It's Wild Here

Ryan likes to read, and he likes Fynn's big-boy shoes

the weekend, a week late

(First of all, if you're looking for knitting, check back soon. I have a finished project to show! First I have to find my camera...)

Better late than never, here are some highlights from the past weekend.

Jamie's got some art online now. here they are
And I don't think he put this one up in that album, so here it is - an anime drawing of his pregnant mama.

another one I like a lot:

The highlight of Ryan's weekend, his first ice cream cone.  If he's had one before, we can't remember it.  This one is fairly memorable, anyway.

Youngs' Dairy is a local restaurant/icecream shop which, over the years, has become a big local attraction, adding batting cages, mini-golf, etc. Turns out this summer they added some carnival rides as well. The kids had a great time playing. You can see the pictures

We visited Cincinnati for Memorial Day, as usual. Most of us at the parade:

ooh, click this picture and make it bigger. I dare ya. What a face!

Before the parade, we met with Kip and Katie and families to make handprint teeshirts for Dad's birthday. Fynn and Ryan found that they were a very good team when it came to exploring caterpillars.

Ryan likes his hand-me-downs

Thanks Fynn!
(He's wearing the Thomas jammies today, too)

busy weekend

Let's begin with a quote I saw yesterday that I really enjoyed.

"You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap! " - Dolly Parton

We accomplished a lot this weekend  (I have no idea why I still don't feel satisfied... ok, I have some idea):
- delivered dozens of bags of clutter to good will, which is a great feeling. Our plan was to get Ryan int he seat and listen to the new They Might Be Giants (ok, these guys are freaks, do you know?)  album Jamie bought, but on the way over, Jamie developed a headache that still hasn't really gone away, in spite of advil, including several hours of us both being awake through the middle of last night. Yaaaaawn.

- rearranged some furniture so that Ryan's toys are not quite so clutterish in our living room.  (Mom, any time you want to visit? The two tables are ready for you!)  I'll probably have to take a picture of it. All R's toys are on three low shelves, which Evan cleverly decided would work perfectly on that wall (never would have thought of that particular shelf, thanks evan!). E cleaned off all the crud and buggy nastiness, which involved discovering an old mousey stash of bird seed and corn in our garage. omg, puuuuke.  I am loving my crud-cleaning hubby, what a man.

- the speediest grocery trip in history. Holy wow, I spent $125 on our basics in ten minutes, while Evan and the boys and their friend went to blockbuster, across the parking lot.  They rented chicken little, and that was one creepy-looking flick, from the few glances I gave it.

- saw two excellent soccer games.  OK, this warrants Bold and CAPS:
Jeremiah scored two goals, resulting in a 2-1 win for his team. He also had two saves as goalie in the second half. GO JEREMIAH!!!
He was thrilled and we were so excited for him. Grandpa and Katie sure did pick the right day to make the long drive and see some soccer.
Jamie's team also played a great game, tied, and showed some excellent teamwork and passing. Jamie got a very hard ball in the face... ouch.  I sat there in my chair, holding baby Audrey, wanting someone to run over there and give my boy some comfort, but no, Evan and Katie assured me that was Not How It's Done. ::sniff::  He was ok - gave Evan thumbs up, and was back in the game soon.

- considered inviting some new friends for dinner (are we nuts?) but didn't because I am too self-conscious about how badly our lawn needs to be mowed (tomorrow that happens)

- cleared out a lot of the garage, much harder than anticipated. We thought: no problem, Ryan loves to play on the driveway with his Big Car (little tykes red thing) and we will sort garage clutter. Oh no... garage is open? Must play with dangerous poisons and climb rickety plastic shelving.  There was just no way. Evan ended up doing most of it himself.  But speaking of Big Car and Ryan, he learned a new trick yesterday: he can't easily drive forward in that car, but he discovered that if he goes backward *really* fast, he will slam into cars, end up off-road in the grass and topple over into the grass, suddenly spin around, etc. He thinks it is excellent fun and hollers through the whole game. It's very good spring evening entertainment for the rest of us.

- installed Ryan's toddler swing out front. wheeeeeee.  For a daredevil, the kid does NOT like to swing high at all.

- set up his ladybug sandbox out back - thankyouVERYmuch Jamie for your hard work hauling sand

- gave Jamie his Scrabble fix (thank you again Evan for giving me the pleasure of watching my kid clutch a dictionary all weekend without having to play such a boring board game myself)

- and in the knitting department, started the second bootie out of 50 Bootees, as well as stared at my horribly ugly Pedicure Socks (they look *nothing* like the ones in this pattern).  As I was knitting, I said to myself, I don't care how they look - I just want warm feet in my flip flops. We're having a very chilly May. OK, I care. They look bad.  I think some hand-painting/dyeing will help, possibly some light felting. Why is my ribbing always so HUGE and not springy? I'm also trying to figure out how to knit my nephew a sweater in a month, before his birthday. I need to really get into gear and choose something.  Finally, I have knitting purchase news - a very unusual thing since I've put myself on a strict no-new-yarn diet.  I bought the Boye Needlemaster set from Ebay for a Mother's Day gift, so I should be able to find the size needle I need when I need it. My needles do not like it here - they run away and hide constantly. In other non-purchasing news, Hello Yarn posted a link to this knitpicks Pallette Sampler, which is a Very Good Deal on wool yarn. But still, a big purchase. Sigh...

Gotta love that Ms Frizzle

Today at CILC, Fynn joined right into the discussion of recycling, and knew exactly what kinds of things could be recycled, when asked. He chimed right in with "paper, glass and plastic" (is that right, Katie?) and Katie asked "how did you know that?"
He said, "Magic School Bus!"

Fynn Turns FOUR

Yesterday was Fynn's 4th birthday party!  I think he had a great time - we all enjoyed ourselves. Tara made Fynn a giant train cake with  8 cars! The cake was yummy, and according to request, we all sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" instead of Happy Birthday. During Dinah won't you blow, Fynn blew! It was lovely.

Still waiting for spring weather. Two days were nice and now we're back to crap. Yesterday the wind was so strong I thought I was back in Boston or Bowling Green. There was even snow for a minute. good goddess of weather, hear my plea.

today, Donut Sunday.