The Calm Before the Storm

Twas the night before Christmas....And all through the house....not a creature was stirring...

Except mommy and daddy :)

But we've finished our tasks for the night and the house is quiet. We each have a mug of mulled wine, A Christmas Story is on the tv, and the kids aren't even coughing (a recent development).

Ok, nix that, Lucy just coughed again. Hope this one doesn't turn into bronchitis again.

Anyway, it's been a busy day, but it's nice to sit down and relax, and know that while the next week may be a crazy whirlwind, right now is quiet. Calm. Peaceful.

We had a lovely service at church this evening. It was packed and we skated in just as they were starting, so we went up to the balcony - lucky there were seats still there! The downstairs was Full. Both kids did well - they were a bit antsy, but no more so than any of the other kids there.

We came home and set out cookies for Santa, then Lucy went to bed and Toby helped wrap a couple presents. We checked the Santa Tracker a couple times, then off went Toby to bed.

We did manage a nice family photo before church, but those are on the camera still.

I probably won't be on again for a few days, so Merry Christmas to all!

How tall are you?

I get the feeling Toby may hear this all his life!

Out of curiosity, I did a growth predictor on both kids this morning (put in their age and size and it predicts how tall they will be as an adult).

Toby, who is currently 3 foot 7 inches and 43 lbs, should be 6 foot 3 as an adult. That's a full foot taller than me!

Lucy, who is currently 2 foot 9 inches and 27 lbs, should be 5 foot 3 inches as an adult.
I know that one is all genes o' mine.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

It took me longer than promised, but here are the pics from Lucy's bday!

First up, the bday girl in front of the Christmas tree

The after shot of her first haircut
Bangs!
"before shot"
Lucy's ladybug birthday cake (she and Toby both loved the ladybugs!)
Birthday presents!
Lucy's new kitchen set

I think we're going to repaint the kitchen at a later date - the spray paint just didn't take well, but by that time we were too late in the operation to go buy regular paint. But we can always upgrade! Lucy loves the little oven mitts too :)

She had her 2 year checkup this week too - 28 lbs and 33 inches. She's right about 50th percentile on both!

December??!?

I know I keep promising to keep the blog updated, but life has been super hectic lately. Christmas seems to do that every year, doesn't it?

While I am busy making Christmas gifts and goodies, and wrapping said gifts and cookies, the kids are keeping busy too...

I won't even try to explain. Except to say they were both happy.

We went out Christmas tree hunting just over a week ago...I love the local tree farm we use.

Here is our tree in the field

The kids had so much fun finding the tree and helping to decorate it. I've even been able to not put the "super yard" around it this year (ie, while sorely tempted the kids are not playing with the ornaments). Though I don't trust them with packages, so those will stay hidden until Christmas Eve. I do need to take a picture of the decorated tree...I didn't realize I hadn't taken one until just now!

The van got a flat yesterday so I'm staying put today - while I can drive on the spare, it just doesn't drive nearly as nicely and I'm so afraid it will leave me sit! We're hoping to get it patched tomorrow. At least we noticed the flat in the driveway, not at some store somewhere!

The big news around here is that Lucy's big "2" birthday is tomorrow. Toby is super excited and Curtis and I have been working hard on her gift! I am so excited.

All my Christmas shopping is done, which is a great feeling! Now it's time to get busy in the kitchen, and finish up those last Christmas cards.

Merry Christmas, and I will get some Birthday pics up tomorrow or Wednesday!

Michelle

ETA: I just updated my crafts blog too so if you want to see what I've been up to, pop on over. http://knittygrittychel.blogspot.com

I Really Have Been Busy

So I knew I'd been neglecting the blog of late, but I didn't realize I was 2 months behind until today - eek! So I'm showcasing some of my recent projects, sorry for the lack of details!

These are actually from this morning. My baby (sniff sniff) turns 2 tomorrow, and her present is a wooden kitchen set that daddy has been busy painting for her. So this morning I sat down and made oven mitts and a hot pad for her little set. I have also knitted a towel and washcloth for her to use with it. These mitts were so easy, and it was my first experiment with quilting - success!

These are 2 corduroy dresses I made for Lucy for this winter. Both use the same pattern and sewed up very fast.

Some of you know I have a much cherished Vera Bradley pink elephants bag and love it love it love it. When I had the opportunity to buy a yard of the fabric I jumped on it like nobody's business. I have several small projects in mind (and have a travel mug that now matches my purse), but this is one of my favorites I have done with it.
Here are 2 of the waldorf dolls I have been working on. Each of these has a firefighter outfit and an army outfit.
I have also made two dolls for my own kids, but alas, they are still naked. I have 10 days until Christmas, so I need to get hopping on some clothes for them! I spent 2 nights trying to knit up a sweater, but in frustration I threw that down yesterday and haven't had the patience to try again...it may not happen for a couple days.

And I will be working up a step by step process on the waldorf dolls - the pics have been taken, but that tutorial won't be available until next year!

These are some booties I knit for a friend

And a cashmere scarf I knit for a raffle...it is so soft...wish I could have kept it for myself!
Ok, all I used on this project was glue, but he was one of our Halloween decorations this year and I just adore him.
My first attempt at entrelac and I am in love! I also learned backwards knitting on this one and it was so smooth! I can't wait to do another of these, but I am waiting for the right yarn to come along.
A vest I sewed for my son...he picked the fabric and all :)
Ok, so I am caught up! Now I just need to finish these mittens, some clothes for the dolls, some handpuppets for Christmas present...oh dear, not enough time!

Happy Thanksgiving (and goodbye November?)

This month has just gotten away from me...I had the best of intentions of posting with more regularity, but C was gone on several work trips, and suddenly it was Thanksgiving!

My parents came down for the weekend (yay!) so we had a super fun Thanksgiving and finished off their visit with a trip to the zoo today.

Here's me and Toby at the zoo

My fav, the elephants!
Curtis in his rented wheels. LOL. He has tendinities in his knees, and while it is slowly improving, there is no way he could have made the trip through the zoo so he rented a chair. At least I didn't have to push him! See what turning 30 does to you?
Pink flamingo
The new geyser at the zoo...very cool
An elk
Toby and Lucy got to see Santa this weekend! Toby was very excited and gave a comprehensive list :P


Thanksgiving dinner
Waiting on the food
Mmmm, dinner rolls
The grill master, himself
It's been a great weekend, as you can see!

Is it really November?

I know. It seems like I say that every month, but really, where does the time go? Halloween done? Thanksgiving up to bat? Christmas REALLY just around the corner? Not to mention the slew of birthdays we have coming up - it really is birthday season in this house! But we LOOOOOVE birthdays, so that really is icing on the holiday season cake.

And don't tell my hubby (who is decidedly against Christmas carols before Thanksgiving), but I had the Christmas cd's going today

:)

So, I actually had the camera out this weekend (I know, amazing, right?) and thought I'd share some.

First up is Toby being silly this morning...sometimes I wonder whether his Real Name is Linus.

Funny story about that...he watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in the week before Halloween. He didn't seem too enthralled with it, but watched it nonetheless. So this week we had to run into Walgreens, and while we were standing in line, Toby and Lucy were just staring at all the big Christmas inflatables in the windows. One of the inflatibles was of Snoopy on his doghouse, with Christmas lights on the doghouse...Toby got all excited and said "I saw that guy in my movie!!!" LOL!

Oh, and of course I have to share the Halloween bounty...and no, Lucy's face is not messy from candy...it's s'mores...mmmmmmm


(Toby did not like the s'mores. If I hadn't birthed him myself I'd think he weren't my son. Who doesn't like s'mores???)


Toby doesn't take naps anymore...instead he has quiet time in his room. He's usually pretty good about playing quietly with his toys, and sometimes even lays down for a nap of his own accord. Well, today when I told him he could come out, he could barely get the words out but I think I head "I made my family! Come see!"

So I go in to see what he's all worked up about and was over the moon about his artwork!!!
He told me who each figure was...don't ask me where the sheep came from. We do not have a sheep. We are not planning on getting a sheep. But in Toby's family portrait, there is a sheep.

And for some odd reason, I decided today would be a good day to start working on Lucy's 2 year portraits. I had a new dress for her and a new backdrop and wanted to see how they looked together - I wasn't really expecting to get anything decent, as it wasn't the right time of day for the light I need, but wanted to play around with my fav lens!

I was pleasantly suprised with some decent shots. I still have some other places/ outfits I want to try, but it was fun to play. And I think I need Daddy's help getting her to smile/ look in the right general direction. Of course, it would have helped had Toby not been throwing fits because he wanted HIS pictures taken. I told him to go put on some nicer clothes and I'd take his picture. He came out in sweat shorts and a too-small baseball jersey. LOL. I did get some pics but haven't had those up to process yet, so I'm not posting any of those.

Anyway, these were some of Lucy's that I played with a little.


The last one is my favorite but I'm still SO mad that I cut off the top of her head! You can't even see her headband! All the other shots from above were either out of focus or she wasn't looking at me...and I even had a smile here! GAH!

Anyway, I think the kids had some fun playing photo shoot, so I hope they will put up with some more shots in the coming weeks...I'm thinking this was the first of many.

Lucy's been talking up a storm lately too...she's now talking in 4-5 word sentences. And she's usually very clear in what she's saying! It blows me away most times...Toby definitely didn't talk like this at 22 months! Oh lordy, what will she be talking like at 13? I shudder to think... :P

Tonight I was planning to make a pizza for dinner. I thought it would be fun, I would get both kids helping...cleaned off the kitchen counter so we had plenty of room..and Toby decided he did NOT want pizza. Threw a fit at the mere thought. So plan B, I had a frozen ravioli bake ready to toss in the oven, the kids love ravioli, so I did that. When it came time to eat, Toby was sure he was getting both pizza and ravioli...I could NOT get it through his head that when he said he didn't want pizza, I didn't make pizza. He then threw a fit that the ravioli had cheese sauce when he wanted tomato sauce! I can't win! Lucy was excited at the prospect and dug in, but then she decided she didn't like it. Toby wouldn't touch it until he figured out that there was no candy for dessert unless he ate some ravioli, so he tried it and proclaimed it "yummy". Lucy didn't touch the rest of hers until she saw big brother getting candy, then she managed to choke it down so she could get candy too.

It was an awful lot of fighting on their part through dinner, but both managed to clean their plates. I guess we chalk this one up as a win?

Happy Halloween!

Sorry for the belated post, but things have been rather crazy around here lately. The goal for today is to get the Halloween pumpkins OFF the porch. In fact, I'm going to do that right now...be back in a minute...

Ok, THAT nasty job out of the way and trash to the curb, Diego is entertaining the children, so I have 20 minutes to get this finished up.

Halloween was a big day here! Toby was super excited and was counting down the days. Saturday morning Michael's, the big cradt store, had a craft for kids so I took Toby and Lucy stayed home for time with Daddy. Toby had a great time decorating his bucket, and made a couple little crafts...and it was all FREE! Then we came home for lunch and naps.

After nap and a quick run to the store, we headed to a friend's house for a Halloween party - and if there's any way to get Toby excited, it's a party! There were several families from church there, and tons of kids...it was a fabulous Halloween party! We had hamburgers and hot dogs off the grill, margaritas for the moms and dads, and then a group Trick or Treating, which was a blast. Toby and Lucy had a great time, though Toby got so tired he eventually gave up and just wanted to be carried. Lucy wouldn't quit Trick or Treating, no matter how tired she was.

Lucy ended up wearing her cheerleader costume - it was way too hot for the plush skunk costume we had! And Toby finally got to wear his skeleton costume!




Everyone had a wonderful time and I can't believe we're well into November already! Where is the fall going? The mornings are chilly here and you can fill the nip of winter on his way. It's time to start thinking Thanksgiving, and dare I say it? Christmas. Yikes!

I am trying to finish up a slew of projects before Christmas. I just finished the bulk of the knitting on Toby's Christmas vest...I have the front and back done and together, just need to do the ribbing around the neck and armholes. Next up is Lucy's Christmas dress! And I have to have those done before any pictures!

Conversations with a 3 year old

Toby: How do you make Raisin Bran?
Mommy: Well, you take bran and smash it to make flakes and then you put in raisins.
Toby: How do you make raisins?
Mommy: You take grapes and lay them out in the sun, and when they get all dried up and wrinkly, they turn into grapes.
Toby: How do you make grapes?
Mommy: You plant a seed and a grapevine grows, and the grapes grow on that.
Toby: Do we have any grapes?
Mommy: No.
Toby: Well, you better grow some.
Mommy: It's not the right time of year to grow grapes. It's getting too cold outside.
Toby: Well, you better go to the store and buy some then.

He really cracks me up sometimes.

Wet Weekend

This is the one weekend at the zoo I look forward to all year long...Boo and the Zoo...a two day event with games and musicians/ magicians/ clowns and all sorts of fun for the kids...and with our season pass, that makes it a free extra-fun day at the zoo. So I've been planning this trip for probably 2 months now. It's a Saturday/ Sunday event...I really preferred to go on Saturday, as Sunday gets full quite fast, but the weather report was sketchy for Saturday. Calling for showers, but warm weather, and they said several times it wouldn't be a washout of a day. So Curtis and I decided we don't mind getting a little wet, we'd take umbrellas and rain jackets, and we'd have fun no matter what.

That was before Toby had his vote.

So this is a Halloween/ costume event. Lucy's costume for this year is a skunk, but that is a warm fleece costume, so I pulled out her little NC State cheerleader outfit (got it for super cheap last year on clearance) and dressed her up. Toby was adamant he was not wearing his costume, so we said, fine, you don't have to, and packed up for the zoo.

It wasn't raining when we got there, which gave us a little time to play games and look around before the rains came...and when it rained, it poured. Lucy loved her rainjacket and ran around in the rain having a grand time. But Toby...well, Toby was not in a happy go lucky mood. He refused to put up his hood, he refused to get out of the stroller to look at animals, and he refused to have the stroller hood over his head...so he pretty much sat in the rain and got soaked. By the halfway point it was time for lunch, but the rain was really coming down, so we decided to pull the plug, make for the car, and find a bite for a lot cheaper in Asheboro. Poor Toby was so cold at this point his lips were blue, but we found some dry clothes for him and he was better soon. But it really was a washout of a day, and what's worse, I didn't even see the special exhibit of African Violets that I was really looking forward to seeing! Bah.

Here are some pics...the first is from earlier this week when Toby climbed in the crib with Lucy...they had a grand time of it :)

Lucy the cheerleader

Toby's Halloween shirt
Lucy loved the turtles
Exploring the zoo
Playing games
And watching the sea lions (the both loved them!)
Anyway, we pulled out of the zoo and the sun came out (no joke). We talked about going back after lunch, but Toby was pretty cold so we decided to pass, and by the time we got home it was raining again anyway. Today has been a quiet day around the house.

Toby is pretty excited about Halloween so I'm really hoping for nice weather next weekend!