A mid summer update

It's mid summer. Another birthday has passed as well as my daughter celebrating another birthday on the same day.  We went out to Red Lobster to eat. It was good.

Unpacking at my mom's is going ok. Not as quickly as I had hoped it would go, but it's coming along. I can only do so much on the days I am there and then something else always comes up that needs doing.  But all the rooms are set up, and boxes are getting unpacked. In between unpacking, I clean her house. It's bigger than her other one, so it will take longer.

Mom is doing very very well. The ortho doctor does not need to see her for a YEAR!! I was shocked to hear that. She will have life long restrictions, mostly of the bending variety. But over all, she is doing very well.

The boy is taking swim lessons and playing baseball. He likes both activities, but is not a prolific swimmer at all. I refer to him as an aqua-rock. But he tries, and he can swim.  His summer has kind of been a bummer because we go to my moms house every other day to help her get settled. That's not a lot of fun for him but I explained that grandma can't do it all herself and we need to help. I think he understands.

My daughter recently had surgery to remove some steel plates and screws from her arms. She was in an accident a few years ago and she required plates and screws to repair her arms. She is glad they are out now and I hope she has less pain now.

I am going to Maryland in August! I can't wait. I thought I wouldn't be able to go this year with my moms surgery,  and school, but I am able to go and I am happy about that!  I signed up for one class this fall, Statistics. I am thinking about going to nursing school, but am still undecided. I am taking classes that are required for the nursing program and are general classes I would need for a degree anyway, so by doing that, I have time to make a decision. It would be a two year RN program. Two years full time.

The husband is working and taking some vacation time this month and next month, which will be nice too. And he is painting our laundry room and putting a new floor beneath the washer and dryer. We recently purchased a new washer/dryer set and thought it was a good time to repaint and refloor that area.

I continue to crochet during the summer. I have several projects I need to finish. I am making my sister in law a prayer shawl. She liked my moms so I thought I would make her one. I also have several baby blankets to make and the mornings my boy has swim lessons I make washcloths for the troops. I can almost finish one during his lesson time.

I think that's it. Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!! It's going by way too fast though~!!

Washcloths

These are six washcloths for the troops. My husband chose the yarn. It's 100% cotton yarn.  I found this charity through my crochet board.

The washcloths are easy and quick to make too. My boy is taking swim lessons this summer and I can work on these easily while he is taking his lessons.

Crochet stuff.............

I made this prayer shawl for my mom. She is always cold. She asked me about one and I told her I would make it for her. She really likes it!

I don't know why I didn't think of making her a shawl earlier, I'm just glad she said something!!

This one is Russet colored. Mom had a room mate in rehab. She was 94 years old and had a hip replacement too. I gave this shawl to her and she loved it!!

July 1 2012

Today my mom is 84 years old. She is doing well after her hip replacement surgery.

She also moved into a new condo. One with no stairs!!  We are still trying to get her settled after the carpet incident. Her brand new carpet came with a flaw and had to be re ordered.

Time for another word cloud.....

Decoration day...

It's what Memorial Day used to be called.

I'm shocked by how many people celebrate this day off from work, but don't know why they are celebrating.

What bothers me even more is the kids that don't know why we celebrate this day.
I know my boy didn't know why and I had to explain it to him.  I'll have to talk to my daughter and get her viewpoint on this too.

I just want to thank all the service men and women for serving our great country, and the men and women that continue to serve our nation to maintain our freedom.

But most of all, I want to thank the men and women that served our nation and sacrificed their very lives for all of us. And the families that they left behind. Because that is what this day is all about after all!

Hummingbirds

They are here!! They are three days late this year and we are shocked. We all thought with the warm weather we had that they would be early. We are glad they are here!!

Blankets.....

These are two baby sized blankets I made recently for a raffle for Battens disease. Look it up.

They are made with Red Heart yarn. One variegated and one solid color.

I also have made two other baby blankets and about 20 tiny preemie blankets. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of those, but I might be able to get one from the person I sent them too. If I get a picture of them, I will post it.  They are my annual contribution to the NICU babies.

I finished a shawl that I started some time ago. I'll post that later.

There hasn't been much time to crochet, but in the last four months I managed to make the preemie blankets.  And I made some cotton 4x4 squares for the troops. A local church had this project and I contributed to that. This summer I will continue with more preemie blankets and I am making a shawl for my mom.  She is having hip replacement surgery at the end of the month. I may need to fore go my trip to Maryland this year.

Update...........

This semester is finally over! I am so glad to be done. It was a tough four months and I still don't "get" algebra.  BUT, I passed! In fact I received a B in my Algebra class and an A- in the writing class. I am shocked with the B. I never ever could have done it without the help of my  tutor-my husband! He was so patient with me most of the time.

I will be taking Statistics in the fall. Only one class. And I decided not to take any summer courses for various reasons.

The boy is doing well in school this year and he is playing soccer right now with baseball following. Six weeks of each.  Then he will be taking his normal three sessions of swimming this summer. We also purchased a season pass again to a local water park. He will have a moderately busy summer. I also foresee some fishing going on as well.

The girl is doing well. So glad to be seeing more of her.

My mom is doing well, sort of. She is moving to a new place in about two weeks. She is also having hip replacement surgery! Just found out about that this week. So glad I am not taking a summer class, especially now. Mom is moving into a lower level unit so that she doesn't have stairs. With her knees, and now her hips, it will be much easier on her.

My husband has been busy with work, that business will end shortly.  He won't be having the crazy schedule soon, and I will be happy and so will the boy.

A note on the seven things project. I continue to rid my home of "stuff."  Most of it is clothing that the boy has out grown. Just recently I gave two pair of winter boots to a friend. Glad to be rid of them too!!

There's so much around here that I haven't had the time to do in the last four months so now I am kind of catching up.  I baked banana bread yesterday,  and burned it!  But I have been hungry for home made baked goods.  I need to make chocolate chip cookies too. YUM.  I have stuff to put away and organize, and I hope to get to the stuff eventually. It's kind of nice not having to run off to school or spend most of my free time studying and writing papers!

That's it for now.  Hopefully I'll be able to update more.

Spring!!!!

It's Spring today!! Though we have had some unseasonably warm weather all month.  Like in the 70's type of warm weather. Which is very unusual for us.  But, our ground is still frozen.

I haven't posted much lately because I have been busy with my college classes. The Algebra and Writing have taken over my life. I had a spring break but it wasn't even at the same time as my boy had his break.  And, I still had homework to do the week I was off school!!

I can't believe I haven't posted in two months!! That's a long time for me to not post.

My boy had another birthday in early March. He had his usual Dinosaur cake, and he brought dinosaur cupcakes to school. This year we also made a goodie bag for the kids in his class. Fun stuff, no candy. The kids seemed to like them.

The picture in this post is of a Barred Owl that visited us earlier this month in our yard. The boy spotted it and we all ran to the window to watch. It stuck around for about 45 minutes and moved from tree to tree a couple of times. It was fascinating! And Owls are really weird animals. It turned it's head. It was really weird.

My daughter is doing well, along with her cats!  Sometimes I miss cats, but with our one Jack Russell, it would never work.

I know I have more to add, but can't think of anything at the moment.  I'll try to keep up better with the blog.

School this semester....

If you think of it, you could pray for me for this semesters class.

I am taking a basic college math course and it is giving me fits. Even with my husband helping me.

I feel very defeated and I don't want to feel this way at all.

My brain needs to understand this stuff because I need this class. I need to take this class and pass it.

I'm also taking a writing class which I foresee being a cake walk compared to the math class.

Thank you!!

A round ripple

This isn't a great picture, but it's a picture of a round ripple I made.

It's made for a woman having her third baby boy and I wanted to make something different for her. So, I made this out of cotton, and it's a round ripple. I liked it a lot when I was done with it.

I also made some cotton wash cloths for her baby.   She like it all!  I'm happy she like the blanket and wash cloths.

December 31, 2011

Another year has come to an end.  We had lots of new stuff in our lives.

The little guy tried snowboarding this winter, and of course he loves it!! No surprise there, he also loves skateboarding and they are similar. Second grade has been good for him too! Had the fall conference and learned some good new things about my boy!!  He continues to thrive in school.

I also started school. It was huge for me to step out of my comfort zone and actually go to school. It was even harder for me to stand up in front of 30 people and give an oral report, but I did it and I am glad I did!! I am taking two classes starting January 9.

My husband continues to do well at work. He is active with the boy scouts, and I volunteered to be popcorn mom next year! I'm sure he'll help me. Hubby and the boy are still trying to go up north ice fishing at his brothers house, but, surprisingly, it's not been a cold even winter yet to get any safe ice.  Maybe in January or February.

My daughter is doing well, though I wish she were closer. She comes to visit when she can though.

My mom continues to do well too.  She is getting older and stairs are a bit hard for her with her knees, but she's doing well. I continue to go at least twice a month to clean her house. Sometimes we run errands too. We always go out to eat lunch on cleaning days.

As I reflect back on 2011, it's really been a good year for us.  We are all healthy and well.  Trying new things and just going on with life.  I think of friends from my past, as I always do, and wonder how they are doing.  Hoping all is well with them and their families.

I hope 2012 is good for all of us!! Enjoy the new year!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! 

We went to the candlelight service last night and it was beautiful.

Yesterday we had my family over to celebrate and today my mother in law was over.

The little guy had fun!!

Winter Solstice

It's that time of year again. Today is the shortest day of daylight of the year.

From now on til June, the days get longer.

We have no snow here in Minnesota and none in the forecast through the new year.  The last time we had a brown Christmas was 2006.  I'm ok with that since I know we will not go through the whole winter without snow.

School update

I finally received my grade for my History class. I got a 93 on the final and an A for the class. I am very happy with that grade.  It was a great first class to take to get back into the swing of school.

I registered for the Math and Writing classes and bought the books. Unfortunately they were not rentable. What a scam college book prices are!! 

So, I start school in January two days a week.

Six years and counting!!

Today marks SIX years that I have been a non smoker!!!

I got a new toy this week......

Oops, I mean a new phone!! In my life, I think the greatest invention has been the iPod. And now, the iPhone!

When I was a teenager, there was no such thing as a cell phone. I listened to a transistor radio, later an 8-track and tapes, and finally  stereo instead of mono records!

To have this thing called a cell phone, that isn't just a cell phone is wonderful. It has all my music on it, games, GPS, and it has texting! Oh, and it's a phone too. I can finally text people now and I am thrilled with it.  It may seem silly to some, but to me, it's just great.

And I do love my iPhone as much, if not more than my iPod!!

Thanksgiving

I'm here with a belated Thanksgiving update.  We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year, just our moms were here with us. Hubby smoked the turkey and I made all the fixings.  It was yummy.  Made a homemade pumpkin pie again this year and it was so easy and tasty.  We will be hosting about 20 for Christmas dinner and gift opening.

School is almost over for me. I received my final test last night and I will turn it in next Wednesday. I am glad I have a week to complete it.  I also signed up for Spring semester classes, two of them this time. I signed up for a basic Math class and a basic Writing class. I need to take more than one class at a time if I am ever going to finish.  But I am glad I started with History. It was a fun, easy class and I actually learned a lot.

Our new windows are all in and they all have new coverings!! We especially love the bay window, it really opens up our house!

For the second time in about a year, my mom was thinking of moving. Mostly because the stairs up to her condo are becoming an issue. So, we looked at another place that she really liked. Until she figured out her finances and decided she didn't really want to move. I don't care what she decides, I just want her to be happy!!  So we have been looking at Stair Aids. It is a chair thingy that attaches to her stairs and it brings her up the stairs. Her building management allows these in the buildings and it isn't that expensive. I think it will be the perfect solution for her.

I got my hair cut a few months ago, a little shorter, then I went and got it cut even shorter. I wasn't sure at first, but I really like it shorter. I think I'll keep it this way. And, in May, I quit dying it, so everyone can see my gray now!

I also went for my 5 month dental hygiene appointment and I need another root canal. The dentist fixed the tooth a year ago and was skeptical that it would work. It didn't and I now need a root canal. The silver lining is that the tooth already has a crown! Yay me. So, I now will have NINE crowns and FIVE root canals in my mouth. The dentist told me some of this is genetics (thanks dad).  Because I do brush and floss every day.  Meh...............

My little guy is doing well in school. He likes school a lot and is a quick learner. Thankfully he loves to read too!  He keeps busy with boy scouts and Awana during the week. He's busy, but not too busy, which is perfect.

Husband is doing well too. He has done a lot of Christmas shopping and between the two of us we are done. I just need to wrap, and I will have my little helper helping me!!

The daughter is doing well too. Keeping busy with her job and cats and going to school.

I think that's about it. I've been crocheting, though not as much lately. I have a few things to post and I'll get to that soon.

Have a happy December!!

11-11-11

Today is Veterans day.  I've made posts about this day before, and there isn't much left to say other than "thank you".

There is one new Veteran to add to our family list. My husbands nephew is currently serving in the Air Force.