Up before the sun

Ive been blessed with kids who don't (er didn't) wake before 7 am. Really little, they were known to sleep til 8:30. When Aidan was still in his crib, in his own room, I'd have to wake him to get G to preschool. As a new Mom I made an only sort of out spoken rule that there was to be no wake ups before that elusive 7 am. Grace has a clock that changes colours to even let her know when it is ok to get up. BUT.... The past three days have seen the kids rise at 6, 5:30 and 6:15.

I'm looking at all the positives:

On Tuesday we made it to the zoo by 9 am and were able to see the penguins eat their fish for breakfast.
We weren't running late for preschool yesterday. We even made a trip to the store before school!
The mornings are less hectic. It's not even 8 am, we've had breakfast and been to the store for milk.

I'm not sure if I want these starts to stick around, but if they do, perhaps it's not so bad. As long as we all have a nap. Yes, even me.

Today: handing in the paperwork confirming Nate and I are agreeing to a VBAC. Looking forward to the midwife appointment and seeing hoe big this belly of mine measures!

*On a side note, how are any bloggers finding the new blogger?  I thought it deleted this post, then I came back to my blog and see it had actually published.  I went to edit it on my Ipad and nothing was there... but here it is on my PC.

27 Degrees

Housework waited until 4 pm when we all felt tuckered from the sun.  Today was filled with unseasonal sunshine, yogourt popsicles, pools, fits of giggles from my little people, and lots of sock knitting. 

Ice Cream Cone Cupcake Surprise

Grace's birthday "season" is upon us, and today we will be celebrating with some of her buddies (7 boys & 2 girls!).  Yesterday morning was spent prepping treats in our kitchen - oatmeal raisin cookies (in case some adults at the shindig would like something sweet too) and ice cream cone cupcakes for the kids.

I'm not sure where I first came upon this idea.  Perhaps a good girlfriend of mine.  The idea was to bake the cake batter directly into the cone.  I got my vanilla cupcake batter all ready, then decided to do some Googling on the idea.  First I came up with a Betty Crocker site that suggested baking cupcakes as per normal in a cupcake liner, then putting an upside down cone on top.  The cupcake would cook pushing up into the cone.

More You Tube results gave me the result I'm going to show you.  I think its fantastic, alot of fun, and a great way to spruce up a typical cupcake.

First, make your vanilla cupcakes as you normally would. 

Then, take 12 ice cream cones and fill with your favorite treat.  I put blue whale gummies into these (Grace's favorite candy) :)

Then pipe some icing around the edge of the cone:

Next, put your cupcake inverted on top.

Cute already no?! :)

Then ice with preferred icing and top with sprinkles.  On the sprinkle note, we found a great place here called the Bulk Barn.  You can get all the sprinkle colours individually.  Grace picked out her top 5.  (Notice all the pink?) lol

I had Nate hide the kids away while I put the treats in the cones.  I'm excited to see their reaction today when they discover the whales :)

Best part of cupcake making?  Licking the icing bowl :) 

Cocky Knitter

I realized at noon today that I had made a HUGE error in this shawl.  384 stitches multiplied by 9 huge.  With no lifeline (meaning I had not inserted yarn through previous stitches to rip back to if something of this magnitude happened).  Which means I am tinking (un-knitting) all those stitches.  The class I'm teaching is tomorrow.  I had tried hard to be one week ahead so I could show all the participants where they were headed.  Instead, if I manage to get this weeks worth of work undone, I will be right on par.

This is what happens when you get overly confidant in your knitting... er cocky (if that term can be applied to knitting?).  I was thinking this was an easy knit the second time around.  I'll put that lifeline in in just a few more rounds.  Oh, Carmen, you should learn! 

What I fear most, is I know I probably won't.  This nasty lesson will serve me for the duration of this shawl, and perhaps the other one I have on the needles.  But then, give it a few months, and I'll do it to myself again.

This is when Nate asks why I knit.  I'm sure all this knitting, and un-knitting must signal some kind of personality disorder.  Or perhaps us knitters have supreme amounts of patience?

Working from Home

I've been a stay at home Mom for just over two years. My job is my kids. Only my kids. I don't have to squeeze in how to manage work outside the home, and their needs, into one single day that only has 24 hours. But there was a time that I did. And it was HARD.

Grace was 10 months old when I returned to the downtown workforce. I worked three days a week downtown, and had four at home. But each work day I had to fulfill around 8 hours. By the time I got G to daycare, drove to the train, got to work, then had to turn back around to pick her up, I still had almost two hours of work I needed to fulfill every night, but there was also dinner, laundry, dishes. Managing her needs, my work life, mine & Nates needs, our home, was beyond exhausting.

When I hear of friends talk about the struggle of managing both, I get it. I understand. I've walked in similar shoes.

If you are in the midst of that now, or know someone that is, I think this post nails it on the head. Kudos to all you out there working that balance.

On the Mend

Yesterday when I woke up, I presumed what I was experiencing was a bout of morning sickness.  It was clear by breakfast that it was something much worse.  A seriously nasty case of the flu.

My amazing Mom came by and took Grace to pre-school.  One look at me and she came back to get Aidan.  Then she kept them all day.... til 7 pm.  At 10 am I paged the midwives, unable to keep down any food or liquid.  They gave me until this morning to see if things improved, otherwise it would be a hospital trip for an IV and gravol.

Babe and I spent our day between the bathroom and the couch.  Thankfully thing started to improve by mid afternoon.  Today, I'm on a day of rest.  Feeling much better, just dealing with a very achy, tired body, and a killer headache.  Slowly trying to eat food again.

I'm extremely thankful for:

• My Mom.  Who dropped all her plans to take the kids.
• For both my parents for cancelling their dinner plans so they could keep them a few hours later.
• My hubby who brought me home a smoothie and gatorade (which I'm convinced helped the improvement today).
• Again to my parents for coming over this morning and cleaning my house.  Recovery is so much easier when you dont have a home that needs recovery also.
• And amazing friends.  Who called, who texted, who offered their support. 

The house is quiet right now.  Aidan is attempting a nap, and my Dad has taken Grace to dance.  Nate should be home from work in a few hours.  I'm off to rest some more.

Knit Worthy

I've done more than a handful of knitted gifts.  If you are a crafter, you will probably agree that a person needs to be deserving of the handmade gift in order for them to be gifted one.  In knitting, we call this "Knit Worthy".
For me, this means:

- Do they appreciate handmade?
- Will they wear it?

I have knitted gifts for friends, for their babies, for my family.  And not all continue to be knit worthy.  But out of all the people I have knitted gifts for, there has been one woman who truly deserves a knitted item, who has yet to receive one from me.  And I'm not quite sure the reason.   I've thought of it before, then never cast on.  But this morning, I felt an urgency to get going on it.  The timing seems right and I'm acting on it.

I got Grace to pre-school with an unusual urgency, the whole time thinking of what is in my yarn drawers that would be just right.  I came home, dug through it all, searched patterns, and used a phone a friend to consult on a colorway.  And I think I got it. 

This woman, mother, friend, and fellow blogger is more than knit worthy.  I hope I can get this project cast off quickly and on it's way.

One Fine Spring Day

I bought the girl a bike.  She never took to a tricycle, and had about as much success with a run bike.

It seems though that by the age of 5, riding a bike should be something she is capable of.  So a few weeks ago, I signed her up for a bike camp this coming summer.  Nate and I thought together we could have her "riding" prior to the camp start in July.

With a few practice laps in the kitchen under her belt while the lad napped, we hit the sidewalk.

 Getting onto her bike (and because of it's awesome orange colour, I think I should refer to it as "Ligtning Flash" ;)

There she goes!  Riding a bike takes alot of figuring out - how to steer & how to turn those pedals.  The girl is figuring it all out.  Two weeks ago, she learned to read.  Now she's riding a bike.  These days are going quickly.  She truly is turning into a big girl.

 The boy at 2 years & 3 months... on my back in a carrier.  For the last time.  It was the only way I could see helping her, and bringing him (which was a necessity lol).  But hes close to 30 pounds and getting too hefty for this growing body of mine.

What better than riding your bike to the park?  After some swinging and some trips down the slide we headed back home.  This time the boy on my front.  Oh gosh, this is for the sure the last time he is in a carrier. 

These kids of mine are growing and changing so quickly right now it seems.  It's exciting to see all they are learning and discovering.

A Good Friday

It's nearing 7 pm and I find myself sitting solo in a Starbucks. Feet curled up under me, shoes off, almost like I'm at home.... But without the noise and distraction.

It's been a really good Friday. Nate was home today, after a week of working 13 hour days. We took turns this morning getting errands done outside of the house. I went with Aidan and he went with Grace. This afternoon found us visiting THE Easter Bunny then an egg hunt at my Mom & Dads. It is so fun to celebrate holidays with kids.

Ive been thinking though today about Good Friday. What it is that this day marks. And how hard of a message it is to deliver to kids. Especially a four year old who has nightmares about cartoons. Unlike the Christmas story, there is no real way to soften the death of Christ. The chocolate, the hunts, the arrival of the Rabbit is so fun, but there is more to Easter.

Growing up this was my favorite holiday. The marking of the cross with ashes on our foreheads, palm Sunday, the church filled with Lilies, the somberness of this Friday.

Deep thoughts for sitting solo in a coffee shop. Knitting in hand, realizing that the gauge is totally wrong and all the work will be undone once I get back home.

I hope this Easter finds you all celebrating. The joy of welcoming Spring, the bright colours of Easter, the laughter perhaps of kids, eggs being found, and the wonderment of what Christ did on the cross.

Almost Total Responsibility

It's Springtime on the Prairies.  What that means, is that buds won't appear on our trees until at least the first week of May.  I have to admit that photos of green grass and flowers elsewhere has me a little envious.  (Just today someone was posting up photos of wearing shorts and a tank top in the US!).  I can't much complain though, our winter here has been very mild, and we've seen mid teen temperatures this past week.  But this, this afternoon, I'm afraid I may be a tad responsible for.

Snow started falling around 4 pm this afternoon, and a mild Spring blizzard is happening outside as I type.  And I think perhaps, I contributed to setting it all in motion.

It could be that this morning, I felt safe in putting away our snow boots.  Then I had my Mom out shopping for me to buy Aidan some new runners.  Because really, who needs snowboots in April?

(I'm seriously loving these little shoes.  And the way when he puts them on, he insists on jumping).

If putting away winter boots wasn't enough, I've been knitting a pair of gloves (yes, I realize the contradiction that I'm putting stuff away while creating more.)

(It's incredibly hard to photograph your dominant hand).

Last but not least, I put Aidan in a shirt today that said "Mom's Little Snowman".

My apologies.  It feels a bit like the superstition of when you step on a spider it rains.  I think my desire for an early Spring may have brought about the snowfall.  Tomorrow, we are staying inside madly cleaning to prepare for hosting Easter dinner.  But perhaps I'll dress us all in spring apparel - shorts & skirts with sandals on.  That should set this all back to warmer temps.  Right?

March Knits

I managed to get quite a few knits done in March, a couple of significant size, which really pleases me.  I'm well on my way to my goal of knitting as many items as my age this year.  (I've added a ticker to my sidebar to help me keep on track.  So far 9 down!).
First up, I finished my capelet.  I had hoped to get this completed before the end of Winter, and cast it off with just a couple days left before Spring.  The days are starting to get too warm for it, but it has become my go to piece in the mornings when it still has a bit of chill in the air. 

The pattern is Cocoon, and it is knit out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu, in the colorway Corvid Fledge.  It was knit flat, then supposed to be seamed.  I followed a good friends suggestion and once I hit the ribbing at the shoulders, I joined it in the round.

Next up, is this sweet little halter for Grace's 5th birthday.  The pattern is Tropical Lily, and I knit it using Blue Sky Multi Cotton.  My only tip, don't use wooden needles with cotton when it calls for a K3tog.  It will snap your needles.   I love she can now comfortably wear tops like this.  On a side note, we had a check up at the hospital yesterday, and the surgeon thought her scar looks great.  We don't have to go back for a whole year!

The third knit was also for my girl, who wanted a bunny for her bunny.  Pattern is Sophie and I used Blue Sky Alpacas in Sport Weight.  So soft.  Sophie uses all sorts of interesting knitting techniques such as a disappearing cast on, picking up stitches to attach the limbs, as well as french knots for the eyes.  She's a win.  Grace loves her so much she is sleeping with her at night :)

The final knit of the month is for the babe.  Pattern is Sheep Hat and I switched it from a worsted, to a sport weight using Cascade 220.  The pattern is intended for a 6-12 month old, but with a few changes (yarn, needles, calculation) I managed to get it to a 14" head circumference.  I hope for it to be the hat our babe will come home from the hospital in.

With all these knits done, I have alot of new projects on the needles.  I'm not sure how many will actually get finished up in April, so I'm glad I'm ahead in the count (I think so anyways).