More Craftiness and other asst. odds and ends

I got this wild hair while at work on Monday night to send out Halloween cards. I got them all done last night and they are ready to go, but it will be about two more weeks before I send them out. The only reason why I think it is totally fine to post a picture of the card is that the target age for receiving this card is between 2 and 6 years old. Not to say that a few adults could be receiving some as well. My favorite part of the card is the googly eyes on the pumpkins. In case anybody wants to know, the patterned paper is KI Memories (their Haunted collection is so cute this year), Dark Peaches and Cream cardstock, pumpkin diecuts, assorted ribbons and a really cute saying on the inside.


Next up is my progress so far on the back of the sweater, I'm about an inch away from binding off. I'm not expecting this to get done really soon so it is totally okay with me. I figure it won't even be cold enough to wear this sweater here until February anyways.


Just a random happy picture of Jared playing with the oddball toy of the day


Onto some potty training news, we really think that Nathan is just mere days away from really figuring out the whole training thing. Today, he told me he went pee, brought me his wipes and a clean diaper, I changed him even though he was dry. Two minutes later as I'm getting their art supplies cleaned up I peek into the playroom, he is naked and just got finished peeing on the floor. I'm taking this as a learning experience, he is getting the sensation of needing to go down, just not describing it to me quite right. I called Nick and told him and he about fell down laughing, it was hysterical. This is exactly why we haven't replaced our carpet yet.

Tempe Beach Park

Yesterday, Elisabet wanted to get out and get some photography in and she suggested that I take the boys to Tempe Beach Park to the Splash Playground. Sunday was going to be the final day for the fountains to be on. It was an amazingly beautiful day, a little windy, but perfect. The water from the fountains wasn't cold as I figured it was going to be. Everything was perfect and the boys just loved it. We spent over an hour there just chasing them in oppposite directions trying to get some photos. It was definitely needed to have an extra set of hands/eyes watching them as they wanted nothing to do with each other and most of the time was spent running in completely different directions.

Here are some photos from the day:

Boo to you

I finished altering the paper mache letters that I got for Halloween. I love little projects like this that I can get done quickly. These took me an hour to do and I'm pretty sure my MIL is going to love them. I used paper and assorted goodies from my stash so it also felt good to use stuff I already had. The letters are 8 inches tall and about an inch thick and they will stand up by themselves.

Last night I went to the Send off Crop at the CK Convention in Phoenix. The crop was a lot of fun, the drive into downtown, finding parking and then dragging our crap to the crop spot was another story. My friend Heather and I decided that until the whole Light Rail thing is completed we won't be coming back to the Phoenix convention. The Mesa CK convention is so much closer and easier to park at, etc. I am a workaholic when I'm at crops so I didn't chat it up as much as I would in normal situations. I got 5 pages done, I wasn't terribly happy with them, but Nick loved them so that is what counts. I have Andrea coming over next Saturday and then an employee crop at Recollections next weekend so I'm hoping I get some good mojo for those days.

Just a final picture of Nick and Nathan chillin' out on the couch. Nathan loves the cuddles when it comes to spending some time with Daddy.

Someone please tell him

He isn't going to win. My wonderful, adorable two year old is using every trick that he knows to not take a nap right now. Lately he has been "missing" everyone, wants more milk and wants to say night night to the goldfish. I just really need the quiet time that his nap provides. I have three photoshoots to proof, plus plan for a outing with friends on Saturday. I'll be fine if he doesn't nap, but it certainly would be nice if he did.

I had a great two days at work this week, we were getting ready for Halloween displays and putting finishing touches on the store for an upcoming manager visit. My big chore was getting our backstock off of the counters and onto the shelves. Most of the stuff really was backstock, there was literally no place in the store to put this stuff. I don't know what they ended up doing with it all.

Sorry, I really missed everyone at knitting last night. The past two mornings the boys have woken up at 4:30 and 5 and Jared hasn't gone back to bed. So in turn I haven't gone back to bed. By the time I got off work last night at 5 I could have gone right to sleep. I opted to come home, eat a super quick dinner, help put the boys to bed and then pass out. I only got woken up once last night and slept almost 10 hours total, damn that feels good. I feel like a new woman today. I'm sure the newborn that I photographed this morning appreciated my liveliness, hahahahaha. this little dude is two weeks old, so cute, tons of crazy hair, grandma gave him the little mohawk for his pictures.

I love Trader Joes

And it is not just for their wonderful food. It is primarily for the kid size shopping carts that they have. I will normally dread a grocery trip with either child because they would like to see just have crazy they can make mom. Normally I would walk out of a store with only a few brain cells remaining. This trip however was quiet and peaceful. Nathan wanted nothing more than to please me and put stuff into the cart (that actually belonged there). I think we are only shopping there from now on.


I also made this very sad attempt to get the two of them to work together so I could get a quick picture to print for Grandparents Day. It worked, there was some bribery involved, I see nothing wrong with a little ice cream being offered for a good deed like not choking, hitting, kicking or biting your brother. I'm sure all of the grandparents and great grandparents will appreciate my bribery.

311 Music

Last night was the 311 concert. It rocked. Okay, so I haven't seen any bands play since U2 before I was pregnant with Jared, but this concert was really good. Nick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The crowd was awesome, totally mixed age groups, there were folks who have been listening to them for over 10 years and we saw a few fans who were only 8-10 years old. So cute. So one thing that I have to say was, ya know how everyone would hold up a cigarette lighter for the slow song, well now it is holding up your open cell phone. Nick and I just looked at each other and laughed. Of course we both held up our phones as well. Nick got one picture (his camera phone is better than mine), but I don't know where I put his memory card adapter. His phone has the smallest removable little memory card in it so you need an adapter to actually view the pictures on the computer. I'll find it today and load a picture. The weather outside was amazing, I'm so glad that it rained yesterday, it really made the concert much more enjoyable. Granted I would have enjoyed it in 100 degree weather, but 80 is so much nicer. That and we only had a 15 minute drive home from Mesa Amphitheater. Love that venue, we have seen many a show there from Sting to Tool to Cypress Hill. Nice and small, I think it is 4000 people max, just enough to have a perfect crowd.

Obviously no knitting was done last night.

I did make Madi a super cute little tiara for her birthday party this weekend. I gave it to her the other day, but didn't get a picture of it, I'll take one on Saturday during her party.

Quick day trip to Payson - Picture Heavy

Very nice change of scenery and weather. Last night Nick asked me what I wanted to do for Labor Day, then out of the blue he suggested that we drive up to Payson to enjoy some cooler weather and let the kids run around by the lake. I just about fell out of my chair. Anybody that knows Nick knows how much of a homebody he is. I totally went with it. He was supposed to be at work todays anyways but his schedule got changed at the last minute and he had the day off.

Here are some snippets from the trip including the very peaceful sleeping children on the way back.

this is the only one that requires explanation, tons of grasshoppers in the grass and Jared was trying to get them all.

Knitting updates for the weekend

I actually got a fair amount accomplished this weekend. It may not look like it by the pictures since I didn't actually finish anything, but just getting to touch the needles and yarn is an accomplishment for me.

First up is the Sept. dishcloth KAL. I've done the first three days worth (got caught up this morning). No clue what it is and I don't want to know.


Next is my progress on the Not your Standard Issue Sweatshirt. I've done a bunch more pattern rows. You will notice that by the arrow is my little boo boo. I'm not the type of knitter that will go back and fix too many mistakes so I hope that when the whole sweater is done it won't be as noticable. As long as it takes me to make progress I'm not ripping back 15+ rows to fix a few stitches that went awry.


I also got a few inches done on the broadripple socks. I still love the yarn and the pattern.


I did finish the second sleeve for the IK wrap cardigan, but since it looks exactly like the first sleeve (I know how important that is), I didn't take a picture.

hope everyone is having a great long weekend.

Total Odds and Ends

This post is really about a bunch of nothings, lots of little nothings. Things that are important to the kids and kids alone. The amusement comes from trying to figure out what they were doing.

Jared is showing off his shirt that my parents brought back for hiim from Kauai. It is red from the red dirt that the shirt was dyed in. For all of the fiber fanatics that may read my blog, the red dirt of Kauai is amazing. When Nick and I were there many moons ago we actually saw them dying the shirts, very cool stuff.


Next we have the total mayhem that is the car ride home from school. No, I didn't take these pictures while driving, we were stopped at the light at Alma School and 202 entrance. Jared makes challah every Friday with his class so he wanted to show off his loaf for this week. Nathan very proudly had poked a hole in his slice of bread. Brothers, crazy little creatures.


I had to return some undies to Toys R Us, unused of course. Although they were Jared's favorite characters right now, the kid doesn't need any more undies. Of course the shopping excursion couldn't stop there. Since I only had Nathan with me, I figured I might as well scope out some early holiday gift shopping. Much easier to drag one kicking, screaming toddler out of the store than two. We found a multitude of things that any two and four year old could ever want. I always seem to cave a bit though and walk out with something. The something for today were Cars cars. Nathan picked out Fillmore and then he picked out Lightning McQueen for Jared. They both wanted me to take a picture of their new favorite cars.


Lastly, here is the picture of the August Mid-month dishcloth KAL. I finished it last week, but didn't get to take a weaved in ends picture before Nathan claimed it as his own. I used CottonTots so it is very soft. Nathan is all about the soft loveys. Maybe one day a slew of soft dishcloths can replace his rather tattered blankies (or babies to him).