Thanksgiving

My Uncle Pee-Wee has always been good for a laugh! Annabelle had a very good time playing with him after the Thanksgiving dinner.




My Cousin Nicole is always beautiful but she hides from pictures. We lived close to each other most of my childhood, I wouldn't change those memories for anything.




My Mom and Dad

I thank God every day that I grew up in a loving supportive family.

Loving of the Yarn & February Lady Plans

This my readers is my February Lady Sweater yarn all finished and washed and ready to knit into my first sweater.

Here is another picture of the yarn and swatch as well as the other skeins that I did not send in to the fair. I will most likely use every bit of this yarn so this could very likely be the last picture of this yarn in a swatch or skein.

Of course any time the mom is on the floor with a camera small hands must assist. I think that this was my favorite picture out of the bunch.

Family in the Park and the Cutest Nephew Ever

My baby is getting much too old, it seems that as each day goes by he gets closer to being a preteen. Even though he still wants cuddles and our attention he wants more and more private time in his room alone. I am not looking forward to this time in our relationship, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Baby Nephew Christian is getting bigger and bigger, he seems to always be smiling and happy.

Annabelle loves nature and is almost always finding something new to bring home after wandering around outside.

DH Brad holding baby Christian. Brad has always had the touch with babies and can calm them and put them to sleep in no time.

The Chair

Ares and Sam have picked their favorite spot in the house, Daddy's Chair!  For years daddy has sat in that chair and typically kicked out anyone who dared to sit in it when he was at home but now the boys rule his chair and he doesn't even say a word.  The boys will even beg to sit with you if you sit in their chair and then they will instantly fall asleep!

Ares says man I taste good!

Sam is still snoozing he is such a cuddler.

Missouri Bike Tour Chillicothe

Brad enjoyed getting to Ride the Route after the professional bike riders started their trek out of town from Washington street to highway 190. the event was not very well planned. The planners made sure that the professional bikers had a safe route but they did not do the same for the elementary school aged children who participate in Ride the Route. The children biked down Washington street and then turned onto Locust in front of the YMCA this is the part that gets a little crazy the side streets were not blocked off for the hundreds of children riding their bikes on the route that they were told to take people who were trying to leave the bike route on Washington were pulling out in front of the young children riding their bikes instead of waiting and the "security" that was used during the event just walked right on by doing nothing to protect the children. Parents ended up standing in the side streets to block the traffic for the safety of other peoples children as well as their own. Chillicothe prides itself on being a family town but they really dropped the ball on keeping our children safe during a community activity luckily no children were hurt. I think that is the end of my rant thanks for hanging in there!

The professional riders were moving fast so fast that I could only take a few pictures before the entire group was gone.

Another rant but shorter this time. Annabelle got a birds eye view because inconsiderate adults kept moving in front of her and instead of doing what I wanted to do (use your imagination) Brad just put her up on his shoulders. I was amazed by how rude an adult could be to a 4 year old, I am wondering what our society has come to. Common courtesy is not so common any more.

This was my favorite team logo although it made me want to go out and get some Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Bethal World Sheep Festival

I am not sure that the World Sheep Festival lives up to it's name but it was a fun day with friends and spinning and knitting.

Of course their were beautiful sheep vying for their chance to be on my blog!

And sheep in coats!

This sign made me laugh every time I walked by. While at the world wool festival I learned how to finger weave, ate a tomato stuffed with tuna salad YUM!, huddled under a tent during a pouring rain storm, and had plenty of time to talk to Jeffrey who won best in show on the yarn he entered! Did I take pictures of those things no of course not I was too busy finger weaving. Did I mention that I almost brought home an angora bunny, I didn't this time but I am still considering getting one or two after we live in the country.

Chautauqua in the Park

Elaine and Louise are spinning away at the Chautaqua in the park. They both spin on Lendrum Double Treadles.

This is the swatch from my white ribbon winning yarn and some corridale locks that I purchased at the Chautaqua. I ended up not using them on my sweater so I am not sure what I will be doing with the yarn after it is spun.

Jeffrey is a long time friend of the family. Jeffrey worked with my mother for years before we moved and she found a job closer to home. Jeffrey spins and weaves. Jeffrey makes the most amazing shawls, table cloths, and runners.

Jeanessa is new to spinning but her ability is amazing, she spins superfine and is very consistent. Jeanessa also dyes yarn and has written a crochet pattern. Her productivity amazes me and she manages to do all of this while running a daycare and raising her daughter.

This is the latest of my knitted babes. I have not given her a name yet but I can tell you that she is looking for a new home.

Kitchen Kleaning Krew Needed!

Today I am going to tackle my messy kitchen, and not just what you can see but also what you can't see. I am going to get my kitchen ready for all of the holiday baking that will be happening in the next month! I will be showing before and after pictures as well as pictures of my holiday baking in the coming month. I just wish I had a dish fairy to take care of all my dirty dishes.






I am hoping that posting these pictures will give me the motivation I need to get and keep my kitchen clean!

Finally updated! I did get the kitchen cleaned from top to bottom including cabinets and it only took me 1 and a half days how embarrassing.

Hunting Season is Open

Annabelle and I enjoyed our day at home while the boys hunted the elusive whitetail deer. My favorite thing to do lately is bake bread in my bread machine so that is exactly what I did. I almost always use the recipe that came with my bread machine for classic white bread.



The boys spent the day laying around and being lazy with Annabelle and I. They are getting more and more lovey and trusting every week.



Annabelle layed down for her nap with a puppy on each side but Sam went out to potty before I could get a picture of all three. This is the first time that they willingly layed with one of the kids.




Annabelle wanted a lunchable for lunch but I didn't want to get out so we improvised. I used a small cookie cutter to cut hearts out of cheese and bologna. She also had a small pack of teddy grahams and crackers. She ate the homemade variety better than she has ever eaten the store bought kind


And best of all the boys came home with a deer. Hubby shot and 8 pointer now if only little man could get his first deer.

Update From Pugs Weekly

Samual Zeus (pictured above) and Ares are both doing better they are getting more trusting and less shy almost every day.  Both puppies run from us when we are standing but if we sit the will climb all over us! Potty training is not going as well as I had hoped but I know it will take them a while as they were used to using the bathroom in their cages.

I got them several toys at the after Halloween clearance sale after a few days they began to play with them and fight over them.  I got two toys but they always want the one that the other has (the toy is always more fun if someone else is playing with it).

Ares who tends to be the leader of the pack was the victor this time.  He is small but mighty!

And Ares figured out how to keep his toy hold on tight and lay on top of it!  Can you tell is eyes are looking to the left, that is because one of the kids was walking by and he wouldn't lift his head to see what he was doing.  Ares spend about 20 minutes playing shifty eyes before he decided he was done monopolizing the green toy.

The Missouri State Fair Blue Ribbons

Drum Roll Please This post is all of my blue ribbon yarn from the Missouri State Fair 2009 (yes my head is getting bigger as you read this).




My very favorite yarn and the one that I hoped would take first place was this lovely superwash merino. I separated out the fiber with the hope of creating blended color transitions of roughly the same amount to create a lovely visual effect of shaded transition. I entered this one into the gauge and swatch category. I used a simple feather and fan pattern, gently blocked the swatch and send my love off into the world. Boy was I proud to see it win a blue ribbon as I thought it was my very best spinning of a dyed roving.

The pink yarn is a merino with many extras thrown in, there are bits of tinsel, commercial yarn, and it is plied with sewing thread. This one won first in the boucle group which completely knocked my socks off after I saw what some of the other ladies had entered in the same competition. I thought that their yarn was by far much better than mine.

and last but not least the most amazing win of all. This was the first real spinning I ever did, it was all spun and plied on a drop spindle. I entered it in the intermediate category because I didn't feel right entering it in the beginner category (at the time of entry I had been spinning for over a year) even though I had only been spinning a few months when I finished this yarn. I was expecting a white or possibly a red but definitely a blue! My first experience with the fair has been very positive and I am already looking forward to next year.

Missouri State Fair and the First Day of School

This year for the first time I entered handspun yarn in the Missouri State Fair. I was not expecting to get much so I was very surprised when I got several ribbons.



2 White ribbons earned at the fair. The green is yarn that I purchased as white fiber, I dyed it, spun it, and it is going to be used in a february lady sweater.

3 Red Ribbons the burgandy yarn was made from merino fiber I purchased at the renaisance festival a few years ago. The brown yarn is 100% llama fiber purchased from Zelma.

my third red ribbon was for a dyed mohair that I won at the All Missouri Spin In held in Chillicothe in 2008. I spun it as a single with curly locks hanging loose.

This is all of my yarn with ribbons or without laying on Zelma's pool table. Tomorrow I will post about the blue ribbon winners.

Brad and Annabelle are all dressed and ready for their first day of school. Brad is in 4th this year and Annabelle is on her last year of preschool.

Kids do the craziest things!

Before scrolling down just take a guess at what I found in my Fridge this afternoon. The blog post says it all Kids do the craziest things!

littlest pet shop animals were chilling in my fridge, crazy I know. When I asked Belle why they were in the fridge her response was "They are visiting the arctic on an adventure. You didn't take them out did you?" To which I responded "no". I am still laughing about that one.