Why Do I Think Today Is Wednesday

Who knows? This week is going to go by fast enough without my accelerating it that way. Yesterday was perhaps the quietest day according to the calendar. We were home for most of it but I did get away for a knit group meeting (sounds like a 12-step program).

This morning I had MOPS. That always makes for a busy morning. I rush off to get to the meeting then rush back to get Gabe to the bus stop on time. Tuesday nights the kids have swim class so that's where we were tonight. The love it like I've mentioned. Gabe and Zion are totally brave in the water now. Going under, kicking, paddling...just have to work on floating but Gabe is having breakthroughs. I tell him if he can float for 3 seconds he can float forever. Gideon is a splashing fiend. We have him and Zion in the same class though he's technically too young for it and Gabe has his in the same pool at the same time only with a different teacher. The sessions are usually about 5 weeks long so things can shift around a lot. Right now it's perfect.

Tomorrow is a busy, busy day from start to finish and then Thursday we welcome Rob's mom and aunt for a visit. We are all excited about that! A certain little girl is about to turn 3 so there are party preparations as well. So definitely no need to rush the week.

Our Life In Pictures

Every once in a while I neglect my poor blogger and my faithful readers (what, are there three of you now? ha ha). That's when I have to do a pictoral update to bring you up to speed quickly. And it's fun. You know what they say about pictures speaking a thousand words. So without further ado - our life recently:

We got to hit the Puyallup Fair again this year. We both forgot our cameras. How then did we get pictures? My phone. So, they aren't the best but they're better than nothing. I love this car that I made Gabe pose in front of. He's not a car guy. But I thought it was fascinating. However, this is coming from a girl who used to dream about having a hearse as my daily driver.

Zion has no problem going on rides all by herself. When I informed her she only had tickets for one more ride and asked which one she wanted to pick she said "A pink one." Did you hear that in heaven mom? She loves pink as much as you did!

Gideon loved the junk mobile music thingy. You can see he's enjoying it so much the hand with the drumstick is nearly invisible for all the movement. We think it's pretty cool too. So creative what they have slapped together for making music, we make sure to find it every year.

Zion and Gabe got to go on the canoes. Ah, simple pleasures (like splashing your sister).

And Gabe, Rob, and Zion shared a ride on the merry-go-round. There was a particularly neat operator on this ride, she had all the kids shouting things like "yee-haw" and "giddy-up". Gideon watched enraptured. Next year, buddy.

And here is his sweet smiling face enjoying even watching the rides. My word, he's a happy guy.

Our little family out for a walk at Bradley Lake. A neat park in a nearby town with play equipment that the kids LOVE! And I do. I love that the big toy is HUGE and has a wide path and a ramp all the way up so that even Gideon can get to the top and I don't have to worry about him tumbling down stairs.

Gabe is such a funny kid. The strangest things worry him. He didn't like wearing the hair net. Zion's like "WHAT are you so worked up about?" She can't fathom. Oh, I suppose I should say why they even had to wear the hair nets. You may remember me talking about our tour to the Aplets and Cotlets factory while we were on vacation. We had to wear hair nets. Gideon refused so Rob had to stay back with him. I did tell the tour guide that I was annoyed at such a rule when the kid doesn't even have hair. Silly.

One of the projects that has been keeping me away from my blog is my "Melissa Bag". I've got all the pieces knit and yesterday I felted it in the washing machine. I still have to iron out some wrinkliness and sew in a fabric liner but it's very close to being done. In this picture it is larger than my big purse. It has shrunk quite a bit. Don't worry, that was intended.

Here's all the pieces. The bag itself with the flap sewn on, the two straps and the i-cord (that brown wormy looking thing) that will be sewn on the flap as a button hole. The pieces themselves were SO, SO, SO soft and squishy I almost didn't want to felt them.

Another project in the works is a leaf cravat (that's a scarf of sorts) in the fall colors yarn I bought off a vendor at a fiber festival. The yarn started as wool from this woman's sheep, then she had it mill spun and hand painted the colors. They are SO gorgeous. So much better than in the picture. I don't like the way it is curling but I'm hoping that when I finish I'll be able to wash it and stretch it properly (this is called "blocking" in knitspeak).

Here's the ball of the yarn before starting. Mmm, yummy. Still better in person though.

Have I mentioned that I am taking piano lessons? I had a little keyboard. After a couple of months I started calling it The Toy. It was NOT going to do. So after looking at digital pianos for a while we picked one up the other day. The day we got it was very exciting for Gabe. Who knew? We had to disappoint him though by enforcing bedtime when we got home from the store and assembling everything after they were tucked in. First thing the next morning he asked if it was together and he could play. I said yes and he turned to Zion and said "Great! I'll play for you and you can dance!" Off she went for her tu-tu that Jamie bought her for Christmas last year.

And play and dance they did.

And when not dancing Zion is eternally finding small spaces to fit into. Am I the only one worried about when I'm not going to be able to get her out any more?

Remember my story about Gabe and Zion watching the movie together? Well here's the photographic proof. Sweet.

And when the kids aren't using the big pillow Towzer will happily put it to use.

And that is our life lately. On Friday Gabe will be doing a Jog-a-thon fundraiser for school, our first. I had my first PTA meeting. It was relatively painless. Rob had to travel for work for the first time since starting back at his civilian job. That too was relatively painless. :) Only one night a few hours from home. Consider that bridge crossed. He also got to go on a men's retreat with our church. I'm very pleased about that, well we both are. He frequently has to miss those kinds of events because of work and Reserves. Our men need those kinds of things, ya know?!

Zion is going to turn THREE in a couple of weeks! Someone at a restaurant the other day asked if she was four. His jaw dropped when I said not even three yet. Course she was talking up a storm and is, I think, a bit tall for her age.

Gideon is all words, words, words, and humor and snot. And he is seriously working out the word "no" lately. hoo boy! They all go through that stage and he is lovin' it!

And me? Nothing much has changed. I'm a knittin' fool. And if you don't see a post in a while you know what I'm up to. Up to my elbows in yarn and needles, knits and purls.

These Are The Days Of Our Lives

I don't know why I thought of that title but I also couldn't think of a better one. We're home on a Saturday morning. Rob is away on his Reserves weekend (duty calls - but this time only for a couple of days), the kids are still in their pajamas watching VeggieTales - Minnesota Cuke and the Search For Noah's Umbrella, I am dressed but only because I was afraid if I didn't get dressed right out of bed I might spend the whole day in my pajamas. If I didn't have shopping to do later I wouldn't have minded. :)

The kids have been so fun lately. Gideon just turned 17 months old, Zion will be 3 in a couple of weeks and Gabe is 5 1/2. Why does that matter? Because for the first time ever I have a toddler and I'm not pregnant (unless God has a different idea of course). OK, you caught me, when Gabe was 17 months old I wasn't pregnant with Zion yet but not by much! I am simply thoroughly enjoying my 3 kids. Even though Gideon's been a rather big grump lately (he's cutting teeth). And he's raiding the garbage right now. And he had a cold last week and loves to wipe snot on my shirt. So aside from the occasional silvery smear on my shirt life has been so much fun lately. All three of the kids are at such fun stages right now. Gabe is reading everything. Everything. Every. Thing. Which means Rob and I can no longer spell things we don't want the kids to know about.

Zion only wants to wear dresses and they must be pink or purple. Apparently so must her sheets. Be pink or purple, that is. The other day all her sheets were in the laundry so I told her I would let her borrow one of Gideon's. She had a totally heartbroken meltdown at the thought of a blue sheet on her bed. Poor thing. I felt terrible (not really). Lucky for her I remembered a new sheet that I had bought and was planning to return. Plans change. She really does need new sheets so I need to be less picky about the polka dots not exactly matching her room. She really likes the polka dots as it turns out.

Gideon is walking everywhere and talking about everything. Sometimes we even understand him. Thursday afternoon we were having some cuddle time and he turned his face to mine to give me a big ol' toddler kiss (which of course means he had his mouth wide open like he's going to eat my face off) and he said "kishes". Wow. Just outta the blue like that. He loves to cuddle and give kisses. I think even more than Gabe and Zion and they were pretty cuddly babies. Another one of his favorite words is "Wow!" You'll hear him say this all the time. A few nights ago we were driving home and the moon was out but the kids couldn't see from the back seat. So when we got out we all stood in the driveway looking up at the moon peeking through the clouds. Gideon looked up and said "Wowwww." Too cute.

So all three of the kids have been at fun stages lately as individuals. But also as siblings. They look out for each other, stand up for each other and show real affection toward each other not to mention sharing each others' colds - wait, that's not what I want. Still, it seems they've been giving me tons of joy lately just watching them enjoy each other. Last week we were watching a movie together after dinner and Gabe invited Zion to sit with him. When we peeked around the coffee table to see them we found Zion fully reclined on Gabe as he leaned against the table. They have moments of the rivalry kind of course, I don't want to paint an unrealistic picture, but these ones happen more. What a blessing.