Bond

I still remember when I first saw you.
Who was that dog you were hanging with, back in the last row with the chickens?
Chapel Hill/Carrboro Animal Shelter, December 1997
You were the one that we wanted..the one we would learn so much from.
John's first dog.
I still remember our car ride home, the red leash, the trail we stopped at to let you walk, our first of many.
You chewed your way through our furniture..remember that lumpy couch & the gnawed furniture legs? You tortured many neighbors & visitors with your big bark.
It all brings a smile. Even those shoes I really liked & continued to wear without the strap.
You were the best snuggler..(shhh, dont tell Jemma!) She has a lot to learn. But thanks for sending her to us.
I know you had something to do with that. She has big shoes to fill & she's pretty confident that she can do it.
When I think of you, I think of sunshine. You were that to our lives.
Thank you.

Knitting knot..

Some new things are starting to come to life on my needles. I'm trying to find those moments to get it all done:) I'm finding ways to use yarn that I've had in my stash for a long time. It's still so hard to knit with yarn you don't love. I was happy with how the yellow, eyelash one turned out. The white rabbit..angora-like yarn is growing on me. Both of these are knitting up as my version of an infinity scarf.

Monday Music

Slow moving morning..

Weekend in Pictures..

One Moment

Happy Thanksgiving

Pre Thanks:)

Today I spent most of my time chopping, rolling, whipping & of course, baking!! It's the first Thanksgiving feast John & I have hosted as a family of four. I'm not sure how we went this long without having Thanksgiving dinner here. I guess, when I think about it, the last few years have been the first as parents of "independent little people." Reminding myself that it wasn't that long ago when Jack & Maddie were crawling around, or needing something every second, like food..which still hasn't really changed. But I hope you get at what I'm saying here, they are helping now!! Jack wanted to make place mats for our dinner, Maddie made napkin rings with just a little aluminum foil, stickers & toilet paper rolls, of course. They both love to be in the kitchen. Jack usually just likes to be close & play in his own little world..in the kitchen, & Maddie is always willing to give us a helping hand.

Today, we made pumpkin pie, chocolate birthday cake (birthdays & Thanksigiving to celebrate tomorrow), & prepped a spinach & cheese strata. All of these were first recipes for me. So I really hope they taste as good as they smelled today. We did "taste test" the chocolate cake, by making a few cupcakes to reward ourselves for all the cooking we did. Today was a fun day in the kitchen with lots to be thankful for:)

My First Pumpkin Pie..


Maddie's Napkin Rings..

Thankful

Thanksgiving
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends

Monday Music

Literally Monday Music..Jack started our week off on the right foot this morning when he put on his "Saturday Night Fever" album.
Hope everyone can put on their booogie shoes this week & enjoy your time together.

Lazy Saturday

One Moment

Grace Jones Cowl

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this simple pattern. If I know you, you will probably be getting one for Christmas. :)
http://www.pickles.no/pickles/2011/10/28/grace-jones-hals-grace-jones-cowl.html

Here's a few I have made so far..




And new yarn !!

Beets

Beets are one of those vegetables that remind me so much of my Ma Ma. I remember her having them sliced on the table & I always wondered whether they were "sliced cranberries," or beets. Yes, cranberries to me always came from a can & I wasn't a fan of their jello-like texture or after taste. But beets, I liked! It's a weird vegetable, that beet. But despite the fact, most people turn their noses up at it, it's actually really yummy. I especially like slices of it in a salad.

Last night, I tried a new recipe thanks to Molly Wizenberg over at www.organette.blogspot.com Her recipe index is amazing & everything I've ever made of hers was delicious. I would love to visit her restaurant, delancy (http://www.delanceyseattle.com/)
one day & tell her how much I loved her book, "A Homemade Life" & her approach to cooking.


My Beet-Feta Tart

Their Room Trees

With a weekend open to do whatever our hearts desired, the Christmas decorations found their way upstairs!! I have never put up a tree before Thanksgiving, but since we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, I thought why not! It's a slow process, but the trees are coming together.

Jack & Maddie have so many decorations to choose from for their trees they put in their rooms. I have to admit, I'm not from a family who gave sentimental ornaments. I remember our tree was always real, but never went up before mid December..either with bows or balls all over it & silver tinsel, of course.. When I became a teacher, I realized people like to give you ornaments. Then when I became a wife, more ornaments. Next, as a mother, the kids have those special ornaments they received as babies. I love looking at all of them.. "Baby's 1st Christmas," homemade gingerbread men from preschool with their beautiful little baby faces. It's hard to get past the reminisicing when the holidays roll around. I'm glad we have these ornaments to get excited about. I love watching their excitement sorting them out & looking for their favorite ones. John even has lots of ornaments from his childhood. Our tree is a hodgepodge of all of our years here together & apart.

Here's a look at their "room trees." Jack has a metal tree, that he decided to put colored lights on & load up with all his favorite ornaments. Maddie has a purple tinsel tree that she has claimed as her "book tree." The girl does love books & I smile everytime I walk by their rooms seeing these special sparkles:)

Monday Music

Weekending.

Loving..
weekends with nothing on the calendar.
dinner with friends.
warm temps.
watching Jack run around in his imaginitive world.
xmas decoration...OH MY!
checking out Maddie & John's chalk drawings!!

This Moment

Mixed Feeling Sweater

Obviously from my title today, I am having mixed feelings about my newest sweater...it's done! & here are some things I've learned about knitting sweaters..
1 - NEVER knit a sweater in a yarn you don't absolutely LOVE!
2 - Always...do your math when estimating how much yarn you need.
3 - Improvise..improvise..improvise
4 - Dye doesnt work on acrylic fiber.
5 - Sometimes your kids say the sweetestt things to make you feel better in an ugly sweater.

Umbrella

I feel you walking with me under the umbrella you once held.
Where were you going each time you walked with it?
Did it keep you dry & out of the rain?
Our worlds walking together
Under the cover you must of thought of all that you had to do, what was for dinner, how the grass needed mowing..
I walk & think of you.

Sunshine & Scones

Is it really November in Ohio?? The leaves say yes, but this blue sky & bright sunshine is confusing me:)
Today I made scones..chocolate chip. Thank you Catherine. Check her out at http://benandbirdy.blogspot.com/2011/11/brown-sugar-oat-scones.html
She has introduced me to popovers & brown sugar oat scones. Both I'm loving. Jack & Maddie were skeptical of the popovers, But I was excited that they at least tried something different!! Fresh out of the oven, all buttery they are hard to resisit!! The verdict was they tasted too eggy..we'll they do have a few eggs in them. But back to scones.
Here's the recipe. I altered Catherine's to have a bit more brown sugar & chocolate chips! Wonder if I will end of eatting all of them before school is out:)
Chocolate Chip Brown Sugar Oat Scones..
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.
i cup oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2tsp baking pwder
1 1/4 tsp salt
7 tbs butter chilled & diced
1 egg
2/3 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla.
Combine dry ingredients first & then add wet. Flour a cutting board & press the dough into a circle & cut like a pizza into eight slices. Put individual slices on a greased cooking sheet. Enjoy with a cup of tea in the sunshine if available!

Monday Music

Back when we were album hunting for Jack's new record player, we were so excited when we found those cool, timeless ones. Jazz Under the Dome by the Freddy Merkle Group is Jack's all time favorite. Maddie would probably pick the "Stand By Me" soundtrack since she loves most of the songs on that one, especially. Lollipop by the Chordettes. One of my favorites is Duran Duran's Rio. John was excited that someone gave us a Boston album. He also might admit he likes my choice too:)

This weekend, I told J&M to put an album on...ELVIS was there choice. It's box set of Elvis - 50 Gold Awards. So Elvis is what we heard & danced to a lot this weekend:)

Family Pictures

Some of my favorites from the photo shoot we had a few weeks ago:)

You can always make something out of something:)

Last winter I made Jack a striped sweater. All went well until I started decreasing stitches for the neck line. ssk, doesn't mean slip, slip, slip. It means slip, slip, knit! So the top portion of his sweater aka "the yoke" looked BAD! I left it for many months..always looking at it wondering how I could fix it, thinking, "what am I going to do with all those stitches?" RIP!!!

I loved the color palette I chose, if only it could be ripped down to the underarm & started again. I did try!! I promise Jack, but the stitches were hard to pull off under the sleeve (arm hole) portion. Slowly, I realized this wasn't going to be Jack's sweater. Big sigh:(

Cowl with long arm/wrist warmers was my second solution. So I knitted away for days trying to clean up the edges & make it a wearable project. Then after wearing the arm warmers all day yesterday, I realized the cowl just wasn't going to look right. Wearable yes, but it just didn't feel right. SO!! As I looked at the bottom cast on ribbed portion, my thought was to sew that down, put a little elastic in there & voila! Maddie's gets a brand new skirt & legwarmers. Jack, I promise there's a sweater coming soon.