It's Been a While...A Long While

I got busy after Gabriel was born. Then i stayed that way for a while. I don't know why I stopped blogging. I have so many funny stories of the kids' antics here. There's so much I want to remember and so little time. We have these great moments every day and they get lost in the waves of daily tasks that just have to get done.

So..l am back. :)

Gabriel is my little Pigpen. He goes outside and leaves a ton of dirt in the bathtub when he comes in. It would be funny if it wasn't every.single.day. He always promises to not get too dirty, too. I am terrified of what his definition of dirty is...

Claudia is inexplicable. You just have to know her. She's very bright, very creative, and very willing to go out on a limb to make people smile. At the same time she is also a very sensitive girl that wants people treated fairly and gets upset when that is not the case. Am I raising the next Bono? XD

Nadine is my little scholar. She's interested in books, art, and Latin. She recently inherited my iPad 1 when Dean gave me a new iPad for homeschool use/this year's gifting occasions, and it has changed a lot of how we do things. I now email her copywork for handwriting practice, terms I want her to define, which pages I want her to complete in math and spelling, and what her Latin assignment for the day is. She loves it!

In fact, it worked so well that I signed Claudia up for an email address and I send her copywork that way and a reminder not to forget her next lesson in spelling. Both girls are thrilled to be able to independently email Daddy, too. He was so surprised to get messages from them last night.

I have completely given up on trying to tell people what grades the girls are actually in and just resort to whatever is age appropriate. Claudia is finishing up first grade in most subjects, but Nadine is the complicated one. She's spanning about 3 grade levels in various subjects and has been working in third grade grammar most of this year. My biggest challenge with her is keeping up with her. Claudia's biggest problem is that she doesn't pay attention. I hear she gets that from her daddy...

I have just come out of a knitting slump and have been working diligently on this cardigan for myself. (For the knitters: It's the Alexandria Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio.) The color is not accurate. It's more like crushed azaleas with tan mixed in. This is the third attempt at this cardi. The first was my fault. I highlighted the wrong size numbers in the pattern. The second time Gabriel helped me by pulling the needles out and getting his cars tangled in the yarn. So far nothing major has happened to this version besides emergency lace surgery. Here's hoping it makes a full recovery and grows into a happy cardigan.

I have also found a new love in the fiber arts. She is a Schacht Matchless, and she was my Christmas gift. I have fallen in love with spinning laceweight yarns. This was part of my knitting slump. It's just so relaxing to have such yummy fibers running through my hands. When you are spinning lace just a little fiber lasts a long time...

I just started on the Master Hand Knitter Level 1 program offered by The Knitting Guild Association. It is challenging and yet fun as someone obsessed by the whys and hows of knitting. It's also quite a lot of work and may get in the way of the sewing I had planned for this summer, but I have design ideas floating around that need to get put down and this should help with that. I learned quite a lot last night doing the required research for some very basic knitting techniques I thought I knew all about, mostly tiny technical things but wow at the difference it makes. Yes, I am excited, and I am really lucky to have a husband who supports my hobbies. I think he knows that this is all that keeps me from going completely insane.

This is my second yarn, a handspun that I wanted to be conspicuously handspun. I love the colors, and it will probably become a pair of mitts and a cowl. The fiber is superwash merino and was dyed by Selah.