My son, the graduate

My son, the graduate(of ELE)
The family...with the principal standing behind us...

I still don't understand why they have a graduation for fifth-grade. Oh, they call it a recognition ceremony, but you know what that means. It was very sweet to see all the kids in their fancy clothes and sad to know they are no longer in elementary school. The big, bad world of middle school is upon us. In other news, vacation was nice, more on that later. The kids are in day camp this week, so I've got loads of alone time. Just me and the laundry. Which I must go do now.

Way too long

The new patio. And it wasn't installed by me!

Yes, it's been a while. I've been crazy busy, and truthfully, don't have time to write this now. Yet, here I am.

The crocheted bunny. hideous, in my opinion. I don't think the pictured one in the mag was made with the same directions given. The head is way too large and I'm not showing it. ick.

I'm working on a hat and squares for an afghan. The knitted pillow-to-be is still on the needles.

And we're off to Maine in 2days for vacation.

My son is now a middle-schooler.

I'm feeling old and stressed that I have so much to do!

well, hopefully this will get rectified when we are on vacation.....

Crocheting

So, my knitting has been going slowly. I'm frustrated at how long it takes me and how uncoordinated I feel while knitting. I broke down and bought crochet hooks and a book. With help from http://www.purlbee.com/ , I figured it out. It goes so much faster. Maybe it's just me, but I'm enjoying it. This is my first granny square. Not too fab, not too horrid either. I have made another, and a whole dishrag, which isn't going to be pictured. I'm currently working on a "softie" for Megan. A crocheted bunny with dress. Amigurumi is the term for these funky, fun stuffed toys. I will post when completed. Of course, this just adds to my project list!

Yard Work

Landscaping in front of the house. Looks soooo much better than nothing. See, the drought the previous 2 years killed our shrubbery. So we had the dead removed and I tried to figure out what to do there. Now, there's Japanese Boxwood, Bleeding Hearts, Nandina, hostas, ferns and coral bell. Also, there's one rhododendron. Still more work to be done in the rest of the front yard and we are getting an estimate for a stone patio in the back. Love to be able to work in the yard!

Working on Projects

I am working on the long list of projects I blogged about earlier. I can check off :
Master bathroom painted
Landscape plan(for the front)
installing landscaping is underway
Easter dress for Megan
matching dress for doll
and am cutting out pink shirt for megan

ah. progress. slow but sure.
And new ones:
getting the garden ready and growing(is happening now!)
upload pics to snapfish and do the digital scrapbook.
updated email account for new address. (I didn't change anything...they did...ugh)

I also completed a painting earlier this year. One of the few I've done just because.

I'm off to plant some more and hope to take some pics later today of what is new!

Easter pictures

So, it's been a while. I've been busy. With, you know, the normal stuff. Clean the house, do the laundry, and now that it's that season, mowing the lawn. oh, and spring break was last week, not to mention Easter. I did not decorate at all for it. Usually I'll bring out my few things, but they just didn't make it out. We are never home on Easter, so it isn't high on my priority list. Enjoy some pictures from Easter!





<
Megan's dress and matching dress for Am. Girl doll I started last year, but was too big, so finished it for this year. It had a matching coat, which is always good with our unpredictable spring weather.

Me and kids after the church egg hunt. Craig tied for most eggs found and won a chocolate cross.

New York City for Valentine's weekend

In Central Park

Me in Times Square

I went to NYC for Valentine's weekend to stay with my hubby who is working there during the week. He had an apartment then, so we took advantage of the free place to stay and frequent flier miles to have a romantic weekend in the city. His mom came to stay with the kids, which was nice. We started out with the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday night. That is my kind of entertainment! Saw lots of great works, and some that weren't. We ate at a small French restaurant nearby for dinner and I had the best scallops I've ever had. YUM. Wonderful boullaibase too. Saturday we did the tourist things, saw Times Square, the lions at the library, Rockefeller Plaza, Grand Central Station, and a long walk thru Central Park. We had an early reservation at Del Posto for Valentine's and had the most expensive meal of our lives. It was very good, but wow, fancy. In that understated kind of way. We also went to the movies and had a nice Valentine's together. Sure beats last year's apart.

Sunday we walked by the World Trade center site and then on to brunch at Bubby's before heading back to leave. We did detour thru Century 21 which was interesting, but I would need a full day alone to do shopping there. All in all, an enjoyable trip. And best of all, Jonathan came home with me for the week. yay. But then the kids were sick and we both got it too. boo.

A cold weekend in the city which was not overly crowded. Good for me. There's still lots to do and I know we'll take the kids back one day.