We started early this morning.  We had some branches trimmed. (David says I should call them limbs as some were very large.  “Like small trees,” he explained.)  After they were cut, David and Davey started dragging them off.  They are back out working on the rest right now.  Oak branches are not bad to drag.  Pine branches are terrible.  Prickly and sticky.  I am going to go help just as soon    as      I      finish       this       post.   (which may just happen to need to be really long today.)

I just peeked out the window.  I love the sight of Davey scampering behind David.  That’s not a word I would typically use.   But there is no better way to describe it in this instance.  He is scampering – his little legs are just dancing around as he follows Daddy.  Davey loves to follow and help Daddy.

Speaking of helping, Davey helped me make blueberry scones this morning.  David had some when he was in Tulsa at the culinary school where his brother Johnny teaches.  So he wanted me to make some.  I went to my allrecipes.com in order to try to come up with a scone recipe that would match the chefs at the school.  They actually turned out really well, even though I had to cut butter into the flour and ingredients, and I had to be careful not to “overmix”.  I tend to overmix.  But I guess I didn’t.  Here’s the recipe.  One of the reviewers suggested sprinkling sugar on the top before baking.  I liked that.  Although, next time I think I will try a glaze.  David said the scones at the school had a glaze, and that does sound good.

I took a picture, but it would not inspire a person to make these.  Blueberries are oozing everywhere, and they are not oozing attractively.  I have been taking more photos lately, and the more I take, the more I realize I need to learn how to take photos.

So that’s enough about scones.

Last night I was looking around for a heart rate monitor strap, and instead I found a cowboy outfit for Davey.  This was actually David’s when he was a little boy.   Davey loves it.

He wanted to get right onto his horse.

I am now really almost done with my Movie Socks.  I’d hoped to finish last night, but I am still working my way down the foot.  I was able to get quite abit done because while I was knitting, I was watching (kinda) Rambo 2 with David.  I confess that there are a few small moments in that movie that almost (that may be pushing it) make it worth watching the entire movie.  I love the part when Rambo is standing and hiding in some type of muddy hill.   He’s completely hidden by the mud, and he is not moving.  You can not see him.  Suddenly you see a big brown eye open from in the middle of that column of mud.  Then everything quickly goes downhill, and the moment is ruined with a descent into knifey violence.

I hope I don’t now associate my Movie Socks with that Movie.  I am going to have to watch a nice non-violent movie tonight as I finish these up.

Ok I guess I better go help with the rest of the branches!

I am getting close to finishing the Movie Socks!  All bobbles are complete, and I am over halfway through the heel flap.  I’d like to finish it today, but it may be tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see them all done.  Then it’s on to the Boyfriend Socks.  These are going to be Fair Isle City.  They will be the most fair isle that I have ever attempted.   It will also be the first sock pattern, or maybe any pattern, which indicates that the knitting level is for an Experienced knitter!  Yikes.  Well, one day at a time.

Davey had a great time at First Presbyterian VBS.   It lasted 4 hours, and when I went to pick him up, it became obvious very quickly that he was torn about my arrival.  He gave me his happy to see me grin, but he was also worried.  He said, “hi Mommy!”, and he showed me some of the neat crafts they made.  Then he said, “Please leave Mommy.  I am still playing!”  He absolutely did not want to go.  He finally realized that everyone else was leaving.  Then I still had to start a game of chase so I could get him to chase me out of the church.  They had crafts, and they had snacks.  I have no idea what else they did though because he didn’t tell me.

When I left, he was getting started on his first of several crafts.  I’d never seen him in a classroom setting, so I really wanted to hover outside the door all afternoon.  I figured though that might become annoying, so I made myself leave.

I was trying to slip around and take pictures without getting in anyone’s way.  It’s a skill that I have not yet mastered.

In the interest of maintaining blog integrity, I have to disclose that I did some photoshop work on the picture above.  During snack time, Davey had a little problem drinking his punch.  (He’s not used to a regular cup.  We will work on that.)  He spilled it all over his shorts.  So then he was sitting with the group of kids as Mr. Wet Pants, front and center!  So I tried to get the wet shorts look out the best I could.

It’s safe to say that Davey loved VBS.

Davey was happy to see David this morning.  He’d gotten home after Davey had gone to sleep last night.  (David had been in Tulsa for a run.)  Davey had a miniature Christmas this morning.  David had gotten him something, and his Nanny and Pa had sent home gifts.

Davey loved his medal.  (David’s running medal)

A new zhu zhu pet friend for Winky.  (Nugget meets Winky.)

Happy Hot Sunday!

It’s Saturday morning, and Davey and I are hanging out.  We’ve been doing some laundry, sorting some pictures, and now he is watching a little Barney.  I knitted a few rows on my Perseverance shawl while he was eating breakfast as well.  We had Fiber One Pop Tarts.  “Cinnamony!  Brown Sugary!”  Davey says.  I am just happy to find something he will eat for breakfast even though it would not qualify as healthy food of the year.

This afternoon Davey is going to a one afternoon VBS.  It’s from 1-5.  That’s about the longest time he will have been away from us.  He is ready to go RIGHT NOW.  I think he will probably have a great time.  I’ll be kinda sad.  David should be home from Oklahoma when Davey is done with Bible school.

That’s about it.  David had a good run in Tulsa.  Had a good time running with old friends, and he placed 3rd in his bracket!

I asked Davey to smile for me this morning.  He did, but instead of cheese he said “Pee pee Pee pee”.  You can kind of see it in this photo:

He’s all about pee pee and poop these days.   I guess it’s the ongoing potty training that keeps him thinking about it, although I think he might think about it anyway.  He’s way too amused with himself every time he says either one.

And so it’s a kind of not much going on Saturday morning, although that’s a fun Saturday morning too.

Davey picked a flower for me.  I love when he picks me a flower.

Yesterday, I finished my first Movie Sock.  It fits!  Looks good too I think.   Now I am bobbling along again on the second sock.  Bobbles on metal needles = much easier life.   The strength and stability is great.

My other metal needles arrived via Fed Ex as well:  (Sorry, David is teaching me some Photoshop, and I may be having a little too much fun.)

Each needle size is a different color.  I need a color decoder.  I can probably figure it out with my little needle size guide thingamajig, although these include some really small sizes.

Davey enjoys getting packages of any kind, and he was happy to check them out. (By the way, he got a haircut yesterday.  He now loves to go to the barber with Daddy.)

We decided to try to play pick up sticks with them.

That did not work too well though because the needles were too slick and shiny.

I couldn’t resist an opportunity to take a picture of Davey’s little hand though.

Who knew that we could have so much fun with a package of metal knitting needles?

We decided on cupcakes for our anniversary celebration.

First Davey added some sprinkles.

Then, we put some candles on the cupcakes, and Davey worked really hard to blow them out.

Davey and David also worked together on the candles.

Davey is like his dad and prefers the icing.  And pretty much only the icing.

And finally, it is only supposed to be 94 today with a 50% chance of rain.  We had a small shower yesterday.  We were on our way into Walmart, and we had to just stand outside and enjoy the rain for a moment.  We tried to keep the dancing to a minimum.  It felt wonderful though.

A good day.

8-5-89.   It’s our 21st anniversary.  We were 21 when we got married.

We told Davey that today is the day we got married a long time ago.  He said, “And I was sitting in my seat watching you get married.”  You just have to agree.   He does not get the concept that there was a time before he was here with us.  That’s understandable.  I can’t imagine it either.

Davey quickly saw this as a perfect opportunity to have a party.  “Cupcakes?  A Cake?  With Sprinkles?  And Candles?”  So we are off to get a cake soon.   I thought about baking one, but turning the oven on when it’s already 90 degrees out (it’s not quite 10am yet) just doesn’t seem like a great idea.  Big David prefers a good old store-bought cake with that crisco-ey icing anyway.

My Movie Socks are going great.  I hope to finish the first one today.  My working on 2 at a time didn’t quite pan out this go around due to my snapping the 3 needles in half.  So I will be on the bobble section on sock #2 when I get back to it.  I am looking forward to more bobbles though and seeing how they do on the metal needles.

(This photo is inspired by eskimimi.   I like how she photographs her knitted objects on a white background. Now if I can improve the rest of my photography and photoshop skills.)

Davey and I were playing barbershop yesterday.  He first played this with his cousins the other night with some little stuffed animals and combs.  But after he got home, he decided that he wanted to adapt the game to humans.  Specifically to himself.  I gave him a water squirter to play with.

In order to get his hair wet, he preferred to put the squirt bottle directly against his head:

Ok all wet and ready to style:

Brushing:

Not quite right, so he needed more water.

He was having such a good time:

Perfect!

I guess I might get in trouble for sharing this story and these pictures someday.

And finally, 103 today.  This is what I have started calling “slap you in the face hot”.  I kind of prefer it to the insidious humidity we have when the temperature is in the high 80s and 90s.  Kinda.

It’s going to be 106 today.  All I can do is try to think cool thoughts:

I took my Perseverance shawl to the waterpark yesterday.  Even though it was 6pm, it was still probably 100 degrees out.  I am a most dedicated knitter, but knitting outside with a wool/mohair blend was just a little crazy.

I watched Davey play with a sweet 5 year old girl.  She took him under her wing.  She held his hand and led him all around.  She wanted to catch him and help him up each time he went down the frog slide.  He loved every minute of it.

She held her nose when she went under the water, so he followed her around holding his nose, but he didn’t go under water.  She explained to him that it was easy to go under.  “You just close your eyes, close your mouth, hold your nose, and kick your feet.”  (He still didn’t attempt it.  I am going to feel much happier once we get him some lessons next summer.)

My metal needles should be here on Thursday.  I am itching to get back to my bobbly socks.  I still may run by Hobby Lobby and/or Michael’s this afternoon to see if I can pick up some needles there.   Or I could just be patient.

I’d planned to go to Hot Springs sometime today to see if I could find some size 0 metal needles.  I don’t think I am going to make it.  The reason is that Davey and I decided to organize my yarn.  What a mess.  How have I accumulated so much yarn?

I remember going to our local yarn store for the first time 2 summers ago.  We were still living in Glenwood and I’d just started knitting again.  This is a kind of embarassing memory, but I clearly remember meeting Claire (the owner of our LYS), and telling her in all seriousness:  “I accumulated so much stuff scrapbooking.  I do not want to do that with knitting.  I am only going to have 1 or 2 projects going at a time.”  Claire, if you read this, were you laughing on the inside?  You didn’t show any signs of it at all.  If you could see my yarn now.  And I really didn’t think I had that much.  I explained to David that it reproduced on its own.  I don’t even remember some of it.  It had to have.   I’d take a picture, but it is an unholy mess, and I just really don’t want photographic evidence of it.  So, instead of going to get needles, I need to finish organizing my yarn.

I started a small shawl/scarf this weekend.  Something to work on until I get my zeroes.  And, I did buy new yarn for it. It’s a light fingering merino/mohair nylon blend.  I should have enough though for 2 projects.

I found the pattern on this blog.  She’d written about her trip to Alaska, and this shawl was inspired by her hike on Perseverance Trail.  (That word is so hard for me to spell.  I used to be a good speller.)  It’s a really fun knit.  Stockinette, 1/2 Linen Stitch, reverse stockinette.  Here’s what it kind of looks like so far.  It will need to be blocked  but here’s an idea:

So that’s my fun project to do until I get my Size 0 needles.  (Because I like to have only 1 or 2 projects going at a time.)

Davey was building a castle for Tasha this morning.

He made her a throne too:

Resistance is futile with a look like this:

As I was organizing, and I’m not done yet, Davey decided he wanted to knit.  He’s been talking about knitting a lot lately.

Knitting, even pretend knitting, can be a little frustrating:

I didn’t get a photo of it, but he soon had a ball of yarn with a double-pointed needle sticking out of it.  He explained that it was a woodpecker.

Ok the mess I’ve made with my yarn is making big David a little anxious.  I must return to it and persevere.

Finally took some pictures at the waterpark yesterday.

Davey played on the frog slide a bunch again.

I like this picture of his head peeking up as he is going up the steps:

Always like to get a photograph of those little feet!

Then pictures with Mommy and Daddy.

He loves to get under the mushroom:

It was a nice evening at the park.

And on the knitting front.  Argh.  I broke another harmony needle last night and then my first hiya hiya bamboo needle this morning.  The bamboo needle just kind of went.  I wasn’t making a bobble.  I was just doing a SSK.  I guess it had had enough of my demands.  So now I am stuck for abit.  I have ordered some metal needles.  I am hoping they arrive very soon.  In the meantime though, I will console myself with another project that I couldn’t wait to get started.   Gotta get some pictures of it.

Who could resist the opportunity to use a title like that?

I finished leg number one of my Movie Sock.  I started the heel flap too to see what it was going to look like.  It’s a stockinette heel which I think is perfect with the rest of the sock.  A little bit of simple flatness against the bobbles and lace.  I soon switched to the leg of sock 2 though, as I still want to try to finish them at about the same time.  It was tempting though to just keep going on that first sock.   Here’s how it looks so far.  Not the most artfully arranged shot, but there it is:

Davey and David have gone to the playground before it gets too hot.  I was informed by the little David that I was not invited.  This is something I hear quite abit.  But it works the other way too at times.   So I had to stay home all alone to blog and maybe knit a little.

Davey and I painted river rocks yesterday.  We need to go get some more because we just picked up a few.  He gets his imagination involved so when he was painting the rock (and his hands and the table) he was actually putting syrup on his pancake.   Davey is not afraid to layer paint.  (I love it and it looked much cooler than the boring polka dots I put on mine.  We’ve decided he will paint over my boring rocks.  Give them some much needed character.)

He didn’t mind mixing colors either.

I love his focus.