Love Letters

Do you like to write little love notes to your sweetie?  I just found this great page for fresh love letter ideas on a button over on Knitting the Night Away's blog.

I like to write little things for my hubby, but it's some time since I've done anything that fancy.  I usually just send him faxes to his work in different fonts, with inside jokes or comments that he can read into but hopefully not too obvious that the other staff don't notice.  I've tried leaving notes on the computer desktop, but it's too cluttered to be noticed.  I've also written him notes on our whiteboard at home - that's hit and miss, depending on how tired he is from work.  I've discovered, thanks to a friend of mine for making it obvious to me, that I have to put the note write smack on the door at his eye level for him to see as he's coming in from work.  She suggested stringing it to the doorway like a spiderweb - I'm sure that would work, but I'll save that one for another time.  

Mystery Knit Along

 

           .........................................................................Tonya is celebrating her Blogoversary with a Blog Candy Contest!  Check it out!  There's a few days left and she will ship anywhere for the winner!

If you look carefully at the third photo, you'll see that my baby has just learned to make bubbles with her mouth!

Yesterday I signed up for a Knit Along Group at Rachel's Knitting Room.

I went to pick out some cotton yarn for this month's mystery Knit along.  Usually they do dishcloths, but this month they have decided to try something different.  Most of the cotton yarn at this particular store were only in 50 gram skeins - too small for this project, as I needed about 500 yards worth, not to mention they didn't have enough matching dye lots.  I managed to find some 100 gram balls of yarn by Lion Brand called Cotton Ease, and found 3 skeins with the right dye lot.

Even though everyone else is on day 12, I'm going to try it anyway.  Hoping to catch up to the rest of the group, but not putting too much pressure on myself.  I've unravelled a couple times so far - no major mistakes, it just looks sloppy.  I think my being rusty has led to my knitting not being as consistent with the tension as I thought it would be.  It was mostly too tight, so it would barely slide across the needle.  So I don't have a photo yet of any progress to show you, but here's a couple of the color I chose.  Of course, I had to get my little princess to be in the photo, too, you know.  My computer doesn't take the clearest of photos... if you're not completely still, it blurs a bit.

Today, I also went out to do some Easter candy shopping for the boys.  Unfortunately for me, they were aware of it when I brought in the bags and so of course they now have the exciting temptation of finding it where I've stashed it away until I can hide it for our easter egg hunt.  I managed to hint to them that I won't hide easter candy in messy rooms... let's hope that motivates them to tidy their room real good by then.  It's not too bad right now, but I don't want to step on any of the legos on their floor.

My mother and I went out to Sheridan Nursery today to look at the spring plants - it was a nice 'pick me up' after a rough week.  I bought her some Shamrock plants for her birthday, and a planter with various bulbs - mostly tulips and crocuses.  Yellow and Purple they were, so we also choose some beautiful matching pansies to plant in our planters along with the tulips.  I'll take photos of them tomorrow.  I was hoping to transplant them today, but got sidetracked with other things... oops!  I left them all out on my front porch!  I sure hope it doesn't get too cold out during the night!  I'd better go bring them in the house.

I think I'm like the mouse in that children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Muffin, or was it a pancake?  I have a few of those books...

... if you let Jenn go to Michaels, she'll buy some yarn.  When she buys the yarn, she'll see how pretty the colour is.  It will remind her of one of baby Emma's new jammies.  The jammies are a pinky/fusia colour similar to that.  Then she will look for something for Emma... she will spot a pink sand bucket - a little young for playing in sand, but it's so cute!  The pink bucket will remind Jenn of easter egg hunts, so Jenn will want to get easter eggs to put in the bucket.  Jenn goes to another store to buy eggs and chocolate... but get's sidetracked with all the other things in the store...  etc.  and eventually makes her way back home. 

No wondery DH doesn't care to go shopping with me!  I had only plans to go to one store today, but found I had made my way to about 5 of them.  At least I was in good company!

TGIF

After what has been for us a very tiring and emotional week, we have decided to celebrate by baking cookies and getting out the balloons.  I'm declaring today to be a STRESS-FREE day, and my home will be a no-stress-allowed zone.  Only minimal homework required today.  My boys and I are making balloon animals together.  

DS5 calls his Super Dog.

DS12 calls his the White Knight Helmet.

I also made a pink panther one, but it broke before we could snap it's photo.  Don't worry, you didn't miss out - just picture the dog in pink.  Most of my balloons look like a version of the dog.  I can fool most of the children into thinking that it's any four legged animal.  We have fun inventing different things and figuring out if they turn out the way we expected.  I made a flower once, turned it upside down and the kids thought it was a sword.

Getting back into it

My mother has just moved back into town, after having lived up North in the country for several years.  We are so thrilled!  Before she moved away, we used to see each other all the time - usually every weekend.  And we'd chat on the phone regularly, but when she moved away long distance charges meant less phone calls, and the harsh winter weather up North meant less visits.

So it's especially exciting to me that she is here to meet her new grandaughter, and spend time with us again.  

When I went to her place for a little visit yesterday, I noticed there was a knitting pattern book with a picture of a delicate baby sweater on the front.  Two feelings at once came over me; one was excitement that she might be picking up her needles again.  I think it's been at least 10 years since she has knitted or chocheted anything.  Second, I got that feeling you get when you find out what your surprise was before you are supposed to know.  Even though it's for baby Emma, I just felt so sentimental that she might be getting a sweater hand made by her gramma.  

It really is such a special thing to receive hand made gifts.  I think that's why I got so excited when I would participate in those knitting swaps online, but I haven't done one for awhile, as the last one I was in I ended up getting it in the mail late and it was such an embarrassment!  I had put my outgoing package in the mailbox with decent time, only I didn't realize that ground mail going overseas too at least 3 times longer than air mail, and I should have sent out my parcel during the first week of the swap and not later on.  But, you learn from these things.  

Once I do a few projects so I'm not too rusty anymore, then I'll be quite anxious to get involved in another swap.  Maybe something simple like a dishcloth swap to get me started.  My husband thought I was nuts sending things to people I had never met, but when you get a package in the mail, it feels just like Christmas or birthdays!  I loved the anticipation, but most of all I liked meeting new people and making new friends.  Now that I'm back online more often as I'm finally starting to get a wee bit more sleep through the night, I'm curious to check all your blogs to see what I've been missing.

By the way, if you have an 'easy' pattern for some fetchings that I can make with some gorgeous dark blue alpaca yarn, please send me the link!

Our New Arrival

We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, so all we had were boy hand-me-downs.  Rob and the boys decided to pick up a couple of girl outfits on the way to the hospital when Emma was born.  In these photos, you can see she is wearing her brother's baby football sleeper.  This was rather fitting, as she was born just before Superbowl Sunday.  The word FOOTBALL is written across the behind.

I love this one!  This is Daddy and Emma, snuggling on the couch.  Anytime he holds her, she almost always cuddles up like that right away and falls asleep on his shoulder or chest.  I think it's adorable.

Above is big brother Evan holding his new little sister.  He is so proud!  He's also very curious, always asking how she's doing, if she's awake yet, and being a good little helper bringing me her receiving blankets or picking out what sleeper she will wear next.

The photo below is Rob holding Emma, and she is wearing one of her first girly sleepers that my friend bought for her.  She's also wearing the knitted newborn cap that the hospital gave her.  Most of the baby caps for newborns are too tight on her head, 

as she was born at 10 lbs, 7.5 oz.