The Christmas that never ends....

Did I mention that 2007 Christmas is just going on and on? We have a private Christmas with each of the grown kids, usually prior to Christmas and then the mass chaos of the 25th, plus daughter #3 who always has us over on the 6th of Jan in defference to my dad's family tradition of gift giving on Epiphany.

This year, total bedlam instead. Only 3 had Christmas with us before, and so now we are stacked up. Instead of the relaxation after Christmas, I feel like I'm trying to psych myself up over and over again. Last night was daughter #2, and it was great. But now, today is son #2's family (he's in the Middle East) and possibly son #3. (His schedule is nuts). This weekend is son# 4. Then, daughter #3 next week, then Christmas again when aforementioned son #2 comes home in Feb.

What I really want is to snuggle in with a good snowstorm and some killer hot cocoa(with whipped cream!) and knit to my heart's content.

Yippee!!! Knitting stuff for Christmas!!

Wahoo!! We had Christmas tonight with daughter #2 and her family. She made me one of her fabulous bags, especially for my knitting!! I love it! Totally retro. And the kids know I am collecting childrens books about knitting, so they got me TWO I didn't have!

Christmas was great. This is what it's all about here on the farm..my 77 year old father in law chats it up with my 7 month old grandson, Jefferson. This image made me cry.....

CHRISTMAS!!!

Calm before the storm.....The grownup stockings just before we took them down to fill.

The day is past and the exhaustion is setting in! Only 5 of our kids could come home this year so the numbers were not staggering. We kept the food simple, sliced turkey, ham, and roast beef with a vat of potato soup. The guys peeled TWENTY pounds of potatoes! Bless them! Sixteen of the grandkids were here and all played happily together. Even the teens!

This year five of our kids have elected to have our special private dinners with them after Christmas. It's very strange. Christmas is over, but my room is still STACKED with gifts!

Wahoo! Break in heat!

Thank goodness! Everything is cooked, lawn, garden, children! The dehydrator is humming along daily, packed with tomatoes and squash. The dried tomatoes are SO GOOD! Sweet and chewy and then a twang of acid. Yum! And the squash chips, sprinkled with garlic salt are just as good!

UGH STILL HOT!

YUCK! It's almost 100 degrees again today. Blah. I'm NOT a summer kinda gal. I like to get the fire going, bake bread, and cuddle under blankies with the babies. I love the feeling of watching a beautiful snowstorm outside while my home keeps me warm and snug. Sigh.

Anyway, squash is in the dehydrator today; cubes, shredded, and chips. When it's done, we'll load tomatoes. I love to snack on a dried roma tomato! One thing about the heat, it is so good for all the tomatoes and eggplants! We just keep getting thunderstorms late in the day, and we don't even have to water.

I'm knitting a fuzzy blue baby blankie. Well. I thought it was a BABY blanket. It seems rather larger than I thought it would be, and fuzzier? I'm using Hobby Lobby brand Yarn Bee Soft Delight in 2 shades of blue. It was $5 a skein, then they marked it done to $.99 regular price (?) and THEN a weekly sale was all their Yarn Bee yarn 50% off ! At $.50 a skein, I bought a LOT. Now I need to use it! It's easy to knit with and very soft. It doesn't hold it's shape very well, and it IS very fuzzy, I'm thinkin' it might be nasty in baby's mouth. But, another grandchild has already begged for it, so maybe it's a big kid blankie!

HOT!!

Whoa! It's HOT and HUMID! Oh, wait, it's August in Indiana, situation normal. The lovely thing is that our home is cool and dark. Perfect for a mountain dweller like me! And, I can knit, knit, knit! I'm making the granddaughters "Twirly Tops" from Vickie Howell's book, New Knits on the Block. I made the first one, and then thought, DUH! So I'm doing the next one on circs, WAY faster, and more fun!

Rain and knitting

It's raining. A lovely gentle rain that is soaking the garden. So, I planned today as an indoor day. But Joe and Sam, dgs who are 4 and 3, keep running outside to play. They are staying here for a few days because it is Circus time and their family is busy!! And, I've not seen them in TWO whole weeks! 4H prep, then fair, then new baby, and now Circus! So, I politely requested to borrow them for a few just to enjoy their company. Big brother Jon, 10, is staying too; he needed LOTS of swim and bike time. I love watching them play in this perfect summer rain, my big guys are running and laughing with them. Me, I'm sitting on my vintage glider typing on my laptop. ?? The picture would be better if I picked up my knitting instead! I need to finish the scarf for the Red Scarf Project and the squares for the Victory Junction. Both are deadlines looming over me!

Exceptional day!

So far... everyone is in a pleasant mood, schoolwork is done, house chores are done, and we are ready for the little ones. ??? WHAT is going on? Please, Lord, let it continue!!!

New baby!

Dd Mary delivered a healthy baby boy this morning at 1:28am. Jefferson Woodrow is a blessing on our family, all 7lbs. 15oz. of him! Current totals : grandsons 14 granddaughters 10. Even I am wowed!

4H fair week

..is almost over! The boys did well with the few projects they took this year. Mike was champion and then grand champion in gardening, champion model airplane and reserve champion in needlework with his knitting. Both Matt and Aaron got all blues with their entries. We picked up animals today, and tomorrow we hand out ribbons and we are DONE for another year!

Birthday thinking

Yesterday was my 51st birthday. (How the heck did THAT happen?) I also met our new pastor for the first time. The two got me thinking about introductions. If you had to introduce yourself, and really try to convey the essence of who you are, what would you say? Five short sentences? Five nouns and then an explanation of what that means to you? Five points of your life that shaped who you are? Five people who have helped form you? I have no idea why "5", just a nice number, less than 6. excuse me while I play with this.....

Five nouns: 1. Christian
2. Wife
3. Mother
4. Grandmother
5. ????

The first four were easy. The fifth, not so easy. Reader? Bibliophile? Knitter? Master Gardner? Seamtress?

Gardening

We moved all the raised beds from the back acres into the front side yard. HUGE job! But, with all the babies, getting into the back was very difficult. Now they are just a few yards away from the playground equipment. So, weeding can happen while the little ones are in the sand box.

Tomatoes, peppers and squash are in the ground so far. The next bed will be all paste tomatoes, and the next one is for green and yellow beans. After that, it's all play. Some cukes, some carrots, some eggplants. The potatoes stay in back as they require less maitenence after they are mulched.

Now, it's lovely to come into the AC and knit on the EZ pi shawl.

WHEW!

It's been busy here! Lots of birthdays, lots of activities, lots of heat! Fortunately, some knitting also got done. I finished the Cobweb shawl. But I think there is something wrong somewhere. At the increase rows, it looks as if it's ruffled? When I try to gently pull it out into shape, it doesn't seem to help. Hmmmm.......

Nikko's Red Scarf Project

I came across this today. As a former foster parent, adoptive parent, and homeschooling mom of 3 sons who were at one time our foster children, this mission touched my heart. Two of my boys knit, and several of my girls, along with various grandchildren. Red scarves, here we come!

Progress!

I'm slowly but surely working my way through the Cobweb Shawl pattern. Last night I finished the rotation I was working on and the last increase series. Pretty good, considering that I was yelling through the finale of Dancing With the Stars at the time. I found 1 mistake, and fixed it. I thought. This morning I looked at it, and guess what? Not so fixed. I have a lovely repair, but it's supposed to be a hole! Hmmmm.......

Second sweater done!

Making yet another grandchild yell!

I finished the second hooded sweater, seems like this one fits Kymi. She is (unhappily)wearing a size 12 month, but this is knit for the 24 month size and is NOT too big. Hmmm....I know, SWATCH! The pattern is Lion Brand "Simple Hooded Cardigan" and the yarn is Laines DuNord "Softlight" . I bought it at a retreat we went to sponsored by River Knits. The pattern calls for 2-3 skeins of Lion Brand Jiffy, so I was hoping 2-3 balls would do it. Of course, the pattern does not include the yardage, and I didn't have a wrapper or my laptop that weekend. Feeling insecure, I bought 5. Guess what? I ran out halfway through the hood! Thankfully, Steph had bought 1 ball of the green, so I striped it in, finished the hood, and added some duplicate stitch to make it look like it was done on purpose!

The next one is for Andy, and I increased the overall size after he tried it on.

Thunder

I'm trying to learn to use my new laptop for more than just email. This sweet darling is trying to figure out WHY I need to do anything except hug him! Thunder and his sister Lightning are hanging here with their Mama Nellie until DD takes them home.