You were warned...

This is for a friend who keep harassing me regarding the occasionally stagnant state of my blog. You see I didn't have this until just recently when my mother decluttered and organized to move from one place to another. And in my family the way you declutter is to box it up and send it to another family member's house. So, I forgot pictures such as this existed until I received my share of the clutter.

So what do teenage girls do when bored? Here is your answer....












There are more where this came from, Marsel!

Needles of Fury

I finished the socks for my niece in record time. I also busted Finn trying to steal the socks and have proof.

There is however a problem with the socks. I noticed with Finn's pair that because the yarn is cotton the cuff is not very elastic. I used double pointed needles with these as oposed to the magic loop method with Finn's.

Next I will try some that are adult sized and use a better yarn. I'm thinking of trying a basic toe-up pattern and if I can comprehend that add cables etc. on the next pair. We shall see.

I'm in a mood!

Beware! I am in a mood and cannot be held responsible for anything I may say about any establishment or member of any establishment today!

To my children's school - YOU ARE ON NOTICE!!! Firstly, stop offering for me to join the PFA. You hold your meetings at 3 p.m. which is 15 minutes after 3 of my 4 boys get out of school. So am I to bring all 4 boys? Am I suppose to drop them with the nanny I do not have?? Hmmm? Furthermore, what if I was one of the mothers who HAVE to work? That means I cannot be a part of decisions for my children's school because I must work to feed them, the afore mentioned children. I am blessed enough to not work and to be able to parent my own children, not all people are so fortunate though. A better time for PFA meetings would be around 7pm when everyone could come. Secondly, stop mentioning to me anything regarding volunteering in the classroom or on field trips. You give me the volunteer form and right on there in bold print it says,"No younger sibling are permitted in the classroom or on fieldtrips." Still don't have a nanny, enough said. Some of you may think that yes, I could hire a sitter for one day per week or the occasional field trip. Well, not everyone has a conveniently located family member to drop their children off to. Furthermore, all the babysitters are in school. Thirdly, one of my children's teachers gives him all his homework for the week on Monday, it is due on Friday he can work on it at his leasure and usually has it all completed by Monday or Tuesday at the latest so he doesn't have to worry about it the whole week. I think you should be nominated for teacher of the year for this sensible approach to homework. However, the other two teachers hand out homework on a nightly basis due the next day. So this means that should we decide to do something as a family unit we cannot. Studies have proven that the more a child spends time with his family the better his behavior at school. This would benefit you immensely, I'm sure you would agree. Let me give you an example in case you are not following me. For example: I still work, I get out of work and pick up my kids from childcare, we go out for dinner and then head to prayer meeting. After prayer meeting we come home and it's time for a shower and bed. But no, the choice is to either skip two of these things or let the child stay up past a reasonable hour to do the homework. What do you suggest? My suggestion is to let him skip his shower (so you can enjoy his delightfully ripe aroma) and let him go to bed late (so you can deal with overtired crabbiness all day).

To the seed company I ordered from, I do not appreciate you telling me that I will receive my seeds in X amount of days and it is now Y amount of days and there are still no seeds in my possesion. I have an actual schedule for when I want certain things to go in my garden. I made my order well in advance of scheduled time and now the scheduled time has past. And do not even tell me that any of it is on back order. This will anger me further and warrant a phone call from me during which I well tell you that if something is not available take it off your website or at the very least put "not in stock" underneath the price. Also, do not lie to me about when things will arrive. As I tell my children, when you lie to me, you will be found out. But rest assured... I will not order from you again.

To the boyscouts - Perhaps more boys would be able to join the boyscouts if you didn't charge an absolutely outrageous amount of money for the uniforms. You suggest I buy 2 class A's and 3 class B's. I will do so... for my son... Can you write me a note to explain to the mortgage company why I'm a bit short? Thanks, I appreciate it.

My, I certainly do feel better.

P.S. To the guy at the garden center yesterday - Do not EVER see a woman struggling to put 140lbs of anything into a shopping basket and stand there and smirk. You look quite able bodied, seemed not busy at all and yet you stood there. I saw you looking at me!!! You'd better not be there next time, this is your notice.

What I've been doing while they're gone

This is my first time ever I think where I have had only one child home all day. I was very excited at the prospect of all the things I could get done and all the new things I could begin. REALITY CHECK! The moment the three older boys started school, Finn went through some sort of... transition... yes that's what I will call it. My sweet little boy who followed me around to watch and observe me, ate at the scheduled times and most importantly napped at the appropriate times has left. In his place is a little boy who will systematically go from room to room destroying things; dumping them,ripping them you name it. Taking things (Bob is still missing a sneaker, it has literally disappeared) . Demanding things, he will stand in the kitchen pointing at the cupboard the he knows the cookies are in (I am not sure who gave him this information), yelling in his own language (Lithuanian I think) getting louder and louder. Should you choose to deny his cookie request he will look at you, very calmly and gently sit down on the floor, then very gently move to a lying postion and then KICK HIS FEET, BEAT HIS HANDS,SCREAM, YELL, GROWL, ROAR. In a way I kind of finding it amusing because he obviously take a lot of care and planning in this act. This is proven because he doesn't just throw himself down angrily. I am handling this temper tantrum business by walking away and ignoring it, pretending I don't hear it, and showing him it gets him nothing. He has gone so far as to follow me into another room and repeat the whole process from beginning to end. The absolute hardest part is to hold my laughter in because it just looks so funny.
Well, I did accomplish a few things in spite of this child's well planned plot against me. I cleaned up and finished the sewing room/office.
I knit my very first pair of socks. They are for Finn and he thieved the yarn numerous times before the yarn became socks. Then he took the socks as soon as he saw them finished and demanded I put them on him by putting the sock on top of his foot and screaming. He wore them a good part of the day even though it was still extemely hot out; he likes the colors I think. Anyway, they were made using the Magic Loop method and peaches and cream cotton yard in some very loud color. I forget the color name and the label is gone I wonder where Finn put it....
I also started planting a fall garden it remains to be seen how this will turn out.

Back To School!

The kids started school in August and the posting of these pictures are way past due. I'm sorry, I really do need to get some better self discipline for this blogging business. Rylin likes Kindergarten so far, he sits at a table full of "Greallz" (girls) and they all like him and are nice to him. We are wondering how many will be added to the other two girls in the neighborhood he has already promised matrimony to. He already has homework which seems a bit of a shock for five year olds. This is your first time away from Mom for ALL day, this is your first time without the option for a nap and after having school all day you have homework.
Gage's grades are up quite a bit from last year. It is really hard to figure how the school year is going to go until you get past the first quarter as that seems to be all review from last year. Gage is signed up for Boyscouts and his first meeting will be this coming Monday. He is really excited about this and the camping trips. I have already offended his troop leader by asking where you buy the 'outfits' from, apparently they are called 'uniforms'.
Frankie is getting used to the 4th grade and the new responsibilites of it. This seems to be the grade in which they make you responsible for writing down your own assignments, spelling words etc. instead of sending a sheet home with it already listed. This is taking some time for Frankie to get used to. He tried out for the school chorus and made it. He is thrilled with this. It was my suggestion as he seems to sing all the time anyway, might as well do something with it. Both the boys extra-curricular activities are dependant on grades according to both the school (for chorus) and myself (for boyscouts). Hopefully, these will make good incentives for this year.
Finn celebrated having both Mom and the run of the house/toys to himself by enjoying a pudding. This was actually meant to keep him out of trouble so I could accomplish a couple quick things. It led to much more work as I had to scrub the wall, the floor and the baby!