after a week off, knitting group resumed this morning. it went pretty well, though i did not get as much knitting done as i hoped i might. after everyone left, i surveyed the damage and surprisingly, the house wasn't as big a mess as i anticipated. especially the back porch, which is usually a disaster - little kitchen things everywhere... cups, suacers, plates, forks, pots and pans, plastic fruits and veggies, wooden food... lots of little kitchen pieces scattered about the porch. how nice to find it looking somewhat neat and tidy! then i started down the stairs and discovered the method used to create such a neat and tidy porch. all of the little pieces of the kitchen, as well as the magnets from the fridge, and every ball in the house had been thrown over the safety gate at the top of the stairs and down into the basement. the dogs looked up at me for some explaination. were these new toys for them? did we throw the toys down the stairs to taunt them? sadly, no, these toys were not for them to play with. and sadly, none of us mamas even noticed what our mischievous kids were up to. all day yesterday, adella kept saying, "open present. open present" i don't know where that came from, but i had to break her little heart and tell her that i didn't have any presents for her to open. so when a present for adella came in the mail today from nana, it was perfect timing! thanks, nana!