Spring and stuff

As you can see, my crocuses continue to bloom beautifully.  And, in honor of the glorious spring weather, I am painting my toenails [green for St Patrick's Day in this picture] and wearing flip-flops as often as I can.  I know that the weather here changes frequently.  I have experienced snowstorms here in almost every single month, excluding August and September.  And so, I am enjoying every single drop of sunshine that I can. 

Jared left this morning for a week-long trip to Chicago.  Since it was Sunday, and our worship service begins at 11am, I was looking forward to a nice, sleepy morning.  Not so: about 7:30am the fire alarm began beeping.  My adorable daughter was trying to cook pancakes, and burned one or two.  I blame her father for this domestic habit- he, too, enjoys getting up way too early on weekends and cooking things.  Luckily, there was no fire.  However, there was also a disturbing lack of pancakes.  We managed to overcome that with a muffin mix or two.

In other news, the snow is disappearing rapidly from our backyard.  I'd like to say that this is because our weather is just terribly warm for this time of the year.  It has more to do with the pick-axe and my oldest son, though.  He has been chopping up the foot of icy snow that lingered in the shade of our north-facing backyard.  Then he would use a shovel and fling it onto the grass that was unshaded, so the sun could melt it during the day. 

This is what our patio looks like now.  And, shortly after this picture was taken, he had removed the rest of that ice and snow.  It's all sitting on the lawn now, in rather large chunks, waiting for the sun to erase it from our memories.  I really like having a snow removal service!  But it makes me wonder what he'll decide to do with all his extra energy when the snow is gone.  I'm hoping it will have nothing to do with the pick-axe...

Gratitude List:

* Beautiful spring weather.  No tweeting birds [yet], but plenty of tender green shoots in my flower beds.

* Delicious dinners, and good conversation, with some good friends who came to dinner recently.

* Snow on the mountains, and not much in my yard.

* Hot cocoa in the mornings.

* Bright green sparkly nail polish.

* Good music.

* This quote: "To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own."  -Abraham Lincoln

* And this one, taken from Psalms 139:14: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:"

* My parents will be serving as mission presidents in the San Bernardino California mission. That means they will be in charge of our church's missionary efforts in this particular area for somewhere between 3 and 5 years.  I am thrilled for them, and grateful that they will be close enough for me to visit occasionally.

* Good lessons in Primary, and what I am learning from them. 

* I have a seam ripper, and I'm not afraid to use it :)

* I'm still working on the quilt, but I also have some more dishcloths on my needles.  I need something portable, and as small as that quilt is, it is still too big to drag around with me.

* Myles' grave has new little grass shoots all around it- it, too, is free of snow and eagerly embracing the coming spring.

* God has blessed me.  I am truly grateful for the miracles and evidences of His love in my life.

My journal's up to date...

But I got busy and forgot I wanted to post about our lives. Dog fine, lizard fine, fish fine, kids and husband fine, me fine. okay, that's all...








:) just kidding!



Here's a baking picture:
[which is sideways, and I've decided that since I did my best to flip it, and I don't know what is preventing the picture from showing up vertical instead of horizontal, I'm going to pretend I wanted to show it sideways and move on.] I made my super-easy bread recipe [flour, water, salt, and yeast] and added oregano and garlic. Yummy! And gone by the next day.

I wasn't able to take pictures of the [multiple] brownies I baked. I was too busy eating them. They were excellent :) and they're gone now. But Jared made peanut-butter fingers today [double-yum: peanut butter and chocolate topping], so my hips can continue their slow but steady spread.

I love this: I will admit that there is a pleasant thoughtfulness that accompanies hand-washing the dishes. However, the more-than-one-hour I end up spending on doing them, added to the no-counter-space problem while they dry, has made me very appreciative of the automatic dishwasher. :) I do miss making fake beer mugs topped with soapy foam, though...

That is a hat, and it's done now. The thumbnail is mine, but I decided that green was a bit too... 'fashion-conscious' for me, and I removed it. It's on my toenails, though :) where it reminds me that even though there's snow in my backyard, I can see the [dead] grass in the front yard and it will be spring. Soon.

On a related note [spring-related, I mean], these: are growing in my front flower beds. There are some daffodils, too, but since that was a vertical photo, and I'm trying to embrace the horizontal...

And, I wanted to show you what the dual personality of warm winter days with freezing winter nights and continuing snow has done for my town: Every south-facing, unshaded area is clear of snow. This particular area was also wet from the melting snow :) and made lovely cold squishings as we walked on it. My front yard looks like the non-snowy part of this picture :). My backyard has bare patches, but a lot of it is still covered in a foot of snow. It's enough to confuse the most sophisticated of meteorologists! That foot inside that shoe? It's Hyrum's foot. It's also sock-less. No, I don't get it. But he'll live. Notice that the snow is still there, but only in areas that are shaded for part of the day. Not sure where my family was, but this: is what they were doing on the playground. Full-contact game of "run away from Dad" complete with screaming when they got caught!

I'm looking at house-plans again. Not because we're building or anything, just because I like looking at them. :)I have a collection of house-plan books, and I get them out every so often, and admire my selections. I used to dog-ear the pages. Now I use post-it notes, and write comments on them so I remember why I chose those houses, and what I'd change about them. Last Friday, after Jared and I went out to eat, we decided to round out our date night with a trip to the Home Depot. I know, we really push the envelope on our quest for excitement. Anyway, I walked out of the store with a new [!] book of house-plans. It's a big one, too, with 608 lovely pages of houses, and advice on building and decorating. *sigh* I'm only on page 332. But I've already marked several likely candidates, and I'm making all sorts of notes to myself for the next time I decide to look through these lovely pages.

Gratitude List:

* My dishwasher came back from its 3-week vacation ready to scrub those dishes into submission. Thank goodness!
* We had a wonderful visit with family on Saturday, to celebrate my youngest sister's 12th birthday. She's still shorter than I am, too! [okay, by 2 inches, but it still counts.]
* Jared grilled some elk for dinner tonight. Mmmmm! That, along with the chocolate-covered peanut butter fingers, has made me a happy, and rather full, woman.
* I decided to ride my stationary bike the other day, while I was reading my magazine, because the whole reason I got a bike was so I could read while I exercized. I finished the magazine, and rode the entire time, which ended up being 58 minutes. WOW! Good thing, too, with all the disappearing brownies...
* Both of the cars are shiny-clean. Walker wanted to earn some money to buy [big surprise here] some books. He spent 5 HOURS cleaning out those cars, and did an excellent job, too. I paid him better than he expected, and I didn't have to take them in to be detailed. Win-win, baby!
* Jared's in town this whole week. Amazing, and wonderful.
* Crocuses in my garden.
* Trips to the park, and spending an hour playing together.
* After a few sewing set-backs, the sashing is [mostly] sewn onto my quilt. I had planned to sash it twice, creating a double frame around the quilt pattern. However, after all the ripping-out and re-figuring, I'm going to call it good with one, and move onto sewing the back together.
* Finished another goal: making birthday cards. I actually ended up with 20+ birthday cards, and another 10 or so blank cards. Wahoo! I'll end up doing this again, but I think this will take me through the end of the school year, anyway.
* Wonderful, spiritual lesson in church today. I am grateful for God, and for His Son, Jesus Christ.
* Good friends, and neighbors.
* My family [extended and immediate]
* Life- my life especially- is blessed.

Project pictures

Okay, I finished a hat for myself. Did one of the mittens, but didn't like how it turned out [probably my fault, as this is my first mitten...] so I didn't take a picture of that.

Also finished piecing most of the top of the Christmas Tree Skirt. [that's my cellphone in the middle; this is a small quilt]
I still need to put some sashing around it. Then I'll make the back, sandwich the batting in between, and hand [yes I really did say hand] quilt some stars on each square. Of course, since that hasn't happened yet, there's always the chance that I'll chicken out and opt for something less time-intensive :)

One of my friends and I decided we need "girl time" more often. So, yesterday we went shooting [she has guns, too]. I brought my pistol, and she brought hers. We're going to do that again. Assuming I can find my gun-cleaning kit...

Gratitude List:
* My husband, who is awesome even away from home.
* Kids are amazingly well-behaved this week. Wondering if the pod people have something to do with that...
* We've had surprisingly warm weather this year- only a few dips below freezing, and yet there's still at least a foot of snow in my backyard.
* I finished the hardest part of the quilt- piecing the top. And, I didn't even swear at my sewing machine [out loud, anyway]!
* I am learning more about knitting. Specifically, mitten knitting. I'm really grateful for the internet, and all the great information it contains.
* Krispy Kreme donuts. Twice we've been this month, and both times we hit the "hot donuts" time, where they give away free, freshly cooked and glazed donuts. It's a good thing that the store is 30 minutes away, or I'd be there every single day. Mmmm!
* My family is in good health.
* I made brownies Wednesday, and even managed to save some for the kids' lunches.
* Walker took brownies to school with him, shared them with his friends, and they all agreed that the brownies [the same ones I made] were "the best brownies ever!" And I know this because Walker came home and told me. What a wonderful compliment!
* I'm still on track with my new year's resolutions. It helps that the biggest challenge [finishing all those UFOs] is actually a group of much smaller projects. I can see progress, and that gives me even more motivation to stick to this goal and finish everything!
* I got a wonderful, tender note in the mail from one of my cousins.
* God is good.

pictures

Still having issues with blogger about pictures. Did manage to get one uploaded:

Here's my nephew, with cookie frosting all over his face :)

I may end up taking another picture of the quilt, eventually. *sigh*

Quilting

I was going to upload a picture of the quilt I'm making, [okay, the pieces of the quilt I am making]but I cannot get blogger to rotate the photo. Grrr. I'll try again later.

Friday, we had dinner with Jared's brother and sister-in-law and their boys, and Jared's parents. I have another picture I will post later, of Bridger with cookie frosting all over his face :)

Today we had choir practice before church. I got asked to sing a solo in church, in the women's meeting, and by the grace of God, actually did a decent job with the song. :) I love to sing, and don't always get opportunities to do so. Today was a lovely surprise.

I have two projects going right now: the tree skirt that I'm quilting, and a pair of fingerless mittens for me. Yes! Finally I am working on something just for me! :)

So, this means that I am still keeping at least one of my New Year's Resolutions.

Gratitude List:
* Family get-togethers, complete with good company and food.
* Nice weather, especially for February, although our overall winter is colder than normal.
* Hot cocoa.
* Morgen and my father-in-law made pancakes for breakfast this morning. Yum!
* Good music.
* Valentine's Day with my husband, who is hardly ever at home on Vday.
* Digital cameras, and the option to delete photos.
* Jared made dinner- elk roast with some really unusual and delicious-tasting sauce. Double yum!!
* Instrumental guitar music :)
* Singing.
* My Heavenly Father, and His Son, my Savior.

Challenges

With Jared, I never know what to expect. Sometimes, when he's home, he gets bored and does the dishes. :) I like that! Sometimes he's hunting every single minute he can find. That's a little tough, but thankfully the hunting season is limited, and he never hunts on Sundays, so we do get to see him occasionally. Sometimes he gets called out, and misses family activities. I have a harder time with this, not because I'm angry that he's gone, but because it often means that some other family is experiencing a tragedy like the one we went through with Myles. In the past month he has responded to two different scenes, and dealt with two cases of toxins resulting in death. One victim was a young husband and father, and I felt awful thinking about his wife and children having to go on without him. The second one had me in tears; a 4-year-old girl who was accidentally poisoned. She has a younger sibling, and several older siblings, as well as her parents, who will be dealing with the loss of their daughter and sister. I wish I could go to the house and physically offer my support, but decided that would be a little creepy and stalker-like. Instead, I'm praying for their family, and sure that if you wanted to add your good thoughts and prayers, those would also be appreciated.

Now for a happier challenge: this is my latest project- another hat for Walker. His original has gone missing, and I had some leftover yarn, so I made this hat for him. It's a bit different pattern-wise, :) I was experimenting with stripes, and decided to make them all different sizes, but the overall impression was still cool. So that's finished, and Walker approves of it. The next project on my knitting needles is another hat. Well, two, actually. One each for Walker and Jared to wear when they're hunting. I bought 2 skeins of yarn, because I couldn't find one that was the right color and weight. So I got a dark rusty orange yarn that was thick enough, and added a really light-weight yarn that was the bright hunter-orange I wanted color-wise. I'm knitting the two together, and I like the extra thickness- it will add some more warmth to their heads as they tromp around looking for birds/elk/deer/whatever. :) Having the two colors also adds depth to the look of the hat. And it isn't any harder than knitting one strand of yarn, which makes me happy.

Gratitude List:
* My family is healthy and strong, and I know where they all are [approximately].
* Lots of yarn, and projects, and plenty of other supplies for my crafting "needs."
* My washer and dryer are still working. My dishwasher is broken, but I'd rather wash dishes by hand than clothes!
* I am making progress on my "to-do" list of crafts. Hooray!
* Spending time with Nate, Caitlin, Saxon, and Bridger. Thank you for letting my kids pester your boys :) We love cousin-time!
* Getting some good news from my parents [I'll share when I can].
* Warm winter weather today because we have NO WIND CHILL ;) I don't miss the Iowa wind chill.
* Getting to see John & Melissa's family again on Sunday, along with my parents, Alyson, and Kyle and Lorenzo. I am so glad my kids have cousins, and grateful that my brothers and sisters [and their spouses] are willing to let my children bother theirs. I am always surprised at how much fun Walker has with his littler cousins. And Morgen would seriously shrivel up without a baby to play with!
* A working furnace for the less-than-warm winter nights.
* Perky [the lizard] continues to enjoy good health and lots of affection from Morgen.
* Jared will be home this weekend :)
* I have a few episodes of "Bewitched" to watch while I fold laundry today.
* God's grace in my life.
* Sunshine on my shoulder [thank you, John Denver]

Scarf finished

Hooray! It's all finished- ends tucked in, properly bound off, and given to Morgen to enjoy. Next project is a hat for Jared. He wants an orange one that he can wear when he goes hunting. :)I have absolutely NO neon orange yarn [I know- what a shock!] so I'll be picking some up tomorrow. That project is my "take with me" one. The at-home project is the Christmas Tree skirt I meant to finish before Christmas... and I promise I will be done with it before Christmas this year!

Other things we've done: over the past week, my 1st and 4th graders had their SEPs [student education plan? I think...] where I came into the classroom and talked with their teachers about the progress [or lack of it] that my child was making.

Morgen is talking more than she should, which interferes with finishing her in-class assignments. On the plus side, she is doing better in math than she was last term, and she is reading well. She's also doing fantastic at her piano lessons, a fact I can attribute to her piano teacher. Annalee is firm and competent, and challenges Morgen musically. She is also supportive and encouraging and excited about music. :)She has a gift! Well, two: she is incredibly musically talented, and she is a wonderful and patient motivator of children :).

Hyrum made 2 goals last term: work on coloring in the lines, and use the bathroom at appropriate times [recess, lunch] instead of in the middle of classtime. He has met both of those goals :)and is settling into his classroom well. Both Morgen and Hyrum are friendly with their entire class [no surprise] and are enjoying school. Hyrum loves his karate class. Well, actually it is Tai Kwan Do, not karate. He enjoys the practice, and is surprisingly good at it. When we missed it last week [for his SEP- and we made it up on Saturday], he was upset enough to cry!

I have decided that I like having all this snow. We get more snow here than we did in Iowa, but this snow stays put- no blowing winds to drift it over a previously shoveled driveway! And the road crews do a great job clearing the roads :) Jared's been talking about getting a tractor. He wants a front-end loader attachment on the front, and a backhoe attachment on the rear. Obviously we're settling into the rural life. My favorite part, today, is that we've had almost a week of early morning fog. I love fog. Really. I think it is my favorite weather event:).

Walker's SEP is this week; I'm hoping that he gets a good report. He gets pulled out of science and reading to do band, and has some missing assignments from those classes.

Gratitude List:
* Jared got back safely from Chicago. Someday we'll go there, just the two of us :)
* He brought me Ghirardelli. Have I said how much I love this man? I do. I really really do.
* Morgen's lizard is absolutely the best. pet. ever. Perky has been wrapped and tied in various rags, given a "fashion makeover," and talked and talked and TALKED to. And she puts up with all of that for lettuce and the occasional cricket or mealworm.
* Yarn and fabric. And knitting needles. And crochet hooks and sewing machines and paper and stamps and ink and glue and... :) I am so glad I have hobbies!
* Quotes that inspire me to do better.
* Hulu. :)It's my free version of cable, and DVR. LOL.
* Surprise visits from friends.
* the red ink lines crossing out items that I've finished on my "crafty to-do-list" I cannot tell you how good it feels to finish and cross off each item!
* all the patterns [free! and otherwise] that are available online. I may never need to leave my house again...
* ditto with the yarn/fabric/paper/embellishments also available online...
* that none of my kids still lick inappropriate things [there was a little girl in Church that was licking and licking her folding chair. Eeeeew! but funny ;)]
* good books to read.
* my family and friends.
* Jared, Walker, Morgen, Hyrum, and Myles. I am so grateful for each one.
* Pictures and journal entries.
* my Savior, Jesus Christ.
* God.

Projects completed and to do

I have a list of things to do; specifically, craft things. And, I'm sharing them here because my mom always taught me to share :). Also, if I share them here, I'm more accountable, which means they might actually get done!

* Knit Hyrum's scarf. This was supposed to go with his hat, but I didn't have time, so the scarves ended up being a 'post-New Year, pre-Valentine's Day present. I finished Walker's before school started. Morgen's scarf is in progress. Oh, and this is done, BTW

* Finish Jennie's album. I typed out everything I can read, and I'm waiting for Jennie's translation of words I cannot read, then I will copy everything in my best penmanship into her album and give it back to her :). I think I can call this one half-way-done.

* Cut out and sew Christmas stockings for Hyrum and Myles. My MIL made stockings for Jared, Walker, and I after Walker was born. She gave me the fabric, and I actually cut out and sewed Morgen's for her. Then I cut out another stocking for Hyrum when he was born. It sat with the rest of the material for SIX YEARS in my sewing stuff. I know that because Hyrum is 6 years old. Yep. That's the kind of prepared mother I am! Anyway, I cut out another stocking, and sewed up both of them, so Hyrum now has a stocking that officially matches the rest of the family's. Myles' stocking will hang with the rest of the stockings at Christmas, and we're going to put notes to him inside of it. I finished these today!

* Sew tree skirt. I have the fabric. I need thread. But, this project is next on my list of things to finish [when I'm at home, anyway].

* Knit Morgen's scarf. This is in progress. I had it about 1/4 of the way done, but didn't like how the pattern was turning out, so I frogged it [I love that word! Even if I don't love the reminder that I make a lot of knitting mistakes], and re-started. It's my 'traveling somewhere/waiting for kids' project. This one's on the needles right now, in progress.

* Make birthday cards. I always need more of these :)

* Knit orange hat for Jared. He needs a hunting beanie.

* Knit hat, scarf, mittens for me! And I already have the yarn and quite a few possible patterns in mind... I want to begin these now, but the point of having a list is to get the boring [or difficult] things done, then reward myself later.

* Sew skirt for baker's rack to hide board games. Have fabric, have thread, just waiting for its turn to come up.

* Finish knitting baby blanket.

* Knit 3 more washcloths for master bath. I have the yarn, but this isn't a necessity, so it's further down the list than I wish it was.

* Finish felt wall hanging. And I've added some applique patterns, so this may take longer than I originally thought.

I also have some "as there is time" projects that really don't have an ending date: knitting dish cloths, scrapbooking, etc. These don't really count as UFOs, since they will never be completely finished, but I put them on the list anyway. That way I remember to do them, and I also remember how much I am accomplishing.

and that's as far as I'm going to post, since that will probably keep me busy through March. At least.

Random comment: Morgen calls her lizard "Sweetheart"

Gratitude List:
* Snow. I don't like driving in it, but I don't have to, today. Instead I can sit inside my cozy house, making stockings and drinking hot cocoa, and enjoy the beauty of white, fluffy flakes.
* Jared is back for a few days- hooray! He's been in St. George this week. [It's a lot warmer down there, and I was mildly jealous.]
* I got to go on a "walking report card" with Hyrum. He had a packet of work to show me what he'd learned so far in first grade. I had a great time seeing how much progress he has made since the beginning of the year.
* Homemade whole-wheat bread with soup. Mmmm.
* A house :) with electricity and heat.
* 4-wheel-drive.
* Kids that shovel the driveway [because they're earning money for the book fair].
* Bath and Body Works lotion and shower gel. I feel so pampered whenever I use that stuff!
* Time to meditate this morning.
* Good books, and time to read them.
* Food storage :)
* Faith in God.

Keeping up

Well, I've finished one of my UFOs already. Hooray for me! In honor of this, I started a new project LOL. Well, not really a NEW project; I knit a headband over the holiday break, and discovered when it was finished that it was much too big for my head. So, I frogged it. [that means I pulled it apart] I planned on using the yarn to make another headband, but wanted to figure out another pattern before I began again. I have the pattern, and I'm over half-way done :) this is a pretty quick knit, thankfully.

Of course, that means [technically] that I haven't changed my "to-do list" status at all... but I'm choosing to focus on the positive ;)

Here's another picture of Morgen's new best friend:


and one more, wearing a stylish 'rag wrap' outfit that Morgen generously made for her. Can you see the long-suffering look in her eyes? Poor Perky.

Gratitude List:
* School tomorrow! [Hyrum was pretty excited about that, too]
* One less thing on my UFO list
* the flexibility to add projects to my UFO list ;)
* It snowed all day today, but was too warm for the snow to stick to my driveway.
* No shoveling!
* homemade pizza
* homemade vanilla ice cream
* oh, and homemade root beer floats ;) made with that homemade ice cream
* I've lifted weights this whole week [so far] and I'm pretending I can already tell the difference in my triceps.
* My husband was home last week. I love it when he's home!
* He fixed the dishwasher. I really love it when he's home!
* He took the kids sledding twice, to a really cool spot with a long hill and some jumps. I really REALLY love it when he's home!
* :) Celebrating 14 years of marriage last week. WOW.
* Good music.
* Healthy kids.
* We have all we need, and most of what we want.
* God is good.

We have a lizard!

Ooh, and a lovely lizard it is, too :) It hissed at me once, when I was picking it up to place it in its new home [probably because I scared it]. Since then, it has been handled [and mauled] many MANY times a day. It has been given a "tissue dress" and a "lizard blankie wrap" and has been carried around and placed on a bed and fed multiple times [all approved food, thank goodness]. It has a heating pad and a lamp to keep it warm, its own little water dish specially designed and made by Jared, and an awesome top to its cage, also designed and made by Jared. It has also been named "Perky" and given more love than any lizard should be asked to endure :)

Most lizards are active in the day, and sleep at night. I think ours will be sleeping when Morgen is in school, and hoping for after-school activities!

In other news, vanilla cupcakes are a delicious treat :) and a great way to keep children [both my own and visitors] entertained for a good 2 hours. BTW, chocolate buttercream frosting goes quite well with the above cupcakes. And, 3 days later, it tastes divine on graham crackers, too! [Assuming you forget to hide a stash of cupcakes especially for your own self] The stash of chocolate buttercream frosting is safely hidden in the fridge, in one of the left-over containers. Kids never check those :) so I'm thinking it's safe.

My New Year's Goals are as follows:

1. Exercise and lift weights 4 times/week. [the end result should be a healthier me]
2. Daily meditation
3. Finish all my UnFinished Objects [this means, specifically, every single craft that has already been started. I either finish it or find it a new, and loving, home.]
4. Keep to our budget :) and save for a down-payment on our next home.
5. Have a nice long bath every week :)

Gratitude List:
* Meditation time.
* I love having too much music to fit on my ipod :) so many choices...
* A fast new computer, which means less time online and more time for those UFOs...
* This quote:

Failures want pleasing methods.
Successes want pleasing results.
-Earl Nightingale

which reminds me that the reason I make goals is not because I enjoy the process, but because I want the outcome. Good thing to focus on while I'm riding my bike, with my leg muscles burning and sweat dripping down my back.
* Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
* Just got a call from my doctor's office :) and my cholesterol levels are [and I quote] "Great!" :)I love getting good news from my doctor :)
* Good friends and neighbors.
* A loving, supportive, extended family.
* A husband and children I love very much.
* Faith in God.