First Day of Autumn!

Well, we're heading into Autumn...officially now.  The weather here in Illinois has been so screwy lately. I much prefer the cool weather, so I'm looking forward to not having to deal with the blazing sun and hot that keeps cropping back up.

I am just working like crazy.  Trying to get everything done.  Keep the house in order.  Organizing, still....always a work in progress, the house is.

I finished spinning that Owl back in July.  I spun it all up....and here's the final products....

I think they turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so, myself :)

I am spinning another Owl this term in HPKCHC.  I'm spinning up a History of Magic Owl....vanishing enough fiber into yarn to create 3 adult pairs of socks for my 3 character interpretations.  I've got Zygmunt Budge (Felix Felicis inventor)  all yellow and golden.  Hermione Granger, pink with some dark purples and other vibrant colors mixed in.  And Draco Malfoy, all green and dark with some pops of sparkle and shine cause there's some good deep down in there.  And here it all is.

In August we celebrated 11 years of marriage, some rocky, most not.  But it's been a good run, so far.  So here's to another 11! 
We actually had our first kid-free weekend!  Thank you, John and Kay (brother and SIL)!!!  Who generously took them and had good times with them while we spent some quality time together and got ourselves some tattoos as well.

Jeff's tattoo for the Taurus representing Carl....
(have to add in a little bit)

My Tattoo of Carl's footprint from birth with his birthday, FINALLY, and Caimbrie's name in her handwriting above her footprint... (also needs to be added later)

And my AWESOME watercolor hummingbird :)  Who we found out later is a take off a DC watercolor hummingbird (I just found a photo of one I liked on the net and we went with that).  But I will eventually fill up that left calf/lower leg with water color tats....very excited for that :)
This was done by Ashley at Gary's Tattoos in Galena, IL....and she is fanfuckingtastic, in my opinion :)

So I've done a little crafting, but mostly spinning.  But here's my latest crafty things...

The Salt Water Taffy spin....it was AMAZING!

Some fiber I purchased from Psalm 23 at the Wisconsin State Fair for an Orphan Black swap.

Some Girl on Fire Fiber and spun up....gradient fire yarn...I love it!

And some coasters and an Owl I made for Nancy's birthday....and then she left us to go to Milwaukee, but she seems happier there, so that's what matters :)

Caimbrie has been loving her kindergarten!  She's had her first month and she's doing all right.  Had some mishaps.  She doesn't like being different, the only one in her class of 18 with glasses...a new development.  But I and everyone else think she looks adorable!! 

We have had some issues lying, though.  And to stop that, it had to be drastic....so I gave to Goodwill a garbage bag full of ponies and barbies and our brand new, bought with her money, Apple Jack Build-a-Bear.  Harsh....but the lying. has. to. stop.  She does seem better since that, which is good. 

So now after the negative, I have a positive reinforcement happening.  We've got a chart, and every day she comes home with a brown bear, no red bear, for listening at school, then she will get a special treat with me on a Friday or a Saturday.  Whether it's coloring with me and tea and cakes or cookies, or going to pick something out at David's Tea, which is amazing, by the way...Thank you, Adrienne!!
So far, so good.  We'll see how it goes.  A negative, because the consequences weren't working.  And now positive to work towards something. 

Look, I'm only winging this parenting thing.  I'm doing the best I can.  But hopefully some things will stick and work out in the end.

I think that's enough for now!  Have a happy week, all!

Meditation and Spinning

Well, I'm continuing on my spinning while the Tour de France takes place. Monday was a rest day. I have spun up almost 1 3.25 oz batt just this week, then on to plying and starting the last batt for my Harry Potter Knitting Crochet House Cup OWL.

Here's some progress photos....

This was the next up in my spinning, fake cashmere, and I've never spun anything so lovely on my spinning time yet.

Here's the next from Inglenook Fibers

This is the first bobbin. 

Here's the progress on the 2nd bobbin. It's got about .3 oz left, then it's a spun up.

It's interesting to try and spin a gradient. I'll see how it plies up and if I did a consistent job of spinning or not.

I'm participating in the Deepak and Oprah 21 day meditation on gratitude now. I am doing day 3 at lunch. Was behind a day and did day 2 this morning because yesterday was a full day in court.

But it's a good one. Gratitude for others and yourself is always a good message and something I need to remind myself of. You get what you give.  Yesterday's mantra was All Good Things Bring Gratitude.

I'm not centered so much and it's hard to get into these meditations this time. My body is restless. That just makes me know even more I need to get back into meditation and calm my whole self down. Center myself. And I could feel progress today already. So hopefully it will be back to being one even self in another day or so.

Have a happy and healthy day. Center yourself if you can. You will certainly benefit.

Day 4 TdF

Despite feeling like crap today, I couldn't make it to work, just couldn't do it, I got some spinning done. So did Caim for that matter. So here's my spinning from last night and today, though I plan on starting a new batt tonight too.

I hope you are feeling better than I am today. But no matter how you feel, craft if you can :)

Wow. Is it July already?

Well, we've had a few things happen.  The Wee Man turned 2.  Our Sugar turned 5.  We're all registered for Kindergarten, which starts in only a little over a month.  Which is ridiculous since we've had the rainiest summer time months I can remember.

But all is going well.  I've taken up spinning yarn again and I'm very, very happy.  I got a Great Wheel, has a broken leg and needs to be fixed, but it was passed on to me for free!!  Can't beat that!  When it's all fixed, I will definitely take some pics.

Here's some crocheting spoils for the last few months.

My HPKCHC Spinning OWL, spinning 1.5 lb of fiber in 3 months....progress so far.

This is part of my OWL, but it's also part of the TDF....Tour de Fleece...a take on the Tour de France that is taking place.  You challenge yourself to spin every day the riders are 'spinning' away on their bikes.

Baby gifts

 

Project Gnome Diplomacy for MochiMochiLand Blog

Gift for Lidia, a 'sort of' crocheted version of her doggie, Chloe

Test Crochet for Nerdy Knitters Designs of Twilight Sparkle Chibi

Teacher gifts for preschool teachers.  Apple keychains and Pencil coasters to go with teacher mugs. 

A Dr. Who Swap through Odd Ducks.....this is a Kindle Fire HD Tardis Cozy and a Weeping Angel 

I will be spinning for the next month, I am pretty sure it is.  I will spin up  my OWL fibers that I've got and I'll put up progress photos here.  And I will also spin this up next....

Salt Water Taffy colorway....it's GORGEOUS.  I can't wait to spin it.  I don't know why I didn't put it as part of my OWL....but oh well.  

On the home front, we had a good, but long, 4th of July.  The kids are happy and healthy, with the exception of the allergy to mosquito bites that Sugar has.  She welts up like no one's business and it's hard to see happen.  And since the mosquitoes are big enough to carry my kids away with them this year, it's trying.  But Hubby has been newly voted into the Mason's, so that's a good journey he'll be taking. Hopefully the breakaway group that we're now a part of, the Levelers, will bring us together some more as a family and into a nice, new group of people.

That's all for now.  Hope you  had a safe holiday :)