Baby Rimes

We had so much fun over the holiday weekend.

Here’s some pictures.

Here’s Gramma and Grampa. They’re off for adventure on the open road pretty soon. I envy them the warm weather.

And here are the cousins and aunt and uncle. Congrats Andrea and Natalie on the wedding plans!

And here are the girls. 3 generations right there. GG, Stephanie, Miss R, and Mommy.

Gramma went outside and got us something exciting to play with. Can you tell what it is?

Yup, it’s snow. We had about 3 inches of the fluffy stuff Thanksgiving afternoon.

Daddy got into the action too.

Happy Holidays!

Or… House of Hair.

Yup, that’s Miss R.

Rockin’ out.

Oh yeah. She’s really groovin’.

She likes to dance while Daddy plays Guitar Hero.  Which is good, because he likes to play.

Ta DA!

This is my favorite cozy corner.

Finished! And just in time for all the festivities!

And if anyone makes any reference to Chicago, Bears, or football, I will show you how different Pumpkin Toast Orange is to Chicago Bears Orange, thank-you-very-much.

I thought about writing a poignant post today. About how thankful I am for my family, friends, health, home, and basic comforts of being an American.

But I just feel altogether too sappy writing all of that. So instead, I’m going to leave you with a few images of the yummy things I have made to honor the occasion of having a houseful of people from 2 states, 4 counties, and 6 cities.

I am thankful for chocolate.

Specifically, Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet cocoa.

Let’s take a closer look.

Yum.

I am also thankful for mashed potatoes. And Pioneer Woman.

Yup, I made those too. No pictures though. You’ll have to see hers.

I also made some of this. I am thankful for sugar. Without which, none of this would be possible.

MMMMM. Yummy. These are Christmas gifts, but since they are already open, it’s ok to show you.

There will be much more food, for which I am very thankful. Plus, the company that will help eat all this food will be wonderful.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Eating.

This week we will be doing a little Thanksgiving with a little Christmas for those relatives we don’t get to see on the actual Christmas holiday. So I’ve been working like a busy little elf to get things all finished by Thursday.

I made a ______ for ________. It’s very pretty.

And this other one I made is made from _____ with a little bit of ______ and a ______ tucked inside. It’s for _____.

I made another ______. I loved the pattern so much I made another in a ______ colorway. This one is for my ______.

And since I don’t just make things from ____ and _____, but I also make _______. This one will be for _______ and _______.

Sorry, no pictures until after Thanksgiving!

the kids will play!

Daddy is at a conference in Grand Rapids, so Mommy and Miss R had a s night. First, we started with some library time. Miss R found the mouse-you know the one who got a cookie and then wanted some milk-and dragged him all around the library showing him her favorite books, coloring with him, and playing with the trains while he sat on the floor watching. Too cute.

This meant that I had some time to knit. Not much, but every bit helps.

Then, we went home and made pita pizzas. We ate them on the living room floor with a blanket so we could have a carpet picnic. We also watched The Wiggles. Wiggly Wiggly.

After dinner, we made some caramel corn. Don’t worry, I know 2 years olds and popcorn don’t mix, but she just helped to pop it on the stove. If you don’t have this book, you totally need to find a copy. It is the best thing for anyone who entertains, snacks, or just gets the munchies. Yummy.

After a bit of coloring and stories, it was time for bed. Ladies night is just not what it used to be.

But in a very good way.

This weekend, while taking care of the kitchen disaster, we also managed to do some yard work. It was necessary. The grass hadn’t been mowed since sometime in August and was threatening to take over the house in a fit of jungle fever. Plus, it made it that much harder to rake leaves.

OUT WITH THE MOWER! We said.

Of course, all those leaves meant that the mower wasn’t getting very far.

Back to raking first.

Miss R had a splendid time. She would diligently rake a small pile of leaves (about 4 leaves) into a small pile, then drop the rake and run like mad for Mommy’s pile of leaves. After the first few times of this and thinking, “awwww, so cute!” I came to realize what an AWFUL mess she was making of my pile!

We tried a different tactic. Help Mommy get the leaves on the tarp to drag them into the street. She loved pulling the tarp. But before we could dump it, she had to jump in the leaves again. More raking and more dragging, and they were finally at the curb.

What a lovely diversion from painting the kitchen.

Plus Miss R slept like a log, so when we did get back to the kitchen to paint, we had 2 uninterrupted hours to paint like crazy mad monkeys with paintbrushes. Only a little neater.

According to the calendar, we have 4 days until Thanksgiving. That’s 96 hours, and if you subtract sleeping time, and at-work time that leaves us with 48 usable hours to make our kitchen presentable before we have guests over. ugh.

This weekend we are feverishly finishing the trim, painting the fireplace, hanging curtains, photos and new lamps.

On top of all this, we still need to do the cleaning, shopping, cooking, and other pre-holiday activities.

Did I mention that we don’t actually have curtains or lamps yet?  yeah, so we still need to go get them.  Go ahead and add “hardware shopping” to that long list too.

But it’s going to look fantastic when it’s all done and no one will no the hardships we faced to get our house ready.  Unless we tell them.  Which we probably will.

This is what we did this morning while Mommy folded laundry.

Those are my slipper socks. Daddy calls the red ones my Elmo socks. They make my feet look like a little red monster puppet I guess.

However, Miss R has confiscated them and redesigned them for her own purposes.

Of course, they could probably use some rubber soles on them to prevent sliding.

These were so quick to knit up! They are a gift for a friend is who is due sometime in December.

Please excuse the fuzzy picture.
They are Wool-Ease in Denim.
Knit on size 6 needles.
And they fit on a Cabbage Patch doll (who was unavailable for pictures due to an early bedtime).

Happy new baby!