Clarity

Every once in a while in the midst of my hectic life there comes a moment of such clarity that it makes me pause. Today I had one of those moments. While I was holding the baby, and my son was sitting on the floor playing, and my 2 oldest were tearing up the kitchen in their quest to make breakfast it slapped me in the face how truly blessed I am. I have 4 beautiful, healthy, intelligent children. No...they don't always behave. No...they don't always clean up after themselves. Yes...they drive me absolutely bonkers. But all in all they are truly wonderful and in my day to day life with all the work and frustrations of trying to raise 4 kids on just one income, I tend to forget. Thank you God for blessing me so.

And as the oldest 2 start fighting and the youngest starts crying, the moment is gone as I hunt down the toddler to make sure he's not dumping shampoo or taking the ornaments off the Christmas tree...haha

Finished Sweater

I finished the sweater and cap! Can't believe I finished it this fast, but I actually got a couple of hours of almost uninterrupted crocheting in today! I haven't tried it on the baby yet as I didn't want to wake her, but when I do, I'll make sure to take a pic and post it for all to see how it ended up fitting.
Now I just need to find a good (read easy) pattern for booties that is similar or figure out how to make them myself.

Reunions

It's always fun having reunions with long lost siblings! The girls' oldest sister came for a visit this weekend and they had a great time with her. The last time they saw her was almost a year ago. She recently moved closer to us to go to college, so hopefully we'll get to see her more often.

Poor thing, I thought they were going to run her over when she got here. (We didn't tell them she was coming so it would be a surprise, kind of an early Christmas present!) I think they stayed up most of the night playing games and watching movies. Here they are hamming for the camera.

While she was here we braved the seasonal madness of the mall to get her a dress to wear to a semi-formal party. It was crazy there and I swear I'll never go back during a holiday season.

Making progress

I'm finally making progress on Allie's sweater and I think she'll actually be able to wear it for a month or so before she gets too big for it. I finished the first sleeve (finally) and got about halfway through the other before I had to stop and get the kids ready for bed tonite. Hopefully I'll get it finished tomorrow. Just need to finish the last 2 inches of the second sleeve, edge the body, and get some cute buttons for it. Of course there's still the little cap that goes with it, but I should be able to finish that in one or two evenings depending on how needy the little ones are.

Sweater in progress

I'm finally finding some time to crochet again. I'm attempting to make a sweater for the baby. I've never made a sweater before. The closest I've come to making wearables are scarves, hats, and ponchos. Nothing that difficult. This poor sweater on the other hand. I've frogged the sleeve several times because I keep forgetting to turn at the end of each row rather than working in the round. I'll post another pic when it's actually finished.

I also have a queen size afghan that I'm working on, but there are no photos of it yet.

Camera frenzy

All you parents and grandparents out there know how it is when you have a new baby in the house. The camera comes out and every little moment has to be captured! Seems like the first few months in a baby's life they get photographed more than the rest (at least in my house).

So anyway, my camera has been getting a pretty good workout but it's been difficult to get all 4 kids in one place while they're all awake and somewhat alert. A couple of days ago I finally managed to do just that and got the resulting pic.

Finished projects

I actually did some crocheting while I was pregnant. Not a lot, but a few items. Just thought I'd share them here.







This is a poncho I made for Amber after someone stole her other one.



This is Allie's very first baby blanket.








This is Amber's afghan done in the colors of her choice. There's a photo of Alicia's somewhere back in this blog. Now I just need to make one to fit JW's new bed.





This is a rug I whipped up right before Allie was born to put next to my bed. I hate getting up in the middle of the night and putting my bare feet on a cold floor so this was my solution. It looks better now that the ends have been woven in and it's been washed and blocked.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here. A lot has happened since my last post. We've moved back on post, the girls started the 5th grade, JW has grown like a weed, I've completed an afghan, another poncho for Amber, a couple baby blankets, and 3 weeks ago gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!!

Pineapple doily

Well I finally finished it (a couple of weeks ago!) This is the doily I did for my swap partner in Luxury. This is the first doily I've done with anything smaller than size 3 thread in over a year since the accident. I think it turned out quite nice.

I've got a baby blanket and an afghan on my hooks at the moment and just finished some squares for a 12" square exchange. Maybe now I'll find more time to post. We'll see.

Goodbye Sweet Gram

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere, 86, died Monday, March 6, 2006 at Rosewood Court Adult Foster Care Home in Brookings of natural causes.

She was born April 29, 1919 to Joseph Alexander and Mary Ethel (Vincent) Currie in Eugene, Oregon.

Mrs. LeClere was raised and schooled in Eugene and Springfield where she spent most of her life working and raising her family.

She married Joe Prociw in Springfield in 1937 and they raised three children together. She later married Leonard LeClere about 1953 and they also raised three children together.

Mrs. LeClere was employed as a waitress at Seymour’s Restaurant in Eugene for a number of years before beginning at the University of Oregon. She retired from U of O in 1975 after being employed as the Housekeeper for the University President for about a decade.

After retirement she worked closely with the Springfield Police Department to develop a Neighborhood Watch Program. She attended a number of specialized classes and received various commendations from the police department for her involvement.

Mrs. LeClere was an accomplished seamstress and very good at needlework. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting, and cross-stitch and won first prize for her work at the Curry County Fair some years ago. She also liked hand-decorating ceramics and was very skilled at doing custom hand-drawn designs. She loved to read and was a fan of Louis L’Amour. She also enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and specialized in growing irises.

She is survived by son, Larrie and wife Beverly Prociw of Roseburg; daughter Bettie Gaye Ridl of Anchorage, Alaska; daughter Donna and husband Jim Blunt of Brookings; daughter Cecelia and husband Layne Worlton, also of Brookings; son Dwayne LeClere of Kodiak, Alaska; and son Tim and wife Pamela LeClere of Winston, Oregon; fifteen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren; and also twin brother Bert Currie of Anaconda, Montana.

She was preceded in death by her two older sisters and three older brothers, Wilma Roberts, Letta Bloom, and Arthur, Keith, and Ralph Currie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at Redwood Memorial Chapel, Brookings. Private entombment will be held later at Springfield Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Oregon.

Think Pink!

Well I did it. I signed up as a Mary Kay consultant. This is not something I ever thought I'd do, but I'm having a blast!! Today I put in my first order, for $600!! How cool is that. This from me, a person who never thought they could sell water to someone dying of dehydration!

This is also been a way for me to start meeting people around here since I haven't gone back to work yet. (On that note I have an interview tomorrow!)

So far it's been a good week! I've been truly blessed.

If you're interested in MK products you can visit my MKwebsite. Drop me a line and let me know what you think or even if you just want more info.

Going Crazy

I can't find my hooks. I've been working on squares for an exchange and both of the hooks I've been using have disappeared. I saw one on the floor this morning and I'm sure one of the kids moved it, but when I ask I get the usual answer...."I don't know, mom." GRRRRR

Famly time

We had a surprise visit last weekend. My daughters have an older sister from their bio-father who is 18. Although we talk frequently on the phone, we haven't seen her since early May, 2001. Last weekend we were pleasantly surprised to find out she was in Raleigh for the day. So we all piled in the car and went up to spend the day with her. I took more video than pics, but here are a couple of stills.

In other news, I spent a week doing a workshop to relearn how to write my resume and brush up on my interview skills. Turns out I know a lot more than I thought I did, unfortunately the job market here is slow and the pay is a lot lower than what I'm used to. Maybe I'll go back to school and THEN look for a job. We'll see.

I'm still working on my crochet and PSP. It's hard to decide which one to do when I do get time to do them. I haven't completed any crocheted items since the last blanket, but I am working on squares for an exchange I'm in. Once I get them caught back up I plan on starting Amber's blanket, but I'm still looking for the right pattern. I might just have to come up with my own for hers. Any suggestions? I'm open to ideas!

Finished

Well I finally finished Alicia's afghan. It took longer than expected, but life has a tendency to interfere with crafts and hobbies. I still have to start Amber's, but I've been more focused on looking for work and daycare.

DH got a nice shiney, new truck for Christmas and although we could afford it on one income if we cut out some of the extras.... I Don't Want To! LOL, I LIKE having extras. Extras make life easier and sometimes even more enjoyable!!

So anyway, I had to take the computer in and have both drives reformatted recently. What a pain. I lost so much, but on the other hand we were able to save a lot as well AND it runs so much faster now. I got the tech to only charge me a flat fee of $40 to back up several files and 27g of music files! LOL, their normal fee is $20 per gig. DH asked how I managed to do that and I simply told him I played the 'dumb gurl' card!! lol

Happy New Year...yeah right!

We live in a condo. Not the most ideal place for a family of 5, but it's really not too bad. The problems start with having your front door so close to others. Our building has 9 condos in it, 3 of which are currently vacant. Let's do the math, that leaves 5 other families/tenants including us.

Now let's think about this. You live in a building with 5 other groups of people, no matter how unsociable you may be, at some point you will meet your neighbors, right? Right. I can't tell you everyone's name, but I can tell you how many people live in each unit and I can even somewhat describe them if I needed to.

My point? My point is, some dirty bastard stole my WET umbrella from in front of my front door! Our doors aren't near any place where someone just walking by could access them. You actually have to walk through a parking lot, up a ramped walk, over a little bridge-like apparatus, and up some stairs just to get to the first floor. I left my umbrella slightly open in the corner by my front door for no longer than 20 minutes (something both I and the kids do often) and when I was getting ready to leave again it was gone! I'm not really angry about it, umbrellas are relatively cheap, but it's the principle of it (or lack of). I'd like to assume it wasn't one of my neighbor's, but maybe one of their guests BUT there were no strange cars in the parking lot when I got home!!!

Oh the stupid things some people will do. Geez, I'd have probably given it to them had they just asked! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use one of the kid's for now...

Separation Anxiety

I'm suffering from it. I never thought I would at my age but I am. My husband and son are staying at my inlaws this week and I've been miserable since I left them there yesterday. Ok, it's not really THEM I'm referring to. It's my son. This is my first time away from him and I'm not handling it well. I woke up 6 times last night because I thought I heard him crying (it was probably me...lol).

The girls were 4 and had been in daycare since they were babies the first time I spent the night away from them so it was very different. By then I was ready for a break, but I could talk to them on the phone and they'd talk back. JW won't talk on the phone, he just listens...sorta. He thinks it's a game. Funny thing is, the girls are missing him terribly as well. Like I told my dh on the phone last night, even though there are three of us here, the condo seems so empty without JW running around.

Only 4 more days to go. I'm sure we'll be ok, and I've got plenty to do to keep me busy. I just pray it will go by quickly!