On the needles

This is admittedly a bit weird. I just finished a GORGEOUS scarf. My mom bought me some yarn from some little sheepies in New Zealand when she went there. It is white with some gray, very fuzzy, and I did not know what the heck I was going to do with it. So my sharp-brained friend, Tara, told me to do a search for it on Ravelry (had NO idea to do that!) and I found this:

However, I did not have enough yarn to do the body and the ruffle, so I bought some charcoal gray with white (do you see where this is headed?) to make the ruffle. I was rather confused about how to do the ruffle, but YouTube and The Google helped me, along with Tara and her knitting guru friend, as always. So now I have this:

The weird part is that I have this warm and elegant wool scarf ready for...May. Ah well, it'll be fun to wear in the fall.

Just on my needles is this

Which will become my own version of this

which I may be making more of if they turn out as cute as this one. My niece has already said she thinks it'll be a good hat for Pittsburgh...

Green

I'm trying to eat green. Actually, I'm succeeding, which is pretty cool. I did a 10 day cleanse with Little Green, which is run by an old friend. We started in a playgroup together when our boys were about 6 months old. Wow - that was 11 and a half years ago!!

The cleanse started on April 20, and it's a whole food cleanse, so it eliminates gluten, dairy, caffeine, processed food, etc. I've stuck with it except for coffee...just added that back again yesterday. It's been good, energy level great, trying lots of new recipes, making easy, yummy stuff. I've lost a little weight which is a nice bonus.

A friend told me about this Clean Gut book, and how maybe it can help arthritis if you follow it. I feel like I'm on this weird path that's really like a confusing maze. I so want to have food be a key to why my arthritis acts up. Or, actually, I kind of don't. Well, not if it means gluten. Or cheese. Argh. If I'm being perfectly honest, I would give up foods that exacerbate pain. I would! But nobody really knows, right? So I'm eating really well right now, lots and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and non-gluten grains and fish. But this Clean book is saying that only to eat quinoa but not too much, and only berries for fruit, and do this and don't do that and ARGH! 

Guess I'll stick with this for at least a month, maybe longer, see what happens. My wrists still hurt but not as much. My energy level is good. I know I'm eating really well. So, what's the downside? Lack o'gluten. But I did find these...

I love scrolling through my photos - I forget sometimes that we do a lot of cool stuff.

It's been almost 20 days since I last posted, and not for want of something to write. It's just busy. I'm tired of busy. Spring is always like this, with soccer (times two now), gymnastics, WORK, and this pressure to be outside ENJOYING it all. Although I do, enjoy it that is.

We've just about out of firewood season, which is nice and sad all at once. I love sitting in our little back room, all snugly with a fire and kids and David and beagle. But I'm also fine with the sun setting closer to 7:30 now and getting a bit more out of each day - and the warmth and flowers are overwhelmingly pretty right now! I could do without the yellow haze over my entire car, though. I do not remember a prettier spring - we've had spring weather instead of that weather where it turns from cold to hot overnight. We have chilly mornings, warm afternoons, and chilly evenings. Perfect.

Here is a little bit of our spring...

See that fireplace? and Scrabble? And my two favorite littler people?

Love her sentences.

No, this isn't Tate; I'm going to a party. Yes, dressed like that.

Bike ride - hope to do lots more of this coming soon.

 Red bridge park with a kite

Awww, see that smile??

Maria Cart

Chicken at the farmers market

Goat at the farmers market

Pretend cow at safeway. What the...?!?!

The garden has begun! Brussel sprouts, spinach, lettuce, snap peas. 

Daisy camp

Making an "edible fire". We have a great troop leader!

March in Pictures!

March is always a busy month for us - lots of family birthdays. This year, David was going to a coaching seminar on Tate's actual day, so we had family day the day before, and then celebrated with my mom, who's birthday it is, too (they share a March birthday! So special!).

Family day was special in another way, too, as one of Tate's best buddies has a birthday the day BEFORE her. So roller skating at another friend's party, then went to see the final game of Smith's indoor season where they WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP - we saw the game winning ending which was a nail biter for sure. Next up was Rebounderz, the indoor trampoline place - super fun (and expensive) and how can you say no to the indoor hurricane machine on a girl's birthday?? We had a simple dinner at home, David went off to do more soccer learning, then, sleep.

Birthday morning, we met my parents for some bagels, then headed off to Cunningham Falls for their Maple Syrup Festival. Mmm - pancakes and sausage and Maryland maple syrup. It was a beautiful day!

So, 7 years ago, on my mom's and Tate's birthday:

And today:

Pretty cute, right? And Smith, still in orange!

Magical Wonder

While my favorite yarn thing to do is knitting, there is quick pleasure in crocheting. I find it is much quicker, and more varied - you can do a lot more with it in terms of detail work. I made my hat not long ago, and if I sat down and did it all at once, it probably would have taken about 6 hours. I've also done some fun work, like this octopus for Smith

and this jellyfish for my dad (their beach house!)

So Tate's birthday was on the horizon, and right now, there is nothing she likes more than horses. I ravelry-ed and etsy-ed amigurumi horses and found just about the cutest horse ever, Alfalfa, by Little Abbee. I couldn't stand it, I figured if I can do an octopus and a jellyfish, this isn't rocket science, I could figure this out, too. And I had about 3 weeks to do it.

Here are some horse parts:

And here, in all his glory, is Magical Wonder, so named by the birthday girl herself. I never know with the kids what they will or will not "get." I make things (hats, scarves, octopi) that I like to make, and if they get excited, that thrills me. If they don't, I (hopefully) don't show it, because they didn't ask for whatever I made. Well, Tate keeps saying she can't believe I made this, and she just loves it. 

Hopefully this took the sting out of not getting a real horse...which was her true birthday wish!

Pittsburgh!

Went to visit my favorite niece last weekend - in Pittsburgh! She had a dance performance at her college, and we hadn't been to visit yet. We saw her dorm room, where she eats, where she dances, etc. It was great fun. It was also really fun to walk around Pittsburgh - I think I must have gone there as a child, but have no memory of it. The kids and I had a blast - the hotel room was gorgeous, big breakfast (bagels! donuts! COFFEE!), seeing my niece, killing time by going around the town, then the amazing dance performance! We went up the incline, walked over a bridge or two, saw a cool art exhibit, had lunch at Chipotle. Her dance was just amazing - there were five performances, all told a story, each being about 20ish minutes. Hers was en pointe (is that correct?) - she is just such a beautiful dancer, makes it look so easy and fun. Like she is having so much fun. I think I've gushed about her before...ditto on her amazingness.

Some pictures of our whirlwind trip - started at 7pm Friday night and got home at 8pm Saturday night!