Pictures

Daddy and MB
Daddy and his little girl

With Winston

Me and Bobo the Monkey Boy. I love this pic!

Me and my girl. Love this one too! the look on her face is just priceless!

We took these just before the holidays.

Update

Man 2 weeks and no post. Lots has happened but the biggest news is I got a job offer! I am just waiting for the background check to come through. As long as that checks out ( and I see no reason it shouldn't) I will be back to working full time by the end of October! I can not even tell you how happy I am about it. I have been looking for full time work for 3 months. The kids are happy for me. This means that the family budget will open up a bit with more money for movies and fun things. I think over the last 2 years the kids and I have done just about every free thing there is to do in town. I hope to take them to pick apples next weekend. I love to go pick my own apples and have taken the kids every fall, they love it too.

As for Knitting: My Gytha sweater body has to be frogged and reknit as it is too big and the gauge is off. My problem is I knit my swatch flat and the body is knit in the round. Opps. I'll pick it up again in 2010. I have been in gift knitting mode for the last few weeks. Hubby's birthday socks are almost done. Also done is 1 of 2 teacher gifts, Fil and GS both have new scarves coming and Mil&LtCol's blanket just need i cord edging.

I am working on a shawl for the kids school Holiday Auction. I will also be doing a Christmas stocking for the auction. GAH has made the family Christmas stockings since before I was born so I have never knit one before. Should be fun. If you would like to donate an item for the auction leave me a comment. All money from this event will go to buy another mobile computer lab for the school. Our gaol is a computer on every student desk so we need to raise a lot. The school has 2 portable labs and the computer lab so only 3 classes can use them at any one time. the more portable labs (class size group of laptops) the better. The auction will be all handmade items.

The rest of the holiday 09 knit list is not too bad. I have a few hats to do and a cowl for someone Hubby works with. Not too bad at all.

This new job means I will need a new wardrobe. I have not had to wear anything but jeans and t shirts for the last 10 years so I need to go out and buy a few things. So all shop items are still on sale!

1969 Was a good year

Today is John's 40th Birthday. Happy Birthday Baby! You see him here in A Man For All Seasons. He played Cromwell the villain. He was brilliant. He doesn't read this so I can tell you that even though he told me not to have a party for him, I am going to invite some of his friends to join us at the lake for Bunky's birthday. Shhh its a secret. But if you are local and want to come leave me a comment with your e-mail, I'll send you the details.

I told you he was a monkey

I told you he was a monkey boy! He saw someone doing this is ICarly.com and before I knew it he was climbing the walls. He is fearless. We are working on our letters and numbers and reading lots of books. JP is a busy little Monkey.

In knitting news. I just can't seem to get excited about anything I'm working on right now. Even my socks are boring me to death. I think I am going to look for a really simple lace shawl. Something that does not have me glued to a chart. I have a really lovely lace weight in the stash to use for it I just need to pick a pattern. I have seen these really pretty garter st shawls with a little ruffle all over blogland but that is just more garter st. Got any suggestions?

In shop news I am working on a big base yarn order. More worsted is already on the way. I will get more sock yarn for sure. Superwash Merino and wool/nylon blend. Should I get some lace weight too? Do you guys want lace weight?

Also one more thing. Watch this space for upcoming news. I am planing BunkyBobo's first yarn and fiber club. The sign ups will be in early march with club shipments going out the last week of April,May and June. If it goes well there will be a round 2 in September, October and November. I am calling it Science Fiction Double Feature Fiber Club. Each shipment will have 2 colorways as well as other fun swag and as always BunkyGirl Lip Balm. Stay tuned for more details.

Holiday Update

I have been so busy playing with the kids the last few days I have not done much else. I have picked up My Green Gansey socks again. I really like this project. The yarn and pattern work so well together, I hope to have sock #1 done soon.

I got some really soft wool/bamboo yarn from My mom for Christmas. I cast on a stripe scarf. This is not the 1x1 rib all of blogland has been knitting. This one is wider and knit in the round like the Harry Potter year 1 scarves. The first of 2009s Christmas knits. Told you I like to plan ahead.

In family news: Bunky can almost always be found writing or drawing in one of her many notebooks. She got a password journal from her Daddy. MB likes to try to see what she has inside, every time he does a little alarm goes off to tell her he is at it again. She is really growing up. MB on the other hand has kept me busy playing Gorilla Island, Hungry Hippos and Lego Indiana Jones. He kicks my butt on the video games. I only beat him when we play Hold 'em

Hubby seems well pleased with his gifts too. I have to pry the hand knit socks off him for washing. I have yarn in stash for his next pair. I have seen him using his guitar tuning thingiee. He also got 2 new Rachel Ray cookbooks. (I found these on sale for about 80% off. What a deal!) He loves RR so those should see some use too.

In case you are wondering, Hubby got me the UK version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard . He also got me a gift card for The Loopy Ewe.

I was a very mellow Holiday for us. The kids and Hubby went to a movie, While I got 2 hours of peace to cook dinner. Just us this year. It was wonderful.

A Very Merry

Bunky got her Easy bake Oven. She is very happy.
Monkey Boy got his Gorilla Island. It took Mommy 45 minuets to get it out to the box.

A little alpaca for my tree. I love him.

Before the unwrapping.

It is turning into a very Merry Christmas here indeed. I wish all of you and all of yours a Very Merry Christmas!

I was done...

So last night Hubby asked me if I had any knit hats he could give to his co workers. "no" says I
"Well can't you just whip some up?" Says he.
"I guess I could if I have the right yarn what color do you want?" I ask
"I don't know whatever I guess"
"What type of hat are we talking about here?
" I don't know"
"How many do you need?"
" Well at least two, maybe a dozen if you can do that..."
At this point I am wondering if He thinks I can just pull hand knits out of my butt.
"But I was done!" I lament "ok but next time could I have a little more warning?"
" Well scarves would be nice for next year..."
Smart Ass
Guess what I am doing today?

Happy Birthday Monkey Boy!

What A good helper you are!

by Lake Granby, CO June,2008
Yes Mommy put sun screen on you.
looking for pretty rocks. we have to check his pockets for rocks everyday. I am still finding them in the truck.




You have grown so much this year! You have shown us that you are indeed fearless! There is nothing you will not climb on and then jump right off. Happy 5th Birthday Monkey Boy!

note: the above picture is just a really big rock. He is about a foot from the ground here. He did get to the top, about 6 feet from the ground and he did in fact jump off. Damn near gave me a heart attack.

Facebook

Yes I joined yet another networking site. My cousin Aaron invited me to join facebook a while back so I finally took the plunge. I have found many of my High School friends already. It is really fun to see pictures of them and their family's. It is hard to believe it has been so long since I have heard from them. When we were in school together the web was still a dream and we had to learn to use a typewriter (do they even make those anymore?) I think the Internet is the biggest time sucker ever created.

In knitting news: I am still working on the border of the blankie. I put it aside yesterday to work on the socks. I hope to have it done before the holiday weekend is over.
Other than that I got nothing

In politics: I saw on the news today that our Government has taken on 8.5 trillion dollars in bail out related debt this year. Where does this money come from I wonder? China? I am starting to think we had all better learn to speak Chinese soon. What comes after a trillion anyway?

In family life: Bunky is feeling a little better today. She slept well and ate this morning. She seems to be on the mend. Monkey boy talks everyday about "when I go to school" I am glad to see him so excited about it. I have a feeling it will be harder on me to see him go to school that it was with Bunky. He's my last baby and he is growing up fast. I miss the days of baby snuggles but I don't miss the sleepless nights and diapers! Life marches on weather we want it too or not.

A Sleep Over Birthday

Here is MG at her birthday party. Boy did she have fun. The girls stayed up all night. (I am not kidding about this. All Night.) As you can see they had great fun with the makeup kit one of the girls brought. The other picture is the little party favors I made up for the girls. They were a big hit. You can not believe the amount of noise three 8 year old girls can make. I finally got them to settle down around 5:15 am. They were all up by 7:00 wanting breakfast. Ah to be 8.

Happy Birthday Love

Today is Hubby's birthday. (The above picture is from father's day).

So Happy Birthday Hubby! I love you.

Now it is time to help your kids make birthday cake and wrap gifts!

Gift Knitting

Here is MB showing off a shawl I knit. Not going to give too many details as this is a gift for someone who reads this blog but I just could not resist posting this picture. I got the yarn at the Estes wool market. It is from Plain & Fancy Sheep Co and is only for sale at fiber festivals. I wish I had bought more. I loved knitting this. I may have to knit one for myself.

In other news: So far the day care is going pretty well DCG and DCB (day care boy and day care girl) are really nice kids and seem to enjoy playing with the MK's. DCG and MG have become fast friends. MG spent the night at her house last night. It is nice for her to have a friend she gets to spend so much time with. MG is starting to learn that girls can be really mean to each other. One little girl in her class that she was friends with last year likes to try to get MG in trouble with the teacher. Mrs. W is wise to the ways of 2nd grade girls so MG is not in trouble but did have to change seats. There was also a boy in the other 2nd grade class kicked out of school this week because he started a fire in the boys restroom. Nice eh?

2nd Grade

Here is my big girl all ready for 2nd grade. In the past I have gone into the school with her the first day but she did not want that this year. Ouch! She had a good day. A lot of her friends from last year are in her class. I can't believe that a year from now I will have to take MB for his first day of school. I can't even think about it!

This and that

Not sure what to call this one. Pretty though. Needs a name.

In shop news I have the last of the roving's dyed and ready to list. I just need some pictures first. This will be the last of the roving for a while. If it sells I will restock it. I have been slowly listing the new colors. Keep checking back to see new things.

In knitting news I am plugging away on Moms Christmas gift as well as GAL gift and a pair of socks for my Dad. I was going to knit him a vest but he seemed to like the socks I knit Hubby so socks it is. Dad's are not as loud as Hubby's are. I have only just started the pattern part so there is not much to show. I won't be showing you Mom or GAL's cuz they read this and then it just would not be any fun.

In Family news the MK's are getting on each others nerves. We keep calling MG's friends from school and leaving messages but never get a call back. I feel bad for her. We have been going to the park and doing things around the house to keep busy. Money is tight so there have not been tons of movies and eating out this summer.

I know I have not been writing much lately. I have been so stressed out about money that I have not felt like writing. I have been looking for a part time job and trying to push sales in the shop. I was able to transfer some money from the shop to the household account this month so that made me feel a little better about it. Its funny how sales and comments perk me up. Makes me feel like I am doing something right after all. Ok enough of that "oh poor me" stuff. I have to make lunch for the Monsters. Back soon.

quick update

So I went to Miss V's both Monday and Tuesday and we did not dye a single skein. Miss V got her soap stuff and we made soap instead. Well she made soap and answered all my questions. Miss V gets all mad scientist. Very fun to watch. It was pretty cool to see it come together.

I did get some dyeing done yesterday pictures soon.

The kids are having a great time with Papaw and Grandma S. They love the lake and the boat rides. P &GS seem to be having a good time too. The dogs are a little upset that we took the little people away. Winston misses his sleeping buddy. I pick the kids up tommrow.

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend with my folks. MB was a bit of a monster but hes 4 what ya gonna do?

It was nice to see them. The kids love them. They really like it when Grandpa rough houses with them. Poor Dad. I hope he is not too sore

We went to the zoo Sunday and met this cheeky monkey. She didn't get anything from us. She was looking at a little kid eating Fruit Loops. All of the monkeys were out playing. It was really fun to watch them. There were tons of people there. It was the first nice Sunday of the summer. I did notice a lot of tree damage from last weeks storm.

After I take the kids to the park today I am going to post 4 new colorways, and work on dyeing the fiber I got last week. I also have a pattern to write up. I want to have it test knit before sharing it.

Estes Scarf

I got this yarn at the Estes Wool Market. Plain and Fancy Sheep Co Sport wt lambs wool colorway Autumn Leaves. I found the pattern on Ravelry it is called The Sweeney Todd Scarf. The knitting is really simple but the look is great. It is soft and cozy. . I think the pattern would be great in almost any yarn. This will be a long scarf. I plan on knitting till the 400 yards is gone.

Along with the scarf I am working on a new sock. No pattern just making it up as I go. I put the lace shawl away for a while. I found a big mistake about 35 rows back and have to rip. I am also not sure I like the color.

In shop news I got some roving to dye up(64 ct Merino) and more yarn ready to go. (thanks to Miss V's skein winder). I will be having a "free gift with every order" special in July.
I am slowly listing the new yarns so check back and see what you like. I won't be doing much with the shop this weekend because my Mom and Dad will be here for the next 4 days. Yeah! The MK's are very excited. We are all going to the zoo on Sunday. If you have never been to the Henry Dorrley Zoo here in Omaha you should check it out. We have the best zoo I have ever been to here with new things opening every year.

It doesn't suck

Hubby and I have a little saying about our place in the Fraser valley of Colorado: "it doesn't suck"

We love it there. The people are friendly, the air is clean and the scenery is to beautiful. I spent part of each afternoon just as you see me in the picture. Knitting by the pool watching the MK's swim. (the pool is heated) It did not suck a bit. I got the socks you see done. They are for Hubby. How cool is it the Hubby will wear socks that loud? (yarn is BMFA STR in Ct Cluckla)

Below is a shot from the bank of Monarch Lake. We found this lake while driving the back country roads around Lake Granby. You have to get out of the car and walk a bit to find the lake but it is so worth it. The views are stunning. The MK's had fun on our walk. They were pretending they were Indiana Jones on an adventure. MB is fearless. More than once I found myself pulling him away from the river that feeds the lake.( All the water levels in the valley are high. They had 400" of snow this past winter.) The entire valley is greener than we have seen in the past. There seems to be less Pine Beetle damage too. I uploaded all the pictures to flickr.

You should be able to see them all there.

We had perfect weather the whole trip. We had about 5 minutes of sunny mountain rain the last day and that was it.

We did see some storms though. We hear they beat Denver pretty good though.

Back later with a post about our trip to the yarn mill and pictures of the Estes stash. I have yarn to get ready for a shop update tonight and tomorrow.

Back to life

Well everyone is home now. The dogs went a little nuts when Hubby came in but all is well. The MK's are all tan and wishing it was warm here. MG was walking around last night in her pj's and new cowgirl boots. MIL got me a pair of boots too! She knows I love boots so she and Hubby picked out a nice light brown pair for me.

Hubby said MIL and Sfil were so happy that Hubby brought the kids to visit her. She won't be able to make the long drive by herself this summer and Sfil was afraid she would never see her grandkids. I think we will have to make this trip every spring for a while. I feel better knowing she is not driving cross country to see us.

As to my knitting... I cast on a sweater yesterday. I am using EZ Raglan pattern. I got 2 inches of body so far.

In BunkyBoBo's news... I ordered my new dyes and some base yarns so I should have new repeatable colorways by May. I can't wait to get started.

I am off to a wedding shower brunch with MG today for my Step Sister in law ( hubbys Dads step daughter) boy that's a mouthful. I made her some soap and a knit facecloth. I also got her an all natural lip balm and some other bath goodies. MG is very excited to go with me. We are going to find her some jeans after the brunch. Yeah for Mommy time! On Monday I will take MB out to lunch so he gets some too. Little guy has hardly let me go since he's been home.
Vacation and time away from the kids was nice and all but I am glad to have my little family backtogether. I think last night was the first night Winston has slept well...curled up with MG...its good to be home...

Good Times

So I am home. MK's are happy to see me and very happy with the giant coloring book that GAH sent home for them. MG had her markers out within 2 minutes and is coloring away. MB is napping. I only took one picture the whole trip. We were all so busy yakking that I forgot about the camera. We had such a good time we did not want to go home. I will post picture and details later, I have some coloring to do...