Saturday, May 27, 2006

H is for Heritage

I often think of the heritage I was blessed with & hope that my kids will grow up and feel the same. I have made it a point to live by my parents & grandmother, in hopes that my children will enjoy the many little traditions I grew up with. There is my grandma's mashed potatoes, my mother's apple pie, my Dad's spiritual guidance. (I'm raising boys, so food is an important part of their lives. Therefore food is a memory they will always remember.) As I get older, I find myself doing things like my mother & have realized that my taste in things is becoming very similar to hers. My dad's dedication to be a part of raising my sons amazes me. He added something to his life that was not required of him, because he knew his grandson's needed a man's love & guidance. I find comfort in listening to my grandmother tell her favorite stories of the past & am honored that she still adores me. I miss my other grandparents & try to tell my kids about the legacy they left behind for us. My grandfather T would always treat me like a lady & told me I should not marry, unless that man could treat me the same (I did not listen to that advice!). My grandpa B was a quiet man, but let us know we were very loved. I still smile when I remember his quiet sense of humor. My grandma B was (still is) my hero. I inherited her health issues & I hope I inherit her complete joy in life & her strong faith. I always knew she was praying for us & I still always treasure her complete joy when she first saw Q & realized he had curly hair (she put curlers in her hair daily to achieve what he had naturally).
Heritage. A gift that is too often missed. Something that is often forgotten or not wanted. Something that is a part of our daily life. Something that I am forever grateful for & hope that I learn from.

The pictures are from our Buffalo-hunt. The top one shows my grandma standing by 'Jim-Bob' and the bottom one shows my sons & me standing by 'Spirits of the Prairie'. (Can you tell that it was very windy?) More are on flickr.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Catching up

I'm trying to catch up with things in life that have been neglected or have taken much longer to get done. One of these is my poor sock pals socks. With all the stuff that went during the month of April, these socks took me much longer to complete than I anticipated. And once completed, it has taken me way too long to
block these & get them in the mail. I hope my sockpal with forgive me. I knit these using the Thuja pattern from Knitty. Since my pal has 2 young sons, I thought it would be fun to knit these in a simple pattern that I could take along on journeys with my sons. These went to the park, watched movies with us, & then unexpectedly went to the hospital with us. I knit these while my son recovered & prayed for my sockpals sons. In a way, these socks helped me to get through the past 2 months. I hope my sock pal will enjoy them & build many memories with her sons while wearing them.
I also wanted to take a closer picture of the really neat bag my Yarn Aboard pal made me. I've been carrying it with me everywhere & love it! Notice the flowers it is hanging by? They are on my front porch & just decided to bloom this year. The past 2 years my Dad (the gardener) has wanted to replace this vine, but I didn't want to lose the little bit of privacy it offers. This year I suddenly find myself with gorgeous exotic (to me) flowers. Isn't that how life is? With a little patience, seemingly ugly things suddenly become beautiful.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Fridge surprise

This has been a really hard month, with many challenges still being worked out regarding M's health. So when my parents gave me a card for Mother's Day telling me that my gift was a new fridge, I was very excited. Having to tape your old fridge's door shut becomes old quickly. (you know when you are having one of those months, your appliances usually start acting up too. It's just the way life works, right?)
Today was the delivery day. I took everything out of the fridge, excitedly watched the guys unload my new one. Stood there as water suddenly started to leak everywhere, including through the ceiling into my basement (right onto the playstation & TV of course). Watched as they discovered they could not turn off the water in the kitchen due to the pipe being eroded. And then moved the boys bikes so the new fridge could sit in my garage until my Dad could come to turn off the water (because as things would have it, he is 2 1/2 hours away at their cabin). I walked into my house, preparing myself for putting my food back into my old fridge. Wondering a bit if this was a moment to cry or laugh, when I heard the sound of my mailman honking.
How did Leah know? She sent me the best Yarn Aboard package: my favorite smell in a candle, my favorite chocolates, swedish fish (which I haven't had in ages & will probably eat all of them before my sons return from school), adorable mary jane slippers (I needed slippers really badly), cute mirror clings that will go on my mirror today still (I love those girly things), a great foot spa set, sparkly yarn just like I've been wishing/longing for (and it's Cherry Tree Hill!!) in colors I love, and an amazing sock project bag she made herself for me! The sock bag will travel many places with my boys & I. It's perfect for putting on the bike for trips to the park too.
I'm in complete bliss. I will laugh about the fridge & have my new one set up before I know it, right? And while I wait, I'm going to start knitting myself some sparkly socks. (cause you gotta have fun somewhere in your wardrobe). Leah, thank you so much for the great package! And Amanda, thank you for squeezing me in at the last minute & being willing to set all this up. I'll get the radio box going to it's new destination very quickly.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Mom's Day

Mother's Day is always fun around here. My Dad & sons will create something for me, my mother, & my grandmother. My kids giggle and try so hard not to tell me what they made me, but usually spill it by Friday evening.
This year my sister & her kids joined us for the weekend. We spent most of the weekend being silly & laughing. My mom, niece & I also spent an hour in my sister's furniture store's massage chairs. Those are amazing.

I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day! Knitting updates coming very, very soon. (just need to take pictures)

Thursday, May 11, 2006

G is for Grand Artist

M is my grand artist. He loves to draw & loves to draw everywhere. Drawing quiets him, it refreshes him, it allows him to express himself in a way he can't otherwise. He is a true artist.

This picture, which is now hanging in my living room, was drawn on a 'real artist paper' (known to us as canvas) given to M by his Uncle (a graphic designer graduate). M's paintings & drawings vary so much. Some are simple, some are complex. All are loved by his Mom.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Knitters are the best!

It's amazing how 2 packages came this week at what seemed like perfect times. On Monday my final SP package came. I was literally speechless. My Secret Pal was Emily & she did such an awesome job spoiling me! In my final package she found pictures of my favorite cartoon, the German Biene Maja. (Love those!). She also included some very yummy yarn: Debbie Bliss merino aran (I've never owned any Debbie Bliss yarn, just dreamed of the day) & Schachenmayr Catania Color (which I think is perfect for a summer tank). (there was actually more skeins than in the picture, but some are spread throughout the house so I can dream & pet them.) I was absolutely speechless with how much she spoiled me throughout SP & amazed at how well she picked things out for me! Emily, thank you so much. I'm really disappointed that you didn't win Best Secret Pal though(I nominated you).
Then today I returned from one of my many daily trips to M's school & found a package. I wasn't even expecting my sockapaloooza socks & was so excited to see them! They are absolutely gorgeous! I put them on & could only bear to take 1 off to take pictures. They fit perfectly! (this is where you ask why I didn't take a picture of the socks on my feet, right? Apparently I was too excited to think logically. I will post pictures soon though of me wearing them.)
My sock pal was Sherry. Look at all the fun things she included in the package too! Thank you so much Sherry! I will wear these socks a lot. The really ironic thing is that I almost bought Socks on the Go 2 for this pattern. Having them knit for me is so much better. ;-)

M is doing better. He is back in school this week & has got lots of teachers & staff looking out for him. (seriously we are spoiled with a great school!) He has his moments where he doesn't want to do shots & finger pricks for the rest of his life, but who wouldn't? He can now check his blood sugar by himself (except for the 2am one, which he sleeps through) & has considered giving himself his shot, but then the actual movement of putting that needle in his own skin makes him give it back to me. (he can't see the needle with the fingerpoking pen.) I'm just so thankful we live in a time where giving insulin is a possibility! So in between driving back & forth to his school 3x a day, learning how to control his blood sugars, & figuring out all the carb counts (which controls the amount of insulin he gets), it was so incredibly refreshing to receive these 2 incredible packages! Thank you Emily & Sherry!