elles's 2nd birthday sweater

i knit this for elles for her 2nd birthday. angie said, "make it big!". as you can see... it's huge!:) she can wear it for years. it might not hold up for years... but it's big enough to! still using jack for sizing. i don't think this will scar him for life.

little miss miller's, and playing catch-up

i'm playing catch-up. i have a whoooooole lot of photos to post to my blog. these are from the last visit of my sister and her girls. tomorrow i leave with jack to go visit them!:P what a goof. anyway, we had a blast when they came -- going to the beach, paul bunyanland, lighting fireworks, and hanging out. can't wait to go see them tomorrow!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! i'm sure the 8 hr. drive (stretched to 9 by the usual food and potty breaks) will just fly by.:)

my little bitty nieces

angie, her husband, and the kids stayed for a few days after grandpa's memorial. the kids all played together and had an awesome time. i love to watch them play together. they played on the swings, on the bikes, ate pop-a-sicles, watched "spongebob squarepants", and hugged each other. LOVE IT!

butterfly

another butterfly has flown off my needles. this hat was for elerene, to replace the wool one that my sister SHRUNK! horror! anyway, it's the same yarn as my butterfly hat. isn't it a beauty? i think this was the 12th or 13th butterfly. this is a beautiful, fun, easy pattern. i'm a big fan.:)

Christmas '09 at angie's, or...i can't fit in my pants anymore

dad, mom, jack and i took a little roadtrip to be with angie and family for their first Christmas in Minot, North Dakota. it was such a blessing to be able to have the time available to do it! 5 days of fun fun fun!:)

the road trip could have been more fun. did not see a single culver's, starbucks, or caribou coffee from baxter to minot (we didn't go through bemidji, mn. there may have been signs of civilization there!). i was dying for a coffee on the way out and did find a very nice mom-n-pop joint in devils lake, no dak. on the way back it was sunday and it was closed. well, Praise the Lord and boo hoo!:) oh, and did i mention jack's blow out diaper? and the burger king that didn't have a changing table? not fun.

Christmas at angie's was fun. we had to open gifts the first night because the kids were wound up out of their minds and we were going out of ours.:) jack was as excited as predicted about his "d-tar" from auntie angie and uncle matt. jack loves to play his guitar and make up songs. the girls seemed very pleased with the headbands, and doll hats and scarves i knit them.

the Christmas food was our usual feast of naughtiness: swedish tea rings galore, huge taco dip, egg bake, homemade pancakes, french dip sandwiches...where's the veggies?! who cares?!:) ha ha! i think there were a few eaten in the five days. and some fruit. oh, and i am sure there were some diced veggies in the food the night we went out for chinese. i am sure that counted. anyway... Merry Christmas it was!

elerene's 8th birthday hat

elerene turned 8 on sept. 7th. my spunky niece just loves purple. she looked so great in my green "butterfly" hat. can't wait to see her in her very own butterfly hat! love you, ele!

elles's birthday jumper

finished elles's 1st birthday jumper. it fit perfect and she looked like a little dolly in it.

JUMP!

i have finished elles's 1st birthday jumper!!! it took me a very very long time. that's ok, that just means that it was as cool and as meaningful a present as i wanted it to be. it's not a lame knitted present... it is a TOTALLY AWESOME KNITTED PRESENT! if i do say so myself. now, must find some adorable buttons.

cluck cluck

one more photo from visiting the chickens with my nieces. enolea is a beauty.

a little chicken watching

watched my nieces (eme, nole, elles) the other day. took them, and jack, down the hill to see gramps's chickens. or "bwaks" as jack calls them. chickens are so entertaining.

ellis

"ellis. come. thank you." -- jack. i second that. i miss my ellis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

our Easter '09

great Easter. terrific Easter. hope yours was blessed. Hallelujah He arose!

under the table and dreaming

my sister, her husband, and their 4 girls came for an extended weekend stay. sunday night they came over to my house for homemade pizza dinner. we had a FAB time. i played candyland with the 2 older girls and got to watch my baby play with his cousins. enolea and jack are buddies. she and jack were playing with dolls under the table. emelea joined them when she noticed that i was going to take a photo.:) i miss those girls already.:(

Thanksgiving extravaganza!

Thanksgiving was fab. mostly because my sister and her girls stayed for a whole week! we had such a good time painting Christmas ornaments, baking pies, decorating cookies, birthday shopping with my niece emelea, holding my almost 3 month old niece elles, a play day at my house... i think this was the best visit yet. jack would agree with me. he loves playing with his cousins. he even loves elles. he kissed her about 6 times a day. here is a photo of jack admiring elles.

chair buddies

today angie's girls are playing at my house so that my mom and sis can get some shopping done. jack pulled his rocking chair up to the little recliner. the girls thought that it was great that they were all sitting in a row.:) pictured: jack, nole, eme.

face painting

i am having a fab week. my sis is here with her 4 girls. yesterday we painted Christmas ornaments. the girl's ornaments are angels and jack's is an elf. then i painted the girl's faces. elerene painted a lady bug on nole's face. she is a very naturally talented artist and i am very curious to see if she is the next generation of artist in our family.

what i painted on my face is a little joke. that's what my dad wrote on the back of his lawn tractor with reflective tape letters. ha ha. i am holding my little niece elles. she is a little over 2 1/2 months.

new baby girl

i love all my nieces. this is my newest, elles (like ellis island) angela miller. she is my sis's babe. she is only about 5 weeks old in this pict. she is a sweetie. i held her a lot when she came to visit. she brought back all these sweet little memories of jack that i had forgotten. that made the time doubly sweet. i wish she was here right now, sucking on my knuckle.:)

new name for miller girl #4!

not eleanor! angie and matt decided to call their fourth daughter, elles. like ellis island. elles angela miller. lissy for short. i visted her on saturday with jack and my dad. elles is sweet. can't wait to see her again. angie is doing ok. she is still in pain from her c-section. she is still in the hospital. hope she can get the help she needs to take care of the 4 girls in the next weeks. pray for them. thank you.

baby girl miller #4

my sister, angie, had her baby today sometime around noon. it was her 4th c-section. the baby girl was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches. she has thick, dark, wavy hair. angie says that explains the heartburn. the tentative name is eleanor angela. jack, my dad and i are going down to see the miller's tomorrow. i can't wait! this is my 5th neice. think of the great slumber parties i can have some day! will post photos as soon as possible.

ah yes, a snow... man?

last time my sis and her girls were here i suggested they make a snowman. i suggested they use one of my mom's bras. and then i suggested using my dad's underware. and they did. point of interest, i bought my dad the simpson's boxers for Christmas one year. doh!