Readers!

The boys are really getting into reading now, which is a delight! Mikey loves to be read to, and the brothers take turns reading stories to him. They are into 'chapter books' now too: RJ like the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series, Liam loves Frog and Toad books, and Alex is plowing through a book about "Recon Marines" (whatever those are).

Best Ice Skating Routine This Year!

The US figure skating championships were held in Spokane this year. While none of us could afford to attend, we did watch plenty of skating on the boob tube. Here is our hands-down fave routine: Johnny Weir and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (in Japanese, even better!. A match made in heaven.

Thanks Girls!

I am loving my Ipod, as you know (bc I'm always blogging about how much I love it). Thanks to Katie, I have an awesome song list with some people I didn't know about before the Ipod arrived in my life. Today, I'm listening to Ray Lamontagne. Love him! I'm sure I'm about 5 years behind the trends in music.

This one is for Lis and Megs

For our toddler mamas:


nataliedee.com

A New Fave Blog

"The Cookie Blog" with the tagline "if you don't like cookies, you might not have a soul." Well said, brother, well said.

Would You Knit/Wear This?

I dunno, I usually love Berroco patterns, but this "Squirrely" sweater with the giant staring slightly menacing squirrel eye kind of creeps me out.

The Babysitter's Best Friend

The boys came over today to meet Lucy, and it was love at first sight. We went to the park and they all ran and ran for an hour. When we got home, the boys discovered the kennel, and they all climbed in with Lucy.

Why didn't I buy one of these years ago!?

Hangin' With Mike P.

Mikey and I have a little routine on Mondays and Wednesdays. We go to speech, then have an hour to kill before preschool. Sometimes we take a walk, but when the weather is yucky, Mikey knows exactly where the closest Starbucks is located. We get a drink and maybe a little treat and hang out with the college students. He's very social, and college girls cannot resist his charms. Today, he wanted a donut and some OJ, so softy Lavs agreed.

BTW, he picked out his shirt today, ghetto old school Vin Baker Sonics jersey. Jon said he looked like he'd been dressed by Russians. No offense, Russians :-)

Mikey Meets Lucy

A Boy and A Dog. Perfect.

Amazing!

If you know me at all, you know I'm not the world's greatest driver. I distinctly remember my poor high school driving teacher, Mr. McConkey, staring at me and shaking his head as I attempted my first drive. I didn't get my license until I was in my 20s (the guy who gave me my test said he HAD to pass me since I scored just barely enough points to earn my DL, but he sure didn't want to), and I have a little habit of 'dinging' my car fairly often. I avoided parallel parking for literally years bc I am such a horrible backer-upper.

So I had to share this AMAZING parallel parking job I did downtown today! A few years ago Katie took me in hand and taught me to PP. Today I was downtown and found the one and only parking spot by the library. I gritted my teeth and voila! Glided right into the parking spot, people. You couldn't have slid a dime between my tires and the curb.

Of such small triumphs is happiness made (in my life anyways) Thank you, Teacher Katie! You could be the new Mr. McConkey!

The Breakfast Club

I usually arrive at Casa de P. in time to get breakfast for the gang. Here's today's short order menu:

Mikey insisted on the mango (or papaya, I can never remember which is which), so I cut half into 'boats' and half into bite sized pieces. He had a fit, evidently all he really wanted was to gnaw on the pit. So that's what our little Bucky Beaver is eating here.

The twins are entirely predictable: OATMEAL. They would eat oatmeal 3x daily plus snacks if we'd allow it. At least it's healthier than Lucky Charms :-)

A New Grandbaby!

Meet Lucy, Katie's new lab puppy! She arrived today full of puppy happiness and figured out immediately who her grammy is. We have big plans for unauthorized treatsies when her mommy goes to work.

Goodbye Old Friend

After at least 15 years as my wallet, I'm finally saying goodbye to old faithful "wallet on a string" (remember those?) and replacing her with a pretty new wallet Katie gave me for Xmas. WOAS has been a good friend all these years, even if she never magically multiplied my dollars or anything.

A Perfect Match!

Liam (and his twin Alex) were BORN to own Snuggies. Liam took to my leopard print and ghetto recliner like a 75 year old in a nursing home.

An Old Favorite

Some games never go out of style:

Liam, Mikey and I played "Twister" yesterday. It was as crazy fun as I remember. I don't remember being totally inflexible the last time I played though. :-)

Liam getting in a Twister predicament

Mikey working on his colors and right/left hand & foot. When in doubt, cheat.

Illustrated Man

The boys found a bunch of Halloween tattoos and decorated themselves. I think Mikey had about 19 of them on his arms today. Fierce!

Cute Knitting Video

Things to Do on a Monday Afternoon

It's so pretty in Spokane today! 54 out, and the sun is shining. I walked up to 'Bucks and had a cuppa joe while listening to my wonderful Ipod (Cara, I agree, it may be the greatest thing ever invented) I am so grateful to Pia for buying me my Nano, and to Katie for teaching me how to use it. I've got several podcasts I really like, and feel so tech-y to be able to put them on my Ipod. Today, I listened to Lime & Violet, two knitting-obsessed gals.

The house is very quiet today, as the girls are gone (where are you two anyways?) I did a bit of cleaning (gotta earn my keep here in Casa de Longinotti), and now I'm working on dyeing some sock yarn using natural dyes. I'm trying for a pretty pink, using Lac from Earthues:

Lac is a scale insect known from antiquity throughout India, Southeast Asia, Nepal and China. It can be found in both wild and cultivated form as an infestation on trees of
the Ficus or raintree families. The word Lakh in Sanskrit means "hundreds of thousands", and
it is still used today in India to denote 100,000. After the female lac insect invades the stems
and twigs of host trees, the insects are enveloped by their own secretions. This hard resinous
coating originates from the plant sap metabolized by the lac insect. The dye must be extracted
from the resinous coating before it can be successfully used to color cloth. The resin is
known as shellac, and is used for lacquer and as a protective covering for wood. Lac's active
color ingredient, laccaic acid responds well to alum mordants yielding rich shades of crimson
to pink and purple to burgundy.

I wonder how anyone thought of creating dye using insects and sap? Will post pix of finished dye later!

Separated at Birth?

Katie with her patented 'head tilt' pose, and the Rifle Bird of Paradise?

We were watching "Planet Earth" last night, and they showed the fabulous Birds of Paradise with their crazy mating rituals. The Riflebird immediately reminded me of Katie, as it did a saucy head tilt to attract a mate.

TERRIBLE AD!!

Click on Spike to see Gonzaga's new "whisper" ad. It's creepy! So creepy that I plan to sneak into Katie's room at 2 am and whisper "go Gonzaga" in her ear and scare the bejabbers out of her.

Women of Walmart

Katie and I went to Walmart (I KNOW. Don't hate.) yesterday to pick up a prescription. Turned into quite the ordeal as we waited for hours for her prescrip. to be ready. Here I am posing with "Deluxe Microfiber Plush" Snuggies. Damn, why didn't they have these babies at Xmas? And Katie is somewhat patiently waiting in line at the pharmacy. Note her 'patented head tilt' pose. Every picture we have of Katie has either the left or right head tilt. Saucy!
















Unfortch, we weren't fast enough with the camera to take pix of the most outstanding "People of Walmart" candidates EVER. Kid with shaved head on top, long mullet below with ponytailed dad and matching camo outfits. Plus another ponytailed dad with his scruffy kids (including the toddler wearing footie pjs, for about the 8th day in a row by the looks of them). Good Times, Good Times.

Amazing Tiny Knitting!

This is a cool video about the woman who knit teeny tiny sweaters and gloves for the movie "Coraline". Incredible! (Click on the picture to get to the video).

New Fave Magazine

I love "Real Simple" magazine! Well, maybe it's not as great as The Star (super duper trashy gossip), but it's pretty great. One thing I really like is the daily e-mail with an easy dinner idea. Not that I cook all that often, but the recipes usually look yummy, are quick and simple, and if I do get dinner detail, I've got an idea at the ready.

The mag also has nifty decorating, crafts, exercise and more. Again, not that I'm likely to do any of the stuff, but it's fun to read about, and beautifully photographed. And not quite as impossible as Martha Stewart Living (tho I love me some Martha too!)

Morning Goofiness

A couple of quick pix from this morning:

Mikey modeling his new rubber boots. The gang is heading to Whidbey this weekend, so everyone got new boots for beach-combing. Jon made sure Mike's jeans were properly tucked into the boots, just in case he was asked to go muck out stables.

Mike & Alex ready to head out for the day. Evidently, Mikey is obsessed with posing for photos with his tongue sticking out. A 4 year old if there ever was one.

Success!

I have NEVER been able to accomplish a 'provisional cast on' using a knitting needle and crochet hook. Besides being completely left-handed, I'm an utterly inept crocheter.

My smart sister Susna suggested Lucy Neatby's video on how to do the PCO (that's Lucy over there, not Susna!) By golly, I did it! Not that I wasn't still a total spaz with the crochet hook, but I actually did it! Yay and thanks, Lucy!

Um, Hello! How Great is This?

The Mona Lisa Illusion designed by the incredible Steve Plummer. This is right up at the top of my 'to knit' list, since the Harry Potter Illusion was so much fun to knit and so amazing to look at!

The Mother of All Recliners

Leopard Print Snuggie? Check.
Bifocals? Check?
Dearfoam Slippers? Check.
Incredibly '80s recliner? Check and Double Check! I'm ready for the retirement home!

Steve traded some massage treatments for this amazing motorized recliner with massage and heat action. I'm sittin' pretty, let me tell you.

Finishing Frenzy!

I'm trying to finish some projects so I can feel all virtuous for the new year.

"Colonnade Shawl". I started this just a week ago, yay for thick yarn and big needles! It's a scarf/shawlette sort of thing. I don't totally love it, but it was a good 'carry along' project. And the colors are prettier than they look in the picture ("Tuscany" colorway from Lorna's Laces)

This is my cute "February Lady Sweater" which has been finished since October, just needed buttons sewn on. And so I did. This sweater is really cute, and it flatters any figure, I swear. I have seen it worn by all kinds of shapes and sizes, and it looks great on everyone.

January Blahs!

Sorry, faithful Fluther readers! I have zilch about which to blog lately. I have been going to the Y to work out, in an attempt to get my weight loss program back on track. Along with half the population of Spokane, which makes parking and finding a treadmill tricky.

I'm working on a pretty pair of beaded socks as the January "Mystery Sock" project:

The boys are back in school (to their chagrin) and we are set to start a new season of activities: tae kwon do (they are up to 'high purple' belts!), reading tutoring, cross country skiing for Alex and RJ, and anything else their mom and I can think of to keep them busy.

Weather in Spokane has also been 'blah'. A skiff or two of snow, but mostly just gray, gray and more gray.

Fun Dominos!

So the aunties and the cousins (some of each) participated in a little gift exchange @ Xmas (Lis, we tried to email you to join in, but may not have had the right email addy -- next year for you!). Anyways, Kirdy had me and asked what I wanted. I couldn't really think of anything, but then remembered this "fun dominos" game I played last year up at B-Z's cabin. No, I couldn't remember any specifics, except that it was FUN. And there was some sort of board involved, as I recalled.

Evidently, I was the butt of auntie/cuzzie humor all holiday season as everyone tried to figure out WTF 'fun dominos' actually was. Today I got a HUGEY box from Kirdy with "Mexican Train" dominos and a giant basket of bath products.

I'm not sure if this is THE one, but hey it makes train noises! And the bath stuff is def. faboo. Thanks Kirdy!

Sweet!

RJ went to The Man Shop yesterday and got this sweet flat top. LOVE.

I Heart My Nano!

Now that Katie has downloaded a zillion songs (including all the fab Indigo Girls cds I got from Cara for Xmas), shown me how to use it, and even figured out you have to really shove the ear-bud connector in to make the headphones work, I can use my lovely new Ipod Nano! I went for a walk through the park today, and was able to listen to something besides my thoughts. Yay for the Ipod! thanks P, I love it!

First Finished Projects of 2010!

Only 3 days into the new decade and I've already got two finished projects :-)

Arwen Slipper Socks for my cold feet

and "Harry Potter Illusion" scarf for Pia, the major HP fan.