Girls Are Best

Reason #4,127 why it's great to have girl grand babies. The shoes. Sooooo adorable.

Pass It On

Naia is studying rocks, minerals and fossils in school and asked if we could go rock hunting sometime. Since rain was threatening all weekend, PopPop came up with a back-up plan - he dug around in the garage and found Matt's old rock collection from when he was a kid. He showed Naia how to clean the rocks and fossils in a bucket of water - including giant shark teeth - and gave her a set of containers in which to keep her new treasures. Naia is thrilled with her rocks and even more thrilled that they once belonged to her dad. Hooray for grandpas who save treasures for rainy days.

Looking Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We spent Sunday afternoon decorating the house. Naia was thrilled to be asked to help. We'd planned to leave a little bit for Leia to help with when she got up from her nap, but I turned around and it was all done. Leia didn't mind. She headed straight for the row of holiday bears, grabbed her favorite and didn't let it go the rest of the day. Happy Holly Days!

Belly Shots

On our recent trip, Rachel complained about the lack of belly shots for Marie. With Rachel in Colorado and Marie in California, it's hard for her to see how Leanne Elizabeth is progressing. So for Rach - with Marie's permission - here's the belly: and new ultrasound pics of Leanne, who's still scheduled to make her appearance February 15. Such a little cutie, especially when she's trying to get her fingers and toes in her mouth at the same time.

Going For 20

I finished several shawls while we were in Colorado but my favorite accomplishment was turning Addison into a shawl wearer. She grabbed this one as soon as it was done and tried to claim it as her own; we compromised with my making her a shawl from washable yarn rather than the handspun wool and linen in the one above.

Shawl #16 - A half-granny shawl using a combination of yarn I spun (the top half; BFL roving from All Spun Up) and Cascade's 'Rustic' that is an almost perfect match in color and texture. A total of 452 yards, which makes this one of my smaller shawls for the year. More details here.

Shawl #17 - my new favorite pattern, Bernat #4922, using my new favorite yarn, Zauberball Starke 6. I don't usually go for pinks but I love the vibrant colors in this. Details are here.

And finally, Shawl #18 - this 100% alpaca yarn has been sitting in my stash since our New England trip in the Fall of 2007. I tried making two other projects with it, but ended up frogging both. I'm glad I waited - love how the colors look in this Bridal Shawl. More info is here.

I have another shawl done - with an unknown wool/silk yarn that was gathering dust in the stash - but I don't think the yardage is going to meet the requirements for 10 Shawls in 2010. Pictures of that tomorrow (if I remember).

Whack-a-Doodle

Our kids loved playing crochet croquet when they were younger, so we thought a croquet set would be a perfect gift for Addy's 4th birthday. She loves being outdoors and loves playing games; great match, right?
The set arrived the day after her birthday. We got it unpacked right away and took it out to the back yard, even though the temps were barely above freezing. PopPop gave Addy some pointers on technique and then turned her loose with a mallet and ball. And stood waaaaaaay back. Addy had a great wind-up, but actual contact with the ball was hit-and-miss (mostly miss). She got frustrated when the ball didn't go very far and quickly figured out a better way to play - pick the ball up and toss it where you want it to go. I think Addy will like whack-a-doodle more when summer is here and the grass is cut shorter and the ground isn't so damp. Hope she has as much fun with croquet as we've had over the years.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's always been my job to make the deviled eggs for family holidays, all the way back to when I was a pre-teen. I thought this would be a good year to start teaching the next generation how to make that perfect egg.

Addy helped me put the eggs on to boil and then she cracked the shells so I could remove them. She cut the eggs in half with the safety knife her mom found in a kitchen store in Denver. I was surprised at how good a job it did; I was sure the dull edge would just mangle the eggs.

I removed the yolks and Addy helped me mash and smash them before we added the Miracle Whip, salt and vinegar. Rachel came up with the idea of using pastry bags to fill the eggs; it worked great and was easy for Addy to do on her own. After all that work, do you think Addy would eat a deviled egg? Not on your life. She asked for - and got - a bowl of chicken noodle soup while the rest of us enjoyed the Thanksgiving feast. Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!

Hockey!

In what is becoming a family tradition, we went to see the Colorado Eagles play (and win!) ice hockey tonight. We went for the first time last year (they won!) and loved it so John got tickets for all of us again this year.

Addison is a fan of ice hockey, but not of the noisy arena with the yelling and music and cowbells. A sold out stadium, with a local, enthusiastic audience, can be darn loud. The solution? Microphones (what Addy calls her ear protectors.)

The game was pretty boring - 0 to 0 (with some good fights thrown in) - until the final period when the Eagles got their act together and scored 3 goals, one with less than 2 minutes remaining. Addy spent most of her time watching the cheerleaders who were performing on a small stage right beside our seats. She was fascinated - and of course has decided to be a cheerleader when she grows up, along with a princess and a fighter-fighter (Addy-speak for firefighter).

The adults were more inclined to watch the temperature reading. 13F, with winds gusting to 25 mph, equals very, very cold even by Colorado standards. Want to know why it was windy? Addy said it was because God hit the wrong button and that made the wind blow. Makes perfect sense to me.

Timberrrrrrr!

On Saturday, Addy and I stayed home to watch the tree guys cut down the giant tree in her front yard. The poor thing was on its last legs and her parents were afraid a strong wind would blow it over onto the house. So while the others left to do other chores, Addy and I watched the arborists*. I'm sure the two guys were thrilled to have some crazy lady constantly taking their picture, but they didn't comment on it. And with Addy being Addy, she asked questions and talked the entire time. Some of my favorites:on the subject of what we should plant in place of the tree "In my garden (this year) I grew carrots and tomatoes and marshmallows."

"Without that tree, we can't exist."

Word of the Day: "Arborist - someone who takes care of trees and cuts down trees when they're dead. I'm not an arborist 'cause I can't cut down trees." Watching the tree come down was entertaining. Watching it with Addy was priceless.

*Whenever we come to visit Addy, I try to teach her a new word. She has such an extensive vocabulary that it's become difficult to find words she doesn't know. Friday's word was "bibliotheque - someone who loves books". Saturday's word was "arborist - someone who takes care of trees." Sunday's word was 'Barcalounger - what firemen sit in at the fire stations." (couldn't resist that one!)

Grand Time

**When we visit Colorado, we try to do lots of things with Addy. She's a happy, well-mannered kid so it's not a problem taking her places or trying new things. She always asks before she touches something (!! My kids never did that.) and if you say 'no', she just takes it in stride and moves on.

So far this trip we've visited antique stores, where we acquired Henrietta the Bunny; made an apron to use while cooking Thanksgiving dinner, including a clip-on flower that doubles as a hair bow;finished Addy's Mermaid Princess blanket; walked around downtown Ft. Collins while waiting for mom to get off work for lunch; and gone shopping for yarn to finish a shawl - where I just happened to find this great craft bag. It's suede on the outside, with lots of great zippered pockets for holding crochet necessities. I've never seen one like it.I love my local yarn shop, but I really love visiting new-to-me shops when we travel. You never know what you'll find.

**Check out Addy's new bike-riding skills here.