And off jumps jack

Posted on January 7, 2009 by Suzanne

Part of Lucy’s birthday gift this year was a set of needles and a skein of yarn. She’s finally been able to join me for her first knitting lesson, and she caught on right away!

Joe decided he wanted to knit, too, so he grabbed some needles and a skein of yarn and got busy. He had had a lesson from Gramma Reed awhile ago, and he remembered right quick what to do.

Will decided not to knit. He did this instead:

On her way out the door, Lucy tried to convince her father that (a) she needed another skein of yarn in case…she needed to cast on a new project? and (b) that she needed the measuring tape with the cool case that she’s been eyeing for months.

TTFN-

Suzanne

p.s. today’s title isn’t a song lyric or title, I’m stretching myself to include, well, whatever I want to. At any rate, this is a poem/chant/mnemonic you can use to help kids (or adults!) remember the steps of the knit stitch:

In through the front door,
Once around the back.
Peek through the window
And off jumps Jack!

Unforgettable

Posted on January 6, 2009 by Suzanne

We had an appointment with our financial advisor this evening, it was our annual “how are we doing” meeting.

Oy vey.

The poor guy. I asked him how many times he has said the phrase “stay the course” over the last few months. I think he’s glad to see 2008 gone, and he tried to sound hopeful about 2009.

After the meeting, we ate supper and then I went and did my part to stimulate the economy, because we needed groceries, bad.

One of the things I bought was new bath rugs for our bathrooms. Our old bath rugs were wedding gifts, and we’ll be celebrating our 13th anniversary this year. The rubber backing on the old ones is disintegrating, leaving messes allover the bathroom floors. Yuck.

I also bought new towels and cannot wait to use them in the morning!

The boys and I arrived at our appointment early, and the only thing I had with me was my camera, so I played a bit with camera settings, while taking pictures of the Visitors Only Parking sign, my checkbook, and the steering wheel. Really fascinating stuff. In truth, I learned a few things I didn’t know before, but the resulting photos are nothing to write home about.

I also took a bunch of quilt photos earlier, but I’m running out of energy (and desire) to do anything about them. Tomorrow.

In the meantime, I leave you with today’s photo. Will sits directly behind me in the car, and it’s hard to turn around and take a picture of him. I kind of stuck the camera behind me, and just randomly snapped, and got this one. It’s slightly out of focus, but I still thought it was sort of cool in a totally “I’m not a real photographer” kind of way.

And then, I played with it in Photoshop and ran an action from Pioneer Woman called “Seventies” and made it even a bit stranger. Plus, I spot-healed a weird red spot on his nose.

So, yeah. Here’s the photo SOOC (straight out of camera):

And the retouched photo with frame:

I think it’s got kind of a cool, funky feel to it. I’m not entirely sure about the caption I gave this one. I was trying to be clever, playing on the fact that it is Will in the picture.

I can see that I need to learn how to smooth out his poor chapped lips a bit. Of course, I could always give the poor kid some Chapstick or Blistex or something.

Speaking of which, DANG IT. Blistex was on Mark’s shopping list and I just now remembered that I forgot it.

It was even written down for me. As you can imagine, he won’t be surprised that I forgot it. I got everything else on the list. I think.

Except. I returned a gift that needed to be returned, but didn’t manage to go look for a replacement gift. Oops.

I think I’d better quit rambling and go hit the sack, so I can wake up refreshed and sort through the quilt pictures I took.

Suzanne

p.s. speaking of unforgettable, you should check out the pictures my mom posted on her blog today. she’s been digging out some more doozies. wow.

Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Suzanne

Joe’s first instinct was to hide his head behind the book, but I convinced him to let me take his picture. He claims he wasn’t grinning at me, insisting that he was laughing at something in the book. Does that boy need a haircut, or what? Look at how long it is over his ears. Good grief.

I had great plans to try to take my picture of the day earlier, and in better light, but once again, my memory card and my camera ended up in two different places.

Due to the lack of camera-capability, I was also unable to take the quilt related pictures I had planned to take today.

I picked up a book last week that I had been looking at for awhile — The Intellectual Devotional (I got the American History edition, there are 2 others, one General, one Modern Culture). The daily readings start on a Monday, so, today being Monday, I read a page out loud at the supper table.

I’m not sure how excited the boys are about it, but I’m looking forward to it (I feel a very serious lack in my recollection of history. If I ever even knew some of it). Each day’s reading is just a page long, and each day of the week deals with a different field of knowledge (Politics & Leadership, War & Peace, Rights & Reform, Business, Building America, Literature and Art). Tonight we read a little bit about Captain John Smith and the colony of Jamestown. We had to get out the dictionary, and I suspect we’ll be referring to it a lot. There are a lot of words in my vocabulary that I can use (and understand) but defining them for a pair of 4th graders is often beyond my ability.

Today we had to go looking for the word mercenary, to make sure we were explaining it properly. The boys were pretty intrigued by the concept of a mercenary, and we spent more time talking about THAT than we did about anything else. I’m eager to see if they retain any bit of today’s reading when they get up tomorrow morning. I guess even if they remember what a mercenary is, it won’t be a complete loss. (In case you are wondering, John Smith was a mercenary, fighting in several European wars before he joined the expedition to Virginia that landed in 1607).

Tuesday’s topics are about War & Peace, so that ought to be nice for my blood-thirsty young-uns.

Suzanne

Disco, disco, duck

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Suzanne

finally found what I was looking for, though not in the place i was expecting it. i had seen this photo frame on a blog sometime in the last…month or so…which meant it was really easy to find.

not.

finally found it on the website of the digital scrapbooking site where i could actually buy the set of frames (and it was pure dumb luck that i actually ended up there).

yes, i was going to go to bed, but i just really wanted to find these frames.

i don’t “do” new year’s resolutions, but i’m going to try this daily photo thing again.

we’ll see how it goes.

(the photo is actually quite terrible, but i still like it. i never figured out why will never got dressed today. or why joe doesn’t have socks on. all 3 (the third kid is their cousin ben) have basketballs, but you can’t even see the blur that is joe’s ball…they were doing a silly Disco Dribbling thing, which is why Joe is pointing — dribble with one hand, point with the other, then switch hands (sort of a staying alive disco move…))

and now, i am truly going to go to bed. when i get lazy and don’t bother capitalizing, it usually means it’s time to quit.

p.s. you are welcome for the ear worm in the post title. that’s something else i’m going to try to continue into the new year, the whole song title and/or lyrics as post titles. i wonder how many people i’ll be able to annoy with them.

tomorrow’s daily photo might actually be one taken by mark, as he is going to take all 3 boys skiing tomorrow…we should probably ask his sister for a letter stating that he has permission to seek medical assistance for her son…just in case…

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Suzanne

I hope that those of you that celebrate Christmas have had a very special day. We planned for a lazy day, and we got it. After we ate dinner (lunch for those of you that don’t live in these parts…) I told the boys it was time for the Traditional Christmas Nap.

They thought I was joking.

Actually, I sort of was. The joke was on me, however, because I managed to actually TAKE a nap, that lasted 3 hours. I’m blaming it on the dog. It was so cozy with her cuddled up next to me, I didn’t want to disturb her.

(Mark said that she spent at least part of the time out with them watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. I’m sticking to MY version of events).

I received some very lovely presents, and I think the rest of the family was pleased with their assortment of items. The boys groaned when they opened the Camo Underwear. I told them I was getting them underwear. I don’t know why they didn’t believe me.

They both got iPods.

dsc07579 We Wish You A Merry Christmas

They also got a Nintendo DS from my sister and her family.

dsc07582 We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Oh, and Katie gave them Homer Simpson slippers. Because everyone needs Homer Simpson slippers. That Katie, she’s a pretty good shopper.

They got a bunch of other cool stuff, too, but I didn’t manage to take any other pictures that weren’t completely blurry.

I’ll have to get someone to take a picture of me in the sweater I got from the boys. It’s got mittens for pockets. Way cute.

We’ve watched a movie this evening (Mark and I watched Mamma Mia, the boys watched Star Wars movies on their iPods…), ate popcorn, and I think it must be about time for bed. Yes, it’s only 9:20. Lazy Christmas, remember?

TTFN-

Suzanne