A Knit A Week

The Prince's Christmas Sweater

Pattern: The Necco Wafer Sweater

from the Twist Collective

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport

Verdict: Absolutely adorable. As you know, I have a weakness

for anything stripy on my kids.

The applied i-cord (you can see it best in the photo

with the v-neck close-up) was fussy,

but totally made the finished garment amazing.

A Book A Week

Since I just recommended these books to one of my sisters, I thought I'd share or jog your memory about the Carl books, as they are known here at the castle.

Carl is a Rottweiler who takes his human family's baby on a whole bunch of adventures. For the most part, the Carl books don't have much in the way of a print story. The story is told through the very sweet illustrations of the author Alexandra Day.

Some of the Carl books come in board book too, perfect for little ones. I have too many favorite Carl books to list them all, but probably my absolute favorite would be "Carl Goes to Daycare", and a close second would be "Carl Goes Shopping".

I wish I had a Carl around some days, well make that most days.

Age appropriate for all!!

I Have A Grateful Heart

Most days I get bogged down in the minutiae. Why won't life go the way I think would be best?? The curse of being the oldest child plagues me still.

I forget to be thankful. I forget to be humble. I forget that those pesky, life-changers are gifts that I have been entrusted with by the One Most High. I forget Who is the giver of those lives that challenge me so much.

When I do slow down and look out to see the big picture, the blessing that is my life is overwhelming.

I am thankful.

I do feel humbled by the responsibilities that He feels I can handle.

I am grateful for the time I have been granted thus far with my four blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers. I hope today you find time to count your blessings and name them one by one.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Isn't he stunning?

{Hat: Aviatrix pattern in Jill's amazing handspun merino

Light Through the Leaves colorway}

Overheard After a Snowfall

. . . some words of wisdom for her younger siblings.

Princess #2: When you go out in the snow, don't eat the yellow snow. Or brown snow. Well, basically any color other than white. Okay?

I hope she hasn't learned that from experience. Eww.

Babywearing Tip

I like to wear our babies, especially on my back in the mei tai now that our littlest one is not so little. When he is sick, as he has been all this week, I wear him more often in order to keep the moany-groanies away. That leads to my tip for today: Check your shirt front and back after wearing a snotty nosed little one.

It will save you from embarrassing conversations with well-meaning strangers. Not unlike the one I had today.

In the check-out line at Costco this morning, a nice older woman pointed out that the back of my black shirt was sporting a lovely white crusted streak extending from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. Of course, I wasn't wearing the boy then, didn't even have the sling on, so trying to explain was pointless. So I thanked her, and (surreptitiously) unbound my ponytail, hoping that my hair would be long enough cover the babywearing badge of honor, and made for the door.

There, I hope that I have spared you an unfortunate event.

Overheard At Lunch

A pretend conversation. I hope! I think! I pray! {grin}

Princess #2: And I hadn't looked at myself in the mirror for over an hour and I hadn't checked my outfit to see if it matched.

Princess #3: Why?

Princess #2: I needed a break from myself. Being a girly-girl is a lot of work.

Wordless Wednesday

Buzzinga!

Sometimes when things get a wee bit chaotic in the castle, the Queen insists that the "quiet game" be played. As in no talking, no bodily function noises (occurring naturally or otherwise), until time is up, whoever stays quiet, wins {my undying thanks is the reward, which they know, but I think they always hope it will be something they could eat or hold {grin}}.

So yesterday when I couldn't hear myself think, again, I started the quiet game.

The King and I talked for awhile uninterrupted-a little taste of heaven, I tell you, when I overhear this little gem:

Princess #2: Is the quiet game over yet?

Princess #3: YOU LOSE!!

{If she knew how to use the word "buzzinga", I swear she would have, because it was a "buzzinga" kind of moment.}

Joy of Boys!

**I found a copy of this on a blog I read, and thought you mothers might enjoy it!!*****
**********************************************************************

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is finished and the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

Boys are found everywhere—on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to.

Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them.

A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket. When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic, jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a composite—he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword-swallower, the energy of a pocket-sized atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker, and when he makes something, he has five thumbs on each hand. He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, the boy across the street, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines.

He is not much for Sunday School, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime. Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Durham sack, two gum drops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of unknown substance, and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.

A boy is a magical creature—you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can’t get him out of your mind. Might as well give up—he is your captor, your jailer, your boss, and your master—a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi Mom*!”

{*the queen's edit, original post said "Dad" :) }

Wordless Wednesday

A Knit A Week

Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles Scarf

Yarn: Zitron Trekking Hand Flame

Verdict: This is a nice, pretty, free pattern.

And it was fun to make this scarf with sock yarn.

Last time I used some hand-spun yarn and got a

totally different look. Neat. I love that about

knitting.

And On It Goes

So my birthday was this week. Not nearly as exciting as they used to be, let me tell you. However, as I was opening the gift from Princess #1, I smelled a familiar scent. It was from Yardley of London lavender soap, that she chose to go with the loofah in the same package.

The minute I saw the package, I knew why the smell was so familiar, it was exactly the same brand and scent of soaps and bubble baths that I used to choose for my own Mom so many years ago for Mother's Day or her birthday.

It was sweet and thoughtful. It made my heart get all squishy and my eyes a wee bit damp.

I hope that she has a daughter someday who will buy her Yardley of London lavender soap for her birthday.

I'm reminded of my all time favorite quote from the book Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier: "If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like having the moment all over again. "

How We Homeschool with a Toddler

How we did it a year ago:

Boy do I miss that saucer.

How we do it now:

I'm putting his desire to destroy to good use and he does a great job of only taking the "Kirkland" paper off. The girls' showed him how to stack the rolls, so that kept him busy too. It was a wonderful 30 minutes of Prince-free school. Then he "helped" distribute them to the bathrooms.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Halloween 2009