fo feather weight cardi

So the feather weight cardi is finally done!!! I of coarse used left over yarn and since I seem to only make things out of yellow and purple that is what I had. My hubby says it is a vikings sweater I didn't intend it that way lol but I guess it does look very vikingish...

ignore the sour puss beside me I don't know what her problem was lol

side view

and here is the front I love it I made changes I made it longer then butter cardi and I made it to my arm circumference instead of chest and because my other one had too big of arm holes. I compensated but making a bigger collar band. I like this one allot better then butter cardi (which I love too) but the fit on this one is just a bit nicer. also I picked up pretty much every stitch when picking up collar instead of 2 for 3. It is over I am done lol

we are back in our own house now I am sooo glad to tell you. I am actually sitting here sweaty from zumba and happy lol. I missed my routine this is nice to get back into it. The hubby went to his buddys cabin over the weekend and while he did that I got this...

Isn't she lovely she followed me home I had to keep her lol. It is 100 percent cotton but has the shine and loveliness of bamboo. I love it. It is going to be a some what cowl by Wendy Bernard. I almost thought about making coachella but I am starting the process of trying to get a breast reduction and I think that would be a great thing to make after. I can actually own a bra that I can wear with coachella lol.

This too followed me home from my favorite lys Knitters Palette. It was great to see Pam (the owner) and I got to hang out with Angela my gf who used to work with me in a very tense awful environment. but she now has Pam who is sweet as pie :) I love the shop and the people.

but I love this more then I can even say with words I think it would have to include words photos and maybe a interpretive dance lol. It organises all of my circular needles which you might have noticed I only knit with circulars about 99.9% of the time. And I am a little bit

anal so just seeing them all in thier place makes my heart grown 10 sizes just like the Grinch.

Well since we had awfully severe weather while the hubby was conveniently gone this weekend(straight line winds up too 100 miles a hour tornado warnings down pours like a freakin monsoon) my hubby now has to work 10 hour days for mosquito control all week to make sure we aren't getting eaten alive worse then usual. :) And I will be working over time all week to dealing with fire monster. Wish me luck people.

Things I love when I house sit.

So not all of house sitting is shampooing and morbidly obese dogs sleeping on my legs all night. These are some of the things I love at my sisters..

Her Jacuzzi tub... need I say more once you clean the cat hair and dust out of it I love this sucker
don't get excited the pool in the back ground is the neighbors this lotion that she has it is the best face stuff ever wooooo hoo...

hanging laundry out on the line. Don't ask but there is something that I love about it.


this is the beautiful grapevine that grows on there fence. It is pretty and provides privacy (from their kinda dorky neighbors)

When it is trimmed and cleaned up this backyard is huge and nice don't ask about the big bald spot in the middle there used to be a pool there but then it was going to be a garden now it is weeds and a bench lol.

and last but not least my hubby's friends wife who is awesome loaned me these (not that it has anything to do with house sitting) thanks again Dee now I am off to read and hang out with the hubby after a long day of house chores like cleaning the leaves and old lawn furniture that got sent into the dog pin to die. Happy Fathers Day people.

So here is the waka waka video for my zumba class from the YMCA the two girls in the very front are autumn and angelica my teachers this is autumns choreography. Shakira is donating 1$ to one goal for every viewing of the video responses for waka waka. :) This was lots of fun the kids taped one today but it got ruined so they re tape next week. :) I am in second row and by me is my girl friend Missy. Take note of the pregnant lady who is way too cute on the left side. :)

We are still house sitting at the sisters house which means I am tired (since you never sleep as well at someone Else's house), I shampooed lots of carpet today (one of the pets was having issues before they left) and I spent way to much time going up and down stairs. (4 level home). They found out Andy (whom I have blogged about before because he steals food and has the jaws of a rabid crocodile) has diabetes. So he has been on a strict diet and we are watching him close. We took the girls to the drive in theater last night to watch toy story 3 and it was soo great. All four of us loved it. Teared me and the hubby up at the end.

I also have got to catch a few episodes of this seasons deadliest catch. I was very sad and brought to tears because captain Phil was fighting with his son who was stealing medication from him and harsh things were said and done and since Phil passed away after suffering a stroke during unloading (I believe anyway) you don't want things to be left like this. I was in tears watching yesterday. I am way to attached to cranky old crab fishing men I have never met not to mention my crush on Eric Nyhammer captain of the rolo. It just isn't right. My heart goes out to the Harris family and I hope the boys are able to do their dad proud on the boat knowing he is watching over them smoking and sweating it out with a red bull in a better place.

So I am up way WAY too early. My hubby has been going to bed earlier and I there for have been going to bed earlier and earlier and so when he got up and started getting ready for work at 5:30 I couldn't get back to sleep. So I am up messing around getting ready to head to my sisters for our annual house sitting. My sister packs up her family each June to go to her hubby's family reunion in Wyoming and we pack our troops up and head to her house to care for all the animals and what not. This usually means living a week and half in lap of luxury since they have cable and central air. but since we now have central air and a more comfortable environment it probably just means a bigger house emptied of most groceries lol. but non the less maybe I will get to watch some new deadliest catches:)

Yesterday in my zumba class at the YMCA we taped our version of Shakiras Waka Waka. She has this big thing going for her charity one goal. So when it gets posted I will link it to here :) but this is a pic of all of us girls sweaty after words.

the front two middle are my teachers autumn and angelica and I am there then my neighbor Missy. She spawned Cole who is monkey butts best neighborhood buddy and she rides around the place on his bikes pegs it is way too cute.

Anyway you have that to look forward to when I can get my hands on it. After class I went to get the kids are the day care they threw on their suits and went out to the splash pad for a while. My kids eventually froze and wrapped up in their towels to warm up but Calvsters He played and screamed and splashed and stayed in there until his lips turned purple, was covered in goosebumps and he was shaking like a leaf. I wrapped him up to snuggle him and warm him then he wanted to go back in but I insisted we needed to go home and eat. I fed them then we curled up on the couch to watch Iron man and knit while he asked me the normal calvin questions...

is that tony? Is he building the war machine??? Do good robots always win bad robots?? Whats his name?? Is he a bad guy? Is he sad? Did those army guys die? Is that tony ? and on and on for the entire movie.

but for the rest of the night this sat there and started at me all night. I am almost done with the edge and will go on to arms.


then I will move on to this cute cute had can't wait.

I also threw some Rhodes rolls in this dish when I got home from the gym 5:00 they were ready to go in the oven to I brushed them with a bit of butter and threw some shredded cheese on them and popped them in


mmmm cheese and bread this is all I need for the rest of my life I think lol. but I made baked penne to go with it. So simple cook one pack of whole wheat noodles add one jar of spaghetti sauce then cover with one pack of shredded cheese and I sprinkle with Italian seasoning and bake it quick.

you get this ..

this was our dinner last night and it took less then half hour all said. and for a second time Calvin shocked me by eating all this dinner!!! This is the kid who usually lives off toast waffles and pb&j at home. But since we can't have pb (fire monster is allergic) he has ate every meal. A few years ago he would have starved except for the occasionally waffles I convinced him to eat. I am not even kidding.

but look at this big guy now eating away. He even told me he liked it almost as much as the tacos lol. Every one ate every last scrap on their plate with our so much as asking "can I be done now" or "how many more bites". and they all got a black bean brownie for dessert. :) Notice naughty over seeing dinner like always lol He will be packed up to go house sit with us. He always makes things more interesting when thrown in with the two dog two cat mix at my sis's. Three of them act like he has always been there while the newest cat is soo confused and stalks around behind him looking like "where did that guy come from??"

Well I am off to grab a cup of coffee and pack my cat for a week lol. My calvsters goes home today.

if you don't already think I am crazy

So here is glimpse two into my crazy. I do this every now and again through out the summer. I soak every ones flips flops in a sink with some oxy clean and then I scrub them with a brush and then I run them through the dish washer on the top rack with out the heat dry. I read in a magazine to do that. Don't put any dish's in there with your shoes btw. I we have allot of flip flops. This really gets them clean I have had the white rainbow ones since I was pregnant with Monkey butt !!! They are seven years old and still white!!! I just take them out and toss them in the sun to dry. :)

I found more flower today at Micheal's and thought wooo great 4th of July and summer clippies
so if you aren't sick of seeing them here are more. I found out the community garage sales is next weekend I am selling all of these my sister is going to make some kids jewelry and I am also going to do temporary tattoos and colored hair extensions.

There are some very pretty carnations

and some Poppy's too. They are great. I am still struggling with the allergies. My hubby has been working over time every day since we have had a week of rain so I have been on my own with the three kiddos so far. But on the plus side I made Indian tacos and Calvin (who is a crazy picky eater of coarse) loved them to pieces!!! He ate a entire taco and two Indian breads with cinnamon and sugar and some applesauce for dessert!!! I had one taco and one Cinnamon sugar!!

I will do the recipe one day. You take roads rolls raise them and then you roll them out and stretch them and the fry them in oil and make normal tacos with them like they are tostadas. They are super filling. I will take pics next time I do it. We do Cinnamon and sugar with some butter on the left over breads for dessert!!! They are great!! My sister made them few weeks ago and I have been thinking of them ever since. :) Well off to be tortured more by three small children who apparently never sleep lol. Have a good night guys

apps and new hair what could be better???

So Sunday we had a lazy afternoon. I made a few yummy appetizers and we mowed them down and took a nap on the couch.

These are pioneer woman's twice baked potatoes...
and some yummy baked weight watchers onion rings. I am not a big onion fan but I love these..

My allergies have been just killing me and I can't breath 90 percent of the time. So when my brother in law came to drop off Calvin I was curled up sleeping so heavy on the couch (and forced to breath through my mouth) that I was drooling on the poor cat!!! He gets really needy when monkey butt is gone for a few days.

Who has two thumbs and a new hair cut???
This girl right here ;)

you know what that means HAIR MONTAGE

I got it cut and then did what I always do take my razor to it...

here is a blurry one with a flower

and the head band.

I think this is going to be way more gym friendly and I won't have to rock pig tails every day of my life now. Well I have to go clean up all my hair and force the bad kids to go to bed. :)

Have a good one guys

a peek at my crazy...

So Thursday I spent the entire(ENTIRE) day cleaning and did weird little organizing things like this. I am going to show you a few things I love in my house. I am a very clean person since I come from a home that could be featured on the show hoarders most of my siblings and I are a bit anal since we never NEVER want to go down that road.

This is my junk drawer for cords and chargers.. I got this little tip from a show on ion called shes crafty.

In this one I have some glass decorations chip clips and weird odds and ends that I need in the kitchen..
This is the kids arts and crafts cupboard. I have everything sorted into bins and labeled...

and all the cards are sorted into things like this... These are their flash cards

And this coffee mug Shelby got me Love it soo much and my cute little cheery containers. But the main thing is the coffee maker. Our old one pooped out this winter so off the the store I went not knowing what I wanted. I knew I didn't want a glass carafe. This was in our budged (even less then I planed to spend) and I was very surprised Ben sets the coffee maker for 5:30 a.m. and I get up around 8 the metal Carafe keeps the coffee warm until I get up!!! It is great I still nuke it for 30 seconds because I am a slow coffee drinker and I want it to stay warm for a while. but it is soo great. You can even choose the strength of your coffee.

So there is a little peek into my anal little world and how things are at my house. I am now going to snuggle up on the couch and knit until my twice baked potatoes are done and watch new moon with my hubby so he can take me on a date to eclipse :) My hours are numbered until not only monkey butt gets home but Calvin gets here. He is going to be here for 4 days while my sister is out of town for military training. Hope your guys weekend is great.

more clippies

So today the hubby, my sister ang, my nephew cal, fire monster and I went to the como zoo in st paul. It just got a new exhibit for the polar bears. There old one was very sad. They have allot more room and also some grass now. I also we saw the new baby orangutan. It was very cute.

Then quick trip with the sis to Ikea for some stuff for the sis's house. I then came home and made some more clippies.

I made some more orange ones and some orchids.
These are some cute little orange ones..

and here are the orchids. The ones on the left are more green then they look..

here it is on fire monster..

Here they are all in all some daisys, some orange roses, some orchids, and some are ribbons.

Other then that it has been very quiet around here since monkey butt got out of school. I spent allllll day yesterday cleaning house from top to bottom and I am going to try to keep it up the the best I can with both kids under toe. lol Hope every one is doing great.

Last day as a kindergartner

Today is monkey butts last day as a kindergartner, that means no more short days no more play time and taking it easy no more lazy mornings. Next year is 1st grade and that is no nonsense. But that means no more Mrs kostka her great, sweet, loving kindergarten teacher. She is everything a kindergarten teacher should be loving, kind, patient, and caring. We were very lucky and we will miss her. :(

This is the end of year gift we threw together for her quick.

And these are all the fancy little clippies I threw together this morning...

I did some big flowers some small and some that are just ribbons

Here is how they look in..

I am thinking that when the community garage sale goes on later this month I will sell those and some no sew tutus and do colored hair extensions temporary tattoos and face painting. We will see :) I have the main body of my feather weight cardi done I just need the sleeves and the collar band. :) I will take pics soon but off to gym and then I have to go drive 45 minutes to the sisters to do some hair quick :)

steelcut oats

I am going to share my steel cut oats secrets. I started trying to make them a few years ago. It is a bit of a adjustment from oatmeal. They are more lumpy and creamy. I usually like my oatmeal on the dry side. But I have found great easy ways to cook them and every one (even occasionally the monkey butt) loves them. I make my crock pot into a double boiler. I put a bowl inside and fill the crock pot with water so it comes up quiet high on the bowl. Then you put 1 cup steel cut oats to 4 cups water (maybe a bit of butter)

It will look like this just make sure the water comes as high as the oats water. I have heard if your bowl rests on the bottom of your crock pot you should ball up some foil to put under it or it could crack but mine doesn't touch the bottom. Place it on low go to bed and wake up to this...

It isn't quiet so pretty starting out mix it before serving. We have lots of ways we like to spruce it up I have put some pumpkin in and pumpkin spice we have done plain old brown sugar, we have done chocolate chips, but berries and a dollop of fat free cool whip is about the best thing in the world this time of year yummmmooo. We did raspberries last time but this time we had blueberries. Even my Calvin tried a few bites of mine which was a approval coming from him. He tried my green smoothie yesterday and said"that is disgusting you should throw it in the trash!" lol It wasn't quiet the chocolate banana one I whipped up for him and fire monster but what do you do. Have a good weekend guys.

yummy6 sweater and food

This is going to be a random post sorry guys. :)

It is a few things I have had set aside for you .

This was the progress on my feather weight cardi I worked on on my trip. It is made from left over yarn from Juliana and my butter cardi. I love it so far.
These are the loveliest brownies ever. They are the mocha brownies from my pioneer woman cook book. Love them soo much. (thank god I am working out every day or they would have pushed me into polyester moo moos by now lol.

this pizza has a great story. It is bacon cheese burger pizza. When me and my sister moved to the twin cities over 10 years ago it was a huge adjustment going to the huge crowded confusing grocery store. It would take us 3 hours and we would stop in the middle to eat lunch at the deli. They had the best bacon cheese burger pizza the sauce was mustard and it had hamburger bacon and pickles. I make my own at home I mix ketchup and mustard for the sauce and then it is pickles hamburger bacon and cheese yummmmo.

Well off to bed I have my nephew cal this weekend and have to get to the gym in the a.m.

trip up north

So over the weekend we took our first ever family vacation. We camped way up in the north part of Minnesota off lake superior. It is beautiful and looks more like Maine then you would think Minnesota would. I love it. We actually went with monkey butts dad(Ryan) brother (Dylan) and cousin (hunter)

I know it seems weird vacationing with the ex but look at the happy face on this girl. She was in 7th heaven. I would catch her in moments of sheer contentment and happiness. It was great we all had so much fun

We hiked sooo much here is every one on a bridge.

This is monkey butt and her brother

Here is me and the girls

Here is fire monster playing on some rocks off lake superior.

Playing at he beach

Ben and fire monster enjoying the beach

continue to part two....