Music & More..

It's been busy here..no time to focus long enough to keep this blog thing going. But my Monday Music doesn't require much focusing.. I love looking back at what I was listening to a few months ago or longer. There's usually a song or cd that gets repeated over the days during the week in the car..or on our dance floor. But I'm thinking about Tuesday's music. The Violent Femmes followed me around my walking trail this morning. Oh, how they make me feel 20 again. Happy Tuesday.

Birthday Present

I finished Jaden's birthday gift yesterday:) One Capped Sleeved Knitted Sweater & two "Oliver S pattern" simple elastic waist skirt with ribboned edge. It's so fun to make things for babies!!

Monday Music

John & the kids had quite a dance party last night!!!

Upstream with a Paddle:)

This weekend we took the canoe out onto a river & creek. Such fun! I knitted while everyone else fished.

One Moment

Knitting Happy..

Lots of knitty dreams happening here. So far, I have a Capped Sleeve Sweater in a soft blended yarn lilac for sweet little girl whose turning one very soon.
Sweater Vest for myself..this back panel is taking a while, but I'm excited about it coming together in a few weeks. It's 100%wool..rose
Wrist Warmers for Maddie & me:)
Gift possiblities..coffee cozies.

Recent trip to the zoo..

One of Maddie's favorite place to visit is our zoo. Her "must see" when we were there this weekend, were the otters & Jack's were the snakes. We saw alot of other animals in between...my favorite to watch are the polar bears. You always walk away thinking about the changes our environment is going through & how this animal is one of the most effected. Every week, 20 species of plants and animals become extinct. Definitely leaves you thinking.

Pendant Making..

Inspired by a Jeni's Icecream visit this weekend, I'm starting my first sewing project since school started...daresay I'm making PENDANTS:) How exciting, huh.. If only I had the interior decorator that Jeni has. I love the feel of that place. We all went to one just north of us & it's just beautiful inside..blue & white tiles & white, white, everywhere. I love it. & the icecream, OMG.. John & I split a Mock Turtle Sundae. All I can say is I hope for more of that someday.

So back to the pendants, I saw them hanging & I see them on blogs I read as simple sewing projects. I'm planning to hang them everywhere:) & dream of turtle sundae all day...

Monday Music

Coldplay has a new album coming in October..Mylo Xyloto.

Remembering

a nightmare visited on a morning bright with sun.
a city became dark and undone.
things that never could be,
became reality.
ten years remembrance of the day the world changed
lingers in the air aged.
the calendar shows the date, cities shows the scar.
millions of people walk around with a fray,
in their hearts.
we remember and try to move along
cursing those responsible, wishing we could undo their wrong.
a hole that's dark and bereft stays with us all when we remember
the day the world changed

Pickin Apples

It's an annual event..apple pickin. This year we went to a farm a little bit closer to home. It was a beautiful afternoon. The family that ran the farm were so nice...she let us pick tomatoes from her garden. & we found a yummy grape vine full of black grapes. Everyone was happy:)

Potter

For the last year we have been reading the Harry Potter series. We are coming up on the last book. Ahh..what will replace the magical bedtime stories?? I'm thinking we will take a break from book series for a bit, but what a fun ride the Potter books have been. The characters have become so real to my kids, that I'm sure these will be re-read for many years to come.

Today, while I was at their school's library, I noticed all the paperback Potter books sitting on top of the bookshelf, showing their well loved pages. I thought about how many kids have spent years reading this series, over & over & the adults who stayed up late reading these aloud or even to themselves. So many people have connected with this magical group of people. I'm not sure exactly what it is about the characters, hogwarts, and all of their adventures, but it's easy to get hooked. i'll be sad when it all ends.

Check!

Grocery Shoppin done! Even with Jack in tow, he was my helper today:) Not feeling well..
Po Boys for dinner:-)

Making my list..

Now that the kids are in school all day, I find myself making more list. Grocery list comes to mind lately. I'm lucky that John likes grocery shopping..impossible! But it's true, for the most part, he's much better at it than me & definitely sticks with the list & in budget. But move over...I'm stepping up to the grocery shopping task! Making my list & checking it twice.

Thursday's are the day I've chosen, so today I make the list. I will stay under budget, I will stay under budget, I will stick to the list, list, list, list!! This is my mantra as I prepare for this chore, most moms probably have been doing for years. But this is oh so new & stressful for me. Something about the lights, the aisles, the coupons almost always brings on a panic stricken, cart dumping, manic me..speed walking to the nearest exit. BUT, I have confidence I can survive this weekly adventure.

One thing I am most excited about is having more of a menu each week..not so much a daily meal must, but more like a list of possible dinners I can pull together when the time rolls around each day. The pantry will be full of what I need, & then I'll go from there. My favorite birthday gift this year is Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook, "my father's daughter." It's become my list inspiration for the grocery shopping that's looming. I'm getting a lot of our dinner ideas from her book. it's very vegetarian friendly & full of healthy meals. The salad section is my favorite & tomatoes are finally in season!! Yippee:) She has a slow-roasted tomato recipe that I sped up this weekend..not having the 4-5 hours to cook the tomatoes, but they were yummy to top off a pasta dish.

Around the house..

A new school year has brought a lot of deafening silence...this is what i see most mornings when I get back from my walk.

37 & Monday's Music

September already...37 too fast:) Man, the years fly by. I can't possibly be 37 when I just turned 27 a few years ago. My kids are usually the constant reminder of the clock going full steam ahead, but my bday seems to work just as well. Thirties seem to be going much faster than twenties.






My birthday felt really special this year, thanks to family & friends. Cakes & pies, oh my!! My daily walks went down the drain with all the sweets I ate this weekend...well worth it though. I'm also thankful for library cd checkouts, I finally got to listen to an entire album of "Vampire Weekend." This one is my favorite..loving the violin on this song.