Happy Holidays!

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and wish you a healthy, happy New Year!!!

We had a wonderful day yesterday with the kids. They all got lots of stuff they wanted and were incredibly happy. Dailaesse slept in her new Dora bed until about 4 this morning when she decided it was time to crawl into our bed so she could nurse. I don't expect this transition to happen over night. I didn't sleep well until she got in with us at 4. Her new little bed is only a foot away from ours but I was awake all night checking on her. I can't believe she slept so long. She must be comfortable. She's back there now. We'll see how long it last tonight. My cousins two are spending the night tonight so I'm hoping they don't wake her.

My son gave me a skeing of Opal and a skein of Fleece Artist sock yarn for Christmas. He picked them out and paid for them himself. I'm so proud of him. The Opal is a solid blue color. Perfect for a pair of socks for him. The Fleece Artist is blue and green and just gorgeous. Darcie made us the most beautiful decoration for the tree with her picture on it. She decorated it herself with pretty glitter pens and dated it too. It's hanging on the tree and will each year from now on. I look forward to the ornaments the kids make. They make me smile when I pull them out of their cases to put them on the tree each year. My hubby got me 3 skeins of Fleece Artist and 6 skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Possum. This is the first year that any of them have gotten me something from the yarn store. I've asked for many years too. Mom and Dad got me 2 new pairs of jammies, 2 shirts, some fluffy slipper socks and cold hard cash. :-) I'll be heading to the yarn store this week. And I promise to post pictures soon. The house looks like a tornado blew through and I need to get organised.

Adrienne...I need you to send me an email. I don't have your address. I thought for sure I did but I can't seem to find it. I'll try to look again tonight but in case I don't get time drop me a note. I can't wait to get your goodies out to you!

Things have been crazy and I'm putting that mildly. Dan and Darcie told their father that they don't want to go visit him anymore on Tuesday night. He blew up and threatened to smash them into the ground. Great guy huh? Then he made them do their chores before letting them get their homework done. I stayed up with them until 11pm helping them to get their homework finished, getting them showered and then getting them calmed down and into bed. My poor little Darcie Jae was so upset by the wayhe treated them that we had to pull over on the way home because she thought she was going to vomit. I've been praying for a long time that the kids would find the strength to stand up to him. I'm very proud of them for being so strong. I'm also scared that their father might hurt them for standing up to him. I've contacted a new lawyer and hope to meet with him soon so we can get back to court to try once again to get the visitation order modified. Keep your fingers crossed for my babies. They're going to need it. Since all this has happened we've decided to cancel our trip to Buffalo. I want to be close to home in case something does happen. Hopefully their father will decide to honor their wished and let them come home. I don't want to be more than 6 hours away in the winter if that happens.

I got my final package from my wonderful Secret Pal last week as well. Susan has been so good to me and I just can't thank her enough. She sent 2 gorgeous skeins of Noro Kureyon, a great quilt book and Modular Knits. Again, I promise photos soon. :-) Susan, thank you so much for making my first SP experience so wonderful!!! I'm looking forward to reading your blog now so I can get to know you a little better. Hope you had as great a time as I did!

Anyone have any big plans for New Year's Eve??? We'll be sitting at home on our lazy asses where it's nice and warm watching the ball drop on TV like usual. Yeah, we're real party animals.

We Have a Winner

Ok guys, this stomach bug made not only it's maiden trip through the house but decided to cycle back again. The only one who hasn't had it is Bran. I hope he doesn't have it for Christmas. It leaves you with a nice queasy tummy for a week or more. Which isn't good when you have 3 barfing babies. Trust me. I'm still not sure if I got sick again because I had the bug or because my stomach wasn't strong enough to handle it yet. Yuck.

We managed to have a nice trip to Albany without anyone getting ill. That's always a plus. Dailaesse and I hung at the hotel in the morning because I let Bran take the van to school instead of bringing him. They got about 2" of snow and some freezing rain. Since I don't know the area we were in very well I decided I really didn't want to be out on the roads with the freesing rain in the morning rush hour traffic. We had lots of fun jumping on the bed and riding the "alligator" back and forth to the vending machines. Bran picked us up when he got done for lunch and we went to Wendy's. I dropped him back at school after lunch and we ventured out for gas. We went back and waited for him in the college parking lot since they only had about an hour of class after they got done lunch. Dailaesse took a little nap and I listened to the country station on Sirius. After class let out we made our way to the Periwinkle Sheep. Even though I planned to behave myself and just browse (yeah right) I found myself weak and left with this. The good news is that I filled my frequent shopper card and now get 15% off my next purchase. I smell a road trip coming after Christmas. If you're ever in the Albany area be sure to stop by and say hello to Karen. She's super sweet and has an incredible shop with lots to choose from. We left there and headed to the mall where I pretty much finished my shopping. We stopped in Clifton Park for dinner and then started home about 8pm. The roads were bare until we pulled into Saranac Lake at 10. We always joke that we can tell we're getting close to home when the weather and roads get crappy.

Wanna see a few of the newer things I've been working on? There's this pair of Mountain Colors Bearfoot for Dan's size 12 men's feet. Ugh. Then there's the little wrap for Dailaesse made from Patons Astra which is really dragging. I've got a couple others I need to take pictures of. Just need to quit being so lazy and get click happy.

Think I should announce the winner now? Do ya? Do ya? Huh? Huh? Huh? Ok, the winner of the 12 Days of Christmas contest is...

Adrienne

Congratulations Adrienne! I'll be sending you an email shortly so I can get some more info from you.

Thanks again to everyone for playing along. It's been so great getting to know all of you better. I'm looking forward to the next contest. I think I'll work them around the Secret Pal contest again.

Thanks too for your well wishes and for being such a wonderful caring bunch of friends. This blog would be nothing to me without you all!!!

Thank You Sandie!!!

I have to share with you the amazing gift I received from Sandie today. 6 absolutely gorgeous hand crafted ornaments and the most beautiful card!!! For me!!! I feel so loved and spoiled! The snowman, stocking, heart and angel are already on the tree. The large snowflake is hanging in the dining room window and the wreath is hanging on the inside front door. Thank you Sandie for taking time out during the busiest time of the year to spend some of your precious time doing something so wonderful for me. I can't tell you how much it means to me and how much I appreciate you for doing it.

And while I'm being all gushy...thank you everyone for your well wishes, understanding and friendship. I consider myself so fortunate to have such a wonderful group of friends. I really tend to throw myself into the kids and rarely take time out for myself. This blog is one of the little things I do for me and I thank you for making it such a rewarding experience!

Now with that said, I still haven't drawn a winner yet. I finally felt better this morning but I've been on the run since since 7 getting ready to leave tonight. Poor little Darcie ended up with the bug that's going around the house night before last. She stayed home from school yesterday and was back to her usual self this morning. I will be home late tomorrow night so will get the winner posted on Saturday. My friend Diane is coming over Saturday so I think I'll crown her "Name Picker-er" for the drawing. :-)

I hope you're all staying warm. It was 24 below yesterday morning and never got above zero yesterday. Brrr! It warmed up to 27 today and now they're calling for snow. Lots of snow. And freezing rain. Can't wait to travel tonight and tomorrow.

Sick Day

I really hate to keep everyone waiting but I've been so sick the last couple days that I haven't spent much time doing anything other than laying on the couch. Dailaesse threw up last Wednesday and Thursday. Of course like usual the little peanut goes from sick to well in 60 seconds. I didn't think a lot of it because there's been a bug going around. Then after all the running I did over the weekend I thought when she puked again Saturday night that it was from being over tired. Which could totally be my problem too. I don't get enough sleep and then I get really run down and it takes forever for me to bounce back. Last night I piled 4 comforters on top of me and still couldn't get warm. I knew I was in trouble when I started throwing up though. I hate to be that sick. I'm so glad it only happens every 10 years or so. I feel better today but I'm still tired and I ache all over. I've only checked my mail a couple times today and have done as much as I can before I get dizzy and need to lay down again.

Monica J, triciak1523, Denise, Meg Peters, Heavenly Evil, Ollie, Erin, knittinannie, Lisa D, Becky and Adrienne all got entries for the 11th.

And SandyK, Joyce, Lisa, Ollie, Erin, Laura, Shara, Cindy Lee Lee, auntgerry, Becky, Shanidy and Donna S for the 12th.

Congrats everyone! I promise to get my act together and draw a winner later tonight or tomorrow.

Bah Hum Bug

I can't believe how far behind I am on my posts! I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering who got entries for the past few days so here goes:

8th - Heavenly Evil, Meg Peters, Adrienne, Leslie, Aunt Gerry, Shelby, Erin and Lisa

9th - knittinannie, Meg Peters, Laura, Jeanie Townsend, Monica J, Gretchen, Steph, Cindy Lee Lee and StarzAbove

10th - Deborah Douglas, Leslie, Erin, Ollie, Sharlene, Joanseely, SandyK, Laura, Toni and Donna S

If I make it for 2 more hours I'll post the entries for today as well. But don't stay up holding your hands on your hind ends...they might take root.

I've spent the last 3 days shopping. I'm almost done and it's a damn good thing. I want to torch the malls and gouge the eyes out of the next rude ass shopper that pushes me out of their way and doesn't even take a second to say they're sorry. Honest. I told a woman in Gander Mt. today that she was lucky that I was a lady because if I wasn't I would throw her to the floor and kick the living shit out of her. She stormed off in a huff after that. Bitch. I was trying to look at boots for Dan. I wasn't even in a main aisle. I was about 3 tables deep OFF the main aisle. But the main aisles are congested with shoppers and some people are in a huge yank to get God knows where. Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw when I was in second grade..."Drive like hell and you'll get there." I wonder if there's a special place in hell for nasty shoppers? I'll be leaving Thursday night for an overnight in Albany where I plan to finish my shopping on Friday. All I can say is if you're in Albany and push me you better hope like hell your pants are padded with Charmin 'cause if not, I refuse to be held responsible for your bruised ass.

I've Got Gas

Sorry to be so tardy but just in case you've lost count, there's only 16 more days until Christmas. Yikes! Some how writing it out myself makes it even more real.

Toni, Erin, knittinannie, Laura, Meg and Wannietta all got entries for the 6th and Meg, Cecily, Leslie, Adrienne, Lisa D., Joan and SaraCate for the 7th. Congrats ladies!

Just a quick silly story before I head off to bed...

Tuesday night we had to run to the grocery store. Since we were in Lake Placid we decided to go have dinner before we went shopping. As we pulled into the parking lot Bran mentioned that gas was only $2.31 at the station across the street. That's 10 cents cheaper than it is in Saranac Lake. I decided I'd stop when we got done and fill the van. Like usual, nothing ever goes according to plan and we didn't get done dinner until almost 8pm. This meant there was no time for groceries. BUT there was a few minutes to run to Sue's to fondle yarn. "Sue's open until 9 tonight. Since there's no time for grocery shopping would you mind if I ran down quick?," I asked my hubby. He of course said he didn't mind but reminded me of the time (we had to be out to Lake Clear by 8:30 to get the kids) and the fact that I said I was going to get gas. "How about I go to Sue's first and then if there's time I'll get gas?," I asked. He pointed out that the gas station was right across the street. I pointed out that Sue's was only around the corner. Guess who won? In all fairness, I DID have a half tank of gas already. Of course by last night I was almost empty. So when we were over there last night to get the two oldest new boots I finally stopped for gas. Hey, admit it...if you had the choice between saving 10 cents a gallon or spending a few minutes in heaven which would you do?

Ice Cold Milk and an Oreo Cookie

Names drawn for the 5th:

Lisa D., Leslie, Meg Peters, Shelby and Adrienne

Dailaesse loves Oreo cookies. When she asks for a snack, 99% of the time she asks for Oreos. She especially loves the holiday colored Oreo cookies. They amaze her. There is nothing like the way her little face lights up when she sees a new color. Surprise and excitement all rolled up in one look. Ah, to be young again. Now, when Dailaesse was first introduced to Oreo cookies, she ate the whole cookie. That didn't surprise me. It takes time for kids to realize that the best part of the Oreo is the middle. But time after time, cookie after cookie, Dailaesse continued to eat the entire thing. I worried. Could there be something wrong with my baby? Will she ever develop the disdain for the crunchy, brown cookie part that all the other children have? Of course she will. And she did. Last week. Now mind you, it didn't happen immediately. She began swaying towards the creamy middle. Slowly at first. Twisting the outer cookies apart to reveal the "lummy" middle. Stealing little nibbles of the crunchy cookie part after eating the middle so as not to make the cookies feel left out. Then today while all three of the kids enjoyed an Oreo and milk snack after school Dailaesse let her true feelings be known. "This brown cookie part really sucks!"

Well it does.

Secret Pal 7

I've signed up to hostess the next round of Secret Pal. I'm very excited. It's a lot of fun to participate in this exchange. If any of you are the least bit interested I highly recommend you learn more by visiting the website. I spoiled Jennie, a dear sweet woman who I've been so lucky to get to know better over the past few months. I still don't know who my spoiler is and I can't wait to find out.

Adrienne, knittinannie, Shara and Wannietta all have entries for the drawing. Congrats!

He Knows When You've Been Bad or Good

The other night Dailaesse was being all kinds of stubborn about getting washed up and putting her jammies on. I tried everything. Bribing, begging, pleading. Then I remembered that there's only a month left until Christmas. So I pulled out the big guns. "You know, Santa is watching you right now. He sees you all the time. He won't come leave you any presents if you don't behave." Dailaesse looks around the living room and responds appropriately, "He can't see me. He's not here in my house. He won't be here for weeks." I explain that Santa is magic and he can see her all the time. "No he can't. He's at his home at the North Pole. That's a long far ways away." I reiterate that Santa is magic and he can see us where ever we are from where ever he is. "That's just ridiculous. He can't see me. Besides, I plan to be good at Christmas when he brings my presents. He'll see me then and know I'm a good girl." Any bets on how long Dailaesse believes in Santa?

Jennie (my Secret Pal from the SP6 exchange...HI JENNIE!!!), auntgerry and Erin got entries for yesterday. Congrats! Please be sure to include your email address for me when you post so I can contact you if you win. If I draw your name and have no way to contact you I'll have to draw another winner. If you don't want to leave your email on Blogger I totally understand and if that's the case my email address is posted in the side bar. You can just click it and send me a quick note. Thanks!

Queen for a Day

Missemilysmom was drawn from the comments for the 1st and Adrienne and Lisa D. for the 2nd. Congrats!

Thanks to all for sharing your stories with me! I've had so much fun reading through the comments. The Dora bed arrived on Thursday. The UPS dude motioned for me to hide Dailaesse as he was coming down the road. Thankfully my dad was home and out in his yard so he grabbed the boxes for me and I took Dailaesse for a walk out back. The bed came in the box it's packed in. She would have lost it right there in the front yard if she had seen it. We won't set it up until Christmas day after she opens it. Maybe she'll be so tired from all the excitement that she won't argue about sleeping in it. I plan to put it in our room to start. Ease her into the idea of sleeping by herself. Although after what she said I don't know that it'll really be a problem. Later that day she got in my face and told me she wasn't going to have to sleep in the middle anymore and that she was glad because I stink. WTF??? I shower everyday. Honest.

Meg in Arizona, Heavenly Evil and Bev please contact me at kerrycrone at adelphia dot net about the scarf exchange. I'd love to add more the exchange if you'd still like to participate.

I took my mom running around town today. She wanted to stop at the dollar store before we went home. Wandering around this toddler's paradise, Dailaesse found about $20 worth of Disney Princess accessories. When we got home we stayed at my moms for a bit and Dailaesse opened all of her new treasures. When my dad and Bran came in from down back my dad whistled at Dailaesse and said, "Well hello Queenie. Don't you look beautiful." Dailaesse's response? "You said I'm a queenie? Uh, NO. I'm a princess." Daddy apologized profusely for the terrible error he had made.

Scarf Exchange - Attention Bev

Hi Bev! You signed up for the scarf exchange and sent your address but I still need your last name and email address. If you could please forward it to me at kerrycrone at adelphia dot net I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!!!

Dora

Where's your post for a giveaway entry? Huh? Huh? Just to recap, I'll choose 78 names between now and the 12th for my current contest. The winning name will be drawn from those names and be announced on the 13th. Good luck and have fun!

The scarf signup is closed and I'll be emailing you all your partners today. If you want to share photos let me know. I'd be more than happy to post them in my album for all to see. Don't forget, you have until the 16th of January to get them in the mail.

It's been so busy around here lately I haven't been taking the time to share many stories with you. I'm overdue. Are you ready? Here goes:

This past weekend Dan came to me and asked if he could do some Christmas shopping online. I agreed to let him use our card and he sat down to start shopping. He had some ideas of what he wanted to get and asked where the best places would be to find them. The first person on his list was Dailaesse. He said he had seen a Dora TV advertised on a commercial not too long ago and thought he might like to buy her that. I said I had seen them at Sears and Walmart so we decided to check Walmart first. While we were looking for the TV he spotted a Dora toddler bed. He thought this was a better idea. I said I wasn't so sure as Dailaesse still sleeps with us and I think we're going to have a hard time getting her out of our bed. I told him he should ask her about it first. He did. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at us. I could hear the wheels turning as she thought about this. Dora is her favorite TV character after all. Then it happened. She clutched her chest, started jumping up and down and she screamed...

"Son of a bitch!!! I'm free!!! I'm getting my own Dora bed!!!"

So the Dora bed (along with a Dora bedding set compliments of her big sister Darcie) should be arriving some time today. I hope she's as excited about it when it comes time to sleep in it as she was Saturday.