7 Months

Well, this project only took me 7 months to complete!Do you ever have a project that you just keep setting aside over and over again? This was that project!

As I was working on minion hat after minion hat last November and December, my own kids kept begging me to make something for them—especially Phaedra. So come January when I had all the Christmas projects behind me, I let her choose what she wanted me to make her. After 6 minion hats (nope, still haven’t blogged them), I was SO relieved when she chose Hello Kitty instead.

I got all the yarn I needed. I got started. And then I reached the point on the hat where it said, “finish off and weave in ends.” I set the hat aside. And it sat. And sat. And sat . . . The crochet part was no problem, but I think I was just too burnt out and sick and tired of weaving in all the little yarn tails on all the little details!

I think the only thing that got me going on it again was the fact that baby #4 is going to make her arrival in just a few months, and I’m feeling the need to do some nesting crafts. I hold to a strict rule that I can’t start another project until one is finished (especially same type of project), so that lit a fire under me to finally force myself to finish Hello Kitty. My poor Phaedra gave up begging me months ago.And now she has to wait for it to actually get cold again to need to wear it (poor girl).

I promise Hello Kitty has a left ear. It’s just hiding behind the bow. I snapped these photos quickly before we hopped in the car to go the library, so I wasn’t paying that much attention to all the details.

I swear I do this every January. I work so hard to get handmade items done for people for Christmas, and I think I can keep the momentum going after the holiday and actually make some stuff for our family/house. So I get all the materials for a project, sometimes I even get started, and then there’s no deadline . . . no pressure . . . and it never gets done! Don’t ask me what ever happened to the fabric storage boxes I was going to make out of the beautiful organic fabric 2 years ago. Just don’t!

I’m extra proud of getting this hat done because I actually completed 2 Hello Kitty hats. I made the first one and decided it was just going to be way too small, so I started over and completed them both. I keep wanting to send the extra to a friend who might have a 2-3 year old girl (I’m guessing that would be a good fit), but all my friends with that age girl also have another girl (or two) who might be jealous—and I CAN’T force myself to make another one!! Anyone want to volunteer to solve my dilemma on that one?

I know I could save it for when this baby gets old enough to wear it, but then she’d also get Phaedra’s hand-me-down (assuming it survives). That’s a big chunk of her life to spend in a Hello Kitty hat. Ah well (shrugs).

P.S. I found the pattern for the hat HERE.

Snugglers

Curtis loves to snuggle. He mostly prefers me, but he has been known to snuggle up to his sisters from time to time. The girls love the affection of their younger brother.

These photos were taken by Grant on the same day last week. These are the pictures I received on my phone as I was sitting for 3 hours at the doctor’s office to take my 2nd glucose test. I couldn’t blame them for getting ice cream while I sat fasting since they had walked there from the shop where they were getting the oil changed in my car.

Good thing seeing their sugary sweet faces didn’t make me fail the test!

Splash Pad

Early in the summer, we found a local park that has a splash pad. The kids love it, and it’s an easy way for me to make them happy since it is so close.

On Saturday, Eleanor had an Activity Days activity that involved getting wet, so I took the younger kids for some fun at the splash pad so they wouldn’t feel too left out. It was a hit!

At first, all either of them wanted to do was swing on the swing set. Eventually, I got tired of pushing two kids at once, and I encouraged them to get wet.

Curtis starts out so slow and cautious with the splash pad. He won’t go near the buckets that dump on you, and he takes a lot of time before he’ll even go near the sprayers. After several times that we’ve come and our kids have seen other kids with buckets or cups and been sad not to have them, I finally remembered to let them bring something to catch the water. All of our sand buckets got left behind with the move, so we improvised with sour cream and whip cream containers. 

Phaedra jumps right in whenever it comes to any sort of getting wet.

Curtis followed her example.

He loved to cover up the sprayer and then try to run away.

This one’s a little blurry, but she was bouncing and having so much fun.Eleanor and Daddy joined up with us once her activity was over.

When Curtis finally gets the courage to venture over to it, he just LOVES playing with “the shooter.” (And he hogs it for the rest of the time we are at the park.)

He’d love to squirt me with it, but the shooter only works when it’s facing toward the splash pad (my camera and I are very thankful for this design).And after lots of fun getting wet, it’s time to enjoy the swings some more. I’m so glad we live close to such a nice park!

 

And just for fun, here’s a video of one of Curtis’s favorite things to do lately: build towers for me out of Legos. It’s how he shows his affection.

Announcing . . .

It’s Still January

I know I didn’t get this posted at the very beginning of the year, but I really wanted to put something together to remember our 2013 year. So I made this (long) video, and amazingly enough, it still uploaded. So I’m happy to share it with you.

This is my video to remember 2013. It’s long, so give yourself a cookie if you make it through the whole thing.

 

So far, 2014 has not been too kind to us. Our whole family has been sick for the past 2 weeks, and the weather is so frigid, we can’t even stand the cold while we get into the car. I have been rather homesick to go along with the actual sickness. But enough of my whining. I guess if we start out the year on a sour note, it can only get better from here, right?