On the sixth day after Christmas, my children left for me…

6 Bikes For Riding (well…there’d be more, but since the Daddy Man isn’t here to ride…)

5 Funny Faces

4 Fluffy Scarves

3 Cranky Kitties

2 Pampered Pooches

and

1 Tired momma asleep in her chair

On the fifth day after Christmas, my children left for me…

5 Funny Faces (Don’t worry I see this every day.  It’s normal!)

4 Fluffy Scarves

3 Cranky Kitties

2 Pampered Pooches

and

1 Tired momma asleep in her chair

On the fourth day after Christmas, my children left for me…

4 Fluffy Scarves (ready to be neatly put away…well, a mom can dream, right?)

3 Cranky Kitties

2 Pampered Pooches

and

1 Tired Momma asleep in her chair

Ok, so speaking of scarves, here’s two more woven scarves since Christmas.  One was a rush order and since I was blessed with being able to weave nearly all of Thursday, I was able to get this one done in one day from warping to being cut off the loom.  I tied fringe on Friday morning and wet set it.

Made using KnitPicks alpaca/silk lace weight for the warp in the Stained Glass Colorway.  It’s a variegated yarn so I didn’t expect the color striping to turn out as it did, but I personally was thrilled with it.  It’s really interesting to follow the trail and see one set of color blocks change to the next set of color blocks.  It was unplanned and I don’t think I could repeat it if I tried.  I had exactly enough warp yarn and pretty much prayed through the whole day that no threads would break or disasters would befall me.  No worries at all.  Everything went smooth as silk and even Jac commented that I generally don’t get something done that fast.  Its a name draft scarf and I really hope the person receiving it will like it. 

I started this one Tuesday afternoon and finished it Wednesday afternoon.  I put it aside to work on the name draft scarf (above) so I finished the fringe Friday.

The warp is natural bamboo and the weft is hand painted (by me) cotton.  I did start out with a design idea, then got the call for the special order so I changed to plain weave and then did a design on the opposite end to match.  I see a blouse in my future using bamboo.  At first it was very course and stiff, but after the wet set and a cold press then steaming after dry, it’s really soft and the drape is great.  While I had 8 kids in the house this afternoon playing Scene It, I hand tied beads to the fringe.  Not really sure why I decided to do that, but the teenagers in the house (even the boys) all declared it “awesome” so I am taking that as a compliment.

One of the boys visiting asked Chris if he thought I would weave a scarf for his mom for her upcoming birthday.  Chris said sure I would but asked if he afford my price.  Chris quoted a price to him (which wasn’t too far off from what I would normally charge)  The boy got together with his brother and they decided that yes, they would be willing to pay that price for their mom.  When Chris told me this, my heart melted. These are two really sweet boys and should they indeed decide to have me weave their mom a scarf, I am sure I will cut them a break. :)  I am going to miss these boys when they move late next month and I know Josh and Chris will too.

And finally a crackle scarf I wove earlier this year (end of winter/early spring time).  I went to show m SIL the picture because I thought it was a twill scarf and I found I never put it on my finished projects page.  After getting it out of my drawer, I realized it was crackle and not twill, but figured I would show it off anyway.  While pressing it today, I see how far I’ve come in my weaving and getting the “perfect” selvege.  While this one isn’t bad, they’ve gotten way better.

This scarf has cotton for the warp and tencel for the weft.

Took the kids to see Enchanted last night.  My friend’s mom sent me some money for Christmas to buy a knitting book I want and then to use the rest for something fun for the kids.  We talked about going bowling, but 4 out of 5 kids decided that they didn’t want to go bowling because bowling is a daddy included event and it just wouldn’t be the same without him.  So, since I had told them that if Enchanted came to the on post theater, I would take them…away we went.  Two of the kids told me that they really like going to the theater on post because it hasn’t been very crowded, we can afford to go, and no other theater they’ve ever been to plays the National Anthem before the movie starts.  Went with my friend, C and her tribe of 5 (for the weekend anyway) and then my kids plus two guests.  Twelve kids to two parents.  The odds weren’t so good, but the kids all were great and really seemed to enjoy the movie.  Lots of laughter and joking on the way home.  Of course, I had to completely freak out my oldest male child in front of his friends (who laughed and thought it was neat) about talking about true love’s first kiss and how it was the daddy man for me.  He icked and yucked but I think secretly he thought it was pretty cool too.

Not planning on doing a whole lot today so we shall see how it goes.

Hope you have a great one whatever you decide to do.

On the third day after Christmas, my children left for me…

3 Cranky Kitties (hey you’d be cranky too if that little white fluff ball from the 2nd day was barking at you all the time)

2 Pampered Pooches

and

1 Tired momma asleep in her chair.

It’s been pretty quiet here the past few days.  Kids have been enjoying their friends being out of school for holiday break, they’e been burning up the roads on their new bikes, and just generally, being kids.  I’ve gotten in some cozy knitting time and loads of weaving time yesterday. 

Today we will head to the movies again to see Enchanted. Two of the boys friends will be PCS’ing (moving) next month so they will be going with us and another friend and her gang will meet us there so we will have a houseful.  But all will be good.

Hope your day brings sunshine (or rain if you are in part of the country that really needs it) and peace.

On the second day after Christmas, my children left for me…

2 Pampered Pooches *

and 1 tired momma asleep in her chair.

**the white puppy is a guest visiting with us through the holidays.  My children are trying to make him just as spoiled as Caleb.

On The First Day after Christmas, my children left for me….

1 Tired momma asleep in her chair.

I pray today brings you joy and peace.

We couldn’t get the webcams to connect this morning with Jim.  Had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to as when the system gets overloaded, it’s nearly impossible to get a connection.  However, we did get to instant message so he sorta got a play by play.  So the pictures are for him as well as you all.  Don’t worry I won’t show you all of them (lots) but will load them to a CD and send off to hubby to view.  But here are few to show off our morning.

Every Christmas morning starts out with donuts for breakfast. The table seemed a little empty, but we did put out a donut and coffee for daddy.  (ok, and I had a bite off of daddy’s I admit…but it’s the thought, right?)

Then we opened stockings. Inside was the typical stocking stuffers of candy, toothbrush, toothpaste, cars, mini calendar, comic and coloring books and some small spool crafts.

And let the present opening begin!

There was one big present left and no one knew who should open it.  I told Jess to get the oven mitts and each child got 5 seconds to try to open it. The one getting the paper off, would be allowed to look inside the box.

Cass, the last, was the victor.  Although, truth be told, had we known we were going to do this, I wold have made sure the wrapping paper was extra secure.  Think she won by default since she was the last to try it.  Inside were a bunch of books from grandpa along with gift cards specifically for new bike helmets.  All the kids looked really perplexed and said they had helmets already.  Chris was the first to catch on (he usually is) and off to the “green sleigh” we went.  (the green sleigh is Jim’s truck that grandpa drove over this morning).  And off came the last of the presents from Santa Momma and Santa Daddy.

After shouts of joy, hugs, kisses, and lots of thank yous everyone remembered a special present inside for mom.  The kids and grandpa conspired about this present and they all kept a very good secret as for the weeks it was under the tree, I thought it was for the kids from grandpa.  But alas, she got unwrapped, unpacked, put together, and she’s all mine.

Merry Christmas.  Stay tuned for what the kids have cooked up for the next several days.

Well, Food Network we ain’t.  Perhaps next year I will knit a gingerbread house if I want it to last more then 5 minutes.  But they had fun building it.

Roughly 5 minutes later it completely fell apart and a wall was promptly eaten.  Um…not exactly what I thought it would be like, but as Chris said, “At least we had fun building it and now we’ll have fun eating it.”  (hmmmm that IS what it’s all about, right?) Jess made sure to tell me that, “Next year we’ll be able to do this with daddy and it will be even funner!” So, Boo….you’re expected to be here next Christmas for the construction phase as well as the eating phase of gingerbread building 101.

Tonight we have our candlelight communion at church then it will be home for early bedtimes for all.  We stayed up way too late lastnight admiring the tree and such.  Then tomorrow we plan on doing Christmas in the morning.  Prayerfully the web cams will work and we can link up to Jim and do Christmas with him too. :)  Then it will be off to Barbara’s house for Christmas dinner and hopefully a relaxing time.

May your Christmas be blessed with peace and love.  Hold your loved ones tight and give that kiss under the mistletoe (or just because).  Merry Christmas to all!

Ok, so I haven’t written for almost a week. And yes, I have been “wallerin’” a bit in self-pity but also sorta buried with projects.  But today is Christmas Adam so I needed to come out of hiding and wish you all a happy one.  What is Christmas Adam some of you may ask.  Well, for my long time blog readers, I know this is old news, but for you “newbies” out there, I shall tell you about our Christmas Adam.  As the story goes, there was another home school family that celebrated this first.  The “legend” says that one child announced that “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve” and another child said “Then today must be Christmas Adam because we all know that Adam came before Eve.”  I thought that was really cute and filed it away for future family reference. During Josh’s first Christmas with us, he and I fell asleep out in the living room while the Christmas tree was on.  Jim came home from a very long day being a Drill Sergeant and when I woke up, I found him sleeping on the couch next to me (we had a dual reclining couch at the time)  Thus, a tradition was born that on Christmas Adam we all sleep out under the tree.  So tonight the kids and I will decorate our gingerbread house, watch “It’s A Wonderful Life”, and sleep out by the tree.  We will be missing a very important family member this year, but I hope he knows how much he will be in our thoughts and dreams.

I mentioned earlier that the kids were working on a special Christmas project in school.  We were making hats, scarves, and mittens for kids in the local community that need a little extra warmth this winter.  Here’s a picture of our finished projects.

I am so proud of the kids. They worked really hard, they (for the most part) worked together to help each other, and they stayed the course.  Our grand total is 7 hats, 6 scarves, and 3 pairs of mittens.  My kids rocked the house on this project!

And I finished all my woven (and knitting) projects required before Christmas.

Here’s the WORSHIP scarf.  It’s another name draft scarf but it spells our WORSHIP.  I gave it to the person that ordered it this morning at church.  She said she liked it and I believe she really did (I worried she wouldn’t….I’m a worrier, right Kelly).  I hope the person she’s giving it to likes it as well.

Gray and Black 40/2 rayon

And here are two more special orders completed and ready for their new homes.

Chenille and silk woven scarf with silk and wool knitted fingerless mitts.

Blue Chenille scarf.  I am told a pair of gloves was found that would match this wonderfully.

Thank you to all who bought and ordered from me this Christmas Season. It was a blessing to weave (or knit) for you and your loved ones.

Since all my weaving is done for the year, I think today, while the kids are out playing, I will plan my next loom project.  I am thinking cashmere and silk…what do you think?

ACK…do you realize that Christmas is next week?  Ummm…I sorta didn’t realize that until last night.  I thought I had an extra week.  So, cue manic music and Woven ~N~ Spun kicks into high gear.  Still have two scarf orders to get done, at least one more scarf present to get done, some Christmas knitting and am doing some secret knitting that I really can’t talk about here.  (no it’s not a gift, I just can’t display it or talk about who I am knitting for)

The girls went to a sleep over on Friday night.  They painted nails, ate lots of chocolate, stayed up late, and had loads of fun. The boys and I watched some Star Wars movies. They ate pizza and I ate Chinese (yum).  We stayed up late, but didn’t do each other’s toe nails…although they probably would have knowing my crazy boys.

Saturday we didn’t get the big snow predicted and I got to finish up (ok almost) my Christmas shopping for the kidlets.  Grandpa watched the kiddos while I was out. We then had dinner and went to go see lights in the park.  A real bust as far as I was concerned.  But this is their first year doing it and hopefully the years to come will show great improvement.  Am hoping to take the kids up to Chickasa next Saturday as I hear the lights in the park up there are really great.  So, perhaps we’ll go out to eat and trek up there and check things out.

Sunday, of course was church day, then off for grocery shopping if we wanted to eat dinner.  Then grandpa took the kidlets out for shopping after he got home from Sunday evening church.  He had the kids draw names and then off to the dollar store they went.  This way they bought presents for each other.  Then they went shopping for mom.  While they were gone, I had a really good pity party for myself then got over it and felt better by the time they all got home.  Helped them wrap the presents they let me help them with, and under the tree they all went.  They all finally settled down aroud 10:00 (oh my!)

Today we worked on our Christmas gifts of warmth during school time and I let the kids actually WATCH White Christmas instead of listening to an audio tape.  I will sit at my loom this afternoon before I have to go pick up my friends kids from school.  They will come here and eat dinner with us and then we will all watch Frosty the Snowman tonight. (the kids are loving the “old time” cartoons that we’ve been watching the past few nights)

Guess that about covers the weekend update.  Now, I am off to weave, referee, knit, shop, wrap, referee, finish laundry, make meals, referee, bake cookies, referee, clean house, referee…….

Hope you all have a great week.