Why Can't I Win the Lottery?

I am hating my job (Vintage Knits, not nannying, still loving that) today. Mostly because I just lost $50. to some yahoo in Indonesia who ordered using a stolen CC #. And I have had to spend the entire day figuring out how to add that 'CVV' deal to my website (where you have to put in the 3 digits from the back of your card-- you know, the little numbers that immediately get rubbed off)

It's done now, but no more Mrs. Nice Guy shipping to Indonesia! I had a funny feeling...but at least it is not a huge dollar amount.

Now if I only had a dollar to buy a Lotto ticket ;-) I think I'm going to go knit some Beer Sweaters! If that doesn't make me smile, nothing will...

Something I Might Knit for Megs

The "Beer Sweater" because well, I don't know why you'd need one but I just kind of love the little tiny turtlenecks. Katie I won't knit this for you, b/c I know how you feel about turtlenecks...

She's Here!

Yeah! Katie arrived for a too short visit, in preparation for her summer job at Camp Cross (or Camp Crotch as we like to call it).

She will be here until Monday, so at least we get to enjoy her for a little while. Of course, we'll be dealing with her loads o crap and where to store it all for the summer....

Things I'm Never Going to Knit #5

The "Muppet Pelt Assmat" (though I LOVE the name lol), which is some sort of pet blanket you knit with all those horrifying novelty yarn leftovers. If you are inclined to knit this for a pet you heart, click here for the free pattern.

The Week in Review

I'm getting complaints and calls regarding my possible demise because I haven't blogged this week, so here's what I've been up to.

Took the boys over to the park with a package of water balloons! Woot Woot! Nothing better than throwing and exploding stuff. Here's Mikey with a missile, getting ready to find a victim. Unbelievably, there was NO crying or fighting over hitting each other with the WB's. Well, I did whine a little bit when I got targeted.

Finished my "Sox" socks, and they turned out nicely. These were made using the 'generic' sock pattern in Ann Budd's "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns". The yarn is Berroco Sox, which I liked a lot. Reasonably priced and a pleasure to knit (with).

Today I pick up Katie at the airport! She's coming in for a weekend at camp, I think they are sandbagging the place or something, due to high water on the lake (hope you bring a LOT of mosquito repellant KT!) I'm hoping she gets to spend a little time with us, too.

What else? Watched a couple of Mariners games (trying to remain a loyal fan despite their general suckiness), trying to finish some of my UFO's (that UnFinished Objects to the non-knitwits in the group), and started another pair of socks, just because I am a little bit obsessed with sock knitting right now. Oh and made my first car payment! ARGH. Only about a million to go and she'll be paid off.

More Camping Pix

Just What The Doctor Ordered

A Head of Hair for Hads! Susan knitted this hat/hair for our little baldy, doesn't she look great with braids?!

Congrats Coach L!!!!

Woot Woot! Pia's Freeman High School Tennis Team took home the 1A State Championship AND the Academic State Championship! I am very proud of Coach L, this is quite an accomplishment! Good hand-eye coordination and brainy -- not an easy combo to find in high school students.

My Kinda Cookin'

First Camp-O-Rama of the Year

The Parlange Clan talked me into joining them for their first camping trip of the year (how DO they do it?) We met up at Round Lake State Park --- north of Athol, ID (the boys' hands-down FAVE town name ever!), where the mosquitoes are plentiful and the fishing is great. Here are a few pix from my phone-cam (I have some better ones on my 'real' camera, will post those later, as soon as I find it...)

Marshmallow roasting is a must! I think we were roasting these about 8:00 am, for breakfast.

Mikey wields a mean smarshmallow stick:

Liam tries to avoid the inevitable smoke in the face. The boys informed me that you are supposed to say "I hate White Rabbits" and the smoke will blow the other way. Never knew that one! The jury's still out on how effective it is.

We had a fun time, despite the ginormous skeeters and some rain. Our fave activity was fishing, I think everyone caught a fish (even ME, when I was holding Liam's pole for 2 seconds) We opted to 'catch and release' the little croppies we caught though. I'm off to vacuum the tons of dirt, pine needles and other crap out of my car!

Tae Kwon Do

The boys started Tae Kwon Do classes yesterday, and they are very excited! Here they are in their brand new (super clean still) uniforms. We had to wait to get to the 'dojang' to learn how to tie their sashes though.

Mikey and I had to go to the parking lot to wait, as he got a little bit bored (and wasn't buying it that we were watching the Power Rangers). You can kind of see the boys through the window, getting some bowing instructions from their teacher.

"Mike Kwon Do"

I think this is where "WoWo" and Mikey will be hanging out during lessons today:

Seriously, Tae Kwon Do (or is it all one word?) looks like an amazing discipline for the boys to learn. Master Kim is very serious (in a gentle way) about teaching his students the values you want your child to learn: self-discipline, respect for elders, teachers, parents and family members, honoring their country and their place of learning, and much more. First lesson, the boys already learned they must wait to be allowed to speak in the dojang, they must address their teachers with 'sir' or 'maam', they must listen carefully to instructions. They were all eyes and ears for a whole hour, the longest I think I've ever seen them pay attention (except for a movie or tv show lol), and have learned how to properly bow, how to hand something to their teacher and how to receive it back, counting to 10 in Korean, and a lot more. Can't wait to see what they learn tonight!

Tatum the Purple People Eater!

I knit this very fuzzy, very purple hooded cape for Miss Tate for her birthday a year ago (I think it was a year ago!) She looks very fancy as usual and good matching the cape with the shoes, Tate! God, she should be BFF with Diane Migliore. I used to babysit for Diane back in the day, and everything (and I DO mean everything) she owned was purple, including her cool purple Mustang.

Don't Lose Your Head...

Today is the 472nd anniverary of Anne Boleyn's beheading...next time I start to gripe about my husband, I'll stop and remember that at least he doesn't have an executioner on staff ;-)

One More Cuz This is What I Look Like Today

nataliedee.com

For Lois & Walter

Cuz we all miss you crazy hounds!


nataliedee.com

Camping On My Mind

nataliedee.com

Now That's What I'm Talkin About

Camping season is nearly here! And Gramma Laurie's back is achin' already. At least it was until I spotted this baby:

Coleman® Queen Raised Pillow-Top QuickBed® Air Bed with Mattress Pad and Electric Pump

This is def. on my must-have list for summer!!!

One More...

I think these cartoons are so cute!

Will Pee for Chocolate

So Mikey is all over the new behavior plan too, unfortch he doesn't really do anything major yet to get rewards/penalties for. He took matters into his own hands tho, to make sure he got to visit the treasure box. He peed and pooped on the potty about 20 times yesterday (mostly dribbles but hey the guy is def. trying) and headed straight to the TB after each time. Luckily for us (the prize buyers), he thinks he has to put a prize BACK every time he gets a new one. Today he was all about the horrible 'organic' chocolate bars Lorraine bought at Christmas and NO ONE would eat. But he happily munched on a square of carob/wasabi something or other in exchange for removing his diaper, pants, shoes and socks in order to sit on the potty!

For Susna...

Who knew my big sis was gonna become a tattooed babe?!

And We're Off!

Lorraine and I are instituting a great new behavior program for the boys, with lots of recognition and rewards for desired behavior. The boys were all over it this morning, doing chores and earning prizes and points for special treats. You never saw three little guys working so hard!

Alex was the first to visit the 'treasure box' and he chose the old favorite balsa wood glider. We had a great time putting it together (then putting a lot of tape on it to keep it together) and flying it. It mostly crashed nose first, but still it was fun.

Happy Birthday Lil Sis!

My best pal/worst enemy during our childhood years of sharing a room is a tiny bit older today, but as fabulous as ever!

Here she is during her 'courting days', when Bob Davis was wooing her. Lucky guy, he won her heart even though he was totally rocking the porn stashe and some kinda crazy hairdo...

B, I love ya! Who else would consent to being the dog, Ken or Midge when I was forced by Mom to let her play with me? Who else saved up her allowance money and bought her own fancy-schmancy bike (The White Rose, I still envy you for that even tho I was too retarded to even RIDE a bike at the time)? Who else asked Dad every week for $10.00 and finally got it, much to our disbelief? Who else truly earned her nickname "Beaner Cleaner" by virtue of being the white tornado when it came to housework? And finally, who else could have talked me into impersonating some sort of mafia hit woman/process server in order to get the world's worst renter out of the Frontier Village ghetto house???

Happy happy birthday!!!

Separated at Birth?

I've been watching "The Kid", a silent film with Charlie Chaplin and a very young Jackie Coogan (you may know him better as Uncle Fester).

When I saw this picture of Jackie, then the picture we took of Michael yesterday, I just thought they were a perfect pair! Call me crazy (as I'm sure you will cuz I love silent films), but these two are adorable little Tough Nut Scrumpys!

Finally a Finished Project!

I don't seem to have finished any knitting projects in quite a while! The hazards of having too many things going on...

I did finally finish the Mystic Light Shawl and it's beautiful! Not that you can really tell by the picture, since I had to use the camera phone. The colors are more subtle than the picture shows. A fun lace project and now I have to find somewhere to wear it!

Tough Nut Scrumpy!

Here's Michael with his new Big Boy Haircut! Doesn't he look adorable!? He was so happy to get rid of the chicken feather baby hair. Mom was a trouper too, only looked like she was going to faint a couple of times ;-)

With all the 'lice in your child's classroom' letters we've gotten from school this year, the buzz cut is the only way to go.

Happy Mom's Day!

Hope all of you have a wonderful Mother's Day! Be nice to your mama today and every day!

Here's our mom, back in the day when she had to attend "Milk Class" because she was too skinny to be able to attend PE. None of her daughters ever had this problem, damn it.

A Mother's Love

Cuz who else would sit through their child's THIRD graduation ceremony? JK Peeps, I am tremendously proud of you for earning your master's degree, even if I am going to be bored silly for the next 2 hours...

Tarzan!

Liam loves climbing trees, and he's mastered the leap up to the lowest branch. This pretty tree is in his front yard. Yeah for Spring!

Gangsta

Mikey in his Crips outfit...

The Flying Wallendas

Liam, Mikey and Alex practice their Cirque de Soleil Act.

Creepy!

Not so much the hat itself, but the fact that the designer calls it "The Ted Bundy Knit Hat". Plus there's a pattern for a "Jeffrey Dahmer Boiled Wool Book Bag". If you dare, the patterns are here. I ain't going there.

Nothin' Cuter...

Than a Tiny Girl in a Big Ole Dress...

Except Her Big Sister the Ballerina

Why Didn't I Think of This BEFORE I Bought My Kia?

nataliedee.com

Feeling all Martha Stewart-y

Lorraine brought over some local eggs laid by 'happy hens' for our post-Bloomsday brunch. Aren't they pretty? Now I feel like Martha, and my weird obsession with having chickens is returning. Despite the fact that I am scared of chickens (plus just about all other birds), I really want a chicken or two for the back yard.

BTW Peeps bought me a fancy Belgian Waffle Maker for Mother's Day, it makes great waffle-ines!

Things I'll Never Knit #4

This is "Geletin", a giant (and I do mean GIANT, you are seeing an aerial view) pink rabbit. Took the knitter 5 years to knit this nightmare. Next time you are in the Italian Alps, take care to avoid it.

A Fort Of Sorts

The boys have been dying for a playhouse/fort for ages. We got the brills idea to set up our camping canopy in the back yard, and they are loving it! Here they are enjoying a picnic, then they are going to lay down in there for a little nap ;-)

Here's What We're Doing Instead of Running...

Liam and Mikey are playing on the computer. Cute little buddies!

Bloomsday!

Today is Bloomsday, Spokane's annual rite of Spring/ginormous fun run. Lorraine and RJ braved the crowds this morning to tackle the 12k course. The rest of us are being slugs, natch.

Next Abercrombie Model

Alex got to attend the stage show "High School Musical" yesterday. He loves to dress up, so it was a perfect opportunity to wear his new dress up shirt, a tie and his khaki shorts. Looks like he is ready for the A&F catalog.