My Summer Girl

I've got a lot swirling around in my brain right now.  I'm thinking about school plans for the Fall. I'm thinking that my theme for the year will be Streamline. (I think that might be another way to say Less is more.)  I'm thinking about how quickly the summer is slipping away (I know. Glass half empty. I'm terrible.) I'm thinking I can almost see my Mammoth sunflowers growing every day. I can't wait to see them. I'm thinking about sewing quilts for the twins and I'm thinking about getting around to sewing the cupcake quilt for Tess. Since I've been thinking about sewing, I've been thinking that I need to finish the little apple dress for Tess as well. I've settled on a pirate themed quilt for one of the twins, but I haven't come up with the other theme. I'm thinking that Idon't really have time for another quilt project, but I can't help myself from thinking about it. I'm thinking about yarn and books. I'm thinking about Christmas projects. (Yes, Christmas!)  I'm thinking I don't feel like cooking right now despite all the veggies from our CSA. I'm thinking about feeling conflicted about trying to relax during the summer and still trying to do it all.  I'm thinking about capturing more summer moments. I'm thinking about popsicles and homemade ice cream. So much to ponder every day....It's fun to dream even if I won't be able to get all of these things done just yet. School plans to follow. I intend to get my act together the first week of August so that Luke can begin on September first.

On knitting:

I know my little girl is featured frequently on my blog lately and well, it's because knitting for girls is just so much fun (although I do have some fun plans for boy sweaters too. I better start liking knitting for boys. Don't you think?) Here she is in her new Haltermelon.  This is another pattern by Alana Dakos. I knit this last year in the pink and green, buy my aunt Rosie recently gave me 4 balls of this Ty-Dy cotton yarn and I thought it would it look great in a halter. Using yarn that resembles a tie-dye shirt seems sooo summer to me. I knit the size 4 even though she's 2 1/2. It came out a little loose on the back, but a ribbon through the eyelets cinched it up perfectly. As you can see, it fits nicely. Details on Ravelry.

Yarn Along- Knitting in the car

We returned late last Sunday night from an epic driving vacation. We drove to California and spent hours and hours in the car. I know it was ambitious with our minivan filled to capacity and knowing the older three kids didn't have much room in the back row of our Sienna. However, I still looked forward to the time to knit in the car. I eagerly packed several projects' worth of yarn in my knitting bag. On that first incredibly long day in the car, we arrived in Vegas around 10 at night after spending something like twelve hours driving  and I did spend a good chunk of that day knitting. I manged to knit the body of a sweater for Liam, but I didn't feel like digging out the DPNs to work on the sleeves so I started another Eyelet Brim Cotton hat and despite all that time in the car, it's the only project I finished. Here's Tess at the Tamarisk restaurant in Green River, Utah. Of course, she's very serious about those sugar packets! Anyway, this is an easy hat, but picking up the stitches for the brim is tedious. As for reading, I didn't have much time last week. Mostly, I'd sneak in a few pages of Generation Me when I was nursing at night. It's an interesting read.  I'll be reviewing it on Goodreads soon.

Don't forget to head on over to Ginny's for more yarn tales!

9 months of double cuteness!

I took this picture with my phone today.  I really wanted to get a picture on the blog today since the twins are 9 months today (also my  15th wedding anniversary!).  Although I know that James is on the left and Liam on the right, this is one of the first pictures where I thought I could easily mix them up! They are looking more and more alike lately. I discovered that James has two little teeth on the bottom, but none for Liam (yet). Although I wouldn't call it crawling, James is also mobile.  I'm not really sure how he moves around the room. It must be his stealth powers! Liam likes to stay in one place right now. They are so different, but both are equally happy.

Summer hat

     My reluctant little model showing off the summer hat I knit for a friend's little girl.  I am loving summer
     knitting!

Summer plans

Summer has officially started, but it already feels half over. I hate being one of those the-glass-is-half-empty types, but I can't help wanting to slow down this particular Summer. I'm not ready for school routines yet.  I will be ready, but just not yet. There will be a day in August that I will hear a certain rustling sound in the aspens and I will know, despite what the calendar says, that summer is over. But, for now,  there's so much I want to do and this year, I'm truly feeling like myself again and I'm ready to enjoy this summer to the fullest. Last year, I was very pregnant and miserably uncomfortable.

It seems like a theme around here to write about having an intentional summer.  I've been mulling around these thoughts for days and it looks like I'm not the only one who has a long list. I want to savor every moment, but June has already been very busy, but more flexible. The big kids have attended VBS. Twice. We've been camping. Although June is very busy, our routine has relaxed quite a bit and I'm enjoying the feeling of summer. Now, if I only had a canoe....

So, here it is:

• make strawberry jam,  peach freezer jam,  raspberry freezer jam (I love jam and I'll need to bake some cream scones to go with all that jam.)
• make Popsicles with Sammy- I have plans for peach, strawberry, chocolate and I've got two new Popsicle books. I even ordered a very nice stainless steel Popsicle mold set. 
• make ice cream- I already made the orange ice cream from the Ben & Jerry's ice cream book, but I'd like to make banana this summer and of course, strawberry. (I promise that this list won't be all food related.)
• plan an inspiring 7th grade curriculum for Luke-  I tend to think about home school plans at night right before I fall asleep. Of course, I'm way more inspired this year than last. I'm envisioning more Botany,  pen and ink drawing, and creative writing this year. I'm hoping to start the year off completely refreshed and motivated.  (I'm sure it's because I'm not pregnant with the twins!)
• take the older boys to a movie at Red Rocks
• finish up the basement remodel. The carpet goes in this Saturday and Paul is getting closer to finishing the painting. I'm so blessed to have more space for the family.
• ride the Royal Gorge train (I want to enjoy more of Colorado this year.)
• turn the guest room into the twins' room (Yes, I'm losing my guest room, but I'm actually okay with it.  I am more sad at the prospect of the twins leaving my room any time soon. James is already getting close to growing out of his co-sleeper.)
• knit, knit, knit- (Okay, no surprise here, but I have plans for this, this, this and this). Actually, if you look at my Ravelry queue, I have plans for many many projects, but I wanted to make sweaters for all the kids this year. Maybe I could have a picture of all of them wearing handmade sweaters for the Christmas card?? We shall see.  That might be a wee bit ambitious. I'm still looking for a sweater pattern for Luke. He is most definitely not a little boy anymore.
• sew- I promised Luke a wildlife quilt and I have a pattern for an adorable cupcake quilt for little T. I also need to finish the little dress I started for Tess in April. I know it will be too short for her, but I'm okay with it. It's all about the process of sewing a dress.
• celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary with some fancy carrot cake! We had carrot cake at our wedding and we've always eaten carrot cake on our anniversary.  I'm thinking about baking a miniature wedding cake and ordering carrot cupcakes from a bakery. 
• plant more strawberries and figure out how to protect them from the critters who ate my kale and carrot seedlings
• watch my Mammoth Sunflowers grow 
• read to Luke (for at least 10 minutes) every day
• celebrate with Sammy when he gets to lesson 100 on Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons! (See Sammy Read!)
• learn to fly fish (Actually, I just want to stand in a river wearing waders.)
• sit outside on the deck in the evening with Paul drinking lemonade
• star gazing with Luke
• have one-on-one time with both Luke and Sam. (It has become increasingly important to carve out time to spend with the older boys by themselves. They look forward to having time to having alone time with each parent. I notice that they are almost completely different people when isolated from their siblings.)
• read a lot, but not over-do it. 
• purge more. As the twins outgrow their clothes, box them up and donate them to a local Crisis pregnancy center. Never say never, but I suspect the twins might be my last babies. I can't imagine life without a baby...must cherish baby time!
• LIVE WELL by recognizing those tiny little blessings every day!

Yarn Along

This week, I am reading The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma and yes, her name is Alice Ozma (named after Alice in Wonderland and a character from the Oz books). Her literary name matches her memoir of reading with her father. Alice and her father made a reading promise that lasted from when she was nine until she left for college. Her father read to her every day (no exceptions) for at least ten minutes a day.  This was the perfect book to read right now as I contemplate how Luke and I seem to have less and less time for reading aloud. When I read that they set a minimum of ten minutes daily, I though that I could do that easily. Since the twins arrived, reading aloud with Luke had diminished to about once a week which is hardly enough time to keep the flow of a book going. He's growing up so quickly and I want to hold onto our reading tradition. So, I decided that Luke and I would read again every night, but I wouldn't put so much pressure on myself to read for thirty or forty minutes in one sitting anymore. The important thing is the consistency. We recently started reading the latest Penderwick novel and it's just the thing for summer reading!
On the needles?  Too much stuff, but this week, I'm working on the Cat Cay Cowl featured at Quince and Co. and boy, is it ever tedious. I like the small cables, but every round is different and I can't really look away from the pattern very much. I'm also making another self-striping hat for Tess, but this time in something a little more feminine. I'm actually not sure what yarn this is.  I know it's some sock yarn from Hobby Lobby. I always need some project that doesn't require a lot of brain power and something that I can throw in my bag without also having to grab my entire knitting bag of tools. I'm also organizing my yarn again. I can't help it. When I'm knitting something, I can't completely focus on it as I am always planning for or thinking about  the next project. I am literally forcing myself to stay focused on this cowl until it's done. Knitting may calm me down, but it hasn't cured my ADD tendencies.

Don't forget to head over to Ginny's for more yarn and books! 

Trying to capture all 5...

isn't easy.