Tired of Waiting For Her Mother...

To post this uber-adorable picture of Little Miss Hadley!

I want to know how our Hads landed this modeling gig, because if there was ever a child who should be posed in an octopus costume sitting atop a ginormous pile of candy, it's Hads.

And did you get to take it all home for the snack drawer after she sat on it?

House Pix

Still haven't found the 'real' camera, so you will have to settle for phone camera pix. But here are a few pictures of the new house:

Living room with Clifford the Big Red Couch and my hideous yet insanely comfy recliner/knitting chair. With new cover so you no longer see all the coffee spills! Still needs a LOT of decorating.

Off the dining room is a darling little porch. Perfect for coffee on warm mornings.

The brain center aka my office/2nd bedroom. As you can see, there's a lot to be put away. But thank jebus for Steve, because I sure wouldn't have internet without his magic touch.

The bedroom (we have vowed to make our bed each morning, so we can be neat and tidy. Or Liam will be very cranky with us).

Cute bathroom with those darling little hexagonal tiles. AND the hot water heater actually works well in this house, hooray!

My Buddy Flamingo

I was hanging out with Flamingo last night waiting for the boys to fall asleep. Thought I'd take a picture, because he is such a great looking guy. Good conversationalist too.

Retreat!!!

I finally have my internet back and we are in the new house (which I LOVE). House piccies as soon as the box count is under control and you can actually see the house.

Last weekend, Susan, her bestie Pat and I all went to a knitting retreat and we had a great time. A whole weekend of sitting and knitting, plus good food. Well, it just doesn't get any better than that in my opinion. I managed a few bad pictures:

We took a field trip into Coeur d'Alene to Harmony Yarn (as if there wasn't enough yarn at the retreat). The shop had this wonderful bike completely covered with knitting. Wonder if the Townie would look good like this?


Here's a view of Lake C'dA from our site. Camp "Crotch" (that is Camp Cross for anyone who is not us), is across the way somewhere. We stayed at 'frenemy' Camp Lutherhaven, which was very nice.

Susan helping out one of the retreaters. She is such a good knitter! Everyone wanted to be her. One thing we had to do in the intros was give our 'stripper name' using our first pet and the street we grew up on. She was Dinah Madrona; I had to be Dinah Madrona Jr. A stripper twin sister act!

I managed to finish my peach Secret of the Stole (which is really called the Estes Park Stole) and it's lovely. Must block it though. I have started my next Mystery Shawl, and am on the 2nd sleeve of the Faux Fair Isle. So I managed to get quite a bit done during the retreat, which makes me happy.

We met a lot of fun & nice knitters, and I'm glad I went. I never would have gone without Susan though, bc I am too shy. So thanks Sis!

Bring Em Home Campaign Week 4

This week's campaign to get Cara & Tony back home focuses on the vast superiority of the great state of Washington vs. the not-as great state of Virginia:

WA has Mount Rainier; VA has um some bumps on the horizon.

WA is shaped like a state ought to be; VA is shaped like an elf boot or something.

WA's flag features a dignified looking G-Wa. VA's flag has a lady with one bare boob stomping on a guy.

I rest my case.

Is This Another Sundstromism?

I was cutting up apple "boats" for the boys yesterday, and had to explain to them that is what those little slices of apples are called.

Then it occurred to me that perhaps the rest of the world actually just calls them 'apple slices' and not 'boats'. If that's the case, get with it rest of the world, because 'boats' is the perfect name.

OMG!

We just discovered our new house does NOT have a dishwasher. Well, I guess it does but they are of the human variety. Yikes.

We're on the Move!

The move to our little cottage has begun. Here's our living room (bad pic sorry) with a wonderful fireplace just waiting for a cozy winter evening.

It's hard to believe how much CRAP one can collect in just a couple of years. I guess moving is my answer to 'Clean Sweep' cuz it's the only time I really get rid of stuff.

Big Boy!

Mikey used this beautiful cradleboard when he was just a tiny guy. Now that he is a big 3 year old, it's time to pass it along to a new baby. Of course, Mike still loves to be packed around...

Separated at Birth?

The guy from "Pushing Daisies" and our own eyebrow queen Tatum:

Team C-Dog!

I heart Cloris Leachman! My daughters keep hoping for her demise on Dancing With The Stars, but I love the old biddy. I know she doesn't actually DANCE, and she is incredibly annoying when she butts in on everyone else's camera time. But hey, she was FRAU BLUCHER for the love of god.

Because It's Monday

We all need a little cheering up, right? Here's just the thing:

I Knew It!

"Stuff White People Like" reports that GONZAGA is ranked #3 on their list of the whitest networks on Facebook! Go Zags!

Are You Sick To Death Yet Of...

JOE THE PLUMBER? I am!

A Dream Come True!

FINALLY! I got Pia & Katie to go to a mega-garage sale with me! Yeah, my dream come true! They were looking for a couch for their soon-to-be new apartment, but were outta luck. I found some good knitting & crochet patterns, plus made Katie buy me a bag of peanut brittle, so it was win-win-win for Lavs.

Bring Em Home Campaign Week 3

Spokane is NOT in any tsunami zone, but Virginia IS, according to the Nat. Geo. show we were watching last night. Mega-tsunami in fact!!!

Gearing Up for Halloween!

Alex brought home a book called "Monsters and Ghouls" with costumes etc. for Halloween. We attempted the witch hat, and decided it was best suited for display purposes, as long as no one touched it (touching = hat falling apart. We are not the craftiest gang, but we have fun anyways)

Liam found the appropriate prop, and posed for a pic, with Alex carefully holding our witch hat above his head

I Got Nothing

Katie says I need to update my blog, but honestly, nothing exciting is happening. Well, Steve did give me his Blackberry to replace the Sidekick that ended up fried after its 'swim' in the toilet, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use it so nothing exciting on that front.

I am starting to think about packing boxes for our upcoming move. That thought puts me in a deep state of horror, especially since there was an article in today's paper about how much cardboard boxes have increased in price. Off to Craigslist to try to score some free moving boxes.

That's the extent of the excitement today (though I may have to count how many projects I have in the stash pile from hell, now that B has mentioned that the crazy lady who starved her stepdaughter was a 'yarn hoarder' with 72 projects in the wings. I'm sure I have more than that!)

The Peril of Hand-Knit Socks

nataliedee.com

Campaign Week 2

Reason #2 Why Cara and Tony Need To Come Back To The West:

THIS IS WHAT WE THINK THE DOGS LOOK LIKE, SINCE WE HAVE NOT SEEN THEM IN SO LONG.

Lois and Walt, Bear and Murphy are Spokane dogs, not high-falutin' Virginia dogs! They need to be here chasing marmots! And we are going to get a dog park one of these days -- they do NOT want to miss that.

Our Own Little Elphaba!

I wasn't a huge fan of Gregory Maguire's "Wicked", but I must say Tate makes a very cute Wicked Witch.

The Perils of Pockets

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT go to the toilet with your cell phone in your fleece jacket pocket!  Nearly flushed fancy schmancy Sidekick down the john this morning!  Now it is all wonky, I am hoping and praying that a few days of drying off will save it...

I Heart My New Birks

Violet Birkenstocks.  Need I say More?  

Love them!  And they will look grand with some of my new hand-knit socks!

Stole Progress

My Secret of the Stole III is done through Clue #7 with 2 more clues to go.  Hurry Hurry Hurry!  I want to drape myself in this soon!

Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator

As you probably know, Sarah Palin has given her 5 kids some interesting names (Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig (personally, I love the name 'Trigve' which no one will use as a baby name, why why why!?)

Now you can find out what your name would be if you were one of Ms. P's kids:

Poli Tsk Tsk Tsk: Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator

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From Drill Swollen Palin...

Moving Sale!

Dear Husband Steve (the main box mover) is begging me to cut down on inventory before we move at the end of the month.

Use the Coupon Code MOVE when placing an order at Vintage Knits and receive a 20% discount!  Good through October.

Steve thanks you.

I Heart Pip!

I finished my CD version of "Great Expectations" today, and have to say that I really enjoyed the story.  I was actually trying to figure out places to drive so I could find out what happened next (not really, currently my job commute time is about 2 hours a day).  

Now I have to add Pip to the list of names if I ever get another pet, as I loved the hero and narrator of the story so much.

Perhaps I was a Dickensian waif in a past life?

Life With Mikey Part 8 (according to Katie)

She seems to think I blog about Michael A LOT.  Well can you blame me, he is super duper f-ing cute.

We spent about 2 hours laying on the floor poring over the cheesy costume circular.  Mikey was torn between Superman and a pirate.  Wowo got to be a lady pirate.  Mikey doesn't know yet that mom vetoed any cheesy purchased costumes, rats.

Mikey is the BEST sweater wearer!  He practically lives in the pirate sweater from Susan (he slept in it the other night).  Here's his other fave, the mean dog sweater I knit for him.

On The Road Again

Yep, it's been a good two years in one place, so it's time to move again.  Ack.

We found a cute little brick house (2 bd) a block from lovely Audubon Park, and way closer to the boys.  So now my 5:30 am commute will be more like 5 minutes than 30 minutes.

Now to start all that packing (and throwing out).

He's a Star!

Steve is the guy getting the massage in this ad!  I guess his back was so good looking they decided to make him the massagee rather than the massager?

Thanks for the Nightmares, Loutie!

My dear niece and fellow Raveler Pam sent me this link for the 'Bokaclavamina'.  This thing scares the bejesus out of me!

Dept. of Guilty Pleasures

Do you have a guilty pleasure, book-wise?  Mine is true crime.  I'm a sucker for Ann Rule and the like.  I'm currently reading "Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives" by Marilee Strong.  Yeah, it's about as tacky as it sounds (actually, she spent quite a few years studying cases like Scott Peterson, etc and formulates some interesting theories about 'eraser' killers, but still...)

I try to atone by listening to Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" while I'm driving.  

I Love My...

new Glimakra wooden yarn swift! The old reliable metal swift finally bit the dust after 10+ years of hard work holding my skeins of yarn for winding. The new swift is the large size so it can hold BIG skeins of yarn, and it looks beeyootiful too!

Here's why I can never be trusted with anything mechanical: I took my new swift out of the box last night so I could wind a couple of skeins. I couldn't get the 'arms' to swing out. I thought I had to cut off the little metal band down at the base of the swift to get it open. The band was super hard to untwist or cut so I asked Pia to try it. She figured out that all I needed to do was unhook one of the strings at the top that was caught. THANKS P! I can just see my new swift collapsing in a useless heap had I succeeded in cutting that band! GAH.

The Campaign Begins!

No, not the presidential campaign, a more important issue --- a mother's heart.

I am going to start blogging weekly in an effort to get Cara and Tony back to the proper side of the country.  To hell with this Virginia thing, you can both get crappy jobs right here at home!

We looked at an adorable house right by Manito Park today, perfect for you kids to live in...get over here!

More Stuff I'm Working On

"Child's Faux Fair Isle" cardigan.  This is a commission project, I am trading my work for some lovely Treliske organic wool.  Back and Left Front are done!

The yarn and beads for my KAL Halloween Mystery Shawl.  The yarn is super soft, in Midnight Velvet colorway (dark red/black) and the beads are garnet with metallic.  Very Morticia Addams!

The Closet of Shame

Megan HAD to ask how many projects I was knitting...this sad ginormous pile is the yarn I haven't even started working on.  And there's another bunch up in the living room.  Dontcha think someone should build me a nice yarn storage area?