11 Months

Pumpkins make great toys!!

Snow Day Plus One

Okay, so it's snow day plus one around here. We easily have over two feet of snow and it's still coming down. Paul went to work at his usual time yesterday, but I told him to pack it in and come home early. Since we live at an elevation of 8600 feet, I was anxious for him to get home. His normal commute time is around 45 minutes and I knew it would be ugly driving conditions.
So, he didn't even try digging out to go in today. It looks like February around here and I'm sighing in disappointment over my lost Autumn. Oh well. Here it comes. I intended to post a picture yesterday of the view outside our windows, but I have to charge my camera and I decided that I hadn't updated my blog in a while and that I should update without the photo. I think you can imagine the massive snowpile outside. I'll charge the camera and upload some photos later.

Since we're having snow days around here, schoolwork has been light. Right now, the boys are eating their lunches while watching He's Your Dog Charlie Brown. I don't normally turn the TV on during the day, but it seems appropriate today. They will probably watch, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown next.

So, what have we been doing? Well, there was some baking yesterday. I made banana bread which I have to admit is not one of my favorite things, but I just can' t let the overripe bananas go and the boys love it. Luke helped bake brownies too. I bought a Ghiradelli Chocolate baking bar for the brownies, but I didn't realize that I had bought a semi-sweet bar until the brownies were in the oven. So, the brownies were a little sweet for our tastes. Oh, well. It's not like the brownies won't go uneaten, but next time I'll pay closer attention.

I've stayed up late both last night and the night before knitting. It's both a quiet and enjoyable time for me. I was determined to finish a scarf for my sister and now, I'm working on a blanket that's so repetitive and a little bit boring to knit, but it's something I can do without having to consult the pattern every row. Today, I ordered some yarn to knit a cabled scarf for Paul. I ordered Spud and Chloe yarn in Rootbeer. Doesn't that sound like a fun color?? Sometimes, I'm motivated to finish a knitting project just so I can buy yarn for my next project sooner!!

Tessie will be 11 months on Tuesday. I can't believe it. This might be the fastest year ever. I've already envisioned her first birthday cake. I'll say this: It involves some of Cecily Mary Barker's flower fairies. I'm hoping it will be as cute in real life as it is in my imagination.

I just looked up and noticed that the snow has picked up just in the time I've been typing. My brother-in-law (who lives across the street) is trying to get his snowblower up and running so that we don't have to completely dig out from under all this snow.

Oh, I meant to post this last week, but somehow I just never found the time to write about it. Guess what we spotted in our backyard about a week ago? A Mountain Lion! I had only ever seen them at the Denver Zoo, but I was a little freaked out by the sighting. Only a few weeks before that, Luke was outside when he spotted a bear in our backyard. We need more bear bells!

Well, I suppose that's enough random thoughts for one day. I'll post snow pictures soon. I hope this clears before Saturday. Tomorrow, we'll carve pumpkins and hopefully have clear skies.

My first felted project

I have had these two pair of clogs ready to felt since the end of June, but since I've never felted anything before, I was very nervous to actually put them in my washing machine. So, they've been waiting on my nightstand all Summer and Fall. I decided that these projects needed to be completed. I got some help from MaryG and some tips at Ravelry and I proceeded to get these felted clogs felted. Here are the results! It was pretty fun to watch all that knitting shrink down into a slipper. I'm ready for my next felted project.

The Glory of Fall

This is how Tess celebrated 10 months! Here she is on the California Zephyr train that we took from Denver to California. She's obviously enjoying the view outside our little sleeper car. Of course, there wasn't much sleeping in the sleeper car.

She loves traveling by train!

I know these are a collection of random photos, but I've been meaning to post our miniscule garden harvest. Here are the carrots we harvested the day it snowed in September. Don't these carrots have beautiful colors? These carrots are only about 2 inches long--definitely one bite snacks! Next year, we'll be able to plant much earlier and hopefully, we'll grow much larger carrots and well, other stuff.

I've been knitting nothing but pumpkin hats lately. I'm starting my 4th pumpkin hat for my niece, but here's Sammy wearing his pumpkin hat today. I'm so excited that he likes it. I'm anxious to get back to other knitting projects, but right now, I'm knitting a pumpkin patch.

Sammy started a kid's cooking class today and here he is all ready to go with his apron and of course, the pumpkin hat (in lieu of a chef's hat). He made salsa today, but he didn't taste it.

The two little chefs- next week? Pizza!

On the drive home today, I stopped right in front of myhouse to take a photo. It snowed very lightly today and seriously, all this early snow is ruining my Autumn! Fall is my favorite part of the year and October is my favorite month of the year, but the snow? Not so much. I'm not ready for snow yet. I want to enjoy the crisp weather and the aspen and maple leaves and the occasional Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and I am, but the snow and wind must stop! I don't want the leaves to fall so quickly! Here are my golden aspens.

That's my home all snuggled in with those Evergreens and Aspens!

Anyway, I had a really good trip to California with Tessie and I enjoyed the experience of riding the train, but I was very happy to fly back instead of riding the rails. It's good to be home with the rest of my family. I can tell that Sammy really missed me. A few weeks ago, I talked about feeling burned out. I had a crummy September and my vision for the school year was blurry, but I'm trying to relax and to let learning be more organic and fluid. That has calmed me down a bit. I constantly remind myself that less is more whenever I want to add one more thing. I'm beginning to find our daily rhythm and I'm spending more time in the learning room with both the boys. Paul recently found another desk so that Sammy has a place for his activities too. I know that I'm recovering slowly. I'm optimistic about our work schedule now. I've added nature journaling to our days and somehow, this small task makes me happy again about schooling at home. I look forward to cozy cold days inside reading with the boys...always reading...always learning.

See you next week...

I've had so much to say and no time to say it, but I'll be back next week. Tomorrow, Tess and I embark on an adventure. We'll be taking the train from Denver to California. I've always wanted to do something like this. I'll have pictures next week. Right now, I'm busy getting ready. There's just so much stuff to bring when traveling with baby! I'm going to be wearing Tessie in the Ergo as much as possible. Maybe I'll be able to knit?? We shall see...Daddy will be home with the boys as I leave on my big train adventure!

Enchanted Knitting

It looks like February outside my window today. We're on day 3 of snow and Fall just started! Anyway, it's the perfect day for tea and scones and flipping through my new knitting book which arrived yesterday from Amazon. It's always a good day when books arrive from Amazon even if there's six inches of snow outside!

Cooking Lessons

I couldn't leave my blog with such a downer post. I wanted to write about something that I'm very excited to incorporate into my curriculum this year. Cooking!! As I've written before, I left home for college without any kitchen skills. I could scramble eggs and toast things and I could slice up banana to add to cold cereal, but that was about it. Over the summer, I started thinking that I didn't want this to be the case for my kids. Sammy always asks if he can help in the kitchen and he likes to pretend cook. Luke likes to bake things like chocolate chip cookies, scones and chocolate chip muffins-essentially things he likes to eat. I started thinking that he was more than capable of making breakfast, lunch and dinner on occasion. So, I started checking out tons of children's cook books and I decided on a few to use this year. What I would like to have Luke learn this year is kitchen safety, basic meal planning and budgeting, and creating his own cook book. The final exam will include cooking dinner for the family entirely on his own. Doesn't that sound fun? It might make my life easier.