And you doubted me . . .

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Originally uploaded by KimKnits

I know I talk a lot about knitting, and it seems there is rarely anything to show for it! But I occassionally do finish projects. And I occassionally finish projects worth blogging about.
This is Erin's pinwheel sweater! I found the pattern on Ravelry and immediately cast on. I worked at a (relatively) feverish pace and finished in only a few days. I love it! And I have already cast on for Jillian's! (Understand that there is a lot of Christmas gift knitting goin on right now, so I may not have Jillian's sweater done before the end of the year. But shortly thereafter, Jillian will have a pinwheel sweater too!)
There more photos on flickr if you are interested . . .

Happy birthday to Jack!!

Valerie's youngest son is one today!!!! I thought that deserved it's own post. Not only did Jack make it through his first year, but so did Valerie!! Congratulations to both of you!


Val is excellent at keeping up her blog so you can check it out to see photos of some of the cutest boys I've ever seen! (see link at right)

The Story of the Chicken

Thanks for reminding me, Valerie, that the chicken needs a bit of an explanation. Erin had first insisted she was going to be a ladybug (maybe because she saw pics of Jillian last year??) I was at Target one day and they had no more ladybugs. So I asked her about a bumblebee, and she liked the idea. I bought that, but when we tried it on at home it was WAY too small. So I took it back, and she came with me, so that I could see what would fit her. It was this trip to Target when she fell in love with the chicken. She pulled it off the rack and said, "Is this too pall (ie - small) for me?" I told her it was her size, and she was very very excited. She could not consider any of the other costumes; she was absolutely going to be a chicken. And now I will say what everyone else is thinking - - she is, after all, Mark's daughter, right?

The first time Mark asked Jillian what she was going to be for Halloween, he really had no expectations that she would actually even answer him. We didn't even really know she knew what Halloween was. But she immediately answered, "Pumpin!!" And so there you have it!

Halloween Wrap Up

Trick or treating was in Helga's neighborhood with the gang.Because our children are painfully slow (and I can't really emphasize that enough) we went to about 5 houses and had to turn around. Trick-or-treating until December is usually frowned upon. The girls don't know any different, though, and had a fantastic time. As I am sure you could predict, Erin said neither Trick or Treat or thank you. Jillian, however, caught on right away and was pretty much ready to enter anyone's home who opened their door. She said thank you (verbally and with her sign) as she climbed down porch steps on her bottom, because proch steps are generally as tall as her knees. It was a very fun evening with friends and a pretty cute pumpkin and chicken.

Most of the time Jillian pushed the stroller herself, which contributed to our lightening fast pace. But toward the end she was content to let Erin push her.

When we got back, the girls of course were inspecting the stash. I thought it was very interesting how their sorting methods perfectly illustrated their personalities.

But when Jillian saw what Erin was doing, she (of course) had to follow suite. (Again, very telling.)

I have more to post - - Mark the soccer coach, making Halloween treats, and Erin wore a handknit sweater to school today!

But I have to vote, and Blogger is unbelievably slow at uploading pictures right now. So I will save it for this evening.

Shhh . . . .Listen. Can you hear that??

Nothing! There's no one in my house but me!

Because we have the absolute best Mimi and Grandpa in the whole world, I slept until 8:00 this morning. And then I at pumpkin muffin bread from Huber's and drank hot chocolate, in my bed! (don't tell Mark.) I should be working, but I told myself that I am not going to do it today. While the girls are making cherry pie with Grandpa, I will be knitting and drinking hot chocolate. All day! (ok, so maybe I will go to Target in a little while, but it will be by myself and I will get hot chocolate while I shop.)

Last weekend, Mark and I went to a dinner for the 6th anniversary of Birth Care Network, the organization which, among many other things, acts as a referral list for childbirth educators, doulas, etc. Without him knowing it, I had nominated Mark for the Seahorse Award, which is given to the most supportive partner/spouse. The winner was the husband of a doula who has 7 children, and who does 7 - 8 births a month. So basically he won because she is insane! But I wanted to be sure that the billions of people who read my blog know that Mark is by far the best dinner maker, baby bather, kitchen cleaner, daddy and husband that this doula could even dream of.

I cannot close without mentioning girl band retreat a few weeks ago. Jenny and Candy dutifully went straight to their blogs after the weekend and chronicled our adventures of too much pizza, ice cream and crafting. So there's not much more to be said except we are totally doing it again! Girl Band Rocks!

I am sure there will be myraid pictures to post after Wednseday, when my little punkin' and chicken (yes, I said chicken) get to go trick-or-treating. Oh yes, and believe it or not there will be a completed sweater (SWEATER!) in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Where does the time go???

I had no idea how long it has been since I've posted. I don't have a whole lot of exciting things to say . . .

Here are the things I learned last week:
1. 28 hours is a long time to doula.
2. 41 hours is a long time to be awake.
3. The lights in the Festiva do not go off automatically (unless you leave them on for about 28 hours. Then I guess it's not so much automatic as inevitable.)
4. If the doors at Clark Memorial Hospital are locked, it's a long walk back to the security desk. They do have jumper cables, however.
5. Helga is a really good back up for when Client B calls while I am in about hour 20 of Client A's birth.

I am trying to figure out how to balance the doula-ing and teaching workshops (oh, yeah . . . and those darn children) without totally freaking out wondering if a client will call while I am in the middle of a class. Or worse, really, would be if I am with a client and we are, say, at the pushing stage and I have a class starting in 20 minutes. Neither of these situations have ever happened, but I am just tempting the doula godesses by continuing the way I am now. I have no October clients because I thought I would be teaching every weekend. So I have a little while to think about how to proceed.

Ravelry (that knitting/crocheting web site) rocks and I wish I had thought of it myself. I have started getting photos and making places for photos, so when I actually get them on there I will be sure to post here in case anyone is interested. Only 4 people signed up for my class for today, so I had some extra knitting time. I really have knitter's ADD - - I cannot stop starting new projects, even though I haven't totally finished any of them. There's so many things I want to work on! I thought maybe Ravelry would help me organize the chaos, but it is really making it worse because now I am seeing even more things I want to work on! Anyway, that's just where I am in my knitting journey and I will have to get through this phase in order to move on to the next.

Only 6 more days till GIRL BAND RETREAT!!! The girls from band will be retreating Friday night for a fun-filled, childless night of some kind of ice cream, some kind of cheese fries and crafting in a hotel room. As pitiful as that sounds, I am so excited! That's the biggest news around here!

Girls are wonderful, Mark is fabulous . . . I really can't complain! (Can you believe it?)

A word about being shy

(Forgot I was going to post this - Guess I was not quite done.)
Let me preface this by a quick story from one of our music classes. This was about a year ago, and a mom of an older child asked me, somehwat hesitantly, "Now, is Erin talking yet?" She was almost concerned, like, "You can have that tested, you know." Anyway, I responded that she talked all the time at home but that she was just really really shy. The mom said, "Oh, don't worry. She'll be ok." ! ! ! ! ! I know she meant well, but I thought to myself, "Wait a minute!!! She is OK right now!"

I teach this class on how adult temperaments affect children in the classroom. Participants take an adult personality inventory and then we discuss what they come up with and how they think what their tendencies are might affect the kids they work with. As part of my general points to make about introversion vs. extroversion, I have always made the point that extroversion is really valued in our society. Look how many books are in the parenting section of a bookstore about how to 'fix' your shy child! There is nothing about how to fix an extroverted child! The tendency is to want to help a shy child change into a not-shy child.
I think there is value in being a child who wants to stand back and take things in before jumping in. The difference is when a child is acting shy but really really wishes he could not be shy. Then it makes sense to help him learn coping mechanisms for what to do when fear takes over. But being shy is not something that inherently has to be fixed. It would probably do me some good to be shy every once in awhile!

Anyway, the whole point of me posting this is that I didn't want to sound like I was relieved that Erin was finally not shy! Surprised, definitely! But certainly not relieved! All I want for her is to be cofmortable in her own skin, whatever that means for her.
All of you who posted your comments are so wonderful! Thank you (even you, smart a** David) for being so supportive! I am learning to be a good enough parent!

What's that you say? A free Saturday?

(I would finish that like a Dr. Suess poem, if I were Mark. I am not.)

Let me start with the soccer, because Erin is so excited about it! She plays on Sundays, and last week was her first practice/game. She can't wait until this week's game. She was also very excited that her team has yellow (her favorite color) shirts. ("How did they know?", she said when she got her shirt at the orientation meeting.)

Erin has not done anything like this before, so she's got no idea about being on a team or kicking a goal or anything else related. She does kick pretty well when she's on her own, but is not much past that yet. Luckily she is on a 3 y/o team so no one else is either. She told me she likes her coach, and when I asked her what he said to the team, she said, "He says 'Come here' a lot!" That is th gist of it so far. And of course there are pics.

Jillian!

Oh yes, and Jillian. She continues to be such a toddler. She now has decided that everything - everything - is worth at least a shot at a tantrum. Completely going limp, throwing herself on the floor, and screaming, are he modes of operation. No matter what it we are doing, she figures she might as well try. I have done my best to just walk away, and usually she stops in about 10 minutes. Luckily this has not happened in public, but I refuse to talk about that possibility (probability?) any more.

She is still darn cute, and when not in freak out mode, awfully sweet. She misses Erin when Erin is at school ("Ain, cooool?" translated - Erin, school?) but has enjoyed a little Mommy time by herself. We've mostly either gone to the park or to the grocery. She talks like crazy, but in this funny psuedo-language. She has this knack for being able to make the sounds of a word without ever actually saying the word. Anyway, I have told doula clients this many times and now I am remembering my words - Even though I have already been a mom to a 20 month old, I am a first time mom to Jillian. I have to be sure to remember that!

And the knitting . . .

I have been introduced to this great site - Ravelry - that is really a knitters dream. I won't go into it here, because those of you who are interested already know about it, and if you don't know about it you probably don't care! You know my promises to actually catalog my works in progress and finished objects on Flickr? That is what I will be working on on my free Saturday! But it will be even better through this new site. I'll still post some knitting things here, but will really be using Ravelry for the details.

I will post here that I have decided to completely frog the Mystery Stole yet another time. It was coming along swimmingly, until I made some really glaring mistakes. I was going to just move on and overlook them (you know, in an effort to NOT be a perfectionist.) But I set it aside for awhile and now every time I look at it I want to start over. I am not giving up - it will be done! I am just succumbing to my perfectionist tendencies. Or maybe it's just that I want to be proud of it when it's done, and I don't think I really would be if I continued from here.

I have pictures of the mistakes, but I can't seem to find them right this minute. I will post when I run across them.

That's it for now!

And you think you know a girl . . .

Just about to get out of the car in the carpool line at her first day of preschool.

Last Tues. was the first day of Erin's preschool. Really besides VBS (where I was still in the church with her) this is the first thing she has ever done without me. We have been really talking it up and went to open house the week before. Her teacher Ms. Kathy even sent her a letter in the mail!

During the open house they gave us a "tell us about your child" sheet, where I explained that although Erin wasn't going to cry or thow a fit when I dropped her off, she would probably not talk to any one for quite awhile (I mean, like weeks). I said that we were fine if she was shy, as long as she was using good manners and being a good friend.

Anyway, to cut to the chase - - She happily got out of the car in the carpool line the first day and marched right on in. When I picked her up, Ms. Kathy said, "Well she talked and played all day!!" Yes (those of you who have been around Erin know how shocking this is) - Erin talked to teachers and kids the first day of preschool!

Ms. Kathy (who, by the way is THE BEST preschool teacher we could ask for) emailed me to tell me the things Erin did on her first day. How great was that?! She told me that Erin was telling her all about the play food and when she got to a breadstick, she told her, "I eat those in restaraunts, but not at Wendy's."

Day 2 - - Of course, still no problem getting out of the car and totally happy to be going to school. When I pick her up, she gets this funny smile on her face, like she is embarassed to be happy to see me. Ms. Kathy tells me that she talked about Jillian all day, without any prompting at all. She said, "I can see her face change when she sees you!" And then when I say, "Erin, tell Ms. Kathy 'thank you'", Erin acts all shy and won't talk to her.

The next day, we were talking about asking Mimi and Grandpa to go to ArtSparks with us. She said she would ask them, " . . .but I'm a little bit shy." So I took the opportunity and said, "Yeah, it's okay to be shy sometimes. Are you shy at school?" She answered, "No, just at home."

What?? She even knows she's only shy at home? Why couldn't she just tell me this?

Today was her first day in the 3 yr old room at church, where Ms. Lauren teaches. (Again, up until today she has always been in my room at church too). So about halfway through the morning, I peek my head in to Ms. Lauren's room to see what they were doing. Ms. Lauren says to me, "I thought you told me she was shy. She's been talking to me all morning! She even said, 'This is Dolly' and threw her in the corner, where she stayed the rest of the morning."

So what in the world have I been doing to my child for three years?? I swear I have made an effort not to smother her or supress her at all. And I feel like I have been very respectful of her shy (HA!) personality. I know that kids always act differently around their parents, but I am very surprised by the turn of events this week. And I am grateful we started all these activities when she was three and not and later - - she would have been trapped with me that whole time!

SoI am now that mom who has to pick her daughter up at school and be sure her bag is packed at night, etc. It's is really funny because I worked with those moms in so many different capacities for so long that it is hard for me to believe I am one of them! All in all we had a great week and I am now waiting in suspense to see what else I don't know about my children!

- - Next post: first soccer game, what Jill does while Erin is at school, and where's all the knitting??

One more blast from the past

There was an indirect request to post this photograph, so I thought I would oblige.

This was the end of June 2005, about 6 weeks before Erin was born. There was a painted belly contest in Baby Magazine so we, of course, had to enter. When I took this picture to work, several co-workers were astonished to find out that it was not real whipped cream. It's all acrylic paint. To our surprise, we did not win. In fact, the winner was published sometime after Erin was born and we never saw the winning photo.

Valerie, I know you are reading this . . .

So I was thinking about how I like to always be doing something, having my hands in everything that I can, and I wondered, "How in the world did I get this way???" And then it dawned on me:

The second semester of my Freshman year of high school, there was this girl who was willing to tie my bra in a knot for me although she did not even know my name. (ok - so that will be another post.) We became fast friends and eventually most people in our class decided that we were held together by some invisible force field. We did everything together. Sometime early in this friendship, Valerie let me in on her grand scheme. She was on a mission to get the biggest paragraph, and she insisted that I join in.

Paragraph, you ask? Yes, paragraph. By somewhere in our sophomore year, Valerie had decided that in our Senior yearbook she wanted to have the biggest list of activities below her name. She dubbed this her paragraph, and from that point on we had to be involved in things so that we could list them in our paragraph.

Now, in the classic nature vs. nurture kind of debate, no one will ever know if I was destined to be a paragraph builder all my life and I just happened to discover my true self in high school, or if it was all Valerie's influence that created the monster! Most likely it was both. But there you have it. In my quest to understand who I am, it all goes back to The Paragraph.

And to answer the question that I am sure is to come, I can't remember which of us had the bigger paragraph in the end. The evidence lies in a box somewhere at my dad's house, so next time I come across it I will check. Really, though, it doesn't matter. It was the process of the journey, not the product, that really mattered!

Valerie, you have been outed.

Me, my sister Pam and Valerie in Valerie's dorm room

freshman year of college (1995), Jefferson City, TN.

whining again!

I really don't want every post to be about how busy I am - - how boring and pitiful. With that said, here we go:

I have worked like a mad woman this month. I taught twelve classes, which is WAY more than I usually teach. I am tired. And thank goodness I like my job, becuase I really can't imagine what I would be like if I didn't. I certainly have not had time to do much for myself, or really even for the girls, which I hate. But I also made next month's house payment and there is something to be said for that.

I feel like I am spinning my wheels a little while I figure out how to actually start my own business. My grand, pie in the sky plan is to have a sort of family resource center that offers birth doula serives, lactation consulting, post partum doula services, parenting classes (like what I am teaching now to early childhood people - baby signs, emotional intelligence, positive discipline, etc.) maybe a lending library. I really want to do that. I just need to figure out how. I need grant money, I think, but that also means I need to apply for grant money and that in itself is a time consuming process. I need to budget some time to focus just on that when I don't have a class to be preparing for. I also should probably get some kind of timeline together so I know where I am headed.

- - - end whining - - -

CHILDREN
Erin learned to pedal a little tricycle today. She is very excited. In fact, she went out to show her daddy about 30 minutes ago and I can't see them, or the bike, anywhere. Pictures of that to come.
Jillian had two ear infections last week. We haven't been sick in awhile so I gues it was someone's turn. She was pretty miserable but seems to have come around in the last day or two.

KNITTING
I have stalled a little on the mystery stole. I lost the hook I was using to put the beads on and I can't move forward without it. I have not had time to buy another, so there it sits. I have tried to cast on some socks with my souvenier yarn from Indy, but have not found a stitch pattern I am happy with. So I quit trying for awhile. I did start to knit a little doll for the girls, and that is some good mindless knitting for when I have to knit but don't have the energy to think. Erin saw the cover of the book that pattern came from, and now is ready to pick out some yarn for me to knit her a "big big big yong snake". She specifically said that I could knit it every day until it was finished. She sure picks up on things! Preschool starts next Tuesday and she is very excited. I am too - it is a wonderful place. Plus I will have some time alone with Jillian, which I have never had before. It should be great.

Just so no one is worried - the cyclist has returned singing at the top of her lungs and swinging her "bike hat" (ie - helmet). She is pretty proud of herself.

That's all I got folks.

From the eyes of a three year old

A few days before Erin's birthday -
Erin: "I wonder how big I will be on my birthday!"

A few hours before Erin's party, on her birthday:
me: "There's my three-year-old!"
Erin: "Almost . . . I'm still yittle."


After her party was over, as we closed the Playground down at 8:00:
me: "All right, you three-year-old. Time to go!"
Erin: (quivering lip, tears almost welling up in her eyes) "No . . .I'm not big."
me: "Yes you are! You've gotten so much taller than you used to be. You are the perfect size for a three-year-old!"
Erin: (putting her hand on top of her head) "No, I'm still just this!"


It all came together for me then - She thought that her birthday party was the point in time when she would become a 'big girl'. I am not sure how big she thought she would be, but I can't help but invision some bizzare scene from The Incredible Hulk. Bless her sweet little heart!


She quickly got over it when I told her she could jump in the jumpy castle a few more minutes . . . I had no idea what I was going to do if her disappointment persisted!

The party was a great memory for her - thanks to all of you who were there in person or in spirit!

The cake - Thanks Helga!

The birthday girl

Camille - "Who doesn't love a great party??"

Jumpin' girls

An accidental action shot of the boys - Nathan and Easton

Back to the blog . . .

So, last week we took a whirlwind tour of the finer points of Indianapolis. The Zoo, the Children's Museum and Conner Prarie. We had a fantastic time at all three places, and the girls did surprisingly well in the car and hotel! Conner Prarie, we have decided, was by far the favorite! It is a living history kind of place where the folks in costume are actually playing a part as you walk through, and you become part of this 1800's community. Erin pumped water from a pump into a bucket to water a garden, herded chickens into their coop and almost milked a cow. (The wait was very long and when we got back the cow was pretty much dry.) There was also a room of dramatic play stuff geared toward preschoolers, where we could have easily spent the entire day. We are definitely going back - - it was so much fun for all of us. It is just north of Indy, still pretty much do-able in a one day trip from here. Check it out! http://www.connerprarie.org/

And my first use of Flickr . . . here is a sampling of our Indy pics. http://www.flickr.com/gp/10032096@N06/AW9935


That was last Wed - Fri. This week, ( . . . drum roll . . . ) we are doing our first Vacation Bible School (I am working in the nursery with Jillian, and Erin is in the 3's class). That's right, folks. All three of the Tabler girls have gotten to church by (hold on to your hats) 8:30 am for three days straight! I know, I know. It sounds like I am making this up. But I am completely serious! The earliest we ever have to be anywhere completely dressed and ready for the day is once a week to music at 10:30! But now we are like real people and we get up and get ready and get out the door by 8:00. The girls have done amazingly well adjusting, even if there is a bit more w h i n i n g by the afternoon. It has been good practice for when Erin starts preschool in Sept. (which will only be 2 days a week, not until 9:00, and only 5 minutes from our house.) This is Erin's first time ever doing something like this without me. And she actually sometimes talks to her teacher, which is someone from another church! I am not surprise that she is fine without me; she was actually excited that she got to do something new "by herself." My biggest fear was whether or not she would bring herself to tell a total stranger that she had to go potty. And there have been no accidents! Her teacher, Ms. Ann, tells me that Erin will ask to go potty without hesitating! So even though she is unbelievable shy, and insanely independent, she has adjusted wonderfully to being with a new adult. I am so glad!!

Leaving for our first day of VBS

Erin and her VBS teacher, Ms. Ann (who has been absolutely wonderful!)

I haven't gotten a ton of knitting done (I can't imagine why!!) But I have almost finished Clue 2 of the Mystery Stole. Clue 5 comes out Friday, so I am still quite a bit behind. But I continue to be really really glad that I switched yarns. Once I finish Clue 2, I will block it and post pictures.



Alright folks, I am SO going to bed!!

Mystery Stole Update

Well, since we last spoke I jumped in the frog pond. (For you non-knitters: I ripped out all the work I had done on the lace stole and started over.) I was just not happy with my results and I knoew it would really stink to do all that work and not be thrilled with the outcome. I don't know why I didn't take a picture before ripping it out; I'm kicking myself now for that one. The problem was that the solid stockinet parts were not solid enough for me. I think I just knit too loosely (I had to type that twice in order to not type "loose too knitly") to use lace weight yarn.

However, yesterday I bought some sock yarn, which is a little heavier than the lace-weight I had started with. It is Trekking pro natura,which is 75% superwash wool and 25% bamboo, in a nice blue. I started last night after dinner and finished all of Chart A, which took me much longer to do the first time. And it is exactly the way I wanted it to be! I am so excited. It's a little scary how addictive this whole thing is. I am always thinking about knitting it instead of whatever else I am doing. I wish there was a way to study that somehow. It seems that if you are a knitter, you are a knitter all the way. Total obsession. I don't know anyone who just knits a little. Ok - enough with knitting philosophy. Here are pics of the stole in progress.

Before it was a stole . . . Trekking Pro Natura sock yarn, color #1510 and some random seed beads from Friends Lapidary.

Here is the completion of Chart A. Hardly a stole yet, but you just wait!

A little stich detail, and an idea of what the beads look like.

Sorry for those of you who couldn't really care less about my knitting! I promise a non-knitting post next time. For now, I am going to go do laundry.

(Yeah right - - you know where I am headed.)

Some pics to liven things up a bit . . .

A hot fudge sundae with Resees Peanut Butter Ice Cream a t Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen, and two cute girls. Can't say I don't know how to celebrate!

A random shot of Erin - Is it me or does she look like she is 10? (ok - maybe 5.)

If you tell Jill to smile for the camera, this is what she does. She started this a few months ago, totally on her own, and does it pretty much every time!

Why aren't you CELEBRATING???

(I know - caps are not polite. But I really am screaming. . .)

Do you know that today is National Ice Cream Day? I do.

And if you happen to discover this after the holiday is over, don't feel too bad because July is National Ice Cream Month. You will have time to make up for it.

My client had a beautiful baby girl after an amazingly uncomplicated, relatively easy birth. All are healthy and happy.

That does mean that I got no work done on my mark-is-off-I-am-going-to-work day. But hopefully I will have a grandpa-is-on-vacation-this-week work day soon. I don't know why but I have a hard time working for just a little bit. I really feel like I need a huge block of time to get anything productive done. So I either have to change that about myself (not likely) or wait for a big block of time to come (also not likely). I now will be teaching 8 times in August, so probably I need to just quit talking about working and actually work.

I am also trying to get pics together of finished knitting projects and works in progress (the latter being a much larger group of photos than the former) and put them on a Flickr site. I have been talking about that for awhile, but ya' know . . .

My new hero, the creater of National Ice Cream Day, has given me an excuse. So Graeters better watch out because Tablers are on their way!

Go on now - - get celebratin'

Waiting Game

Last night we had a birthday celebration for Mark & Helga, and the girls were jumping on a trampoline until 10:00 pm. Which is great fun, until about 10:01 pm. Jill hardly slept at all last night, and although Erin is in a good mood now, I am waiting for the tides to turn.

I also just got a call from a client due July 28 who says her dr. thinks her baby seems a little small and wants to induce. Although I was supposed to be working today on training outlines, I may be working today on doula-ing. She is trying to decide now what she is going to do. So I wait!

As for knitting - - I am very worried about the Mystery Stole I am working on. (since almost no one reading this knows what I am talking about, I will include this breif link to the group instead of trying to recap here. Just know it is a knit along where you get portions of the pattern each week until you are finished. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysterystole3

There are 6700+ members of this group! It is very cool.
So the worry comes in because my stole so far doesn't look nearly as nice as everyone else's pics. Maybe people whose stoles look like mine don't post pics! Or maybe I need to block mine and see it afterwards. If I do not doula today I will try to take a few minutes to post pics and get feedback. I guess if I have to start over, I will, in my efforts to force myself to be a process knitter!
Slow down and smell the wool. mmmmm . . . .

Is it ok . . .

That my very young children are playing in the front yard alone so that I can actually post on this blog??

I can see them very well from where I sit, but it sure seems a bit weird!

Just thought I would let everyone know that I am serious about this blog thing. I will post again before bed.

I've been knitting, OK???

So maybe it has been 6 months since I posted, and maybe no one will ever come back here again, and maybe I am wasting some time right now even posting. But I've been knitting, OK??

I actually have completed projects! Let me list them for you:
- fingerless gloves for Mark
- scarf for MIL
- sweater for Erin
- sweater for Jillian
- one sock for Erin (yes, one sock DOES count)
- fingerless gloves for me
- headband for me
- shawl for me

And if I think of some more, trust me I'll tell you! I am going to work on getting photos posted so there is evidence of this amazing productivity!

A quick review of the last 6 months:
I did four births in Dec, all within 2 weeks. This was insane and wonderful at the same time. I have only done one in 2007 but am working on drumming up the business for the summer. Pregnant anyone?

Erin is potty-trained, completely by hr own choice. She just came to me and said she wanted to use the potty, and that was the end of it! We haven't had an accident in a few weeks now, so I think we're done. She is becoming very much a little girl as opposed to a toddler. She thinks of things that I can't even imagine!

Jillian is completely into giving kisses, throwing food and having fits. She is such a toddler! She may be my second child but she is definitely my first Jillian! She now, however, SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! You heard me right, folks! THROUGH THE NIGHT! Like, 8 - 8. This has been going on for about 3 weeks now and I am really starting to feel the effects of having enough sleep. It has been a really long time! I can actually almost function now.

Again - photos to follow as soon as I get them off the camera!

I am also going to figure out how to get some links on here so that people can go to Mark's blog and others. I just wanted to get the momentum started and hopefully I will get back to posting more regularly. I enjoy reading other's so much and I like the idea of having some Tabler history recorded.

I am 'working' at Panera right now and they will close in 40 minutes, so I better 'work' instead of blog. I will post again soon and let everyone know that things are starting up again around here!