Baptism

My nephew, Spencer, was baptized on Sunday. He wore the same gown I made 2 years ago for his big brother, Pablo.
Spencer got dressed when we got to the church, a nice little walk from the house.

Tim (Julie's brother) and I were the Godparents again.

Afterwards, we walked back to the house and had a little cookout. It was an absolutely perfect day.

First Day

Today was the first day of school! Needless to say I was a little distracted and spacey this morning, but I remembered at the last minute to get a picture of Caleb, and totally embarrass him (that's in the mama job description, right?):
"No! We'll do it when I get home. Aw, come on, in public even!"

We found out that Calvin is in the same class as 2 of his good friends, and his teacher has the most awesome hair (it's silver! gorgeous! great cut! yes, I am shallow!). I told her about Sonja, and she said she'd give Calvin a little extra TLC. I also, in my spacey-ness, forgot to pack his snack, and took forever to find the thermos for his lunch (he went with grilled red potatoes, a cut up pork chop, some BBQ sauce, grapes, and a drink).

My mom helped me get Sonja's body to the vet for cremation. Now Connor and I are home, it's a little too quiet, and I finally got a shower in. It'll be a long day for Calvin, as I won't see him until about 7:45, when he gets home from gymnastics practice (my mom is taking him today). Caleb has soccer practice, and the crazy Tuesdays/Thursdays begin....

Sonja

Our dog Sonja died a little over an hour ago, with me by her side telling her it was ok to go, and that I'd see her on the other side. She had been acting lethargic and not eating since Saturday. I took her in to the animal emergency clinic and they said that she was probably in renal failure. They wanted to keep her overnight and do more diagnostic testing, but I opted to bring her back home, keep her comfortable, and let her be with her family.
She would have been 10 in early November. Sonja was a great dog, loved chasing tennis balls, and loved her boys (though I was her favorite. ^_^). I am going to miss her very much.

(and for those of you that know us -- I cannot believe that my scrawny, pathetic looking 18 year old cat that looks like she has been at death's door for the past few years has outlived this dog!)

Nine

It's official. My middle man is now 9.
As usual, we talked about the day he was born, and shared his birth story. It's an especially cool one, as he was born at home (unplanned), on a staircase. He LOVES hearing his birth story! He had 2 friends over on Tuesday for a slumber party, and tomorrow gets to go to another birthday party (for one of the friends that stayed over). Life is good when you are nine.

(I'm scheduling this one to post about the time he was born. We're not sure of the exact time, but this is close enough, and what we decided to put down 'officially')

Floral Friday

There are more new flowers blooming, some of which surprised me!

First, though, we finally have a monarch caterpillar! Unfortunately, the day after I took this photo, it was gone. Hopefully off to find different milkweed and not eaten.

My lavender is blooming. I just planted these in spring (5 plants), and honestly, I wasn't expecting blooms this season. Don't know if I'll get enough to dry, but it sure smells good now. The boys brush the plants every time they walk by because they smell so good.

I think this is some sort of hibiscus (? really I have no clue). It's winter hardy; I bought it last year from the little variety store down the street. It is loaded with buds, these two bloomed first, and each bloom is about 8" across (seriously, these things are big).

The coreopsis has been blooming for a while, I just forgot to take a photo of it.

Those darn asters still haven't bloomed.

10 and lots of 5s

My SIL Julie tagged me with this little meme that's been going around:

10 years ago (August 1998): I had only one child, and he was 2. I also had my 10 year highschool reunion, which was pretty fun! (my 20 year is this November).

5 years ago (August 2003): My dad had died unexpectedly 2 months prior, so I was busy petitioning the court to be appointed executor of the estate, meeting with the lawyer, and cleaning up his house.

5 months ago (March 2008): We took a vacation to visit my MIL in Arizona, and had a wonderful time. There was a big snowstorm the day before we left, so the boys got to build forts and play, then the next day they got to go swimming in the sun!

5 things on my To Do List for tomorrow:

- Calvin has gymnastics camp, need to pack a lunch
- laundry (every day. I use MyChores to schedule my housework duties)
- weed/water the plants
- bake some stuff
- walk the dog

5 bad habits:

- wasting time on the computer
- being lazy
- not putting stuff away when I'm done
- procrastinating
- pack rat tendency

5 places I've lived (in no particular order):

- Scottsdale, AZ
- Des Moines, IA
- Long Beach, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Shorewood, WI

5 things people don't know about me (well, if you just met me):

- I don't like chocolate
- my second child was accidentally born at home, on the stairway
- I am allergic to raw apples
- I don't like driving
- I love popsicles

A Birthday Surprise

Connor's birthday surprise was A Day Out With Thomas! My brother told me about it in March or April, and when I realized that one of the days was Connor's 4th birthday, well, you know I had to get tickets. All Connor knew was that we were doing something very special on his birthday.

Needless to say, when we arrived and he saw what his surprise was, he was THRILLED.

My brother and his family met us there, and Connor was so excited and wouldn't stop talking about all the different trains.

There was a LEGO Thomas to play on.

Thomas himself gave rides to everyone with a ticket.

You bet we had ours!

There were also other trains and engines to look at; we got to play in some sleeper cars, and see trains from long ago.

We even got to play on train tracks!

Tomorrow we'll have a little bit of cake, and on Monday, 3 friends are coming over for Connor's first "kid" birthday party. Wow, turning 4 is pretty cool!

Four!

Four years ago a very special someone was born. FOUR YEARS OLD?!?!

We have a very special day planned, and it's quite the surprise. I can't wait to see his reaction.

(also, how cool is it that I can plan this post to publish at the time he was born?)

Ren Faire

We went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire on Sunday. Calvin dressed up in one of the jester outfits, and we all had a lovely time.

State Fair

Today we went to the WI State Fair, to see my winning entries and eat. A lot.

A rare photo of me and all three of my boys. Connor is going through a phase of not wanting his picture taken. It was a hot, humid day.

My photo of Calvin whittling got 2nd place AND a Staff Favorite ribbon! FINALLY, after 10 years of entering, I've won a fancy ribbon! (My trillium photo didn't get anything, and I should've entered it in the general flower category. It wasn't close-up enough, compared to the winners)

Caleb's jester costume placed 3rd. I also placed 4th for my sweater, and 4th for a skirt.

We watched all the different salespeople demo their wares and ended up with this fancy peeler (from Switzerland, people!) and all the freebies that came with it. Last year we bought a Quick Chopper 2000, and we just love it.

We explored the DNR building, and Connor had a good time looking at the reptiles. I talked with some of the master gardeners, and found yet more plants I'd like to put in my gardens.

Caleb and Calvin went down the big slide. Connor was scared to go.

Cheryl, we had a cream puff! They are still delicious!

It was a long day, and one little boy fell asleep on the way home.

Floral Friday

Now that August is upon us, there isn't much new blooming in the yard. About the only plant that hasn't bloomed yet is the aster.

This is the other milkweed plant I have -- a friend called it a swamp milkweed. It's way taller than me, so I had to hold this bloom down to take a photo. I like how feathery it looks.

The limelight hydrangea we planted amongst the new landscaping started blooming! The flowers start out light green, and gradually turn whiter and whiter.

We are off to the State Fair this morning, so I will find out how my photos did and post a report later. I already know how my sewing and knitting entries did, but I'm making you wait so that I can report it all at once with pictures.

Floral Friday

Here is what is blooming in the yard this week, plus my potted plants that I over-wintered have started up too!

Echinacea. I planted this in front of the firewood pile, so it kinda hides it in the summer, but since they die down to the ground in winter, the wood is quite accessible then.

The scarlett meidiland roses started blooming. So tiny and pretty! Each bloom is about 1" big.

This is Calvin's Irish moss. He is quite the gardener.

More bee balm.

The hibiscus is in full bloom! My mom's neighbors threw this out last summer, and she salvaged it. I over-wintered it, and thought I killed it when it dropped almost all its leaves. It survived!

Here's the plumbago. I over-wintered this one too. Next year I will prune it in late winter. I didn't do anything to it this year, and it's kinda all misshapen.

New Knucks

Try saying that 5 times fast. Calvin lost his blue knucks that I made for him this spring, so I've started another pair. He was asked to join a boys gymnastics team, and practices are 3 days a week, 3 hours each time. It's not worth it to drive back home during practice (it's a 30 minute drive), so I either run some errands (grocery store, target, etc) or I sit and knit. One can get a lot done with 3 hours of uninterrupted knitting time! Yesterday I made this:
(pictured on one of my pretty Japanese painted ferns)

I bet I can get the other one done at tomorrow's practice.

Floral Friday

All the mulch is spread, and now it's just a matter of keeping everything watered. Here's what is blooming in the yard this week:

Scarlett bee balm.

I think this is some sort of sunflower. I need to move it a bit, so it's not overshadowed by my neighbor's tree.

One of the hydrangea bushes started blooming. The flowers start out like this....

....and over the course of a few days, turn to this.

The hollyhock is in full bloom too. Hopefully this will reseed pretty well, I love them!

Notre Dame De Grace

I finished my sweater in time for the Fair!

I must say, I love it. It's frakkin' hot today, too hot to put on for even a photo, so Ms. Belinda is modeling for you all. It's soft, warm, and cozy; I'm going to be living in it this winter.

My Ravelry project page is here. For you non-Rav members:
Notre Dame De Grace, from the Summer 2007 IK
Size 40
The Wool Boutique Merino Solids (by Elle), in olive (2282)
Size 9 needles
shortened sleeves 2.5" (and could've taken another inch off), lengthened body 1.25".

Judging for knitting and sewing is on Friday, hopefully I can make it and see how it fares, along with my other entries.

Floral Friday

Oh my goodness, my garden is sucking the life energy out of me. Ok, it's not that bad, but boy there is still a lot of work to do after getting all these plants in. I've been weeding, raking and smoothing out mounds of dirt, and tomorrow 10 yards of mulch are getting dumped on my driveway. Yeah, we'll be busy.

Anyway, here's what's blooming now:
Every year when we go strawberry picking, Calvin also picks out some plants to put in the yard. Last year he chose these balloon flowers, and 2 of them came back great (the third 1 looks awful).

I got this from a friend thinning out her garden, and she called this a butterfly weed. It's not very big, maybe 8" tall at most.

This milkweed plant is blooming, but we have no caterpillars on any of the plants this year. :(

More stella d'oro lilies. I like how they look against the diablo ninebark in the background.

I think I'm going to be scarce over the summer. State Fair entries are due on Wednesday (I'm not going to get everything done), judging is on Friday, and Calvin was asked to join a boys' gymnastics team. They put him in level 5, so now we have 9 hours of gymnastics a week (plus 1.5 hours of travel time each time!). He loves it, and I'll get lots of knitting done.