Ugly Blanket CAL

I joined another CAL. I know, like I *need* another project...  (sigh..)  (I might as well give up on that, eh?)  This is the 3SUB. I don't know where the pattern is, or what it all stands for. 3 Strands and I think the UB stands for Ugly Blanket. :P  I am using a huge crochet hook. I don't even know what size it is. It's one of those double ended hooks. I've had it forever.  I don't really have any "plans". I'm just changing one color each row. And  COLOR!!   The only thing is, I think I made it a leeeeetle bit too wide!...  :P

It's almost as wide as our couch. I hope this thing doesn't take forever to finish. I'm thinking it won't, with such a big hook & 3 strands of yarn..  It's a nice, braindead project to work on. No pattern repeats or counting. It's fun. :)  I haven't decided yet who it will be for.

One Hundred Cookies & Two Dishcloths

I made one hundred chocolate chip cookies this week. Three different batches-same recipe, though; three different days.. froze them all..  They're for the "Fall Festival" Bake Sale, at our 8 year olds school tonight.  I volunteered to bake them.  Finally, today I had some leftover to put in the cookie jar. You should have seen the kids "Can't you make extra for us?"  (I did let them eat at least two each, each time.. You'd think the world was coming to an end lol..)   

And, some dishcloths I have recently finished as well. Another scrap Ballband dishcloth. I don't know why, I just got in the mood to knit one. I definitely did something wrong though. I think I was purling for a certain row when I should have been knitting. But it still looks all right.

And, I crocheted another Tunisian Short Row dishcloth. For me!! :D  I love this dishcloth. It's already in the dirty clothes, I used it the same day I finished it. It's so soft and thick. I think it is going to be my favorite crocheted dishcloth.  And, one of my favorites to crochet, too. If not the favorite...  Here's the first one I did.  Hmmm... I wonder whatever happened to those star ice cube trays, since we moved?...  I'm going to look for them. :P

Right now I am working on a Leaf Tealight-erhttp://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=120305. In between other things.  I hope everyone is having a good week. It's almost TGIF, yay!! 

Autumn Leaves Hotpads

And Fridge Magnets.  The leaves are actually a Fridge Magnet pattern that Gran sent me in an RAOK last summer. :D  I had been wanting to make an Autumn Leaf Hotpad forever. I finally got around to it. I used the Mielke's Farm Double-thick Diagonally Crocheted Potholder pattern. And Red Heart Super Saver, "Fall". And gold, and "Carrot".  I got some kitchen towels at Walmart to go with these, they will be for gifts. I want to make myself a set, too. :D    I don't know if you could use these leaves, maybe. Here is a Solstice Oak Leaf that is available as a Free Ravelry Download. I love that one. Some Felted Leaf Coasters, from the Lion Brand site.. Oak and Elm Leaf Appliques. A Maple Leaf. A Canadian Maple Leaf.  Autumn Leaves.

A Yo-Yo Ghan I am Crocheting

Here is what I have done so far on my Yo-yo ghan. I decided to try one out myself. I kinda got confused on the border. But, I confuse myself easily. I figured it out. I was going to just keep adding the yo-yos together, til the afghan was big enough. But, after seeing one Jana did at the Crafting for a Cause yahoo group, I thought.. "What a good idea".  It would be warmer that way.  So, this is what I have so far. I have about 90 more yo-yos to put together. I would just like more color selection. With all my new scrap yarns, I have lots to choose from.  :D  I just have to crochet more.  :)

Eon is home sick again today. :(  The first thing he said when I woke him up this morning, was "I feel sick". :(  Poor kid gets sick a lot. I wonder how many "sick days" they are allowed at school.   :/  He's just been laying on the couch all day. Doesn't want anything to eat.  He did eat a muffin and half a glass of milk, this morning. That's only cuz he LOVES muffins. :)   

Afghan With No Name

I finally finished this afghan this morning. Yay!... I've been working on it off and on all summer. My husband's Aunt from Canada had sent me a picture of one she had done. I asked her where she got the pattern. She said she just made it up, and sent me a diagram/instructions on how she did it. 

Here it is on my son's twin bed. :)  I originally had started this for an "elder" (elderly person on the Reservation) that I send things to on Pine Ridge. But after I finished it, I realized it would be too small; and would be better for a child or a young teenager..

A close up of the squares...  The scrap squares are supposed to be "flowers". The light green are the "buds", and the darker green are the "leaves". :)  I held the squares wrong sides together, and sc'd them together in the back loops. So it created a "ridge".  I don't know how, but a lot of the squares were different sizes. ??  :(  I had to double up in some sc's, then sc some together...  It kind of puckers a lot in some areas.  I hope the person who gets it won't mind too much. It really bummed me out but I didn't want to re-do the whole thing. Next time I will have to make sure I pay attention.

And, the edging. I just did one row of off-white then one of the main square colors, a row of off-white, another main color..  Then I did a backwards sc all around. 

More Card Making Stuff..

This is a card I finished the other day. When I get sick of crocheting (I haven't knitted in a while..), but still want to do "something"..  I like making cards. I have to be in the mood to do it, though. This is from "Paper Crafts", the Sept/Oct 2010 issue. I didn't have all the tools/materials they called for so I improvised. It looks pretty similar. It's supposed to say "Autumn Blessings". But I like "Autumn Greetings" better. I also was supposed to stitch around the edge of the tan cardstock. I didn't feel like it. I've never done that so I didn't want to start now.. :P   I already wrote on and mailed this card. To my Aunt in Michigan. She got to go Up North (and probably saw some really awesome Fall Colors!! I'm so jealous!!) for a whole month.

I also was just messing around. I got the idea to take all the little strips of paper from cutting the edges even on other cards, and weave them. I evened it all up and glued it on a card. That's where my creativity stopped. "Now what do I do?" :P It's still sitting there... Sigh. Maybe I will get an idea soon. 

I finished up my Ami for the Ami Swap. I don't know if I said that..  It turned out so good. I've never made this kind of Ami before. So I was a little nervous.  Now I am crocheting Gary the Snail for the 8 year old (he just turned 8, yay!!).  Now I can't say "the 7 year old" anymore. Or "he's only 7", to his brothers..  My baby is 8. :(      Anyway, he doesn't know I am crocheting it for him. Thank goodness he doesn't read my blog. LOL  I'm in a weird mood...  I'm also ** this close to being done with my "Afghan with No Name". And I still haven't figured out a name for it. Oh well. 

I saw a REALLY COOL idea on a blog, actually I think it's Tammy's blog, via Crochetville!!! I have been wanting a yarn winder for so long. I LOVE the yarn cakes. I can't explain it. But, I don't want to spend (waste) money on a yarn winder. My husband thinks I have enough "tools" and yarn and books and magazines... (And, I agree)  So, when I saw this: How to roll a center pull yarn ball; I was so excited! You can make your own yarn balls, FREE! (I love free..)  I still haven't tried it. One day when I'm in the mood to, I will..  But I thought I'd share it with anyone who actually reads my blog, too. I thought it was so cool. 

Well, I guess I'll go work on my afghan for a while. No school today for the kids really has me thrown off ;and I keep thinking it's Saturday. Then I get kinda mad cuz I'm sick of my husband working Saturdays. But then I remember it's Friday... Lol..  (I told you I'm in a weird mood..)  He might still have to work tomorrow. :(   I hope not. We were going to drive up Mount Charleston to see if there is any fall colors, if he doesn't have to work. It would be nice. He's been working every Saturday, forever... (I think he is more sick of it than I am~ he's the one who actually has to work.)  Well I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. If you have any Fall Colors in your area, can you go see some for me? :P (Thank you!...)

Troublemaker Cupcake Treats

If you are on Facebook and play the game Petville, you know what these are. :P  You can give your pet treats and our pet has a "troublemaker" personality. There's also "Creative Cupcake" personality, and "Social Butterfly Cupcake" personality. I have had this idea to make real live troublemaker cupcakes for a while now.. Well, today was the day I made them. :P



This is what a troublemaker cupcake looks the most like. Except the liner is black, and it's a bigger, three-pronged "pitchfork".   The little red fork was the closest thing I could find in this town.. 

 

These are the ones I made leftover when I got sick of picking out all the red decorations.. Besides, the little hordevous (sp?) forks only had six red ones anyway. So these can be called "Blubmaker Cupcake Treats". LOL  

I Got Mail!!! :D

I was watering the trees yesterday, and kept checking the mail (well, looking down at my neighbors mailbox to see if his flag was down yet.. :P).  It was 4:50 pm and it still hadn't come!..  When I went out to move the hose to another tree a little later, I checked again. His flag was down! I looked inside my mailbox, and there was a big yellow puffy envelope!! :0  Then, I dropped another letter addressed to me. I got not one, but TWO RAOKs yesterday!! I am still so excited.  Look at the cute drawings on both of them.   A Dragonfly & Damselfly. A Giant Water Bug. And little notes about them. I love that.

And look, Jackie drew an Autumn Tree on the front. I LOVE it!!! I miss Autumn so much. I wonder how she knew.. (Maybe cuz I keep posting it all over, on Crochetville and here too probably? :P)  That meant so much to me. Thank you, Jackie. :D

And look at the drawings on the letter from Sandi, too. I just love it. She drew all kinds of things on the envelope, and in the letter, too.  So neat!!

See what the envelope meant by "Pen Pal"?  :P I love it!! And I love the pens. And the art on the envelope. And the card/letter.  I always want to draw things like that on my letters, but I'm not any good at it. When I was in high school, my friend and I used to write each other letters at least once a day, and fold them up and decorate the outside all kinds of ways..  (Dorky, but...)

Look at all the art!! Sandi made me a bookmarker with a scripture on it. It's so beautiful!!  Doesn't she have the loveliest handwriting?  And look at the loon she drew, I just love it.

And this is the back of the bookmarker.  
I just loved everything!! Thank you Sandi, and Jackie. I will be writing back to you both soon.
I was so excited reading them both; and looking at my pens, I forgot about watering the trees..  :/ Oops.  One got pretty flooded.  :P Maybe I could skip watering that one next time..   

Some Cards I Have Made..

Here are some cards that I have made.. I don't think I ever posted about them. I may have posted a couple. I made a card just like this red & blue balloon card, but the balloons were pink & purple. For my neice.  This is to see the "3d" ness of it.

This is the front of the card. I don't know if I mentioned, I just made this card up for our son last school year. He was having a hard time and was into "3d" stuff big time. So I made him a card.

This is another kind of 3d card, it's hot air balloons. I did this almost like the one in a magazine I have.

And this is one of my favorites I make, to send a couple tea bags.  I sent one overseas in a Greeting Card Swap I am in on Ravelry. And, I recently sent one as a little RAOK to someone on Crochetville.   Well I don't know how I did this or if I will ever be able to post more than one picture again, but... Yay!   A bunch of cards I have made... :P

Mmmm.. Food Post

Chicken Pot Pie. Yummy...    It always makes me bloated and gassy (TMI?...), but I still love it. I made this for dinner last night. I had three pieces of chicken in the freezer (not enough for a family of 5).  So I thought "Chicken Pot Pie". I love Chicken Tettrazini, but my husband "hates" it. Our 18 year old "hates" Chicken Pot Pie. Oh well. I can't please everyone..   Oh, note to self: Do not buy the combo packs of chicken anymore. The "three" pieces of chicken had two backs (?). Like one tiny scrap of meat on each. I know they put those in there just to add poundage to the package and make money off you for nothing!! It's so irritating. So I only technically had one piece of chicken.  Anyway~ I had three bags of frozen (yuck, I hate frozen vegetables) green beans, so I used up a little of those, in this... I just put whatever vegetables that would work, in there. Corn, carrots..  Make all the vegetables, meat..  Then I make the sauce, saute onions and make a Veloute (?) sauce (which you should be able to find anywhere online? It's basically, butter, put in flour to thicken, then add chicken broth. That's how I make mine). Then I make the crusts. Put the chicken on the bottom, then the onions, then the vegetables. Then the sauce. Put the top crust on. I also put an egg yolk mixed w/ a Tablespoon of water brushed on the crust.  Eon (the 7 year old) said last night "Is this a 'Pie pie' or a dinner pie?"  Funny boy..  He loves to eat the leftover pie crust. He loves it so much; he was scraping it off the rolling pin. I kid you not. :P

Anyway.  I am crocheting an Ami for an Ami Swap I am in on Crochetville. I don't know if it's technically an official swap, or not. It's in the Friendshipghan CAL thread..  We're just sending an Ami. That's all I can say. But I am done with the head and I think it turned out SOOO cool!! I'm going to have to keep it hidden from my kids. I know they'll be like "Are you making that for me?" "Can I have it?"..  And then I'll say "No, it's for a Swap I'm in".  Then they'll be all mopey and walk around like, "poor me, I never get anything"... lol (This is not true, you should SEE all the toys I have crocheted them. I should set them all up and take a picture of them someday just cuz..)  Anyway. I'm glad it turned out good. The head is the part I worry about the most. I almost got panicky because I couldn't remember for nothing where I packed my eyes (the little lock on eyes). I can only get them at Hobby Lobby. (We have a new Hobby Lobby here, did I mention? I haven't been there yet and don't know how to get there but maybe my husband could take me there someday..)  Anyway. I looked everywhere! In every single bag and box I have in the closet. Nothing. Took everything out of my sewing box. Nope. I have three big Rubbermaid totes. Took everything out of those (twice!). Nadda...  Well today I went over by my bookshelf for some reason and looked down, and there they were!! In a hat. ?? I have been making cards since we've moved here, I've been there like 20 times. Sigh...  Oh well. I'm just glad I found them, and I could finish the head now. :D (That was what I wanted them for.)  I just the past couple weeks had been looking for something else I couldn't find; since we moved. I couldn't find that anywhere, either (the Barbie Doll furniture, since I finished the tent.) I was getting really upset, because there was NO WAY I was going to re-do all that Barbie Doll furniture.  I found that by "accident", too. It was underneath the pile of clothes we have had sitting there for the "garage sale". (Which we are probably never going to have... sigh) I can never find anything when I'm looking for it.  Only when I am looking for something else, totally unrelated (which I almost never find, until I am looking for something else, another time...) :P  Oh well. We need to stop moving so much, and get an extra bedroom so I can put all my craft stuff in it. Then maybe I could get totally organized.    Wow, I said a lot for that being "all I can say", huh? ...  :P   I hope everyone has a great weekend,if anyone even reads my blog... :P  Almost TGIF, yay!!  (Get to sleep in!...) 

Crocheted Coffee Cup

Well since my Bookmark Swap partner received her package, I guess I can post the coffee cup I crocheted her. (I also crocheted three bookmarks, and knitted a catnip mouse for her cat).  This is from the June 2008 Crochet World issue. I was "supposed" to use cotton. But I didn't have "cobalt blue" looking cotton. So this Red Heart was the closest I could come to it.  :)  There is some goodies in there, too. (The catnip mouse was in there, you just can't see it. It was the same color blue, too~ but in wool.)   Anyway~~ I should post a picture of all the stuff she sent me! I loved it all. And still am. :P She sent lots of yummy teas, and some Instant Hazelnut coffee "tubes".  I had one the other day. It was yummy.  Since I still can't figure out how to post more than one picture here...  I don't know what to do. She sent me a lot. Here is my Crochetville Thank You post, though. :P   Oh, and while I'm at it, here's hers! You can see the bookmarks I sent. :P  I think the one of her cat getting into the box is so funny. He (she?--oh, it is a she--just read on her blog..) must have smelled the catnip mouse! I sent one to my sister's cat a while back, Oliver's was green.  If you really want to see the cat w/ the mouse, Jackie posted a picture on her blog.

I think I finally caught my son's cold. (His cold just keeps hanging on, by the way.. He doesn't sound too good. He's got this cough that sounds like a barking Seal.)  Although I have been feeling like I have been fighting it off for three weeks now. Last night I felt pretty horrible. My nose was stuffed up. I made some lemon tea~ not the tea Jackie sent me, though :( since it has caffeine in it..  I didn't even finish it though; I was so tired, I just went to bed. 

My "Afghan With No Name" afghan is almost done!!!!  I am on the edging. It's all crocheted together. It's been laid out on the Living Room floor for about a week. I knew my husband was going to start complaining about it. (Plus I was getting sick of it being there/worrying someone was going to step on it/spill something on it/mess up my rows..) So yesterday I just finished crocheting all the rows together.  And last night, I started the edging. I need one more skein of the off-white now. So, stay tuned for a picture of the afghan. I need to come up with a better name for it. Hmmm...  "Aunt Mary Afghan"?..  "Flower Garden Afghan"? (The scrap squares are supposed to be "flowers")..  I don't know.  :P

Scrap Yarn Love..

I got an RAOK today! Look at the box of scrap yarns that Crochetmouse and her Mom sent me, from Oregon!! (Her Mom paid for the mailing of the box~ Thank you, Mom! :D)  I already divided all the yarns into: Scrap Afghan yarn, Yo Yo yarn, Baby Stuff yarn, Sock yarn (yay!!), and Miscellaneous yarn. :P   I was really running low on colors for scrap projects. I keep a freezer bag of  scrap balls and a hook in my car for while waiting in car pool for the kids. I had one ball of light blue left. So you can see how low I was getting!  And I LOVE the "Yarn Cakes"! They're so cool! I am not going to want to ruin them by crocheting with them. :P  Thank you so much, Crochetmouse and Mom. You don't know how much you brightened up my whole week!! 

Afghan Progress...

These are all the squares for my "Afghan With No Name"; the afghan which my husbands' Aunt sent me a diagram/graph of the squares (and instructions on how she did each square); all laid out. The scrap squares are supposed to be "flowers"; with the light green & darker green the buds and leaves.  Some of the squares turned out smaller than the others. I don't know why, but I don't have the same amount of stitches on each edge. And, I ended up with two extra green squares, and an extra "flower" square. Which isn't a problem, since I'm in the Friendship Square RAOK CAL at Crochetville. :D  Anyway, this afghan is going to one of the elders I send things to at Pine Ridge. I also have another afghan I am about halfway done with, that I wanted to send to the other elder I send things to.  I am going to crochet the squares together on this one, with the wrong sides together and in the back loops. So there will be a "ridge" on the top. I already have two rows crocheted together. My husband is working again (he's had to work every Saturday for I don't know how long-- I shouldn't complain, but I miss him)  :(   ....so, I worked on it a lot today.

Friendship Squares

Here are all of the Friendshipghan Squares I have received so far. I layed them all out & took a picture of them.  I wanted to edge them in black. But I'm not so sure now. I'm so indecisive.. lol.  I have a couple squares to mail out. I didn't have an updated list. (Now I have one.) I have been finishing up things for the Bookmark Swap I am in. I completely finished all the projects for that, today. Now I need to finish the Lamb Sweater for my nephew. (Sigh.) I thought I was done with the neck. But it looked really tight. So I tried finding the end to unravel it. That didn't work and now I have a big mess.  :(  I hope I can undo it. I hate picking up stitches around necklines.  Maybe I can just sew up the sides/sleeves meanwhile.  I want to mail it to my sister before it is too small for him.  I am getting really burned out on knitting and crocheting. I think it's because of things I "have" to do...  Oh well. I haven't started any new projects. So that's good.  

I hope everyone is having a nice three day weekend. Back to the grind, tomorrow...  :/ 

I Crocheted a Tent (Yes, a Tent :P)

And a sleeping bag. I wanted to crochet something for my friends' son, since I had crocheted her daughter some Barbie Doll Furniture (which you can see in this post). So he wouldn't feel left out, you know?  :)   Well, the thing I crocheted for him so he wouldn't be jealous of his sisters thing turned out to be "bigger" than his sisters thing... So, now I am going to have to make his sister something else, too. I am thinking about something like a cupcake purse maybe. (I am burned out on Barbie doll furniture, and tents.. ) And our 7 year old wants one now, too. (Sigh.. I still have to finish his Gary the Snail first!..) Anyway, I had more pictures but as usual I could not figure out how to upload more than one picture. So I will just "tell" you how the tent door opens. You roll the tent door up and tie it to keep it open, and you can unroll it and tie it to keep it closed. Pretty cool.  (I am so glad this thing is finished, though!! You do not know!...)   

Good News!

Well first off, this is my sister's cat Oliver with his catnip mouse I knitted him. It looks like he totally destroyed it. Look at his eyes. He's like "What was that stuff? Can I have some more?"  lol  Believe me, this cat does NOT need catnip. He's crazy enough without it. I would have loved to see him with the mouse. But at least my sister sent me this picture. :P 

Back to the title of this post...  I am SOOO happy!! After not knowing what to do, and going back and forth about what should I do?... I got a phone call earlier this week from the principal of our youngest sons school saying I had to come in and fill out some forms?  I don't even remember what for, this time. I asked her, "Well can't I just sign a permit or some form that would allow our son to continue going to your school?" (When we lived in Michigan, and in Colorado, we could..)  She said yes, and that she would approve it. (When I went in later that day, the secretary behind the desk (long story short) said the principal never does that. [Approves a variance form].  Really?  Well she told me to come in and fill one out.) And yesterday being the Ice Cream Social for both schools, and still not knowing which school he was going to go to, I finally just called and asked if anyone knew..  And found out that it is most likely approved. Both principals have signed it, the only person left to sign is the superintendent. And if both principals signed, the chances of the superintendent *not* signing would be extremely rare..  So, we went to his (old) school for the Ice Cream Social. (All the ice cream was melted, it was so hot out, but it was still nice for the kids to get ice cream..)  I went into his old classroom to say hi to his old teacher, and he is still going to be with his teacher from last year. Which makes me even more happy, because I really, really like her!!  YES!!!!  (He will be with another teacher for half the day [or something], too.)  Today we went and got haircuts for them both. And then we went to Walmart. and I got them a couple more things for school. I think we are all set.  ~~Yay!!~~  Now if I can just get up in time for school. I have been trying for two weeks (set my alarm and everything) and I cannot drag myself out of bed in the morning...  Oh well. We'll get used to the new schedule soon enough.     

I'm Still Here...

This is one of the baby hamsters we kept. One of the "Wickett twins" :P There were two darker babies, with black, tan/red, and white. We kept both of the Wickett twins. Her (her name is Cocoa) and, you guessed it, Wickett (male). There were also the "Rhino twins" (a male and female they both looked like Rhino, the Dad). And the "Mia twins" (even though there were four of them~ Two sets of twins?).  I took all the rest of them up to the pet store here in town (it's more like a "Feed Store"; with some bunnies, hamsters, guinea pigs, real pigs, sometimes kittens (free with purchase of a bag of food), lizards, baby turtles, fish, goats, ducks, chickens, turkeys...  In the back room there's also rats, mice... (I think they are for "Snake food" :( He said they also sell them for pets, too. ) He traded us 6 baby hamsters, for a big bag of bedding.  Let's see: 6 x $15.95 (what he sells them for)= $96 he will be making off of us. We got a $9.99 bag of bedding..  I really, honestly don't care. ;) I didn't want to try and find homes for all those babies!!!  I was thinking he would just take them off our hands. So, it was nice of him to give us a bag of bedding.  And, we are done "breeding" hamsters! 

I guess I can only post one picture per blog post with my new "updated" blog. (Which, have I mentioned, I hate? And I want my "old blog" back?...)  I can't figure anything out. (This is the fifth time I have tried posting this; and had another picture I was trying to put in here, but it just disappeared..)  Sheesh. 

I had to take the two younger boys in to their doctor to get their shots updated. (Sheesh, again!! How many forms do I have to fill out just to get their shots updated?... Are they not patients there?...)  The "new" school informed me that they needed their shot record updated. (Insert rolling eyes smiley here...)  I had to enroll our youngest son in a different school since we moved. Which I don't know if I am happy about or not. There were things I didn't like about the "old" school. But. Now I'm beginning to think the "old" school was the better choice.  I don't think I have a choice, though. In Colorado, or Michigan, if you wanted your child to go to a school that wasn't in your school attendance area, you just had to sign some papers (saying I dont know what..)   The thing is, I homeschooled the kids. (The 7 year old had never been in public school.) Well by April of this year, I had had it. They were soooo lazy!! Sleeping til noon (the 13 year old), getting up around one in the afternoon. Not starting schoolwork until almost 2...  Then, "I did two hours"... "Um, two hours is not enough.."  (I am still going through this with the 18 year old btw, which is a whole other [irritating!!!!] story..)  Anyway.  So, I brought their books they were working on, into the school. Signed some papers saying they were homeschooled and what their grades were. (?)  The 13 year old basically got to skip all of 7th grade.  Well the 7 year old was going to be put into 2nd grade (in the "old" school); and they were going to work with him. Well, apparently, this ("new") school doesn't "honor that arrangement".  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!  So, I don't know what to do. Or what I want to do. (As I may not have a choice?..)  If I could sign some papers and have him go to the old school, maybe he would catch up. Or have him go to the "new" school, and be a year behind.    Inicidentally, I threw the homeschool books away, thinking I no longer needed them now they were in public school, everything was "good"...    Why does everything have to be so complicated, and such a pain?  :/    Thank goodness crocheting/knitting hasn't "upgraded" or changed. Sheesh!... ;)

Goodbye, Oak :(

This early afternoon Eli said, "Oak doesn't look so good." This is what she was doing. Just laying there. She wouldn't move. I got a soft towel (rag) for her to lay on. [I had a feeling she wasn't going to get any better :(  ]  It wasn't long after I took this picture, she squeaked at Eli. Not longer after that, she died.  I can't believe it. I know hamsters don't live long. And I don't know how old she was when we got her. It's just so sad. 

Our power went out today. Well I called the electric company. She told me what to do. (Flip the breaker switch.. Okay I don't know anything, all right?.)  Well I noticed it was not getting any cooler... Then, it was really, really warm... I called the electric company again. They sent someone out. (It's HOT here!)  Well, apparently our AC unit is broken. (Although, somehow I still think it has something to do with the power going out.)  I called the landlord, she said to call an AC place... OF COURSE, they were closed. Not only do they close at 5, they close at 3???  Ugh!! Well I'm sorry my AC went out after business hours.    I figured out fast which windows have screens in them. :/  I hope someone can come out and fix it tomorrow. I don't know how we are going to pay for it though!!?  :(  Why does everything have to be such a pain?   I hope they can figure something out. It's supposed to get up to 109 later on... 

Snickerdoodles

While I was unpacking a couple boxes the other day, I got the cookie jar out. I saw Eon look inside it for cookies. :P Then a little while later, Eli looked inside... So, today I asked Eon if he wanted to make cookies with me. He said yes. I asked him, "What kind? Peanut butter, oatmeal?"... "What about Snickerdoodles?" "What are sickerdoodles?" :P "The kind with cinnamon & sugar on 'em" "Yeah". So I got a stick of butter out to let it soften. Then when I was going to make them, I said "Do you wanna make cookies now?" "No" ??? :( "Oh, you just want me to make them, so you can eat them?" "Yeah". :/ It's okay. Here's some rolled into balls waiting... :D

Here they are cooling off. One other thing the woman who used to live here left behind, was this cooling rack. I don't know if it's technically a cookie rack. But, it fits a whole pan of cookies and it works for me, so... Now I feel like a "real" baker. ;P

Here they all are in the cookie jar. I had to take a picture so it will last longer. :P Or is it, I had to take a picture because they won't last long?... 
Did I mention I want my "old" blog back? I don't understand how the pictures work for this one. :(  I hope they all turn out in the order I want them posted.. Kind of annoying.   

Olivia's Sweater

I finished Olivia's sweater! I don't believe it myself. I started it July 12th. Finished it August 5th. That's less than a month. :0 And, in between moving and packing, cleaning, unpacking, cleaning some more... (what a nightmare..)  How come I can't finish any of my other projects this fast? :P   I wanted to get this done before school started, and/or Fall..  (AND, before it didn't fit her anymore!... Which is the story of my life..)   I think it turned out pretty cute.  I'm kinda thinking about making one in my size. :P  

The baby hamsters are getting bigger. And CUTE!!! There were 13 babies. But, sadly 5 died...  :( It was so sad. I felt so awful for them. I tried to feed a couple some milk in a dropper. But it wasn't any help.  There may have been something wrong with them. Plus, 13 babies is too many. Especially for a first litter!  The remaining 8 seem to be doing fine, though. There are two black/tan and white ones (one boy, one girl). (They're SOOOO cute! I want to keep one of those- I think Eli wants to keep one, he's named it Wickett already. :P Like the Ewok from Star Wars..) Two "Rhino Juniors"~ they look like Rhino, the dad-one boy, one girl. We want to keep the boy. I said they are "Rhino Jr. and Rhinette". (Ugh... bad name for the girl.) And four tannish colored, with some white on a couple. A couple have red eyes, like Mia. I'm not going to want to give them away. :(  I want to make sure they will be going to good homes. I guess I can't think about that. We want to keep two of them, but I don't know if that will happen, either. (We already have three~Mia, Oak, and Rhino...)    The kids have been taking the babies out of the cage. (Drives me nuts- I'm afraid they will drop one. They move super fast, and you can barely hold on to them sometimes..)  Oh, the two Rhino Jrs. and black/tan ones look like they are going to be long haired! (I wanted at least one long haired... Yay..)

Well, I can't believe that's all the news since we have moved?...  School starts here pretty soon. We already found out the 7 year olds new teacher this year (yesterday). Yay..  I told Eon who his teacher was going to be. I said "Do you know who that is?" Yup...  Is in the classroom right next to last year's teacher, matter of fact. I asked what does she look like...  :P   I have to find out if we are still in the school attendance area. I think we would be, we are closer now than we were before. But, who knows..  Our 13 year old will be in 8th grade. I can't believe it. He'll be in high school next year!!! And driving in a couple years...  :((((       Let's see, what else? I closed my own finger in my dresser drawer. I scraped the skin off my knuckle, and hurt it farther up. Oh well. I'll be okay....  :P    I've made muffins twice, since we've moved to the new house. Coffee Shop Corn Muffins, and Chocolate Banana Muffins.  :P  I have about 20 bananas in the freezer again. Going to have crank out the muffin machine (aka: Me... making them..:P)  The woman who we are renting the house from, left a few things here. One of those "things" was a muffin pan!!  I was SO happy. (No, it doesn't take much to make me happy... :P) It's only a 6 muffin-muffin pan, but it's enough. I have two "big" jumbo muffin pans, and two or three "mini" muffin pans. But only one "regular" sized muffin pan. So, if I made a double batch, or had more muffin batter than one panful, I had to wait til the muffins were done baking & cooled, wash the pan, do again...  Now, I won't always have to. (Unless I make a double batch.) Yes, I know, I could buy another muffin pan... But, with everything else, it's kinda the last thing on our list, you know?  Anyway. My husband's work schedule also changed since we moved. He's working "Swing Shift".  :(  Which is less crazy of hours, so how come it's messed me up so much?  Well, I think it is "messing him" up, too. He got a cold. :(  Bad one.  Then, he was supposed to work today at 4 in the morning! :0  (He doesn't even get off work until 11 at night. That means he would have to drive home for an hour and 15 minutes, sleep for two hours, turn around and drive back to work..) Fortunately, they changed his work time to 10 am. So he got some sleep last night. Poor guy.  I made him homemade chicken noodle soup last night. He got some Nyquil, Dayquil, and Honey Lemon Cough Drops on his way home from work, too.  Eli said "Why don't you just buy him a can of soup?"  :P  I said "Because it's not the same. Your Dad likes homemade chicken noodle soup".  Plus, he likes huge pieces of carrots, celery, onions, and chicken. I was almost tempted to put whole carrots and celery in there (for a joke). The first thing he said when he took the soup out of the fridge was "Mmm big pieces"...       Anyway. This new work schedule is only for about four weeks. After that, my husband might get laid off. So...  I shouldn't complain about the new schedule.  :/  (Not that I'm complaining, but...)   Well stay tuned. I'll try to get some good pictures of the baby hamsters. They move around so fast, though; it's hard to get a good one.