It's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another week is done...a week of classes and teaching and children's activities and new jobs. It has been a good week.

Mitch started a new job last week and so far it is going well. He has been able to organize his time a little better to get his school work done, much less stress chez nous.

Elisabeth is still plugging away in her classes, we have a meeting with the guidance counselor of her school to arrange accomodations for her to deal with some difficulties she is having in class.

Joseph still loves Kindergarten. He is reading and writing more and more each day. His new favorite thing to do is to write books, he draws pictures and sounds out the words he wants to write on each page, they are so cute!

Margaret is growing very well, she is 6 months old now, hard to believe. She tips the scales at 14lbs 12oz. She did not get her shots at her 6 month checkup on Tuesday because she has ear infections in both ears, but now she is on antibiotics and feels much better. She'll go back in a couple of weeks to have a recheck and get her shots, including the RSV vaccine.

My classes are going well. The class I'm teaching is great, I really enjoy each class I have with them. Most of them are willing to work hard and do well. The classes I'm taking are good, just A LOT of work. Two literature classes and a teaching methods class means a lot of reading. I will sit down with the graduate coordinator next week and make some decisions about my plan of study, I've decided I will go the route of French linguistics (instead of literature), so after this semester I should only have to take linguistics courses. Not that I don't enjoy French literature, but I am tired of analysing it, that's pretty much all I did in undergrad and I'm ready to study the language itself. My goal is to teach language and I think linguistics will be more beneficial for that anyway.

Well off to go get the kids and go home...but first a walk across campus to the car in the rain!

I will add some pictures later today. I've uploaded some to my Flickr account (in the sidebar).

To quickly finish my update....

Margaret started daycare August 13th, then we went away for 2 days to Orlando. We met up with some friends and went to Epcot center. Then Elisabeth and Joseph started school on the 20th and I started classes that Thursday. I am teaching one beginning French and taking 4 classes (9 credit hours, so really like 3 classes). Mitch is in a transition time with work right now, it's a really long story I won't go into right now, but send prayers/good thoughts his way. He also started taking classes with the local community college, working toward a Networking Tech degree and certifications.

Joseph is loving Kindergarten. Elisabeth is enjoying school but already struggling, so Mitch and I will schedule an appointment with her teacher for next week. My classes are going well, just a lot of work. I am really loving my teaching, I have a class of 25, they are mostly motivated and class is fun and challenging for them (at least I hope!)

With so much to do, I haven't had very much time to knit at all :( I did get my invite to Ravelry about a month ago and I have had fun browsing the community; I'm slbayer if you would like to find me.

So, that's our life in a nutshell. I hope to try to post a little more often again. I may just pick a weekly time to blog and try to stick to it.

Until then :)

9/11

We probably all remember where we were in that moment the news came on the radio or the television. I myself was pulling into the driveway at work. I was expecting our 2nd child and seriously wondered about the world we were bring him into.

But life has gone on and we see a wonderful new hope for the future. And then we receive reminders like this view from our back door, a beautiful, full rainbow (unbelievably difficult to capture on film). And all the children at the kids' school were admiring it's simple beauty.

Recap: August

Oh my, how time flies! It's hard to believe that August is ending, Margaret is nearly 5 months old, Elisabeth is almost 9, school has started, life comes at you fast (to quote Nationwide Insurance). So much has happened this month and we have been so incredibly busy, that I have not had a moment to think long enough to compose a blog posting. I have been trying to keep up with reading everyone, but frankly that has suffered too.

So, let's see, we left of with my brother here...we had a wonderful time with Ben. We all (as in the 5 of us and my sister, Becka, and boyfriend, Dustin, and Ben met us at the hotel later that night) drove to Merritt Island to my cousin's wedding over the weekend. This trip was much nicer than the last one, Margaret did really well, the weekend was pretty much stress-free. We went to the beach and as you can see, Margaret pooped out on us. My cousin's wedding was in the afternoon, so after going back to the hotel to clean up, we all piled into our van and drove to the church. We finally got a nice picture of the five of us, as well as a great picture of Becka, Ben and me. The wedding was really nice and it was great to see most of the cousins again, as well as cousin's kids, our family is growing so wonderfully.

I took Ben and the kids to one of our favorite places in Gainesville, the butterfly rainforest at the museum of natural history.
Later in the week we dropped Ben off at the airport and he headed back to Indiana before going back to France for the semester.

Then the craziness began. Margaret started daycare on the 13th. But then we decided to have one last hoorah before my orientation started that Thursday. So we drove down to Orlando to visit Epcot center with friends of ours. We had a blast! We had never done Epcot with the kids and I'm glad we did this month. Elisabeth and Joseph both loved the "Journey into Imagination" ride, with Figment as the star, this was my favorite ride when I was younger too :) They also both loved the World Showcase and really enjoyed "visiting" the different countries, it helped that they could make a mask and have it stamped in each country and that they could collect an imprinted penny from each country. For most of the day they got along really well, you might have even said they love each other.

OK since I started this post almost a week ago, I am going to publish it now. I will update more soon, maybe later tonight or tomorrow. (9/6)

4 months old!

It's so hard for me to believe that Margaret is 4 months old. But she is.

She had her 4-month check-up yesterday. Her doctor is so pleased with her growth. She weighs 12lbs 6oz and is 22 1/4 inches long, almost on the growth chart for a 4 month old. But if you adjust for her prematurity and go back to about a 2-month old, Margaret is 50% for height and 90% for weight!

Dr. Mas was also very pleased with Margaret's development, saying she is doing everything a full-term 4-month baby should be doing.

She told us to wait to start cereal till 6 months, in order to give Margaret's suck/swallow reflex more time to mature.

She got her vaccinations again too. This time she's gotten more of a fever than last time, so we're doing tylenol every 4 hours. Other than that, she has been ok, just a little cranky and tired.

My brother, Ben is here, we picked him up Wednesday and he stayed with us that night. Last night he stayed at Becka's, our sister. Today we are going to Merritt Island for our cousin's wedding tomorrow.

Every one of these pictures were taken by Elisabeth and Joseph while we were out to dinner Wednesday night. Pretty impressive huh?

Some pictures I had forgotten I took this week :)

Slumber Party!

Catching Minnows

The Modern Girl

Blue Eyes

Oh, the sun's just too bright!

Red Hair!

Bed head :)

Breakfast Time

Sibling Love, sometimes it's just too much!

More about those knits

So here's the list of works in progress
1. The Mable dress for Margaret, done
2. "Labor" socks, these are the bed socks that were intended for wearing during Margaret's birth, one done, second foot left
3. Betsy socks, foot left on both socks
4. Palette Fair Isle, lots left
5. EZ February baby sweater, done
6. Estonian socks, one sock is half done
7. a sweater for Elisabeth from this book, lots left
8. a Mason Dixon bib, done
oh, and I added a project that I just couldn't resist, a Knitted Babe, I only have half of her body done now, but she is a quick knit.

I am checking them off!

And now, as promised, a little bit about those finished projects...

This is the Mable dress. This was started back in March, intended to be the dress Margaret wore home from the hospital. When she decided to join us almost 2 months early, I was a little preoccupied, and believe it or not, I had a real hard time sitting and knitting, even though I did a lot of sitting. Working on something for baby, that was intended for our happy time, when she was sitting in the hospital, was very difficult.

So, finishing this was very healing for me. I love it! I finished the little slippers too. It's adorable on Margaret. She wore it to church a couple weeks ago and will wear it on Saturday to my cousin's wedding.

It is made in KnitPicks Shine Sport in cream.

Here are the "Labor" socks, same story as for the dress. I was making these to bring to the hospital, in case my feet got cold during labor & delivery. They are almost done and will be nice to wear around the house this winter. These are done in KnitPicks Memories in Rocky Mountain Dusk (now discontinued, I think)

Right next to the socks is the Mason Dixon bib. These are such an easy knit, I added a ruffle to the bottom. I still need to weave in the ends and add a button. This is done in Peaches & Cream cotton, in Gumdrop.

Finally, this is the EZ (Elizabeth Zimmerman) February baby sweater or Gull Stitch sweater. I *love* this knit. I started this shortly after Margaret was born, I needed something new to work on. I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it, but I really fell in love with the sweater as it grew. I have buttons picked out, they are from my button box, check 'em out, 49 cents for 5. I still need to sew them on the sweater. This should last Margaret for a few more months, we always need a sweater in the diaper bag to deal with the a/c here.

I knit this is some acrylic baby yarn, I think Bernat, I know the color is called denim something, anyway the yarn was given to me for Christmas by Mom and Dad. This sweater will become a standard gift for me, I think. I have several other balls of the baby yarn, perfect for gifts, easy wash and wear.

I will be pulling out some of my unfinished cross-stitch projects after I get a few more knitting projects off the needles. I have about 5 or 6 projects that need attending to. And there is some sewing I want to do as well. How much can I get done before the fall semester starts with my orientation on August 16th?

I managed to get a couple pictures of Elisabeth and Joseph at the park yesterday, no action shots though. Of course, Elisabeth closed her eyes, oh well.

This evening, I pick up my brother, Unci Ben, from the airport. I am so excited to see him. He has not met he new niece yet. I can't wait!

In the meantime, laundry, reading, knitting and quiet, the kids are at camp today. Oh, I may go to campus today, to see one of my professors who retired in May. She has been cleaning out her office this summer and has set aside a box of books for me, such a wonderful gift! Did I mention she is my favorite professor? I am so sad she retired, I would have loved to work with her for my graduate studies. She will remain in Gainesville though.

Have a blessed day!

Objets finis!

I thought about writing this entry in French, just because I'm in that mode from a 2-day writing marathon, but I figured too many would not understand, so English it is...

This...
is how I spent much of my afternoon yesterday. Margaret did not want to sleep in her bed, did not want to be put down, did not want me to sit down.

But this...is the result, me clicking on send to transmit my dissertation finale to my professor, thereby ending my career as an undergrad and transitioning to graduate studies. (OK she still has to grade it and I still have to receive a passing grade for the class to get my degree.)

And these...are my other finished objects, a couple are almost finished, more about those tomorrow. I'm taking the kids to the park, it's only 94 degrees outside.

must . finish . writing

Tomorrow is a designated writing day. I must finish my 4-page paper and turn it in to complete the work required for my BA. I will finish tomorrow.

So, if you catch me surfing onto any blogs, on-line stores, or checking my e-mail a hundred times, remind me that I must finish writing.

If you see me looking longingly at my corner of knitting projects, or pulling out a pattern book or magazine to peruse, or even picking up my needles, remind my why I must wait.

If you see me picking up a book that is not French, not written by Rousseau or Sarraute, and not Les Confessions or Enfance (a dictionary or grammar book is allowed), warn my that my degree is waiting.

I cannot put this off any longer...my materials for the class I will be teaching in August are waiting on my bookshelf for me to start planning...I've got itchy fingers.

It is only 4 pages, the introduction is done, it will not be that hard.

(I just needed to give myself that peptalk. I've got finished objects to post, on Tuesday, after I finish my paper.)

Just some random pictures from this week

More extensive post later, including some finished knitted objects.

Margaret is now 15 weeks old, and she's started rolling over from her tummy, then gets mad she's stuck on her back. She's found her thumb and we've discovered she loves books, and prefers them to her other toys.

I need to take more pictures of the other kids!

I am weak...a knitting post

I succumbed...I was unable to resist temptation...For so long I looked the other way...then I was left home with a baby and the internet and a credit card and this happened...

That, my friends, is my first shipment of the sock of the month club from here. Not that I really needed any new sock yarn, but all my sock yarn is Knit Picks, now don't get me wrong, I love their yarn, but a knitter reads about all these other yarns, and well, you just gotta try them out some time. What better way than by receiving a new pattern with different yarn every other month? So this is Betsy...see, not only could I not resist the temptation to buy, but I had to cast-on right away, never mind the ten other projects I have on the needles.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I got an e-mail from Knit Picks, and wouldn't you know...they're having a book sale. Well I've been wanting to get more Elizabeth Zimmerman books, so Knitting Workshop, and maybe some yarn (in ballerina, wisteria and aloe, I already have natural) to make the Baby Surprise Jacket and a stripy hat from Itty Bitty Hats (which I already own) to match, found their way into my stash, they should be here next week. I did good though, I could have walked away with lots more...

So now, I have on my needles...
1. The Mable dress for Margaret, this is actually at the seaming stage, almost done
2. "Labor" socks, these are the bed socks that were intended for wearing during Margaret's birth, one done, small start on second
3. Betsy socks, foot left on both socks
4. Palette Fair Isle, lots left
5. EZ February baby sweater, about 1/3 done
6. Estonian socks, one sock is half done
7. a sweater for Elisabeth from this book, lots left
8. a Mason Dixon bib
I frogged the other baby sock I was working on...it's too small for my little chunkster! I will start it again soon on bigger needles.

I think that's it! Most of these are fairly small projects and could be knocked out in the next few weeks. I'm not going to start anything new until most of these are done. Wish me luck on that resolution :)

Oh my, I just clicked over to Knit Picks to check the status of my most recent order...and they have their new fall yarn line up...temptation...new colors...new yarns...

The kids were up to some silliness this weekend...they covered themselves in colored foam peanuts and did some silly shows for us...they did get along well for some of the weekend too...

And toes...look how chunky they are!

Holidays and Summer Camp

So Margaret is three months old now (as of Monday). She has finally outgrown her newborn clothes...she has fat rolls on her arms, legs and neck...she is sleeping for about 5 hours at night!She celebrated her first 4 of July...nothing really fancy...we were going to have people over, but everyone canceled at the last minute...so we grilled our hotdogs and hamburgers ourselves, lit off our own fireworks and ate our homemade ice cream. The kids had a good time and stayed up really late.

Elisabeth has been having a great time at summer camp. She goes horseback riding every Monday and Thursday, does arts & crafts, swims every day, does a ropes course, hangs out with her best friend, Savannah, and has made some new friends.

enjoying dinner with Grandma I-I (Aida)

Joseph is doing great at his camp. This was the perfect transition to Kindergarten. He is outside most of the day in free play or organized sports and games, he plays with the boys his age (I think he has a couple of friends that are girls too), they go on field trips, they swim twice a week and he comes home singing all the camp songs.

with Aida's sister Melba 7/1

I am almost done with my undergrad course work. I only have to write one paper, 4 pages, and turn it in. I got the offer from my department for my graduate studies. I will be teaching one beginning level French class, 5 days a week plus 3 (I think) office hours, UF will pay me a stipend to teach, plus they will pay for me to take 9 credit hours a semester. My program is 2 years, 2 1/2 years for thesis option (I plan to write a thesis) and I will be eligible to teach every semester, I should be able to take on teaching another class in the future (like spring semester). It will be busy, it will be intense, but this is what I have been working so hard to achieve, I am so excited about starting.

Pictures of knitting soon...even some finished objects :) And more pictures to come of a certain little girl in cute dresses.