It's Been a While

What can I say? New boss, busy two months (had my big convention ... a grueling seven days of 18-hr days with very little sleep or time "off"), busy baby and busy big boys.

Two new teeth in L'il I (he's not showing them; methinks what you see is a drooly reflection ... he smiles without showing his teeth).

Two lost by the Sniffer. It has not yet stopped him from eating corn on the cob:

We also had a Webelos camping trip thrown in for good measure. I can hardly believe how big my biggest boy is these days. (Note: This photo was taken at a prep session we had to teach the boys how new knots to tie and how to build a campfire...Weboree is a COMPETITION...)

No real knitting, other than a pair of socks I have to download pictures of. I knit them for a dear friend with bone cancer to keep her tootsies warm during radiation. But I don't want to discuss that right now.

Indeed.

Believe it or not, there are women out there with three kids (some with three BOYS even) who actually find time to knit. And I mean knit. Not the "row here, row there" that I've been doing lately, but some gals actually finish things in a reasonable amount of time. Me? I've been working on a single sock for two weeks. Indeed.

I'm here still, folks. Alive and knitting, but crazy busy with life. Changes at work (new boss in two weeks; third boss in three years), interviewing a new member of my team today (keep your fingers crossed) and lots of time gearing up for our big scientific meeting in May. Busy indeed.

And the boys. What can I say? Last night they wanted to do silly pictures of the Brothers Three since it was L'il I's 7-month birthday. (I take pictures on the 12th of every month. I figured it would not only make a neat spread for his first birthday, but it would also make sure I take pictures of him regularly.) Aren't they sweet? Indeed.

They are indeed. They love their little brother more than just about anything. But how can you not love a little wee one that's so adorable? Not to mention that he's getting a lot more interesting these days ...

And the best is yet to come. Indeed.

Heart and Soul

I rarely ever talk about my husband on this blog ... it is almost always about the knitting, or the kids, and besides, he rarely reads it anyway. But he does exist, really, and I do love him very much. And my big valentine has given me three beautiful littler ones ... even if they did all come with Y chromosomes. Because I don't buy into "Hallmark Holidays" I'll save the smushy gushy post for another day. But here is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us ... portrait of college lovers all grown up at a black-tie affair last year.






(And in my next post, there may actually be a photo of a sock -- gasp!)

Happy Happy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As usual, I've managed to miss a big day of posting, but I've certainly enjoyed reading everyone's New Year's Resolutions and comments about the holidays, and hope that this cute picture makes up for it :). And I'm realizing I'm not alone in many of my plans for the New Year, though at the end of this post I'm going to pose a solution for all of us who are dog-tired from holiday knitting and feeling a bit of the blechs that come in the new year after such a crafting frenzy. Factor in the fact that I've had the cold from hell for the past five weeks (I honestly forgot how much little people like to share their germs) and you can imagine the fatigue at Chez Spinneas. This weekend I made a decision to postpone taking the Christmas tree down in favor of plain old rest, fluids and easy knitting to try to get myself to a point where I can function a little better next week. Nursing a baby through the whole thing has been an extreme adventure in dehydration, and having the whole family home on vacation for nearly two weeks has been a lesson in frustration -- which certainly doesn't help! But whining doesn't do any good ...

First of all, I'd like to say that the Santa Fe beret was a big hit. Farmer Auntie (who is also a knitting auntie but not THE Knitting Auntie of Aran -- and Nanny -- Fame) donned it immediately, squealed with delight at all the right moments during the obligatory tale behind the piece, and wore it for our entire visit except for the 30 minutes when she took the big boys on a hike around the farm. The cool thing is that it actually matched the vest sweater she was wearing that day.



I also knit a pretty neato Koigu scarf for my mother-in-law, came in under the wire on Christmas Eve and got the sucker blocked. It turned out great -- knit with a double strand on size 8 straight needles:








There were other victories for presentts, but I'll spare you. There were also some UFOs, including Aran Auntie's Tea Cozy (it's coming, I swear), a scarf, and a beret for my cousin -- who's baby is only three months older than my L'il I. The beret has been an absolute nightmare, and I'm getting ready to start it for the THIRD time. In the midst of my absolute frustration with this pattern (though I LOVE the yarn -- Berrocco Jasper), I decided I needed something to settle down with. So I decided to tackle the mobius strip. Yeah, yeah, I know.



The crazy part? It worked. Last night I fiddled with the cast-on that's widely available online (the backward loop method -- check it out) and then today picked up Cat Bordhi's book. I swear I'm addicted to this process, and I'm enjoying my Fleece Artist mobius that I have been working on since early in the afternoon:







In addition to the Moebius, we've also enjoyed watching our littlest enjoy his first holiday season, including his saucer at Christmas and his books...



And that's life here at the Spinneas homestead. Maybe I'll tell more holiday stories from 2007 later. In the meantime, I'd like to say that my single resolution in 2008 is to AVOID the chaotic holiday knitting this year. And to do that, my plan is to knit one present per month from now until November. That's 11 knitted gifts, a record, and a way to help save my sanity at holiday time with a one-year-old toddling around. Anyone wanna join me?

The Coming of the Elves

Last night, while three little boys were asleep (one in his crib, thank goodness), three little folks arrived in our house (never mind that they look as though they're going to take flying leaps off the cornices).

Meet the Holly Brothers:

This is Harold Holly. The oldest of the three, he made his first appearance in 1998 when Zee was wee (tee hee).

And then there's Howard:

A spunky guy, he arrived in 2000 and watches out for the Sniffer. If you know the Sniffer, you know he has an air for the dramatic -- as evidenced by good old Howard here, who incidentally is wearing green -- the Sniffer's all-time favorite color.

And this year, we have a new addition that we have dubbed Henry:

My guess is that Santa sent him to play elf to L'il I ... who, after all, needs his own set of eyeballs that report to the Big Guy. I'll be sure to dress the babe in his red-striped PJs on Christmas Eve!

If you're interested in the legend of the Elves at Arunah (and beyond), check out last year's post that explains it all. There really is quite a bit of history to it, at least in my family.

Zee was a bit skeptical and L'il I ambivalent, but the Sniffer was positively ENCHANTED this morning when he realized the guys had arrived and that our elf family had expanded. He insisted that I take these pictures so he can put them in frames and hang them on the tree. Gotta love that kid.

Tis the Season

This is the time of year when we knit bloggers really can't post pictures of our work for fear of giving away the surprise. So some of us are mighty lucky to have cute babies to tide us over.

This past weekend, L'il I had his first bit of rice cereal. He's four months old so he's on the early end of the range for introducing complementary foods to a breastfed baby, but he's been showing a lot of signs he's ready, so we took the plunge. As you can see, he was not disappointed in the process of eating:

Most of the time wee ones just don't know what to do with their tongues when they're eating ... which is why they end up wearing most of it. By the end of the session, however, he seemed to have it pretty much figured out:

It was a big night at Chez Spinneas. The night before was equally big, as Zee advanced to receive his orange belt in karate:

The Sniffer, on the other hand, took a much more passive approach to his weekend, and snuggled most of the time.

Happy Halloween: A Day in Pictures

First Grader on parade:

A Brother Oblivious:

Fourth Grader Haunting the Schoolyard:

Pumpkins carved and lighted:

Ready for Tricks and Treats!

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Now on another note, I've been sending festive photos of L'il I all week. In case you missed any of them, there were three. Here they are, in order, from Monday through Wednesday:

A Reptile Among Us

We had a very busy weekend. Chaos on Friday, which we won't discuss other than to say it involved major traffic glitches, a child-care plan gone awry (don't worry, it had to do with coordinating a pick-up ... no one got hurt or anything) and an overnight campout that was delayed due to all of these combined factors. After all, it sucks to pitch a tent in the dark, which is what might have happened had they actually gotten on the road at a reasonable hour. As it was, it turned out to be colder than a witch's bosom in a brass brassiere, so it was good.

And we got to take the "official" two-month photo of L'il I (we're taking pictures on the 12th of every month so we can watch him as he grows...)

Saturday was Yarn Sniffer's birthday. They were supposed to wake up in the woods, but instead, hubby woke up under the weather. But what about the Cub Scout campout? Well ... Den Leader Mommy (who was not supposed to go to camp because of nursing the babe) turned the overnighter into a day camp instead. Zee and the Sniffer got to do all kinds of neat things (while I spent most of the day trying to find five minutes to sneak away to pump...):

Most of all, though, the Sniffer enjoyed telling everyone it was his birthday!

And then today, Spike made his weekend complete. Perhaps he should now be known as the Dragon Sniffer?

The Cow DID Jump Over the Moon

I know this, because last night he dragged me behind him. You see, I forgot how road trips warp little person schedules.

A day in pictures. First stop, Grandaddy's House:

L'il I got to snuggle with my dad ...

and the Yarn Sniffer raided his army gear and played "army guy" with his brother.

Next stop, Grammy's Office.

We took a side trip to see my stepfather at his bank, and saw lots of old friends who were meeting at the church. Proud Grammy loved showing off the littlest.

Then, we were off to my aunt and uncle's house. Clearly, little boys need a farm ...

with barn cats to play with ....

and horses to ride...

fences to hang on ...

ducks to chase ...

and cows to race (what you don't see in this photo are my children in the training yard running in circles -- this is Ernestine the Cow running alongside them on the outside of the fence ...

And snuggles and cuddles for the littlest -- who couldn't partake of the big kid fun (though he watched carefully!)

A nearly two-hour car trip. Tons of physical activity for the big boys, who slept like rocks once they settled down. But the little one? All that car sleeping led to this at 2 a.m.: