Days 21-24 for 365 pictures this year!

January 21st Home made cinnamon rolls. I made these using my new breadmaker on the dough setting. Once it was done I rolled out the dough added cinnamon and sugar and then I rolled it into a log. The log was cut and the rolls left to rise. After baking I added frosting and the rest was history.
January 22nd Brad's spin art creations are taking over my mantle. They add a beautiful splash of color to the livingroom.January 23rd DH and I are trying to eat healthier and be more active. The children are getting in on the act as well. I thought that them doing sit ups was the cutest thing I have seen all year.
January 24th Will the snow every end? I would like to clean my floors and have them stay clean for more than an hour!

Days 18-20 for 365 pictures this year

January 18th This is Annabelle's loot from her cousin Katie's birthday party!
January 19th My DH stayed home with Annabelle a few days this week when our babysitter couldn't keep her. This is what not having to shave for 4 days will do to my usually smooth faced man. When did you say you were going back to work?
January 20th Banana Bread in my new rubbery loaf pans. I had my doubts by the loaves turned out wonderful as usual and they fell right out of the pan.

days 14-17 for 365 pictures this year

Welcome Back It has been a while since I last posted. My picture for January 14th is home made banana chips. I love to make these in my dehydrator and they are very simple. Just slice the bananas and let them go until they are as dry as you want them.
January 15th the kids are bonding over a new movie that grandma gave them last weekend. They love cuddling together on the bed to watch a movie. I am very lucky to have two children that enjoy spending time together.
January 16th. The next two pictures go together. Brad received this dump truck for Christmas from my parents and they have been inseparable ever since. He wheels all over the house on that contraption.
Brad and I went to his schools literature night and had a lot of fun there was a tap dancer, a guitar player, and line dancing.
January 17th Brad has been into playing cards quite a lot lately his current favorite games are Go Fish and War. He was clearly the Victor in this game of war. Did you notice the gaps in his mouth? He had to have 4 teeth pulled one because it had a really bad cavity and the others so that his adult teeth can straighten out. The dentist wants to do the same on the bottom soon!

Pictures for days 9-13 of 365 pictures a year

January 9 This is my current Monkey sock modeled by Annabelle. Aren't those the cutest baby toes ever. The yarn was purchased at a yarn store in Independence MO. I don't remember the name of the yarn but I do know that the colorway is Popsicle. I can't wait to get both socks finished.
January 10 This is one of Annabelle's favorite Christmas gifts. She loves to create things with play dough.
January 11 This is my newest magazine and I must say that it is a refreshing change from the usual Parents and Parenting magazines that I usually read.
January 12 My Monkey sock is almost done!
January 13 This is what a morning without children looks like at my house. French Vanilla coffee with whipped cream, I am in heaven.

Pictures for days 5-8 of 365

January 5 Snuggling on the couch doesn't get much better than this. Annabelle just out of the tub has that new baby smell for just a little while. I am reading my now most cherished book At Knits End Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka The Yarn Harlot. I love her sense of humor!

January 6 I think that My knitting blog is going to soon turn into a spinning/knitting blog. This is a sampling of my very first spinning attempts. From Left to right: the first one was not spun by me, it was made by a spinning friend who allowed me to ply it on her Lendrum so that I could get a feel for plying on a wheel. The second yarn I spun on a CD drop spindle with free wool fiber the third blue monstrosity is the very first drop spindle yarn that I created, the fiber content is unknown (it came wrapped around the spindle). And last but not least this is the second yarn that I spun on the drop spindle. The last one contains some silly color combinations because I was just grabbing fiber from the free fiber bin at the festival.
January 7 This is Her Royal Majesty Queen Tiger Lilly as she prefers to be called but we usually just call her Lilly. As soon as she realized that I wanted to use her spot to take pictures of my yarn she jumped at the chance to let me know who rules this palace. Lilly is our adopted kitty she originally belonged to my husbands brother. When he found out that the Marines were sending him overseas for a year he asked if we would keep her. We could not be happier to have her in our lives.
January 7 I tried to forge ahead with the photo shoot but just when things got set up Lilly tried to eat the pretty candy cane yarn. I did not get a picture of that yarn hanging sorry! I made that yarn at my spinning friends house on her Lendrum while trying out many different kinds of fiber including silk, mohair, angora, wool, etc. I think that the red and green make it look like a candy cane so that is what it will be called. January 8 I came home from work today to the lovely smell of peanut butter cookies. I have the most wonderful husband ever! He also cooked dinner and did the dishes! Sorry ladies he's taken!!

days 1-4 of 365 pictures in 2008

I am using my Kodak Easy Share Z740 to take these pictures. The weather has been so dismal and dark with all of the clouds and very cold temperatures that taking a picture with good lighting has been quite difficult.


This first picture of the new year shows my angel Annabelle! She has learned that taking care of five demanding babies is a lot of work. She fell asleep at 11:30 while I was getting lunch ready.
I told my son that I was planning to take a picture every day this year to which he said "Can I help you mom?" Sometimes I have more influence over my children than I realize.
This is what couch wars look like at our house. I think my husband is loosing but the victor looks quite proud. No one was harmed in the making of this picture.
My darlings finally settled down to play a game after I tried for an hour and a half to get a picture of them while they were running here and there. Brad is teaching Annabelle to play checkers what a hoot. I keep hearing "You can't move there but you could go here or here or you can jump my guy what do you want to do?" To which Annabelle says "I want to go there (meaning the sopt she can't move to)" Brother is being very patient but I don't think Annabelle is ready for games with so many rules.

On the fiber end of things I have not been doing much spinning or knitting because I have been spending time researching spinning wheels. I am going to Yarn Barn in Lawrence Kansas at the end of the month to try out wheels and I want an idea of what I am looking for in a wheel before I get there. Things like ratios and tension and single and double drives are starting to become more clear.

Days 1-4 of 365 pictures this year

Annabelle fell asleep while running a daycare too cute.

Brad is aspiring to be a photographer like mom. Hopefully he will be much better.
Brad and dad having a chair war can you tell who is winning Ha Ha.
And a friendly quiet game of checkers. What a lovely week.

Happy New Year 2008

This years resolutions are listed below and although I have the best of intentions I know that some of them will go by the wayside rather quickly so bear with me. I am setting high expectations with the hope that they will be encouraging.

1. I will remember that I cannot control the actions of other people but I can contol my response to their actions.

2. I will put forth an honest effort to have the house clean before I set down to knit or spin.

3. We will not eat out more than one meal a week including weekends but not special trips.

4. This will be the hardest to stick to but here it goes. I will walk, run, bike, hike, jog, or crawl 150 miles before January 1, 2009. My husband is also doing this so I hope that he will keep me going.

5. I want to finish or rip all of my current wips before school is out in May.

6. I will blog weekly even if I have no knitting pictures to post.

7. I will take 365 photographs this year and post them to this site weekly.

8. I will take time just for myself especially when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed because I am a better mother and wife when I feel good body, mind, and spirit.

There you have it. I will be checking in with this list often to try and stay on task.

The above picture is the super wash merino wool that I am spinning on a drop spindle. It has beautiful shading of dark to light pink and patches of brown. I picked it up at the Renaissance Festival in Kansas City this year. The fiber was dyed by Th'Red Head Designs by Marci Blank http://www.thredhead.com/ I am just getting started with spinning but I must say this fiber is silky, soft, and easy to spin as well as beautiful.

Ta Ta for now I am off to color a picture with my son.