Okay, this is very strange.  I haven't been away for that long and already Blogger has changed things.  Facebook did the same thing.  Oh well.

The reason I decided to write tonight was because the purpose of this blog was to keep in touch with family.  Recently I tried to connect family with a photo of Amber from dance that someone else happened to take.  In the process of tagging, family got up in arms because they thought some other random person was linking their name to a photo they weren't in.  The sad part was, those two family members didn't even recognize Amber!  Here her picture has been on this blog and in e-mails and no one knew it was her. 

That being said, I guess this blog is not doing its intended purpose, which was keeping family that is far away, in touch with us out here.  I try to get photos up about once a month if I can, but if no one is even looking at the blog, I wonder why I even try.

I have since removed the FB photo tagging links to those family members.  I cannot and won't double photos in both places.  It would be too time consuming.

Family who want to stay in touch on FB may do so.  Others can read blog entries as they desire.  I will continue to stay in touch via e-mail, too.

Our daily lives are a ritual of schedules.  We go from one hour to the next, day after day, one event to the next.  Until the school and dance year is over, our schedules are pretty set in stone.

Every day we school at home.  The rest we fit in as we can.

Mondays are allergy shot days, dance, and scouts.
Tuesdays are violin and dance.
Wednesdays are volunteering at EPO and TAing at the studio, then more dance.
Thursdays are band day for the entire morning, followed by TAing at the studio, and then more dance.
Fridays are violin again, and more dance.
Saturdays are teaching dance, and whatever else we can fit in or perform.
Sundays are a day of rest ... unless someone is dancing.

Dance fills our lives in this house.  If someone isn't taking a class, you can hear feet tapping in the kitchen or in the playroom, music playing and someone scribbling on paper as they choreograph a new number, or humming and singing rehearsal pieces.

So, if you don't hear from us on FB, or read an entry on this blog, or don't get an e-mail, it's probably because there isn't much more to add ... or we simply do not have time to squat in front of the computer and do lots of creative writing and editing and photo editing.

Butterfly Free fingerless hand mitts

These are the fingerless gloves/hand mitts I designed for the silent auction to be held at our local yarn shop. Sheila Joynes, one of the shop managers, hand me this yarn and another (not pictured) to make something out of them for the auction. The auction will benefit breast cancer research and goes hand-in-hand with our charity knitting of "knitted knockers" which are distributed as needed. We've even had requests for our knitted and crocheted breast prosthesis from as far away as Georgia!

At any rate, the pattern itself for the "skeleton" of the mitts is from a few pages copied from a book that belongs to my friend Andrea Brush. From there I got the design on the back of the hand from the 2011 Advent Scarf I made. It is only a portion of the repeated section.

The ladies have asked me to write the pattern up for sale. Sheila also said I should put it up for sale on Ravelry. Quite an exciting adventure.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the other yarn. It's quite different from this yarn, which was a sport weight mercerized cotton, called Butterfly Cotton. This is the yarn we use to make our knitted and crocheted breast prosthesis. The other is mainly black, with specks of knobby colors. Should be interesting. I recently purchased a book on lace and eyelet patterns. I have to find just the right pattern for the next pair of mitts.

Easter Sunday - Resurrection Sunday - He is Risen!

We gathered together to read the Resurrection story this morning. Each of us took turns reading aloud to the others. Then we did the mini Sunday School lesson with our Resurrection Eggs.
The weather was so beautiful this morning. The Easter Bunny visited and left the eggs outside this year! What a change from these past several years! Amber is greeting Mr. Gray Dawson as he ran by with their dogs this morning. Joule was not on her leash and she went dashing off after them. Ian ran after her down the driveway to retrieve her.
Joule helped Ian find his hidden eggs.
Don't you love Ethan's attire? He donned a pair of socks (over his pj pants, of course) and Daryn's sneakers. (Ethan's sneakers have died and he's in need of new ones ... in the meantime, he's wearing Daryn's shoes.)
Evyn found one!
Everyone has found their eggs. There were solid chocolate little eggs, peanut butter and chocolate little eggs, and a couple Cadbury eggs for each.


Then we decorated the eggs before having them for breakfast! Some very interesting designs.
This is about 5 minutes after Ethan took some medication. But he was drawing on the eggs and his arm started to itch. Next thing we knew, his arm was very red, a huge welt at his last injection site, with satellite welts starting around it. He also said his throat started to feel funny and he started coughing. We immediately had him take Benedryl, take his inhaler, and his nasal spray. So glad the Benedryl acted as fast as it did. By the time I thought to get the camera to document it, the welts started to disappear. Thank goodness!


First batch of Hot Cross Buns. They were so big and fluffy and tender! (And yummy!)

Here is the second batch baking. More for tomorrow :)

Evyn's 15th Birthday

What's so funny? Ethan's gift to Evyn was a piece of paper that was wrapped in tissue paper no less. On it he wrote, "This is not your gift." What a jokester!
One day while hunting for a costume for Ian at Goodwill he spotted this purple sweatshirt and HAD to get it for Evyn. Evyn really likes purple (and green). As you can tell, he really liked it, too.
Amber's gift to Evyn was an "IOU" to do what Evyn wanted her to do for 24 hours ... like clean up. Not sure if it's been used yet. She also made him a little pouch with some cloth and buttons.

We also found a new game for the Wii for him. It's called Skylanders. It has little figurines that go onto a "portal" and you can switch them out. It's not an "active" game, but he does enjoy it.

We got him a couple extra figures to go with the start up set.
Lastly, the Diamond Head hat which I made for him out of Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street yarn, which is wool. He likes to wear hats.


Getting his Skylanders out of their box and learning how to play.
The "dirt cake" in the trifle bowl. It was SO yummy. The bottom is crushed Oreos, followed by a mixture of cream cheese and cool whip, then homemade chocolate pudding, and then topped with homemade chocolate cake (crumbled) and then another cup of crushed Oreos. I couldn't find dye-free worms, so I found natural jellied slugs and bugs ... just as fun.
These are the candles from his first birthday!

Happy Birthday, Evyn! We sure do love you a whole BUNCH!

CWO!

Daryn has been selected to the Chief Warrant Officer program in the U.S. Naval Reserves! We are so extremely happy for him. He's been trying to do this for years and perseverance has paid off! Congratulations, honey! We love you!

Ethan turns 13th - Happy Birthday!

A call first thing this morning from Hamilton, NY! Grandma and Grandpa sing to Ethan, wishing him a Happy Birthday!

A letter from Grandma Judy (and a call later in the afternoon). He loved getting the phone calls!

Evyn drew the design on this card and had a wonderful greeting on the inside! All original! I was very pleased myself, because it was also a school assignment from last week. To make a card for someone. Wish you could read the words. It really was well done. (In case you can't see the drawing, it's a dragon.)

Amber bought Ethan a pack of gum (kiwi pie) and also gave him a lollipop and $1. The cash was to go toward his savings for an iPod.

Can't go wrong with a Magic deck I guess. Ian helped me pick it out. It has an angel on the front card, and it just so happened to be the one card he was hoping for!

Right after Christmas I had to go to Target for something and they were having a sale. The kids really like this game, Munchkin. I had intended on saving this game until this coming Christmas, but was unable to get to the store I wanted to shop in for a different Munchkin game. So, Ethan ended up with this one. Here's the rub ... he already knew about it as he had already seen it. I think he was with me when I purchased it and I asked him to forget it. He even asked me about it a few weeks ago. I told him, forget you ever saw it, okay? He had a big smile when he opened the gift this morning :)

Yesterday Ian and I went to Fred Meyer to pick up some cake making supplies (for another friend's cake) and I wanted to duck into the toy department to see if they might just happen to have Munchkin, which they didn't. But we saw this Angry Birds game. The kids really like to play this on the iPad/iTouch/iPod. So, with only a look between us, we knew we had to pick it up. Ethan couldn't wait to start playing the game, but Sandor arrived and it was then time for the Magic game to start.

Sandor also came bearing gifts. He gave Ethan a storage box, a new die, and two cards with which he'd have to learn how to employ for his deck.

Sandor told Amber to make Ethan a crown, that the birthday boy had to have a crown. So, she made him a crown, which he wore through most of the games today.

Our birthday boy requested vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting. I still had frosting left from the Valentine cookies I had made, so that was perfect. However, I did add a twist and made a lemon filling. Each of these cupcakes had a hole in the center filled with a lemon filling. Amber piped the frosting on top.

Ethan had been so intent on playing he had forgotten to eat his sandwich, which I didn't know. I brought out the cupcakes with lit candles only to find he'd just started eating his sandwich! He had a bite in his mouth, so he "blew" out the candles by wafting his hand in front of them. It worked!

Lastly, the gift I have been striving to complete. A sweater hat. I have a book I borrowed from the library with lots of neat knitted hat patterns and the kids all selected a few choices they really liked. This is one of the ones Ethan selected. It was fun making it for him.

Fisherman Knit Sweater Hat -- ha-ha!

It's wool! I instructed him, no tossing this into the washer and dryer! It should keep you plenty warm!

Beading projects

Last weekend Amber wanted to do some beading and I needed to complete another order of stitch markers for the local yarn shop. Amber made some earrings for a friend, plus two that were "ordered" by her friend's teacher. Amber finally got paid for the earrings this week, but only after the teacher saw them first. She made $8! Her friends also liked the bracelet she made (above). We go the big beads (4 animals and 4 big balls) at Joanns for $7.99. The other beads and findings we had on hand. The charm bracelet kit was one of the items I had given to her for her birthday. She designed the bracelet herself and I did the pliers work.
This is the latest batch of stitch markers I made for Debbie Macomber's A Good Yarn Shop. I also have an order placed for 100 stitch markers for this spring's South Sound Yarn Crawl. After a brief meeting with the shop manager yesterday, I now have a direction to go in to begin creating their signature stitch marker for the annual crawl. They will be similar to the top row of markers pictured here, but with some small changes to make them unique. Less bead work, but an enhancement on the bottom to add the SSYC touch.