Merry Christmas to ME!

Thanks be to whomever it was that told me about THIS joyful invention (I'm pretty sure it was one of my knit girls).



Yes - that's right - a TRAVEL french press mug!  It's totally awesome and it makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

I picked mine up at Harry's (Whole Foods to everyone else) but if Whole Foods isn't available try here (ah Amazon).

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday

So many things to be thankful for:

My friend Angela (wow that's a fun story huh, Ang) who inspires this Joyful post.

My children who are so excited about Christmas and carols and decor and lights and ANYTHING that sparkles that I find myself enjoying it all rather than dreading it.

Casey being home from a short business trip to L.A. (we're just better when we are together).

Casey taking Friday off to spend with us (hence this being a Saturday post).

The beginning of "The Many Misadventures of SARAK"; a new project I am organizing.

SARAK at our Thursday night knit group!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Glad To Miss THIS...

We're feeling better and better about NOT moving to Seattle...



I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

It Must Be Late...

I think it will be an interesting crafting and blog experiment if I only work in Malabrigo Laceweight and my own handspun all of 2011.

Photo Credit: EatSleepKnit.com

Or perhaps some ideas only sound good at 11:00 p.m. when one is all 'hopped-up' on inhaler meds and Midol?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Ah, The Library...

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

Edward Everett 

I'll try and remember that the next time I have to pay $10.80 in overdue fines.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday (on Saturday)...

Always inspired by my 'Bosom Friend' Angela at Plains Life.

There is SO MUCH bringing me joy, but this week I am only listing one thing, and it comes with a warning label.

Please listen to THIS podcast!  Carin and Rick are charming and their KnitWits Podcast is one of the funniest things I've ever heard.  Seriously - go now and download all the episodes - start from the beginning and listen.

WARNING:  Do NOT listen while driving - you WILL wreck the car from laughing so hard.  Also please be careful with beverages, as snorting cola (or coffee) out your nose is quite painful.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Can You Hear Them?

There is something inspiring and transforming about pathways.

Pathways are filled with questions and stories that run a play in my head.  "How did it get here?  Where does it go?"  My favorite of these and many questions about pathways is "Who has travelled here?"

Pioneers?  Farmers?  Merchants?

Were they children chasing one another on the walk home from school, or friends carrying preserves and homemade biscuits to 'visit'?  Were they horses and buggies racing to carry doctors to save a sick baby? Were they slaves escaping tyranny under the shroud of darkness - carrying with them only the hope of freedom?  Were they lovers picking flowers in the spring or stealing kisses under the light of moon and stars?

I imagine the sounds of such lives and circumstances and hear their laughter, chatter, panic, and worry as time stands in layers one on top of another.

I hear them in my heart and am comforted knowing I walk in the footsteps of so many different lives.

I hear them calling to me, telling me their stories and secrets and it changes me.

Can you hear them?


I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

What I've Been Up To...

It's been a busy knitting, sewing, sketching, crafting, cleaning, organizing, creating, reading, bicycling, and general fun having kind of summer.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Books! Books! Everywhere Books...

We LOVE books

Can't get enough of them.  Have no more room for them.  Must read faster!

September Reading:

Aloud:
A Family of Poems
A Child's Introduction to Poetry (the kids are memorizing the Witch's Soliloquy from MacBeth for Halloween)
Classic Poems
Babe Ruth Ballet School (in honor of their first Braves Games with Uncle Michael)
The Wizard of Oz
Swiss Family Robinson (Audible.com we listen in the car - when I remember)

Anna:
Katie & The Mona Lisa
Katie Meets the Impressionists
Katie's Sunday Afternoon
American Girl Rebecca Rubin Series (she stalled mid-book on #4 but she'll pick it back up when she's ready)
Magic Tree House #16, 17, & 18 (soon to be 19, 20, 21... she's loving these and devouring them daily)
Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U (remember that glitter post earlier???)

Toby:
The Kid's Guide to Digital Photography
Bakugan series books
Beast Quest series books (note to self - buy next two books)
Where the Wild Things Are
Anything Star Wars he can get his hands on

Me:
The Unschooling Handbook
Blink
Quivering Daughters
A Thomas Jefferson Education (3 books that I'm still studying)

I'm also listening to lots of podcasts and a new CD (do you still call it that when it's downloaded?).  Mumford & Sons  I LOVE it!  Casey HATES it!  Andrea and Angela you'll love it too (all but maybe two songs) - go NOW to Itunes and listen.

And if you already knew about Mumford and Sons - why didn't you tell ME???  I'm completely clueless when it comes to any music written in the past 20 or so years (yes ok I'm square - this I know).

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday

Missed last week - not that I wasn't joyful - we were just busy, busy, busy!  Be sure and check out Angela's site today too!

This Photo just makes me laugh.  It's play-doh sculptures made quite some time ago.

This week:

A Girl turning TEN tomorrow that is beyond happy about her birthday and DOUBLE DIGITS!!!

Books Books and MORE Books! (more on that later)

An impromptu in-law and Papaw-in-Law ;-) visit for the weekend.

Cooler mornings and evenings (finally)!

Some revamping of home furnishings.

The rescuing of a knitting/spinning/dyeing project I thought I had ruined (phew!).

Sharing the GA Aquarium tomorrow with Casey's Papaw (a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast area and lover of all things aquatic).

Thanks Ang for reminding me to look around and remember that we have a beautiful life!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Genius or Disaster Looking for a Place to Happen???

So today Anna wanted to make Glitter Shells from this book that I picked up in the bargain section for about $4.00.

I HATE glitter.

Maybe that makes me a stick in the mud.  I can live with that.  Glitter gets absolutely everywhere and is nearly impossible to clean - never mind the fact that if I EVER work with glitter I perpetually have it on my face and strangers saying to me "Hey, you have glitter on your face!" (Thanks.  I know).

So...

I sent them outside with a card table and their materials.  The entire time they were out there I was wondering if I was a genius or if it was somehow going to go terribly awry.

It turned out OK.  The shells got glittered, the patio got glittered, the chairs got glittered, I think even one of the dogs got glittered, and most of the mess remained outdoors.  Of course then the kids tracked glitter from one end of the house to the other on their clothes and hands (and yes, faces).  Overall it was much less of a disaster than it had the potential to be.

And in the end we got these:

Shells from our beach trip a couple of years ago + Modpodge + Martha glitter

 

Very pretty Martha Stewart Colored glittery shells.

I still HATE glitter.

I'll keep you posted,

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday

Thanks Angela for the reminder to look for joy in little things (check her out at Plains Life).

This picture just makes me laugh!  Every cat needs a hat, right?  That's Mac.  He's our giant BOY kitty.

I'm late here tonight, but it's still Friday.  The last few weeks have been a mix of ups and downs and pain med induced delirium, still I managed to craft and school and read in the moments in between.  I think that trying NOT to think about (let alone be IN) pain from Kidney stones kept me busy - plus I can't drive while taking uber pain killers so I was home - ALOT.

I've been finishing projects - some new and some old (some REALLY old) and hopefully I'll take pictures and post those, but I make no promises.

We had a date night with Toby tonight - Anna is at Grampy's.

Knit Night is at my house next Thursday so my home will be filled with friends and laughter and yummy snacks and even MORE knitting. [Ang, don't forget we're on Eastern time ;-)]

Oh and tonight I finally rid myself of the 9mm kidney stone! I know you're all dying for details, but we'll just say there was PAIN involved and leave it at that 'cause ew!  One down and one to go!

But what really made me smile is the comment that I received from Adrianna tonight (here).  Guys comments are REALLY special and this one made my day!  Thank You!


I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday

Thanks Angela for the reminder to look for joy in little things (check her out at Plains Life).

This week:

*I'm feeling better and not having as much pain with these stupid kidney stones, but when I do I have really good drugs to help.

*The possibility of major change in our lives.

*Dyeing my hair purple - doing the touch ups at home so I don't either pay my stylist every 10 days (NOT) or live with the fading.

*Feeling positively prehistoric when Toby asked me who 'Pebbles' is and when answered replied "What's The Flintstones?"

*The kids telling really bad knock-knock jokes in the car.

*Anna sewing her own American Doll clothes.

*Casey's always sweet generosity in taking care of me when I'm not feeling well.

*Good friends who don't judge when you email them high on pain meds and remind you to take care of yourself.

*Being thankful for every moment of every day we're given.

Where are you finding JOY this week?

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Kite...

That's what I'm as high as right now!

After spending the wee hours of Friday morning in the ER for kidney stones (one of them is 9mm) I am now the proud owner of some sweet narcotics.

I'll be back with something more interesting when I can form more coherent sentences.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Finding Joy Friday

"Can we play Wii?" - Toby age 5

"No. You need to use your imagination." - Mommy age ...

"I'm done using my imagination" - Toby age 5

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

Carl Sagan 

Finding Joy Friday is inspired by my friend Angela over at Plains Life.  Please check out her blog and join us in seeking Joy in the little things.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Not Quite Vacation,

But there was still fun to be had.

Riley, Toby, Casey, Anna, Xander, Mimi, Anslea

Toby & Anna on the pier

  
Cutest teeny frogs and toads caught by my kiddos at our rental house (sorry AmyN)

I mentioned yesterday that we spent some time in Gulf Shores, AL.  Unfortunately it was for a memorial service.  Casey's Grandmother passed away last week after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.  The service was lovely and even fun (think wake-ish but we're not Catholic) as stories were told and memories shared.

We did get out to the beach for a little while and then to the pier the next morning.  We saw a sea turtle, a shark, played in the sand and the rain, and hunted frogs and toads and millipedes.  I spotted the largest butterfly I've ever seen in my life.   It was hot and muggy (93 degrees + 78% humidity = heat index of 113 degrees - AT 7 A.M.) and stormy and a little frantic (I'm not fond of last minute travel with two kids and two beagles), but it was good too.

While I wish it was a more relaxed trip with more time for sun and sand, we are all glad to be home.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

So Today We Learned...

About the life-cycle of frogs, the children's interest being piqued after much frog hunting/catching whist in Gulf Shores, AL this past week.

The kids made books and origami jumpers and froggy puppets and booklets.

AND (more importantly)

I taught my precious children how to make armpit "toots."

I'm the BEST mommy ever!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

"When do They go Back to School?..."

How often I hear that phrase.

I am asked about my own children and I hear mother's bemoaning longs days with their children home for summer break.

I'll tell you right up front - that second part - I just don't get.

Maybe because we're homeschoolers (or maybe it's why we are), but I enjoy the constant companionship of my kids. My children are very interesting people and we play, and sing, and learn, and craft, and travel, and explore, and work, and just downright have a good time together. My mother used to HATE back to school for the same reasons; maybe it's inherited.

Now don't get me wrong - I TOTALLY get needing grown up time away from the kids and I make room for that as well (elsewise Mommy gets a little Norman Bates thing going on), but the whole 'back to school collective sigh of relief' is lost on me. That's ok though. While everyone else is up at the crack of dawn making lunches, chasing children out of beds, sitting in hot carpool lines, and fighting traffic we'll be snuggled up in our pajamas reading books (lots of them).

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Behind Already...

At first this post was entitled "I'm Late! I'm Late!" but then I realized that sounds like something entirely different. NO! NOT that.

There are only 143 more Crafting Days until Christmas.

I usually begin in January (yes I do that) and I have only JUST made my list. Now my friend Andrea is likely finished (She's AWESOME!), but me, I'm behind.

It's time to finalize that list and get crafty!

Oh yeah there's also those two swaps I need to finish and a sweater for a friend that needs some crochet work.

Suddenly I hear Devo in my head!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Spinning...

Because Knitting isn't Weird Enough!

I've been spinning with hand-spindles for about a year now and I enjoy it tremendously. So recently, when I saw a fantastic deal on a used Lendrum Single Treadle Spinning Wheel I bought it. I really like it and it spins very fine yarns very fast. I like it so much that I missed my Louet S10 and it's plying capabilities and easy settings (but I'm SO very glad it has a nice home).

I won't be missing an S10 for long.

THIS is my newest spinning addition and I am totally in love!

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Things I Learned While Camping

Yes, you heard me - camping - in a tent, on the ground, with a fire, no hotel with cable and room service CAMPING!

This weekend my family explored the great outdoors of Redtop Mountain State Park. As this was our first family camping trip (and I haven't been camping in er 20 years) let me share a little of what I learned.

1. State parks are a lovely way to 'break yourself in' to camping - they are secure, and they have clean bathrooms, plus they are busy so the kids have lots of folks to play with.

2. It takes much longer to cook food over an open fire than you expect, but the results are totally worth it (just ask Casey about his steak).

3. You instantly become the 'cool mom' when you offer your all the 'local' children s'mores (with their parents' permission of course).

4. 42 Degreess is pretty darn chilly!

5. The Self-inflating camping mats from REI may be $100.00 each, but I'm not 19 anymore and trust me they are worth MUCH more!

6. If we are going to camp longer than about 4 days we're going to need a bigger vehicle.

7. Pokey needs a new harness that she can't slip out of.

8. The morning after said s'mores, the sticks you roasted marshmallows on will have been carried off into the woods by something. I'm not thinking too hard about what the something might have been, seeing as the sticks were awfully close to the tent, but when we went to be there were marshmallow sticks and when we awoke there were none. Maybe they blew away - that's possible right? Right!

9. 2 Adults, 2 children, and 2 dogs can get into a double sleeping bag (did I mention it was 42 degrees) though NOT comfortably.

and

10. No matter how 'citified' you feel for having your iphone (and charger since we had a power connection) there will be people on the site next to yours with an oven, a heater, a freezer, and lights - for their TENT!

All in all we had a wonderful time and though we're probably spoiled with no bugs, clean restrooms and quiet neighbors, more camping is definitely on our horizon.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe