H - is for "huh?"

I scanned this out of one of Big Boy's favorite books.
It is for real, and was not doctored in any way.

You know, I can only imagine how hard it is to come up with new and different things for kid's books. I mean personally, I TOTALLY get tired of the tired
A is for apple
B is for ball
C is for Cat... So, I really like it when folks come up with neat new things. BUT, don't you think they could have come up with something better for this particular "H is for Hamster...."?

How about "The Hamster is furry" or "The Hamster drinks water" ?
I about peed myself laughing when I came to it.

Yes, there is knitting news, but I am waiting for better light for photos. Knitting intensive post to come.

Bee and Flower say "Happy Halloween!"

Bee really enjoyed Halloween this year. As for Flower, well apparently, he was just humoring us, and came along for the ride. Clay has always been a "just go with it" child, but for some reason, he had an ATTACK when it came to putting on his bee outfit. He has had so few screaming fits, and I was really caught off guard by his reaction. I had NO idea what to do. As he stood there screaming, and I stood there staring at him, the whole scene started to strike me as hilariously funny. It took all of my power not to laugh at him while he was freaking out because the more the little bee flailed and ran in sobbing circles, the more the little bee antennae on the hood of the costume would violently bobble around; he honestly looked like a fat little crazed bee ... I had tears in my eyes from holding back the laughter. I finally convinced him that we were just "putting on his Bee coat because it is cold outside", and bang, that was it, he stopped in his tracks and was ready to go. That simple explanation made everything okay. Go figure.

It started to get dark while we were out trick-or-treating, and at one point he froze in his tracks looking at the sky. He had such awe in his voice when he looked at me and said "LOOK AT THE STARS! Mamma, Morgie, and Clay out at NIGHT! IN the DARK! Out in the DARK with STARS!!!!". It made my heart leap and melt. He has never been outside walking around at night. He has always seen stars through windows. This simple thing that we adults take for granted is all still so NEW to him. It was like he was completely blown away that something so spectacular and wonderful could happen to HIM. Forget the free candy, forget the bee coat! He was seeing the stars OUTSIDE in the DARK! The way he excitedly gripped my hand as we crunched through leaves as the wagon clattered along behind us was just purely exhilarating. This is the feeling that makes parenthood so rewarding. THIS is what it is all about.

I have been trying to get outside everyday because it will not be too much longer that our days will turn too cold and rainy to enjoy.
It has been clear and cold. In the early frosty morning air, you can feel winter starting to rise. We have been trying to get outside as much as we can. I have been slow to post because I have been kind of lost in the depths of my mind. It is fall, and when the air starts to cool, and the dampness of the night rains stay in the air through the cool mornings, I can smell the change in the air. I so love fall. The impossible colors of the morning and evening sky, the impossible colors of the trees. When these things start happening, and I am trying to take it all in at once, my mind goes internal, and i start thinking, and mulling. I get quiet, my mind grows calm, and rambling. Like a quiet little brook. Taking it's time to gurgle, and mingle amongst the rocks, moss, and leaves -- slowly slipping on, like it is taking it's good old sweet old time tasting every square inch of it's stream bed.
I don't know what brings this state of mind on. It borders primal instinct. The orange-ing of the pumpkins, and the reddening of the final tomatoes are just precursors to the change that is coming. Those warm, sunny afternoons when everything is warm to the touch, and yet the air is cool. It is like everything is nestling down, and getting ready for the long, cold sleep ahead. The trees had not yet started to turn, but they were *just* on the edge. It is like the trees were holding their breath untill the cold nip came ... then the sudden cold will made them sharply inhale, allowing the sap to start running back down into their roots. So fast, the suffocating leaves wonder what happened...leaving behind a palette that is simply breathtaking.


As I am still sluggish with the knitting news, I have been knitting, just not saying much about it. I will make up for this eventually, though. I have decided that this "intensive" post of fall photos will have to do. I say intensive just because there are a lot of photos, not because they are large files or anything. Until we get something faster than dial-up, I really have to scale down the size of my pics.

MS3

Yey! I finally got my yarn last Friday, just in time for the 4th clue to be released! We were in the midst of planning the birthday extravaganza, so I was not even able to properly feel on my yarn until Sunday night. Wow. It was SO worth the wait! I was a little upset that it too so long to get here (almost 2 weeks to the day), but I think the lady deserves a little slack, because hey, laceweight wool was in such high demand due to the MS3! I cannot believe that I made was able to sign up for the MS3 before the cutoff date! I am always the last to know things, and how I was lucky enough to get in on this one I will never know. I am loving the pattern! Lovely Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist is the leader and creator of the whole MS3 phenomenon. It is so beyond me how anyone designs beautiful lace things like this! It 's like, trying to understand how astronomers figure out the logistics of landing a rover on a distant planet (that's like, basically predicting the future, right?). Well, to me, it seems that designing lace is kind of the same thing.

I took a picture of my progress so far (I am still on Clue #1), see Slow Bee Badge to the right. Kind of sad that the photo does not do it justice (you can't even really see the beads on it!), but I really dont feel like looking for a good place to take the picture. I am pressed for time already, as it is. I HATE frogging, so because of this, I am SUPER cautious. As you can see, I have stitch markers, and life lines out the wazoo!

Zephyr wool/silk in Cassia, on size 4 (3.5mm) Takumis

The is the first knit-a-long I have participated in, but I am really hoping that Melanie will have a MS4 for next year (hint hint, Melanie)!

Our birthday celebration went really well this weekend! We had a bit of fun with it this year and kept Clay's gifts a total secret. Once he went to bed, we set everything up outside. So, Clay went to bed with the backyard looking like this ....

and woke up to this ....

He was simply ecstatic!

I also tried my hand at making him a cake this year.

He LOVED the cake. Well, let me clarify that ... he loved the TOYS on top of the cake. This is the second year in a row that Clay was not interested in the birthday cake! Last year he sat and stared at it like it was going to rear up and bite him. This year he stared at it like it was some gooey lump getting in the way of him playing with his trucks. Oh well, considering that the cake was not all that tasty, he really did not miss much ;) Let's just say that the decorations rocked...the cake did not.

No Bitchin' Camaro for you ...

I went to a particular web site this morning and signed my older son up in a Little Toy Car "VIP Club" that will hopefully keep him current with all of the popular, cool, and "hip" toy cars. 'Cuz we all know how important this is when you are a little boy and have a younger brother to impress.

You know which brand of toy cars I am talking about. Yeah, the ones we ALL played with. ANYHOOOO, I hesitated doing this because once these places get your information, you are through. Thing is, this little boy loves cars, so hey, why not let him have a little fun. Well, I figure now that they have my address I will probably start getting a TON of spam and toy junk mail -- but I know that if a piece of mail comes here with a picture of a car on it, well, my son will be ecstatic. So I sign up for this "service" and then find that this e-mail has been sent to me...

Thank you for applying to become a member of the "Little Toy Car" VIP Club. We are excited that you are a fan of "Little Toy Cars" and want to be part of this special group. We will let you know within one week whether or not you qualify. Thank you!

Whether or not I QUALIFY?
QUALIFY?
QUALIFY, MY ASS.

Man, I qualify so hard that they oughta just send us five free cars. Two for each of the boys, and one for me.
I'd like the Bitchin' Camaro, please.


I have TWO BOYS. What more do you need to meet up to their stringent Toy Car Club Membership standards? Thank goodness I did not tell them of my past history of accidentally letting the vacuum pressure in the SEM fall, so that for 12 hours we had to wait for it to stabilize again. (PHEW!) ... had they found THAT out, I am sure we would have been totally screwed! I had no idea that my past indiscretions could possibly affect my son's chance of being a part of the Little Toy Car VIP Club. Crap.