Halloween 2008

Today did not turn out quite how I anticipated, but I guess that is okay. This morning we carved and painted pumpkins. Like in years past, Caleb drew a face on the large pumpkin that I then cut out. The boys both painted little pumpkins. Caleb decided to make his look like Spider-Man. I helped with the eyes.

We were supposed to go to a Halloween party, but Eli got up from his nap late. I tried putting him down early, but as Murphy's Law would have it, he would not go to sleep right away. He probably talked and played in his crib for an hour and a half before finally falling asleep. Once he was awake, we were still going to attempt the party, but then we couldn't find Caleb's Captain Rex mask. We turned his room upside down looking and never found it. By this time, I was beyond aggravated and knew that it was too late for the party. I found out that the Riveras were headed to the mall to trick-or-treat, so we joined them. Caleb was a good sport and decided to wear his Spider-Man costume instead with no complaints. The boys had a lot of fun with Nathan, which I was grateful for. It certainly wasn't the day I had planned on, but it turned out okay after all.

Edited to Add: We later found the missing mask in a pile of leftover Jedi tunics from Caleb's birthday party.

Markers!

The boys have been coloring and drawing with markers quite a bit lately. Michelangelo, watch out! Here are some pictures of them in action.

And here are two pictures that Caleb drew. The picture on the left is a knight guarding a castle. The picture on the right is a doctor treating a patient with spots at the hospital.

I Won! I Won! I Won!

Remember the sprout scarves I made for the contest on Ravelry? I won! I got my prize in the mail from Lisa Gentry herself today. The box was full of lots of yarn goodies including 4 Lisa Gentry patterns (one she signed), 3 skeins of TLC Amore, 6 skeins of Moda Dea Fashionista, 1 skein of Moda Dea Cheri, and a yarn gauge. I have already decided to use the blue Fashionista yarn for the crochet cable pullover for me. I am so excited to have won and so grateful to Lisa for the wonderful package.

Spider Web

I made this spider and web for the October contest in the Lisa Gentry group on Ravelry. The web is made with glow-in-the-dark yarn. Caleb really likes the spider and web and has claimed them for his own.

Sprout Scarves

I completed these sprout scarves yesterday. I made three sprout scarves to wear together. Each scarf is crocheted with two strands of yarn. One is pinata (rainbow) and turqua (blue). One is pinata and spring green. One is pinata and medium purple. I made 20 sprouts for each scarf.

These were made for another Lisa Gentry group contest on Ravelry. The contest ends September 30th, and I am anxious to see if I win.

Wavelength Scarf

One pattern I found online at Ravelry is a wavelength scarf. I thought it looked really neat and wanted to try it. The scarf turned out well, but it was a fussy project. I worked on it off and on for almost a month. I finished it yesterday and blocked it today. I am looking forward to wearing it out.

Before blocking

Blocking

After blocking

The finished scarf

Yarn Bags

I have been on a major crocheting kick lately. I must attribute it to joining Ravelry, an online community for knitters and crocheters. Amos told me about it, and I love it! I can keep track of my projects, yarns, and hooks. I can search for all sorts of patterns and have found some amazing ones that I can't wait to make. I have even joined a few groups and am having fun talking with other yarn enthusiasts from all over the world. One group I joined recently is the Lisa Gentry group. She is a designer with some great patterns. One of her fans started the group, and now Lisa is also a moderator. Each month, Lisa is offering one of her patterns free to us. There is then a contest for the end product. The first pattern was for a yarn bag. I made two. One was made from green wool yarn that I felted. The other was made with blue chenille and is super soft. Both came out great, and I am very proud of them! I didn't win the contest but am hopeful that I can win one in the future. The prize the winner got was full of some great yarn, autographed patterns from Lisa, and some other odds and ends.

Before felting.

After felting.

The finished bag.

Chenille bag.

I have lots of plans for Christmas gifts, so hopefully, I will be able to get them all done in time. I am fighting to make time to crochet regularly as it has been wonderful stress relief for me with the crazy school schedule I currently have.

Tropical Storm Fay - Day 5

Today was our fifth day of dealing with Tropical Storm Fay. The boys were fussy, and we were all very ready for some hot sunshine instead of rain and wind. I tried to keep the boys busy, and these are a few of the things we did today.

We began with bath time which was actually well overdue. The boys always enjoy playing in the tub together.

Then we read the Happy Healthy Monsters book. Auntie Mack gave us this book, and it is a lot of fun. Grover asks you to jump, run, dance, and so on. It is a great interactive book that keeps kids' attention and gets their bodies moving. I figured it would be a good way to get some energy out, especially since we could not go outside.

During Eli's nap, Caleb and I freezer paper stencilled some shirts. I had been wanting to do it for a while after reading about it on several different web sites, but I never seemed to have the time. Today, we did have the time, so we took advantage of it.

It ended up being a fun day, which I was grateful for. Hopefully, the sun will come back out tomorrow!

Recycled Castle

When Caleb and I woke up from our nap today, we lay in bed and had a long discussion about castles. He told me he wanted to get a toy castle with knights and horses. He recently played with a castle at a birthday party and really enjoyed it. We have been talking a lot about gratitude for what we have and about how much things cost lately. It is a hard lesson for a four-year-old who wants lots of things to learn. I told him that he could put a castle on his birthday or Christmas list and that we were not going to buy one today. He was upset about this for quite some time and argued for why he needed a castle right then. I, of course, was not going to budge. Instead, I suggested building our own castle, and he was resistant to the idea at first. Then he came around and decided that we needed to build one immediately.

As I collected recycled materials for building, he sat down with crayon and paper to design his castle.

I cut a box to be the main part of the castle with an opening on top. Caleb drew a drawbridge on one side.

I cut it out and attached yarn so that it could open and close. Then I added towers made of toilet paper rolls, applesauce containers, and pudding containers. I attached a foam produce container on top and made a ladder.

It was nothing fancy, but Caleb enjoyed playing with it with his knight and dragon figures.

More Sewing

After watching Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! today, Caleb decided to make a stuffed friend like he had seen on TV.

He started by drawing the bunny he wanted, which looked suspiciously like Widget.

We scanned the picture into the computer and printed out a larger version. After cutting the pattern out and pinning it to the material (he wanted pink, but I only had blue), Caleb traced it onto the fabric.

Once cut out, Caleb drew on the fabric using permanent markers.

I then sewed it and stuffed it for him. It was a fun project to do together.