One Day at a Time...

4 yr old & 2 yr old at our favorite farm

some of our favorite little sheepies

Jeepers creepers, the days keep flying by, don't they? A big thank you to those who sent well-wishes and sweet comments. It's nice to not be forgotten, isn't it?

the 1st two 9-patch blocks for a scrappy quilt

all stacked up, waiting for the pile to grow...

The last couple weeks have been filled to the rim with field trips, gardening, music lessons, doctor visits, and time consuming tasks like grocery shopping and a fabric store run, all the while getting run down by some annoying virus that I'm pretty sure was NOT the h1n1 (swine) flu...

the green beans are nearing ready to pick!

Last week started off with another midnight ER run with an asthmatic daughter Sunday night into Monday morning. For the record, I am not a mother who runs to the doctor every time a child has a runny nose, a cough or sneeze, or a possible ear infection. People get sick, immune systems are there for a reason.

the first of the cherry tomatoes! (in strawberry stained bucket!)

I typically try to turn first to good diet (including lots of garlic!), good sleep, vitamins, herbs, etc... in almost any case, before we head to the place where sick people congregate, so we can pick up more germs... ugh... (We went to urgent care for a crazy hair tourniquet on a baby toe a couple years ago, and had a child in the hospital a week later due to the virus -viruses trigger her asthma- I know she picked up after being coughed directly on by an extremely snotty nosed toddler in the waiting room, ick!) That being said, when an asthmatic kid's O2 levels stay down in the mid-80%s after 3 nebs (breathing treatments), it's time to go in.

one of my favorite things to look at (and smell!), tomatoes on the vine...

Anyhoo, viruses and asthma have nothing to do with knitting, but they do have much to do with my life at times, and I suppose they do affect my knitting...

our struggling corn, our garden is behind and this global cooling isn't helping any...

I had a simple scarf with for my hospital knitting this last time and I think I only knit 6 rows- I was just too tired... I think the next day was when the virus had me down the most, which, I'm sure has much to do with the way immune systems don't function quite as well when the body is extremely fatigued. One good side (there are many!) of having teens and almost tweens is that mom can get a nap when she needs it. I needed it, I got it, and I'm feeling much better now- and so are the kids, though there are some lingering tickly throat coughs...

Another weekend down, another busy week underway- with only 1 appt (2 girls & a pulmonologist) is scheduled, so here's hoping for lots of productiveness on my free days! I've got some cleaning to do so I can feel sane, some school planning to do so I can feel prepared, and lots of crafty sewing and knitting ideas that are itching to work their way out of my head and sketchbooks and into some form of reality- Time to get this show on the road!

I hope you all enjoy this last week of July, it's the last July we'll get this year, so let's all make the most of it!

Happy knitting-

ali

Wordless Wednesday 7.15.2009

Enjoying summer grilling!
Happy knitting-
ali

The Kids Are Knitting

In a last minute attempt to not miss the entry deadline, again, the entry forms are printed, the trip to town (to drop them off) is planned, and the knitting is underway- 3 kids, 3 skeins of 'kitchen cotton', 3 sets of needles, and 3 soon-to-be washcloths destined for the County Fair. The fun is in the air now, let me tell you...

My 10, 8, & 6 yr olds are all currently giving me yet another cause to beam with parental pride. Ribbons or no ribbins, I just love to see them knitting!

Kid Funny-

Overheard this morning-

10 yr old son- "I think I'll keep knitting when I'm an adult. I could even teach my wife."

8 yr old daughter- "What if she already knows how?"

10 yr old son- "That will save me a few minutes."

Now that he's got that all figured out...

Happy knitting-
ali

Making Me Smile This Week 7.11.09

• Strawberries! Strawberries! and more Strawberries!!
• The Autofocus System
• Good friends
• Cafe breves
• Time in the garden pulling weeds, yes, I like that part
• A couple quiet moments with my thoughts, my plans, my lists...
• Snow cones!
• Time spent nursing Baby J, who is growing way too fast
• 2 yr old, Little M, insisting on making her own peanut butter & jelly sandwich, "I do it!", and then licking the knife clean
• A week without asthma problems
• Is Your Mama a Llama? , again...
• My visual journal version
• 4 yr old trying to "out-help" the bigger kids!
• Casting on with Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton
• Blogging with bacon

What's making you smile this week?

Happy knitting-

ali

7 Kids, 1st MRI

Last summer, when there were still only six of them, we had our first CT scan; you may remember the bike meets toddler face incident...

Last fall, our 9 yr old son took a fall in the backyard playing soccer. Kids fall. Kids get hurt. Kids get better. We rub off minor aches and pains and get back to the living part of life. He said his wrist hurt, it wasn't bruised or swollen, so we told him to ice it a bit and then take it easy. Every few weeks he'd do something that would make it hurt; he'd complain, rub on it, ice it sometimes, and then get on with life, not mentioning it again for several more weeks. Well, a few rounds of several weeks translates into months later- more complaining, and "Mom, it hurts more than ever." Hmmm, not good.

To the doc's we went. They x-rayed, thinking he perhaps had a tiny break in one of the many little bones in the wrist, which can go unnoticed and not really heal right... but nope, his bones are in great shape. So next it was the non-surgical orthopedist, yikes. He palpated and palpated, and twisted and flexed, and lo, and behold, there was a bulge, a bulge we'd never seen before, and bingo, when the doc pressed there, it hurt something fierce.

Soft tissues don't show up on x-rays, so this kid, newly 10 yrs old, will be our first child to get an MRI. Golly, if we didn't meet this year's deductible with the 6 yr old's 3 nights in the hospital last week, surely this should put us over the top!

So far, this year's July has been all about doctor visits, with appointments each week for the next 3 weeks as well. I wanted to be sure to get out of the house this summer (intentional living!), but this isn't what I had in mind!. I definitely need more mostly mindless travel knitting;

must pack a good bag!

I managed to get 3 washcloths done during hospital duty last week, so I'm pretty good in that department for now- and I get to cross that one off of my summer knitting goals list! Woohoo! I'm thinking a baby pullover and maybe some baby and kid socks should travel well... what do you usually knit in waiting rooms?

Gotta go process some strawberries... :-)

Happy knitting-

ali

Wordless Wednesday 7.8.2009

Hope your 4th was great!

Happy knitting-

ali

Making Me Smile This Week 7.3.09

Ideally, there would be another post or two in between these Friday 'Making Me Smile' posts, but no sooner did I start something new, to go with the new season, than life got crazy- crazier than usual.

Our 6 yr old's asthma began to flare up pretty bad last Saturday. We stepped up the meds, but they seemed to have no impact on the wheezing and her O2 level began a steady decline. After falling asleep it dipped into dangerous territory (right after back-to-back nebs) and we were off to the ER, a place this particular child knows too well. That doesn't make me smile, that makes me sad. But she's a trooper and a good sport and she likes getting new stuffed animals from the nurses and stickers! Stickers make kids smile, and smiling kids make mamas smile. It's nice how that works out.

So, let's see, making me smile this week-

• 6 yr old coming home after 3 nights in the hospital!
• 9 yr old leaving the land of single digits and entering the promised land of double digits!
• The way the youngers scavanged for 'presents' for new 10 yr old- they gave of their own toys, and even managed to wrap up his own compass and 'give' it to him for his birthday- too cute!!
• Baby J deciding to try real crawling
• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks right out my window
• Orioles coming to the feeder
• Listening to my 15 yr old fiddle
• Angel Lush with Pineapple- so easy! and so refreshingly yummy!
• The simple joys of hand-knit washcloths (knitting content! see, it's still a knitting blog!)
• A husband home to take boys mountain biking- even if there was a black bear sighting, and no pictures! what good is a handy dandy little point and shoot if you don't bring it with you and point and shoot?!!
• My new chairs- that was a great $10 spent! Yay for yard sales!

Have a fantabulous holiday weekend- if you've got kiddos, try some of these Independance Day printables, or maybe pass some time making a zillion 5 pointed stars with 1 snip, and let me know what you think!

Time to head out for some personal pan pizza party fun, inhalers in tote.

Happy knitting-

ali

*mental note- get pics off of camera and onto computer before sitting down to blog next time...