* Gratitude Sunday *

Joining Taryn from Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday. Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slowdown, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.

~ Lovely sunlight fulling the house every morning
~ A dear friend talking me through a rough patch
~ M&Ms
~ New days
~ Sitting out side in the grass with the girls
~ Having a nice visit with my oldest
~ The park

Yarn Along

First, I just want to give a HUGE thank you to Donna for the yarn...see those blue striped socks? They are completed because she so kindly sent me the left overs of her Felici Splash. I can not tell you how happy I was to get that yarn in the mail, it was like a miracle. I hopped right on them and finished up the one last toe... knitted gift #3 done!!

The pink socks are coming along, it is a super easy pattern and a quick knit with the aran weight yarn and size 5 needles, but I just can't seem to find the time everyday to knit more than a few rows. I was hoping to be done with them in a week, I am only on the foot of sock one. Hopefully this coming weekend I will have more time, until then it is one row at a time!

Joining Ginny for the weekly Yarn Along!

Craft On

The autumn nature table is looking so lovely this year. The kids have really enjoyed adding to it this year. Of course, it is so easy, the neighborhood has so much more plant life. Even our own yard is over flowing with little bits of goodness. Not in either photo (because they were added after I downloaded the pictures) is a bee, a butterfly, and a moth.

* Gratitude Sunday *

Joining Taryn from Wooly Moss Roots for gratitude Sunday. Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slowdown, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.

~ Cool mornings
~ Rainbows flitting all over the living room
~ A lovely reader sending me yarn to finish a pair of socks
~ Hummus
~ Butterflies
~ A dear husband willing to listen
~ Cream for the coffee
~ Great finds at the Goodwill
~ Fiona in tap shoes

A trip to the garden

The kids and I took a quick trip to the Desert Botanical Garden the other day. It is one of my most favorite places. I just love the wild, crazy look of desert plants. And how even in mid October the plants are going NUTS because of the healthy amount of rain we have received recently. Everything is so vibrant, healthy, and alive.
They had the annual butterfly exhibit going so we popped in there for a bit, sadly my batteries were dying so I couldn't get too many photos inside the butterfly area. It sure was amazing, 100's of those lovelies flitting around. We learned how to sex a male and female monarch which was very cool. And Fiona even had a couple land on her... they told her that might happen because of her pink outfit. She was very happy about that.
It was a lovely visit.

Knitting and reading

Do you see the blue/green/white socks up there? The one with the unfinished toe? Well, I ran out of yarn just an inch from being done, and they no longer carry that yarn. I checked all over ravlery for someone who is maybe selling part of a skein or something, but no such luck. So I cried. Then after hitting the panic button I checked Knitpicks for a yarn with the same fiber content. and same weight. I found some and ordered two different colors because I wasn't 100% sure which one would look best. I was planning on frogging both feet and restarting at the heel and doing the heels and toes in the new yarn, but then decided I would just frog the toe area and redo those in the new yarn. SO now those socks are on the back burner until my yarn arrives.
I started on Christmas gift # 4. Lovely, chunky, warm, pink socks! Already I am done with the 1X1 ribbing on sock one, these are going to fly off the needles, aran weight yarn on size 5 needles! Awesome!
And I am reading, yes it is only magazines, but really I only have that much time. Nuala is so busy and so needy that I can only read for minutes at a time. I find my magazine choices interesting. Taproot is like dreaming and Hipmama is like reality. Love them both.

Gratitude Sunday

Joining Taryn from Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday. Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slowdown, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.

~ Taking some time for myself
~ Great finds from a local thrift/art shop
~ My husband for talking me down and having a great weekend
~ Watching my dear sweet Cae play soccer
~ Finding time to go through photos from 2011. Oh my, they all have grown so much
~ Nuala's laugh
~ Fiona's singing
~ Having my Logan home
~ Sagan and Mike having a good afternoon together
~ Rowan's goofiness

Have a wonderful week

{ This Moment }

Joining Amanda from Soulemama for This Moment. A single photograph from the week, a moment I wish to pause, savor, and remember.

Knits

The Christmas socks are coming along wonderfully. In fact the sock that is pictures is all finished and I am about 2 inches into sock number two!! Once this pair is finished I am only going to have 4 more knitted gifts to HAVE to have finished, anything else is just icing on the cake.
I have been wondering what knit to do for my oldest daughter, I would love it to be something she would wear, she is so sweet and would be so kind about whatever I knitted for her, but really I want her to use it. I had been toying with a scarf, but the thing is, is we live where the winters rarely get into the 40's for a high. She just doesn't have a need for a scarf, and she already has a shawl. Then, I found it, at least I think I did. The poor girl gets icy feet, what about these socks? Heavier weight yarn (which I have and it matches the sweaters I made for Fiona and Nuala) so they will keep her toes nice and cozy. Anyway, at the moment, that is the plan.

PS here are a couple photos of Fiona at her first soccer game, such a cutie

pep talk

running about

Gratitude Sunday

Joining Taryn from Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday. Sunday's heartfelt tradition, a time to slowdown, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.

~ cooler mornings
~ comfort foods
~ sunshine and grass
~ coffee with cream
~ wee bits of time to knit
~ making a good financial plan
~ dancing
~ clean sheets
~ pumpkin

{ This Moment }

Joining Amanda from Soulemama for This Moment. A single photograph from the week, a moment to pause, savor, and remember.

sisters

Where we are at...

I have mentioned recently that I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with life and our ever growing schedule of "must do" things. I took yesterday off: we read books, colored, painted, the kids played games of "Magic the Gathering", we watched a movie, ate cookies, I studied a bit and knitted a bit, and we spent a bunch of time outside in the yard.
I have come to realize lately that I am trying to play "Keep up with the Joneses" of our homeschooling community, and I just need to stop. I still have wee babes. It is ok if not all of my days are not filled from top to bottom with oh so many this and thats. SO we are not signing up for gymnastics again for awhile, we are going to skip the new homeschool co-op for the time being, we are going to settle here at home, putter, go for walks, spend time at parks, and try and spend most evenings at home. That is like a big sigh... perfection.

Knits

Joining Ginny for the Yarn Along.
I finished up Fiona's vest/sweater and have also knitted Nuala's vest, now I am working on socks for Caelan. His favorite color is blue and while searching my stash I found this lovely multi-blue yarn. So happy with it. I am knitting my stand by sock pattern. (Probably the best $5 I have ever spent on a pattern, ever!) My plan is to knit a pair of socks for Rowan as well, but using a multi-green sock yarn. Then all that will be left are fingerless mitts for Sagan and Logan and Audrey's scarf. LOL seems like a lot still. But as they say, slow and steady, right?