Didn't You Just...

Look familiar? Yeah. Another gift - but this time with different buttons.

I also did a little crochet, which I hadn't done in a few years.

And still more...

Knitknitknitknitknit...

More Gifts

These are for another baby girl who hasn't arrived yet...

Outfitted Well

Someone is going to be a well-dressed baby in a few months. The only problem is that she's not born yet.

One

Ellie is one. I'm pretty sure she was just born a couple of weeks ago, but the calendar tells me otherwise. She's still mostly bald for now, but her hair appears to be growing (finally). It also looks like her eyes are going to remain hazel, which is a surprise. Natalie and Ethan were both blue-eyed from birth, but Ellie's eyes are brownish-green.

She started walking the week she turned one, which is earlier than either of her siblings. We started using basic sign-language signs with all of the kids when they were infants and Ellie now uses 7 signs: milk, drink, more, please, thank you, all done and cookie. Not surprisingly, she learned the sign for cookie faster than any other sign.

We have been working on pointing out parts of the body and she can point to her head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, teeth, tongue, tummy and toes and she says them as she points them out. It's adorable, except when I'm rocking her to sleep and she's digging her finger in my ear or smashing my nose, saying "eeeh" and "noss" over and over.

It's hard to remember what life was like without her!

This is getting ridiculous

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...into the future...

Pardon my lapse into a Steve Miller moment. I wanted to give you a nice, newsy post complete with pictures and everything, but unfortunately my computer decided it was time to die. I am using Greg's MacBook (which I am very thankful for), but at some point he's going to need it back. Thankfully he had just backed up my computer and thinks it will be ok once we get a new hard drive. Unfortunately, our budget right now doesn't seem to think that buying a new hard drive falls into the URGENT category...so I will wait.

Things are fine - we're all healthy and doing well. My baby girl turned 1 last week, which seems impossible. She's trying to walk, which also seems impossible. The big kids have started school, so we are trying to get into a routine with that. It's a much bigger adjustment for me, trying to figure out how to work with both of them at the same time and deal with a curious baby, too.

I'm doing a lot of knitting these days, at least when I can. Hopefully there will be some news about that soon! In the meantime, I'll be here hoping a new hard drive will waltz into my life when I least expect it.

What's Happening Here

There's a lot of this happening these days.

This and lots of other destruction.

She's an adorable menace.

Zig and Zag Pram Blanket

It appears that I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Nor did I knit during that time. We had a flood here in Nashville (thankfully our house was not in one of the major flood areas), Ellie started crawling and we've been on a big push to get our school year finished. I did pick the needles back up early this week, though, and managed to finish this work-in-progress called the Zig and Zag Pram Blanket. I loved the pattern as soon as I saw it on Ravelry and I am so pleased with how it turned out. Great use of leftover sock yarn - just be prepared to weave in lots of ends if you decide to knit one for yourself! I did mine as I went, so I wasn't overwhelmed with it at the end.

I knew I wanted mine to be blankie-sized - not a big blanket. I think the finished, blocked measurements came out to be about 22"x28", which was right where I wanted it to be. If you ever knit this, I would highly recommend considering the sock yarn before you use it - I have so many that bled like the dickens when I made socks out of them, so I chose to not use those in this blanket.

Common Nonsense

I am re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series right now and something Anne says in Anne of the Island stood out to me. Anne is preparing to leave for college and several well-meaning women have come to say goodbye, yet they each "managed to say something that seemed to take the color out of life and leave it as gray and dismal and cheerless as a November morning." Gilbert reminds her that these women have a narrow outlook on life and have a hard time seeing past life in Avonlea. Anne responds:

"Oh, I know. But feeling is so different from knowing. My common sense tells me all you can say, but there are times when common sense has no power over me. Common nonsense takes possession of my soul."

If I'm honest, common nonsense takes possession of my soul far more often than I'd like. Does it happen to you?

Blasts From the Past

I was going through old files today and came across these pictures of Natalie and Ethan, taken in 2006. It's amazing what a difference a few years makes!

Stuck

I've had a few songs stuck in my head lately. I won't mention them by name because some of them you would know and I fear you wouldn't forgive me for planting them firmly in your head, too. One of them, though, isn't so common. Some of you might know it - if you come from a traditional church background. I grew up Baptist and it's not a hymn we ever sang. We sang old hymns, but this one is truly an OLD hymn. Here is the English version (originally written in Latin):

"Of the Father's Love Begotten"
by Aurelius C. Prudentius, 413, cento
Translated by John. M. Neale, 1818-1866
and Henry W. Baker, 1821-1977

1. Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.

2. Oh, that birth forever blessed
When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Savior of our race,
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.

3. O ye heights of heaven, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.

4. This is He whom Heaven-taught singers
Sang of old with one accord;
Whom the Scriptures of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the Long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.

5. Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore.

Here is a recording, in case you aren't familiar with this beautiful plainsong chant. The video only contains still images and contains only the first three verses, but it's a lovely arrangement of the music.

Jacobean Pattern

I've had a couple of people ask me for my Jacobean sock pattern lately, but I'm not sure how to get in touch with them since email addresses aren't listed in the comments AND I don't know how to host the PDF of the pattern here. So...if you'd like the pattern, please email me at julie.persinger at gmail.com and I'd be happy to send it to you!

Simple Thoughts

It's a gloomy day here, I have ridiculous sciatic nerve pain shooting down my legs and poor Ellie is a snotty mess thanks to spring pollen, so I'm taking the easy way out and copying this post from a friend (with my own answers, of course - thanks JD, LOL!).

Outside my window...Natalie and Ethan are happily playing with a plastic tub full of mud.

I am thinking...how much I'd love to take a nap right now.

I am thankful for...remembering to thaw meat so I could put dinner in the oven a few minutes ago.

I am wearing...the same shirt I slept in, plus track pants.

I am remembering...what it was like to have good friends who lived in my neighborhood.

I am going...nowhere. Wanted to go to the Y, but don't think I should put Ellie in the nursery since she's a slimy mess.

I am currently reading...the Anne of Green Gables series, currently on Anne of the Island.

I am hoping...that I can get some knitting done soon.

On my mind...finances, wondering when we will be able to move past just surviving.

Noticing that...my house still isn't clean and orderly even though I wish for it to be all the time.

Pondering these words...a quote about Mr. Rogers, "Fred wanted to know the truth of your life, the nature of your insides, and had room enough in his own spirit to embrace without judgment whatever that truth might be."

From the kitchen...tonight's dinner: cube steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans.

Around the house...a lot of stuff I need to take to Goodwill or list on Craigslist.

One of my favorite things...my Sanuk yoga mat flip flops.

To Blog, Or Not To Blog

If anyone is still out there, I do still exist. Having three children, two of whom I educate at home and one small one who mostly wants to be held (by me) all the time, tends to make me a little busy. I expected that, but I kinda thought it might even out a little sooner than it has. Ah well, it's all good.

The big kids are doing well and have grown to love their baby sister, who they sometimes call Queen Baby. Once she started interacting with them she suddenly became a lot more interesting. It's hard to believe Ellie is six months old already! She is now able to pull up on her knees when she has something to hold onto and she is very close to being able to get a foot under her and ultimately pull up to standing. I am NOT ready for that! I've also caught her on all fours, rocking back and forth. Natalie and Ethan didn't do those things this early, so I have no idea what to expect this time.

As for me, I've debated on what to do with the blog. I do enjoy blogging. I just need to get back into the routine...just like I need to do with most other things in my life right now.

The Bravest Tiger in the City

Natalie and I have been learning about the basics of composition in school this week. We've learned how stories need characters, details, a problem and solution, a beginning, middle and end, etc. Today, Natalie's job was to write her own story, using all the skills she has learned. I suspected she would be overwhelmed at first, so we planned everything out first (story mapping) before she actually started writing. I thought I'd share her story with you, but you should be aware that she is currently obsessed with tigers.

*Tigea is pronounced TYE-gee-uh and a "dogamel" is a cross between a dog and a camel.

The Bravest Tiger in the City
by Natalie, age 8

One morning, Tigea was sleeping in her house in Tiger City. Everyone had gone to the cheese stand the day before. Tigea woke up to the sound of people yelling, "Where's our cheese???" She looked out her window, opened her bedroom door, rushed down the hall to the front door and opened it. Tigea yelled, "What is all the noise about??" One of the tigers told her to ride her dogamel to the Evil Lizard's castle to get the cheese back from the Evil Lizard.

Tigea ran to the dogamel's barn to get it. Wearing green harem pants, she rode her dogamel, Emily, into the desert until she couldn't see the city anymore. She passed a pyramid, a sphinx, an oasis (where she stopped to get something to eat and drink, plus food and water for the road), and the underground ruins. She finally got to the Evil Lizard's castle.

Tigea sneaked into the castle. She sneaked past the Evil Lizard in his lab and crept quietly to the room where the cheese was hidden. She opened the door, filled her sack with the cheese and crept quietly out of the castle.

Tigea rode back to Tiger City. The next morning she returned the cheese to the people. They said, "Thank you Tigea!"

The End