Bock Bock Bock

Hello!  Owen has the chicken pox.  I imagine Lily and Ethan will have them right shortly as well.  I called the doctor’s office just to make sure I was right about what I should be doing about the chicken pox … Aveeno bath, Benedryl if the itching is too much, Tylonol for fever and pain, calamine lotion, etc.  I was right.  The nurse told me “you’ll be counting spots for the next 4 weeks!” … for a grand total of all my kids having them.  Apparently though children under one year of age have a very small chance of getting them if their mother already had them (I had them in grade 2) because they still have trace amounts of the mother’s blood in their system, thus giving them an immunity to them.  I don’t care if Ethan gets them or not, they won’t hurt him … might as well get all three kids done at once, eh?!

I tore out the baby blanket I was working on (I hadn’t posted a picture) and decided to knit Ethan a cardigan instead.  I’m doing the Shawl Collared Jacket from Baby Knits for Beginners.  I’m knitting it in 12-18 months size, using a dark teal yarn (Patons Decor).  It’s going to look very nice on him.  I’m about 1/2 done the back.

I’m off to do laundry now.  TTYL  I hope your day doesn’t involve itchy children.  :)

Nothin’ doin’.

Hello!  It has been awhile, eh?  I’ve not been knitting, I’ve not been sewing, I’ve not been crocheting … actually other than trying to keep up with the housework I’ve not been doing much of anything.  All that is about to change.  Michael is away for four days, which means housework will be much easier (I won’t be stumbling over his crap) and I’ll be able to make time for knitting because we won’t be going canoeing … I can’t lift it myself.

Sunday is Mother’s Day.  I’m going to my parents’ house where my dad is cooking my Mom and I (and the kids) dinner on the BBQ.  I’m considering being environmentally unfriendly and buying some paper plates so Mom and I won’t have dishes to do afterwards.  Our plans for the day include a nice bike ride as well.  I can’t wait.  It will be awesome.  :)

Last Sunday (May 4th) we got out for a paddle.  It was Ethan’s first time in a canoe.  He loved it!

After about 20 minutes he fell asleep, and slept for about an hour and a half.  It is hard to breastfeed in a canoe with a wiggley baby, but we got ‘er done.  LOL

These are our canoes.  The blue one on the left is our old canoe, and the one on the right is the one we bought in March.  My sister and her husband came with us.  They paddled the blue canoe.  Its a faster canoe (more hydrodynamic) whereas the red one is built more for white water and stability.

Have a great weekend!

Webkinz Fully Clothed

Happy Beltane!

Today the weather is great, but its going to start raining and its going to rain all weekend. We need the rain, but I really wish it would rain during the week. We have outdoorsy type plans this weekend … for both days. Murphy’s law.

Yesterday I knit a dress for Lily’s newest Webkinz. It’s a Lil’ Pig named Peach. I used the sweater pattern I saw over at Knitting Up a Storm, and once I got it to “sweater length” I knit into the front and back of each stitch and then knit straight for about 10 rows giving it a dressy look. Lily loves it. :) Owen is requesting sweaters for his Webkinz now too. They only have three each, so it shouldn’t be too bad knitting one for each of them if they want.

That’s all for today! Have a great one!

Pajama Day Cuteness

April 17th was pajama day at my kids’ school … a day they get to wear their pj’s to school. I just thought I’d share some pictures of pj day with you.

Owen and his cellphone (no, it doesn’t work … it’s hubby’s old one)

Princess Lily in her faerie jammies.

A hug … proof they do sometimes like each other.

And a picture of Ethan not taken on pajama day, but full of cuteness none-the-less. His face is clearing up. I’m so happy. We had to resort to cortisone cream, but since nothing else worked (and we tried everything) I figure we better try the medicated stuff.

TTFN!

Booga Bag and Bikers

Good morning!  Its a lovely day today … the sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are going to get out of here … oh sorry, Finding Nemo flashback.  Love that movie.  I should watch it, but it will have to wait until next week because this week we are TV Free.  I can’t remember if I mentioned that here yet or not.  Hmmm.  No TV for a week, so far so good, and the only person who misses it is Michael.  LOL

I finally finished that Booga Bag I started in December.  Its a gift for my cousin.  At xmas I wrote her a note telling her I was knitting her something but I wasn’t finished yet.  I have not seen her since then, but she will be coming to my house this weekend so I figured I better get it done.  I finished knitting it on the weekend, but just got around to felting it yesterday.  It turned out pretty good, methinks.

Speaking of the weekend, it was pretty exciting.  On Saturday we headed to our local Cyclepath and bought Owen a new bike.  While we were there I looked at a couple of bikes, but nothing really caught my eye.  Then we headed to Paris, ON to buy the kids PFDs, only the place we went to didn’t have the ones we wanted in the colours or sizes the kids want and need so we had to order them.  For you paddlers out there, we’ve ordered them the Salus Nimbus PFDs.  Owen wanted blue/yellow to match Ethan, and Lily wanted pink.  They should be ready for us to pick up around May 3rd.  I hope sooner than later because I cannot wait to get out on the water in our new canoe.

After that we stopped by Canadian Tire and looked at a couple of bikes there.  The prices at Canadian Tire were about the same as CyclePath for what we wanted in a bike for me, but the bike quality at CT was much lower.  The bikes are heavier and the rims not as sturdy.  So we picked up some pink streamers for Lily’s bike and headed back to CyclePath.  I found a bike!  I had seen it earlier, but not really given it a good looking over, because I thought it was too much money.  Michael told me he didn’t want to buy me a piece of crap and the one I liked was a good one, so I tried it out and it was a perfect fit.  I got fitted for a helmet, and we bought me a new bike!

Ethan needed some boob, so the kids and I went out to the van while Michael waited for them to ready my bike (put the peddles on, make sure the brakes and everything were good, etc).  While he was waiting he was looking around at the bikes and whatnot … and what do you know, he bought himself a bike too!!  Then we went home.  Good thing too, because my debit card was on fire.

We were all set.  Almost.  Lily is just learning to ride a two-wheeler with training wheels and cannot go far without getting tired, and where the heck would we put Ethan??  Sunday we headed to my parents’ house, bikes loaded into the van (we really need to get a proper Thule bike rack) … oh, before that we looked at Canadian Tire for a bike trailer, but the one near us didn’t have one.  We also looked at those baby seats, but I didn’t like the idea of having Ethan in a seat behind me, and the seats that go in front of the bike “driver” seem awkward (we tried one on my bike in the store).  Anyway, so off to my parents’ place we headed.  When we got there, Michael, my Dad and Owen went for a bike ride.  After that my Dad and Michael left to go to another Canadian Tire store and bought a bike trailer (to put Ethan and Lily in) and a new bike seat for my Mom.  Hooray!  Finally we were set!  Once I saw the trailer I was was VERY excited.  The OCD in me was content … the trailer (coincidentally) matches my bike EXACTLY.  Blue with grey and black, and a little bit of red.  Perfect!  I’m going to be the primary trailer tower because Michael has the tendency to go through mud puddles and whatnot.  I don’t have a picture of his bike, but its black and yellow … a nice bike, but not as pretty as my blue one.  LOL

Then we all went for a bike ride.  My parents included.  It was awesome!

So yay!  I used to bike all.the.time but my old bike was, well, old, and ugly and broken when we got rid of it last year, but now I can get back out and enjoy this sport once again … with four of my favourite people!  :)

Have a great day!

Ethan is Eight Months Old

There is (once again) no sound … I should really get the actual video camera out rather than just putting this on my digital camera.  LOL

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a finished knit!!

I have a finished knit to share.  Amazing, huh?  It is a corner to corner knit baby blanket with a single row of double crochet on for edging.  I used Bernat Baby Boucle (my sister’s choice) in white and pink.  The pictures aren’t very good.  The scratched blue object under the blanket is my beloved canoe … one of them anyway … bottom side up.

The blanket is for my sister’s friend who just had a baby girl last month.  Here is a close-up of the edging.

This weather is GORGEOUS.  We’re hoping to get out for a paddle this weekend, but that means first we have to buy Owen and Lily new PFD’s.  Tomorrow morning I’m going PFD shopping with Michael and the kids!  I cannot wait to try out our new canoe on the Grand River.  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Baby Food

I have been cooking baby food.  I’d prefer to give Ethan homemade stuff rather than store bought.  Here is one of his favourites: Sweet potatoes with baby spinach.  I put baby spinach in just about everything.  All I did was peel, cut and boil the sweet potatoes along with the spinach, then pureed them in my food processor.

Then I put them in ice cube trays and stuck them in the freezer.  The tray on the right is the vegetable broth.  I will use that to mix with other foods for him.  Once these are frozen I will put them in zip-lock freezer bags in his portion size and write the date on them.

I bought the book The Baby’s Table, it has a lot of great baby food recipes in it as simple as the one I just made and some more complex ones, as well as a meal planner for ages 6 month and upward to the toddler years.  If you are into making your own baby food I recommend this book.

I almost have a knitting FO to show you.  Perhaps tomorrow!  Have a great day.  This weather (21°C and sunny) is gorgeous!

Lunch Bag

Here is Owen’s lunch bag, finished. I don’t know why “they” called it “sewing” … it really should be called “pinning and cursing” … none the less I had fun. :) I doubled the material so it is nice and sturdy, and right sides are showing on the outside and inside of the bag.

The velcro …

The outside (front angle) …

Semi-side angle …

Tada!!

Today while Owen is at school, Lily, Ethan and I are doing some more backyard cleaning.  The other day I cleared out all the land mines (aka dog poop) and raked the whole thing, now its time for trimming back bushes and raking the gardens.  I’m going to be buying a buttload of mulch soon to keep the weeds down.  For my front gardens I’m planning to use Cocoa mulch, but I haven’t decided what to use in the back yard.  Mostly back there I have day lilies and a few other non-maintenance flowers.  I can’t be bothered having anything too special back there because the dog just gets into them.  Such is life with a ball-happy fat black lab.  LOL

Enjoy the day!

Two Knits

Hello! Wow! Something about knitting! Amazing. I recently bought two knitting patterns I’ve had my eyes on for awhile. The Cobblestone Pullover for Michael, and Central Park Hoodie for me. I’m planning to use Cascade 220 for both of them (I love that wool) … I’m thinking charcoal or something along the grey tones for Michael and green for me. I actually like Greystone Heather and Forest Heather. All I have to do is figure out how many skeins I’m going to need. I still have some Chocolate coloured Cascade 220 at home so I’m going to swatch with that before I buy anything new (that should be okay, shouldn’t it??). I just hope that when I’m ready to buy the yarn the colours I want are available.

I’m actually excited about knitting again. We’ll see how long this lasts when I realise I have a stupid afghan for my Mom on the needles.  I will get it done, but man oh man, the yarn is NOT nice to work with. No, I’m not a yarn snob (mostly), but as I’ve said before its just really gross to knit with.

I’ve been sewing. Owen needed a new lunch box for school so I decided to sew him one up brown paper bag style. I came up with the pattern on my own. It’s not 100% together yet, so hopefully it works out. I’ll keep you posted. Lily wants one too, so I’m heading off to Lens MIll to get some pink fabric. She actually wants two … and a dress … oh, and a new Halloween costume. That girl is going to keep me busy!!

Oh, and I still have baby things to knit for my cousin’s baby. I’m just doing a blanket (along with the petal bib) so it shouldn’t take long.

… … … … … … … … …

I’m back from Len’s Mill.  Holy crap there is a lot of fabric there; I’d never been on the left side of the store before.  I could spend a lot of money on fabric.  I already picked out some pajama pants fabric for myself.  I will have to wait to get it though … I will not collect fabric.  I will not collect fabric …  I did buy some pretty Spring (season) fabric for Lily’s lunch bag.  If Owen’s turns out I’ll use the same pattern, if not I’ll do something different.  I also bought some Patons Classic Merino wool to finally finish the Booga Bag I started in December, and three balls of Patons Decor in “new teal”.  The colour in person is much nicer than the colour online.  I’ll post pictures later.

TTFN