School has officially started

Sometimes I wonder what I get myself into. Other times I know exactly what I'm doing and how I'm going to do it. Then there are days like today when I bang my head against the table and ask myself, how can they NOT know how to do this stuff??? How can they forget so much in just a couple months?? ACK!

Today we started our second Konos unit of the year, still working on Self-Control, but we've moved on from body/appetites to emotions. New set of words and vocabulary, new theme and ideas. Ian's sitting in with us, but he's also started off on his own adventure in HOW 1 - History of the World I - Ancient History.

His first week is all about getting organized and ready for the school year, getting his things together in one spot, etc. He should also be finishing up his algebra, which he started last year. Once that's completed (he has about 5 lessons remaining) he goes on to Plane Geometry. I'm so glad Daryn's taking over in that math department!

Ethan is so struggling with math I'm beside myself. Simple mathematics. He's spent about 3 hours doing 10 problems! I just don't get it! This is last year's math, too, as he did not finish sixth grade. We ended up taking more days to teach so he could "get it" and he still doesn't "get it." I'm a bit hesitant to pick up where he literally left off. So, we are back tracking a little bit to see what he remembers. He has the general idea on how to do things, he just can't seem to add, subtract, multiply, or divide correctly! Evyn has the same problems. I think both of them just can't read their penmanship. I know I can't read it. I even have them both doing their work on graph paper just to keep their work in columns. Daryn comes in and teaches a different method than what they learned for division, and then things get all mixed up again. Urgh. I feel like we just took 1,000 steps backward. I'm about ready to order a new 6th grade math book for Ethan and just have him start the math year all over again. He burst into tears when I suggested that. Guess it's just a long day for both of us.

On top of all of this I was trying to get dinner going and finding out it's a cub scout potluck at a park down near Gig Harbor! sigh We were supposed to bring a side dish, as meat was going to be provided. Dollars to donuts no chicken will be provided. I just decided to make my dinner dish. We can bring that. I'll also cut up some cucumbers. I'm not providing dressing though. People will have to eat them raw without the fatty dip! No time to make dessert.

On a rather very side note, yesterday afternoon we went to the base to see a double feature. Love it when we can take seven people to see two movies and it only cost us $35! Can't beat a $5 ticket these days. Of course, free is always nice ...

I digress.

We went and saw "Despicable Me" and "Toy Story 3." I NEVER fall asleep in the movies. I could barely keep my eyes opened during the first movie. I woke up to see an ending I approved of, and was so glad to get up and walk around. Sadly, it was too dark to see to knit on the scarf I am making. The base theater has a smaller screen set back on a stage, not like movie theaters where the screen is the entire wall and lights up the entire room.

Admittedly, I cried buckets at the end of "Toy Story 3." May parts of it were, to me, rewritten portions of the first movie, just different toys in a different location with a similar scenario. It was the ending which hit home to me, though. The premise is Andy is packing up and leaving for college. The flood gates opened when his mother walks into his room and it's nearly empty except for a few boxes marked attic and college. Woody and Buzz and the crew have returned after their harrowing experiences just in time to plop into their respective boxes. Earlier Andy chose to take Woody to college and put the rest in the attic. I couldn't help seeing myself weeping as Ian begins to pack up his things. He's started high school, 11th grade, work this year. Granted, he's 14, but that doesn't mean it won't be long before he's ready to head out to college, too. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I had all these flashbacks of my little baby sitting on the floor in Iceland lining up his Disney books in his room, or lining up the Tupperware containers along the kitchen floor, or banging the pots and pans to make music, or sitting in the living room and pulling the fuzz from between his toes, or sitting in his car seat at his first movie with us ... "Toy Story." Even now I'm welling up. My baby is growing up way too fast and I can't make him stop. He towers over me now, tall and handsome. I miss him already.

Okay ... enough of that ... dinner will be finished cooking soon enough and I want to work on that dratted scarf. I think I'll take it with me to the picnic.

What's going on?

Last night I went to the monthly Knit-In at DM's A Good Yarn Shop and completed a little yellow dragon (for a swap), and then worked on one of my secret Christmas gifts (although, it could be birthday, I'm not sure when I'll give it). I completed a portion of that, picked up my stuff and was going to leave when I noticed flashing lights outside. I had intended leaving about 10 minutes prior, but decided I could finish a couple more rows, bind off, and then head home early.

Come to find out, there was a really bad motorcycle accident and one of the ladies witnessed it. I don't think there was another vehicle involved. But I did hear there was a head in the middle of the road and I decided I needed to stay put and not leave. At that point I started to not feel too good and needed a distraction and pulled out another pattern and started reading it to see how to start it. I wasn't sure how long we were going to be in the store. But, by 9 p.m. the ambulance had left, Sheila was in the store filling out a police report because she was the witness, and the fire truck had left. I packed up again and made my way out to the car, thankful I'd parked in the back part of the lot, and went home. Seemed to be a long drive last night. I ended up staying up and knitting to settle my nerves and try to close down my mind. So, I started a scarf (for the same swap person as the dragon).

Today I've been working on the scarf. I'm making it out of some really pretty yellow wool. I'll have to post the photo when I'm done. I'll even try to get a photo of the dragon in here later, too. The scarf is a bit slow-going, and I hope I can speed up. I have to use a chart and it has 18 repeats of the second chart. I've completed five of the repeats so far today. I also want to make her a couple dishcloths.

The older boys left for a birthday party yesterday afternoon and they are now currently on their way home. The party portion was this afternoon at the Bainbridge swimming pool. Apparently it's a really nice pool and they were there all afternoon. It was for one of their scout friends.

I worked with Ethan this afternoon on some of his scout requirements and he completed his Scientist pin and belt loop, and his Astronomy pin and belt loop. He still has his Weather belt loop to complete. He just need to finish charting the temperature for a week. Trouble is, he can never remember to do it! He's going to read it when he gets up, at noon, and then when he goes to bed. I also want him to put them on a graph when he's done so he can see what the patterns are for each time of day.

Tacos for dinner tonight. We thought the boys were going to be brought home, but Ian just called and said they had finished cake and ice cream and were ready to be picked up. Needless to say, I doubt they'll eat much in the way of tacos. It's 7:03 now and we've held dinner for about an hour waiting for them. The rest of us are ready to eat!

More Finished Projects

These two items were made for a swap themed from the Outlander series book "Drums of Autumn." It is the Primitive Bag and Bear Claw Kindle Cozy. The Primitive Bag is felted and I used a combination of Lamb's Pride wool and fun fur.

This is called a Notebook Jumper. It's about the size of a small pocket calendar. I used leftover sock yarn.

Just Off The Needles

This is my personal take on the Olympic Reindeer Hat the American team was wearing during the Olympics. I had to modify it so there would be less of the stranded work peeking through the white, and I adapted the inside portion of the band to have a design and the name Bartlett knit into it. I had to do quite a bit of cut and paste with the pattern on the brim to make the pattern work its way around. The original has gaps for an American flag decal, which I chose not to try to locate and iron on. The reindeer I now call moose and I added hearts in their bodies and snowflakes in the design pattern. The decreases did not come out well at the top. The pattern was poorly written. I fudged. It's rather large, and I will be attempted to felt it to shrink it down a bit.
This was for a challenge in one of my Ravelry groups. I had to make something for flying class in house colors (Ravenclaw in my case). Yes, this is Harry Potter related. I chose a washcloth design called Lobby Dishcloth. It was fun to knit. Kept my mind occupied. It is all done as one piece.
My latest swap I received a shawlette made of this yarn and the other packages were wrapped with pieces of the yarn around each package. One of the items also included was the mini sock blocker with the bear cut into it. I decided to save the yarn pieces, wind them into a ball, and make a mini sock for the blocker. I knit up the sock today. I think it's cute.

This sock is part of my Wee Tiny Sock Club and it is called the Fireworks Sock. At the end they hold a photo contest. This is the photo I submitted. The sock beading is supposed to represent fireworks.

And those are my latest projects.

Just Off the Needles

Tour de KRL

Today we participated in the Tour de KRL. With our Passports in hand we visited all the libraries in the Kitsap Regional Library system. We left the house at 9 a.m. and headed to Poulsbo first to pay a visit to Sluys and get a pastry. Then we headed to Bainbridge Island.

In the passports we were asked a question and we had to discover the answers while at the library. I decided we'd mark the occasion by taking a photo at each location! Here the kids found the window through which a rock protrudes. They built the window around it! Just outside the window you can barely see a glimpse of the Haiku Garden.

We walked through the Haiku Garden, reading the haikus written on marblesque tablets on the ground. They were written in either Hiragana or Katakana and English.

Onward to our second stop in Little Boston on the reservation. They had to find a whale! There were several throughout the library, too. While we were there Ethan spotted a national magazine with a photo of an Arab woman whose nose was missing and he asked about it. So, we read part of the article while we were there. She had been mutilated by the Taliban because she ran away from her husband and his family because they beat her and abused her. Of course, she was not believed. They tracked her down and while her husbands brothers and uncles held her down, he carved off her nose and ears. She was left for dead. US forces found her and she is in a shelter for other abused women like this. We didn't read the entire article. It was really getting to Evyn.

We then forged on to Kingston. Sadly, they were not open. We could hear voices inside and the sign read they opened at 1 p.m.! I had been so sure we had picked a day when they all opened at 10 and there was NO way I was going to just sit around and wait, NOR was I planning on returning. Amber knocked! One of the librarians opened the door and I apologized and she said it was no problem, and she stamped everyone's books. We answered the question, which was about what natural landmark could be seen from their east window. The answer was Mount Rainier.

We then returned to Poulsbo, where they kids had to find a little friend with whom to read! Here she is! We tried to return to the downtown area so we could eat lunch, but after driving around the parking lot a couple times, I called it quits and told the kids we could maybe find a spot in Silverdale.

However, on the way we were passing Bangor, so I drove in Trigger Avenue gate and took the kids to the recreation area and we had an impromptu picnic. I had prepared sandwiches, brought leftover carrot and apple muffins, and a container of strawberries. Evyn finally had a chance to eat his goody from Sluys, which he declared was his new favorite and he wanted another the next time he should return there.

After lunch we hit the next library on our list ... Silverdale. The question was about what Russian Fairy Tale the mural had been taken from. It was from "Finist the Falcon." They had a laminated copy near the mural, so we had a small story time and read the entire story. It was pretty long. Ian's pointing to the feather which was a key element in the story.

Amber also discovered some interesting puppets in the Silverdale children's section. At first she thought they were hats. Ian announced they were puppets, and we had to take a couple photos.

Then it was off to Sylvan Way. It is THE biggest library in the system and the headquarters for KRL. It was huge. They had to find the "Dance in a Quiet Place" reference ... and so they struck a dancing pose for the photo.

Onward we drove to Downtown Bremerton to find the King of this branch. Evyn located it on the outside of the building ... Martin Luther King, Jr.

We were finally done on that side of the pond and headed back to our stomping grounds and passed our library on the way to Manchester. They had to find the flying fish! This one holds a masquerade mask in front of it's face. This library started as a chicken coop! They have a stuffed chicken inside behind the desk as a reminder of their meager beginnings.

Last, but certainly not least, our beloved library. They had to decipher the nautical flags on the mailbox. The boys had it figured out before we had even left Port Orchard. It says, "READ!"

For their efforts, each of them earned a free library bag. It's big and roomy. Great for hauling loads of books ... or groceries! They also had their names put in for a drawing. We don't know for what ... but we each had our names put in.

And that is our Tour de KRL adventure. We pulled into the driveway just after 4 p.m.! Phew! What a day! I was glad to be home at last (and our doggies were glad we were home, too!).

Zumpkin ~ Pucchini ~ What???

Okay, so we had this mystery volunteer plant and we have waited quite a while to discover what it is and then Ethan and Amber picked this today. We have another about the same size, but I had them leave it.

Anyone know what it is? And, if you do know what it is, do you know any recipes for it? Not a single soul in our household (besides me) will eat zucchini, so I can't really serve it as a veggie. If it's like a pumpkin, then can I make a pie? Should it stay on the vine longer? If it's more zucchini, I could still shred it up and make chocolate zucchini cake and/or zucchini muffins.

Any and all suggestions are highly welcome at this point!