full of little stories and tidbits, but I found it to be very powerful and relate-able. She says a lot of things that I have thought, but she said it so much more clearly. She talks about how she is telling her children now about herself as she is now because when they are old enough to remember she will have become a different mother already. Anyway, there are lots of little "a ha" thoughts like that. I really loved it. It made me want to write a letter to my boys and tell them about their mom as I am today. It's hard to explanin, but this book really touched me. Must find and read her first book.

Finished...Mostly!

I finished my Plain and Simple Pullover except that I am having button issues.


These are my first three options and I didn't like any of them :(.

The red and white faces were too whimsical, too in your face, and slightly too large. The grey tortoise shell were too close of a match and totally blended into the background. The purply ones were too flat and just not quite the right match in style.

Part of the problem is that I can't quite decide what I want. My sweater is less delicate than the one in the pattern since I used a heavier yarn. I feel like my buttons need to be a little more substantial too, but not too substantial. I want buttons with personality, but not so much that they take over the whole sweater. Hmmm...

I've been obsessing over this all afternoon. I ordered two new sets. Will update you as I decide. I will save my official finished post with all the details until buttons are in place and proper pics have been taken. Wish me luck! And feel to leave comments with any thoughts or suggestions.

Almost Done!

For those of you who read this blog for the knitting content, I'm almost done with my Plain and Simple Pullover. I just need to pick up stitches for ribbing around the sleeves and add a few more buttons and weave in ends. Still haven't tried it on yet and am feeling a little uncertain about how it may look, but I'm excited to be almost done. Will hopefully finish tomorrow night and then will take pics and post. I love it when the end is in sight and I almost have a finished knit to show and tell about!

Soccer!

This post is for J's grandparents. I know the rest of you will also be REALLY excited by this post :).

J had his first ever soccer class today. We signed him up for a little intro to soccer program and he LOVED it!


Warming up with Coach Kat.


Listening to the "hands, you don't get to play" talk.


Dribbling. J was all about the control aspect. This was him going FAST. Usually he went very slowly and deliberately.


Scoring his first ever goal during scoring practice.


Getting ready to doing the starting kick for the red team, otherwise known as the "tomato" team. The yellow team was the "banana" team.


Chasing the ball later in the "game."

The Joy of Sharing

You know how when you learn a new skill or an interesting new tidbit, you are always looking for excuses to share it.

My dad, for example, loves to learn random little facts and then share them with people just for the joy of telling them something new and different. In fact, whenever I hear an interesting little tidbit, I always want to tell my dad because I know he will enjoy adding it to his arsenal of facts and using it in a future conversation.

My sister and I are also big fans of "show and tell." Whenever we get together, which unfortunately is usually only once every 3-6 months, we immediately start showing each other all the little things we've wanted to share while we've been apart. This might be little things like a new shirt that we picked up for a steal, a knitted item finished or in progress, or even a new book we've discovered.

In fact, blogging is a lot about the joy of sharing little tidbits and stories and accomplishments--a lot like my own little show and tell space.

This year in J's preschool class he gets to bring something for Show and Tell every Thursday. He is SO excited. This week he brought a library book about cheetah cubs. He came home and told me all about which children looked at his book afterward and was so excited that one boy looked at every page.

Anyway, N is learning the joy of sharing knowledge and his latest little tidbit is that green means go and red means stop. So now when we are in the car and he sees a stoplight, he immediately starts yelling "red stop, red stop" or "green go, green go." This has happened for EVERY stoplight for the last two days. It seems like a little bit of overkill to me, but he is only two and has limited chances to share things that he finds new and exciting so I will keep saying with a smile, "yes, green means go and red means stop." I also know the joy of sharing.

First Day of Preschool

School is officially in session. Today was N's first day of preschool and J's first day in the four year-old class. The drop-off went well. No tears and only a little hesitation. Let's hope the rest of the day has gone well too.
I am excited about this big step in my life as a mom, but it feels strange, and maybe I feel a little bit guilty, to be home without them.

I had BIG plans for my morning to myself. However, apparently it takes longer to clean my house than I thought because I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I planned. It probably didn't help that I decided to run a few errands after dropping off the boys and didn't get home until 10:40. So far I've cleaned 3 toilets, 3 bathroom counters and 4 sinks. I've also changed 3 sets of sheets. I have to eat lunch and head out to pick up the boys in about 30 minutes. Doesn't look like I will get the dusting, vacuuming and ironing done. Oh well. I guess that's what I'll do Thursday morning.

Hope you're all having a lovely day!