what's hot/not

oopsie! missed the wednesday deadline. like i care.:) i'll do it today.

HOT
- scones! made a double batch of homemade blueberry lemon buttermilk scones. they are so very very good. especially hot!:)
- knitting. knitted 6 dishcloths recently. AH! it's good for the soul.
- more knitting! picked up the sweater that i had laid aside for a few weeks. it's really coming along! got to the armholes and beyond... but had to unravel a few rows because i had modified the pattern and the smooth side of the stockinette stitch was on the wrong side! it's ok, i got all the yarn back on the needles and i am about to make the armholes again. can't wait!
- "emma" on pbs. i love masterpiece classics!!!
- "pride and prejudice" in book form. the movie is, maybe, better... but the book is fun, too. there are a few more characters to keep track of in the book, which makes it interesting.

NOT
- naughty jack! still going through quite the phase. 4 times dug dirt out of my plant in the living room. broke glass in a picture frame. got stranded in the stairwell at 4 AM IN THE MORNING!
- jack got a bad cold. it' nice to get some extra cuddling, but it's so sad to see the poor dear suffering.

the force is with him

i had a genius idea the other day. jack has been a HUGE fan of "wobot achines" (robot machines) lately. he found some r2d2 and c3p0 toys of mine and loved them. i decided it was time to break out the vintage star wars sheets. jack was soooo excited. "let's do this!", he said. jack just happened to be wearing his star wars tee, so i decided to put his r2d2 socks on him and take a photo of him on his bed with as many star wars toys as we could round up.:) that's "darth tater" on jack's lap. also, i cracked open a bunch of star wars micromachine vehicles that i have been saving for my child. jack really loves the x-wing.

nursery

it was my turn in the nursery wednesday night. i love it. sometimes it's just jack and i. i turn on the speaker, relax in the rocking chair, and knit while i listen to Pastor's message. if the nursery is full of noisy children... i enjoy that, too!!! i had jack, 2 little boys, and a baby girl to snuggle wednesday. it was great. i love to think about how these little darlings will grow up and be great friends. i really loved my church youth group when i was a teen and i hope that jack has that special experience, too. christian friends are such a blessing!

story time at the hallett library

story time didn't go so well. jack is too shy to sit with the kids on the rug. he is also too antsy to stay put by me for a half hour. he ended up running around twice, and once tried to play the piano! that was embarrassing. i don't think we'll be back for a while. jack does love it, though. he just can't HANDLE IT.

"my truck pants!"

jack tried to dress himself. this is a pj TOP, not BOTTOM, jack.:)

what's hot/ what's not

trying something new. a blog i follow, "loobylu", has invited all who want to join in on a little thing called, "what's hot/what's not".

what's hot/not this week:
HOT
- tuna melt playdates with my cousin's wife and 2 of her kids. is it just me, or are tuna melts amusing? and delicious!
- dan's 38th birthday. i love you, dan. you sweet old thing!
- sleepover at my parent's house. jack was in his element. we will be doing it again. especially if my mom's homemade buttermilk pancakes are involved.
- a huge plate of pork fried rice and egg foo young. for $4.75. maybe the highlight of my week.
- family toboggan ride on my gramps's old beauty
- a gift of homemade caramels from a sweet friend

NOT
- haitian earthquake is the first thing that springs to mind. i had a roomie my senior yr of college from haiti. i hope fonia is doing well, wherever she and her family may be. God protect them and give them comfort.
- naughtiness -- jack is being a rip. he locked me out of the house yesterday in 20-some degree weather! etc etc
- tv is dead. died last night a quick death. heard a tiny pop and that was that. hope we get another one before pbs's "emma" this sunday. and then the new season of "survivor" is coming up! and jack is sure to have a meltdown soooooon.

naughty napper

NAUGHTY!!! jack is a naughty napper. i never know what i am going to find when i go to check on him. and that's why i check on him often.:) sometimes he is still up, playing with toys on his bed. sometimes he is asleep in a strange place: on the floor, under the bed, head in the closet with his body covered in toys, IN THE FROG TOY HAMPER WITH HIS HEAD ON A DIAPER BOX! (that one was really hilarious!:)) i should not have been surprised to find jack nestled in a pile of hand-me-down clothes today that he pulled out of a garbage bag... but i WAS. he gets me every time.

sleepover at grandpa dan's and grandma brenda's!

dan went to a men's retreat friday, so jack and i took the opportunity to have a sleepover at my parent's house. jack was soooo excited.:) chick flick and popcorn, no sleep, mom's blueberry pancakes for breakfast, chinese food for lunch, "choc" in papa's pocket, and a lot of QUALITY TIME. so glad we did it. just because we live only about 5 minutes away from them doesn't mean that my parents should be denied the fun of a sleepover!

my collection

i have a little collection of artwork by my old college friend, lauren. i was given one painting, but i bought 3 others with birthday or Christmas money. just thought i would do a little show-n-tell because i got the most recent painting in the mail the other day. and it is swoon-worthy.

the first painting is my new acquisition, "italian eggplant with peppers". such a beautiful style. the second is "squash", a fine illustrative piece. the third is "henry's pumpkin", my first purchase of brilliance (look at those brush strokes!).

Loobylu's "what's hot/what's not"

i sometimes read a blog called "LoobyLu". she sometimes does a thing where she lists what is hot in her life, and what is not. i've been tempted to join her. she freely invites one and all to do so, and to link up to her post so you can see what i hot/not in other people's lives. like a big social experiment. or a big snoop. should i? or is it too lame?

sweater in progress

working on a sweater for me. first sweater i've ever done. a pretty big project. the biggest yet. in this photo i'm about 25 rows into it. the pattern calls for 115 rows. i will be making it slightly bigger.:) i am now about 40-some rows into it. it's a challenge, but a beauty.

chalkboard

i love jack's new chalkboard! it's one of those gifts that keeps on giving. it's great to share art with my child. over and over! and it's a learning tool! i foresee long hours practicing the alphabet and numbers. it is pretty sweet.

coffee water

you know you like coffee when you drink an iced mocha... and about 20 minutes later take a hard suck to drink up the melted ice cube water in the bottom on the cup that has a trace of coffee residue on it. yum! and i'll do it again!

jack loves a baby

jack just loves babies. it's like a magnetic attraction. jack..................baby! he loves to hold them. here he is holding my cousin tiffany's baby. isn't baby annika sweet? jack missed his nap today. he actually fell asleep holding her! i got it on my camera's video. how precious is that?

Happy New Year! welcoming in a new decade

this was jack's first decade. it was kind of cool to document it. i don't suppose my parents let me stay up until midnight in 1979.:) we had the best time!!! we went to dan's sister's house and ate appetizers (a lot) and played Wii (a lot). it was so unbelievably fun. i actually didn't want to end the night! but, my ride was leaving.:) so, here's to a new year. Happy New Year!

maryn visits

i met maryn when we were in college at pcc. she is amazing. she married a guy from the area and we get to see each other from time to time when they visit. here we are in the wal-mart parking lot. lame! i meant to take a photo at Christmas Point where we had a lovely lunch... but i forgot. this was all i could get before we parted ways until next time.

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jack finally rode on one of those quarter machine rides. until this victorious ride, he wailed whenever one of these started moving. sitting on it motionless was fine... moving? SCARY BEYOND BELIEF!!!!:) of course, this means that whenever we go to wal-mart he'll want to ride. oh shoot.

let's play with benson!!!

we love benson. jack and benson are buddies. it's ok that jack is 2 1/2 and benson is approx. 15 months. they both love tractors and looking out the living room window. we have a lot of fun together. i love taking photos of them eating their sweet little boy lunches.:) in the last photo, benson is NOT choking. he is blinking while chewing with his mouth open. funny, right?:)

homemade bread

it's cold outside! i finally feel like heating up my kitchen with loaves of hot, fresh bread. the loaves crackle when you set them on the cooling rack! jack and i love to eat it hot from the oven with honey. sigh............