Monday, September 29, 2008

Rachel is Sad.

My baby sister Rachel is sad. She is having a hard time right now. First I think I will show you a good picture of my baby sister so you will better be able to understand her woe.

I cant believe we really are related!

Ok. I realize I said a good picture... but I thought age acurate was more important that the perfect picture. So there. Also I realize that my sister does not look 14. She looks 18 or so. But I was there the day she was born and I guarantee you that she is 14. Moving on.

To understand my sisters plight you have to understand that she has always been beautiful like that. Always. She wasnt a cute little kid. She was a beautiful one. And the best part is is that because of her birthmark she doesnt think she is that hot. She thinks she is moderately good looking. Did you see her birthmark? It is right there on her face for you to see!

Wait... I might have a picture where it shows.....

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I think that that is the worst picture of my sister I have ever seen. I cant believe I took that! But this is what she looks like after the crazy heat of an El Paso Summer had worn off all her make-up and made her look red and blotchy. That large red thing on the side of her face is her birthmark. If it wasnt for that birthmark, which if she is wearing make-up you would never see.... She would be the biggest stuck up little so and so you have ever seen! And that is coming from her biggest fan! ME!

Ok. So now that you see what she looks like.... here is Rachel's problem. She is a freshman in High School this year. ( I bet most of you just realized already what the problem is going to be) You might think that her problem is that she is now a medium sized fish in a big pond and no longer a big fish in a small pond.... but that is the opposite of her problem. She is a big fish in a big pond and people have taken notice. So much so that her friends are jealous. They are treating her badly as a result. Here she is, completely taken back by all this new attention and her friends that she has had since practically birth are turning on her. Here these people learned to stop wetting themselves together and now they are spreading rumors about her being a tramp and a B!+ch!

And she is devistated. What is worse is that she now feels like she has nobody left! She feels alone and upset. My mom is no help cause she is a teenager and therefore is just being melodramatic, and my dad doesnt see why she cares what people are saying (can you tell he was never a 14 year old girl?)And the one person she used to be able to escape to now lives on the opposite end (from north to south) of the country from her!

So since I cant be there to be there for her, I made her a hat! Wanna see?

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This is an Amelia. Here is the Ravelry link and here is a link for anyone who is not on Ravelry but still wants to make one....

I thought that everytime she wore her hat she would remember how much I love her and that it would cheer her up. I dont know if it will work... but you can't blame an adoring older sister for trying, right?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sippy cups? We don't need no stinking sippy cups!

Sippy cups are the bane of my existence... I hate them. They smell, they get lost easily, and they are a pain in the butt to clean! I have to use a pipe cleaner on the lid and plastic nub thingy, and a cup cleaner on the rest of it... plus I have to worry about stupid things like did I put that nub in the right way? And is Aeddon's need to chew on his sippy cup ruining his teeth?

But no more! I am officially a sippy cup free house! (ok they are still in the cupboard just in case.)

I have been weaning Aeddon off his sippy cups for quite some time now. I wean the kids off their cups as they are potty training so that they are less likely to have accidents. It is harder to tell when you have to pee if there is always a little pee ready to go cause you sip on stuff all day....

Well I finally got him off his cup and then about two weeks ago Mikaela realized that she was the only one using a sippy cup. She was not amused. So she just stopped. I would fill her cup in the morning and have to pour out warm milk or juice by lunchtime. It was always still a full cup. So I pulled out the cup with the straw built in that we bought her in the summer for ice water. Ya know what? She is doing great with it! Sure I can only put in about a 1/4 of an inch of fluids at a time or she makes a huge mess.... but it is progress! She loves her big girl cup! Wanna see?

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And just cause I think kids drinking out of straws is cute.... here are the boys too, just for good measure!

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On a completely different subject.... see that blanket that Aeddon is holding? I think we are gonna have to change that kids name to Linus! He insists on taking that thing everywhere! I made it for him before he was born... and he loves it. Luckily if he ruins it I can run to Walmart and buy more of the fabric and make him a new one... and then hide the old one... Should I worry that he substituted his Ra-ra (pacifier) with a blanket?

Monday, September 22, 2008

I am hurt and confused.

I am hurt and confused. The title says it all. As you may have noticed I posted that I am expecting Bailey Baby #4.... I posted the same blog on my myspace page that I did here. On this blog I received several nice comments of congrats.... That is what you would expect when sharing news that is happy right? Well apparently that is not always the case. I received comments that included things like "dont you think that is overkill" and "Have you ever considered stopping?" I am sorry but I think those things are hurtful... so I responded. Below is the entire blog I posted on myspace in response to my "friends" who think I am making a mistake.

I have to tell you.... I am surprised by the response that my previous post has received. One person asked if I had considered stopping having kids... to which my response is: "1. Yes this will be our last baby and 2. Why is it really any of your business how many I have since they arent your responsibility and I am paying for their care out of my own money? Thank you for your concern.... but I am fine. My babies are not accidents. They are planned family additions and Owen and I have calculated the pros and cons of having babies when we have. Mikaela was the only baby that we had sooner than we planned... and that turned out fine! I was just trying to share my joy with people who would be happy for me, and if you are not one of those people.... move along and dont add in your two cents."

Then the most hurtful to me. Someone asked me if I didnt think that it was overkill, if I couldnt have waited a couple of years at least. The worst part of that for me is that of all the people I thought might have an opinion... I expected that person, who is my oldest friend, to say "I think you are crazy, but if you are happy then I am happy for you." Since that is not the response I received.... here is my response to her question.

No as a matter of fact I dont think it is overkill. We always knew we were going to have 4 and if you really think about it it makes sense to have them spaced every 2 years or so. By the time baby number 4 is born Mikaela will be two.

Aeddon is already potty training and with any luck he will be out of diapers by the time the baby comes. So I will only have two in diapers and since I cloth diaper.... it is not like it is costing me a fortune every month.

Also next fall Alexander will be in school... so I will only have 3 home with me. Another two years after that and Aeddon will be in school. Another year or two and Mikaela will go to school and 2 years after Mikaela starts BB4 will start school... so in just a little under 6 years from now all the kids will be in school.

Owen is already in the process of trying to get accepted into the Officer program. Within a year or so he will be an officer (two years at the latest...) When that happens our income will grow exponentially. Owen's job is secure. The army isnt going to fire him cause of a weak economy. They pay for our housing, so that doesnt come out of our income. We have free, full coverage health insurance. I dont pay a penny and everything is covered. Even perscriptions.

So yes right now money is a little tight, but I have carefully saved everything from the previous children. I have clothes up to 5t for a boy and clothes so far for a girl up to 12 months. So I will have no problems clothing a new baby. As I already said, I cloth diaper, so I can use the same supplies I am already using for Mikaela. As a matter of fact with another one time purchase of $30 dollars worth of prefold diapers I will never have to spend another penny on diapers for as long as Mikaela and the baby are in diapers. I breast feed so formula isnt an issue. I still have Mikaela's infant car seat. By the time the baby is to big for it Alexander will not need a car seat anymore and Aeddon can move into his booster seat. The baby will be able to use Aeddon's 5 point harness carseat. And so the cycle can continue. When all is said and done the only money I will have to spend on this baby is the $30 on diapers and a new toddler bed for Mikaela (Which I was planning to buy around January anyways).

If I had waited another few years several things would have happend. 1. I would have lost a piece to the crib and had to buy a new crib. Those things are expensive. Cheap ones are like $200 dollars. 2. If Mikaela was already potty trained I would probably have started using Mikaela's diapers as rags..... So I would have had to start over with cloth diapering... and starting from scratch costs between $150 and $200 dollars. That doesnt even take into account that the longer the baby clothes sit in boxes being stored, the more likely it is that something will happen that will ruin them. I have thousands of dollars in baby clothes that I have accumulated from people giving me clothes that they didnt need anymore, babyshowers and holidays/birthdays. I dont even want to THINK about how much it would cost me to start over with all new clothes! So when you look at it from that financial perspective... it is more fiscally responsible for us to not wait. By the time this baby will actually cost more money for us, Owen will be an officer and we will have close to twice our current income... which we are able to get by on and still live relatively comfortably.

And you know what? That doesnt even take into account other things, like my health needs. The longer I wait to have baby number 4 the longer I have to wait to have the two surgeries that I need. I need a breast reduction so that my back problems will be much easier to deal with.... (there is only so much you can do to improve your back when you are carrying around two seedless watermelons worth of boob everwhere!) and I need to have the flap of skin removed that I seem to have accumulated with each kid. I know that it is TMI.... but that flap is ugly and makes it very difficult to do things like buy pants and skirts and wear a bathing suit. If I had that extra flap of skin removed I would go down 2 or 3 pants sizes! Also after those two surgeries I will be better able to start and stick to a good healthcare routine. One that includes exersize. I will be able to get myself in shape for the first time since I started having kids.

Also I have fibromyalgia... and since it often gets worse.... the longer I wait to have baby number 4... the less likely I am going to be able to enjoy a problem free pregnancy. Plus... Owen and I arent getting any younger. I am going to be 27 when this baby is born. Owen will be 31. If I waited a "few years" I would be over 30. It is a well known fact that the older you are when you have babies, the more likely you are to have complications for yourself or your baby. Gestational diabetes is more common in women over 30 than in women in their 20's.

Besides, the boys are 2 years apart, and they love to play together. Mikaela and Aeddon are 17 months apart and they play great together most of the time. Why on earth would I want to wait a few years and screw up that dynamic?

Honestly, here I am sharing news that I feel is happy news. I shared it to let my friends and loved ones know how happy I am and I gotta tell ya.... some of these responses make me wonder why I am friends with some of you at all. Fine you think I am crazy for not stopping at one or two. Fine you think I am crazy for having them all at once. Did you ever stop to think that your little comments about "what were you thinking?" might be mean and hurtful? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I think "what were you thinking" about choices you make but that because I am your friend I take the "if it is what makes them happy then it doesnt matter what I think cause it is not my life" approach? I dont sit here and judge the things you do and I didnt ask you to judge me.

Are you the one paying my bills? Are you the one caring for my kids? Do I call you and ask you for help?

No I don't. As you can see there are lots of reasons not to wait... and lots of reasons why the few cons of not waiting arent cons I really have to worry about.

Besides, whatever happened to "if you cant say something nice, dont say anthing at all"?



So what do you think? Was I out of line with my response? Is it to much to ask to want people to be nice? I could understand if I had posted something controversial such as " I think all abortions should be illegal, no matter what the circumstances." ( I am not going to talk right now about my stance on abortion... I am just using it as an example of controversy.) I didnt post something controversial. I posted that I was having a baby and that I was happy. Why is that something that should get such hurtful responses?

Please help me understand if you can....

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Friday, September 12, 2008

51-75

Time for another set of interesting tidbits. I think that this set will span from after graduation to Owen. Yeah... that seems like a good timeline.

51. Right after graduation Lacy recommended me for a job at Togo's Eatery. I got the job and started working two days later.

52. After graduation Lacy and I lived in one bedroom that she rented in a house. I was not really supposed to live there... but Lacy didn't like staying there alone and her boyfriend still had another year of high school left. We eventually got evicted because we kept eating the food of the other room renters. We didn't think they would notice a cookie here... a packet of top ramen there. They noticed.

53. For two weeks after our eviction date I continued to break into the house through the window of the bedroom we had been renting and slept on the floor. I had nowhere else to go.

54. After two weeks my boss asked me where I was living. I sheepishly admitted that I was breaking into the house and sleeping on the floor. She was horrified that I might get caught. That night she asked me to get in her car cause she had a place for me to stay for a few nights. It was with her brother in law and his wife. They had 2 little girls. I loved staying with them. They asked me to leave when the two of them went on a vacation and they were going to be leaving their girls with a family friend who was going to be staying at the house with them... Halfway through their vacation the manager of the Togo's and I went to go check on the girls. We found them unsupervised in the house while the babysitter was having a drunken party with all her friends. When the couple got home they told me that they wished that I had stayed and watched the girls instead... yet they never asked me to come stay with them again.

55. I started at Fullerton Community College in the fall of 2000. I signed up for English, History, Dance, Math, and Drawing. I never finished any of my classes.

56. Halfway through my first semester of CC I started working at Book Star.... which was Barnes and Nobles under a different name. I was still working 1 hour less than full time at Togo's.... I rode the bus everywhere.... I worked for 3-5 hours in the morning at Togos, then went to school for 3-5, then worked 4-6 hours in the evening at Book Star. It took me an hour on the bus in each direction.... plus an hour to walk from where I was staying to work and an hour back.... so I spent 13- 20 hours a day just working and going to school... which left very little time to actually study. I dropped out of my classes so I wouldn't fail.

57. In October of that year I started living at a place that I called the drug house. A friend from Togos had a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom house to herself. Her dad had gone back to jail for violating his parole, and she couldn't afford to pay for the house herself. So Lacy and I moved in to help pay the rent.... plus we both needed a place to stay... Lacy left when she got tired of the lifestyle in the house and picked a fight with our friend about it. From then on I had my own room until her dad got back out of Jail.

58. I called the house the drug house because each room was divided into a different drug of choice. One room was for people smoking pot, one room was for people dropping acid, the living room was for people getting drunk, the kitchen was for people who had been smoking pot but were now drinking, and the garage was for people doing speed. I spent most of my time sitting on the stairs, drinking, waiting for the cops. I was the best person to deal with the cops cause I knew most of them. So I sat there just in case. We never got busted by the cops.

59. Sometime during that year my mom convinced me to go to Chrysalis. It is a retreat weekend designed to strengthen the faith of young Christians. Even though the rules said no drinking... I was drunk when my mom picked me up. By the end of the weekend I felt different. I gave a faith statement that had the most burly of the men in the crowd crying. I went home and stopped drinking. When my friends dad came home she kicked me out cause I wasn't fun anymore.

60. When she kicked me out Lacy and I were on a waiting list for an apartment in her boyfriend's (and still my friend) Mike's apartment complex. We stayed in my parents living room for the 3 weeks we had to wait.

61. We got a three bedroom apartment and the six of us renting the apartment moved in. In one room was Jill and Nancy. In another room was Sarah and Jordan (we called them Will and Grace alot...) and in the Master Bedroom (cause we had her mom cosign) was Me and Lacy.

62. Things started going badly almost immediately. Lacy went out and started acquiring pets.... So then everyone else went out and started getting pets. Within a month we had 4 kittens, 2 guinea pigs, a 35 gallon fish tank, 4 1 gallon Betta tanks, 3 Russian dwarf hamsters, and 2 lovebirds. All but one of the kittens and the two guinea pigs were Lacy's.

63. Everyone except for Lacy was in college.... so we would bring over a couple of our college buddies and have a mellow hang-out with a few beers and a carton of cigarettes.... (I think everybody but Jill and Jordan smoked) Lacy would get pissed when she came home and we were all having a good time when she was tired and just wanted to take a bath and relax.

64. Shortly after we moved into the house my Papa died. Two months later Gramps died. I started failing all my classes again. Lacy got mad. The original deal with us sharing a room was that I was supposed to go live at Cal Poly Pomona in the fall... over the summer Mike would be turning 18 and he was graduating high school in June. The idea was that I would move out and Mike would move in. As my grades slipped... it looked like I wasn't going to be able to move. Everyone else figured that Mike could just wait to move in. (even Mike was willing to wait.) Lacy didn't agree. After Lacy realised that I wasn't moving, she stopped talking to anybody. She would leave post-its all over the house with little commands on them for things that she wanted us to change. We all got really pissed off and one day we left post its for her all over things reminding her of every single house rule she was breaking. She got pissed and evicted me. I was the only person she could evict and easily replace. I moved in with my boyfriend, Eric. I left my stuff behind and promised to come get it before my "eviction" date.

65. I went a week before my eviction date to pick up my stuff. She wouldn't let me in. Instead she handed me a box with my high school diploma, 3 of my 4 high school year books, my houseplants (uprooted and with no dirt shoved in a Ziploc bag) and a pair of shoes. She said that she had gotten tired of looking at my stuff and had put it out to go in the trash the day before. Problem was that that morning was trash pickup. My stuff was gone. Several thousand dollars in books, a very expensive pearl necklace that my papa had given me right before he died, several thousand dollars worth of clothes and shoes (my Nana had given me an open-ended personal shopper account at nordstroms at one point... I took advantage of it!) My sesame street dolls ( I even had a honker with a working nose!) and my entire collection of original Rainbow Brite dolls. All the sprites, everything. My dresser and nightstand, the fountain that my mom gave me for Christmas.... all of it. gone. Shortly after that all the rest of the housemates moved out and lacy struggled to keep the apartment. Around that time she and Mike broke up and he kicked her out and moved in some of his friends.... that was around the time that I lost track of the goings on in that house.

67. Around that time of chaos, I had started going to Shinai. Shinai is sword fighter practice. We were "training" for SCA events. Shinai is where I met Eric. We started dating and when all heck broke loose he let me move in with him. I continued to live with him for a while after we broke up. I really had no where else to go... and in all the chaos Lacy had managed to get me fired from both of my jobs by making a scene, so I had no job. During our relationship I met Eric's friends, Cassie and Jeffery. When Eric got evicted from the house he was renting a room in, I moved in with them.

68. While living with Cassie and Jeffery I met their friend, Paul. He picked me up from my new job at Walmart one day cause Cassie was at the hospital with Jeffery. Jeffery had fallen off a ladder at work and broken his leg. Since I didn't have a key to the 600 square foot studio apartment we all lived in, I went home with Paul. I never really went back to Cassie and Jeffery's house to stay for more than a day or two at a time when Paul would have to go somewhere for a few days. And even then that was only at the beginning of our relationship.

69. Paul was the biggest Mistake (notice the capitalization of the M?) I ever made. He turned crazy very early on in our relationship.... I didn't really notice until it was to late. It started with him not wanting me to go to shinai ( I could understand that. Eric still went to shinai and there was a rumor going around that he wanted me back....). So I stopped going to shinai. Then what new clothes I had gotten while I was dating Eric and living with Cassie and Jeffery started to disappear. They were replaced with clothes that Paul wanted me to wear. They were sexier and nicer... so I thought nothing of it. Who could blame a guy for wanting to show off his lady? Then he quit working when I got injured and had to take medical leave. He was always home with me. If I made a phone call he was right there listening to me. That was when I started to worry. I told Paul that I didn't want to be his girlfriend anymore. He reminded me that I had nowhere else to go. He offered me the guest bedroom in the condo. I stopped letting him touch me. I tried to go back to work so that I could save up some money.....

70. A few days before Christmas of that year Eric showed up at my job (still walmart) to bring me my Christmas present. He picked me up for my lunch break and took me to his place (he was living with his mom for a few months) to give me his present. I had a gift for him too. I gave him a spiderman poster (he is a really big fan) and he gave me a special edition copy of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. The Giving Tree is my favorite book. He also gave me a giant Tare Panda, which is a Japanese Kawaii character that I really love. I leaned over to give him a hug and tell him thank you. The next thing I knew we were up in his room and I was very late to return from my lunch break. I didn't feel guilty about Paul at all. As far as I was concerned I had told him more than a week before that I didn't want to date him anymore and that I was only staying with him till I could save up enough to get my own place.

71. Around Easter of that year, Paul realised that Eric and I were in a relationship again. He dropped me off at my parents house and left most of my belongings in plastic bags on my parents lawn. My friend Greg let me come stay with him and his family. Around that time Eric had surgery. I was supposed to stay with him and take care of him.... but I was staying with Greg and felt that all I had to offer his family in return for me being there was to watch Greg's stepson. Eventually Greg's wife kicked me out of their house. I moved in with Eric. He never had gotten over that I had chosen to help Greg out instead of taking care of him. I reminded him that at the time Greg was the only one offering me a place to stay. It ended up being the big thing that ended mine and Eric's relationship. He said he couldn't trust me to be faithful to him. I was heart broken and swore I would never love again.

72. When Eric broke up with me I ended up homeless. I was sleeping in a park for several months. Most of my clothes were either still at Eric's house or in my parents garage. I packed just a little bit of my stuff in a backpack and slept on a bench in a park. My parents thought I was staying with friends. They even went on a month long vacation cause they had no idea. I was to embarrassed to tell anyone that I was homeless. Eventually a friend figured it out and found me a homeless shelter. I still slept on the floor there... but at least I didn't have to worry about getting raped or murdered.

73. Eventually a friend from work decided that she wanted me to live with her. Around that time Owen and I started dating Exclusively. (There is more to the beginning of our relationship.... but I will save that for later) We went to the beach one day and fell asleep. We slept for 5 hours. The only reason we realised that we were burnt when we did was because I woke up to go to the bathroom and it hurt to bad to walk. We were like lobsters.

74. Eventually she and I had a falling out (she wanted me to pay all the rent and buy all the food cause she wanted to save her welfare money to buy a new car. I disagreed with that.)and I came home one day to the locks on the doors being changed and all my stuff in plastic bags in front of her apartment. I stayed at her neighbors house for a night and tried to get ahold of Owen.

75. When Owen showed up he asked me if anything was missing. I told him that my favorite shirt and my Betta fish "Celeste" was missing. He banged on her door until she opened up and told her that we wanted my shirt and my fish. She swore my shirt was in one of the bags and gave him my fish. Then she slammed the door in his face.

So there you go. From that point on my life has been Our life.... which I will tell you about in the installment that will finish up my juicy little tidbits. More later.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Guess what I did.

So are you guessing???

Not so much?

Fine. I will just tell you then. I got a tattoo.

I know that that probably doesnt surprise anyone... but it is my first one (believe it or not.) I actually got it on September 2nd.... But I didnt wanna say anything about it till I could show you a good picture of it. First you get to see a yucky picture of it first though!

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Looks gross right? It is ok. This is immediatley after I took off the bandages for the first time. I couldnt wait the full 24 hours that they recommend that you wait.... cause well.... the tape was burning a hole in my skin! See how agrivated my skin looks where you can obviously see the tape marks???

So off came the bandages... I did wait till it had been 24 hours to wash it for the first time though! And guess what??? It looks much better now! Not perfect... I am told that that is because I still have two weeks worth of healing to do. So I am not to worried about that. I also get free touch ups ( I think they are free. They are either free or really cheap.) so if it is a little funky on the color then it can be fixed.

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Now I know some are wondering what the heck my tattoo is... and for those of you who know what it is and know me well you are probably asking yourself, "WHY?"

Here is the thing. Neal and Devon and Ian were big fans of Star Wars. I am pretty sure that Neal was even buried with his light saber. Anyways. As some of you may or may not know, Neal Devon and Ian were murdered last year. I refuse to go on about the details here, cause I wasnt there to know exactly what happened. All I do know is that they are gone and that Manling (Neal's wife and the mother of both boys) is going to be tried for the murders. That is all I will say about that, but if you want to know everything that the media knows you can read some of the articles that can be found here and here and here. Actually that last link is the link to a blog about the murder. I wouldnt bother with most of the comments... but there are quite alot of them written by Neal's Mom. Those are ones to read if you want info.

Anyways. Regardless of what really happened, they are gone.... and so is a piece of my heart. Devon could always be counted on to make me smile. He was a funny and very intelligent little boy with a heart of gold. I have picture upon picture of him playing with my boys as babies. The last thing that Devon said to me was "I cant wait for you to come home for Christmas! Then I will get to meet your new baby girl and I am sure that she will be the sweetest prettiest girl that I have ever met! You will let me hold her wont you??" To which I replied "Yes Devon. Of course you can hold her silly boy. I love you, now give the phone back to your mom!" Ian was Alexanders best friend. They were only a few months apart. I have so many pictures of the two of them doing things like playing race car in empty boxes from Sam's Club or dancing on the open door of the dishwasher. They were like two peas in a pod. The last thing Ian said to me was "I miss Alexander. Send him home please. Devon!" at which point he handed Devon the phone.

And then there was Neal. What cant be said about Neal. Neal was smart. He loved his family like you wouldnt believe. He wasnt perfect. He had his issues, but he was the kind of friend that you could sit outside with and talk all night about what was going wrong in your life and he would give you his take from more than one perspective. He would do things like call me to tell me that a really funny episode of Star Trek was on... or send Owen his copy of a book that he thought Owen would really enjoy.

So my way of coping with their loss was to get a tattoo of the same symbol that Neal's mom chose to put on their headstone. If she felt it was the perfect symbol to immortalize on their final marker... then who am I to argue. Besides, I agree with her that the rebel alliance symbol from Star Wars is perfect. The date... well... if you read the articles... then you know that that is the date that they died. I will always miss them... and now in my own way I am letting the world know that they will always be with me.

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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Knitting content

So today I have some knitting content to share. I know, crazy right? You mean I am still doing that silly knitting thing? Yep. And I still even like it!

So knitting mojo was at an all time low during the move. I made a couple of tops for Summerlins.... but never sewed them to the fabrics I bought. I really should do that. Goodness only knows how long she is gonna fit in the sizes that I made!

I made a soaker. Just one. Which sucks... cause in the process of the move... Owen ruined one and I shrank one by accidentally washing it in the washer. So now that one is a size medium instead of a large.

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I also made one fingerless glove.... but not the matching one to this one.... a different one that I am making for one of my new neighbors. I dont like this shade of green... but she does... so I am knitting it all up for her.

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Then I also started on a scrunchable scarf (Ravelry link)... which I am calling my "Tattoo Scarf" cause I intended to knit on it while I was getting my tattoo....

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But I didnt end up knitting cause the position I had to hold was not condusive to knitting. Oh well. I still want the scarf.... so I will knit away at it a little here and there.... but I really do need to make at least two more soakers for Mikaela so that she has a minimum of four.... plus I really should start making her longies so that she can have "pants" in the winter.... but still be in cloth diapers....

Ok... That is all that I have for now.... more later!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

MMM Cookies!

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I gotta tell you, I love me some cookies! I am gonna share with you the recipe for my favorite cookies. They are totally healthy too.... you know how I know??? They have oatmeal and raisins. How could they not be healthy?! (This is what I tell myself to justify eating them 5 or 6 at a time... and as a meal replacement....)

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First your ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened.
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugarj
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated/ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

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Now the making:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
4. combine in a seperate bowl: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
5. Mix dry ingredients into gooey stuff...
6. Stir in oats, raisins and chocolate. Mix well.
7. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet
8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown
9. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, remove to wire rack

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This recipe makes about 4 dozen if you make smallish cookies.

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Then just sit back and enjoy. Or stand gaurd and beat back your kids and your husband.... Your call!