Happiness Is . . .

. . . listening to my girls' play house, the way their mama does.

Princess #2:  Well, the kids are all in bed.

Princess #3:  Oh good.  It's time to knit!

You Know You Live . . .

in the desert,
when your toddler mistakes the sound of a thunderstorm . . . 

for that of a Harley.

A Little Insight

Have you ever thought of your day

in terms of transitions?

I do.

Daily.

Wanna know why?

Because transitions in my spirited child's world

are

EVIL.

Everytime you switch tasks is a transition.
Try thinking about it this way . . .

#1- Wake up.

#2- Get out of pj's and get dressed.

#3- Eat breakfast.

#4- Brush teeth/hair.

#5- Play or School time

That's at least 5 transitions all before 9 am at our house!!

Think about a trip out to do errands.

#1- Get in car and buckle.

#2- Get to destination and get out of car.

#3- Errand.

#4- Get back into car and buckle..

#5- Get to destination and get out of car.

You get the picture right?
That's 5 transitions (at least) just for one errand.
It's a red letter day here at the Castle if we
get in more than one stop per trip because
of the affect that change has on our spirited child.

You may be wondering as to the point of this post.
Not sure, dear readers.
Just something I thought I'd share with you.
A little glimpse of my life.
And maybe, a little perspective to those of you with
children that may struggle with transitions as well.
Like a mom with a toddler! {grin}

Now granted we have come a long way in
dealing with the daily transition struggles.
 It involves a lot of prep work from a Mama's standpoint.
Lots of thinking ahead.
Lots of being flexible with how much time may be needed to transition.
It's exhausting some days.
Especially now, as summer is winding down
and fall is looming. . .
Seasons=Change
Change=Transition
Transition=Evil
remember??

Interesting Assumption

So I was given the privilege, inconvenience, chance, opportunity to be a part of our system of justice here in America this week. You guessed it, jury duty!

During the first stretch of waiting (if you've ever served, you know what I mean by that, right?), an older gentleman sat next to me and struck up a conversation with me about the sock I was knitting and it continued on to family life.  It went a little like this:

Nice Old Guy (NOG): So do you have any children?

Queen: Yep. Four.

NOG: Wow. How old?

Queen:  11, 9, 6, and 2.

NOG:  You must stay home with them.

Queen:  I do actually.  Out of curiosity, how did you guess?

NOG:  Well, daycare for that many kids would be awfully expensive . . . plus you're knitting.

Queen:  Ah, well, there you go, it was the knitting that gave it away.
***************************

What can we take away from this dear readers?

Some in the world assume you are a stay at home mom

when you have four children 

and 

(the best caveat of all)

you knit!!

Hope you got a grin out of this one.  I know I did!!

Wonder what he would have said if I would have

also confessed to educating my children at home!!

Probably would assume that I also know how to sew!
The horror! {grin}

Overheard After Rest-Time

Queen: Who is hiding in my curtain?

The Prince: Jertain in the curtain, Mama!!

Can any of you guess which book is the Prince's current obsession?!?

A Knit A Week

So, did I mention that I attended Sock Summit 2011?

I didn't?

Well, I did.

And, it was, in a word: amazing.

To be surrounded by knitters from all walks of life, 

who were wearing the most fabulous hand knits I have ever seen,

to not get any funny looks or feel as if you

might be the tiniest bit rude by pulling out your knitting

whenever you get the chance,

to have the sensory experience to see, touch, and

talk with the creators of incredible sock yarns and patterns was

INSPIRING!

I want to go back.

I got the chance to meet Jill Draper.

She's the gal I buy most of my sock yarn from,

as you faithful readers know.

Just meeting her, was worth making the trip.

To give her a hug and squish her yarn in person,

the icing on the cake that was Sock Summit!

I took some classes.

I met the Yarn Harlot.

I bought some yarn.

I met the Yarn Harlot.

I bought some patterns.

I met the Yarn Harlot.

I finished these socks while there.

Stood in line forever waiting for the chance

for the Yarn Harlot to "hold" my sock

as she so willingly does, rock star knitter that she is..

And realized that I forgot to take my camera [*&%@]

to document such a momentous occasion.

Anyway, as you may have guessed I am thoroughly 

enamored with creating hand knit socks.

Sock Summit, just convinced me that this

obsession is right and true!

The Details:

Pattern:  Socks For Euni a freebie from Liz Abinante

Yarn:  Socks that Rock Lightweight by Blue Moon Fiber Arts

in a mystery color Mill End.

Verdict:  These babies just flew off the needles.  I love it when 

that happens.  Fab pattern and fab yarn!  One more

Christmas gift off the list!!

Wonder No Longer

Now I'm sure you've wondered dear readers,

how does the Queen make meals

that all the Royals will eat?

I'm sure you've thought to yourself, she doesn't seem to post 

much about cooking,

yet her kids are getting bigger and

seem to be healthy, hmmm. 

Or, her recipes must go through rigorous testing and

approval before she tries them out on her family.

Well, wonder no longer my friends.

I do have *a* stringent quality control measure in place.

His name is Clyde.

First Clyde cautiously does a sniff test.

Then, takes an aerial overview. 

Finally, the all important taste test.

If Clyde approves, then I know I have a crowd pleaser! {grin}

Just having a little fun with you all this fine Monday morning.

Best Wishes for a fine, mid-August week, dear readers.

Happiness Is Not . . .

 . . . finding "Potsie" in the sink, when you go to drain the pasta and the corn on the cob.

Anybody else hear "Chucky" music playing??

A Knit A Week

So by now, dear readers, most

of you know (or have figured out) that

I have the teeniest, tiniest obsession

with knitting.

I know, hard to believe. {grin}

But I also have a deep, deep love

for the written word.

I love to find fabulous, fun

books to read to my kids.

And I love to read, well, just about

anything for my own personal enjoyment.

I also love to give gifts. Handmade ones in particular.

Especially ones that I've knit with a specific

person in mind.

For the following "Knit A Week" post, 

prepare to be astounded, dear ones for

I've combined all three loves!

Meet the Princess.

See all those mattresses.  And her wee pillow.

Will she be able to sleep??
Hope so.

But will it be comfortable sleep is the question!

 The Details:

Pattern:  Princess and the Pea by Susan B. Anderson

from her Itty Bitty Toys book.  Love this book!!

Yarn:  Every last bit was from scraps!  Fabulous 

stash-busting project.

Verdict:  I'm enchanted.  And not just because it

was based on a fairy tale!  I included a copy 

of the story along with the princess for 

my niece to enjoy listening to, while

she plays with her princess set.

Princess #2 is 9!!

NINE?!?

Whew.  Sometimes the passage

of time hits you all at once.

NINE!?!

The birthday girl with her Palomino cake!

Here are a few little things you should know about

my sweet Princess #2.

She (is a/an):

*fast and furious bicyclist.

*reader of anime.

*fabulous seamstress.

*knitter.

*Fashionista.

*songwriting wonder.

*aspiring singer.

*has yet to meet a stranger. {grin}

*lover of animals . . . especially horses.

*aspiring equestrienne.

*daughter of the risen KING!

*fun-loving and always fun-seeking!

God knew when He blessed us with Princess #2

that our castle was lacking in the adventure

seeking dept., the spontaneity dept., the

extroverted dept., and the flair dept.

So. . .

Nine years ago, 

in a big, ol' hurry,

Princess #2 was born

with the loudest cry I have ever

heard a newborn make.

And she has been making herself heard

ever since.  Our castle would

be awfully boring without her

to liven up the joint!

We love our free-spirited little miss very much.

A Knit A Week

Princess #2's Birthday Sweater!

Completed completely (read: blocked!)

before her birthday!

Yay me!

She originally chose a swing cardigan

sweater, but after she saw the feather and fan

stitch pattern on her baby cousin's sweater,

she just had to have that.

What was this Mama to do??

Order more yarn and find a new pattern . . .

{grin}

I found a feather and fan sweater pattern that I ended

up modifying a bit in order to make it in 

my aspiring Fashionista's vision!

Pattern: Feather and Fan Cardigan by:  Cathy Pipinich

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Paints/Hand Dyed

Verdict:  She loves it!  And I loved fiddling around

making the modifications that personalized this one.

The buttons are from the same fab etsy seller 

as previous projects.