Knitting...I was looking for something to make out of my stash, so I pulled this kit out for a capelet. It is very pretty, and looks like a straightforward knit. However, there are eight different colors, and you knit with four at a time, changing colors as you go, so that the color shifts ever so slightly. I haven�t even started knitting yet. You know why? Because you have to take each skein, and split it into four equal balls. THIS IS TAKING FOREVER. I am only halfway done. It tires my hands out a lot to wrap these tiny little balls. And then you have to keep each in their own ziplock so that the colors don�t get mixed up. And then�I have to swatch. It needs two sets of circulars, and one of them has to be a 40� length, which I don�t have. Especially in a size 7�no store ever wants to carry that size for some reason. It is always 6 or 8. Which means I need to order whatever needle might happen to work. It�ll be a miracle by the time I get going on this.

This elephant is huge.  I mean, it is about 18" long.  It took a ton of yarn.  I ran out of the first skein of Red Heart Lilac, and I couldn't find anymore at the store.  I still had to do the ears and tail at this point.  Thankfully, I was able to find another skein in my stash.  Yay for keeping yarn!  I have tried to get rid of it a million times, but my husband keeps telling me to keep the Red Heart.  Yet again, I should listen to him more often.  :) 

Ava, poor thing, has been sick lately.  Last week it was an ear infection, and this week she has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  She, and about 11 other kids in her class.  It is very sad.  She is taking it like trooper though.  She drinks her fluids, and takes lots of naps. 

I am thisclose to finishing the lace scarf.  I only have two more repeats!!!  But of course, I am about to sabotage the scarf again.  I have been making these animals for all the kids turning 1 in my life....yet do I make anything for my soon to be 1 year old?  Not yet, anyway.  So, I am going to make something for Ava as well.  When I am done with that, I promised Melanie a pink animal of some sort.  She says that she likes pink, and that Mommy likes purple, and Daddy likes blue.  When I ask her what color Ava likes, she says that she likes white. 


Ava can now crawl up the stairs on her own (trailed closely behind by one of us).  Melanie just got a hair cut.  I can't seem to get a good picture of that.  She is a SQUIRMY one!!!

Yes, here they are.  The foot is done, and I am working on the heels of the 2nd sock.  Unfortunately, they haven't been touched in a bit, because I have been trying to finish other items.  There are two birthday parties coming up, so I have been working on making toy animals for the little kids.  I have finished one rhinoceros so far, and I am now working on an elephant.  Here is the rhino:

I think he came out pretty cute.  I made him out of Red Heart.  He is actually pretty large.  He is about 18" long.  I think the one year old that it is going to will love it, because my girls certainly do.

I am almost done with the lace scarf.  I only have a few more repeats to go.  Of course, I don't have any pictures of that right now.  I'll probably have one once it is all blocked out. 

Here are some pictures of my girls.  They are my most important project.  :)

News going on with me...I am getting a promotion at work!  YAY!  (I think.)  I am always nervous about new jobs, thinking that I won't like them.  Eventually I love it, and I wonder what my problem was.  I am trying to have a positive outlook with this instead of worrying about it. 

The girls are happy little ones.  They were giggly and snuggly tonight.  The camera can never capture these good times.

The funny thing?  This took FOREVER to finish.  I just kept working on it and working on it.  I am still not completely happy with it, but at least it is done.  I always have grand dreams of producing a layout that is gorgeous, but I can never pare down the number of photos, and so it becomes too busy.  At the very least, it will keep my kid busy, because there is so much to look at.    I do love playing with photos digitally, because you don't have to worry about messing things up.  However, because you can keep playing with things, it can be a real time sink. 

Other events happening around here?  I applied for a new job (promotion) at my job.  I am still waiting to hear the outcome of that.  Ava is just getting over the chicken pox, so there was a lot of time off of work this week.  James stayed home most of the time, and he is an absolute sweetheart for that.  It was a bad week for me to be off, because there is a big meeting that I was closing all the loops for starting tomorrow.  Melanie has been sporting a fever with no other symptoms for the last few days. I think that she has finally turned a corner, and is beating it down.  We'll know for sure once she wakes up from her nap.  (How else would I be posting here?) 

Our Easter was nice.  We spent it at the beach with my parents.  Melanie LOVES the sand.  Just like last year, she laid down, and rolled around in it.  I don't understand that, beyond her liking the warmth of it all.  The weather was perfect and sunny, and all in all it was a great day.  I think we'll buy a tent for next year though, since this seems to be a new tradition.  A tent would make it much shadier.  A nearby family was feeling bad for Ava and lent us a little umbrella to shield her from the sun.  That was pretty nice of them.  It made a pleasant day even better.