Here is the beginning of a baby sock for my nephew. The first time I've used dpn's and cableing.  

I started this dishcloth/towel yesterday for some easy to work on.  

I'm an auntie!!

The little nephew man is here!!!! He was born yesterday, at a healthy 8lbs 4 oz, 18 inches long. He and my sister are both doing well and I am incredibly happy for them. :)

Hopefully I will get some pictures today, I've been told he has lots of dark hair and my sister's nose. I got to hear him crying and even a little man sneeze through the phone. I so wish I could be there to snuggle the little guy up. They sound so happy.

The finished spring bag for Abbie! Arenne's actually had an extra row of dc on it, by accident, and I think I like it better that way. I was close to running out of yarn so I didn't do the same on Ab's. I also needed to use from another skein for the drawstrings. 

And DONE! The spring bag is finished. I was slightly confused on the drawstring assembly, but Box helped me out, thank goodness! Arenne is now the proud owner of this bag, and I have another in a blue/green in the works for Abbie. 

Blech

The old eye injury is open again. It happened last night, I've been able to keep it closed a lot this morning-and the kids didn't even try to get away with anything-so it's a little better. Let's hope this heals up again like it did last time.

My grandparents are coming in from California tonight, and staying for a few weeks, WOOHOO!! I am very excited. They haven't been back here for a very long time and have been very much missed.

My flowers are actually doing pretty well, amazingly enough. The hot days just dry them up, but we've been keeping them watered well, they don't have the benefit of all of the rain we've had as they are under the eaves of the house. The kids love helping water them all, and I get a kick out of watching them heft the big watering can.

The biggest news is concerning the nephew man, my sister is scheduled for a c-section on SATURDAY! WOOHOOO! He is almost here. She's a week overdue and definitely ready for him to be born. I cannot wait to see pictures of him and really wish I could be out there for his birth.

Here's a shot of my progress on the spring bag. It really works up quickly, I just need to find more time for it! I am very close to abandoning the mil poncho and starting over with a new pattern. I am just not liking it and the frogging I need to do to it. I know I will probably pick it up again and want to finish. Sigh.

My next project is looking to be a cozy for my ipod mini. I've been looking at patterns all over the place, but thinking I will just make up my own.

aha! finally a better picture of the actual colors. slightly blurry, but you can see the real colors!  

It's totally FINISHED! Ends weaved in and all. The color is off in the pic, the colors are a bright green and blue, but I got tired of trying to fix them. 

Here's a shot to show the size, yes that is an ordinary wipe container laying on the blanket. 

A close-up view. 

Three posts in one day????

It's true! And all for a great reason, I am finished with the star blanket! Well, mostly. I still need to weave in the ends. Other than that, FINISHED! It looks very cool and Drew is continually asking for one for him. I will have to get started on it...soon. ;) Pictures to come, but the camera is not cooperating. Punk camera.

Too funny

So Colin (my 2 year old) and I are talking and singing and playing and in a moment of exuberance I hugged him up and said, "Oh you are so sweet and yummy!"

To which he replied, "I am not a snack."

A few rows left

on the star blankie. We'll have to see which comes first, the blanket or the nephew! The points are starting to curve a bit, I realized I wasn't doing the second slip stitch on beginning a row, and that I had been chaining 3 on the ends instead of two, but it looks fine and not worth frogging all of that work.

I haven't had as much time to work on any projects over the weekend, between spending time with my family, getting things done around the house, and the wedding we went to yesterday. The kids came too, and it's always(well almost always) fun to see all of the comments we get about all of our little people. The wedding was at a golf course, outdoors, and it was beautiful. The bride is gorgeous anyway, but she had a really beautiful dress. The bridesmaids were in multi-colored dresses, the groom and groomsmen in suits with matching brightly colored ties and flowers. Very cool all around. The girls were in awe of all of the dresses and flowers, it was really cute. Everyone was well-behaved and a good time was had by all. I got to see some old friends and that was great, a good reminder that I need to keep in better touch.

For some reason I've been in a lot more pain in the last week, and doing things-like the wedding-are really wiping me out. No good, but what am I gonna do? Hopefully get the blanket finished today!

Ohhhh laundry!

Oh how I love doing laundry, the endless laundry that comes with a six person household. Gazing at the ever growing pile of laundry that is overtaking the kitchen I am relieved that we decided four kids was enough, instead of the five or six I had originally wanted.

Whew. My main problem with laundry is getting it folded and put away. I start the laundry, get busy, throw it in a laundry basket or on a chair and plan to get to it later. Somehow I don't. Then it gets all wrinkled or tossed back into the dirty laundry and the washing process starts all over again. It also doesn't help that the kids are all about changing clothes numerous times a day, or thoughtfully pulling everything back out of their dressers and throwing it around their rooms.

I worked a tiny bit on the star blankie, and am doing the flower bag in bits, I usually carry it along with me when I go somewhere. I did have to rewind up the second ball of yarn, as the colors were going the wrong direction on it. That drives me up the wall, shouldn't they all be wound up the same way? Sheesh. There isn't too much more with the star blanket, I'm thinking about 5 more rows and it's finished. Can't wait to see it all done, with the ends weaved in.

Heat, thunderstorms, and rickety hands

The heat has come to Iowa. Along with its good Midwestern friend humidity and their other friends, the mosquitos. Hip hip hooray! It's been in the 90's and our window air conditioner is working its big behind off trying to keep up. Thankfully the front of the house stays cool, but the bedrooms have been a little uncomfortable. As a veteran window air conditioner user, I have an elaborate fan system set up, designed to move the cooler air towards the back of the house. I've only had a few fans set up, in the super hot weather I use at least four. It'sdefinitely time to break out the other two. Thunderstorms are a common occurance lately, but that's to be expected.

I've been busy the last few days, watching my brother in a golf tournament, and getting some really nice alone time. Can't beat that! My muscles have been a lot more sore and stiff lately, I've had a few more shake episodes, more close together. Wondering if this humidity is the culprit? My hands are not wanting to work very well so my yarn time has been limited. I have done some work on the flower bag, and yesterday was spent working on the star blankie. I am not nearly as motivated now that it takes me a little longer to get around those rows. The lace mil poncho is very neglected in my yarn basket. Poor thing, I just don't have the heart to frog and figure out where I am off. Soon, soon. I keep wanting to start some felted bags for my girls, but I am afraid to enter the too many ufo's trap. It would be nice to have some knitting to alternate with the crocheting, but then again I am guiltily remembering that poor poncho.

My newest project, this pattern and am using Sugar 'n Cream's Playtime. My friend Em asked if I could do one for her, so I figured I should do a test one first. My friend Box also recently made this pattern.

Ah, frogging again

This poncho, I tell you what. I have somehow jacked up my stitches on the lace poncho for my mil and need to frog it again, I decided to take a little break from it because I was getting too frustrated.

I started a new little bag, I will have to get pictures later. It's funny to feel the differences in my hands and wrists going from knitting to crocheting. It's looking to be a thunderstormy couple of days, so I'm thinking I will get some cleaning done and settle in to get some work done on my UFO's.

The kiddos and I and my mil planted a few flowers yesterday, they look really pretty and really brighten up the front yard, I can't wait to get some more in.

My eye is on the mend, still a little scratchy feeling, but not all swollen and painful, thank goodness!

Oh this eye

I need a trade-in, sheesh. Despite my best efforts of ointment in the eye every night, lots of eye drops during the day and being careful not to get anything into it, the scratch on my cornea has come open yet again. Sigh. I really sighed right there, while trying to think of what to say.

It was horrible this morning and now I have a puffy, swollen, yucky right eye and am having trouble getting much done today. Trying to continue the great laundry washing, and keep the kids from completely destroying the house. I kept it closed as much as I could earlier today, not an easy feat with four children running around. THANK YOU cartoons, you've saved the day.

We are also on day two of potty training the fourth child. I can't even begin to think of life without diapers, it's been 6 years straight with them. While I will seriously miss the cute little diaper butt, I will NOT miss cleaning that diaper butt. He's had some accidents, but also some triumphs and is way excited about it. A friend of ours brought him some new underwear, so he feels very important in them now. If we could only get him to put his legs in separate legholes we'd be off and running.

Who would've thought?

What color of sock yarn do you prefer?
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Now here's a surprise.

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
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Well then.

You are Acrylic.
While you are very versatile, your plasticky
countenance can be offputting. You are very
good with children but can become a pill if
left alone with them too long. You are very
flexible but don't give in to manipulation.


What kind of yarn are you?
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Operation Homecoming

I knew this would be emotional. I knew it would touch me. I knew it would be a strong reminder of what others give. I had no idea how much this would touch me. There was a time when my two best friends had joined the Army and I was heavily considering joining up through ROTC, although my dad was trying to talk me into Air Force-his branch of service. I was very close to saying yes, but in the end I said no. At the time war was not a reality for us, but I knew I couldn't do it.

My father was Air Force for much of my early years. My mom's dad was career Air Force. My grandmother went through so much, it is amazing to me how much strength the woman has had, and has. The stories are told and passed down. Uncles, cousins, so many family members are a part of our military. We have all been taught, and know what people do and give to be a part of our armed forces. It's always been a presence. I remember the many visits to Offut to the museum and seeing the plane with the "bubble" on the bottom and being told how my grandpa was a turret gunner-I beleive that is the right term-during WWII, the soldier who sat in the clear bubble manning a gun. It was one of the more memorable moments of my life, realizing, as a child, what bravery that must've taken. He was lost behind enemy lines, but his knowing French saved his life. Many stories I didn't hear until my grandpa had passed away, because they were too much to talk about. My uncle and cousin (father and son) will be deployed near the end of this year. Hopefully they will go to the same place. We aren't sure where yet. My feelings are so much about it, I cannot imagine how it is for my aunt. I cannot imagine what it would be to have your husband, your son, your wife, your daughter, your father or mother to be the one going. The strength of people is amazing. The grace with which they demonstrate it is amazing. There are no words that can express my thankfullness, my gratitude, my acknowledgement of their sacrifice. No words. Thank you all.

A looong weekend

I know it's memorial day, but this year I am having a hard time thinking about it. I just can't this year. It's selfish, but it's how I feel. :(

We've had a sort of relaxed weekend, which is always nice. I haven't knitted or crocheted at all today! Please don't faint. Please. I will probably pick up the poncho here in a bit, while I watch Operation Homecoming.

Today the kids and I lugged out all the lawn chairs and things from the yucky garage. It so needs a MAJOR cleaning out-much like the house. Then everything was sprayed and scrubbed and sprayed again and now it's drying on the back patio. It will be so nice to be able to sit outside again while the kids play, especially since Colin is big enough to play and I can even do some crocheting or knitting while they do. I am so excited for summer. Warm weather, sprinklers, grass in between my toes, sigh.

More poncho progress, I got a bit done today while I was outside with the boys.  

It's a progress picture! I lightened it a bit so you could see everything better. I restarted the mil poncho and things are going well with it. Because of the yarn/hook changes it looks NOTHING like the original pattern. Plugging along on the star blankie, these longer rows take a tiny bit more time. 

Hands smoothly twisting, turning
Working steadily, pulling
Yarn moving, twisting, turning
Becoming something
Usefull, pretty, fun, purposeful,
satisfying.

Feeling connected
to others who have known
the working of the yarn
with hands and tools
to create, to make, to yield
works of art.

Tactile, the senses, the touch.
The hook, sturdy in hand
The needles, clicking their pace
The yarn, threading its way
into a completeness,
a finished piece
of that person.

Here is my sweet Arenne modeling the bag! I love how cute this purse is. 

Wooohooo Felting Fun!

I felted the cute little girl bag today, am blocking and trimming the fuzzies as we speak. I will have to get a pic, it is the CUTEST thing.

Croooak

Feeling froggy today, I've decided to restart the mil poncho YET again. Frogging it and going to try it on 13's instead. Hopefully that will help to create a more open pattern. I am still working on the star blankie, but I haven't had as much time to do any knitting or crocheting. Hoping to get a little done today, but I have some major housecleaning to do Yippeeeee!

Here is the progress on the star blankie so far. I am really liking this, after figuring out the beginning, a very easy blanket to make. I have been using an H crochet hook, with the Chunky yarn it is making for a stiffer blanket so I am thinking it will work well as a playmat. The poor poncho has been pushed to the side for a bit, I just don't have it in me to frog it again yet and figure out where I am off. I may start it over on bigger needles as the pattern isn't showing up as openly with the Chunky.

The beginnings of a star blanket for my nephew! I needed an alternate project as I was getting frustrated with the poncho. I am using this pattern. The first few rounds of it were tricky, as far as reading the pattern, but thanks to my friend Box and crafster.org I am now chugging along. I am also using Chunky USA for this, I think it will make a nice floor blankie/playmat sort of blanket. The color looks really emerald here, it is actually Gulf Green. I am also using white and Flag Blue. I'm also thinking this would be a good pattern for my koolaid dyed yarn.

Here is the beginning of the poncho for my mother-in-law. I am following the lace poncho pattern from Lion Brand. I am trying to use yarn from my stash and not buy any more for a bit, so I am using some of the Chunky USA I have. It's a little thicker than the Wool-Ease Chunky, I hope the pattern still shows up well. I have had to restart quite a few times already, but I think am getting the hang of it. This is the first knit pattern that I've followed, pray for me.

And the bag all crocheted and sewn together, what a melding of techniques! I took this outside in the sunlight to get a better representation of the colors. 

Here all of the pieces for the bag. I lightened the pic, but still haven't gotten a good shot of the actual colors. 

It's a finished i-cord! 

Still plugging away

at the i-cord for the felted little girl bag. It's been tricky getting used to smaller needles, I haven't even used small crochet hooks for awhile. It is much easier to make an i-cord than I expected, thank goodness.

This week has been crazy with Drew finishing up preschool on Wednesday, and Abbie & Arenne finishing next week. All sorts of end of school things happening. Drew had his last day of school picnic on Wed., we had such a good time. Sack lunches, playground, and lots of games. He and I did the sack race together, and I won the moms sack race-who would've thought? lol Summer is coming fast, this school year just flew by! Abs and Ari will meet their first grade teachers next week-FIRST GRADE! *faints* This is the first time they will be in separate classes. So far they seem okay with this, I hope it stays that way. I picked up some workbooks for the kids to do over the summer, and some refills for our craft closet, thanks to our brand new Dollar General store here. Movin' on up baby. ;)

Yes, it really is an i-cord, at least the beginning of one! 

Here are the pieces for the little girl felted purse. I need to finish the bottom piece, then do a flap and i-cord handle. :) 

Ah knitting

It's funny how relaxing knitting is, as I have just learned it and am not that proficient yet. You'd think I'd be more frustrated. I am working on a felted bag for a little girl, another auction item and was trying to do a stockinette stitch for it. Then I realized I probably needed to get it done sometime this year so I frogged it and went to straight knitting. It is progressing much more quickly now. I am basically doing it in parts, 2 pieces for the front and the back, 1 for a flap, 2 for the sides, 1 for the bottom, and then a handle. I'll either sew it or crochet it together. The colors are very pretty, I will get a pic up soon.

On the very excited soon to be aunt front my sister has called me a few times lately with pregnancy questions. From the sounds of it, the little man nephew has dropped and is moving down WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! She will be 37 weeks on Fri and is good to go after that, hopefully he will hold out for her. I am so very excited and a little sad that I am not with her for all of this, I always thought I would be, especially since I am the geekiest of us three sisters about these sorts of things. I cannot wait to see the little guy.

This also means I need to seriously get cracking on his blanket and little sweater/cardigan. And go through my boys clothes to send out to my sis. I am doing much better at organizing my days and getting things done lately, hopefully I can keep up with it . Summer is coming and I need to find us a daily routine. Drew graduated preschool yesterday, he has a picnic tomorrow and that is the end of his preschool year! Hard to believe. Abbie & Arenne have their last day of kindergarten next week. My kiddos are growing up very fast.

Finally, a new picture! Here are the auction cloches, whew. Now I just need to get to the post office.  

A purling we will go...

I've learned to purl! It's true! Thanks to Stitch & Bitch and my God-given natural talent(snicker) I am now able to do a stockinette stitch! Wheee!

My purling, however, is so painstakingly slow it makes my knitting looks super fast. I guess that's a bonus, right?

The Auction Cloches are finished!

Whew. I will have to take pics tomorrow as the camera needs charging. I still need to do a couple for my girls, and for my good friend V and her daughter, but first I need to make a felted purse and then I am all done with my auction items. I had to order some more yarn for it so now I can finally get started.

Lots of cleaning today, what fun! Yeehaw!

Changes

While I am a big fan of the color blue, the old blog was seeming dark to me, especially with spring struggling to hit the midwest. I am not all that web design savvy and got completely overwhelmed looking at outside templates, so back to this one I went. Someday I will also get some new pictures up, I know they are much more exciting than this.

The cloches continue. I am almost finished-you can expect a picture of these. I did a baby size one and it seems incredibly tiny to me-AWWW! I am trying not to be distracted by any new projects. MUST stay on task!

Mr. Blue and I are trying to escape tonight, although with four children this is usually better accomplished with early planning. Since we are last minute we're running into some snags. The current plan is to take the whole family out to dinner and then the kids over to Mr. Blue's brother's for a sleepover. The added benefit of this is an ENTIRE MORNING TO OURSELVES! Please, don't faint, I'm out of smelling salts. I am so excited by the prospect of sleeping in that I will probably wake up at the crack of dawn for absolutely no reason at all. Yippee! We had wanted to go see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it may not happen with the current plan. (I've just now realized I haven't even checked to see if it is showing anywhere here or when, that could be useful.)

We've had three rainy, thunderstormy days here, and while I really do enjoy the grey days, I am ready for some sun. It's trying to peek through right now, but the thunderclouds are close behind.

Last night I got to try a Belgian beer, Delirium Nocturnum. (I really should find a link for you, but I am too lazy.) It was FABULOUS! It should be, as it sells for about $5 a bottle. With an alcohol content of 8.5% it kind of evens itself out though. We are fortunate to have a friend opening a liquor store, so we benefit by getting to try new beers and wines with him. If he tried them all he'd be too drunk to open said store. We also have a massive bottle of another type of beer from the same company/brewery?. It's packaged in a bottle similar to a wine bottle, which had me all sorts of confused. I kept asking, well is it wine? It's beer? Well, it looks like wine, oohhhh so it's like a Belgian forty? Poor Mr. Blue, saddled with such an uncultured girl. And really, forty? I live in Iowa for crying out loud.

Juice Box Love

Most kids love juice boxes. Who wouldn't? All that sweet, sugary goodness contained in a little box complete with fun straw. My two year old is absolutely in love. If he had the concentration to sit down and figure out a good wish, it would more than likely be an unlimited supply of them AND a mom who would let him have as many as wanted, whenever he wanted.

Mr. C gets a lot more at his age than my others did, but let's face it, I am totally outnumbered and now the "choose your battles" thing has been taken to a whole new level. So, he gets more juice boxes than the others did when they were two, but I'll try to make it up to the older kids...somehow.

It's one thing that I've had to hide them or he will sneak them out of the fridge and stash them around the house, it's completely another now that he has discovered the joy of SQUEEZING that little box. Oh the joy, the laughter when that sticky, smelly juice squirts out of the straw. It's better than jumping off the furniture for him. (Although, once the juice is gone, this is usually what he tries to do next.)

Now I've broken his poor, little heart by taking them away from him. How was he supposed to know it's not okay to spill juice all over the carpet?

Sigh

Having a flare right now, but hopefully on the end of it. I've been in a lot of pain and not getting much done, including crocheting or blogging, and those are the fun things! I have been working on the cloches, and finished the second little man set, it turned out very cute. The cloches work up quickly, but it's been tough finding time to work on them when my hands are actually working.

My plan for this evening was to get my kids to bed early-oh yes, laugh away, it went as you'd expect, the youngest is still awake on my lap and his sisters think I don't know they are still awake-and get some crocheting done. Mr. Blue is off helping out a friend and tonight would be perfect to have a nice, quiet night with my yarn. Apparently the kids had other plans.

I can't wait to get started on my nephew projects-the sweater and star blankie-especially since his birth is impending! After the next two weeks she's been given the go. I am so excited, but also a little sad that I am here in Iowa and she is out in California.

I had forgotten to post about the Mother's Day shock I got. Mr. Blue is notoriously terrible with gifts. For years he would get so worried about it he would end up getting nothing and then feeling bad about it, in spite of my assurances that I don't NEED gifts. (Don't get me wrong, gifts are great, but I'd rather have a happy husband than a miserable one.) He finally understood that I was serious when I said it's the thought that counts and began making cakes, favorite dinners, etc. He is also horrible with surprises, he gets so excited he ends up saying too much and giving them away. So, for Mother's Day he said he had a plan for what to get me and proceeded to spill many details. I was convinced I was getting a Dyson vacuum, we'd talked about getting one. I was happy about this because I have four children and a bling vacuum would rock my socks off.

Imagine my amazement when Mr. Blue and the children presented me with an IPOD MINI! *faints for the gazillionth time* I had mentioned wanting an mp3 player, and this is what the man came up with. Holy Moly. It seems like way too much of a gift, but he was so excited about it and it really is way cool.

The point to that long-ass story is that I can now attempt to make one of those fun little Ipod Cozies! Oh, and that Mr. Blue appears to be no longer notoriously horrible with gifts. Well then!

Sick Kids and Lots To Do

And I haven't felt that creative. I am working on lots of cloches, the baby set, and getting ready to start on a blanket for the nephew. I also would like to do some more knitting, but I can't until I get some of this crocheting done, especially my auction stuff.

Happy Belated Mothers Day to all of you out there, mine was a lot of fun, a great day all around. :D

Nail polish, clutter, and yarn yearnings.

I am holding Big C as he conks out for his afternoon nap and realize that on one foot his toes are painted. In little girl sparkly pink nailpolish. Apparently yesterday when Arenne was told NOT to even think about painting his nails she already had. Instead of heading it off, I merely interrupted it. Before you go thinking that the six year olds are allowed free access to nail polish, realize this was a once in a long time deal where I actually allowed them to paint their own nails. There goes that one for awhile again.

We are settling in nicely post-vacation. Abs had a sick day yesterday, she threw up the night before, but was feeling better by the afternoon. Her illness mysteriously reappeared last night when it was time to clean up the toys. It's almost scary how much that kid is like me as a child. I am trying to find a new routine, amid all the catching up and Mr. Blue's shift change. Today is supposed to be a laundry/clean up the living room day(wow that sounds organized) and I was really on a roll, but now all I can think about is taking a nap. Coffee keep me going. I have so much crap to go through, and I really should do it while my hoarding self is in the mood to throw things away.

I started another baby toque today, for the Sybermoms Strollers auction. This is the first thing I have crocheted for THREE WHOLE DAYS. THREE WHOLE DAYS! Can you believe that? It's shocking. I was finding myself lovingly stroking my different yarns, gazing at them wistfully while a quiet tear slowly slid down my face. Sad, really.

The Pink Cloche I am donating to the Sybermoms auction, complete with flower! I LOVE LOVE LOVE beppycat's pattern, especially using sugar 'n cream, very nice summer hats. I finally added flowers to the two for myself as well.  

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!

Sigh, we are home. The bittersweetness of the comfortableness of home, and of leaving family and the freedom of vacation. We had an absolute blast. My eye came open again, but I still had fun, so there.

When we left CA it was hot. Here in Iowa, it is chilly. Welcome home to us!

On my vacation I got to go to my VERY FIRST REAL YARN STORE! It was lovely, heaven. I walked through all those yarns and things and was just happy. AAAAAAH. Everyone in my family could not understand my excitement, but you yarn lovers can, I just know it. I bought 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk, mmmmm. And I got to actually touch it before I bought it! Now I just need to find a good pattern, or, knowing me, and idea for what to make with it.

Ah Vacation

I am incredibly excited for our vacation, we leave in the morning. An entire week out in California with family. It is going to be fantastic.

The only problem is...
PACKING. It drives me mad. Packing for myself is bad enough. Packing for myself and 4 children, well, I have no words. Endless laundry, endless folding, and STILL things I have forgotten. Sigh. It'll be a late night and an early morning.

Tomorrow is filled with driving, flying, more flying, and more driving. But at the end, MY SISTERS! AND MY GRANDPARENTS! AND MY AUNTS AND UNCLES AND COUSINS! WOOHOOO! The week should be an absolute blast, I am so excited. I even finished my poncho in time to wear it traveling, and now I will be crocheting like mad to finish the flip flops. I had wanted to get a pic of all of them finished, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen.

So, tomorrow we are off, and the blog will more than likely become stagnant, but I'll see what I can do. (Who am I kidding, like I have a lot of people reading.)

Blech to packing, yay to vacation, and then I come home and get to...

yep, unpack.

The Poncho is Done!

Here is the finished poncho. It is VERY soft, and I love the colors, but I accidently made it a bit short in the width, so it doesn't cover my arms as much as I would like. I still like it though. ;) Took this shot myself, the girls helped out too.