Summertime Fun

I wanted to post a few pictures of what we've been up to this summer. (and you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)
picnics at the North Fields:

Football in the yard:

Silly faces (still cannot believe they let me take this picture!):

Family Reunions:

Deer Creek Reservoir:

Strawberry Reservoir:

some much-needed rain:

a reunion with two of my best friends from high school:

a new haircut for Morgen:

beautiful roses in my garden:

some of my knitting projects:

it's been a lovely summer :) and I am looking forward to next Thursday, when school begins for my children!

Gratitude List:
* our garden is producing lots of squash and cherry tomatoes, beans, onions, zucchini, peas, carrots... and a few raspberries and blackberries. mmmmmmm!
* 2 days of nonstop laughing with my friends
* we are blessed to live in a place with lots of hiking and camping and lake-ing (i know it isn't a word but it does describe what we did...)
* my knitting website has a wealth of free patterns, and lots of helpful and more experienced knitters when i run into problems
* air conditioning in August
* a working dishwasher
* music!
* reading "Outcasts United" by Warren St John for Walker's AP Human Geography class. very interesting non-fiction book about a soccer team made up of refugee boys.
* yarn!
* my kids are healthy, Jared is home, and God is good.

lazy summer days

This week Jared and Walker are both at scout camp.  This one is more focused on specific merit badges, and Jared has his group of scouts signed up for absolutely everything he could get away with :).   Their absence leaves me with an oddly quiet house.  We do chores in the mornings, then in the afternoon M and H scatter to their friends' houses, and I hear the echo of their voices outside my windows as they play and run through the neighborhood. 

We started music lessons again today, after a few weeks' break for the end of the school year.  I got up and chivvied my kids along- have a shower, get your breakfast, grab the music, and out the door you go! And I was freezing.  You know, it should be warm outside.  It's almost half-way through June, for heaven's sake!  But Saturday night and Sunday night we were warned to cover our plants because it was supposed to get below freezing.  It did, and we haven't lost anything, but Jared covered all the plants with straw.  I left all the windows open (it's what I do in the summer, because it keeps the house cooler and I don't have to turn on the A/C), and this morning it was 59 degrees F in the house!!!  I had on 2 long-sleeved shirts and some wool socks.  And yes, I could have turned on the heat, but it's JUNE!  I just can't bear to have my heater on in JUNE.  Anyway.  I have the worst cold- sore throat last week, and this week I am using up all the kleenexes in my house.  All by myself!

Tomorrow we go to the library, and also to the doctor's office to get Morgen's stitches removed.  I'm going to count them as they're cut, but I do believe she has at least 15 stitches.  I guess she wanted to be sure she beat her brothers.

Tonight we walked up the street to Scrappy's Timp Freeze for our first summertime meal.  They're a little hamburger joint, open under different managers for over 50 years now, and they have pretty good food.  :) plus you always see somebody you know- benefit of a small town!

Gratitude List:
* blankets. and wool socks.  and fingerless mittens.
* and hot cocoa.
* onion rings
* www.ravelry.com for all the free knitting patterns.  It's an amazing place.
* Morgen's arm is healing well.
* tissues. I am a leaky mess.
* knitting
* God is good.

Morning

Today I dropped Walker off at our church building.  His scout troop is driving out to Moab for a week of outdoor fun (the kind of fun that your mother doesn't want to know about, because she'll spend every day while you're gone waiting for a call from the ER).

Then Morgen & Hyrum went on a walk with me.  We ate breakfast when we got back, and now they're upstairs cleaning their bedrooms.  I'm watering the irises I got from my Dad last month, and updating my blog :). 

Last night the kids played catch with a football in the yard.  I sat outside with them and knit, and dodged the football.  It was a beautiful moment. 

***
So, Morgen's fine.  But she tripped and fell on the empty aquarium in her bedroom, and sliced open her arm.  One panicked trip to the ER and a lot of stitches later, we're back home, and she is upstairs resting and watching a movie.  I told her she should remind me about this the next time I ask her to clean her room.  Apparently it is more dangerous than I knew!
***
I put a picture of her stitches after the gratitude list.  I won't share the before picture- it is truly disgusting. :)

Gratitude List:
*  Modern Medicine. Stitches. Anesthetic.
* God kept me calm long enought to drive safely to the ER.
* A working vehicle.
* No cut tendons.
* Angry Birds :) because that game kept Hyrum occupied while the doctor stitched up his sister's arm.
* Good insurance.
* Everything will be fine.
* God is good.

***

***

missing in action

Oh, wow.  I had not realized how long it has been since my last post- over 3 months!!!

Walker continues to grow taller than me.  He passed up his dad last month.  Morgen is almost as tall as I am now. And yes, she is only 11; won't be 12 for another month and a half.  Hyrum is growing, too.  The pants I bought him this winter are 2 inches too short for him now. 

Kids will be out of school tomorrow. !!! how that happened so quickly I cannot imagine! 

We started a bunch of seeds in February, and most of them sprouted.  We planted them in our garden at the beginning of May. We also tidied up the front yard- put down weed fabric, then a load of bark, then planted irises taken from my dad's yard. 

We planned out our summer camping trips, and set a goal to travel to Disneyland next year.  Probably February, since we can get away for a week, and it won't be too crowded then.

And I have been busy knitting:
finished this lace shawl:

and a pair of mittens for Hyrum:

another pair of mittens (that coin is a quarter, for size reference):

 slippers for me:











fingerless mittens:

a heart-shaped washcloth and a little owl that was almost finished in March, but it took me 3 months to decide what I wanted to do for his eyes & beak:

and my current project (well, one of them!) which is a shawl that I'm test knitting (trying out a new pattern) for a friend:

Gratitude List:
* beautiful spring weather :) and yes, it is almost June here.
* we are all healthy and reasonably happy.
* we have plenty of food.
* chocolate pudding mixed with whipped cream.
* our garden looks green and healthy.
* I have a loving and supportive extended family.
* my husband is amazing.
* summer activity list is on the fridge, and it includes swimming and hiking.
* we went for a family bike ride on Memorial Day.
* God is good.

2 car family

got the car fixed.
cost was less than i expected: replaced the tie rods, radiator, fan, and the A/C. 
glad to have 2 vehicles again.
jared's out with his dad today.
kids are at school.
and it's snowing again!  wheeeee ;)

Gratitude List:
* knit night
* hot cocoa
* groceries in my pantry
* 2 working cars, again
* a husband who laughed (after he made sure i was okay) when he saw the car in the ditch. "what, the parking lot was too full?" he teased me.
* God is good
* homemade brownies with chopped walnuts and chocolate chips on top
* nook books (dr seuss, anyone?)
* family is good, dogs are good, gerbils are good.
* heater is working
* liking the TV show Merlin (on instant view at netflix)

Safe

Jared's back from St George and another week of training.  And this morning we woke up to fluffy white flakes- perfect timing!  We already have over a foot of snow on the ground, and while the snow has slowed, it hasn't stopped.  Jared broke out the snowblower :) which is always fun, and the kids are having a snowball fight outside (thank goodness) as I type this.  The snow knocked down the wire fence keeping our dogs out of the garden; although it isn't a problem to have them in the garden during the winter, they can get out of the yard from the garden area.  Walker fixed that for me, though.  He's getting to be a pretty fair handyman, like his dad.
Now, we're all okay, and nobody got hurt, but I slid our Durango into the ditch on the way to church this morning.  The roads were slick- wet, packed snow has almost no traction- and we slid right off the road.  We hit a fence about 2 feet before we landed in the irrigation ditch, and bent or broke a few fenceposts, and I am pretty sure we damaged the car, but we are all intact.  Morgen was disappointed that the airbags didn't engage.  I am so thankful that God protected us- there were other cars on the road, and we managed to miss them all. 

Last week was Meet the Masters at Morgen's school.  I teach the Monday class to 3 groups of 5th and 6th graders.  I do this once a month, with a different artist each time.  Vincent van Gogh was our subject last Monday.  He's one of my favorite artists.  I love the colors and the incredible texture he used in his paintings.  And it amazes me that he took all the pain and suffering and loneliness he felt, and transformed it into something beautiful through his painting.

Gratitude List:
* good car insurance
* we are all safe and unhurt
* snow!
* Jared's home
* my nook & all the books I can read on it
* good music
* good neighbors and friends
* our furnace works, and so does our hot water heater
* brownies :)
* God is good

Right Now

Right now, Jared is hunting birds with his dogs and a friend.
Right now, Walker is reading in his room.
Right now, there are 4 cub scouts upstairs, waiting for their ride to the Cub Klondike.
Right now, Morgen is practicing her trumpet.
Right now, I am typing.

Soon, the cub scouts will run down the stairs and out to their Klondike. 
Soon, Morgen will leave for her music lessons.
Soon, my house will be quiet.
Soon.
Soon, Walker will be off to college. 
Soon, Morgen will be dating. 
Soon, Hyrum will ask to drive himself to school.
Soon, my house will be quiet and clean and empty.
Soon.

I miss them and they haven't even left yet.

This has been a project in the making since before Christmas:

6 pair of almost-completed snowshoes.  All he needs now are the toe and heel guards, and we're ready!  Well, and we need some more snow...

And this is what I finished:

The pattern is for a wider and shorter shawl, but I altered some things, and ended up with a longer, skinnier scarf.  Pattern is free, and on Ravelry here: Saroyan
I used a merino wool (70%) and bamboo (30%) blend yarn, dyed in greens and blues.

Gratitude List:
* our furnace works well.
* we have heat!
* automatic dishwasher
* a working washer and dryer
* family around me
* hot cocoa on cold mornings
* music
* the internet
* food
* funny tv shows (just discovered Merlin and Castle) that we can watch as a family
* knitting, which gives me an excuse to fiddle with things while I'm supposed to sit still.
* audiobooks
* God

Valentine's Day decor

So, I have this really cool deer skull above my mantel, courtesy of my great hunter of a husband.  It's an awesome Halloween decoration, but it needs a little help to fit into the other holidays.  Here's my Valentine's Day idea:

It's fun and it makes me happy :)

Let's see, as far as family stuff, we each got a nice bike- off-road- for Christmas.  There were about 3 weeks' worth of sunny (and cold) weather with no snow, so we took a few family rides.  Great bikes, and great rides, but they are now in the basement until the snow melts. 

Jared is making snowshoes now:

they're a lot of work, but he's enjoying the process.

Walker's got straight A's in school.  He really enjoys his science and math classes, and has challenged himself to memorize all of the elements in the periodic table. 

Morgen is also well above grade level with her reading and math scores.  She loves to draw, and spends more time than she should with a pencil and drawing paper in her hands.

Hyrum is enjoying math and reading.  He's also making a snow fort during his recess time, and has all sorts of good structural ideas.

Gratitude List:
* lots of knitting time for me :)
* great free patterns on ravelry.com
* audiobooks to keep my children occupied during long trips
* plenty of food
* running water inside my house
* a working washer and dryer
* a dishwasher
* good music
* i can afford to keep my house warm in the wintertime
* healthy strong kids
* a husband who loves and supports me in my activities and goals
* God is good

Christmas music

I just wanted to share a few Christmas songs I found this week, and love:

*because now that I'm in the Christmas mood, I want to share with everyone!

Still Alive

I've been knitting furiously, trying to hit a deadline (self-imposed) on this:



It's definitely not perfect. But I won't be pointing out the flaws :) to anyone.
I've finished a few other projects:






In other news, I finally finished one of the memory scrapbooks I had planned to make for my kids after Myles died. Yep. 3 1/2 years later... and only 2 more to go. And my goal to re-cover my dining room chairs? Well, I bought the fabric, plastic sheeting, and new padding last month. I think that will be on my List come January. Oh, after I find our staple gun! I've knit a lot of Christmas gifts this year, which means I will not be posting anything until after Christmas, just in case. But since my kids don't look at this blog, I'll post pics of their gifts:



This is for Hyrum. Plain pattern, warm hat, hopefully he'll like it enough to wear it.



These are Morgen's fingerless mittens. She asked for a pair a few months ago, but I was worried- some of her other knitted items were not appreciated. But, they were quick, and they match the hat I made her, that she still wears :), so we'll see how these are received.



Another hat, for my oldest son. I have no idea if he will actually wear this. He insisted on wearing his jacket all last winter (and yes, he has a comfortable coat which fits him), because his coat wouldn't fit in his locker. Or so he claimed. I hope he will like it, anyway.

I knit Jared a bigger version of a bacteria cell. Just because it looked funny, and because he'll get a good laugh when he opens it.

In other news, we have most of our Christmas decorations up, and we'll be buying a tree tomorrow. I'll post pictures once it is decorated :)  I have been making gifts for a few months, but when it comes to decorating, or putting up lights, I've been a bit of a grinch.  I can't really point to any one reason, but some of this is my own personal rebellion.  It truly disgusts me that we have Christmas decorations and displays up in some of the stores at Halloween. I'd like to enjoy my trick-or-treating without any snowmen, thank you very much.  And Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, which means I hate having it smooshed into a back corner because Christmas has taken over the store again.  Okay, I'll get off that soapbox now and get out my therapeutic knitting project...

Gratitude List:
* I have plenty of food (too much, actually)!
* warm wool socks when my feet get cold.
* a house with plenty of room for my family- immediate and extended- and for friends and neighbors as well.
* homemade bread for dinner.
* homemade jelly to put on the homemade bread.
* I'm healthy, Jared's healthy, and so are the kids.
* beautiful music.
* now that we're into December, I like seeing the Christmas lights everywhere.
* a dishwasher (automatic) that works.
* the internet.
* lots of yarn and other hobby supplies.
* Jesus Christ, my Savior.
* God is good, and I am blessed.
* my husband, and my kids, are my greatest blessing.