Facebook killed my blog.

Has it happened to you too? Blogging used to be my favorite way to share photos and the occasional anecdote, but now I feel like I am just being repetitive when I post here. Sadly, though, I know I am now neglecting to record precious moments and memories in a fun medium. I do miss blogging, so I'm not going anywhere just yet, but I can't promise how long I'll last!

In other news, I have serious, unhealthy, sinful, obsessive Kindle envy. I have joined three different reward sites in hopes of earning my way to the thousands of points necessary for all the amazon e-certificates I can get my hands on. I have a long way to go, but if I ever get there, at least I know I will have a good system in place for earning the cash needed to buy a few e-books. :)

Knitting, on the other hand, has taken a temporary back seat to, well, everything else.

What are my boys up to? For starters, Gabe is now 3!

The shirt he has on in the picture is one he picked out for himself. We walked by it at WalMart and he got all excited, saying, "A Speed, I am Speed shirt!!!" (That's what he calls Lightning McQueen and all other cars from the movie; that's a story for another day.) I grabbed a slightly different one because I didn't see this one in his size at first, and he quickly pointed out that I had taken the wrong one. Then he carried this one through the store while we bought a few groceries. I have to say, he made the right choice, though I am still amused at how particular he is. On second thought, his momma can be pretty particular too. :)

Thomas is keeping busy; almost too busy. He is involved in some great activities though, and I think they are all worth his time. Despite the increasing troubles with his ADHD symptoms (they always get worse as the school year progresses), he is doing very well academically too. He has recently picked up his reading habit again, fueled in part, I think, by A Pitch in Time, by Robert A. Lytle, which he has been reading for the advanced learners program at his school. I love how much he enjoys a good book. (I plan to get him a Kindle too... Ssshhhhh.) His Odyssey of the Mind problem is coming along too. I hope to be able to attend the competition, but there's no way Gabe and Logan would last all day, so we'll have to find out (that day) what time Thomas' group will be going and hope we can work something out. As great of an activity as it is though, I have to admit that I will be glad when we finally get those weeknights back! Otherwise, his next tae kwon do promotional exam is coming up in a couple of weeks, and he'll be going for advanced blue.

Logan, poor baby Logan, is sick. He has a nasty cold with a low grade fever, and he has been hanging out in my arms all day. (It has taken as long for me to get this far.) This morning I decided it might be time to try laying him down for an early nap, and I asked if he was ready. He gave me a loud and clear, "Nooooo," and about ten seconds later I looked down, and he was asleep on my lap. Knowing how uncomfortable he would be laying down, I let him stay with me until I had to make lunch for Gabe. Of course, when I did try to lay him down he woke up and then continued to spend the rest of the afternoon in and out of sleep on my shoulder. He's finally starting to perk back up now, in that still sick, eyes-half-closed, chapped-red-cheeks sort of way - and even accepting a cracker and fluids.

When he's not sick, though, he's practicing his walking and perusing all the books he can get his little hands on. He's also beginning to expand his vocabulary. I'm pretty sure his current favorite word is "truh" (truck), though I still love his "wow" and "woah," amongst others. He's such a little sweetie. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to get too much bigger.

Brian is out straight. Between working full time, finishing up his master's degree, assistant coaching Odyssey of the Mind, running Thomas around when I need a hand, and taking care of the house, driveway, and cars, he has no time for rest. I have to admit that I have been feeling especially overwhelmed lately, myself, but such is life with three boys, two of whom are still pretty little. Hopefully one day I will breathe a sigh of relief that I managed to get through it all with a tiny spec of my sanity still intact. No? (Please don't tell me if I'm wrong. I think it's better that I just pretend, for now, at least!)

♥

What's in a new year?

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and a fun new year celebration!

I opted to try something new for 2011 and rung it in with my first cookie swap. We were small in number but full of high spirits, and I'm really glad we did it. To those of you who participated, thank you! Let's do it again.

What's with the title? Well, I guess I don't think of a new year as anything really different. I figure most people use New Year's Eve as an excuse to party, but that's about it. I always waver as to the idea of creating new year resolutions too. While I'm sure it's a good thing to set goals and work toward them, I try to do that all the time. Maybe it works for some. I just find that time brings with it some very unpredictable events, and I need to be able to adjust my routines accordingly, without feeling like a failure just because I had to change my plans.

2009 was a great example of that; it brought on a resolution disaster for me, but as hard of a year as it was in some ways, it was also full of wonderful, life-changing miracles like that of Logan's birth and of finally finding our first home.

On the flip side, I did most of the things I set out to do in 2010, but 2010 was harsh. I always try to focus on the positive and avoid dwelling on pain and trouble, but I expect I will always look back on last year with a certain amount of sorrow. It's difficult to know how to turn pain into laughter when your sister's worst nightmare has come true. She and my nieces and nephews are amazing, still counting their blessings and carrying on together, but I know her pain is indescribable, and everything I have ever cared about has been put back into perspective since Billy passed away.

Sadly, Jessi wasn't the only one who suffered such a loss; for a while I felt as though I was watching amazing friend after amazing friend lose a close loved one this year. These events all seemed to happen to the best of the best; those people you want to strive to be like. That made it all even harder to stomach. On top of it all, there were other painful, heartbreaking events which I can't go into.

There were, of course, great times too; our wonderful July vacation, camping in New Hampshire with my sisters and brother, the daily joys of watching Tom, Gabe, and Logan grow and play, making memory upon memory with the best friends a girl could have, soaking up Brian's unconditional love even when I know I was a bear to be around after some particularly challenging days as a stay-at-home-mom, and so, so much more. I am very grateful for all of those things and for every day I am given.

Back to this year, though, there is really only one new thing I am setting out to do, and I'm admittedly excited about it. After years of (albeit lazy) searching, Brian and I believe we have finally found a church where we feel right at home, and our pastor has challenged anyone interested to read through the Bible before the year is over. Brian and I are participating together, which I think will really motivate me to finish this time. (I have set out to read the Bible in a year before, but that was completely on my own, and while I happen to have read many verses over the years, especially in certain books of the Bible, overall, I never made it very far.) We're only a week into it so far, but I feel great about it already and am confident that reading it will benefit both myself and my family, both now and in the future (no matter how far I make it, though I am very set on finishing this time).

So, whatever may be coming your way for 2011, I hope it is filled with life, love, and spiritual growth. May you have a very blessed new year!

And a very belated Merry Christmas to all. :)

She Still

She still blogs. She still knits. She still bakes. She still takes oodles of pictures and then some. She just doesn't organize her time well enough to share it all as often as she used to.... but she IS still here!

She can't, however, keep up this 3rd person writing style for long.

What's going on at my house?

Lots and lots of this! We're singing too. Logan especially likes Deck the Halls since learning how to "Lalalalalalalalala" along with me.

I also have some sparkly blue slippers on the needles. I'll try not to wait so long before posting again. I need to apologize for falling so behind on your blogs too. I haven't checked my reader in the longest time, but when I do I will be in for a treat, for sure.

If you are looking for an entertaining read, may I suggest my sister-in-law's blog. She is currently volunteering for the Peace Corps in Morocco, and her perspective can't be beat: Beth's Adventures You'll thank me!

Love you all!

My baby IS still a baby.

He was a baby last week, and this week is no different. Then again I'll probably be calling him a baby years from now. How did it happen? My sweet baby Logan is a whole year old already.

I think someone forgot to prepare me.


At least HE isn't taking things too seriously. ;) ♥

Halloween 2010

Please forgive the lack of captions. I would add them except that this is a pretty sneaky post; it's actually 2011, and when I went back to look at last year's Halloween post I realized that it was not in existence! That was just not acceptable. --And since I like to go back and compare holiday photos at times, I really needed this post to appear in sequence, so I adjusted the posting date. Hey, at least I am admitting it right?

It WAS a very fun Halloween.

The cider donuts were pretty good too. :)

My Latest Obsession

(No, not cupcakes... ) Owls. I've always loved them, but lately... Oh, I don't know how to put it. I just can't get enough of them, I suppose.

One day a few weeks ago Thomas was doing his homework, and Gabe, in usual fashion, found a piece of paper and a pencil and brought them to the kitchen table to do his homework too. I suggested he draw an owl, and I helped him. It just so happened that he had recently received a kids' wildlife magazine full of pictures, stories, and information all about them, so I took it out and drew some with him. I couldn't get enough.

In hindsight, it wasn't the first time... I now recall adding countless owl designs to my Ravelry faves long ago...

Since that day, though, I've been particularly drawn to the little creatures (both realistic and artistic). Still, it wasn't until I happened upon these cute little sugar creations at WalMart the other day that I realized an owl might be just the first birthday cake subject idea I was after. Needless to say, I am now so excited to get designing.

In the meantime, these super simple treats temporarily satisfied my need for some light baking and adorable owl-decorating--for today, and, however basic, Thomas and I had fun assembling them.

Next time I'll make my own pumpkin flags though. Either way, they were quite tasty!

I could be wrong...

but I think we like potatoes.

The best thing about October

is not zucchini bread, but zucchini bread is a very good thing, and it smells soooo good right now! I've recently been alternating between pumpkin, zucchini, and banana breads... so yummy!

October is full of great things, isn't it? Just look at all these colors.

Aren't they beautiful?
I bought four potted garden mums on Friday for one dollar each (really). They really brighten up the area by our steps. Unfortunately, though, they keep blowing over. I suppose it is high time I planted them.

I also brought home a bag of these for the boys:

Gabe has been lining them up on the kitchen counter and counting them. He pulls his little blue chair over and steps right up. Some times he "beeps" them like a cashier scanning items.

Yes, it's October for sure.