Monday Music

This song is on John Lithgow's "Sunny Side of the Street" & one we've been singing & dancing to all week:) The whole CD will have you dancing & singing. Here is BB singing it")

Bowling..

Had a fun day bowling with Yaya & Poppy. Who knew bowling was such good exercise...my legs are alittle sore:)

Sledding

What else is there to do with our Saturday, but GO SLEDDING! I'm such a wimp, I only watched...but that was almost as fun.

One Moment..

way back when....

Reading..

What we are reading...Garfield..lots & lots of Garfield comic books(jack's sense of humor to a tee), Captain Underpants (laughing out loud), Amelia Earhart's Biography (fascinating), A Visit from the Goon Squad (good), Madeline is Sleeping (magical), Orange is the New Black ( a bit disappointing), Slaughterhouse Five (classic)...

A February Sweater..

With February only a few days away, I was inspired to start the "February Lady Sweater." You can see all the details here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/krd406/february-lady-sweater
I have had this pattern in my stash for a while now & have glanced at it a few times wondering if I can pull this gull lace pattern off. I guess we will see:)

I finally updated my ravelry page with most of my projects...boy that felt good!! I've never really cataloged what I have knitted & after I started this, I felt pretty proud of all the projects I've made. I like the idea of keeping track of it all & have become a huge fan of www.ravelry.com.

I've actually completed all the projects I had in my basket with the exception of my sister's wrist warmers. I wanted to surprise her for her bday back at the beginning of Jan, but it's turned into a valentines present..i think. I am 95% done & ran out of yarn...hate when that happens. So soon, I will venture out to shop for yarn & finish up her warmers. I made a matching pair for my niece, Caitlyn. So with only one other person requesting wristwarmers, I can safely say, I'm going to put that pattern away for while. Hopefully till next holiday season & by then, I hope to have this pattern. I'm feelng adventurous:)
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/evangeline

Silly Poses

Stacy made these awesome posters for Delaney's 3rd bday this weekend. Love it! My silly clan:)

Monday Music

John & I use to sing this to Jack over & over when he was a babe:) It was written by Jesse Fuller, the one man band:) The Grateful Dead recorded their version on "Reckoning" with Bobby singing. I always loved Bobby's voice, but since we checked out Johnny Bregar's children's album, "Hootenanny" from the library this past week & have listened to it over & over, I thought I'd post Johnny singing it. I was going to post one of his songs from Hootenanny, but couldn't find it on youtube. The album is great. This one is on his new album, "dragon fly." www.johnnybregar.com/. I like his sound, reminds me of Dan Zanes with a little more blues.


Also, here's Jesse Fuller singing & playing his fotdella:) You can see why they called him "the one man band."

Our Doodle Projects..

Exploring..

It has been a long time since we had a Saturday full of exploring some of our favorite places around town. Today, it was time to escape the house...(lots of snow gave us a snow day yesterday & with a long weekend last weekend of just hanging out around the house alot)...it felt really good to escape today.

Jack's choice of fav places was Eclectiques, of course, an antique mall of sorts in Clintonville full of all kinds of vintage treasures. Remember my green chairs & table...they were found there. We've gotten to know Paul, one of the guys that works there pretty well & he always gives the kids little Smurf figurines & answers lots of questions about all the little treasures he has. Jack likes his little corner of the place. & we let them pick one $5 or less item.. Jack was able to get a deal with a $5 microscope & Maddie of course went for the "fun jars!" These jars are full of odd & ends, mainly old costume jewelry. Lots of treasures were found in her jar tonight when we emptied it out. ")

Maddie's fav choice was our art museum downtown...good choice! We spent all afternoon there, having fun with a Doodles program that we made 3-D art. The topic was making a collage of "family traditions." We weren't really good at sticking to the theme. I kinda tried with creating a pitcure of our long road trip to NC every year. It was alot of fun creating little sculptures. John made pretty awesome cars to add to the collages. Maddie had a lot of candy ideas & Jack's was really interesting!! involving landmines..i could have swore that was a garden?? I'll have to take pix & add tomorrow.

The museum is going through a lot of renovations, but the children's area is all done & really fun. I loved the old area, but this one is more modern & they have added more spaces for kids to explore. Even when we ventured upstairs, I noticed a lot of galleries have activities for little ones to do in the center tables. Love that. Wish Col had a Chidlren's Museum...I dream of having one in Dublin. I know the perfect spot for one too!

The Cafe Palette at the museum, is no longer...so it was just a deli stand:( The Cafe Palette will however be a part of the next phase of the reno..not done till 2013:( This did give us an excuse to eat at one of our fav places, Whole World, which is perfectly located right next door to Eclelitiques:) Crunchy Cuc Sandwich...yummy!!!

Snow Day with Origami

Every year our elementary school teaches the kids origami & every year Jack is more & more excited about it!! He loved making pencils & a tiny box to put them in yesterday, so to start off our slow morning (snow day!) he taught me & Maddie how to make the pencils! Here's a peek at some of his creations.

Jack this week

One of the assignments for the week is to practice fiddle songs with the bow flat. He loves the few fiddle songs he has. Here is playing "swallowtail jig"

Jemma's dress up

Everyday after her walk, she wants me to hold her:) She's such a baby! I love it. Today, I found her in Maddie & Jack's dress up chest:) Jemma J..my princess!!

Early Birthday..

Since John will not be home tomorrow night for his birthday, we surprised him tonight with an early bday party:) Jack made him a bday hat & Maddie made a card. I made cupcakes & we have already eaten way too many!! The banner we made last year for all our bdays..it comes up:) Happy early bday babe. we love ya:)

Monday Music

Maddie kept playing this over & over today..major flashback to middle school!

Bathroom Finale..maybe!

I'm really excited about our bathroom remodel. It feels great to have a clean, relaxing space! I find myself thinking.... don't get the shower dirty. We've never lived in a "new" house, with new, clean things, never used before!!

The shower is my favorite & just what I wanted with more arm space & a seat:) I got a squiqy to wipe away the water each time we use it:) This is a new thing too. The kids are enjoying the luxuries of having candles & long baths in mom & dad's room. Next on our list, update their bathroom so they can feel excited about their bathtime without using ours")

Yarn

Yarn is one of those simple pleasures..

Off the needles..

Recently, I finished a bunch of wrist warmers. I still have 2 more to go...ahh. I'm looking forward to taking a break from them for a while & moving onto something less circular:) I'm guessing I have made around ten pairs since November.

My next "me" project is a new warm wool blue sweater..I'll post some pix of the gorgeous yarn tomorrow. I'm excited to start a big project & then try brand new stitches & patterns this year. A friend recently showed me how to cable!!! I hope it is as simple as it seems.

Maddie is modeling my recent "off the needles" projects. The sweater & leg warmers are hers. The hat is a sweet friend's bday surprise:)

Snow w/o the Snow day..

Amid the gray clouds you linger until falling down,
Laying lightly on my path,
Covering all the trees like drips of white paint from the sky.
Cold yet warm as I try to catch a taste of you on my tongue.
Still, silent, I retreat from your embrace..

Monday Music

Santa left an Aretha album...love it. We need more Aretha's in the world:)

Letting Go for Good..

I was reading in the Parade insert that comes in the weekly paper about "rebooting for the new year." They had great ideas & I wanted to share this one. #1 Purge & do some good. Websites I plan to check out.
www.Excessaccess.com - finds nonprofits that accept & pick up donations

www.careergear.org - donate suits & ties for those who need them to get jobs.

www.soles-4souls.org - donate used shoes & they end of aiding people in diaster zones

http://columbusnortheastlions.com/default.aspx - redistributes used eyeglasses.

Bathroom Update

Tomorrow we get our shower door installed!!! YAHOO!! It's almost done. Here's a few pix. New green color. john must really love me if he painted the bathroom twice. This time it's Sherman Williams Green Sprout. It feels good.

To Blog or Not to Blog

New Year Resolutions ...bad idea?? Since I cant remember one that had life changing effects..I'm going to go with bad idea.. But I kinda made one this year.........I want to use my computer less. Facebooking, blogging, blog surfing, all that brain-building stuff seems more & more time/mind zapping & unproductive. I do love reading certain blogs & have become attached to a hand full. Those I definitely wouldn't say are unproductive, I have learned a lot from so many knitters, moms, cool ladies I somehow feel virtually connected to. It just felt really good to step away from it for a week or so & disconnect.

We headed south the day after Christmas & spent the week visiting my family. Lots of miles logged, subway pit stops, (one of the only veggie restaurants you can find off the hwy). Despite finally finding La Puerto ( a mexi restaurant) with awesome food in Wytheville on the way back, but I still didn't get my dunkin donuts,, only starbucks (which i reaaallly dislike). They have started popping up even with drivethrus along 77!

Our time in NC was fun, exhausting, nostalgic, & always fun for the kids. Christmas didn't want to end.. I loved seeing everyone & always feel sad when we leave knowing I wont see a lot of their faces until we return. On this visit we said goodbye to my aunt Elsie. She passed away 12/24. I was glad we could be there to visit with my grandma during the time she was saying goodbye to her sister. Her funeral was sad, but one I could see Elsie smiling & laughing at. I'm glad I could could be there.

So as my new resolution looms...I started thinking about whether blogging is something I should continue. Honestly, I wish I could make this space private & keep it away from people that I dont know, but may have found thebigredcar,from searching for the wiggles or a sports car:) I go back & forth...to blog or not. I like looking back & knowing I've keep an online journal of sorts for so long. But I wonder who is reading this. Its kind of like opening up to who knows who & sharing alot of personal information with complete strangers. Whose reading this?? if anyone ..family, friends, (i know lana is out there somewhere:)

But I go back to when I started this blog. Jack was speeding around the sidewalks in the infamous "bigredcar" & maddie just a little thang. now he zooms around on his scooter & new skateboard, & maddie isnt as little as she use to be. I love looking back at all their lovely little faces (yours too john!) , and all the the wonderful things we have been able to do. It just requires computer time..time that i could be doing something else. taking more pictures, knitting, reading, who knows what. i do feel sort of proud of this space though..something I maintained for a few years now.

So maybe with the new goal to use the computer less, I can still blog alittle??

Happy New Year!

We all survived the holidays....just a little slow getting back into "blogging mode." Hopefully I'll get around to recapping it all sometime this week, but how could I resist Music Monday. We've been listening to so much vinyl lately, I had to post the most listened to song of all the albums Santa left! Happy Monday.