Knitting Insanity

Anyone who knows me knows that I like to make things and I tend to take the hard road on many things.  For years, I crocheted tons of hats in all shapes and sizes.  Then one day I decided I needed to branch out, so I started knitted.  This really did not go well.  As my husband would ask, "Is crocheting the one where you watch tv while working or the one where you curse a lot?"  After much cursing, going back to the store for help and starting over, I finally started to "get" the knitting.  See, here is a hat and a scarf.

So now you must know what happens next.  I thought I needed to try something a little harder plus I needed to make this wonderful hexagon blanket pattern I had found for my friend Shruti.  Her baby is due at the end of November and she is having a girl.  The beginning of this pattern did not go well.  It starts off with multiple double ended needles which looked like a giant jigsaw puzzle to me and I had decided to use some funky mixed color yarn I had.  After finally getting the multi-needle thing to work (that would be try number 3), I decided that my masterpiece looked more like a birds nest than a baby blanket.

So, being the wonderful person I am, I started over again.  This time I went and purchased a smoother yarn, and it was soooo soft.  This looks more like it, don't you think?

Well, after I got it onto the round needles things went much better.

In fact I finished this entire blanket on our 4 day trip to the beach.  I think it turned out cute.

If you want to try it, you will need this book:  http://www.amazon.com/Welcoming-Home-Baby-Handcrafted-Way/dp/1416206272

Pancakes

I recently discovered some pictures that I thought were lost.  I am so happy.  My camera completely bit the dust in the middle of the Pancake Pantry.  It felt like a tragedy, because I really loved that camera.  It was the perfect shove-in-your-pocket, go-anywhere, great-zoom-in-small-box camera.  To make matters worse, it was right when Ella received her first Pancake Pantry pancakes.  Since Ella was allergic to eggs, breakfast restaurants were pretty much out.  Last year, she outgrew her allergy to cooked eggs.  As a little celebration, we headed for the pancakes. This is us waiting in line on a cold morning before Christmas.  Hoppie is trying to warm Cameron, then Jack wanted to get warm too.  And you know, Ella couldn't be left out of the group snuggle.

Then I took a few in restaurant.

These are the ones I thought were lost.  In my infinite brilliance, I decided to save the sd card from the broken camera.  Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to put is some place I would actually remember.  From there on out, I used my phone.  I love my phone too.  Great in these emergency photo situations.  Especially since I was able to capture the special moment, the arrival of the bear shaped chocolate chip pancakes.  Yum!

Ella loved every bite.  I am so glad I finally happened upon the sd card.  Are you just dying to know where it was?  Ahh, in the new camera.  And since the new camera is smarter than I am, it had tucked them away in a separate "not mine" folder.  Luckily, I needed to read the card directly last time I imported photos and there they were.

Lemon:Aid

Ella has been selling lemonade for the Blood:Water mission, which drills wells or creates a sustainable water source in African villages.  If you want more info on this visit:  http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

Anyway, back to the lemonade stand.  We received a kit for the Lemon:Aid program in the spring and Ella has loved using it.  I had to laminate our second sign, because the first one was a victim of sticky lemonade fingers.  Ella is an excellent saleswoman.  She has recruited helpers.  This is Eva helping in the summer.

Then, Jack has helped multiple times.  But, Ella is also happy to man the stand by herself.

The last time we were in Florida, we could not get small cups.  This meant that Ella only had the $1 size of lemonade available.  Ella spent about 3 hours singing her lemonade song and running in for refills.  Toward the end, two men pulled up in a golf cart.  The man in the passenger seat leaned out and asked, "How much is the lemonade?"  Ella informed him that it was $1.  He asked, "Isn't that a little expensive?"  Ella looked right at him and firmly said, "I'm trying to build wells in Africa, here."  The man in the drivers seat replied, "We'll take two."  That's my girl!

The beach, it's all about the sand...

Each year we go to the beach.  I know we are totally spoiled, because we don't go once, but two times.  October is our shorter trip, but the weather is always amazing, so we cram all sorts of fun into those few days.  When we are driving down, I could not tell you what the activity of choice will be for the kids.  Each time it is something different.  We have gone down and hardly used a shovel, because it is all about the waves that year.  Last year was definitely the year of the boogie boards.  The adults were exhausted from chasing the kids in the waves and negotiating boogie board ownership.  Last summer, it was the kayaks and yolo boards.  This trip, we were back to the basics, sand.  And I mean really basic, because the goal was not a monstrously large castle, but a hole.  Dig, dig, dig, go catch a fish, dig, dig, dig, find a shell, dig, dig, dig, find a little friend named Kayla, dig, dig, dig, you get it.  

And why all this digging a hole in the sand - to find water.  Really cold water.  Definitely more fun than just jumping in the ocean.  :)  Well, at least they found it.

Cameron went with the more traditional route and made a sand sculpture.  Because it was all about the sand this year. 

The wonderful thing about all this digging and sculpting is that it makes the kids TIRED!

I am already wondering what the great adventure will be about next summer.