Almost Wordless Wednesday

. . . and gratuitous knitting post in one handy package!

Meet Clive (the Prince's Easter basket stuffer) and Clive's little sister Jane (a gift for a friend).

Pattern: Funky Sock Monkey (Ravelry linky)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts-Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Mr. Greenjeans and Lemongrass
Verdict: Great pattern, great finished product, highly addictive!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

King of the Castle
and the young Royals

Happiness Is . . .

. . . getting yarn in the mail!

I think one of the many best things (there are so many) about Ravelry, is the opportunity to help out a fellow yarn-a-holic de-stash! It is an excellent win-win. Your fellow Raveler gets more room for stash enhancement, and you can get discontinued or hard to find or heavily discounted yarn for your own stash enhancement!!

Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh

While taking a break from "Prince" duty, I had a chance to go over Thursday's school work. We've been working really hard with Princess #1 on writing answers in complete sentences. So I was pleased as I looked over her science worksheet to see her answers written correctly. Then I read them . . . and had to share (her answer is in bold).

Define the terms using complete sentences.

3.) cochlea The cochlea is a snail shaped thing filled with wet stuff.

4.) auditory nerve The auditory nerve is like a vessel leading up to the brain so you know what you heard.

Now we'll like work on writing good complete things. ;)

Gratuitous Knitting Post

2010 is shaping up to be a great knitting year!! Yay, for finished projects to post in just the second week of January!

Noro Stripey Scarf for me
Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf (ravelry link)
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite-4 skeins of 2 different color-ways
Verdict: This scarf is crazy long-which I love. However, do not attempt this scarf with boring yarn as it is knit 1, purl 1 til you die by self-inflicted knitting needle wound. The Noro color-changes are the only saving grace with this one.

iPod Felted Pouch for Princess #1
Pattern: Beginner's Lucky Pouch (ravelry link)
(with heavy personal modifications)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon-1 skein
Verdict: She loves it! And there is room for all the cords & girly whatnot as well as her iPod.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Future Baby-Wearing Mama
I love it!!

Eleven Months

He's one month away from the often over-rated 0-1, believe it or not! Here's what our sweet man is up to:

. . . wears 18-24 month clothes, size 4.5-5 shoes, and size 4 dipes.

. . . cruises along anything he can, avoiding crawling if at all possible.

. . . will stand by himself if he's holding an interesting toy.

. . . says no, shh, "ck" for yuck, ffff for "woof" when he sees the dogs.

. . . will do anything for his parade's attention (read: shriek, drop toys, and clap).

. . . is willing to try food with texture (hoo-rah).

. . . points, waves, claps, and can do the sign for touchdown!

. . . is everywhere and into everything all.the.time.

. . . has an uncanny 6th sense about the status of the baby gates (read: he knows when they are down and races to get through to the promised land).

. . . gives mama hugs and kisses prompted and unprompted (the best kind)!!

. . . love, love, LOVES his big sisters.

. . . love, love, LOVES his mama and dadda.

and they all love, love, LOVE him back!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Meet Fergus aka Mr. F aka Fergie aka Fergalicious aka Princess #3's baby kitty.

Yep, we broke down and kept one. No willpower here at the castle.

She Said

I'm using this post to pass along a couple of recent Princess #3 "isms" that were just too cute to forget.

"It seems to me that it's time to watch a little t.v.", she casually says after dinner.

"Can you pass me the Prince's cell phone machine that he just got from Nora?"
(A bit of a generation gap there, seems to me! :-) )

"Mama, what do you call it when your tummy is rumbly? Oh yeah, hungry!"

Did you ever think there would come a day that you would see this gal in jeans. Denim.Jeans.
Will wonders ever cease?? :)
Of course, this has been a one-time sighting mind you!!

Patience Has Ceased to be a Virtue

Princess #3 is in full-on Christmas mode! She is loving all there is about Christmas in the castle, but in her mind (and limited grasp of time concepts), it is taking a very, long time to get to that big day!

Today I caught her under the tree inspecting presents because she thought she smelled peanut butter and was checking to see if any of her gifts was squishy, "like a sandwich, Mama".

And yesterday when informed by the countdown calendar that there were 10 whole days til Christmas, put her hands on her little hips and proclaimed with intense disgust, "Why couldn't Jesus have been born early, like I was???"

Why indeed sweet girl, why indeed.

10 Months with Our Boy

At 10 months old, our sweet Prince is quite the guy! We are enjoying seeing even more girl vs. boy differences in how he interacts with his world! It's fun!

So without further ado, at 10 months old the Prince . . .

. . . wears 18-24 month size clothes and size 4.5 shoes.

. . . has 8 teeth.

. . . can squat down to inspect something (while holding on to something)

. . . walks while pushing chairs, stools, trucks, etc.

. . . loves the pot drawer.

. . . has an unhealthy obsession with chewing on shoes.

. . . wears size 4 diapers.

. . . loves to feed himself.

. . . tolerates being spoon fed, some of the time.

. . . is a great kitten/cat catcher.

. . . loves his little daily routine.

. . . clicks his tongue when he sees you eating or is hungry.

. . . stills loves those squeaky toys and making sniffing sounds.

. . . likes to crawl around with a toy in his mouth or in his hand.

. . . loves Christmas lights!!

. . . love, love, LOVES his big sisters.

. . . love, love, LOVES his mama and daddy.

and they all love him back!!

Overheard from the Family Room . . .

. . . "No, no, I'm the mom! And that means I don't need any rest. I do everything that the family needs. I do NOT need to rest. I do NOT need to go to the doctor. OKAY??? I am the MOM!", Princess #3 says to "dad" aka Princess #1, who was also moonlighting as a doctor.



Is that really her perception of me? Me, the enforcer of the hated daily rest time. Explained to her daily, as "I know you don't need any rest, but Mama needs rest time, so choose to show Mama love by having a cheerful heart and being quiet!!!! Thank you in advance for your cooperation." Very interesting . . .

Potato, Potahto

On our way home in the dark early evening last night, I tried to engage Princess #3 in a little Christmas fun, spotting Christmas lights. Here is the result:

Queen: Princess #3!! Look at that huge tree covered in lights!! Wow, isn't it amazing??
(Now I shudder to think how much I must have sounded like my own mother did when she pointed out the Oregon Trail marks along Hwy 97 during every childhood trip to Bend, OR :)!!)

Princess #3 (in a completely disinterested voice): Oh, you mean that giant mushroom with Christmas lights?

Hey, in my defense, is it every day you get to see a giant lighted mushroom???

Ham Please

This face right here says it all. I love it a little more each day.

Little By Little

As most of you know, I am a Christmas junkie. I love this time of the year! Usually by now my decorations would be up, the tree up, cookies a-baking, but this year I am apparently taking the bit by bit approach to the holiday. Which is fine. It is allowing the girls to help decorate more (read that as: do the dusting-hee!) and have more say in what snowman goes where, and that is fun!

I'm loving how each daughter's personality is revealed by how she chooses how to decorate. Princess #1 is a traditionalist, this snowman goes there, because that's where he's been since I can remember. Princess #2 is a flyin'-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal, this snowman goes here because it looks fabulous (a Fancy Nancy reference there, in case you missed it!). While Princess #3 is all about staging (read that as: quantity, as in I want them all here!), she very carefully groups her decorations all in one location. The Prince obviously is a bit young to get in on the action, but does notice the different things popping up in his line of sight and is especially appreciative of any put in his reach.

So as December begins, I hope each of you is enjoying getting ready to celebrate the Christ-child's birth in your own special way. I know I am!

Nine Months!

As is my tradition on this blog, here is the latest and greatest about the Prince as he reaches his 9th month:

. . . has 7 teeth, number 8 should be with us shortly.

. . . wears size 3 or 4 diapers.

. . . wears 12-24 month size clothes and size 15-18 month size shoes.

. . . crawls everywhere, very quickly, very stealthily.

. . . craves the excited squeal that he gets after getting into a sister's stuff.

. . . snorts like a pig.

. . . loves to snort like a pig at the dinner table and then pauses for his people to laugh.

. . . loves to sniff.very.loudly.and.often.

. . . plays with Mama's hair very gently, especially after naps.

. . . loves to be outside.

. . . pulls up to standing on anything that will stay still long enough.

. . . is obsessed with Jackson's (the doxi-beagle) tags. Sorry Jack.

. . . cruises along the furniture or bath tub or anything else that is long enough.

. . . love, love, loves his sisters.

. . . love, love, loves his mama and daddy.

. . . and they all love, love, love him too!

Reassurance

Princess #1: Mama, would you just drop us off instead of coming in too?

Queen: long silent pause

Princess #1 (hurriedly interrupting long silent pause): It's not that I'm embarrassed by you or anything, it's just so much faster if you just drop us off.

Good thing she clarified, else I might have been forced to come in just on account of needing to do my "motherly" duty and embarrass my child simply by existing. :)

Happiness Is . . .

. . . having daughters who totally dig the fact that you knit. And in fact, will find something that has been knit in a catalog and ask if you will make it for them.In their specified colors.Starting as soon as possible. Because they love what you make them. And because they love what you make them, you want to make what they want!!

{Next up: Felted iPod cozy for Princess #1. Can't wait to start in on it!!}

Good Medicine

Do you know the Proverb that says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine."? If you need a dose of happiness please feel free to watch this little video as often as you need. I know it gets me smiling every time I do. There is something irresistible about a good baby belly laugh!!

Semantics

A real life conversation taken from real life at the castle.

Queen: Okay, tell my why you've been crying.

Princess #2: Princess #1 punched me in the nose.

Queen: Why did she punch you in the nose?

Princess #2: I don't know, I guess she was mad at me.

Queen: (thinking to herself: you think?), instead saying:
Why did you punch your sister in the nose?

Princess #1: I didn't know that I would hit her in the nose.