Oy vey!

Have you ever had one of those days that you swore was out to kill you?  Yesterday was one of those days for me. It started out normal enough, I got up to get breakfast for started and I heard Youngest calling for me.   Went in to check on him and stepped on a toy and fell, face first, into the carpet.
 Later, I put Youngest down for his nap, middle and oldest were putting together puzzles with Gran and so I figured it would be a perfect time for me to catch up on a little sleep as well.  I laid down and Middle came in to tell me that Oldest looked at him funny.  Seriously.  Laid back down and Oldest came in to tell me that Middle had made a face at her.  Grrrr.  Laid down again and Cookie came in to root through the bedroom trash.  Got her out of there and the trash picked up and laid down a third time, still hadn't gotten to sleep any yet.  Then came Chandler, to jump up on the bed.  Got him off and out the door and laid down a fourth time and Youngest woke up.  No nap for me.
So I decided to do some laundry.   Carrying a basketful of clothes I happened upon a soccer ball in the doorway to the living room.  I decided to give it one really good kick and send it sailing down the hallway.  That was the plan anyways.  Instead my foot connected with the doorjam.  My toes went totally numb for a few seconds and then....well, the next several words out of my mouth were not Christian or ladylike in any way, shape or form.  
I woke up this morning only to find my pinky toe swollen to twice it's normal size and sporting a rather unpleasant purple coloring.  DH decided to take me into the After Hours clinic to have it looked at and sure enough, I broke it.  So, no I'm sitting here typing this with my pinky toe all taped up and a "post op shoe" on my foot.

There it is, my handsome reminder of one very bad day.

On a not so painful note, we've got all of our seeds started for this spring's garden!   The kids started their seeds a few weeks ago and about three of them have sprouted...the others met their fate at the paws of an overzealous, crazy dog who decided she could not stand not knowing what was on the table so she decided to knock the table and all of its contents onto the floor.

What they have left is doing really well though (we're going to replant some more seeds for their garden tomorrow or the next day):

 This picture has scarlet nantes carrots (left) and a salad blend mixture (right).

This is another scarlet nantes carrot.

The kids are so excited to see their seeds growing, it looks like this year's kids garden is going to be as much of a success as last year's. 

Oldest's Hat

Oldest's hat is now finished. It's just a basic hat pattern; cast on 84 on size 8 16" circular needles, join in the round, knit a k2 p2 ribbing for 2 inches, then stockinette stitch for 6 more inches, then begin the decreases k10 k2tog across, knit the next round,    the next round k9 k2tog across, knit the next round, next round k8 k2tog.across, knit the next round and so decreasing the number of knit stitches every other round by one until you k2tog all the way across. (At some point, about the k5, k2tog point, you'll have to transfer to size 8 dpns).  Then cut about a 6in tail and thread it through the remaining stitches and pull it tight to finish the hat, weave in the ends, and viola'! You have your hat.

She picked out the fuzzy pink yarn herself.  If you are looking for the same, it's Sensations Angel Hair yarn color #647.

The hat will fit most older children and adults so go on out and make yourself a hat!

Space Invaders

Anybody who has ever owned an Atari or played old school arcade games will easily recognize the little green men on Middle's latest hat.

Space Invaders! I used to rock at this game as a kid.  Middle LOVES video games, I literally have to pull him away from them after his 1hr time limit is up. So when I came across this pattern on Ravelry I immediately thought of him and since his old hat was worn and ripped, he was presented last night with this brand new one.   He adores it. He's even been wearing it to bed. He refuses to take it off.  It's nice to see someone you love enjoying the things you make for them.

On the homesteading front, we are continuing to plant the starter seeds for spring.  The kids have each picked out their own seeds to grow this year from their grandfather's farm and from our own collection here at home.  Their garden was a huge success last year and they are really excited to start up again this year.

The kids (and I) really enjoyed the break in the winter weather last week.  The boys spent ALOT of time playing with their wagon and collecting "treasures" in the yard.  Ah, to be young again...

Happy Valentines Day!

The Sewing Machine Song

On the Homeschooling Front

I think homeschooling is tough in January.    For us, January is kind of a blah month anyways but by this point in our homeschooling year the inspiration well is starting to run a little dry, the kids have cabin fever, and it's difficult to get up the motivation to really hunker down and work as opposed to popping some popcorn, making some cocoa, and watching a good movie.  We're hunkering down and "getting her done" anyways, although we have had a couple of movie days here and there.

Oldest is breezing through her OHVA workbooks and online instruction. She's doing really well in reading, struggling a bit in math (I suppose she gets that from her mother) but she's improving.  Her Bible studies are going well and she's loving the art class we signed her up for at the cultural center in town. She's still doing girl scouts and will be visiting the senior citizens center this weekend which she is excited about doing.

Middle is working on reading through the funnix program and really enjoying it. We downloaded a free copy from their website. Which is awesome because the program is usually $249 and with this promotion you get the entire program, both funnix begging reader program and funnix 2 plus the teachers guide, workbook, and stories, for free. I mean, seriously awesome deal.

Middle is doing really well with the math worksheets that we're giving him and his letter writing is coming along really well. He's looking forward to little league in the spring and karate in a couple of weeks. Both oldest and middle are going to see Seussical at the theater tomorrow so they are extremely excited about that.

So, as you can see, even though it gets a bit boring around January, we still have plenty that we are working on.

As far as my knitting goes I finished the intarsia square, YAY!!! I only had to frog it a total of six times but it came out alright in the end.



Odds and Ends

Well, after tearing out my knitting twice more since my last post, I'm finally making some decent progress and I admit that I've learned alot about intarsia knitting in the process.  

That is what I have done so far.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have it nearly completed but that all depends on how much free time I get after church. 

I also made a run to Joann Fabrics today and picked up a really cute "quilt in a box" on clearance.   I have been wanting to make a lap quilt for a good friend of mine for a couple of months now but couldn't find the time to get the fabric and start cutting.  The nice thing about the quilt-in-the-box is that the fabric is all there for me (except the backing fabric and batting but that's no big deal) and it's all cut and ready to go.   Should move fairly quickly from here.  

Beyond that we've been starting to look through our seed catalogs and online to start to plan this spring's garden.  I'm thinking that we are only going to add a handful of new items this year including a "flat wonderful" peach tree and some "sugar baby" watermelons.  I can't hardly wait for this snow to disappear so I can get out there and dig!