Back to School

Well, the holidays are over, and we're going back to school today. I need to start writing down everything the kids ask that I don't know (which is lots and lots of stuff), because I always say we'll look it up and then I forget what it was that we were going to look up. I know we're looking at the map today to see where South Dakota is, because we went there yesterday to visit Kristin and Nick, and the boys were pretty sure that not only was it right next to Canada, it was several states away from Iowa. And we just studied - and memorized - the U.S. map, dang it. We also have to figure out when electricity was invented. I'm not even sure which century it was - 18something? It was somebody with a key and a kite, right? Ben Franklin? That can't be right. Oh my goodness. I shouldn't be publicly admitting this. See, you do not need to be smart to homeschool your children. Just willing to humbly look everything up for them and let them see how little you actually know.
In knitting news, I made John some mittens last week, to go with his birthday cap. Here he is unwillingly modeling them:

Angry John in his new mittens:

Happy John in his new mittens:

Baby Flower Hat

Our pastors' daughter had a baby girl last week, so of course, I had to knit a hat. I'm not sure whether this is the right size for a newborn or not, and I finished it after Grace went to bed last night, so I haven't tried it on her for size yet. Even if it's too big for little Clara now, since it's a flower, it'll work for springtime, right? My new favorite thing is knitting with different colors of yarn at the same time, which I had to do to make the "stem." Maybe soon I'll be ready for a Fair Isle pattern. Maybe.

John got a picture of the kids with their "travel buddies" that I made them for Christmas, and (much to my shock and joy) the kids love them! Whew. Here they are on Christmas day:

Aren't they cute? All six of them.

Knitting Retreat!

My favorite knitting friend and I went to a knitting retreat this Saturday at the yarn store in Carroll, and it was heavenly. We knitted all day, learned three new scarf techniques (one of which was horrible and frustrating, but still a wonderful time), and ate like queens. I bought new yarn, which I shouldn't have done, but I think I'm all set for knitting my Christmas presents. It's impossible to just look at all of that gorgeous yarn and not get something. I may have to stay up all night for a few weeks, but everyone on my list is penciled in for a knitted masterpiece this year - scarves, cowls, hats, fairies, gloves...how exciting.
I also was eavesdropping and heard about a website for knitters that I didn't know about: http://www.ravelry.com/. Membership is free, and you can search zillions of patterns - some free, some not. There were all kinds of neat things you can do that I didn't look at, like mark your patterns and rate patterns and other stuff.
This was the busiest weekend ever. It started on Friday night with our First Thanksgiving, which I prepared for to the nth degree and was attended by...one other family and my supervising teacher. And my ex-husband. Sigh. Oh well, I guess I'm super-prepared for next year. And I learned all kinds of interesting things about American history. Then, the knitting retreat on Saturday, followed by shoebox preparations at church for Operation Christmas Child (it's not too late to fill up a shoebox with goodies for children across the world; go to http://www.samaritanspurse.com/ to see what it's all about). Sunday was church, my 31 Gifts party (much better attended than the First Thanksgiving), and a church leadership meeting. I haven't had two coherent thoughts in a row for days.
The kids had a great time with Grandpa at the Iowa Hall of Fame. They got to ride in the Mini-Cooper and eat out for breakfast and lunch, so this one was pretty much in the bag no matter what the actual hall of fame was like.
I've been forgetting to end with a Bible verse - today it's Psalm 100. The whole thing. So you'll have to go and look it up, but I'll give you a hint: it's about thanksgiving. The lower-case kind.

Something cute and something ugly

This hideous thing is some kind of frog that lives underwater. I picked it out for our aquarium because it's ugly and scary and thinking about touching it gives me the shivers. I named it Yanomamo, after a tribe of people in Brazil that we just learned about in school. Esme thought we should name it "Mom."

This is Gracie's Christmas present (one of several, I'm sure, but this is the coolest, specialest one). It didn't take very long, and I like that the arms move.

Knit Monster

Today is a scary day for my family - the kind of day you need a stuffed animal to hug. My grandpa Jim is having both valves on his heart replaced this morning at the Mayo Clinic, so please remember him, his surgeons, my grandma, parents, aunts, and uncles in your prayers. Surgery is at 8 a.m.

Here's my latest knitting project - a stuffed animal/monster for Esme for Christmas.

See the pocket on the back? My plan is to stick a little notebook in there, and when she leaves for her dad's house, I'll put a little love note or picture in the notebook. Then, when her dad sends her back here, he can put a note in there for her. That way, if she misses us at either house, she can look at her notebook and, even though she can't read it, she'll know that it's from mom/dad and that we love her. I'm making a green one for Isaac and a blue one for Simon out of the same kind of yarn. I got the pattern from Knit Simple magazine, which I checked out from the library. You can't access the patterns for free online, but you can get a preview of the projects here: http://www.knitsimplemag.com/node/230. I also made each of the kids a pair of fingerless gloves from this issue, which they loved for a few days and have since lost track of.

I like the idea of ending my posts with a verse or a prayer, and since I'm not the best at writing prayers, I'm sticking with bible verses.

From Psalm 34:17 - 20:
¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
   he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
 ¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
   but the LORD delivers him from them all;
²⁰ he protects all his bones,
   not one of them will be broken.