Having a Ball....of Yarn

I finished it!! My first real knitting project and I am so happy with it. I blocked it out last night....magic by the way....and sewed the two pieces together this morning. I haven't been able to get Brooke to model it for me yet, but she looks adorable in it!

My next project will be a simple scarf. I wish that I had thought to take a picture of this yarn before I untwisted the hank to wind it. It was much more beautiful that way, than this pile of stuff. It might not look like much here, but I swear it will be the most beautiful scarf. The yarn is made from several different fibers, textures, and colors all tied together in various lengths. Call me crazy, but I can't wait for scarf weather next year!!

An Evening With Daddy

I found these sweet pictures on the camera this morning while I was loading others. Apparently Bill took some pics of the girls last night while I was still at church. A few weeks ago, we decided that Bill would only volunteer at church on days that he doesn't work. Since he worked yesterday, he brought the girls home after we attended the service to get everybody fed and ready for bed. Looks like he had a good time with his girls!

Summer is not pulling herself up to her feet yet, but she loves to be stood up in her crib so she can have a better view of everybody.

Bowling and Bubbles

Yesterday was a gorgeous day out, even if a little windy. We took advantage and got some bubbles and a plastic bowling set to play with outside. Our time out was short, but Brooke had a blast. I was about to pull my hair out though.

Weightless plastic bowling pins + uneven ground + lots of wind = I HATE plastic bowling sets!

This arrangement didn't last long

She's a pro

Summer loves playing in her dome sun-shade. I couldn't get her to stay in her Bumbo seat. For the first time, she managed to pull herself out of it. At least she did it on soft ground the first time. Now I know not to leave her alone over a hard surface in it.

Who doesn't love bubbles!!
Hope you all enjoyed the great weather if you're in OKC

Daddy's Girl

Brooke has always been Daddy's girl. Here is a conversation between her and Bill as he was getting ready for work this morning.

Brooke: Where you goin Daddy?

Bill: I gotta go to work baby.

Brooke: I wanna go wits you Daddy.

Bill: You can't go with me. There's too much that you could get hurt on.

Brooke: I jus wanna hoda you and go to work wits you. (Brooke is in the other room hurriedly putting her boots on)

Bill: You're gonna have to stay here with Mommy.

Brooke: (coming from the other room with her boots on) I canna sik in da carseak in da jeep?

She was heart broken that she couldn't go to work with her Daddy today. She thought it was so simple that her Daddy could just hold her all day while he work so that it would be safe for her to go.

Finally Finished

I've finally finised my needle case. It only took me a week to finish hand-sewing the binding. Did I mention that I HATE hand-sewing?? I really do! But, I'm glad to have it done and I love it!

Seven Months Old

Little Miss Summer is a big seven months old today! She is so close to really being on the move these days. She gets up on to her knees and rocks herself silly, but is only moving herself backwards. She loves to play on the floor but does get frustrated when she moves the opposite way of the toys she wants. I'm sure there will be no stopping her once she figures the crawling business out. She is still known for being very vocal in her social groups and elsewhere. At a recent visit to her pediatrician he even commented on how loud her "talking" is. Speaking of doctors, we saw him a lot this last month. Summer had a bout with RSV earlier this month...it was actually a nice birthday surprise for me:( She was much better after a few days of breathing treatments and pretty well recovered after two weeks. Just yesterday we began introducing Summer to formula. Right now she is getting a mixture of breastmilk and formula until she is used to it. Although I had all intentions of nursing Summer for a year as I did with Brooke, she had other things in mind. If she's noticed a difference in her milk thus far, she doesn't seem to mind it. She's been a little finicky with her solid foods this month and had A LOT of trouble with them while she was so congested with the RSV. She is coming around a bit more, but prefers to have her solids almost right after her bottle feedings. Summer is also really close to cutting her first tooth. We can't feel the ridge yet, but we can feel the gums opening a bit.
Summer took a trip with Bill and Brooke to McAlester last weekend and, from what I hear, rather impressed her great-grandparents. They ate her up and she showed them some of her loving too.
Summer is such a loving baby. Her "loving" is a little rough though. She likes to grab at people's faces and pull them to her and kiss all over you. For some reason, with Bill, she always grabs for and tries to chew on his ears. It doesn't always feel the best, but we adore it. She lights up whenever Brooke comes around to play with her. Summer tries to "follow" Brooke by rolling whenever Brooke moves away from her.


Here are some other pictures and a video from Summer's 7th month of life.....

Getting a breathing treatment from Daddy

Now that Summer can sit up, she and Brooke love to take baths together; saves us some time too.

She's Crafty

I love that show on Ion, but this post has nothing to do with that crafty girl and everything to do with THIS crafty girl...ME:) I'm lucky to have been raised by a mom who was always working on some craft. Mom sews, quilts, knits, and used to cross-stitch quite a bit but hasn't much in the last several years. Although I have tried each one of this hobbies, I have succeeded at few of them. I do NOT quilt or cross-stitch, and my sewing can't really be classified as sewing; it's really only for crafting. But, after seeing a neat, and very expensive, case for knitting needles (which I have recently taken up: see knitting post), I suggested to Mom that we should make our own. So birthed today's day of crafting with Mom and my sisters who have inherited even more of Mom's crafty talent than I. Three of us (me, Mom, and Suzanne) made knitting cases, while April, budding crochet designer, worked on her newest creation. Rachel didn't join us, but she is really talented with paints and charcoals. She's done some really neat, albeit strange, canvases.

Of course, no sewing adventure for me would be complete without many mistakes and mishaps. I could be heard several times shouting my mantra, "This is why I don't sew!" I hate that it only takes seconds to make a mistake, but it takes FOREVER to fix it!! I, as usual, did not finish my project, but I blame that on our waiter at Chili's who turned our lunch break in to a 2hr siesta.

Here are some pics from our day...April had already left when I got the camera out...Sorry April.

Mom and Suzanne at work sewing pockets and flaps.

Mom was further ahead than anybody since she cut out her pieces before the rest of us arrived.

Not a good picture of all of us, as I'm hidden behind Mom's machine at the end. She was trying to fix mine...one of the many mishaps. Can you say "pucker."

Here is mine at an early stage. This is the inside, before the flap that lays over the needles was added.

Here's mine after the top flap and a start on the binding around the edges.

This is Suzanne's finished case

And here's Mom's.

I have quite a bit of work left yet. Just before I left I notice my binding was coming unsewn so I will have to rip out and re-sew part of that and then complete the binding. Fortunately, I have the house to myself until Sunday morning since Bill is off with the girls in McAlester. I can stay up late and sleep as long as myself will let myself;)

Happy Crafting!