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.