It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

At least in this house it is. I talked to a woman today who "just really isn't into Christmas." I've never met anyone like her before, lol. Seriously. She said she hadn't had a tree since her kid was 10 and he's all grown up now. She was a complete mystery to me.

I love the trees, decorations, songs and presents. I'm feeling a little low on Christmas spirit so far but still, my tree was up as soon as humanly possible after Thanksgiving. It's a pretty tree, I just wish I had to know how to take a great pic of it. Not an easy task as I'm sure most of you know.

I haven't crafted anything in the way of presents. It's a shame really as I know my youngest child and mother would both like afghans. Ash requested a scarf, which isn't totally out of the realm of possibilities yet and may just get done. But there is no one else I think would want anything or care to receive anything homemade. Ok, so I don't know that they care to receive anything else we gift them with but at least I'm not completely invested in their reactions this way.:)

We're very busy here but the snow and harsh cold haven't hit us yet so all is well in the North Country as far as I'm concerned. We filled the tank in my van for under $40 today. I almost fell over. I've got a little shopping done and am ahead of my normal schedule. Life is good.

I hope all is well with you all!

Happies

-Peppermint Mocha Coffeemate
-Friends
-Cat Naps
-More friends
-Learning to prepare ahead of time
-Driving on sunny days
-Understanding
-Cardigans
-Confidence

It's a sunny, coffee-filled, busy but good, day here in the northern most parts of NY. I'm feeling settled and on the right track and optimistic today. There will be days soon when my attitude tanks but today I'm basking in the happiness and blessings around me. I wish this feeling on all of you out there in blogland. :)

Oh M'gosh I Did It

I voted. First time ever. Signed my name, filled in the circles, made the choices. I'm totally a grown-up now...

Happy Halloween!

Emily carved our pumpkin this year with just the slightest help around the eyes. We think is't pretty awesome. :)

Emily is going to be Mary from Little House. She will also tolerate being called Sarah plain and tall. But please do not refer to her as Laura or little pioneer girl. Picky, picky. :D



Ashleigh may or may not be dressing up. She keeps changing her plans and so I don't have anything to report on her quite yet.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Hi

I just wanted to say "Hi". I don't know who out there still checks in here but Hi. I miss you guys. It used to be such fun reading blogs and laughing with/at each other and seeing you all on the message boards. I can tell that things are busy and moving on for everyone. Blogland is a quiet place these days.

Or at least I thought it was. My bloglines updated today and a bunch of blogs had multiple postings from this past month. I think I suffered a little lag because I hadn't seen some of thos postings but I had seen others. It's a little strange.

Things in my world are normal and mundane and the bad isn't really that bad in comparision to other peoples lives. Today I'm being pissy and whiny about people who just never come through for you but I've decided that in this case that's my fault more than theirs and so I'm even pissier over that. :)

I'm crafting although not really making anything. Working on sewing a costume for Em, knitting a bag and crocheting a blanket. It's been fun to just play with yarn this month. I don't especially like the bag so far and it may go to the frog pond but it was fun to knit it.

The kidlets are doing well. My girls are growing up and I find more and more that I'm not so fond of boys at this time in our lives. ;) Who do these little men think they are calling here for my precious babies? They should all take their cooties and leave us alone, we don't want none! But I guess that's the downfall of having such beautiful daughters. Right?

So, how ya all been?

Here it's been busy, busy and since I know I'M not nearly as busy as everyone else I'm sure that anyone who reads (or used to read) this is crazy busy. I hope you're all getting a chance to enjoy the last bits of summer though. Or these first bits of fall, depending on where you are.

I am. I love fall. The coolness, the baking, the colors, my new hat...


The girls are doing really well this year. Emily has elected to drop some after school activities so we're down to just Scouting. Ash is trying more new sports this year and has started with volleyball. I know she's enjoying it but so am I. I think this should be an all year sport because it's my favorite and I really enjoy watching. She's also tried out for drama and is excited about that. I think she'll be good at it and hope she gets a part.

The hubster and I are doing well too. Nothing greatly exciting happening for either of us at the moment but nothing greatly devestating either so I'm ok with that. We're all pretty content at the moment.

I hope you are all doing as well!!

Amazon

I love Amazon. I order from there ALL the time. I had no idea though that they sold single issues of magazines. I've been looking for this one:
since like the first day it came out and everyone was all agog over the cover blankie. And I looked here, there and everywhere. I was about to post on every message board, website and blog I frequent that I needed someone to find it for me, and then discovered it on Amazon. Selling for the cover price and free shipping.

Really, Amazon is my hero today. :)

I forgot to say

That you (all of you, any you that is reading this) should really make this French Baguette Recipe because WOW it was good!

Soapy and Sudsy and Seems to work

So the laundry detergent is all right. I don't know where I got the idea it had to gel, but it didn't really gel at all. It's got some gelled looking particles but mostly is really liquid-y.

I don't have much to report on it's effectiveness because well, yesterday was laundry day and I did all of our laundry using up the last of the Tide. But today I took all the sheets and blankets off the beds and washed them. And they look clean and smell clean, in fact despite Ash's repeated remarks that the detergent looked gross, she did say that she really liked the way her sheets smell now. But of course they're sheets, it's not like the showed visible signs of dirt anyway, so I can't say it's like miraculous that they're SO clean now... But I'm thinking of sending the girls out in the mud next time it rains just so I can really see how it works. :)

But I'm more than happy that for about $10 I have the supplies to make about 10 batches of detergent. Each batch looks like it'll be the equivalent of a jug of Tide. Not too shabby, I say.

Crafty (sort of) Homemaker Fun

I've seen this idea floating around and then Stacey posted about it and another friend made it so I thought "Hey, I'm willing to give it a try."

Homemade Laundry Detergent

The Ingredients:
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha finely shredded
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
water
2 gallon container with lid

The process:

Heat 6 cups of water on the stove, toss in grated soap, stir until melted. Then add in the powders and dissolve.

Now put 4 cups of water into the container, mix in soap mixture, top with 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir well.

Now let it sit and set up into a watery gel for 24 hours. Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.

Now I've heard it's good stuff but I still have to wait the 24 hours before testing it out.

So the Crocs are here. I did get the strappy sandals, although I was tempted to get the flip-flops. And the new canvas flip-flops look alright.

So anyway, I got the sandals and they're alright. They don't make my foot look any skinnier but they're cute from the side and just laying on the floor. :) And I've been wearing them for two days straight and those nubby things on the sole are barely noticeable. I haven't done any serious walking in them and I did refuse to wear them to church but so far they're alright. And hey if they never stink and never wear out I'll consider them a decent buy... Also, I bought them with birthday money so they were kind of free... :D

And I also think original clog Crocs are terrible and let me be clear that I would not buy them for me. But they're cute on little kids I think, until you get the jewelry stuff for them. Then they're not. lol

Don't it figure?

Um, I finally bought a pair of Crocs and they were no sooner delivered than I came across a Newsweek article declaring them the bane of society... Crap!

Hey again :)

2008_07270001
Originally uploaded by ZingyZoid

So this is my house... I thought it just looked nice in this pic so you get to see it. Plus, really, it's fairly clean here so let's show it off. :)

I'm having a problem with my camera so I was snapping random pics trying to figure out why they won't upload and this was one of them. I really like my house. Except for that huge blank space above my couch but I can't figure out what needs to go there...

Besides that I spent the day uploading Stash pics to Ravelry. There's nothing like looking your addiction in the eye is there? I went through a serious buying or twenty... And somehow, I thought I needed to own about 5 different DK weight yarns in varying shades of peach. I'm not sure what that was about but it makes me laugh now. :D

Deserter

I am a deserter I know. I haven't had anything to say in a while though. All the crap on here before just seemed so negative and I was sick of thinking that way. I really just wanted to put all the whining behind me and start afresh. Then I found I had nothing to say when I wasn't complaining, LOL.

But I have been reading other peoples blogs though I never seem to comment. It's not that I'm not interested I just feel like what I have to say is fluff and filler and not really going to have any sort of impact so I don't say anything.

So in the meantime what you've gotten are project updates. And really that's what this blog started as so it's not THAT bad right? ;)

Pastel Ripple

Yarn - Patons Bumblebee Baby Cotton, DK weight
Colors - Wild Rose, Daffodil, Sweet Green, Morning Glory and Pansy
Yardage - Each ball = 123 yards. I used 2 balls of each color plus a little extra pink.
Size - 35x40
Pattern - Easy Ripple

Patons discontinued this yarn some time ago but I think they replaced it with a their Beehive yarn although the colors do not appear to be the same. I really liked this yarn though, no splitting!

Sister Sprites

After I finished the first Sprite I knew I could do a better job so yesterday and today I worked up another one. I'm much happier this time around. I used a smaller hook and got a tighter fabric and less stuffing peeking through. Also, her clothes are just cuter... Big Sprite is getting a make over later. :D

Sprite

Another finished product! This is the Sprite pattern found on Crochet Me. It was pretty straightforward however, I cannot sew the tulle skirt on the original so she got herself a little crocheted one. I think Em will like her. My stitches could be tighter but I think it'll be alright.

Airy Diamonds Afghan

Ha! Bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth... But I didn't. I'm just quiet lately, although I do bring you a finished project!!
I hope you're all enjoying your summer!!


Pattern: Airy Diamonds found in Leisure Arts #75009, Beginner's Guide: Crochet Stitches & Easy Projects

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Buff. 4.5 skeins

Size: ?? Same as the top of a queen mattress

Good to know: Pattern as written makes a way long afghan! (And you work it lengthwise) Shorten it by making a starting chain in multiples of 12+9, in the length desired. Otherwise, pattern was easy and pretty fast for an afghan I think.

Santa Coasters

I can't decide what I think about plastic canvas crafts. I bought this because I thought it would be cute, and I really do think it is cute. I had two kits but even cute can't make me want to make another set. Instead Em is using the supplies to freeform some stuff.

Friends Cross Stich

This is super cute and totally giftable I think. In fact I bought it as a gift and started it over two years ago. I somehow lost the original floss though and it was put away and forgotten. But now it's done and waiting to go to it's new home with my friend Liz.

Name Mats

These are another project bought way back when. I finished Ash's years ago and now Emily's is there too. I really need to start printing some of our pics though because these printouts aren't cutting it.




Not much going on up here. Ok there's lots but it's normal, mundane stuff. I'm good, kids are good, hubby is good, it's all good.

See me telling ya everything is mundane? I should tell you that Hubby got a promotion at work and that's awesome! We're all very proud and excited for him.

And we had some crazy weather up here in Northern NY these past couple of days. People reported seeing funnel clouds although I have yet to see any reports of confirmed tornados (Not that I have any idea how that works...). There was serious damage in places close by. It is very strange to think of tornado activity way up here but even stranger that at this house there was almost nothing happening while 10to 15 miles away there was some serious rain, wind and storming going on. Here it rained a little. In surrounding areas trees were uprooted, minor flooding was happening and winds were a-whipping.

So those are the exciting tidbits in my life.

Happy Home Cross Stitch

Yay it's finished! Right down to being pressed and sewn up just right. This one had a lot of little details to it. Plenty of French Knots and Lazy Daisies lemme tell ya. But it's cute and it's perfect in my kitchen...

It's been awhile...

Things are still well way up here. The weather has been great and despite rising gas prices I seem to be out and about a lot lately. Softball and concerts and church activities have us all busy. The girls are doing great and looking forward to summer vacation's arrival in a month and a half. Can you believe that?








We celebrated Em's 8th birthday last week. Being 8 means being old enough to cut and serve your own cake.









I love the fact that my child still believes that she grows on her birthday. She came down in the morning and after waking me with the information that "It's the big day!" she looked herself over and decided she was bigger. She's always done this and I'll be sad I think, when the year comes and she realizes all her growth doesn't happen just one day a year.

Next up is Ash's 14th birthday. I handled my 30th better than I'm handling their birthdays this year. I can't believe my children are this old, lol. Also not helping is the fact that Em has received not one but TWO phone calls from a boy this week.

Not crochet craftiness going on lately but I am working on finishing up another x-stitch. A few more days and it'll be done.

I don't know if there are any readers still visit here but if you see this then I'm hoping things are going well for you all and everyone is enjoying spring.

Back before crochet the only crafting I did was cross stitching. I bought a small kit the other day and then while cleaning out a closet I found the box that contained all my old x-stitch projects. I've been working on those this past week.


This was made for my friend Liz.













And this one was, not surprisingly, almost finished in the box. I added the back-stitching and cut it out and voila!


Other than that life's pretty normal around here. Spring break is just about over but we had beautiful weather all week and it was lovely.

Back from Binghamton

Oh what a weekend! Unfortunately neither of the kids teams' placed but they did have fun and they learned a lot about the competition for next year.

Emily was very well behaved considering there was nothing for her to do but tag along. We brought her Game Boy and some books but it was still a long day for her.

I was irritated beforehand by the notion that it was just going to be a madhouse of ill behaved children running around willy-nilly but all in all the kids were great. There was one mom who gained hero status in my eyes by pulling her child aside and discreetly telling him she'd send him home so fast his head would spin and I swear he almost saluted. He wasn't a little guy either. I love a mom who can command that much obedience from her child while remaining calm and composed.

We ate out a lot and shopped a little. It still added up to a ton of money even with free breakfast and packed lunches for Saturday. We're terrible spenders. But really, I think Olive Garden is so worth every penny when you only get to have it once or twice a year, lol.

And that's about all. We're all exhausted and taking today off.

I'm still, still out here somewhere. Life's been busy. Things are good here.

The kids compete in State Finals next weekend and they are both excited. It should be fun.

This weekend will be spent celebrating a friend's birthday and Easter.

Seriously, we've just become boring and non entertaining. I haven't crafted in forever so I have no yarny goodness to report, I've been reading a lot more lately. Em's basketball season is winding down, Ash starts softball next week. Hubby's working and makin the big bucks. The dogs are sort of annoying but still cute, we're having power struggles.

But I am still reading blogs and commenting here and there and trying to keep up. I'm noticing a lot of blogs I like haven't updated in a while and even when they do it's often with a "I'm still here post." Is blogging losing it's popularity? Who knows.

And now I'm off to finish getting supplies for Sunday. Happy Easter to all!!

There they are. 1st place winners both of 'em! They competed on different teams from different schools in our Regional Odyssey of the Mind competition this afternoon. Both will move on to the State Competitions. Both are immensely proud of themselves. :) They both had a great time and we're all very proud of them.

Andy and I spent the day going between the competition and my mothers. This weather is terrible and I worried we'd have a hard time getting home but, thank God, the roads weren't too terrible. The poor dogs were cooped up all day though and they were beyond happy to see us come in the door.

Everyone say a little prayer that this weather let's up by tomorrow afternoon ok? Goodnight!

Don't freak!

I'm here, just starting anew. :D