at the end of a very busy week, we decided to forgo a hike in the woods with mama and kids friends and stay at home to enjoy the beautiful day. we started this morning with a trip to Lowe's for some garden supplies. adella had a great time jumping in the puddles and running through the aisles of plants and flowers. we bought some potting soil and a few herbs and a bunch of annual flowers. you know i take pictures of everything around here, and i was looking through some pics of the garden from last year. it just so happens, these were taken a year ago tomorrow (the 29th)... and here's a few from today: of course the flowers i bought today are still wee little things, but soon they will grow up big and strong! when they do, you can be sure i'll post pictures. in knitting news, i finished adella's #2 bucket hat a few days ago. it still needs to be blocked and shaped, but adella likes it just fine without it. last night i started a slip-stitch knitted basket - here it is so far: let's see...what else? adella's become my backseat driver. i've been teaching her about traffic lights, and now she points out every single one and says, "green! GO!!" or, "red! STOP!!" she's really helpful. we all just got back from a very stress-free (suprised?) trip to super wal-mart for some much-needed grocery shopping. adella talked us into buying her a $4 bottle of bubble bath in the shape of a yellow care bear. i don't even think she knows it has bubble bath inside it - she just saw "yellow bear" and had to have it. so now, off to bed. little bug is in the bath now (don't worry, stig is with her) and soon she'll be off to bed. stig and i are planning to watch some movie - 'island' beofre i fall asleep on the couch. and *sigh* off to work early tomorrow... have a great weekend everyone.

adella's latest impossibly cute activity: before bedtime we always read a few stories with adella. then she goes off to bed, with a cup of water and t. bear. lately, she's been letting t. bear pick out the stories. it's so cute. she'll take him over to the bookshelf and hold his little stuffed paw out, grab a book and hold it in his paw and bring it over to us to read. then she'll hop up on the couch and say, "good choice!"

so like i was saying... the weather forecast wasn't looking good. but we decided to go ahead - we had a rainy-day back-up plan in place. here we are, excited and ready to go! we drove through thunderstorms almost the entire drive to knoxville, but we didn't let it dampen our spirits (bad pun, i know. i couldn't resist). earlier in the week, i noticed adella's sunhat was missing. i decided to make her a new one, and was determined to finish it by the time we got there, hoping that we'd have some sun to shield her eyes from. i started it last night, and this is what i started with today: once we got into the knoxville area, the rain stopped! yay! looks like our luck was changing... but the hat. only 10 rows away from finishing, and we pulled into the parking lot. meanwhile, at the zoo... that's a camel! a couple of funny signs: if you look closely, you will learn that the gorilla's Scientific Name is gorilla gorilla gorilla. very clever. and here is gorilla gorilla gorilla looking at adella. she was asking the gorilla its' name and then saying, "name. adella." baby bird no little baby car for her - adella wanted the real thing! in the petting area, they handed out brushes to the kids to brush the goats! adella and daddy milking a cow! beavers! our zoo adventure over, we had one last treat for the ride home - animal crackers!

aarrgggggg.... the weather forecast isn't looking so good now. yesterday it said sunny and 65 in knoxville. now it says 70% chance of thunderstorms. what to do? to be continued....

not much time today, and i know i promised pictures, but i have to break that promise. you see, i thought i had pictures on the camera, but there are none. sorry. but if the weather cooperates, soon there will be zoo pictures! we're planning to drive over to knoxville tomorrow, so you can bet that there will be lots and lots of pictures very soon. for now, adella is taking a much-needed nap. i spent my much-needed co-op time doing three of my favorite things: having coffee with friends buying yarn buying flowers and plants later everyone!

knitting report

sorry folks, but adella's having another no-nap day, so i don't have much time for posting right now... hopefully tonight after she is in bed. check back and there will be pictures. for now, a knitting report: clapotis is finished!! finally. i love love love the way it turned out. super nice yarn, fun pattern, and it came out beautifully and feels great. it's nice a lightweight, so i can wear it bunched up as a scarf, or wide as a shawl. the top picture is a pretty true-to-color picture. the other two look a bit washed out to me. and it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it is a trapezoid shape. i haven't blocked it yet, but if/when i do, it may end up as more of a rectangle. i wore it proudly to my knitting group this morning.

more rain today... i just looked at the forecast and saw that we're expected to get thunderstorms for the next two days. i can't complain though - my plants love it. the garden is coming along so nicely - almost all of my plants from last year made it through the winter, and they are coming up so big and strong. next week i'm planning to start planting some annuals and herbs - i can't wait! i think that will be my plan for tuesday morning's co-op. oh, and! i think we're going to the zoo on wednesday! weather permitting, of course. it's going to be so much fun! i noticed today that the hippies are back. didn't i tell you about the hippies? our next door neighbors' daughter is in a band now (don't know the name), and they travel around in a big black school bus. i guess they're on break or something, because they've been parked outside all week, wandering barefoot from the house to the bus, from the bus to the house. sometimes they'll start twirling ribbony things around or stand in the yard (just stand). they seem very nice though - sometimes they'll wave at us. none of them seems interested to talk to me or adella, but we've had an interesting time watching them. adella likes the bus. anyway, they left a couple days ago, but this morning i noticed the bus (how could i not notice) parked outside again. it will be sad to see them go again, since they've been a source of entertainment and wonder for us this week. pretty exciting times for our quiet little street. we are lucky to have some really nice neighbors. and they like us too - they've told us a few times before that we are the best neighbors ever. so, another quiet day at home for us. sort-of boring, i know, but that's fine with me. i'll settle for a day of quiet knitting and playing and reading and yes, maybe the lion king. here's adella, looking bored but cute as ever. i got a letter in the mail from our high school valedictorian. seems my 10 year high school reunion is set for august. will i go? probably not. #1. it cost money #2. i don't have money #3. most of the 'festivities' begin at 8 p.m. what would i do with adella? #4. as i've always said, anyone who i want to really keep in touch with, i probably already do. not that it wouldn't be fun to see everyone again. if we could afford it, i'd definitely go. but i can think of a lot of other things that i'd spend my money on first, like groceries, mortgage payment, electricity. you know - important things.

i took a quick trip to the fabric store tonight, and when i got home, stig was in the kitchen making dinner. it's hard for me to stop myself from cleaning and tidying while stig cooks, but i'm trying. sometimes it's better if i don't even look at the mess. as soon as i came in, he quickly ushered me out of his way and declared himself (and i quote), "a hurricane of flavor, baby. comin' atcha!" so i hightailed it out of the kitchen... meanwhile, in the livingroom, adella and i drew on the aquadoodle. she was making 9's over and over. then she asked me to make an A, so i drew a bunch of them for her. and look - she colored one in! perfectly, inside the lines, and completely filled in. she is always surprising me - doing new things. just like that... all of a sudden she can do something i've never even seen her attempt before. what a genius. oh, and speaking of genius... look what we can do!

though we meet every week for potluck/playgroup, it has been many months since we actually brought food and tried to sit down and eat. when the kids were tiny, it was so easy - they slept in their carriers while we sat and ate and talked, and enjoyed a nice leisurely potluck lunch. once they kids started wanting to eat the food, and especially once they become mobile, it got harder and harder to have a real potluck. anyway, for today's potluck we decided to meet at a playground, and a few of us even went so far as to bring food! we were careful to bring food that didn't require plates, so we ended up with cookies, muffins, and fruit. not too bad. the kids were busy playing, and just stopped by occasionally to cram a sandy handful of food into their mouths, and then they were off again. adella brought her soccer ball, and even played a cooperative game of 'soccer' with sean. the whole game lasted only a few minutes, but it was cute to see them starting to learn that it actually is more fun to play ball with someone, instead of just trying to keep the ball for themselves. that's my girl - going UP the twisty slide. it's her favorite thing at the playground now, after she saw a group of big kids doing it. i'm not too crazy about it, but i guess as long as she's not holding up slide traffic... the prettiest tree in the world. i have no idea what kind it is. anyone know? "cheese!"

we woke up this morning to a nice dark thunderstorm. thunder and lightning and rain, rain, rain. the perfect morning to snuggle under the covers and sleep in. but no. little bug woke me up early and said, "mom! cereal and milk and raisins!" i kept mumbling something about daddy being in the kitchen, that daddy would get her the cereal. but no. it had to be mommy. the rest of the morning was just as stormy. adella and i headed down to the library to get some new books and videos, and arrived just in time for storytime. after stories and some playing with the other kids and a few laps around the library while crawling and saying, "eek! eek!" we headed home. i am determined to be productive today, so while adella watched a counting video, i mopped the kitchen floor and knit a partner for the baby bootie that i knit last night. another baby shower for someone at work is coming up, and i'm doing another cute hat and bootie set for her. the storm has stopped for now, but it is SO wet that i doubt we'll be able to play outside today. boo. adella and i can entertain ourselves inside i guess. maybe i can take her to the train table at b&n and get myself some fancy coffee. there are several new knitting books i've been wanting to check out. good idea, me! okay - time to be productive again. adella's taking her nap and the clock is ticking...

in very un-liz fashion, i did not take any pictures during co-op this morning! i think i carried the camera around, but for some reason i didn't actually take any pictures. we had babysitting co-op at our house this week, and jessie and i lucked out and got a small group today. two of the kids are out of town, so we had a nice easy morning. the day started off a little cool and cloudy, but of course the kids didn't mind, so we played outside almost the whole three hours. little bug is taking a nap now, and i'm going to try and work out some technical problems with the computer. then i can reward myself with a visit to the sudoku site. i'm getting much better and much faster. i can just feel the little synapses in my brain connecting and forging new pathways. so, more later. hope everyone is having a nice day. by the way, where is everyone? where are my comments, people? surely you can offer a 'how cute!' or something. are you still out there?

spring!

the hunt is on

so, adella's first easter egg hunt... i'll just skip right to the pictures. you want me to do what? an egg-laying bunny? trying to help, i said, "hey adella - look up here!" i guess she didn't see that i was pointing to the porch and not the sky. this may look like a happy sugary smile, but she is actually about to spit the jelly bean right out of her mouth. adella didn't like the jelly beans! can you believe it? she put the first one in her mouth and just as she was saying, "yummy," a shiver ran through her body and she made a 'yucky' face and spit the jelly bean out. then she gave it to me to eat. this was the biggest shocker of the day. maybe the raisins would have been a better idea after all... she ended up giving me and stig every single jelly bean. and because i like to model good 'trying the things you're not sure about eating' technique, i ate every one that she gave me. ugh. i'm happy to report that adella is quickly becoming an egg-hunting pro. and the little bears inside the eggs were a huge hit. she's been sorting them into their color-coded cups, lining them up, and putting them back into their eggs and re-hiding them, then re-finding them, and re-living the magic all over again.