grateful

* my financial aid appeal was approved. i will be receiving a grant and loans to cover my expenses for the Spring 2012 semester.

* hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

* Christmas shopping was actually pretty fun. still need to work on wrapping gifts when the kids go to bed tonight.

* a successful destash to help pay the deposit on an apartment we hope to be approved for back in Santa Clarita. {i found a one bedroom apartment in the same neighborhood as our old apartment for less rent than what i pay now. i applied for the apartment on tuesday and am waiting to hear back if we’ve been approved. right now they are working on Shawn’s proof of income. we should know, hopefully, on Monday.}

* madelintosh tosh merino light in “well water” for a new sweater.

* volunteer opportunities through our church all of December.

* popcorn, white fudge covered pretzels, hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, and the first six “Harry Potter” movies on DVD on a cold, windy Saturday night.

* taking Scout to visit Santa Claus and getting a new animal for her Build a Bear collection. then getting an email the next day for  a free animal. so now getting two animals for the collection, a black teddy bear named “Snow” and a black puppy dog named “Santa”.

ornaments

{ gingerbread ornament assembly line }

{ one of my gingerbread men }

new

{ madelinetosh sport in fig, cove, william morris, manor }

{ going to be a coastal hoodie }

simple stripes

{ madelinetosh sport in manor and byzantine }

pattern: nova

banana monkey bread

{ banana monkey bread, recipe found here. }

fall festival

last night was our redeemer lutheran church’s annual fall festival. earlier in the day i volunteered to help set up for a couple of hours. then scout and i headed out to the fun.

it was a perfectly cool evening for the festival.

{ posing with a friendly scarecrow. }

{ one of the three pony rides. }

{ pink hair do and a pumpkin tattoo. }

{ bouncing in one of the jumpers. }

{ halloween sweet treat after a delicious beef brisket dinner for me, hot dog for scout. scout had three desserts which included a root beer float, a piece of pumpkin pie and a two scoop sundae. that doesn’t include all the candy she won as prizes from the games. }

salt dough

i found a great recipe for salt dough the other day. last night, scout and i made a batch and had fun getting a little down and dirty with our craft supplies. she made a variety of pumpkins and ghost creatures using the salt dough and some acrylic paint.

just in time for halloween.

everything

it’s always everything, isn’t it?

life has caught up with me, yet again. i find myself knee deep in holiday projects, reading multiple books, loads of laundry, picking up and dropping off two children at various events, rescuing kittens, another bout of ECT and therapy…the list goes on. and that’s only the beginning.

our youth group leader is expecting twins, so there’s been baby knitting.

{ baby aviatrix in madelinetosh sport “candlewick” }

then there was some “i’m really bored but i’m not sure what pattern to choose” knitting:

{ joelle hoverson’s “last minute knitted gifts” chevron scarf in madelinetosh sock “fig” and mama blue simple merino “algae” }

and last sunday we celebrated scout’s baptism:

i spent one week at cedars-sinai, in los angeles, before i had enough “rest”. i finished two novels: “plain truth” by jodi picoult and “carrot cake murder” by joanne fluke. i’ve moved on to chapter six of “a confident heart” by renee swope and just started reading “made to crave”.

my upcoming schedule includes everything. making crock pot apple butter, knitting one more set of baby booties and matching aviatrix hat for the second twin, attending bible study classes on tuesday mornings, taking scout to the tone chimer’s group on sundays before sunday school, three times a week electroshock therapy appointments, a financial aid meeting to hopefully help with finances for school next semester, continuing my online bible study, wrapping up a halloween swap, sewing scout’s christmas dress, making christmas gifts for the family.

well you get the idea.

it’s everything.

and i wouldn’t change it a bit.

booties

friend of ours in the church is expecting. twins! no less. so i just had to make something for these two little girls that will be coming into our world soon. i haven’t had as much knitting time as i would like lately, but i managed to knit a pair of booties for one of the babies. just one more set to go.

{ itty bitty baby booties in madelinetosh dk colorway: candlewick }

august rewind

* getting a new car (new to us, anyway)

* taking two trips to malibu beach and spending the day in the sun and the cool ocean waters. seeing sea lions swim on the coast line.

* finishing up two online bible studies.

* starting college courses again. what’s on the menu? communications, college algebra, and psychology. eleven units.

* a successful week of vacation bible school, where i volunteered for arts and crafts and helped more than two hundred children work on projects. wrapped up by a silent auction and us winning tickets for a trip to the los angeles zoo.

* scout’s first real camping trip.

* a few random chances at giving RAK’s on Ravelry.

* breakfast at our Bob’s Big Boy breakfast buffet. scout loves putting her plates together.

* taking a day trip to santa monica and visiting wildfiber for a stash enhancement.  included two yummy dark brown skeins of madelinetosh merino light (destined to become the ever so popular “beekeeper’s quilt” by tiny owl knits) , this skein of “candlewick” in madelinetosh dk (going to be a couple pair of baby booties for our youth group directors twins), and three skeins of mirasol qina (for a velveteen rabbit for the babies).