Will all of the goings on this weekend and how I am feeling right now I am not sure what was knit on what day but what it boils down too is that this is where I am at on the sock and I have made sure to knit at least one row per day (have not attempted today's row yet). I think I have knit about 18 rows since I last posted about it.

This weekend was busy - Saturday it started snowing which caused some problems for my folks getting here but they made it safe and sound none the less. The kids and I met up with them at Toy R Us so Jacob could pick out his birthday present. Then we headed home and ordered pizza for dinner. Abby had started running a fever and throughout the night she woke up about every 10 - 15 minutes (oh how I wish I was exaggerating that). All day Sunday she was calm, quite, tired and at times, downright groggy (absolutely the opposite of Abigail). The kids took it easy all day and I did not even make them get out of their jammies. My brother and his wife came down and later in the day Brian's mom and step dad came too and Jake opened gifts and we had cake. Today I took Abby into the doctor and it was confirmed that she too has pneumonia. I did not know that pneumonia could be communicable, but I guess so. I also started feeling ill today (runny nose and fever is all for now thank goodness but if I start having a cough I'll be calling a doctor). After doctors it was off to the pharmacy for antibiotics then to the deli to grab a quick lunch and drop some by Brian's office so he could have lunch too. By the time we got home, had lunch and I got the kids down for a nap I was wiped so I had a little lie down on the couch until it was time to make dinner.
My darling Jacob came up to me after waking up from his nap and said "why are lying down mommy?" I told him "Mommy doesn't feel very good right now" So he sits down next to me, starts rubbing my arm and says "is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" All I could do was say "how about a hug" and gave him one - it was that or start crying with how sweet he was being. About 2 minutes later after I had got myself sat up and prepared to do some workbook stuff with him he walks up to me and hands me a glass of water "for you to feel better mommy" I have the sweetest kid in the world.

Bummer

My poor son. I feel so bad for the boy. He has had a fever for several days so we decided to call the doctor. They wanted to see him and after doing so diagnosed him with pneumonia. Which means that we had to cancel his birthday party on Sunday. This made him so sad and that broke my heart. By the end of the day he had come to accept it but still it makes me sad to see him so upset.

That being said I spent my day consoling my son and therefore did not get a blog post done and managed to only knit one row on the sock. So here is the knitting for the last two days:

5 year old in the house!

I did not post yesterday as I was busy running around and doing something called life. Anyway it works out since the knitting progress from the day before was minuscule and not worth photographing and I only knit about a row yesterday so there will be no photo of the same stuff you have been seeing thus far. I am happy that I have remembered to get at least a stitch in a day thus far (at this point I am still getting in at least a row a day but I don't want to jinx it). I am going to have to pick up my pace though as I am on a deadline for this sock and will not meet it if I don't get to it. In fact I only have 9 days to finish this sock so I guess I better REALLY get to it.
In other news today is the 5 year anniversary of the birth of this little monkey:

I can't believe he is 5 already. We will celebrate by letting him pick where to go out for dinner tonight and open  a few gifts from Brian I. On Sunday we will have a party with friends and family at Round Table (Jacob's request). On that note I am off to play with the birthday boy.

Keeping Busy

 On Monday morning I took our shawl and placed it in the bathtub with some warm water and soap and set to fulling it by hand. It was hard work but I wanted to be sure and not take any chances by doing it in the washing machine. For the rest of the day I took it easy and hung out with the kids. Jake and I picked out his clothes for his first day at school and set everything aside for in the morning - he was so excited it was like Christmas Eve.
By the time the kids were napping I decided to make myself a quill attachment for my spinning wheel (I could buy one for about $50 but my homemade model was free (an extra chopstick from take out, sharpened and sanded and a rubber band that I think came off of a bunch of asparagus). It took a little fiddling to get it to stay put but it works great! I think I will add a whorl of sorts to keep the cop from getting into the orifice of the wheel. Also just a note that I always slide a protective cover over it and turn it to face a wall so no one gets all sleeping beauty on that thing.

I was in the mood to do something fiddly and intricate so I started planning a project which led me to a skein of yarn I had spun from my first fleece. I wound off skeins in small yardages (specified by the pattern I chose). I got the kids to bed and watched some TV with Brian then I got the dye baths set up:

This wool is going to be awesome for several reasons, one of those reason is that repels water like I have never seen before. This skein had been sitting on top of the water for about 6 minutes before I started to push it down and even after holding it under for some time it popped back up and the dye bath just beaded up on the surface.

Here they are all hanging to dry....I'll show you more when I have more to show:)

Tuesday was a VERY busy day. I woke up to Jake bringing me his clothes with a big smile on his face. Everyone got dressed and Brian even took the morning off of work so he could be there for his little boy on his first day of school.

After we got Jake settled at school, Abby and I went to Target and did some shopping. We spent a few extra dollars on a coffee for me, a smoothie for her and a dress up witch's hat.

After a few more stops we picked Jake up and grabbed some lunch. Then home for rests and an afternoon together. After dinner I took the kids to my neighbors house so she could watch them for that period in between my having to leave and Brian getting home. Then I headed out to my spinning guild meeting to face the music with the shawl...it did not full very nicely and I am hoping I didn't ruin it. I was given a lot of encouragement and I feel slightly better. After the meeting it was home to my sleeping children and finding that Brian had purchased the new Spartacus season and we decided to watch an episode before bed. Needless to say the day felt like a week and we are going to take it easy today with some crafting for me (knitting), crafting for the kids (stage for the puppet show) our usual learning time and with any luck, naps for everyone.

Alphabet Hat

Here is the hat I made for Jacob with that fun beaded yarn completed finally!


The triangle top was lots of fun to do!

March Spinning Goal - and it's Completion.

Well, I had my spinning goal in mind and got so excited about it I didn't take as many in progress photo's as I would have liked to.
With my specific goal of a hat for Jacob in mind I went 'stash diving' and finding no 'Jacob Worthy' fiber I resigned myself to having to buy some (a trip to buy fiber, gee darn - actually it was on the tail end of a detist appt.) I bought 4 ounces of some commercially processed Merino in the Denim colorway from Ashland Bay at the Lamb's Ear in Tacoma. That night was my monthly spinning guild meeting and while there I split the roving in two and spun half of the singles in the couple of hours I was there. Later that evening after getting home I was on such a roll that I spun the second half of the singles 'thick and thin.'
Yesterday I started the plying - I had already had the beads and had intended on stringing them on the thinner single but that idea was scrapped when I realized I would not be able to pull the single through all of the beads without abrading to too much.So plan B was a spool of 'denim' colored sewing thread (Thank you Alexis! - you let me have this after a sewing project we worked on here - it couldn't be more perfect) to make a 3 ply - the two singles I had spun plus the tread with the beads strung on.I finished up the yarn that afternoon and set it to soaking. It is just barely dry enough to photograph - another day before it will be dry enough to knit with. It is destined to be a hat for my Jacob - the self proclaimed 'Letter Prince' (apparently Letter King was not to his liking).

Edited to add: As Alexis just pointed out in the comments - the month isn't even half over and I'm done. Perhaps I will add to my spinning goal this month as this was a new aquisition and not directly from the fiber stash (but the beads and thread were).

Starting

Starting the year off with a few things.

First is a new haircut...The before pic here did not come out all that great and you can't really see how long my hair was - she had already started cutting by the time I remembered to take a pic but here it is just the same:
and the after:

Overall she took off about 8 inches and I was really happy with it...If only it looked this nice every day...I have yet to duplicate the smooth look I left the salon with as my hair curls when it is wet and my attempts to tame it just give me frizzy head.

Second is that Brian and I are trying to eat better. Not necessarily diet or have a resolution, but just trying to eat better overall. Maybe take a cue from Jacob - On our way to the store the other day I had to get gas and the gas station happens to be right next to McDonald's. The conversation went something like this:
Jacob: "Can I have a snack?"
Me: "We can get a snack when we get to the store."
Jacob: "Well, maybe we can have a snack at McDonald's!"
Me: "No, I said we can get a snack at the store, besides, McDonald's is not a healthy snack, and I want you to have a healthy snack."
Jacob: "I don't want a healthy snack - maybe I could just have some broccoli instead."
Me: "Weeelll, I guess so, if you are good."
And I'll be damned if he didn't carry that 'little tree' around the store with him, hold it in the car seat on the way home, and eat some of it the second it was washed when we got home. Who wants healthy snacks anyway?

And thirdly I am starting my spinning challenge. The challenge is to spin one project from my stash each month. My January goal is to finish the singles for my sweater. Here is the remaining wool left to be spun:

That is already split out into equal amounts so as to have three skeins of three ply yarn. I have already spun 5.25 bobbins full and have this 3.75 left - just under 7 ounces left to spin. I would ideally like to spin all of the singles as well as get all of the plying done, but I am trying to be realistic about what I am likely to be able to accomplish...I suppose if I was spinning now instead of posting or making breakfast or doing laundry I could do it...then there are all of the damn free games available on my new Android phone and they just keep me so busy ;)

On that note I think I will go start a load of laundry, then make breakfast for the kids and perhaps sit down to spin.

Snow Day

Yesterday we got dumped on ... a bit in the morning - enough to get outside after breakfast, run around in the backyard and make a snow man. This is Abby's first real experience with snow, and probably the first one Jake will remember. They both ate snow, made snow angels, and of course make the snow man with Mommy. I had fun and wasn't too terribly cold since it was just above freezing while we were outside.

By the time naps were over the snow man had warmed up enough to tip over. But shortly after that it started snowing again and hadn't stopped when we went to bed around 11 last night.

This is what our backyard looks like today:

You can see that there is about 6 inches of snow on the table and just beyond that you can see the snow man 'corpse.'

The kids really want to go out and play in the snow again but they don't understand that it's too cold...currently our thermometer reads 16 F so it will have to warm up a little before they can go out...unfortunately it's not supposed to get much warmer throughout the day (or tomorrow for that matter).

The Deathwish of Children

A long time ago (about 4 years come January) Brian and I learned quickly that babies and small children don't have much of a self preservation drive. I mean they eat and sleep but that's about it. They don't get that if they roll over to far on the bed they will rather quickly meet the floor, or that standing on the back of the couch is not the BEST idea they could have today.
Our son, Jacob has always learned fairly quickly that when we tell him not to do something ("don't touch that - it's hot, it will burn you, that will hurt") he stops, thinks and listens - if he doesn't listen, he only makes the mistake once.
Abigail on the other hand has been actively trying to kill herself from pretty much the beginning. Not only does she not listen, sometimes she must get hurt two or more times before she figures out she can't 'beat it.' She was 10 months old when I had to bolt the bookshelves to the walls too keep them from tipping over when she tried to climb them. There was the stairs incident here back when Abby was only 8 months old. I am amazed that the only real injury she has sustained at this point is a burn on her fingers and that was the babysitters fault.
So today we are at the playground and they have a climbing apparatus (at the playground? go figure!) some bigger kids were stepping up (there are about 3 levels - one is about 8 inches off the ground, one is about 2.5 feet and the other is about 3ft up) and jumping down. Abby got bored with the first level in no time flat and then immediately climbed to the top (I am not sure how she got up there all on her own but she did) and said 'jump!' I was standing next to her and had my hands out to which she immediately brush away saying 'no help me!' She looked down, thought for about 1/2 a second and then said 'JUMP!' again. I grabbed her by the arm at the last second because she was gonna jump without my help but it was too high. She was mad I helped her but she only tried jumping from the second level after that. Also refusing help. After she landed, fell back onto her ass and realized that may have been a little much she went back to picking up all the beauty bark and making piles on the play structure.
That girl is fearless. Jacob wouldn't even jump off the second step. He is a bit more timid than his sister in many ways and I don't know if he has more fear, or more sense (I think a bit of both). He has always been a bit less impulsive than her.
I am going to have to make sure Abby NEVER gets the 'garbage bag for a parachute off the roof' idea or I am going to have one helluva hospital bill. On the other hand maybe her chutzpa will get her far in life.

Lots of stuff because I'm catching up.

Things I've recently learned:

1. WinCo has fabulous quality meats.

2. I can use my drop spindle while simultaneously making tea and pouring cereal.

3. When a toddler is having a tantrum and slamming her hand on her highchair tray - she can cause it to 'rain' macaroni and cheese in brief spurts.

4. Macaroni and cheese sticks like napalm and dries like concrete.

5. The beans that you and your toddler are making sprout (to see things grow) that 'don't take' ferment.

6. No matter how hard you wish for it dishes don't do themselves (wait, I think I've said that before...ok well, maybe this time I'll learn it for real).

My children have learned:

Abby: How to remove one's diaper but also how to give kisses and to wave/say bye bye

Jacob: Selfishness but also kindness and very early math skills

My husband has learned:

It really is possible to pick up a 7-10 split (go ahead, ask him how he knows) :)

Ok and now for the crafty shit that you are either 1: waiting for or 2: skipping over...

Last Thursday Abby and I attended Madrona Fiber Arts Festival. I wish I could say it was to take one of the incredible classes that were offered, but alas, I was just there to shop (gee darn).Next year I do hope to get into a couple of classes though.

I purchased some fun stuff but did not go totally insane like I did last year.

I bought:

- a set of dpn protectors so I can stop gouging myself everytime I reach into my purse.

- a diz and pull hook for pulling my combed wool into roving (yay!)

- a handy little project bag that I can't believe I payed 22 bucks for when I could have made it myself for 87 cents.(but now I can make myself a couple since I have something to refrence).

- a packet of 'exotic' fibers that include 1/4 each of cashmere/silk, baby alpaca, yak/merino, silk/rayon, baby camel/merino and cashmere. all of these I would consider to be luxury fibers and it's a great way to 'try out' a bunch of fibers without committing to a larger purchase. I can spin these and know if I would like to make the commitment to buy more yak or camel...

- 4.5 oz of alpaca in a sorta white color...it's the natural fiber (no dyes, etc.) and I am really loving how soft it is and how fine it is spinning up on my new...
- Turkish spindle. this was my most expensive purchase but well worth the 45 bucks. It is a Turkish Delight from Jenkins Woodworking and my oh my am I in love! It is lightweight (.9 oz) so I can spin nice and fine. It is made of beautiful Purple heart wood with a maple shaft. Here she is...don't have a name for her yet, but she truly is a delight.

Some in progress singlesand the 2ply center pull ball that you get when you take the spindle apart from inside the ball (neatest trick ever I tell ya!)After I finished plying the singles back on themselves to get that center pull ball I then skeined it onto my swift so I could a: get approximate yardage and b: set the twist in the yarn. However I love this little ball so much I am thinking I might just wind it back onto the spindle rather than using my ballwinder before using it.
Here is the hank drying in the window...hopefully you can see the halo the yarn has:It also has a lovely luster that is not showing up in this photo.

That is the fun I have been having with my new spindle. Just before Sock Wars started I finished plying and setting this yarn:I am currently vacillating between loving it and hating it. Here's why:
1. It was supposed to be a sock yarn and when all was said and done it came out bigger. On the wheel it was fine, but it bloomed so much during the setting process that it is too big to use for socks (or the socks I had envisioned anyway). This bums me out because it is the first bit of spinning I had a complete vision from roving to final product in my head for.
2. The colors gradate from red to orange to yellowish green to blue and back again. I like this but am not sure I love the colors overall. They are kindof cartoony. I think half of you were lying when you said you loved it. Now keep in mind when it's knit up the red won't fall next to the blue or green so forth...it will progress from one color to the next.
3. It turned out super soft and squishy. would make a lovely sweater but there is certainly not enough yarn here for that (and then there is the color issue)...
Anyway so that is that.

Beyond the spinning has been the knitting. More socks. Shocker I am sure. I am halfway through the 2nd pair for Iron Knitter. I am officially 'out' of the competition because I did not finish the whole pair on time, but I will continue to particpate in subsequent rounds for fun. So here is the first finished sock - first from the front/top with the vine/leaf pattern:
And from the side with the diamond pattern:This is the first time I worked a picot edge (the top of the sock) and I really like the way it works...I need to figure out how to turn the hem as I go though because I am really not in love with finishing the sock and then having more finishing up to do. I kinda like that once you are done grafting and weaving in the end you can wear 'em out the door.
This pattern is called Wishing for Spring and can be purchased via Ravelry. I will say though that I did find numerous mistakes in the pattern and hopefully some of them are fixed by the time the pattern is published.

A day in the life of...

...of well, Me. Nothing exciting but I thought it would be interesting (or totally boring depending on what your into) to post about some of the things my job entails...
This morning I had to shove over and hang my butt over the edge of the bed so Toddler The First could crawl in and get comfortable.
A couple of hours later I had to get up and turn on the light for said toddler so he could play with his train set...but the trains were missing and crying ensued. This crying woke up Toddler The Second and so brought her to bed with me and by this time Jake had found a firetruck (with lights and sirens, yipee!) to occupy himself with.
Next up...the hunt for the trains...after everyone was awake and downstairs (oh and I went and started hubby's truck for him in the lovely 16 degree warmth because I love him and he was running late) I went up and tried to find Jake's missing trains, after searching his room, his sisters room, the laundry room, the bathroom, the spare bedroom and my bathroom I found them under my cedar chest at the end of our bed...he has been playing with them most of the morning.
Later I went on a balloon rescue...our entryway goes all of the way up to the 2nd floor so when the balloon was released in that area it was not reachable...ended up grabbing the broom, standing on the stairs, holding onto the rail and leaning way over and swiping at the streamer until it moved over enough for me to reach it all the while being told "be careful mommy, don't break my balloon". 20 minutes it took for that stupid balloon and then he only played with it for 3 minutes...go figure.
I have rescued my daughter from 'certain death' 3x already this morning...she loves climbing up on and standing on tables...we may have to get rid of our 2 end tables all together since she won't stay off of them. And she is lightning quick - anyone out there with kids knows how it only takes the time for you to bend over and pull the cuff of your sock up before they are on top of the fridge.
I 'made' breakfast...we had Cheerios today since Jake requested them and Abby has a fit if she doesn't get what everyone else is having too. She is really bummed when we go for coffee or wine or beer since she (and obviously Jake too) don't get any no matter how much whining, crying and foot stomping there is.
I moved our leather sofa around to make a space for the Christmas tree and Jake loves the new space and had been running around in a 5ft circle exclaiming "I am having so much fun at the playground playing with my friends!" (Must be imaginary friends).
It is now almost 10 am so I am sure we are going to have tons more fun today...maybe I'll finally post a pic but for now I am making my to do list...
I have a couple of fun jobs on the list like cleaning out the diaper pail and the cat box...and I get to go out into the freezing ass cold and put the spigot covers on (better to be a bit cold then to have some broken pipes.) I am also going to check tree lights to see if I need more this year or not (may go to LED if I need to buy new ones)...that should be fun with two curious little ones...

What I'm Working On

So...I made another spindle...I think I am done for a while now. I really do need to start packing, not making more of a mess around here.

This one is made out of a chopstick and another donut bead - looks like bone, I am not really sure what it's made of. Very light. I will only be able to spin very fine on this spindle - I think it's my favorite so far.

I finished spinning up the silk blend that I got at the County Fair when I participated in the Sheep to Shawl back in August (don't have pics from that, left my camera at home that trip). Right now it's singles but I think I might ply it with some a grey silk/alpaca blend.Next up are the socks I am working on. These are constructed sideways and I am loving the technique. Yes those are holes in my sock...just wait, you'll see when it's all done...I am giddy over these socks.And lastly I have started a lengthwise scarf out of some of my handspun yarn (guess I am on a sideways kick with the socks and now this...)This should just fly off the needles once I get it going. I can't wait to see this one all done too.In other news, Abby now has two teeth! Oh and I got to sleep ALL NIGHT last night (no I don't believe me either, but it happened!) both kids blessedly did not scream or wake up needing to poop all night. Jake usually wakes up and yells at me from his bed (he knows I can hear him through the monitor)...this morning he did what I have been telling him it's ok to do for several months now, just get up and come on down. It was a little weird to wake up to a little face popping up over the side of my bed saying "wake up mommy" but nice too.

Well, I guess its time for laundry and all that silly houseworky stuff.

Too Hot

Almost too hot to knit. But I'm not letting it stop me. I am working on a new pair of socks for Jake. 2 days ago I was putting him down for a nap and he asked to put on socks. I told him it was too hot to wear socks. He cried for his handknit socks "a wons you make me mommy" It melted my heart but it was to hot to wear socks no matter how cute the request. I told him he could wear them another day but they were getting a little small. So he asked me to make him some more. I figured I'm not going to get a lot of years of requests for handknits so I am seizing the opportunity while it's here.

Other than the socks I have not really been working on anything. I still have some of my Rasputin roving on the wheel but I haven't touched that in several days.

Yesterday it was way hot - like 104 or thereabouts. Ick. I got smart and made dinner in the morning (boiled potatos and eggs for potato salad with sandwiches). I also have the house blacked out like it's WWII. It helps. It only got 89 in the house yesterday (we have a borrowed window a/c unit). I also bathed the kids in a cool bath before bed. In fact that was such a good idea Brian and I took a cold shower too (Yes together. No. It was too hot to even think about that- even in a cold shower, get your mind out of the gutter). That helped a bit. It stayed decently cool upstairs (a/c is upstairs) and I was able to put the kids to bed in their own room (I thought about sleeping on the floor up there because it was cooler than downstairs). Unfortunately the house only cooled off to about 80 last night so it might not be as cool in the house today even though it's supposed to not get as hot outside. I miss the rain.

Lately

What we've been up to lately....
I mentioned we went up to Orcas for about a week and got to hang out with Grandma and Granddad...
Jake and Granddad ran the tractor:

Abby hung out on the couch:Jacob found his wings:but don't get me wrong the whole time he was 'flying' he kept saying "My an airplane Mommy!" and making appropriate airplane noises.

We spent some time in my Mom's amazing garden...Jake loved the shovel, the wheelbarrel and the rake but mostly he loved the peas, cherries and strawberries: I finished Abby's lace hat and just had to put it on her right away. Fortunately it was a cool enough day that I was not torturing my child for the sake of seeing if it fit.
My dad went fishing and came home with several fish that he smoked. Jake got to help him make the brine and was very very excited to do so.The fish was delicious too.

We have been home for a week now and I am finally getting my butt around to posting. I finished snakes for a friend's grandsons. They turned out great except I didn't end up embroidering eyes on them. I still think they look pretty sharp with their little tounges sticking out. I am really glad I got them done before my machine decided to break. The day after I finished the snakes I finally decided to get my stuff together and make a bear for Jacob since I hadn't yet done that. He came up and 'helped' me. After we got the pattern traced and cut out we sat down to sew only to find the machine only sewing in reverse. I couldn't figure it out. I thought it was probably the same problem Alexis had. So I thought it was a loose spring on the backwards button but I couldn't get the cover off. I was doomed to have to take it in to have the shop look at it...they look at it for free...if it needs to be fixed they charge 125 bucks. I took it in and she couldn't figure it out...sait it had to be sent in (damn it, I knew it)...aske if she could just show me how to take the cover off...she said she had no clue but her co-worker could often scare any machine into behaving. Said co-worker came and sat down at the machine. 5 seconds in she had my machine working...get this it was just on the wrong stitch setting. I guess that there is some limbo on the setting that if you put it in the right spot it sews backwards. This is probably intentional in the design of the machine but still was weird to me. It made sense that it was a minor problem as Jacob had confessed to messing with the machine when asked. But in the end it all worked out and I didn't have to pay and arm and a leg...so here is his bear in all of the Curious George and Firetrucks glory: Oh and on Wednesday I made a fabulous dinner. I knew I was totally in the mood for a roast so I grabbed one and coated it in coarse kosher salt and some dried minced garlic and some pepper. I baked that at 325 for about 2 hours. I also served mashed potatoes and best part was the Ratatouille Tart from the August 2009 issue of Cuisine at Home however I made a few changes. The recipe calls for zuccinni, yellow squash, red onion and red bell pepper. I used all of those but added eggplant. I also changed using goat cheese for using parmesean since none in my household, including myself, care for goat cheese. I am not familiar with the copyrights, etc. so please pick up a copy of the magazine for the recipe. I guess it would probably be ok to see me for my version of it too since I did make changes. Pretty huh?

Anyway it was one of those things that I thought would be just ok and Brian was sure he would hate (and really wanted to also since he thought he was getting one of his favorites - fried zuccinni as a veggie) but we it turned out to be really yummy. We will make it again for sure but do a couple of things differently. First I will use more basil than called for. Second I will layer the veggies a bit more densly and third I will use more olive oil. I enjoyed this very much and it reheated GREAT! I used the leftover slices of zuccinni, yellow squash, eggplant and red bell pepper at dinner the next night with our french dips (always follows a roast night...) by eggwashing them and coating them in breadcrumb and pan frying in a little olive oil. Sooo yummy!

Well, the babies need a bath. Until next time.

Catching up from Camping plus Potty Training Trials

Ok so last week we went camping...we got home on Friday so, here is a bit of an update on what I've been up to during that time.

On Saturday morning we got up and hit the road. I think we were rolling by 7am. We stopped at a rest stop and got the kids dressed and in dry diapers. Brian and I swapped seats and we were off again. By lunch time we arrived at the campsite and started to pitch our tent. Man that thing was a monster. 9x17 feet. Don't get me wrong I LOVED having the space but it is definitely a 2-3 man job to set it up. the best feature of the tent is that it has a hinged door on one side - a total life saver when you are toting a baby around. By the time we got set up and unloaded we were dying hot and so we immediatly got changed into shorts. Don't really remember much more of the first day other than hanging at the campsite...oh, and we went swimming too. Abby's first time in the pool! She loved it...her brother wasn't so sure (never has been).

We hung out on the lawn after dinner and had a grand ol' time...The only bummer was that we didn't have a campfire...you need to use a fire pit at these sites and ours didn't fit...plus it was too windy anyway.
The next morning we all got up and had breakfast...Jake getting ready to head out of the tent in his jammies with his shades on because "a sun's too bite 'or my eyes, Mommy"
At this point my days pretty much start to run together. On Monday (day 3 into our trip) I got the wonderful surprise of starting my period for the first time in 3 1/2 years...Joy. I was not able to go swimming from that point on but that meant I had someone to be sure to get pics!

By the last day we were in the pool Jake let us float him by himself...as long as he didn't know you had completely let go.
Jake had the 2nd ice cream cone in his lifetime thus far and really enjoyed it.
One of the days after getting out of the pool we had lunch and then kids decided they wanted to run around on the lawn through the sprinklers...it was a lot of fun and quite nostalgic to watch them.
Another day Grandpa took Jake and Eve out on his boat...they really loved it and did not want to get off when we docked...until we got to the sno-cone stand.Guess what color Jake picked?
Another evening Brian and I took Jake and Abby to the miniature golf course so Brian could teach Jake how to play golf (Jake had been saying for days "Daddy teach me play golf" it was adorable). Jake even had his own club that we brought with us (I bought it for him shortly after we found out we were having a boy).
I cant remember if he is trying to 'read the putt' or yell at the ball in this picture...he was so darned cute when the ball didn't go in he would say "no, no, no" and then go pick up the ball, set it about 3 inches from the hole and hit it in. I think its funny he didn't do what I expected him to do and just put it in the hole with his hands. While Jacob did not win the day, he did beat Brian on at least one hole.
One of the days we tried to keep up with giving Abby the opportunity to try 'solid' food and for the first time she actually ate it! Not only that but look at that bib! That is at the end of her meal and she was eating sweet potato...that tongue thrust reflex is finally gone! Now we all eat 'real' food at meals!
Another cute one of Abby - She napped in her playpen in the shade and she kept her legs pulled up until she was very deeply asleep - it was rather adorable.I think it was on Wednesday that I went hunting for a geocache up at Dry Falls in Sun Lakes State Park. It was a wonderful hike and climb. See that tiny dark spot near the center of the photo just to the right of the large cliff? that was where we headed to. More than I was expecting to do but so very glad I did it. My friend Krista came with me (she is my sister-in-law's sister and comes camping with the family every year). She took some pics of me that I need to get that I will post at another time. But basically we hiked to a lava tube and crawled through it into a collapsed lava bubble. We climbed up and out of that to stand on top for a spectacular view and then looked for the cache. We did not find it but found the only place it possibly could have been. I have not yet checked the geocaching website to see if it was removed intentionally or not. I left a note in the spot and we headed on back.On Thursday we went to Dry Falls as is a tradition with us. It is a massive dry waterfall and I reccomend ya'll go check out the history sometime, it is amazing.While we were there I found a geocache. Actually I should say Brian found it. It was the first thing he saw and we kept looking because it was so inconspicuous. But after we came back to it and looked closer at it we realized it was a microcache, not a standard geocache. We logged our names and put it back. Spoiler pic to follow so don't look if you are ever gonna search for this one.See that bolt looking thing? that was it. when pulled out there was a capsule on the end that contained a small scroll of paper.
One morning the kids were restless - I brought Abby to bed with us. Shortly thereafter Jake woke up so I put him in bed too...I curled up on the end of the bed with his blanket. It was not too bad and I think I even dozed back off for a while.
Thursday evening we packed up as much as we could and on Friday morning we got up and totally broke camp and headed out. Per tradition we stopped in the nearest town and filled the gas tank and had McDonalds breakfast. Driving back home was harder on us. Brian and I were very tired. He drove the first bit and I napped for a bit until I noticed he had his window down in an effort to stay awake. I tried to talk to him to keep him engaged until we stopped at the Thorp Antique and fruit stand, again per tradition. We wandered the antique mall (I saw a pair of hand cards for 20bucks. I would have been all over them if I didn't already have a pair...I should have bought them for my friend Andrew though now that I think about it. Oh well). Then we walked around the fruit stand part of the place and I picked up some apple butter. Jake was allowed to pick his own snack and much to our surprise he walked right past the many flavors of kettle corn and went straight for the apples. He ate more than half of it too. I took over driving from there. I stopped at a rest stop about 20 miles down the road to feed Abby and change diapers and then we hit the highway again. Thank goodness for iPod's man. It was a really long drive home and it was overcast or raining most of the way.
I think once we were home we pretty much crashed. I know at one point I took a shower and while I did that Brian unloaded the van (I was thrilled!) I pretty much igorned putting anything away for several days though. I did get through the laundry and I worked here and there at putting stuff away.
From the day we got home we put Abby in her crib in Jake's room and she has been sleeping there ever since. I have only had to get up in the middle of the night once to settle her back down. Now we work on getting her to go down at a scheduled bed time.
On Saturday we went to Eldon's 5th Birthday party. It was a lot of fun (even if it meant eating yet more BBQ). Here is the birthday boy with his favorite gift (grandma and grandpa always nail it)
That's a fishing pole in case you can't tell from the pic. He was just elated and thankfully there was not only a lake stocked with rainbow trout in the park but Walmart was across the street so they were able to get him a fishing liscense as soon as he was done opening his gifts.
There was a HUGE playground too and Jake had a ball on that.
How's that for a goofy look? So we have been settled in and Jake has been really liking his sister a lot lately and one night he decided that he really needed to be the one to feed her......until she reached up and grabbed his hair - then he was done with her. So I took over from there. He has been just loving sharing a room with her too. When I bring him to bed he says "need Abby" it is so cute.
The other major undertaking we have been trying since being home (well, since Monday) is we are potty training. We just went straight to underwear in the hopes that he will be more inclined to notice than if he is in a pull up. We did potty sits every 1/2 hour the first day and didn't manage to make it in the potty once. Day two was pretty much the same except by dinner time when he started to go he would say "oh no!" so he is starting to recognize what is going on (instead of making a puddle and ignoring it). Yesterday he went in the potty once on one of our hourly potty sits and then not at all again until after his nap (when he was wearing a pull up - come on people there is only so much laundry I can handle and I am already majorly handicapped in that area). We had one accident after dinner and then moved to a diaper and jammies. Today is Grandpa day, so we'll see how he does - I think I'll send him in pull ups just in case. Between him and the cat I am so tired of cleaning up pee I can't even stand it although Jake is better than the cat at this point (for some reason she gets her front half in the catbox but not her back half). Jake has been telling me his potty hurts him and when he gets up his little thighs have some serious red marks on them so I do believe him. He will try out the potty at Grandpa's today and if he isn't bothered by it we'll get him one of those (ours is a 10 yr old hand me down).
Well this post is long enough. Until next time folks.