Rainbow Punishments

In he car today, we were asking Aaron if he was good and did his work. He gave his usual vague, really avoiding the real subject way, and eventually we wound up talking about color cards. In his class, if you're good, you're on green. If you slip up, you're on yellow, if you slip up yet again, orange, and the worst, red. Aaron said,"If I was a teacher, I'd have first green,'cause the land and grass, then blue, like the ocean, then yellow, like a little fire, then orange like a big fire, the ones that are so hot you have to step away, then red, like a forest fire or when your house burns down. I don't think that he gets what the card system is really just based on what color you choose.

Cute Misunderstandings

Every night, Tim or I rock with Ginny and sing her songs before going to bed. Every night, while we are singing, she keeps up a running commentary on her interpretation of the songs. Here are a couple of cute misunderstandings from last night's songs.

The first was You are My Sunshine. When I got to the line about, "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away", Ginny asked in a very concerned voice "A deer took me away?"

The next was Rock a Bye Baby, when I was singing "and down will come baby - cradle and all." Ginny asks in a surprised voice, "I'm a doll??"

She's also convinced that the Ramone's song "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" is actually all about her ("Ginny is...a punk rocker...Ginny is...")

A little catch-up

Mom hasn't been posting in forever, and I kept bugging her about it, until finally she set this up for me. Anyways, I'm going to do a little catch-up for all the stuff that happened over the holidays. This first one is on Christmas Eve, which is when we open our presents. I got a pocketknife from Dad, and I gave him a book of prayers. (No kidding! It was a total coincidence.) I also got a remote-control F-8 Hornet that doesn't break whenever it lands. Yay!! Aaron got a remote control monster truck, whereas Alli got a ton of drawing supplies. Mom's big present was pictures from Alli and mine's art class that we go to. Alli drew an awesome person, and I drew an abstract painting called Beasts of the Sea by Henry Matisse. Mom loves abstract.
The second one, also on Christmas Eve, we were all patiently waiting for Aaron to fall asleep. Dad had told us that when he told Aaron to go to sleep, because otherwise Santa won't come, Aaron replied,"Well, Santa's probably in China right now, so I'm okay." The third thing Mom hasn't told you about yet was Crystal Mountain, also known as the best ski resort EVER!!!!!!!! (Well, except this one in France that we went to when Mom was on sabbatical, but that's a different story.) Anyways we had an awesome time there, Ginny beating us on blues,(but she has a tether)just Dad, Alli, and I, having an awesome day skiing down lots of diamonds, and of course just relaxing lazy days. We also spent New Year's there, and they had fireworks that they shot from just up the bunny hill, so close, that I admit that I hid behind Dad at the finale.

Kindle Pocket -- Free Pattern

My husband and daughter got me a Kindle for Christmas! Since my 2 oldest daughters immediately absconded with it to read for the next few days, I figured I'd at least do something Kindle-related. So, I designed a felted Kindle Pocket to protect my new gift.



Materials:
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm 16" circulars
Yarn: 1 skein Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Cranberry Swirl (or desired colorway)
One colorful button or set of velcro strips (depending on preferred closure on top)

Gauge: not particularly important since you will carefully felt to size.

FINISHED DIMENSIONS: 6.5" W x 9" L

Abbreviations:
sts: stitches
C8F: Slip first 4 sts to cable needle and hold to front. K next 4 sts, then K 4 sts from cable needle.
K: Knit
P: Purl
BO: Bind off
CO: Cast on

Note: This pattern is for the regular-sized Kindle, not the larger Kindle DX.

KINDLE POCKET
CO 56 sts.

Edging:
Working in round on 16” circs, work 4 rows of garter st. (K one round, P one round, K one round, P one round).

Buttonhole:
(Note: If you prefer to use velcro strips as a closure, you can skip the buttonhole directions, and instead do 2 more rows in the previously established garter st pattern)
K 13 sts. BO 2 sts. Knit 41 sts.
P 13. CO 2 sts. P 41 sts.

Begin cabled front panel:
Rounds 1-2: K8, P2, K8, P2, K around.
Round 3: K8, P2, C8F, P2, K around.
Rounds 4-8: K8, P2, K8, P2, K around.

Repeat 8 rounds 6 more times.

Divide sts onto two needles: 28 sts for front and 28 sts for back (with cabled panel centered in front). Turn inside out so right sides face each other. Using a 3-needle bind off, BO all sts to create flat seam at bottom. (If you don't wish to do a 3-needle BO, you can also use kitchener stitch to graft the two edges, or you can bind off as usual and sew the two edges together.)

Felt lightly or to desired shape and size.
Sew button (and/or velcro strips if preferred).

The Twelve Days of Christmas (Cookies)

We're trying to make a different batch of cookies for each day of Christmas (with a little help from Grandma)! Here are our 12 Days of Christmas so far: (try to sing along...)

On the first day of Christmas, my bakers made for me Gingerbread Molasses as sweet as can be...

On the second day of Chistmas, my bakers made for me 2 dozen Jam Thumbprints...and Gingerbread Molases as sweet as can be.

On the third day of Christmas, my bakers made for me 3 dozen powdered apricot Kolackys...2 dozen Jam Thumbprints, and Gingerbread Molases as sweet as can be.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my bakers made for me 4 dozen chocolate and vanilla Pinwheels...3 dozen powdered apricot Kolackys, 2 dozen Jam Thumbprints and Gingerbread Molases as sweet as can be.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my bakers made for me 5 dozen Snow Balls...4 dozen chocolate and vanilla Pinwheels...3 dozen powdered apricot Kolackys,2 dozen Jam Thumbprints and Gingerbread Molases as sweet as can be.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my bakers made for me 6 dozen Sugar Cookie cutouts...5 dozen Snow Balls...4 dozen chocolate and vanilla Pinwheels...3 dozen powdered apricot Kolackys,2 dozen Jam Thumbprints and Gingerbread Molases as sweet as can be.



Yes, I know there should be 6 more dozen cookies in here somewhere...but one can eat only so many cookies!

Merry Christmas!!

An Eclectic List

Alli and Chardy always add such unique and seemingly random items to the week's grocery list. Here are a few from the past week:

1) 5 cookie packages
2) coconut milk
3) wire
4) shower curtain
5) assorted jars and vials

Any guesses as to what they are making?!