A New Year

4-H end of the year awards banquet

Changing some things up this year, hoping for a strong and productive year as the leader of the Dog club and the girlchild has signed up for rabbit club.  First item on the agenda, find a baby rabbit.

This will be a learning experience for all of us!

chugging away

Now that all the clocks have been turned back for winter, I find myself out of daylight to run sprints after work.  You will find me bright and early on Sunday mornings at the track...still chipping away at my new year's resolutions.

Four seconds and 7 weeks to get my mile time under 7 minutes....

Happy Weekend

I am absolutely in love with this race picture from the Color Me Rad run last weekend.  

That Boy

That backward glance

Those hands clasped tightly together

My world right there

First Communion

Emma, Will, and Grandma Cathy (that's my wedding veil on her head, yay!)

Hard to believe we have arrived at first communion already!

She was so excited.

We studied.

Memorized prayers.

Made crafts (Emma's teacher is amazing).

Did first confession.

And had a long talk about not making sour faces after tasting the communion wine.

Welcome to the table little one!

Scenes from this week

watching the winter olympics

 

"Hey mom, can we cheer for Canada?"

 

"Hey mom, how come we can't have a ski jump into the swimming pool?"

 

"Hey mom, did you see that?  That was a level 10 trick"

 

"Hey mom, can we make more popcorn?"

 

 

 



Working on it

The kids are working on their bravery

and the mama is working on letting them be brave without a giant plastic bubble

off the cuff

I made a pair of really cute, felted slippers for my sister for Christmas.  And then I went and gave them to her without taking one single picture of the finished project.

Doh!

I liked them so much I decided I need my own pair, so I guess there is still a chance for redemption.

After pouting, stomping about, and declaring I don't even love him, Bob said I could make it up to him by knitting him a hat that looks like Magna Charge (for those of us not in the know, here's a picture)

Ummm...clearly he has a lot more faith in my skills than I do.

And I could find nothing that looked like a pattern to follow online.

Here is what I came up with.  The hat was made on one of those circular looms (only because I was trying to teach Emma how to use it).
The eyeball is crochet AND glow in the dark....you really should be doubled impressed here!
And the magnet through the head is I-cord with pipe cleaners stuffed inside it.

Not too bad for having no idea what I was doing, I'd say!