As promised, pictures of the afghan I finished for my cousin's first baby.This was done in a hexagon pattern using Caron Simply Soft in Purple, Lavender, and White. It was really soft and only took me 3 weeks to do (working mostly at night for an hour or so). This is one of the chocolate butterflies on the cupcake roses I did for Elena's birthday last Sunday. I think my favorite here was the extra chocolate. :)
I drove to Baltimore yesterday to pick up my SIL from the airport along with her 2 kiddos. Traffic wasn't bad at all, but we got lost trying to get out of the airport and ended up driving towards DC for a 20 minute detour! No worries, because we made our way home with little trouble. We talked the whole way home while the kiddos passed out in the back seat. I've missed Cindy SO much! We're going to get every one settled in today and see what we need to get for her apartment downstairs for the time she's here.

Christmas at the Whitcomb's

I took Thursday off from work so that I could spend it with the kiddos before they went to AR for a week or so. Tim and I ended up going shopping for their gifts during while they visited with my parents. I got to spend 2 hours that evening wrapping everything. :)

Friday the kiddos and I baked some pies and chocolate meatball cookies, then while Tim was at work, we watched some movies and worked on dinner. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, green beans, Mom's deviant wheat rolls, and Hannah's salad. Then we read the Christmas story from the scriptures and opened gifts (since we were traveling on Christmas day). The kiddos loved their gifts. Audie got the bow and arrows he'd been asking for, Dougie ran around in his SWAT gear "shooting" the rest of us, and Chloie is excited to use the knitting needles and *bright* pink and purple yarn we got her after they get back (she's been asking me to teach her to knit for some time). We finally broke down and got them a Wii, though I must admit I like the archery and bowling in the Sports Resort we got with it. We got enough controllers so that all 3 kiddos could play. Tim and I have already challenged each other several times!

We left at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday morning bound for Knoxville, TN. It flurried a little on the way down, but all in all it wasn't bad. The kiddos were occupied for hours with the Crayola Color Wonder sets my parents got for them. Awesome stuff there, BTW, just sayin'. The only place open to eat on the way down was Waffle House. I will tell you that since VA raised the speed limit to 70, the trip went a lot faster. We met, JD left with the kiddos, and Tim and I ate at IHOP.

We left at 2pm from IHOP fully ready to get home around 10 or so, but the weather had a different idea. At about 5:30, the snow had mucked up the roads enough that we were only going 40 mph. Add to that the darkness, and we decided to spend the night at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Dublin, VA. We had dinner at the Waffle House (yay) and passed out from exhaustion. Those beds are comfy! I'd already called my parents to tell them what happened, and I called my friends in the Primary to let them know I couldn't get home to do singing time on Sunday. It broke my heart, but I didn't want to risk the trip.

We left the hotel at 9am and headed home. By that time, the sun was up and the roads were well cleared. Driving home from then on was a breeze. We watched a movie, washed the road grime off, and went to bed. I'm glad to be home. I think we're going to start looking into trains, buses, or airplanes for future trips.

On a bright note, I finished the blanket for my brother-in-law and his wife. I also had enough yarn in those colors left to do booties and a hat to match. I showed her the unfinished blanket Friday night while they were at dinner, but these are the first pics of the finished set.
Aren't they cute!!! So tiny!I admit that the booties are crocheted while the hat and blanket are knit. I wasn't sure that I could do booties with knitting needles, so I went with what I knew.
This project was a first on many fronts. First time using circular knitting needles, first time cabling (the lines and twisting), first time knitting with 2 colors separately, and the first time using double pointed needles (for the hat). I can't wait to do the next one!

When "addiction" meets "OCD"

Sometimes I just can't help myself. Of the top 5 things I could consider addictions in my life, two are ribbon and yarn. When my "addictions" meet my anal-retentiveness, bad things can happen.

Take, for example, the white elephant gift exchange we did last night in the Relief Society meeting. I wrapped my gift in a shoe box... no big deal there... until I put packing tape on the lid to keep it closed. Red paper... check. Ribbon... oh, my! YES! The poor sister who got my package couldn't get the ribbon off, but it looked pretty... This is the final product of the Mystery Crochet-along I did. I still have to finish the other two, but I wanted to get one done. I spent a lot of time obsessing about getting the squares even, but I suppose in the end it all paid off. Oh, and it's warm.

I am now officially 1/2 done the baby blanket for S&H. I say officially because I ran out of yarn from the first skein and had to start the second. I had a wonderful evening talking about knitting with Sister B Carpenter; it was so much fun!

As for my third addiction, well, I'll be caking the night away for the fourth night in a row! I can't wait to finish the cake for tonight!!!

One Down

I've been caking the night away for the last 2 nights in preparation for this weekend, but while things have been baking, I've been trying to finish the afghans I started as part of the Bernat Mystery Crochet-along. I finished one of them last night. Now all I have to do is sew the last one together and put the edging on both of them.

I've also gotten to the half way point on the baby blanket I'm knitting for S&H (no, not shipping and handling). So far it measures 36 x 20 inches. It's funny how something like this will attract attention. I've been sitting in the foyer of the church building on Tuesday nights while Audie is at Scouts, knitting away, and people will stop and watch. Some just watch, others ask what I'm doing it for, what is that extra needle for, or how it is done. I knit in church, too, though not so much to pass the time but to focus on the talks. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but Mom and I are the same way. Repetitive work with our hands helps us listen. I don't know why. Just KOOKY, I guess.

Still Crocheting

I'm waiting for Wednesday's post over at blog.bernat.com with bated breath. They're supposed to give the last clue for the border of the mystery afghan. I can't wait!

I've been trying to put the afghans together. I've finished sewing one together, and I've laid out the squares on the second and safety-pinned them together, but I won't be able to sew it together for a few days. The third is still in pieces. As soon as I get it together I'll post some pictures.

The monster square...

is out to get me...

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I finished 2 1/2 of the 3 I need to do last night, so it's not all that bad. I'll have pictures of it here tomorrow along with one of the flower square.

You know, it doesn't seem like I have enough for the afghan they say I should have. Just saying. And I still have a lot of yarn left over. Maybe this big reveal is the final square?

Gang, I think we've almost solved this mystery!

I'm still recovering from clue 5 and making 16 for each of the 3 afghans I'm crocheting. I've managed to complete clue 6, and am now moving on to clue 7 and 8. This is my progress so far:

These are the colors I chose for my afghan. The colors for my visiting sisters will be a surprise reveal after I give them their afghans.

Clue 1: bottom right, made 2 (6 total)
Clue 2: bottom center, made 4 (12 total)
Clue 3: bottom left, made 8 (24 total)
Clue 4: top right, made 8 (24 total)
Clue 5: top center, made 16 (48 total!)
Clue 6: top left, made 4 (12 total)
Clue 7 is a monstrously HUGE granny square that equals 4 of the 8" squares we've done so far. Thankfully we only have to do 1 for each afghan we're making. I also just printed off clue 8... it's a flower... how cute! They said on the blog that next week is the big reveal, and I can't wait!

The ART of thankfulness

Yesterday was my first normal day in Primary. I say normal because it wasn't a 5th Sunday solid music block bonanza. It was a little sticky for opening exercises because I had practiced the wrong week of music. Oops. It didn't help that the kiddos didn't know one or two of the songs. No worries, though, because we'll learn them soon.

So then starts my 20 minutes with the junior primary. We reviewed "We'll Bring the World His Truth" that we learned last week, then launched into learning "I Am Glad For Many Things" and talking about being thankful. So I taught them the song and told them things I'm grateful for... warm fuzzy socks in the winter, hot chocolate, blankets, kiddos, and most importantly my Savior. They seemed to respond well and had some ideas of their own. So we sang the song, and then I chose 3 helpers to draw their ideas on the white board. We continued this cycle - sing, draw, sing, draw - until we ran out of time. They were grateful for many things, of which the most popular was family. There must have been 8 drawings of families up there; how humbling to know that children that young already know the importance of family! There were also presents, clothes, pets and the like. Such artwork!

I had a 20 minute break to rest the voice and ogle over Scarlet Markland. She is such a cutie!

Obviously drawing wasn't going to work on the senior primary... you know the older kids that are too cool to do anything like that...

Yeah, OK.

So instead we chose scriptures from the Topical Guide headers under thank, thanks, thankful, and thanksgiving. We sang and took turns reading between verses. I even got to offer a nifty tidbit of information about how the topical guide was formed and why. Love the BYU channel. In any case, they left with slightly more understanding than when they came in which is OK by me.

Then I got to do nursery. Oh. My. Goodness.

I think 10 minutes with them wore me out more than the 5th Sunday solid music block bonanza. I've discovered that until I fix the pain in my back that I shouldn't sit on the floor. Ever. The bitties seemed to have fun with the songs. Even more so when we sang "It's Autumn Time" and Sister Gilbert started making the leaves fall. Everyone got a sticker with a smiling sunshine on it and walked away giggling. It made all the pain worth it.

I'm still trying to recover. In reality it started a couple days ago, and not bad at first, but standing in the work shop probably didn't help, and neither did sitting on the floor. Tim has popped the difficult bones back into place twice in the last 4 days, and that's a record. Usually I only need it after a week of standing in the kitchen for a cake, so I think it *might* be getting worse. Maybe it's finally time to see a doctor about it... or not. We'll try a hot soak and icy-hot and see what we get.

In the mean time, I owe you an update on my mystery crochet-a-long progress, and I'll post pictures of everything I have done to this point tomorrow. I've finally finished clue 5. It only took me 2 1/2 weeks to do it, but now I finally have time to catch up on clues 6 and 7. You'll see why tomorrow. :)

Looking forward to April

After this weekend's General Conference, I'm looking forward to April. I'm amazed at how much more relevant things are and how much more they make sense. It seems that things are slowly coming together, and honestly, I like what I'm seeing. :)

Tim had to work through Conference. At least he was able to go to the Priesthood session Saturday night. I missed having him there. Audie even gained an interest when one of the speakers Sunday spoke about the Aaronic Priesthood. I told him to pay attention because he'd be doing these things in a couple of years. He actually sat and listened. I'm so proud!

The kiddos and I were able to do a lot of work on the dressers over the weekend. I know, I know, I owe you progress pictures. Soon, I promise! We got the frame assembled for one of them before I ran out of screws, and we now have 4 of the 6 big drawers completed and ready for Tim to polyurethane. I think the kiddos and I will finish putting everything together this weekend and let Tim do his thing. I really have no desire to coat everything... that's his job.

I've also been working on knitting my sweater and crocheting the squares for the mystery afghan. Don't tell the sisters I visit teach, but these are Christmas gifts!

I'm family, tell me?

I just read over on my SIL's blog that they went in for their 15 week appointment and got to see baby again. It's so exciting seeing all of this happen for them! In the mean time I'm chomping at the bit to make them an afghan, but I have to find out if the wee bitty is a boy or a girl so that I can make it in the right colors... and they know!!! They found out yesterday, and the suspense is killing me! Do I get pink or blue, lacy or solid, thick or thin, bright or pastel? So many yarn choices that can't be made without that one little tidbit of info...

I'm not addicted to yarn, I promise.

Unless it's genetic like they believe alcoholism to be, then I'm in trouble because my mother has a long standing love affair with yarn. Boxes of yarn. Baskets of yarn. Bins of yarn. Bags of yarn. Cubie storage things of yarn. Thick yarn, thin yarn, sparkly yarn, soft yarn, wool yarn, fuzzy yarn, it's all there. It's hard to tell where it ends. I suppose there are more disturbing hobbies and collections than one such as this. I just love the colors! There's also something very satisfying about finishing a project, stepping and seeing someone enjoying it, and knowing that you made that (for my BIL and SIL, don't worry, that goes DOUBLE for babies).

Mommy Milk! Mommy Milk!

And now for a moment of hilarity and embarrassment...

Sunday was a pretty busy day (more on that in a minute), but as we were heading home for some lasagna-making and a nap while it baked, we saw some cows. Cows feeding calves. Cows with udders feeding calves. So the conversation goes something like this...

"Mommy, I know what those are called... they're called udders!"

"Do you know what udders do?"

"Yes, they make milk. Mommy, do mommies make milk?"

"Yes, we do after we have wee-bitty babies. We feed them with milk our bodies make like cows do."

"Did you feed us milk when we were little babies?"

"Yes, I did."

"So we had mommy milk?"

"Yes."

"Can we have more mommy milk?"

(all three) "Mommy milk! Mommy milk! We want mommy milk!"

"Oh, dear."

Serves me right answering questions about mommies and babies when they're this age. Luckily they quickly forgot about "mommy milk" soon after we starting talking about making lasagna when we got home.

Saturday was a fun-filled day of wood-working. We coated the small drawers with polyurethane and put together 2 more of the big drawers. When we tried to do the last two big drawers, we only had 2 long pieces and 1 short piece (enough to do 3/4 of a drawer). Where did the rest of the pieces go? Are you sure we bought the wood? Yes, we checked the planks off as we got them. Are you sure we cut the pieces? Yes, because we marked off the pieces as we finished cutting them to size. So where are they? We can't find them!

Calling my organizational skills into jeopardy, we're still missing 5 pieces of wood, and I don't know where they are. So I finished carving the mortise and tenon joints for the back frame and moved the big drawers we had already completed so that I could use the counter space... and found our missing pieces under them. Haha. Funny, Tim. So we took a nap and had lunch, then we worked some more on the dressers. We put the last 2 drawers together, routed out the recess for the panel in the back frames and completed the back frame assembly, and found out that we had cut the front drawer covers too short. Yes, we did. Tim's response was that we're still learning. Sure, let's go with that. I'll have pictures to post soon of our progress.

I stopped by Lowe's and got some 1x8x6 white pine so that we could re-do the pieces we cut too short, and headed to the church for Women's Conference. I got to eat dessert with some wonderful sisters in Relief Society and talk knitting with Bette Carpenter. I just love the scarf she was knitting out of grayish eyelash yarn! We sat in the back of the chapel knitting together while we listened to the speakers of the evening. During the third talk, JaNae and I received confirmation of our theme for the Visiting Teaching Conference next year. I can't wait to do it, and I can't wait for you to see what we have planned! :)

I loved hearing President Monson speak to us. Not only is he funny, but you can tell from the way he talks to us that he has a genuine love for the sisters of the Church. He exudes warmth and compassion. Overall an awesome conference. I can't wait to see what we hear this Sunday at General Conference!

Sunday was full of service, and I'm honestly surprised at how satisfying it was. We presented the crochet-along in RS, and had a lot of interest (more than I was expecting). I'm teaching my BFF how to crochet Tuesday night so that she can participate. I'm doing the crochet-along in two yarns and bringing in the squares each week with the associated clues for the sisters to see. We spent time with my parents and had Mom's new enchilada recipe for lunch. It was very tasty! Then the kiddos and I got to visit some sisters on our way home. We saw Sister Fanning at her new apartment and gave her some canned peaches and flowers. It was nice to sit and talk to her for a little bit. Then we stopped by Jayne and Joe's house so that I could visit with her. All three of the kiddos at some point during our time at church came up to her individually to tell her that we were coming over to deliver cookies. They got to feed the chickens and play with their children while Jayne and I talked. I learned that they like crabs. Me too!!! We've decided that if they get the crabs, I'll make dessert. :)

101 posts!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I'd passed the 100-post mark. I suppose that should be cause for celebration (at least it is for TV shows), but I can never be sure.

Yesterday I crocheted the first clue of the Bernat Mystery Crochet-Along. I love this yarn. It's not much thicker than the Red Heart super saver yarn I usually use, but when I wash the finished afghan it will be very soft. Here are the printed directions for the first square (crochet x2), the yarn I used (Contrast A for me is Natural), the hook, and the completed squares. I ran through the tutorial they had on the blog to check my gauge just in case. Turns out I'm spot on.The 4" x 4" swatch to test my gauge only took 10 minutes, and I took it out once I'd verified everything so that I could reuse the yarn (I don't like to waste). The squares themselves only took about 30 minutes each to complete and measure 8" x 8". I can't wait to compare squares with others that are doing this project with me. Mom said she'd printed out the pattern, but hadn't started yet. She did say that she was going to use regular yarn so it should be interesting to see what hers looks like. On Sunday, JaNae and I are going to see if any of the RS sisters would like to "crochet-along" with us. I think it would be a fun activity that we could do as a group, and it would be an opportunity for less experienced crocheters to learn something new. It seems kind of anti-climactic to wait a week to only do 2 squares and only spend an hour on them. I suppose that as the difficulty is increase in later squares that it will take a little longer. In the mean time I can finish the throw pillow covers I've been working on. I only have 6 more inches to knit on this one, then I can put them all together. I also have Tim's quilt to finish (I'm abot 1/3 done), and we as a family have the boys' dressers to complete. I need to take pictures of that progress...

Oh, and we're baking cookies tonight for the sisters I visit teach (and some to keep home). Looks like the kiddos and I will have a busy evening.

I got my yarn

... and not a moment too soon! I was starting to worry. Funny thing is, I checked the mail box yesterday when we got home, and it was empty. Then I checked the confirmation number on the shipment and it said it had been delivered. The mail carrier was nice enough to put the box and the rest of our mail inside the garage door.Now I just have to patiently wait until the first clue comes out tomorrow. I'm so excited!

I'm beginning to like this new schedule.

It's still a challenge getting up in the morning with no one else awake. I'm still trying to figure out the best route to take to work that early in the morning. We're still working out the kinks, but I think it's worth it.

Yesterday I met Mom and Dougie at our favorite local craft store. She was looking for yarn so that she could also participate in the Bernat mystery crochet-a-long (follow along on Wednesdays here). I'll be posting my progress on here, don't worry. I found a soft, light-weight teal yarn I'm planning on using to knit a sweater after my favorite store-bought one. I'll adjust the pattern as I do it, however, to account for my height and a little more length in the sleeves.

We got to the bus stop to wait for Audie and Chloie, and I let Dougie play with my phone. He received great joy shaking the free "rolling dice" game and adding the numbers together. We got everyone home, homework done, and planners signed. They even washed out their drink containers and cleaned their lunch boxes! Chloie finished her homework first and asked to play her PS3 game, Audie asked to do his Hama beads set from the movie Cars. He made a trophy and an image of Lightening.McQueen. Dougie played with Chloie on the PS3 for a while. We had Mac-n-cheese with hot dogs for dinner, and I taught the kiddos how to rinse their dishes in the sink after meals (something else they're going to take more responsibility for). We left for the church for Scouts on time today; I love how this schedule doesn't make our evening activities so rushed and hectic. I scoured the house for Audie's form, but couldn't find it, so I had to get a new one from Sister Vincent. I was able to work on redoing the visiting teaching routes while Chloie and Dougie played, and JaNae and I sat there for another 45 minutes after Scouts were done going over the results. I plan to go in a little early Sunday to finish up and get everything printed out for the supervisors.

We stopped by Lowe's to see Tim. His boss, Chad, got to meet the whole family finally, and we purchased more 3/4" screws for our dresser project. By the time we got home, it was late. I mean LATE. 9:30 is well past their bed time, and I'm starting to see that it's almost past mine, too. With this new schedule, I can't seem to get up and exercise. I'm planning on going to bed by 9:30 tonight and do my walk tomorrow morning. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight back... I'm still sitting at 273. We'll see how I feel about getting up tomorrow.

How is progress measured?

Progress is a funny thing. Sometimes you see a lot of it all at once. Sometimes it takes what seems like forever before you see anything. Sometimes it looks like you're going backwards.

Take, for example, this import project at work. Over the last week that we've been testing it, I've noticed a drastic reduction in the amount of errors I have to address each week. Time management is getting better because less time is spent doing the tasks that the imports handle. This kind of progress is encouraging, but not all progress is this noticeable.

Another instance to consider is my website. It's taken a long time to get it, and now that I've got it, the only thing there is an "under construction" page. Unfortunately, that's all I know how to do at the moment. I've started working on the content, but it is very slow progress. Getting to the temple, too, has been a slow process. After 3 years, I'm finally going next Saturday. My interviews are done, my appointment is scheduled (anyone who wants to be there should arrive by 10:30 for the 11am session), and now all I have to do is get there on time.

Finally, my third examination involves the dreaded diet. Blah! Last week I started out at 15 minutes a day; this week I cranked it up to 30 minutes a day, and I've managed to GAIN weight. I'm sure that Monday's festivities and missing Wednesday's walk didn't help matters any, but it's not the kind of progress I'm hoping for. Now I can keep my hopes up by saying that working out had built muscle, that muscle weighs more than fat and has contributed to my gain, that this increased muscle mass will burn more fat and eventually show a loss, but I'm not sure I believe it. For now I plan to stick with it and maybe increase the number of days to 6. Tim will move to day shift on Sunday, so that will throw a little kink into the schedule, but I plan on getting up at 4:45am to continue my regimen. Dougie has even suggested that we do yoga in the afternoons after I pick him, Audie, and Chloie up and get them home. I've heard that exercise sharpens the mind; maybe it will benefit the kiddos before they start their homework?

On the bright side, I've learned that the yarn I ordered for the mystery corchet-a-long is shipping today. Is it possible to consider this progress if I haven't actually started the project?