Crazy insane children + hormonal tired lonely mommy = disaster

Ok I am still here…barely hanging on by a thread.  I need a vacation.  But I must wait 73 more days.  Then the hubster will be home for R/R and maybe then I can actually go to the bathroom and get 5 minutes alone without someone following me.  Ya think? Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Not a whole lot of knitting done lately although I am nearly done with a pair of green socks for Socks For Soldiers, did get a pair of toddler socks done yesterday for CIC just because I needed some instant gratification.  I’ve dyed a bunch of skeins of yarn for Socks For Soldiers and they need to go out to the post office today if I can make it there (you wouldn’t think it would be THAT hard to go to the post office.  Believe me…somedays it is!)  and I have been spinning a lot.  Hopefully I can show case some skeins and socks here shortly.  But with the way things have been going lately…don’t hold your breath too long.

WOW.  Thank you all so much for your commenting and helping with our upcoming math lessons.  I will publish the results in the future.  But for now….The Winners:

Knitting:

Tamara

Crochet:

Tanya (no blog info left)

Spinning:

Suzanne

Weaving:

Bety

Other:

Anne

Congratulations to you all.  I will be contacting you via email to obtain the necessary info on where to send your keychains.  Thanks again everyone for helping out and leaving a comment.

No, not talking about weight here…I am talking days.  We are officially under 200 days until the hubster is home home!  R and R is scheduled for July but home home is in November…snails have crawled faster then some of the days that have gone by recently, but we are slowly getting there.

How will we celebrate?  I am sure Jim will be working and I plan to shop this morning then come home and dye yarn and socks for SFS. 

I spent yesterday afternoon organizing the office/loom room.  I don’t know why but I have been on this huge kick to organize and purge.  Several things are on the carport to be loaded and carried off to the dump (big TV that no longer works…dresser that’s broken) and Goodwill (some furniture we don’t need). Don’t worry sweetie, not getting rid of anything major…we still have the frig and your tools…for now…ha ha.  I am just amazed at how I have wanted to organize and downsize and get rid of “just stuff” that we’ve accumulated for quite some time now.  Three of my kids are getting in the spirit if cleaning and organizing this week too.  Not only did they help me with my room on Monday but have done the same with their things.  AWESOME!

Must throw down some breakfast for the kids, make sure chores are done, a quick Saturday morning show to watch and then we are off.

My Prayer For Today: Is for strength.  Physical, mental, of character, and judgement.

Cary over at Serenity Farms has been working on a wool washing tutorial.  She posted a link for some of us to preview.  It inspired me to start cleaning some Corriedale fleeces that I had pretty much given up on.  I ended up cleaning an entire fleece over two days.

One awesome thing about the Oklahoma winds is that it helps to dry things quickly.  Here you see my really cool fleece drying screen.  Jim had made me a fabric screen many years ago.  When we no longer needed that, we took the fabric off and covered the frame with screening and I had a pretty neat fleece drying rack.  The two top parts lift up on hinges and there is a good space in between for air to circulate and fiber to dry quickly without blowing away.

I carded up some and threw in some ice blue merino into the mix. Then I gently pulled the fiber through my diz when removing it from the drum resulting in a predrafted roving.

Instead of sleeping this morning, I began spinning instead.

After spinning lace weight all week (and finishing plying last night), it took a bit to get into spinning a bulkier yarn.  But it’s going well.  I really like tweed effect.

Anne told me the other day that she and her new hubby were eating “grown up” beanie weanies.  I had to ask what that was although I confess that I had visions of rum and coke dancing through my head.  She shared the recipe with me and it contained all kid friendly ingredients.  The big thing was, you make the beans from scratch.  I had never made home made baked beans before….until yesterday that is.

The kids chowed down on this delight for lunch after we were teased all morning with the smell of it cooking.  Ten thumbs up was the rating.  More was asked for.  The only down side of this recipe…it doesn’t make quiet enough for the kids to eat.  Must double batch next time.  I see more home made baked beans in my future.

This song is on my mind this morning because it’s what I LONG to be.  I want to be HIS hands and feet and an extension of HIM.

If We Are The Body by Casting Crowns

It’s crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls’ teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

Chorus (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus is the way

My Prayer Today:  In all that I do and say today, let me be an extension of Jesus’s love.

We had our homeschool co-op activity yesterday.  We had planned to do this project last week, but had to cancel due to weather.  We all made stepping stones and small mosiac tiles.  Of course, I totally forgot my camera so there are no pictures of K and C (two moms) mixing cement or kids playing artistically creating their masterpieces.  A good time was had by all.  Such a good time, we ran over an extra hour and didn’t really seem to notice.  I think the thing about the whole event that sticks so much in my mind is that one young boy who has some pretty serious special needs, for the first time, really truly interacted with the kids.  He played ball and talked and joked with the kids for the first time.  We’ve known S for 2 years now and yesterday was really the most interaction he’s had with the group of kids that can get pretty rowdy.  My boys told me some of the things that S was telling them and I can’t wait to share with his mom. 

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Thanks all, who have so far, responded to yesterday’s survey.  I think Cass and Chris (who are also fiber junkies) are going to have fun with this lesson.

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I rearranged my bedroom Monday.  Since Jim’s been gone, sleeping in there has been more of a chore then anything.  Chris, Cass, and Jess really got into the spirit of things and helped move the entire room around.  Cass loved my clothes purging spree and wound up with some really nice outfits. I have actually slept 2 nights in there and SLEPT.  This morning I woke earlier then normal but actually feel somewhat human and realized I still got several hours of really good sleep in.  With the hubsters permission I am going to redo the room and maybe for the first time really enjoy decorating.

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Jenean has recently revived Wednesday Wonders and I am so thrilled.  So here’s mine for you today.  This past weekend two of my boys did something pretty stupid and hairbrained that left me in a panic for about 1 1/2 hours and created a lot of turmoil for others as well. Sunday while IM’ing hubby, he said I didn’t get paid enough to deal with some of this stuff (believe me when I say life here isn’t always a bed of roses) and I told him that one day being able to lay down my crown at the feet of Jesus and thank HIM for all HE has seen me through would be payment enough.  The thought came so fast that I knew it wasn’t my own. But as I reflected on that Sunday night and into Monday, I began to realize how true that was.  My faith has always meant a great deal to me, but probably never so much so since Jim’s been gone.  This deployment has brought me to my knees in more ways then one.  God is always so faithful to me even when I think he’s forgotten me.  It’s been an eye opening experience.

May today bring you showers of blessings.

I need your help.  Graphs and percentages are on the agenda soon.  So, will you help me help make math a bit fun.  I mean my friend Kelly thinks math is ALWAYS fun, but I don’t.  Anyway, I figure a little survey here might make the graphs and percentages a little more interesting (for me anyway).

So here’s the deal.  This is a fibery survery. If you are into fiber arts, I need you to just make a quick comment letting me know if you prefer to SPIN, to KNIT, to CROCHET, to WEAVE, or OTHER.  Please only choose one of the 5 categories.  Feel free to spread the word so we can get as many people as possible to help out with our lesson.

What’s in it for you? I will chose ONE winner in EACH of the categories by random number generator.  If you are the chosen winner, you will receive the corresponding key chain below (ie…a spinner gets the Love to Spin keycain, a crocheter gets the Love to Crochet keychain etc).  The winner in the OTHER category gets a custom name keychain.

Make sense?  Really it’s easy, just leave a comment letting me know which of the 5 catergories you prefer and you’re entered to win and you help teach a math lesson.  It’s a win/win situation. Contest ends Midnight 19-April-2008 Central Time and the winner will be selected and announced soon afterwards (I hope)

Thanks for helping out.

Oh, do you know the muffin man
The muffin man, the muffin man?
Do you know the muffin man
Who lives on Drury Lane?

Oh, yes I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man.
Oh, yes I know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane.

- English Nursery Rhyme

Saturday morning was indeed baking day.  The kids have enjoyed bagels for breakfast and I am enjoying the simplicity of the morning these days.  I tell ya mornings for me lately are like me going to the dentist…just icky.  Anyway, I made another huge batch of bagels to freeze on Thursday and Saturdday I made several batches of muffins.  I can just grab a bag out in the morning or the night before and the kids have breakfast.  Oh yea.

Here we have banana coconut and apple raisin bran.  Not show are the banana nut and chocolate chip (they were already in the freezer when this picture was taken).

The silk has dried and the dog hair is done.  Berry Tart is on the wheel and away we go.  Seriously, I ordered this on 9-May and received it yesterday.  She’s a military wife whom I met while her husband was deployed last year.  Go check her out and see if she has something for you.

Now, onto the silk:

I really love how it turned out.  The colors were almost like a muted metalic in nature and it was so much fun to spin.

And did you see my DH’s comment yesterday about the dog hair. He thinks I am crazy.  Wouldn’t he think it even crazier to know that many people WANT their dog hair spun.  Because I didn’t wash the dog hair first, it smelled like…well…dog.  But now that it’s been washed and conditioned.  It smells great.  Oh and Caleb completely left my wheel alone, until I was done then realized there was another dog “in the house” and was crazily sniffing the wheel giving it odd looks.

And you know, I was going to dedicate an entire blog post about saying good bye to this old friend, but alas, since my DH already thinks I should be committed (would that really be such a bad thing come to think of it?) I decided to tone it down a bit and just write up a small note here instead. 

It’s time to say goodbye to a faithful friend.  This friend was around before Jim and I got married.  In fact this friend came into our lives one month before we got married.  This friend has made every single move with us from OH to NC, NC to KS, KS to KY, KY to OK and has lived in 11 houses (that’s nearly an average of one move per year…yikes) with us. This friend has been a great companion when we were lonely, on gloomy days when a smile was needed, on football Saturday when the Ohio State Buckeyes would win (or loose), and an awesome assistant with school work.  Yes dear readers, we lost a cherished friend yesterday….our TV.  It led a good life travelling well with only minor dings and issues. It lost the power button several years ago during one move and could only be turned on and off with a remote, but that didn’t stop it from bringing us joy.  But now, we must bid goodbye to a dear friend.

Alas, we will wait til Jim comes home to get a replacement.  The kids are already talking about a huge plasma TV that you hang on the wall. My vote is a resounding no. However, the Daddy Man has final say (yea right) on which TV we get.

Stay tuned for a new blog contest.  This one is going to require a bit (just a bit) of participation from you all and maybe asking some friends to help out. Details coming soon.