Knitting . . .

I have started knitting. Mark says it is an old lady kinda thing. What do you think? I have always wanted to learn to knit. My niece Allison knits and she is in high school.
She helped me get started. I finally finished my scarf I have been doing on and off for two years. It would not have take that long if I could have gotten someone to show me how to bind it off. Allison showed me how to get started but nobody ever told me or showed me how to finish. Finishing is tricky. I have taught myself the different stitches. I am now working on a stole for myself. The scarf is for me too. When I get more comfortable doing it I will give them to people. I have found a book on Prayer Shawls that is really neat. There are a few women in the Church that are doing these. I will definitely have to get better before I can give them away. They have a few errors in them and don't look exactly right, but hey they are hand made.

I don't think I am old because I like to knit. It is fun to see how it comes together to make something. I am excited about my stole. I will have to post you a picture of it when I finish. My goal is to get comfortable enough that I can knit things and give them away. Both of my kids received little hats while they were in the hospital right after they were born. The hats were knitted by local women that volunteer in the hospital. They are quite precious little hats. That is what I would like to do.

Let me know your thoughts: Is knitting an old lady thing?

First Days of School

Well, the boys survived their first three days of school. No problems or issues with teachers. Yeah!! I may have been concerned for nothing. Who am I kidding, I'm a Mom I am supposed to worry and be concerned for nothing. Isn't that in our job description?
I was talking with the dental hygienist this morning about kids and school and she said where her kids go to school they had to buy copy paper. So, is the School system budget in that bad of shape that they cannot afford copy paper? Jacks' teacher told me they are only allowed to make one copy per week per kid. How crazy is that? I feel a tax increase coming on.

I was really concerned about Thomas adjusting to a new teacher and more work. He has really not come home with any work yet. He seems to like his teacher. He had his kindergarten teacher completely snowed last year. She was apologizing to me for having to move his clip for something he did. I told her if he had done something wrong he needed it moved. Thomas is my charmer, he can charm the pants off of anyone. He probably got away with a lot last year. Jack on the other hand he is the brutally honest one of the bunch. Thomas would lie in a heart beat to save his own skin and make you believe it too. Not Jack, no matter how much trouble it meant for him he would not lie to get out of anything. I guess that is why he does not get into that much trouble. He is a talker. That is what he gets in trouble for at school. He is a social butterfly. He is smart and makes good grades. He has never gotten in trouble over his grades just his behavior. I am hoping the behavior thing he will grow out of. It may just be a boy thing though. He acts just like his Daddy. I guess Thomas is more like me. I don't see myself as a charmer though. I never got away with anything when I was in school.

Telemarketers ? ? ? ?

I know they have a job to do but they are soooo pushy. I absolutely hate getting telemarketer calls. Most of the time they are from non-profit organizations begging for money. I know they need money and I am just as sorry as I can be about each one of their causes. But, I have a family and we are working with one income since I stay at home with my kids and I really hate people asking me for money when I work everyday to make ends meet. This is not to say that I don't give to charity because I do. I support our local charities that are associated with our Church and I support our Church with 10% plus. I also am an avid gift giver to breast cancer research foundations and the American Cancer society. I don't want anyone to think I am callous or uncaring for these folks plight. I do care and I know everyone else does but these are hard times for everyone. Don't feel guilty for saying NO. It is ok to say NO. I did.



I really do not like these people constantly calling with their hands out. Who is going to take care of my kids when we don't have money to pay bills. Not one person that's who. That is why today I took a stand and told the lady on the phone that I could not do it this time. I have been bombarded by the Police, Firemen, Cancer Assoc, Mammogram people, and the Children's Miracle network. I have given to many of these over the years and this year as well but today I stood my ground and said, NO. I am not even sure if these organizations actually get the money we give. Yes, this is not your local police or firefighters calling you. They may put on their best southern accent for you but they are not local. I know for a fact that the one group that used to represent the police only gave forty to fifty cents on the dollar to the police they were collecting for. I know this because my father-in- law and brother-in-law are both retired from the local police and my mother-in-law looked into it when she got a call to make a donation. I also know the fire department does not get all the money either because I have an uncle that is a retired firefighter. He was actually the Chief before he retired.

So if you want to give money to these charities go to them in your local area and write the check because otherwise they don't see that money. Also you can check them out with the Better Business Bureau to see if they are legit. http://www.bbb.org/

School is almost here ! ! ! !

I am so excited School is about to start! Yeah!!! The kids on the other hand are not so excited. They are really going to have to alter their schedules. I have been quite lenient on them about bedtime and what time they get up. They have been staying up past 9:30 most nights and sleeping till 9 or later most mornings. I have not slept that late though. I still have Mark to contend with and my little blind chihuahua. The Chihuahuas' alarm is set for 6:30am and she expects to be fed immediately.

I hope we have a good school year this year. I am a little nervous about it. Thomas starting 1st grade and Jack going to 4th, they grow up so quickly. Jack will turn 10 toward the end of the year and he is really growing up fast. You can see his maturity some days. He has started reading his Bible more. The Bible I have for him is the King James Version so it is a little more difficult for him to read but he is doing it. He reads a little each night before bed and bedtime prayers. I get a little teary each night when I see him reading from his Bible. It makes me feel as though I just may have done something right as a Mother. Only because the good Lord above has been guiding me.
I am sure I will be praying a lot this year. I don't know why but I just am really worried about this school year. Maybe I am apprehensive because I think they are growing up to fast, I am not sure.

The Composter!!!!

Yeah, I now have a composter. Mark is putting it together today. Our garden did ok for a first year. Our soil is very poor. I think when they built our house they just grated all the top soil off and that left us with yucky soil. No nutrients what so ever. My goal is to use my composter to boost my garden for next year.

We did have a good crop of zucchini and cucumbers. I am still getting tomatoes so that is good. It has been a struggle though and I should have had a bumper crop of tomatoes with the number of plants we put in the ground. We have made salsa three times and it was good but too hot for my taste. Mark says I am a weenie. I think my taste buds have changed in my old age. I use to could eat hot stuff but now I just can't take it. The kids love the salsa so I know it must be pretty good.

Oh my gosh! I completely forgot to tell you about the fig tree. My figs are fabulous this year. I am picking about 5 per day. Yeah, I know that does not sound like a lot but I eat them right off the tree so five will fill both Mark and I up. The kids don't really like them yet. The are good size figs too. At the rate they are ripening I will have figs till October, if we don't have a cold snap.
I will keep you posted on the old composter. I know it will take some time to get compost so we will improvise until it is ready.

Summer is almost over. . . Ahhhhhhh!!

I have compiled pictures from our adventures this summer. This a sampling of what all we did. I just hope my kids had fun. I did!