Out with the Old in with the New

Time for me to pull out the hooks and get to creating!

Kick Ass News: I signed on to one of my favorite crocheter's sites, Ravelry, after what seemed like a lifetime away. I had an email, from a lifetime ago, asking if they could use a picture of a crochet bag I made for the pattern page. AH...YEAH, I said and they used it! I'm famous!!! LOL
Check it out at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crochet-cluster-stitch-shoulder-bag.


Next Project: A friend of mine asked me to make a set of Amigurumi dolls for her new baby niece or nephew, not sure just yet. I found an adorable patter for a pig and thought, "I'll make the three little pigs and the big bad wolf!". Below is a picture of the wolf, too, darn, adorable! If you are interested in making your own, you can get the free pattern at http://countingclocks.blogspot.com/2008/08/crochet-pattern-amigurumi-wolf.html.

Out of my Funk and Finally Back.

When you find it has been a long time since you've done something, sometimes you feel like not doing it at all. I call it a Funk and that has been the state of my life since June 13th. Thank God for my son's Cub Scout's Day camp this last week, which motivated me to push through the cloud of funk and get back in the groove.

In my last post, I spoke about my Mom being terminally ill and my husband's job royally sucking. Well, it all came to a head, as they say, starting June 5th. My husband was let go at work and then the following Saturday, June 13th, my Mom passed away. At the time it seemed overwhelming, but in retrospect, it was a blessing. My husband was home for the last week of my Mom's life which enabled him to help me with the boys and allowed me to spend more time taking care of my Mom. Her passing has been surreal to say the least. With in a month in a half, we found out she was sick and she was gone. My Mom had Acute Hepatitis C which damaged her liver and on top of that she drank and she drank alot. In the end she suffered alot, compliments of the alcohol abuse. This was so heartbreaking because obviously she suffered her whole life emotionally to the point that she needed to drink and you would think that in the end she deserved to go peacefully. The experience was enough to make me never want to drink again. I do feel comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering and she is with my Grandma and two of her sisters. I look forward to the day when I can hug her again. As much as I know I'm not to blame for her addiction, I feel I failed her in so many ways and wish I could have done more so that my children would have had her here longer. They miss her terribly which is the hardest part.

On Auto Pilot

I've been on auto pilot for the past few days trying to keep myself busy so that I don't allow myself to fully comprehend what is going on in my life. The past month and a half has been shockingly stressful.

My husband's job is a constant roller coaster. I've contemplated going back to work, but with the economy in the state that it is, there isn't much out there and it appears I would be working to pay for day care only. We are uncertain whether refinancing will help or whether we will have to sell our house; thankfully we have these as options available to us.

On top of that , my Mom is terminally ill. In the last month her liver has begun shutting down. My Mom has battled with alcohol severely for the past 10 years and it has finally caught up with her. She was told on Tuesday that there is no medication to be given to extend her life. That we just have to let nature take it's coarse. I'm shocked with how fast this is all happening. I struggle with how my children will react when she is no longer here. My oldest understands that she is going to Heaven, but is confused by why she has to go. He said to me, "She can't go. Her hands aren't wrinkly. Who will watch us when you and Daddy go on a date?" Trying to explain to him why was so hard. My heart brakes for him and my two other children.

Sad and Stressed....Sums It Up!

Life has been pretty tough around these parts, lately. So I haven't felt like doing much of anything except the house work and laundry, which I have to do. This economy royally SUCKS and we are starting to feel the effects of it. My husband is very stressed out and there is not too much that I can do about it. I haven't worked in 5 years and no one is hiring Human Resource personnel right now. I could try to get another job, but I would need to make enough money to pay for daycare for 3 children; not an easy task to accomplish especially in this job market. Being a stay at home mom where you do not provide any financial support makes me feel helpless and vulnerable. I hate feeling this way! So after hosting a Pampered Chef party, I discussed starting a direct sell business with my husband via Pampered Chef. I'm hoping this will generate a little help for my family. Watch my friends, I will be calling to host a show!

Some Bunny Loves You Three!

With all the stress, I actually looked forward to Easter this year because it wasn't at our home so I didn't have a million things to do to prepare. Sure enough, it turned out to be a relaxing day at my husband's grandmother's home. The kids had a blast!

On a creative note, I have so many unfinished projects, it is ridiculous! Being creative always makes me feel happy. I need to get my bootie in order and get to crafting and crocheting! Hell, maybe I could sell some of that stuff, too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May God grant you always

A sunbeam to warm you,

A moonbeam to charm you,

A sheltering angel

so nothing can harm you.

2007 Leprechauns

Looking forward to Corned Beef, Soda Bread and a couple of pints of Guinness! I think I might cruise over to Henrys or Trader Joes and see if they have any black currant juice. My husband's uncle swears that I would love a pint with a splash of juice; what better day than today to try it out. Time to wake up my little leprechauns and get them ready for a day filled with GREEN.

Tag You're It!

We've been passing around a cold/flu bug for the past 3 weeks. I'm so glad it has finally passed (I'm crossing my fingers, right now!). As a result, I haven't blogged in a very long time. SOOOO...here is my month in review.

Camping in the Desert

Tired little rug rats.

We love to play card games!

Memma & Me relaxing.


Scout Night at the Museum

This was a very cool event. We stayed the night at the Natural Museum of History and had a fun filled night of activities learning about dinosaurs. The next morning we had free access of the museum before it opened to the public; TOTALLY COOL!


Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby

Dad and Nick putting the final touches on his car.

Nick's car didn't win, but he had a blast! Now that he knows what to expect, he is really looking forward to next year.


Crochet Corner:

I'd been on a kick of making scarves with any Homespun yarn I could get my hands on. I forgot to take pics of the last two I made before I gave them away. :( I'm currently working on a bucket style hat for the my park days with Mem and I found an adorable pattern for Easter eggs.

A Busy Week Every Year

The week leading up to Valentine's Day is ALWAYS busy every year. Not only do we have school parties, but my son's birthday is the day after so prepping for that adds to the craziness. This year in addition to the above, we had Crazy Hat Day at school and the Pinewood Derby.

Shark Hat in honor of their school magnet program, Marine Science.

Skateboarding Hat

Hummm...can't find the Derby pictures. I'll have to post them another time; oh, well. :(

I LOVE THE 99 cent STORE!

I found these adorable pots and cupcake dish! The pots have apples and hearts on them...a perfect gift for the boy's teachers. Not really sure what I'll put in them, but I'll figure it out. I'm going to give them at the end of the school year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Amigurumi Love Birds

My husband and I don't usually celebrate V day because he has always stated the case that Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday made up by them, for them to make $$$. This year I warned my husband early that we would be celebrating V day and I didn't want to hear any of his BS stories. Funny part is it turned out to be our BEST Valentine's EVER! My Valentine and I decided to celebrate last night and beat the crowds. We had an awesome dinner at one of our town's best Italian restaurants and he surprised me with a mushy card (So not up his alley) and an gift too....Oh....did I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! :)

My three other Love's woke up to a couple of gifts from Mommy and Daddy! I almost forgot Bruno, our dog, he got a dog tin filled with bones!!!

Spread the LOVE!

Feeling Better

My daughter caught a cold and passed it on to me so for the past 3 days I've been out of commission. I did do a little crocheting, which was very nice. I began making these love birds and Wow, are they big!

I'm really bad with measurements and just assumed they were smaller. So I decided to modify the pattern and make two smaller versions in blue and yellow. It looks like they are going to turn out perfect. I just need to go to Joann's and pick up some smaller safety eyes; the ones I have are too big. I also need to pick up some beads to weigh them down because the small versions kept falling over on their face.

I think I've found a couple new craft addictions: polymer clay and button rings. I found this awesome blog and fell in love with her pin toppers.

I think a polymer clay piece of cake on a ploymer clay plate would make an adorable addition to one of my clothespin dolls. I've always loved button rings and decided to make a couple as Valentine's Day gifts. Look out Joann's here I come, but I HAVE TO stay with my $20.00 shopping limit.

Time to go! My MISCHIEVIOUS 2 year old is getting into the ice cream and I'm sure is leaving a nice mess for Mommy. She is laughing at me with an ice cream goatee (I'm probably spelling this wrong) saying..."Funny guy". I told her #1 she is not a guy and #2 she is NOT FUNNY!

Wouldn't Trade Him for the World!

Often my husband drives me crazy, but this weekend he redeemed himself and earned a "Get Off of Shannon's S*&@ List" card for a long while. Not really sure what has gotten into him, but he has been so attentive to the whole family.

Saturday: he kept the kids away and allowed me to sleep in, he got the kids ready and aloud me piece and quiet while I got ready for our Godson's b-day party, at the party he watched and followed Mem, when we got home he played the Wii and Guitar Hero with the boys, helped our oldest make his Pinewood Derby car, and to top it all off order Wall E On Demand for the whole family to watch.

Sunday: allowed me to sleep in again and even later, made breakfast, agreed and took our boys to a Boy Scout's Eagle Scout ceremony, which turned out to be VERY LONG, took the boys to his friend's house to play so Mem and I could rest (we both have a cold).

Monday: allowed my to rest and crochet while he made dinner, a HUGE WOW!

Not really sure what has gotten into him....well, I have an idea, but I'm not talking to him about it...I'm just going to sit back and enjoy my loving husband!

Wow....Am I Sore!

So I jumped back into to exercise mode and was happy to find that I wasn't as winded while working out like I was the last time. Although, I am MUCH MORE SORER. Which is totally good....that means I did it right. This time around, though, I'm not working out 6 days a week right off the bat. I just can't stay motivated; it's too overwhelming for me. So my plan is to do the bootcamp dvds every other day, M/W/F, and sit ups, leg lifts, etc. on Tu/Th/Sat for two weeks and then I'll add an additional bootcamp day until I reach 6 days. The only problem I for see, is that the dvds get annoying after awhile when you have to listen to Barry say the same stuff over and over and over. As for WW, I'm going to first try it on my own and REALLY watch what and how much I put in my mouth. If by March 1st I'm not making much progress than I will probably sign up. Wish me luck!

Back to Barry's Bootcamp

So I think it's high time I get my "you know what" back in shape. I started back in November and after Thanksgiving slowly stopped. Now that the New Year is on it's way, it's time. I've been looking at old photos and I'm motivated. My birthday is at the end of March and my goal is to not weigh more then 137, hopefully a lot less, on by 37th birthday. So this morning, I jumped back into bootcamp and am contemplating joining Weight Watchers online. Need to look into it.

Finished....for the most part

We finished up the boy's room for the most part. We spent half of Sunday moving them in. Clearly took ALOT longer than I expected. I was so pooped out after we were done, I sneaked in a mini nap....ahahah that was nice. I only have to paint the mini closet/club house, but there is no rush there. We have a small closet that extends under our staircase. The boys plan to use it as a club/play house. I want to put some indoor/outdoor carpet in there, paint the walls, and stick some "tap on" lights in there eventually. I also need to pick up a rug, laundry basket and a couple of posters for the walls and then we'll be done. Next is Memma's room....oh joy, her room is twice as big!

Speaking of Mem, this girl is a*@ backwards when it comes to potty training. She remembers to poopie in the toilet, but pee pee......forget about it. Wets right through her training panties or on the floor if she has them off. I DON'T GET IT! Typical girl.....has to be difficult. :)

After I'm done with my chores, I plan on visiting my yarn stash and picking out some cotton yarn for those Ami birds. Hopefully, I will have made some progress to show/share tomorrow.

Motherhood....Potty Training and Painting

We are turning our den back in to a bedroom for our boys. Last weekend I repainted the walls and today I plan to repaint the molding, doors, etc. When we first moved into this home, I had a lot of time to paint since I only had 1 kiddo, but now, not so much. I really hope I get the room finished and get them moved in by Sunday. Emma's been making the sleeping arrangements a nightmare lately.

So FINALLY, my daughter has shown serious interest in potty training. Everytime she wets herself, she comes crying to me that her, " butties hurts." I told her if she went potty in the toilet it wouldn't hurt. I guess this was the magical sentence because last night she legitamitely used the toilet several times and pretended several times more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can finally do this, so I don't have to spend another G** Damn dime on diapers/pullups!

I received this pattern, along with a couple of others, from Lion Brand via email yesterday. I'm SO gonna make them and buy a little bird cage to display them in. Is that crazy old lady sounding?http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80015AD.html?noImages=

I Love Her Stuff

If you are a fan of amigurumis or a crocheter, you have to check this pattern by Gourmet Amigurumi. I LOVE her creations and have been a huge fan for sometime. I just got her newsletter announcing the sale of one of her patterns. Me thinkie I may just have to indulge and buy it because these little snails are to die for!!!

Just a Little Bit of Stress

The last two weeks have been stressful to say the least. After much discussion and looking at the pros and cons, my husband and I decided to not play it safe and take a risk. A risk that will majorly effect our life. As in many situations, our decision not only effects us, it effects other parties. Is it wrong to put your own family's livelihood above others? Especially, when you can't please everyone all of the time and it's inevitable that someone will be hurt by your decision. Well, at this point, we just have to sit back and wait and see if our decision works out. I feel firmly down deep inside that we made the best decision, but sometimes you doubt yourself and things don't always turn out like you've envisioned. I don't usually pray for myself, but I'm thinking I may start. :)

Ganpa Hows

I've found if I get out of the house early, I'm more productive and happier in general. So for the past few days, I've made appoint of leaving and today, I'm off to my new part-time job, cleaning my Gpa's house. Of coarse I'm paid with love and happy to do it. PLUS, my Gpa has an AWESOME treadmill that no one uses. He originally bought it for my Gma to encourage her to get off the couch when she was sick, but she never ended up using it. So look out treadmill here I come! Mem is very excited about going; she loves Ganpa's hows. He's actually her Great Grandpa, but Ganpa is hard enough for her to say. Infact for the awhile she called he Ganma; hehehe, if you knew my Gpa that is really funny. He is not expecting me to come over until Tuesday, so I can't wait to see his face when he gets home from golf today to a clean house. Not that he makes a big mess, but he could use some help. Anyho, I'm off!

Silver Linings

Dr. Jekyll

Mrs. Hyde

This is how I feel lately! Wow, have I been a grouch lately; ask my husband, he LOVES me right now. So today I decided to get my day started early and hope for the best; so far so good. Each time I get irritated, I dig deep inside and find a silver lining and it's working. So here are some of my silver linings so far today:

Irritated = Last night as I got my daughter ready for bed, I realized we had no more pull ups. So this morning I was just planning to wake up to a big pee pee mess.

Silver Lining = Started potty training her, AGAIN, and this time she is into it and so far no accidents.

Irritated = Once again, this morning realized there is NO MORE SOAP.

Silver Lining = Make a trip to Targay and found myself a purse, a couple of shirts, 2 dog bowls, a dog bed and much much more which was ALL ON SALE. YA Baby!!!

Irritated = Just cleaned the floors yesterday and as I walk in I see black grease mark, Thanks Hubby!

Silver Lining = My daughter says to me as I'm cleaning, "Is okay, Sannon, I help!" Thank you, Mems!

What I've Been Up To!

In My Crafty Corner: I began making these dolls before Christmas, but didn't make time to finish them. I finally completed 1 yesterday and was so excited, I took a picture of it and gave it to it's intended owner. Hopefully Miss. Em will nap today so that I can finish the other two (I'm crossing my fingers). I found and purchased the pattern for this delightful girlies on Posie gets cozy. I decided to use material in red for the holiday, but I think they could be displayed year round.

In My Crochet Corner: I mentioned that I've been crocheting quite a bit lately. I got back on the hook by making scarves for my boy's teachers. Then I decided to make a scarf for myself and once Emmie saw it, I realized quickly I needed to make one for her. While making all these scarves, I decided to ripp a blanket I began making my husband a couple of years ago and started all over from scratch. I've run out of yarn so I'm waiting for it to go on sale so I can buy more. In the mean time, I did the same thing with a blanket I began making my son a couple of years ago; ripped it and started over. Now I'm at the same point with his blanket, I need more yarn, but I have to order his yarn online because my local Joanns doesn't carry it anymore. Wow, is it pricey, even on sale. He better use this blanket until he gets out of college or ELSE!

My Scarf

Hubby's blanket

Ant's blanket

I found a YARN SHOP!

This shop has been right under my nose....Darn It! I'm always on the look out for a yarn shop close to home. Once I was driving down a main street, a town away, and saw a sign in a mini shopping center that said YARN. I pulled into that center as fast as could be, to only be disappointed to find that it was a coffee shop with no yarn. :( Why call it yarn? How about COFFEE! Anyhow, last week I made a trip out to Torrance, another town away, and while waiting for the light to turn green at the stop light, I noticed the store name, Concepts In Yarn & Needlepoint, on a large board with at least 12 other store names; totally hidden, can't believe I saw it, yet made sense why I'd never seen it before. As it was the New Year's holiday week and we had plans to go out of town, I put it to the side, but remember today and googled it. Sure enough I found their website and am SO HAPPY to find that it is an ACTUAL yarn shop! HIP HIP HOORAY! PLUS, it's closer than Michaels or Joanns so there is no excuse to go; RIGHT. Now, I just need to get my husband to watch the kids and maybe convenience a friend or TWO to join me! :) :) :)

Kiss 2008 Goodbye...Happy New Year!

I decided to change up my blog and it turned out to be a 2.5 hour ordeal. Since I'm not very computer savvy, I deleted all of my sidebar and had to start over from scratch; typical, hahaha. Anyho, I figured it out and I'll add to it until it's back to normal.

Our New Year's Eve was fun! Each year we celebrate at our friend's house who have children the same age as ours. Since our kids are young and since my husband wakes up so early everyday for work and can't stay up late, we celebrate the new year with New York at 9pm and are in bed way before midnight. This year we toasted the new year with champagne and kids with sprite! The kids loved it!!!

On New Year's Day, we headed out of town to the desert for some fun in the dirt. I think everyone would agree that once we got to our destination, this trip was one of the best ones ever. My friend and I had a blast riding "Mommies Only" on our quads. At one point we just pulled over and chatted. My husband's friends were a Frigin blast! My cousin must have told be what a riot they were 10xs. They were so funny all weekend and watching them launch the Manx was crazy! We had a great time so much so that we didn't want to leave, but with no more water and a low supply of food, we had to go.

They couldn't stay away from the fire pit if their lives depended on it!

She brings her purse everywhere, even to bed. :)

My friend's husband launching their Manx.

I've been crocheting quite a lot lately. Although the WIPs are blankets so they won't be completed for a while. I'm thinking of starting a new project; one to work on when I'm bored with the blankets. I'm thinking a Amigurumi kitty in a pink and white cotton yarn I have using this pattern. I want to surprise a friend and I think she'll love it!