Lucky Duck

Remember when I showed you pictures of the 2 gifts my secret pal sent me? Remember how I said I didn't know if I'd be able to wait until Christmas? Wanna know how it all ended?

We took my parents to our favorite steak house for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had reservations for 4pm so we could get in early, eat, and get home to see if maybe Santa had come. We had a wonderful meal and a great time. It was so relaxed and we all really enjoyed it. We arrived home to find that Santa had indeed delivered presents to our house while we were out of town for dinner so Mom and Dad hung out and we opened presents. I had spent the day cleaning so all we had to do at the end was pick up the boxes and paper. What a treat that was! The kids picked up all their toys and clothes and brought them to their rooms before bed so there was nothing left to do Christmas Day but relax. We got up late (10:30am) and went to my parents for breakfast. We hung out there for most of the day and had dinner with them as well. We decided to leave after dinner and go to Glens Falls to spend the night so we could get up early in the morning and take the kids shopping to spend the money my parents gave them.

We arrived at the hotel around 10pm and were given a room across from the pool which closed at 9pm. The greatest part was the front desk clerk told us we could use the pool as long as we weren't too loud. So we swam until almost midnight. All by ourselves. It rocked!!! The kids had so much fun and they were wiped from all the exercise they got so everyone slept really well. We got up in the morning and headed to the malls and toy stores. The baby spent all of her money in Claires buying jewelry and in Target buying more baby dolls and toys. She doesn't mess around. We went for an early dinner and then started out for home. On the way home I remembered that I had gifts waiting for me under the tree from my secret pal. I couldn't wait to get home.

I walked through the front door and found that one of my gifts (See's candies) had been attacked by Dixie. And Dixie had clearly won the battle. The box was shredded and EVERY PIECE of candy had been chewed. As I sit here typing this I wish I had taken the time to get a picture to share. I was so angry and heartbroken that all I could do was cry while Bran took Dixie out and cleaned up the mess. I told my pal that I was glad that Dixie had the poops the following day. Served her right. Beast. My pal said she was glad that Dixie hadn't gotten too sick from eating the chocolate. Honestly, I think Dixie has grown a high tolerance to chocolate. She eats it every chance she gets. And with 3 kids in the house she gets lots of chances.

Yes, she's very lucky she's so damn cute.

The other gift from my pal, a gorgeous hank of Schaeffer Anne, made it through the battle unscathed.

Thank you so much pal for your incredible generosity and kindness. You totally spoiled me rotten and I will be forever grateful and appreciative.

I also received an incredible package all the way from Australia from one of my secret pal participants. Viv included a 2007 calendar and diary, a great Australian knit/crochet magazine, a package of note cards, and a gorgeous card. I've always been amazed with the beauty of Australia and given the chance I'd visit in a heartbeat. Thank you so much Viv for sending me a slice of your amazing piece of the world!

And this is the yarn I bought last week. A hank of Schaeffer Anne (this one is for hubby, the gorgeous one from my pal is mine...all mine) and two hanks of Interlacements Tiny Toes. Yum.

Knit, Seamed, Delivered

Now imagine it closed with a pewter and burgundy scarf pin. Gorgeous. Sue seemed thrilled with it and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. The texture is amazing and the color is unbelievable. It's charcoal but it has a slight opal shimmer. I just absolutely love it.

I'd like to say I'll be blogging much more regularly now but since I've got about 20 large boxes in my basement that contain tons of goodies for the kids for Christmas that all need to be wrapped (have I mentioned how much I HATE to wrap???) I don't know how honest of a statement it would be. If you don't hear from me for a bit you'll know they've taken my scissors and banished me to a rubber room.

Shhh!

My secret pal has struck again...

The ones on the left in the snowman paper are for Christmas. I've promised my pal I'll try my hardest not to open them before. ;-) The ones in the blue paper turned into these...

My pal has completely outdone herself! Look at all those wonderful goodies! Green & Black's Organic Milk Chocolate, Christmas tea from Adagio, a gorgeous spoon holder, 2 packages of Pez, the Great American Afghan book I've been longing for, and the most incredible blue wool/silk yarn from Brooks Farm. Holy cow!!! I think I've died and gone to heaven! I can't wait to finish up the jacket today and cast on with the yarn. It's so soft and silky and the colors are so rich. Thank you so very much pal!!! I appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

Puke & Poop

I know it's not pretty folks. Trust me. I've spent the past week in it.

My cousin and his family were home from Georgia for 3 weeks and were to leave last Friday. Since we had been super busy I decided we'd go visit them on Wednesday. Tuesday night the baby was totally stuffed up and had watery eyes. I was up all night with her because she couldn't breath out one side of her nose or the other. Poor litle doll. By Thursday evening she was starting to feel better (while I had woken with a sore throuat that morning) and Friday she was back to her old self.

Friday we decided to go get some groceries and try to do a little Christmas shopping as soon as the hubby got done work. The baby fell asleep on the way to Plattsburgh and when she woke up when we got there she was burning up. I ran to Old Navy and GNC while she and her daddy sat in the van and then we went to Wendy's (her favorite place to eat) for dinner. She was really looking forward to going to WalMart so we decided to run through and grab some groceries quick. We picked up some Tylenol and cough medicine for her and she was as happy as a clam the rest of the time we were there. Of course as soon as it was bedtime she wasn't feeling well again.

Saturday she and her daddy put the tree up and decorated it. They did such a nice job.

She was still coughing up a storm until late this morning when she miraculously started feeling better. I think it was God's way of giving me a little reprieve since I've been up since 3 this morning with the oldest monkey. This is where the puke and poop part comes in. Poor little man. He tried to hit the toilet on his way in to the bathroom but rolfed all over every other square inch of the bathroom instead. Honest. And now he has to go across the street for a 2 hour visit tonight where they'll force him to eat so he'll spend the night in the bathroom again. I'm sending a note and saltines. Keep your fingers crossed for us both.

I finally got around to starting this gorgeous jacket.

Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern...

I really like it a lot. I'm hoping to attach the fronts to the back tonight and start on the sleeves. Providing nobody else in the house gets sick.

***I wrote this post on the 12th and then couldn't get the damn pictures off the camera. Hubby fixed the camera last night and I'm finally posting. Don't ask how the past 2 days have gone. LOL

Tonight I Knit

So I've not done much in the way of knitting in the past week. I did a couple of the Garterlac Dishcloths. That was it. See? I wasn't just whistlin' Dixie when I said I've not done much. I did one in blues and one in greens and like them very much. They go really quickly and are great for mindless knitting in front of the TV. Tonight I will be diving into a sweater. I can't wait. I've already wound the yarn and dug out my needles. It's going to be great.

In other news, I received a helmet liner from one of my participants so my lonely liner now has another to keep it company until it's time to mail them out to the troops.

Sharon's is on the left and mine is on the right. Can you tell I didn't take time to check my gauge? Susan's is bigger than mine and I plan to go up a needle size on my next liner to increase the size a bit. The liner fits my son and dad perfectly but is a little snug on my hubby.

My littlest monkey ordered some new skirts from Old Navy last Sunday after having a meltdown because she didn't have any skirts that she liked or any tights to wear with the skirts that she didn't have. All week she's been waiting patiently (I'm being REALLY sarcastic here) for her new skirts, tights, and shirts to match the skirts to arrive. Yesterday I finally checked on the package to see where it was and found that UPS would be delivering it today. As soon as her big blue eyes opened this morning I knew I had made a dreadful mistake in telling her that they would be here today. And every 15 minutes I was reminded of said dreadful mistake. And since it's the holiday season UPS decided to torture me and not arrive until 4:30 this afternoon. As soon as "the big brown truck" rolled down the street she was jumping for joy. And when I brought the package in and handed it to her she immediately stripped and put on a new skirt, tights, and shirt. I tell you this story because sonny-boy was just on his way across the yard to see my parents and as soon as she found out he was going she insisted on going to. Her brother told her it was too cold to go out in a skirt and she told him...

"No it's not! These are outdoorsable!"