I Spy

I spy with my little eye...


No, not Mr. T. Well, I do see him (Call Your Mama) but that's not what I'm really looking at. Look to the right of Mr. T. What was lost is now found. It's magnetic. So, I put it on the fridge and promptly forgotten I had done so.

In other news: I got my package from my Sock-ret Pal. This is the best swap I have ever been in. Christa was my pal and she made me the most wonderful socks. She also included More Sensational Knitted Socks. I had heard of the first book but never looked at it. If it is anything like this sequel, maybe I should go and get it. It has a stitch dictionary in the back and the basic sock patterns are easy to personalize. I've knit enough socks that I could do a lot of this myself, sure, but why should I bother myself with all the math when it is already done for me in this book? Yippee.

She also sewed me this super cute bag. I can't tell you how much I love it. I LOVE IT!
And the yarn? Gorgeous.
Stuff for my kids? Check. These little workbooks look so darn fun. She sent Let's Color and Let's Sticker & Paste. They look really great and I know they are going to love coloring and pasting in them. I can't believe I've never seen these workbooks before. They look like something Design Mom should review.
Nuts. Mmmm. Pistachios. From California. Sorry, Mom. You can't have any. *we are very much in love with pistachios*

I guess you can guess the theme of my package from my Sock-ret pal. THINGS THAT I'M LOVING VERY MUCH! Thank you!

I Spy

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-spy.html

Blessing in Disguise

Today should have been the start of round 3 for me in the infamous International Knit-Off. When I got up this morning and checked my email, the pattern was up along with a few questions from participants. I couldn't help myself by checking it out. Here is why this girl shouldn't be running any kind of competition or doing anything where thinking is involved.

1. On this round's email she decides to include a "reminder" for everyone to post a pic AND email for the win. I'm disappointed that they're not going to have to remember to check post #90 for all the important details.

2. Here is the pattern. The yarn and needle requirements we were given by the "un"organizer of the competion---DK weight yarn and US size 6 needles--- but somewhere back in post #43 (I'm just making that number up) she mentions we can really use whatever yarn we want because in the end the projects we are making are for us.

3. Go back to the pattern. NO GAUGE. NO ROW COUNTS. If this wasn't a competition, this wouldn't matter. What if I decided to use bulky yarn (see #2)? I could knit up a 7 inch triangle in no time compared to those suckers stuck using DK yarn.

4. There has been no "official" word as of yet so if I was in the competition still I'd be seriously peeved or using bulky yarn and would probably be kicked out for "not following directions" anyway.

5. In summary, today I'm going to knit whatever I want but I'm going to do it wearing a crown and scoffing at those people that are still in the running to be the International Knit-Off Champion.

Blessing in Disguise

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/blessing-in-disguise.html

Parenting 101

I had to fill out some forms online yesterday and Eva was trying to help me. I decided to let her do the previously unthinkable. She sat in our bed, with chips, and watched the "Toot Toot!" DVD by The Wiggles. My forms are still not finished (and probably won't be for a few more weeks--ICK!) so I have a feeling this scene might play itself out a few more times in the next couple of weeks.

Do you like her hair? She's got 15 knots on her head. Her parts aren't as straight as the ones Bek did for her daughter, but I'm pretty proud of what I did. Did you read the post I linked to? She mentions a trip to Wal-Mart. It just so happens that I had to take my Eva there this morning. I had a totally different experience which I'm sure can be contributed to the fact that I live in Nebraska and Bek lives in the California Bay Area. The only people that commented on her hair were (white) senior citizens (3 different ones) that asked me why in the world I would give my kid a hair-do like that.

Because I can, old people. Because I can.

Parenting 101

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/parenting-101.html

AC DC

Carl is on his way to Washington, D.C. today to try and convince the government to fund some of his research. I don't know exactly what it is for but it has something to do with putting sensors on train tracks and generating energy or something like that. I try really hard to keep his projects straight and understand what they are about. But, he can't keep all the knitting projects I have straight so I guess we're even. Getting this grant is really important to him and I hope he gets it. He's really getting stressed about getting tenure and this would definitely be a step in the right direction. I am not too worried about him getting tenure. Carl's really, really smart (even for a professor) and I know he's working really hard. He just needs to get some concrete evidence (GRANT MONEY) that his research is worthwhile to the university.

Carl is coming back tonight so it is going to be a long day for him. His flight is probably just now leaving and I *might* be awake when he comes home. I'm glad we have this weekend to relax.

AC DC

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/ac-dc.html

Hot Stuff

I roasted a chicken yesterday. I'm so domestic. Back when I was the Queen of Pampered Chef, I got their digital thermometer. I can find everything but the actual thermometer. I even have that plastic case thingy. The probe? Found it. But, where the heck is the actual thermometer?
Apparently my domesticatedness is refined enough that I didn't need that darn thing in the first place. My chicken was divine. I used it in a super-secret Pillsbury Bake-off recipe contender. It was pretty yummy but needs some fine tuning. We're going to be eating a lot of chicken around here in the next few weeks.

Hot Stuff

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/hot-stuff.html

Oh, Sanjaya

Oh, Sanjaya. You cannot sing. You are not very funny. But even I cannot deny the fabulosity of the hairstyles. I rocked the pony-hawk most of the afternoon. It was pretty sweet. The home teachers and our neighbors that stopped by tonight don't watch American Idol. I'm sure they thought I was a little off my rocker sporting this hairdo.

I thought I better add a cute picture of Caleb to salvage this post. Enjoy.

Oh, Sanjaya

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/oh-sanjaya.html

Garden Time

I just did a little book review over at LDSReaders on this container gardening book. I've been in the gardening mood since it has started to warm up around here. Last summer I planted my first container garden (or even regular garden) ever. Hollie helped me a lot. I didn't know what I was doing and we still came away with some good stuff. This summer I'm more confident and prepared. Carl and I made a list a few days ago on what we would like to plant this season.

Bell Peppers- Last year I planted the cutest baby bell pepper plants. I'm going for a full-size pepper this year.
Tomato--I didn't plant any tomato plants last year and this year I'm going to plant just one.
Onions--This is a new addition from last year as well.
Leeks--Another addition.
Jalapeño- My jalapeño plant last year was the most productive. I'm going to do that again.
Sweet Potato- Carl loves sweet potatoes and last year I had a plant. It turned out well so it stays in the line-up.
Salad Mix- I had one container that I did from a seed packet. It was a salad mix. It turned out really well and was pretty, too.
Garlic--I don't know yet if I'm going to do this for sure.

Herbs: cilantro, basil, garlic chives, oregano

Things I won't try again for a while: cucumbers (they grew but weren't very tasty), mini pumpkins (cute but the vines tried to overrun my other plants), wax peppers (hardly ever cooked with them), carrots (I'd rather buy them--mine weren't that great).

Garden Time

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/garden-time.html

Shoe Shopping

I don't like shopping for shoes. I don't know what else to say about it. Unfortunately for me, I happen to be in the market for some new brown leather sandals. My last pair died at the end of the summer last year. I had them for over 5 years. In fact, in the past 13 years I've only had to buy 3 pair of brown leather sandals. I stuck with Dr. Marten's and they last a long time! I don't know what to do now. These are similar to the pair I had last. I would know what I'd be getting if I go with these. They are durable, heavy, and comfortable. They are also the most expensive of the 3 I have in this post.

This is another pair of Docs. They look pretty good---they don't have that big sole which could be a good thing when I don't like how heavy my last ones were. They are also on clearance and over 1/2 price of the previous pair.

The Dr. Marten's sandals I can confidently purchase online because I know my size and I'm familiar with them. Any other sandal I would need to actually go to a store and try some on. Ick. This is a pair from Naturalizer. Their shoes are supposed to be comfortable, right? They look okay. The price point for these is right in between the other 2 pair. I don't know whether to take a trip to the mall or just order some Dr. Marten's online.

Luckily, I don't need to make a decision today. I can wait a few weeks.

Shoe Shopping

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/shoe-shopping.html

Autism Awareness

BUMPED TO A LATER DATE. Actually, there was a mix up between the family being interviewed and the reporter. So, it will be on some other time.

FYI: They are doing a piece on Autism Awareness on the Channel 8 news this evening at 10pm. Channel 8 is one of the sponsors of the Autism Walk on April 15th.

Autism Awareness

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/autism-awareness.html

It Was the Russian Judge

There has been some controversy in the International Knit-Off and has resulted in my being disqualified. It's too bad for the eventual winner because it will always be tainted that it should have been me! Here is what happened:

There is a yahoo group set up for the competition.

In the files section there are rules and regulations.

The rules state clearly:

The Rules

The first person to complete their game wins and goes through to the next round.

For a game to be considered complete you must take a picture of your finished item and post it in the yahoo group pictures area as proof of finishing and timestamp. First in the game to post is the winner. Without picture post proof you will be disqualified.

If you'll recall, I was busting my bum to finish before I had to be at my knitting guild meeting. I did. I didn't just post a picture, I also posted a message to the group stating that I had finished.

My competition hadn't even checked her email for the pattern before I was finished!

I assumed I was the winner of the round.

This weekend, we got an email listing the participants for round 3 (the final 8!). I wasn't on it. I posted to the group questioning that rationale.

Apparently, I didn't send a personal email to the person in charge so my competitor wins.

Hmmm....it was never stated in the official rules to do so.

But, wait! It was brought to my attention by another participant that in post #90 something was said about emailing, too.

Oh, of course! Post #90. How could I have missed something so obvious? *oozing sarcasm* I would think that if there was something this important, the rules file should have been updated. Am I wrong?

This competition is run by the same person that did Sock Wars. Sock Wars was a logisitical disaster. It was poorly run and was marred with confusion. I only consented to do the International Knit-off because I thought that what was so bad about Sock Wars had been solved with this new style of competition. I should have been clued in when the very first pattern chosen was a scarf (we were given a requirement of DK weight yarn---for a scarf!) and the pattern didn't give any indication on when to stop! We were just knitting and knitting waiting for the person in charge to give us an indication of how long it needed to be and she was missing for 2 whole days.

I'm disappointed it ended this way. I guess I'll just have to continue being the Queen of all Knitting in my head...and never, ever enter another competition by this person again!*

There's always the State Fair.



*Although, I'm pretty sure that after all this snarking I'm banned from future competitions anyway.

It Was the Russian Judge

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/it-was-russian-judge.html

A Study of Eva

A Study of Eva

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/study-of-eva.html

This and That

I started out my day doing this.

This afternoon we're going to take the kids here.

We have to drive all the way here to get there. I don't like the fact that there isn't one in our own fair city.

But, if there was one here we wouldn't be able to have dinner at this fine establishment.

This and That

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-and-that.html

Bake-Off

Sometime last year I blogged about how I was going to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off for 2008. The time has come. The deadline is April 22nd so I have a month to come up with an awesome recipe worthy of winning $1 million (or at least getting me to the finals). I have a few ideas drawing on my experience of living and cooking in Mexico. I'm going to be practicing my recipes in the next couple of weeks and we're even having our Enrichment group, the Gourmet Goddesses, have this as our April theme. Should be loads of fun.

Who else is going to try to win?

Bake-Off

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/bake-off.html

Because I know a lot of you won't seek out this fabulous show on your own, I had to blog about it so you can check it out!

Do you have Univisión? Yep, it's that channel en español. While spending my day in bed on Monday I was trying to find something interesting to watch. I came across this gem.

"Bailando por la boda de mis sueños"

Couples from all over México compete for the "wedding of their dreams" by dancing. They play silly little games to earn extra points, get judged, and the public votes. At the end of the competition one couple wins a wedding, honeymoon, and a house. Not bad.

While I enjoyed being able to understand what the people were saying, it is not necessary to understand what is going on in the show and to enjoy the dancing. Fun stuff.

Check it out!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/because-i-know-lot-of-you-wont-seek-out.html

Progress

Caleb has been making such great progress this school year. He's been seeing an occupational therapist since school started because he had problems holding a pencil, opening markers, etc...

Caleb has learned to draw people with various expressions. My favorite is "mad". He gives the face downward turned eyebrows and a small mouth.

Caleb has also learned how to open markers by himself. Now that we have the Color Wonder markers, I don't worry so much about this new found skill.

At snack time in preschool, they practice pouring juice. Caleb seems to think this is really fun and insists on pouring his juice at home. With supervision, he does an okay job.

Yesterday, he decided he needed to practice pouring something else...without supervision.


That's 128 fl. oz. of bubbles (the picture was right side up in photoshop...don't know what happened). We now have about 40 oz. left. About 2 oz. made it into the appropriate container. The rest seeped into the couch.

The cushions were hosed down and placed in the middle of the yard so they could get the best sunlight today.

The cushion covers were washed and dried and are now just waiting for the sun to do its work.

The poor couch has seen better days. I'm going to miss sitting on it today. Maybe tomorrow...

The good news? Caleb went to school today and we've been a puke-free house for over 24 hours.

Progress

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/progress.html

Germ Bomb

Wendy came up with an excellent idea that at this point I'd pay big bucks for...a germ/flu bomb. If you can get your house bug bombed, why can't somebody do the same thing for all the nasty germs lurking about?

I'm feeling much better today. It's a good thing, too because last night Caleb came into our room at midnight and said he made a mess in his bed. Carl took care of the mess and gave Caleb some water. Then, he put him in our bed. I was like..."No way, José! He's going to puke up that water in our bed and then where will we sleep?". Carl said, "He's held it down this long so it should be good." We'll see. As soon as he started to leave the room, I felt Caleb heave. I yelled at Carl to grab him and he got him to the bathroom in time. While the boys were in the bathroom I made an excellent bed for Caleb. I took the cushion from our chaise and put it down beside our bed. Then I covered the pillow and the cushion in towels. He got an old Blues Clues blanket for warmth. Caleb loved that bed. We also added a bowl for an accessory...just in case (not needed, thank goodness!). I wish I had taken a picture of this bed before we put it away this morning.

Needless to say, Caleb is home from school today. He moved to our bed when Carl got up and he's still sleeping soundly even with me typing away on the computer.

I really hope this ends soon.

Germ Bomb

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/germ-bomb.html

Bed-Ridden

Updated to add: It's now 8pm and I've eaten a little more and actually set upright for about an hour and haven't had to lay down again. I'm starting to get a bit of an appetite and it is staying down so I think I'll be feeling much better tomorrow.

I'm feeling a little burst of energy from the 2 bites of toast and 5 bites of oatmeal that I've had today. I figured I better blog now while I'm awake.

Carl came home after he taught his class. Before he got home I was the picture of perfect parenting. Caleb was still at school, Eva watched Nick Jr, ate ranch dressing, pretzels, and 2 lollipops. I stayed in bed until I had to get Caleb off the bus. I went out in my pajamas (even sans support garments--the horror!) to get him in the house. Then I only had to last 30 minutes until Carl came home. Caleb got 5 cookies, 2 cups of juice, and Go Diego Go.

I've been in my room ever since. I took a nap for a few hours, ate my little bit of oatmeal, blogged, and now I'm ready to go back to bed!

Bed-Ridden

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/bed-ridden.html

I'm a Hooker, Too!

I finished seaming up the sweater I made for Caleb. It's not quite big enough for him and it is a little big for Eva but by next winter, she should fill it out nicely. I tried it on her when I was finished but didn't have the camera handy. So, enjoy the chair shot.

While I was on a roll and practically bed ridden, I decided I could make a hat with the leftover yarn. I didn't have the right needles handy but I did have a crochet hook. I went back to my roots and started hooking. A few hours later, I had a hat.

Eva is in bed so I asked Carl to be the model. We did an impromptu photo shoot.

And, this is his best shot. I told him to be fierce. I think we watch a little too much "America's Next Top Model".

I'm a Hooker, Too!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/im-hooker-too.html

Round Two

Round two of the International Knit-off was today. The pattern was a doily. I've made tons of doilies in my life but never once have I knit one. I wasn't too excited about having a doily like this so I used up some of my scratchy vintage acrylic. I'd post a picture but I didn't take a very good one. You see, I had knitting group at noon today and at 11:00am I had just a few rows left to go. I had to finish before I left. I cast off and took a picture at 11:50am, posted it to the site at 11:52am, hopped in the shower, and was at knitting group by 12:20pm. Not bad. By the time I was there the last thing I wanted to do was knit. So, I just sat and listened to the program (finishing techniques). We also chose a logo for the guild. Towards the end of the meeting I got out a sweater I had started for Caleb over a year ago. The knitting is finished, I just need to seam it together. I started that and will finish it soon.

My allergies started to really act up today and I didn't take any medication until I got home from knitting group. I got super tired and took a nap for almost 2 hours. I'm still not feeling so great and now I'm wondering if it isn't something more than just allergies. I hope not. Caleb is feeling much better today but with me not feeling that great, we're both going to stay home from church tomorrow just in case. Hopefully I'll feel good enough tomorrow to do something besides just sleep.

Oh yeah, I won round two. Turns out that the lady I was competing against didn't even check her email for the pattern until I was already finished. The hostess of this competition vowed that the next pattern will be much more challenging. I have two weeks to rest up. Luckily it will be during General Conference weekend so I'll have lots of prime knitting time.

Round Two

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/round-two.html

Overdue

The picture and blog about one my latest finished objects is finally here.

Baby Surprise Sweater
Pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Yarn: Malabrigo colorway Amore (perfect colors for a February baby!)
Buttons: flower buttons from Joann

Made for: Avery Black
Size: This worsted weight yarn made a sweater that is a 12-18 month size

The Lincoln Knitters are doing a knit-a-long of this pattern and it has been really fun seeing what everyone else is doing. Joanne added a little bit of fun fur and it looks really neat. Mary Pat has perfectly placed stripes. I bought enough yarn to make more of these little sweaters. It took less than a week to knit up but more than a month after that before I got around to seaming it up and putting on the buttons. It arrived at its intended home today so I thought I'd give this neglected knit its proper due. Believe it or not, this used to be a knitting blog!

I'm still plugging away on my blue cotton cardigan. I'm on the first sleeve. It's going to have to take a break this weekend while I start round 2 of the International Knit Off. I'm only competing against one other person in this round so I'll either win, or be put out of my misery quickly.

Kid news: Caleb waited until Eva was feeling better until he got sick. It started this afternoon. He has thrown up everything he's eaten since 3pm. During his third "round" of throwing up, he actually came to get me to tell me he wanted to throw up in the potty. I was so impressed with
his sentence that I thought for sure he had already thrown up and wanted me to clean it up and flush it down. Lo, and behold as soon as we got to the toilet he lifted up the seat and proceeded to projectile vomit in it and all around it (just juice, thank goodness). Carl was at a baptism during all of this so I had to clean up and deal as best as I could. Caleb was a real trooper. When he was done he said, "You need a napkin?" (he doesn't quite grasp pronouns yet). I was so thrilled with his communication success during this whole night that I can't feel too bad about the fact that he made me gag most of the evening. When he was throwing up the 2nd time (on my bedroom floor--luckily in the same spot he had done it just 30 minutes earlier), he also had a little poo poo accident that came out of the diaper and was on the floor. I certainly earned my paycheck today. After he went to bed and once Carl was home I went to the pharmacy and stocked up on Pedialyte (drink and freezer pops), ibuprofen, and lollipops. I'm really sad he's going to miss his very first Primary activity tomorrow. I also hope he's better by the time Monday rolls around so he can go to school.

Here are some pics for the grandparents.

Caleb's latest obsession is blowing bubbles. All.the.time. Eva spent some of her birthday walking around the house with a laundry hamper on her head. Luckily it is a mesh one and she can see where she's going. My sister used to do this when she was little but she used a trash can that you couldn't see through and would run into all sorts of things.

Overdue

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/overdue.html

What the Mraz?

I don't usually get out much. But, tonight I saw myself swing dancing with my hubby on the big screen. It was kind of weird and I'm glad we weren't on there more because I look a little dorky. I could see where we were more often than any other person that knows us will see us... I guess it helps that I knew where we were dancing (in the lower left of your TV screen--close to the stage--you can see us the best during It Don't Mean a Thing).

What I'm really blogging about tonight, though (this is going to count as tomorrow's blog since I doubt many people will really read it this evening), is what I saw on my way to the theater.

Jason Mraz. Okay, I didn't see him. I saw that he's coming to the Rococo Theater downtown on April 12th. I mentioned to Carl that it would be a might fine birthday present for me (coming soon!! April 11th). We tried to buy tickets then and there but the box office was closed for Spring Break. Tickets aren't on sale online yet but I found out they are $28.50. Carl doesn't want to come with me. Any takers? I think Wendy's in. Hollie--wanna make a trip back to Lincoln? I'm pretty sure there are assigned seats so if any of you want to come with--let me know ASAP and we'll get the tickets together.

What the Mraz?

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/what-mraz.html

Birthday Celebration Overload

Events of the day:

Cupcakes at Wendy's house. Her little girl Whitney shares the same birthday with Eva.
Here are the kids playing with a little dog from Uncle Eric and Aunt Connie. It barks and flips over. Caleb was really scared at first. Eva absolutely loves it and kept patting her legs to have it come to her. Caleb will get close enough to touch it now.

Shopping at Toys R Us. Remember when I blogged about her loving that crazy two headed dragon "horse"? She saw some more of those same toys at Toys R Us and wanted them all Instead I persuaded her to choose a Dora backpack full of games.

We decided to try out Chuck E. Cheese after reading about Hollie's adventures. Caleb did pretty well. He only rolled around on the floor screaming bloody murder three times. It didn't help that they messed up our order and our pizza didn't arrive for almost an HOUR! They did give us 50 free tokens while we waited. So, the kids enjoyed playing.

Eva fell asleep on the way home from Chuck E. Cheese and that was the end of her whirlwind 2nd birthday.

Today is my mom's birthday! Have a happy one and your socks (both of them) are on their way.

Birthday Celebration Overload

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/birthday-celebration-overload.html

Happy Birthday, Eva!

Find out all about how we got Eva in the Feb/March 2005 archives.

Eva really was crawling early! This was her getting around at 4 months. She hasn't stopped since.
Eva was happy to be one!


She's growing up so fast!

Tomorrow I'll include all the pictures from today's festivities.

Happy Birthday, Eva!

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/happy-birthday-eva.html

Big Screen

A year ago Carl and I went on a magical date. We found out that Nebraska Public Television was hosting a swing dance and concert that was going to be televised some time in the future. That time is now, folks.

The World Premiere of "Hard Times Swing" is this Thursday night at the Ross Media Arts Center. Carl and I will be there!

For those of you in the neighborhood, "Hard Times Swing" will be shown on NET1 at the following dates and times:

Saturday, March 17th, at 7:00 pm.
Sunday, March 18th, at 11:00 a.m.
Monday, March 19th, at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 24th at 4:30 p.m.

Big Screen

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/big-screen.html

Light

I haven't been outside of the house for a few days now and it is getting to me. Today, I'm pretty sure Eva is well enough to venture out so we are at least going to go to the Y. Caleb has been asking to go for days now. I'm glad they like it there because sometimes I feel guilty about taking them almost every day.

It's going to be in the 70's this afternoon and I'm wondering if I should let the kids play outside. Our yard is totally soggy. As of yesterday we still had some snow in the shadier parts by our sliding glass door. Carl is planning on taking Caleb "camping" in our backyard tomorrow night.

Some of you may have noticed that my blog post is later than normal. Thanks to Daylight Saving Time and Spring Break, I slept in until almost 8am. I must have been exhausted from the really rough day I had yesterday lounging around in my pajamas.

I've got something for all of you to look forward to. Not only is Eva's birthday on Wednesday, she shares this special day with math geeks all over the world...Pi Day.

Light

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/light.html

Productivity

The boys are at church and Eva's asleep. I have a quiet house and I'm not sure exactly what to do with myself. Here are any number of things I could/should be doing:

• taking a nap myself--my fever is under control but a little sleep couldn't hurt
• making dinner
• reading a book--I just finished Peter Pan in Scarlet and am still working on The Fountainhead
• knitting--I have a birthday sock to finish, and several other projects that could use my attention
• laundry--I'm a little behind since I was sick yesterday but I'm probably going to procrastinate at least a day more--who wants to do laundry on a Sunday? Not me!
• watching tv--I have a bunch of shows I need to get through to delete so I can have more room on the DVR. But, I probably won't do this either (unless I decide to knit)
• blogging--actually, I'm done with this for today. I've blogged at 3 different sites today and now I'm done (here, ldsreaders, and Sticks and Stamps).
  

Productivity

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/productivity.html

On Running Away

Yesterday before Carl left for work he hurt my feelings with something he said. Usually when he says something that he probably shouldn't have, I can blow it off. I know he doesn't really mean to hurt me. Yesterday he also didn't really mean to hurt me but what he said really did. I cried almost instantly and didn't stop for the rest of the day. He tried to blow it off by saying I shouldn't ask him things when he's trying to leave for work. Then, I went upstairs and I'm pretty sure he left right away.

I'm not going to blog about what he said---it is irrelevant. It wasn't derrogatory or mean-spirited. It just cut me to the core.

Before Eva woke up I tried to plan an escape. I thought I might drop the kids off at the babysitter around 4:30, leave a note for Carl to pick them up and then I could just be gone until Saturday night. Nice hotels in Lincoln are expensive and I didn't really have a good idea of what I wanted to do.

Next plan. I thought about loading up the car with the kids and taking a road trip to Oklahoma. We don't have anywhere we need to be for a few days and my mom has a hot tub. The thought of driving all that way by myself kind of nixed that plan.

When Eva woke up she was still a little sick so I figured today would be a bad day to run away. I couldn't leave her with anyone else or subject her to a long road trip.

New plan: a lady from church gave us a gift certificate to the movies for letting her borrow our Karaoke Revolution. Maybe I could go to the movies? I have no problems going to the movies by myself. I looked up the movie times. There was nothing I was too terribly interested in. Dreamgirls was playing at 8:25pm. That's an option.

Then thought came into my mind that it is Friday and a local florist has $5 bouquets every Friday. Carl has never brought home a bouquet without me specifically asking for one ($5 bouquets or otherwise). I wondered if he would bring a bouquet home. If he did, that would be a huge gesture for him. A really big deal.

Okay, if Carl brings a bouquet of flowers home I won't go to the movies (or run away from home for longer than 2 hours).

On Running Away

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/on-running-away.html

Sick Day

*This is an old photo from back in September*

My little Eva woke up yesterday with a stuffy nose, an overflowing diaper and a fever. I put her in a fresh pair of pajamas, gave her some medicine and commenced the cuddling. I could tell she wasn't feeling well at all. When she had had enough of cuddling, she moved over to the recliner to chill out with her stuffed sheep, "CHEEP!". Hey, at least it wasn't her freaky dragon-horse.

When Caleb came home, he felt a little hotter than normal. But, he didn't have a high fever. I gave him a 1/2 dose of ibuprofen when I gave Eva her medicine. After that all he wanted to do was watch Mary Poppins. All afternoon I heard, "A Spoonful of Sugar". Good thing I adore that movie.

Eva left the comfort of her chair to come and lay down by me on the couch. I asked her if she wanted to lay down on me and she got up. As soon as she put her head down I felt the heaves. I spun her around and she threw up on the couch. I took off her shirt and was going to go put her in the tub but before I finished she puked one last time on the floor. In toddler terms this was a very dainty puke. It was not totally gross. I won't go into details but I was okay to clean it up, at least. I wrapped her in a towel and held her. She started to fall asleep. I put her in her crib with the towel and she napped most of the afternoon.

Caleb was pretty calm most of the afternoon and he cooled down. I was really hoping that when he woke up this morning he would be feeling fine. Lucky for me, he was! This is his last day of school before Spring Break. I wish the snow would melt and our backyard wasn't so soggy. I think it might be a long week.

Luckily, we have absolutely nothing planned for tomorrow. No committments that I know of. I have one goal: mail out all of the packages that I owe people.

Sick Day

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/sick-day.html

For the Girl That Has Everything

Little Miss Eva's birthday is next week and she's going to be a whopping two years old. I'm trying to do a little internet research on something to get her. This stamp set seems to be the most promising. When I'm daring enough to get my stamps out when she's awake, she loves to come and sit with me and stamp. I let her use stamps with no ink. She pretends to ink them up on the table (by pounding them three times--much like I do) and then she stamps onto paper. It is really cute so I think this stamp set by Melissa and Doug would be a good option for her even though the recommended age is 4 and up. Target carries their toys (which are really fun and attractive and QUIET) so I think I'll be heading that way sometime this morning. And, if they don't have this particular item at least I know where to find it online. *Deb-you might want to point Julie in this direction if she wants to get Breanna something with washable ink!*

I also found this cute little sewing and lacing kit. This toy would probably serve Caleb more than Eva since these are things he is working on with the occupational therapist. So, that is why I won't get it for Eva for her birthday. I was happy to find one online. I have such a hard time finding toys for the kids--which is probably why I avoid shopping for toys so much and just let the relatives fill up their toybox.

One thing about Eva is she is becoming obsessed about horses. I don't know whether or not it is because she knows how to say the word or if it is because she genuinely loves them. Any horse-like toy we have is a horse. Any camel, burro, zebra, etc...is not exempt. She has a rocking horse that she got for her first birthday and LOVES IT! She takes her little "horses" and carries them with her. She likes to take them to bed with her. We have this huge, ugly two-headed dragon that Caleb picked out with his birthday money from his Greatgrandma Jacox and Eva just loves that thing like it is her baby. She likes to find it first thing every morning and cuddle with her "horse".

Something else that she likes to do everyday is put on makeup. She'll come into my bathroom, point to the drawer and say "lips". Her daily beauty ritual is watermelon chapstick, an little blush brush for the cheeks, and some Mary Kay spun silk eyeshadow. Between all the dressing up, makeup, and horse loving and I'd say that little Eva is a lot like my sister Lisa.

I don't know how we're going to celebrate for Eva's birthday. It is Spring Break next week for Caleb but not for Carl. We're going to try and have him ditch work one day or two next week so he can play with us. I think we definitely need an outing with the kids. We haven't been to the Children's Museum in a while or the Omaha Zoo to see the penguins again. You'll hear all about it--whatever we decide to do.

For the Girl That Has Everything

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2007/03/for-girl-that-has-everything.html