Fun day at grandma and grandpas!

Caitlin riding her hot wheels tricycle. She can reach the peddles, but hasn't quite figured out how to actually use them to move. She just uses her feet on the ground to move...which means she catches the backs of her legs a lot!

Brendan wanted a photo with no hands! You almost can't see the training wheels hiding in the shadows...hehe. Silly kid!

These John Deere bikes were a gift to Cara and Brendan from Grandpa. He was trying to build a go-kart from the old lawnmower frame, but it just didn't work out....had to be scrapped. So he found these at the Farm & Country store. They are so cute and very well made! The kids loved them. You can see Cara took advantage of the little holder on the back....perfect place for her little puppy!

Silly grins from Brendan...he loves to pose for the camera!

Sister and brother getting along for 2 minutes! This is a great photo of them...I will cherish this one.

My children....
Cara....8 years old and very flighty and creative like her mommy(gets distracted VERY easily!) ;) She will be very tall and thin like her daddy. Her cheeks are pink from lots of playing outside at Grandma's and Grandpa's house this past Sunday, the 22nd. This past weekend was so beautiful! Unseasonably warm...high 70's - low 80's, but who's complaining!!!??? I did get a lovely sunburn though...crazy...sunburn in central NY in April...hmm. So I'm a little bit sore and I think my shoulders will peel...sigh.

Mr. Brendan....he's quite the little guy. Tons of energy, gets bored easily and is very silly! Brendan is 6 and is almost done with Kindergarten already...hard to believe. He's reading simple books now, since he's learned many basic sight words. He's very proud of himself.

And last, but not least...Caitlin. My little whirlwind! Caitlin is 2 and growing so fast. She's finally putting words together...we're all guilty of talking for her...so she's had no real need to talk! She's very smart though...remembers so many things! This picture was taken when she was sitting in daddy's recliner watching some cartoons. She loves PBS shows like Curious George, Clifford, the end of Sesame Street with Elmo's World and then Caillou after that. That's part of the morning routine. They are not all one after the other, so we do things together, then she watches a show while I work on my spinning or household chores. And sometimes I just sit with her and knit or spin and I ask her questions about what's happening in the show. Lots of mommy and Caty time....I just love it. :)

Around my house....

These are pretty daisy mums from my MIL for Easter. Flowers are amazing....they ALWAYS make me think of God and his creative nature....now that's an imagination.

This is the start of a baby blanket for my sister, Jackie's first baby, due at the end of June. My first pattern was a circular afghan, but I had to tear it out three times...I would never finish it at that rate...it's was making me mad..that's when I knew I needed to quit!!! This one is a simple basketweave pattern in, I think, Bernat baby yarn. This I can do...and it works up rather quickly. I also used a bigger needle...size 9 or 10 1/2. The afghan will be more open...better suited for warmer weather.

Just a neat shot of the table in the corner of my living room. The table was painted by my husband's Aunt Steph, who passed away last year from cancer. She is very much missed and this table will always bring back memories. The little baby in the front photo is my husband's only neice, Myah. She is a little over 4 months old now....and SOOO adorable. The picture on the right is of me and my little brother, Joshua. I think that was taken the year I got pregnant with Brendan...2000. Joshua is 21 years younger than me! The photo in the back is of Caitlin, our youngest...that was taken last fall. The photo on the left, sorry you can't see it that well...is of Caitlin at Grandma and Grandpa's last summer on her Hot Wheels bike! She just loves it...and every time she sees the picture, she wants to ride. :) Hopefully this year she'll be able to almost reach the peddles!

The plants are all from Price Chopper....they were having a great sale...2 for $2.50! My house needs more plants...and that price was too good to pass up. Tomorrow one of my projects is to re-pot them into slightly bigger pots that I found at the $1 store.

Gotta love great deals!

Fiber Fun

This is one of the projects I've been working on this week. The above photo is a nice-sized pile of hand-carded llasa apso dog hair from Debby's dogs. The fiber arrived in the box below....big balls of fiber. Much of this batch can be picked apart and spun, but if I want a more even yarn, I need to go through the whole box, picking out any matts or really rough guard hairs....then handcard with two dog slicker brushes. It takes quite a bit of time, but the finished yarn is so very nice!

This gorgeous pile of fiber to spin is my goal for the next two weeks, maybe three. The orange and pink roving was dyed by Jared, who lives in Kingston, Ontario. His mom and I are friends...we trade fibers....once angoras and my Kiwi wheel came from her. :) The dark brown roving is a CVM x Merino blend from Royal Fibers in California. If I don't sell most of the yarn, I'll be knitting myself a new pair of mittens for next winter!
I think I will be able to spin most during that time....lots of inside time this next week. A lovely late-season Nor'easter is due Monday....blah. And I was so looking forward to getting out a little early and flatten out my big pile of dirt for my back flowerbed. Oh well. The poor plants around here just don't know whether to keep growing or go back to sleep! Today was rainy with a little wet snow and just kinda gloomy...I was very tired today...just wanted to lay down and take a nap. But that just didn't happen with all three kids home on school break this week. Whew...it's been a short but long week...if you catch my drift. ;)

I think this is one of my favorite handspun yarns....it's Superwash Colonial wool I purchased on Etsy.com from seller 'ashabee'. Very good price and the roving spins up SOOOOO quickly! It just flows through my hands. I bought two other rovings from her....the red and pink, and the pink, white and brown braids in the picture above.

Did I ever mention how much I love fiber and spinning???????? I will never tire of the beautiful colorways that people come up with.....and then there's the angora rabbit wool...my most favorite EVER...........nothing can compare in my opinion!!

My cat is weird.....

I walked by the toy area on my way downstairs this morning and realized what Angel was doing. I laughed so hard....she was just chilling out, soaking up some rays. I ran to get the camera and thankfully she hadn't moved. My husband is right...every pet I've owned is weird...but I think Angel wins this one hands down!!

And here's Angel...she's almost 6 months old already! She is a very beautiful cat, half tiger and half calico...a very unique coloring. She is quite the ditz though...she gives me lots of laughs, but drives Sean crazy. She loves water....loves to sit in the sink or on the edge when I do the dishes. She even fell in the tub when I was taking a shower one day. It didn't seem to bother her too much. And the other day she was watching the second hand on the clock tick away. A very curious cat indeed! She is sweet too....she loves to sit on the desk when I'm at the computer, sometimes trying to catch the mouse cursor on the screen and she'll sleep on my lap when I'm spinning or knitting. Keeps me warm...who needs a blanket!?

Valentine's Day!

My dear, sweet husband brought me these surprises home last night...a beautiful mini rose, chocolate and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. He really made my day. :) The night before, I gave him his gift...a very soft and cuddly microfiber blanket to match his recliner. He loved it. He very much looks forward to relaxing in his chair each night after a long day on his feet.
Last night I made dinner and got all dressed up for him...I wore a pretty dress and did my hair...which did exactly what I wanted it to for a change!! And yes, he did notice.

We're all ready for spring!!!

It's still snowing her in Oswego County, NY. Last week the lake effect continued for about a week, with some towns receiving WELL over 100". Tuesday night a Noreaster hit and ended last night. We received about a foot here. Now a little bit of lake effect is kicking in again. Shoveling is getting old....the snowbanks are so high in some places that it's very difficult to throw the snow over them. I often have to push the snow to another lower bank. Needless to say, I'm getting lots of great exercise this month!
The photo above is a view out the back door, looking at our garage and driveway. The poor Neon has been sitting for over 2 months now, waiting for it's fate. You can see the piles of snow on the porch railings of our neighbor's house...which is vacant now...so no one has shoveled in the past month.

Another view out the back door, looking at the side of the garage. That pile was a lot higher until the kids played on it. It was easily more than halfway up the side of the garage!

A view looking out our front door. You can see the trash can across the street and the bank next to it. Most are much higher than that...and you have to remember that a lot of the snow has compacted.

A closeup of the neighbor's garage across the street and the houses behind.

This is looking out our front window to the left. That maple tree is at the edge of our driveway and the telephone pole is at the other side. Those banks are so high, I cannot throw the snow over them anymore. I have to push most of the snow from the bottom of the driveway up to where the little apple tree is(on the left side of the photo).

Latest projects and more....

A nice batch of little batts I made with leftover fibers. These will all be spun to use for crocheting granny squares for a swap with Debra. The last 4 squares I've made are below.

I crocheted one mitten for Cara yesterday...the other will be done today. I'm using Lion Brand's Jiffy yarn...thick and fuzzy and warm! Too bad it's too cold for the kids to go outside today. Many of the schools around here closed for the day due to bitter cold temperatures and a nasty wind chill. The lake effect snow is hitting again and it's looks like we've already received 6 inches in the last 3 hours! And from the looks of the radar, it might be sticking around for a little while.

A knitted scarf in progress with TLC's Macaroon yarn in the colorway Raspberry. I'm using size 13 needles, so this will knit up very quickly. Each skein is 115 yards.

I visited our local dollar store, Real Deals, and found this yarn...yep, $1 a skein!!! The multi yarn is Moda Dea Swirl in a color called Tinker...SOOOO soft! The blue yarn is Moda Dea Tutu in a color called Cabana Blue. These yarns are not cheap when bought at full price...so I was VERY happy to find these. Most of this yarn will become scarves or headbands or wrist warmers or fingerless gloves!

Caitlin's 2nd Birthday!

I totally forgot to post these photos(thank you Aunt Bonnie for reminding me!!). We celebrated Caitlin's birthday the evening of the 12th. It was just the five of us at home. Caitlin loved opening her gifts...we gave her a cute wooden train set and extra trains. She just loves it! We thought she would like her own set...she's always playing with her brother's!