December 2009 in Review

1st – John gave me a high three and a high four!

3rd – Lydia tries to feed a teddy bear her cheerio.

8th – John calls a snowman, “It’s a noseman.”

14th – John sang, “Coooo coooomputer COMPUTER!” To the tune of Bob the Builder.

16th – Went to a local “farm” that had thousands of lights. John and Lydia had a great time.

17th – Aaron missed his flight by 5 minutes and ended up having to sleep in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport for the evening.

19th – Roared at seagulls to save Lydia from certain death… ok maybe just certain getting a chip stolen out of her hand.

22nd  - Went to the Naples Zoo. We saw the black bear behind the glass, but he was a ways away, so I took John around the corner to get a closer look. But John stopped and said, “No, mommy, scarys.” And then clung to me with a vice grip.

23rd – On the way to the Shafovaloff house from the airport, we stopped at Chick-a-fila. It happened to be family night and they had a cow dressed at Santa. Once again, when John saw the cow he FREAKED out!

24th – We played outside in the snow and built a noseman, and threw noseballs, and went sledding. John had a blast (and pronounces snow as nose).

30th – Aaron and I went to see a dramatic performance of The Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis and performed by Max McLean. It was excellent.

31st – Brought in the new year with Shafovaloff Monopoly and Nertz.

UF Logo Afghan block

I’m made an University of Florida Gators sampler afghan for my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas this year. I created two patterns for the afghan. The UF logo block and the Gator logo block.

Here is the pattern for the UF logo.

I chose orange as my main color and blue for my U and F. So, Stockinette stich is orange (knits and purls are always orange) and Seed stitch is always blue. S = seed stitch

CO 54 st

Rows 1-14: Stockinette stitch in Orange.

Row 15, 17, 19: K3 orange, Seed 10 blue, K6 orange, S10 blue, K2 orange, S20 blue, K3 orange

Row 16, 18, 20: P3, S 20, P2, S10, P6, S10, P3

Row 21, 23:  K5, S6, K10, S6, K6, S6, K6, S6, K3

Row 22, 24: P3, S6, P6, S6, P6, S6, P10, S6, P5

Row 25, 27, 29: K5, S6, K10, S6, K6, S6, K15

Row 26, 28, 30: P15, S6, P6, S6, P10, S6, P5

Row 31, 33, 35: K5, S6, K10, S6, K6, S12, K9

Row 32, 34, 36: P9, S12, P6, S6, P10, S6, P5

Row 37, 39, 41, 43, 45: K5, S6, K10, S6, K6, S6, K15

Row 38, 40, 42, 44, 46: P15, S6, P6, S6, P10, S6, P5

Row 47: K5, S 7, K 8, S7, K6, S6, K15

Row 48: P15, S6, P6, S7, P8, S7, P5

Row 49: K5, S8, K6, S8, K6, S6, K15

Row 50: P15, S6, P6, S9, P4, S9, S5

Row 51: K6, S20, K5, S10, K13

Row 52: P13, S10, P5, S20, P6

Row 53: K7, S18, K6, S10, K13

Row 54: P13, S10, P7, S16, P8

Row 55: K9, S14, K8, S10, K13

Row 56: P13, S10, P11, S8, P12

Row 57 – 70: Stockinette Stitch

Gator Logo Afghan Block

This is the second block in the afghan I made for my brother and his wife… HUGE gator fans does not quite describe them! Anyhow, I set out to just make a block with a simple gator’s head design. I ended up with more of the offical Gator logo. (Especially since I can’t draw, tracing has been my biggest assest!) So here’s a picture of the block, with the pattern below.

Note: This is a stockinette block, the beginning of each row will be denoted by K or P, and the stitches by color. Since O for orange can get confusing orange is denoted with an R.

Cast on 54 with blue yarn.

St st 18 rows in blue.

Row 19: K – 17 B, 20 R, 17 B

Row 20: P – 15 B, 24 R, 15 B

Row 21: K – 13 B, 28 R, 13 B

Row 22: P – 11 B, 4 R, 24 B, 4 R, 11 B

Row 23: K – 10 B, 3 R, 28 B, 3 R, 10 B

Row 24: P – 9 B, 3 R, 30 B, 3 R, 9 B

Row 25: K – 8 B, 3 R, 32 B, 3 R, 8 B

Row 26: P – 7 B, 2 R, 3 G, 17 B, 2 G, 5 B, 1 G, 7 B, 3 R, 7 B

Row 27: K – 6 B, 3 R, 6 B, 4 G, 3 B, 3 G, 14 B, 8 G, 1 R, 6 B

Row 28: P – 5 B, 1 R, 11 G, 10 B, 13 G, 6 B, 3 R, 5 B

Row 29: K – 4 B, 3 R, 6 B, 13 G, 10 B, 11 G, 1 R, 5 B

Row 30: P – 3 B, 3 R, 29 G, 2 W, 3 G, 7 B, 4 R, 3 B

Row 31: K – 3 B, 3 R, 8 B, 4 G, 1 W, 28 G, 4 R, 3 B

Row 32: P – 3 B, 3 R, (1 B, 1 W) 3 times, 21 G, 3 W, 5 G, 7 B, 3 R, 3 B

Row 33: K – 3 B, 2 R, 8 B, 28 G, 2 W, (1 B, 1 W) 2 times, 2 B, 2 R, 3 B

Row 34: P – 2 B, 3 R, 4 B, 1 W, 1 B, 3 W, 1 B, 1 W, 6 G, 2 W, 17 G, 8 B, 3 R, 2 B

Row 35: K – 2 B, 2 R, 8 B, 17 G, (1 B, 2 W, 2 B, 2 W) 2 times 7 B, 2 R, 2 B

Row 36: P – 2 B, 2 R, 7 B, 1 W, 3 B, 1 W, 2 B, 2 W, 2 B, 1 W, 1 B, 2 W, 16 G, 7 B, 2 R, 2 B

Row 37: K – 2 B, 3 R, 6 B, 6 G, 2 W, 1 R, 5 G, 2 R, 2 W, 1 R, 1 W, 1 R, 17 B, 3 R, 2 B

Row 38: P – 3 B, 2 R, 12 B, 7 R, (1 W, 1 R) 2 times 2, W, 1 R, 2 W, 2 R, 2 W, 1 R, 6 G, 5 B, 2 R, 3 B

Row 39: K – 3 B, 3 R, 4 B, 5 G, 2 R, 1 W, 3 R, 1 W, 2 R, 1 W, 4 R, 1 W, 9 R, 9 B, 3 R, 3 B

Row 40: P – 3 B, 3 R, 4 B, 1 W, 1 B, 1 W, 3 R, 1 W, (2 R, 2 W) 2 times, 3 R, 1 W, 5 R, 1 W, 2 R, 1 W, 1 R, 5 G, 4 B, 3 R, 3 B

Row 41: K – 3 B, 4 R, 3 B, 5 G, 1 R, 2 W, 1 R, (1 W, 2 R) 2 times, 2 W, 5 G, 3 W, 2 R, 2 W, 2 R, (1 W, 1 B) 2 times, 2 G, 4 R, 3 B

Row 42: P – 4 B, 3 R, 5 G, 2 W, 1 R, 3 W, 10 G, (2 W, 1 R) 2 times, 10 G, 3 B, 3 R, 4 B

Row 43: K – 5 B, 3 R, 2 B, 11 G, 2 W, 1 R, 22 G, 3 R, 5 B

Row 44: P- 6 B, 2 R, 36 G, 1 B, 3 R, 6 B

Row 45: K – 7 B, 3 R, 1 B, 30 G, 3 B, 3 R, 6 B

Row 46: P – 8 B, 3 R, 18 B, 13 G, 1 B, 3 R, 8 B

Row 47: K – 9 B, 3 R, 1 B, 10 G, 19 B, 3 R, 9 B

Row 48: P – 10 B, 3 R, 20 B, 6 G, 2 B, 3 R, 10 B

Row 49: K – 11 B, 4 R, 24 B, 4 R, 11 B

Row 50: P – 13 B, 28 R, 13 B

Row 51: K – 15 B, 24 R, 15 B

Row 52: P – 17 B, 20 R, 17 B

18 more rows of st st in blue.

November 2009 in Review

1st – Shepley and John Caleb entertain themselves by throwing coconuts in the pool and retrieving them.

2nd – Took the kids to the beach, you know John’s having fun when he barely notices a helicopter fly by.

4th – John made a friend, Luke, on the airplane and they played nicely with stickers the whole time.

8th – John read to me for his bedtime story!

10th – I was labeling CD’s and I wrote, “John 1:1-18; John Piper” My son John looked at it and said, “John!” He can recognize his name!

12th – Whenever I drive on Bangerter my children go “oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” and let the car jiggle their voices.

13th – Last night I made chocolate chocolate chip friendship bread. This morning I woke up to John, on the counter, taking a fork to it, with a birthday hat on, saying, “Birthday cake! Birthday cake!”

14th - Lydia just emptied our clothes hamper. Aaron said, “Lyddie did mommy let you do that?” I said, “no.” and looked up. Lydia looked at me and said, “Oh no.” and started putting the laundry back in the hamper.

17th – Lydia’s 18-month well-baby check up. She’s 25 lbs (68 percentile) and 35 inches (98 percentile). HOLY COW!

18th – Lydia picked up three blocks at once into the air and triumphantly pronounced, “I didee!” (I did it!)

19th – I got Lydia up from her nap and she had a poopy diaper and she told me, “Gucky!” (yucky!)

21st – I’m simply enjoying John saying, “oops.” Which he pronounces like, “up-th”

24th – John had a Thanksgiving Feast and little “performance” with his preschool.

25th – Family bowling night. John LOVES bowling and Lydia was so excited about all the balls! It was her first time bowling. I think we will make this a tradition.

26th – Enjoyed a great Thanksgiving with the Summers, Langworthys, and Maggie.

– Maggie brought cupcakes for the kids. Lydia ate hers in the highchair. The rest of the kids left their cupcakes unattended at the kid table. When I let Lydia get down, she kept eating all the other cupcakes. At one point she did this little sinister laugh and we turn around to see her shoving cupcakes in her mouth! It was hilarious.

27th – I went Black Friday shopping from midnight to 5am with my friends Mary Ann, Maggie, and Alyssa. Then we topped it off with a yummy Crackle Barrel breakfast.

28th – John sees the number 17 and says “seventeen!” … to be fair, however, he also saw 25 and said “fiveteen!”.

29th – John walked in on Aaron peeing and exclaimed, “Good job, Daddy!”

- Spent the weekend cleaning the office – now guest room – and Aaron’s been trying to keep the kids out all day. Well, we found them playing in there and Lydia saw us, clasped her hands behind her back and gave us a huge cheesy smile as if to say, “I’m too cute to get in trouble daddy!”

30th – One of my children hid their dinner in the vase on my table. I was expecting that to start happening years from now!

A Surprising Beauty Regimen

In light of this being the month that we focus on our thankfulness…

I ran across this blog article and thought I’d pass it along.

A Surprising Beauty Regimen

October 2009 in Review

2nd – Aaron found John in the kitchen, on the counter, trying to scoop ice cream onto a plate… with his backpack on.

5th – Lydia started whining in her crib. When I got to the closet (her door was closed) I flipped on the light… she stopped crying. I flipped off the light… she started crying… I flipped on the light… she stopped… I flipped off… she started… hehehe

6th – John no longer takes naps. But during Lydia’s nap time he has quiet room time. Well, he just came out of his room with a pj top on (he was wearing his school clothes when I put him in his room), a poopy bottom and holding a pull-up. He said, “poopy, mommy, potty.” So, he ran to the bathroom, and I found him putting the poop that was in the pull-up in the toilet. So, apparently, John changed out of his clothes, put a pajama top on, put a pull-up, pooped in the pull-up, then took the pull-up off so he could put the poop in the potty where it belongs.

1oth – I got home from our Vintage girl’s overnight and Lydia comes running, “Daddy!” And John hears her so he comes running around the corner, “Mommy!” and gives me a hug. As I sit on the couch, I sniff the air smelling poop. As John turns around I see his poopy bottom.

12th – Got permanent eyeliner.

15th – Lydia finds joy in just about everything. Even using  mixing bowl as a hat!

18th – We celebrated out 6th anniversary!

19th – Cassie and I are somewhat famous. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902130.html

20th – Tammy always tells kids to go find the chicken as to distract them, since there are no chickens. Well, later today John said, “Where chicken? Twerp twerp. Where chicken?” I think the twerp, is his sound for a chicken.

21st – Lydia does “pushups” (nodding her head up and down) with Aaron’s Perfect Pushups.

23rd – Woke up this morning to the water running in the kitchen. I sneaked in and saw John trying to empty the ice trays. When he couldn’t he took them out and climbed onto the counter with them to try and fill them up. Good this I stopped him because the water was really hot and would have melted all my ice!

24th – House is taken over with the nice furniture and all my old boxes from my childhood that my parents brought.

25th - John’s first night in his new bunk bed!

29th – Just woke up, and I got Lydia from her crib. I came back into the bedroom to grab her clothes and a diaper, and realized the diapers were downstairs. She was talking gibberish and then tooted and she said, “yucky.”

30th – John finds a toy camera at Omi’s. He proceeds to “take pictures” of everything (sometimes rearranging things to make them just right) then “looks” at the picture and declares, “Oh so cute!”

31st – There’s a sink in the kids’ room at my parents. John pulled the stopper up and filled the sink with water. The hot handle broke off and the sink overflowed, flooded the area and leaked into my parent’s kitchen.

September 2009 in Review

1st – Lydia had been taking John’s fruit loops and bringing them to me and feeding me. Well, then both John and Lyddie were coming at me. Lyddie put hers in her mouth, but after seeing John Caleb feed me she took it out of her mouth and tried to feed me!

- Took John to his very first Cubbies (Awana) meeting. When we left he asked, “Where’s Ly-ie?” “She’s staying here with daddy.” To which I received the BIGGEST puppy dog lip I have recently seen from him.

2nd – Simply enjoyed the sounds and laughter of my children playing together.

3rd – We have this fake cat on a ledge. Lyddie, wanting to see that “Titty Tat” (in John’s words), pointed and said, “neow, neow.”

4th – Aaron woke up to the sound of John walking out the front door. I got up to find him playing t-ball.

- Lydia’s practicing for college life. I found her eating cold left over pizza.

5th – John memorized his first Bible verse, “God loved us… and sent his son.”

- Lydia’s wearing her first set of full pigtails!

6th – Lyddie found herself the goldfish and the portable DVD player and gave herself a movie time.

8th – John’s first day of preschool!

10th – John put on Aaron’s gardening/work gloves and started to “pull weeds.”

12th – Everyone knows the cleanup song right? “Clean up clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up Clean up everybody do your share.” Well I was singing that with John yesterday and Lydia started to pick up toys and say, “nee-na e-ba-dee, nee-na e-ba-dee” (Clean up. Everybody.) My baby girl is learning how to talk really quickly!

13th – John and Aaron were drying my car after washing it. John, being the smart little boy he is, knew that the top of it needed drying too. So, he just climbed right on top of the car and dried it off!

14th – John wanted to watch a DVD so I said, “How about Barney?” And he said, “How about no.”

- Aaron took John’s hand and put it to his face and said “Beard. Beard.” And John said, “That not beard. You’re not Papa.”

- John does NOT like sharing his pillow. But Aaron was trying to get him to. “Will you share your pillow with me?” “No.” “Pease” “No.” “Peeeeeeease.” “I said no.”"

15th – John wanted juice to drink. So, he pulled out the juice from the fridge, uncapped it, and… sprinkled in some hamburger seasoning.

17th – Made pigs in a blanket for lunch. Gave Lydia a plate with cut up pieces. Gave John a plate with some ketchup. Lyddie decided she didn’t want any and walked away. John decided he wanted Lydia’s and ate all of hers, bringing me the empty plate asking for more. So, I took his plate and cut up the one that was one it. I brought it to the table just in time for Lydia to find out her food was missing. So, I put a couple of pieces on her plate. But John wanted all of the pieces on her plate. So, he ate off Lydia’s plate and dipped them in his plate.

18th – John and Lyddie have this set of play food. One piece is a can of peas. Well, John just held it on my head and said, “bow.” (as in Lydia wears a bow.)

19th – Lydia took her dress off during “nap” time.

- My children have gotten into LITERALLY, EVERY SINGLE toy that we have in this house.

20th – John turns into a teenager as he lays on my bed without his shirt on, watching the Ipod.

23rd – Lydia has her first cookie batter beater.

24th – At the airport waiting on Rachael’s flight, John is mesmerized with the escalator. At one point he grabs onto the black hand rail, which starts to carry him up as he’s hanging on the outside…

25th – Rachael and I took Lydia on her first girls’ day shopping trip!

26th – Garry and Aaron put up our new swingset.

27th – Had to call search and rescue, because Aaron and Garry took WAY too long to get back from their overnight backpacking trip. On the way down, they were encountered by a bear. Story to come soon. Glad my husband and father-in-law are alive and well!

29th – John got a smiley face stamp on his hand because he had such a good day at preschool!!!

30th – Found John and Lydia in my bathroom getting into things. Lydia had my makeup brush and powder and had spilled the powder all over the floor. She’s was putting the brush on her face. She really is all girl!

A Merry-Go-Round Fiasco

As I returned home from my first Saturday tutoring session, I sat on the couch and thought: I want to do something fun today! So, I stared looking things up online and one thing lead to another and we decided to go to Park City. They have an alpine slide, alpine coaster, zip line, etc. They also have minigolf and 3 little kid rides. So, we decided to introduce John to the world of miniature golf.

He didn’t quite get the concept, as you might have guessed! He’d hit the ball, walk to the other end pick it up and set it closer to the hole. Once, he started playing on the wrong hole, so we were trying to redirect him to the right one. He was too busy caught up in playing, however, when we told him to come he picked up the ball, stuck it in the hole, brought it back out and ran to us! Silly boy.

Then we decided to take the kids on the merry-go-round. A wonderful idea, especially as John noticed the horses and wanted to ride them! So, we took the kids over, and of course they were too small to ride on their own, so I took Lydia and Aaron took John. They sat next to each other and round and round and up and down we went. Lydia giggled, filled with joy at the fun ride. John loved it too, waving “Hi everybody!” Then after a couple rounds, “Bye! Bye! Bye!”

As we began to slow down, I made a point of saying to John, “We’re almost done.” But it wasn’t enough time for him to process, plus he was having fun! So, the ride came to a stop and I took Lydia off. She wasn’t too happy about leaving, but you know the normal kid complaint. Well, I turn around and John’s still on the horse… holding on for dear life. And Aaron looks surprised and somewhat “What am I supposed to do?” Aaron finally is able to get John off the horse kicking and screaming, but they were on the inside and as they walk by another pole, John seizes the opportunity. He grabs it and literally wraps his body around it. I kid you not, Aaron could have let go and John wouldn’t have moved an inch down that pole his grip was so tight.

So now, picture John gripping this pole, screaming, not wanting to get off this magnificent ride, and  Aaron pulls back on his body a bit. Now, instead of letting go, John curls his feet and hands up even more so now he’s in the pike position, still wrapped to the pole. I look around at the (thankfully) small group of people. All are laughing, which is nice, since, while this is hilarious, it’s also humiliating.

Aaron lifts up one hand, he goes for the other hand, the first hand is back on the pole. Aaron goes for that first hand again and the second gets back on the pole. Time for reinforcements.  I walk over and hold one arm as Aaron gets the other. John’s finally free of the merry-go-round. We walk outside the gate and the next ride can commence. However, the kicking and screaming lasts ALL the way to the car.

Man, oh man, he can be just about the absolute sweetest boy in the world, but when he wants something…. watch out!

Lunchtime with John and Katrina

So… I kind of walked out of the house today, just needing some time off. I decided to go have my favorite salad at Applebee’s for lunch.

As I walked up to the restaurant I realized that this was the place Katrina and I had first really talked by ourselves and it reminded me of something funny that happened.

So, I’m not quite sure when, in the timeline of our adoption, this happened. But… I’m sitting at the table with Katrina eating lunch. I think she had already chosen us for her adoptive family, but I’m not sure. Anyhow, it was really the first time us hanging out by ourselves and our relationship was still very new. John was probably about 19 or 20 months old and he has always been a very active, busy little boy. The previous Christmas he had learned the joy of dipping foods, like chips into dip or french fries into ketchup. What ended up happening more often than not, however, is that he would lick the dip off the chip or french fry and plunge the food item back in with all his little slobbery germs.

Well, he was in a stage where he wan’t eating much and so I wasn’t pressuring him, but gave him some french fries and ketchup. When Katrina’s food was brought out, she had a side of Ranch dressing. John wanted that Ranch dressing more than anything, so she gave him a little bit. He had also been obsessed with our drinks and so he had a straw all of his own. Within minutes my son mixed the ranch and ketchup and was licking it off the dipped straw.

You can imagine my thoughts as a hopeful adoptive parent… “There is no way she’s going to want me to raise her baby, as I sit here and let my son eat ranch and ketchup for lunch!”

Our little bundle of joy

Thank the Lord Katrina did chose us as the adoptive parents for her daughter. Lydia has been such a joy to us and I’m constantly amazed at how overwhlmingly beautiful she is! As I smile at the memory of this story I send my thanks, again, to Katrina for our darling little Lyddiebug.

John’s First Day of Preschool

Today was John’s first day of preschool. He goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours at a local Christian school. I’ve been very excited about it. I’m hoping that John will learn more social skills; how to follow directions, share, talk, interact, etc. etc.

I got him up and changed his clothes, put his new tennis shoes on him, gave him his backpack and headed out the door… with the camera of course! We took a few cute pictures and headed off to preschool. Yay!

John's First Day of Preschool

At John’s preschool, we don’t have to get out of the car, an adult comes to get him, and then snaps him back in his carseat at the end of the day (which is actually quite convenient when having a toddler in the backseat.) Anyhow, as I waited in the line of cars, John kept up a constant jibber-jabber. He was counting, singing, reciting his Bible verse and just talking. He got out of the car put on his backpack and just trotted on into his classroom (with a little help.) As I started to drive away I realized that I was enveloped in absolute silence. Whoa! That was a total change! Silence. And as the silence crept in the tears started coming.

What was I doing? My little boy. I had just dropped him off. Wait! Can I get him back? Maybe I’m not ready! It’s too quiet. I need my little ray of sunshine, my little ball of energy. My little baby boy is growing up way too quick! Where has the time gone?

But I continued to drive and simply enjoyed the silence and the easy quick trip to the store to grab the eggs and butter I forgot yesterday.

As the 2 1/2 hours progressed I enjoyed myself with my precious daughter and then gave her a quick nap. The house was amazingly peaceful, but interrupted by the laundry buzzing and cell phone ringing. I was still contemplating that my little boy was old enough for preschool. Amazing.

At 11:15 I jumped into the car to go back and get John Caleb. The teacher brought him out and said, “We worked on teaching our routine today because when we start to play, no one wants to stop.” [Is she saying this to every parent, or is it just a polite way of telling me that John didn't want to stop his play time and gave them trouble?...] “So, we’re teaching them play time, table time, rug time, potty time, play time again.” And asked me to reenforce it at home.

As I drove away and onto an long errand, my car, of course, became noisy once again with John’s jibber-jabber and the kids’ laughter  as they entertain each other. I talked to John. I wanted to know how his first day went.

“John Caleb, did you have fun at preschool?”

“No.”

“What did you learn?”

“No.”

“Did you see Chloe and James?” (His friends from church in the same preschool class.)

“No.”

“Did you play?”

“No.”

“Did you sing songs?”

“No.”

“Did you color?” (As I’m looking at his colored page)

“No.”

“Did you eat a snack?”

“No.”

“Did you go down the slide?”

“Um….. OK!!!!” (This is the only thing that he didn’t do!)

So, I guess I’ll never know exactly what happened on his first day of preschool or how he felt about it, but I’m pretty sure he had fun. Maybe by the end of the school year he’ll talk to me more about his day.

I love my little boy!