baby shower.

Yesterday we had a baby shower/ BBQ for a few close friends and family.  We wanted to do fun to celebrate since this is our third child and only boy and our last.  So we planned a easy going barbeque with no games and no expectations.  We had boys and girls, as well as kids (but I guess for some reason I didn't feel the need to force the boys into the picture lol) It was a blast and I am glad we got to get everyone together.

 

Here is everyone from top left clock wise: my sister Angela, my niece Megan (aka mean taylor), me, my soon to be already adopted and loved sister in law amber, holding my gf Missy's baby chance, hope my gf Missy's daughter (aka according to fire monster her cousin), my gf who I miss having as a neighbor and love to pieces Missy, my sister in law/gf/the reason I have my amazing hubby and kids Bernie, and the best big sis a girl could ask for (who puts up with us in her home and had all of us over) Melissa.

Here is a closer pic of Melissa, Bernie, Missy, and Hope.  We grilled burgers and dogs, ate a ton of other food, laughed joked the kids played the men hung out by the grill had a couple beers and joked around.  What more could you ask for?  Missy hadn't thought she could make it but wound up coming and I am soo glad we all really enjoyed seeing her and her family and spending some time with this little guy..

 

Chance..isn't he just the cutest little thing.  He was hilarious. Not only is he cute but he just has the most fun little personality ever.  We all had to take turns with the little cutie.  Amber was loving on the little cutie pie here.  Well I am up early struggling with allergies AGAIN and couldn't help documenting this fun little day we had.  Soon my big sis will be up and we are going to cook pioneer woman's migas for the family.  You know there is just something about being in the kitchen with the girls in my family that makes my heart smile and fills me up.  I can't explain it but it just makes the world right.  I love my family very much and was so glad to get some time with them for what might be one of my last trips up until our baby boy arrives.  :) Well I am off to dig in the fridge and start gathering the ingredients.  Have a great day guys and hug your amazing families for me :)

Sunday Sunday Sunday...

This is mama Sherry..

She is giving fire monster some love because I couldn't :( I am a huge snuggler. I snuggle fire monster many times during the day and night, I snuggle my hubby at night, I snuggle monkey butt when the mood strikes her too through out the day as she is attached to my hip but since Tuesday there has been no snuggles. I miss it soo much. I can't snuggle or sleep on my belly or stomachs (my chosen methods of sleeping). Life is sorta rough and I am feeling the wear on my nerves.

Here is Miss Sherry baking with Meggie tay. last night. They had a good time.

Here is Meggie tays cake they were baking last night that I decorated this morning. :) For her birthday party today. We also had a wedding today I wore a dress my sister loaned me and found that my Juliana matched it very well. I finally got to wear it out.

I was very excited. But if you look at my tummy you will see that anywhere that got a tinsy bit wet showed huge!!! So we went to the ceremony outside at 4:00 one of the hottest hours of the day and then went inside went potty and did the once over in the mirror only to discover that my entire back was a sweat mark!!! Oh crap!! No hand driers either So I tied my shrug on fanned my dress around me when I sat down and was careful not to sit back against the satin chairs so I could dry.

Then I begged and pleaded my hubby to dance with me I got a few squeezed out before we jumped back in the car to get the kids and he morphed back into the black hole of negativity he can sometimes be and sucked any joy out of the evening. :( Well I love him non the same and tomorrow is a new day. Off to bed people.

Oh look decoy and distractions

Well since today was day two after my breast reduction and most things were great (except the fact that my left breast is very bruised and still a little ...well...oozy...) I am going to distract you with other things that happened over the week that I didn't get a chance to tell you...

Like this here lovely picture of my niece Megan riding Lola my sisters st Bernard. (Happy bday Meggie)
Or the fact that I did like 4 hair cuts at family dinner one of which was my brother in law who had very very long hair and my sister being the weirdo she is is wearing it ...

as a head band in this picture sorta creepy.. well yes. OH you are still not distracted from the fact that my left looks like it was involved in a shark attack (a brutal one) ...

well they then decided that evea should be princess Leah for Halloween...still not

well that is all I got to distract you people. Sorry you are just going to have to live imagining the horror that is going on here and I am going to take drugs sleep and hope there is less purple when I wake up.

Ps they are still cute as a button when covered though lol

Birthday present # 1 down

Some of you may remember my niece Megan (mean) Taylor. Her birthday is next week and she will be turning 12. I was having a hard time figuring out with to make her. She took up dancing last year and with some help from my girlfriend Angela from knitters palette I decided on a shrug out of vintage wool to keep her arms warm at dance.

I wanted something pretty we talked about a few different lace stitches. and I came home started to dig out patterns and one was from a sock pattern so as I was digging through my pattern binder I saw Angela's sock pattern crevasse which I love it has a very simple beautiful stitch to it and I totally recomend to everyone. So I test knit and swatched a bunch of different ways and stitches and the prettiest by far used that stitch pattern. So I set to work. I made my sister send me measurements. Here is what I came up with..

I decided to call it Taylor (Megans middle name)..


Here is monkey butt modeling it. It should be elbow length on my niece. It is soft and pretty and can go with either jeans and cami, dress, curled up with a movie or book in jamas or over her dance outfit. I am hoping it fits well and that she likes it. I can always adjust the size. but it only took 3 days to knit. One day was all swatching and figuring out how I wanted it to look and what not. I could have finished in one day easy.




Here is the front view. I really do love this. Monkey butt is super jealous and wants one of her own now. :) I am love it :)

--100--

What a great day for my 100th post
So Mean taylor my niece came over to spend the night. We made a list of things we wanted to do today. We started by making a big batch of pioneer woman's cinnamon rolls. We made them out of whole wheat flour and they are 5 points a piece and delish. Here is the girls working on rolling out the dough.

Here is what it looks like when I begin to roll up the buttery sugary gooey mess.
(take note of the big wave of goo you can see where I am rolling it) And here is the finished product. The best part is the frosting it has coffee and maple in it yummm!! She says you pour it on when it is warm so it seeps into all the cracks.

Then I taught mean how to knit. She knit a few rows to get the hang of it and then I cast on for a hat for her. She would knit a row then I would knit the next row and fix any out of place stitches and she would knit the next row until we decreased I would do a decrease row and she would do the knit rows in between. She finished her first hat in one night !!!

I have never been so proud look at these two girls knitting away like there is no tomorrow!!!

And here is the finished product of Means work. She did great!! She is 11 and knit a hat in one night!!! Her first project ever!!!

As for the past few days. I have bad news I had 22 points for lunch yesterday!!! It just sorta happened. I was going through the drive through at Wendy's with my sister yesterday and I had all intentions of ordering a kids meal I had my points all researched and everything and then ..it was the weirdest thing a bacon and blue burger fell right into my mouth and if I didn't swallow it I would choke!!! What was I to do??? I also had a small fries and diet soda. I got home looked up the points and about had a heart attack as I am pretty sure my blood had turned to sludge from the 60 grams of fat I consumed ( and no that is not a joke 60!!!) So while my sister was out and I was waiting on Ben I hit the treadmill.

Me and the hubby also had a date yesterday. We went out to bd Mongolian grill. I did soo much better there. If you do the correct portion of meat and fill the rest up with veggies and I did kung poa and a bit of garlic it isn't that bad at all I think around 5 point for a whopping plate of delish food plus it is more of a experience then just plopping down to eat. Well lets cross our fingers that I make my weight loss goal for next weekend.

I also got another little surprise to go in with my drawing stuff. If you like to knit in bed or in the car or anywhere it may get dark you need one of these for sure!! So don't forget to post a comment and get entered into the drawing there is 6 days left !! :) . I am going to get these two knitting fools to bed and help the hubby get his work stuff ready since he will get home and minute and have to be in at 6:00 am and lose a hour sleep due to time change (poor guy)
Well have a good day

Another family dinner

Family dinner day

Well it was family dinner day again. I am home with a whopper of a belly ache to prove it :( I had allot of fun though. It is always nice to spend time with the family. One of the first things that happened was me my sis and niece went to meet monkey butt and her dad. We hopped in my sisters car but we couldn't pass up stopping off at the co-op for some snickerdoodles (they have the best) So we grabbed a few and some chips then went to Barnes and noble I scanned the newest knitting magazines but didn't fall in love with anything enough to bring it home.

Here is the niece mean taylor with the snackies yummm.

Then me while we got some things done up stairs and screwed around in the kitchen our hubbies were down in their man cave watching...football. Yes I realize it isn't football season anymore but my brother in law has the nfl network so we get no piece in the house hold any more. I just take solice in knowing I will NEVER get a satellite dish.

Here is the sisters putting the finishing touches on dinner (mean taylor of coarse is over seeing the whole process ) It was pulled beef sandwiches, chips, and coleslaw. I made dessert this week. I made no bake pumpkin cheesecake. It was super easy and yummy. It is five ww points but a big slice for that. I enjoyed it very much.

I had to make two of these for the family (there is between 12 and 16 each week)

Yummy yummy. I saved all my ww points for family dinner and I worked out all week and didn't eat the extra points I earned or dip into my bonus points. I got to the second arm hole on my Juliana I will try to take some pics tomorrow. And by the way the condom critter was a big hit with my sisters lol. I have requests for two more. They are just cute little cubbies to hide things they will fit a bigger ipod or a small thing of tissues.

I am getting very excited it looks like I am going to host the same twilight brunch like last year. I am going to have some of my knitters over and make some yummy food and we will knit and watch new moon what could be better? Speaking of birthday don't forget to post a comment and get entered for my bday drawing. I will be drawing at the part on the 20th I decided and will be sending out great goodies

Well I am going to drink some water try to ease my tummy ache and either knit and read and go to bed.

Family dinner

Family Dinner

So this is what it looks like when we pull up to family dinner at my sisters house. I had to take this picture I think it is too funny that in Minnesota we have to dig out our mail boxes. Lol Sadly if has been forever since we have had any snowand it is still that bad.

Right away when I arrived my sister Melissa,her kids Lane,Megan(we call her mean we drop the g) and I ran some errands.(went to the book stores the beauty supply and the grocery store).

We got back home and start cooking while my brother in law and hubby ran to mcd's to get some fillet of fish's (this time of year it is a huge obsession for my hubby it has nothing to do with lent he is just cheap and loves fillet of fish's lol) so there went 11 points for me :( and we got back to cooking. This is a picture of my nephew Lane.


I made Norwegian coffee (my sister wanted to try it) and that helped give our grease laden body's some energy to keep cooking. This would be my sister Melissa enjoying her cup.

Me and my sisters are in the kitchen all day cooking and laughing and screwing around while the boys watch nfl network down stairs. The kids come and go and run wild. My niece Megan is a constant annoyance... I mean fixture in the kitchen. This is her sporting her new pink hair she got at alta earlier. :)

This is the guys area. Our adopted sister Lawna is being greeted by my sisters dogs (zoey the grey monster and Andy the big fat sausage of a lab) My sister is sitting by my brother in law who's birthday it was (happy bday Larry) and our adopted elderly man Sidney is in the red and black. He comes over and eats and listens to us women in the kitchen and tells us that "he has never met any women with dirtier minds" and tells our husbands they wouldn't believe the stuff we talk about. But he was a military man and I am pretty darn sure he is over exaggerating.

Here is when us women retire back to the kitchen. My sister is starting the margaritas. (hey don't judge us ..if you had to deal with 16 people in this house you would need a cocktail or two to get through to lol)

Here is mean back under toe lol

Then this here would be a picture of fire monster when her afternoon tired time hits her. She is throwing a fit and crying since she was kicked out of the bathroom where she goes to eat all the lip gloss and chap sticks.

So we bribed her with candy and sugar and sent her down to sit on her dads lap.

Here is when every one is dishing up. It was enchiladas burritos and rice and all sorts of delish stuff. There is Sidney snatching (I am sure a well deserving mean) All the others have cleared out already.

Here he is sitting at the table with us women listening to our filth and being offended when Lawna made some comment about a old folks home lol. If only I had my camera out for the expression on his face then lol.
This is Andy the pig waiting in the wings. He hides under the table like a crocodile hides under the water and you turn your head for one minute and *snatch* you just hear a snap of his massive crocodile jaws and your food is gone. I always say if you chew with your mouth open at my sisters house your food is gone.lol

Here is my other sister Angela getting her from the National Guard. She had a rough longer then usual day. She was very happy to see food left which isn't always the case when you are late for family dinner.


This is my nephew Calvin. He is less then a year younger then monkey butt. He stays a night at our house probably once a month and him and fire monster fight like cats and dogs. They have a very love hate relationship she loves him and he hates her so she (being my grandmother reincarnated tries to beat him into loving her lol) We are on the tail end of getting him diagnosed. He is mildly autistic and a huge part of all of our hearts and life.

This is big lar and lane. Big lar is helping clean up (even though he shouldn't have this week) normally the boys clean since we cook. And my nephew lane is talking to him about history.

This is us ladies sitting stuffed at the table chatting after dinner. (notice mean in the back ground) This was the last pic I could get of my sister Angela she threatened to give me a bloody nose like she did a girl in drill that day. She says Sean white looks like he could be her little sister and I think that is way too true and hilariously

Judging by the look on Melissa face in this picture it is probably do to something stupid my brother or his family did.

So there ends family dinner we packed up the fire monster (monkey butt is at her dads) and drove half hour home. Unloaded and went to bed. It takes days for my tummy to get back to normal after all the junk I eat lol. I love family dinner it is loud and crazy and sometimes there is even fights but My family (my sisters esp) are soo great and I love that my kids are so close with thier cousins) It is a great comforting thing. I love it so much and on the weeks we skip even though it is nice to have a break and it is peaceful I miss my family.

I was very nervous to step on the scale today. I lost one pound this week lol. No surprise since I didn't work out pretty much at all. Well I need to get ready for my dad in laws visit. Have a good day ladies.

mittens mittens every where...

Okay so last week my husband was complaining to me that fire monster/goats mittens were falling off when they were playing in the snow and since apparently we live in the Arctic abyss we all need to have every inch of our body covered at all times to stave off frost bite that just won't do. So I got to work devising mittens that will hold tight to those naughty little hands. They have a button at the cuff to help hook them tight. I used the rest of the skein of softy for this one and still have some left over that is four toddler mittens now. So without further adu here is the pattern tentatively titled

The fire monster mittens.

size 4 needles
regia softy
Co 32 stitches
do not join in round yet
r1-4 k
r5 k2, (using one row button hole method create the button hole binding off two stitches adding 3 then knit til end if you are unfamiliar with this method to get the full effect I recommend watching it once on knitting help)
r6-10 k
join in round
r11-14 k
r15 k16.bl,k2, bl,k14
r16 and every other k
r17k16.bl,k4,bl,k14
r19 k16.bl,k6,bl,k14
r21 k16.bl,k8,bl,k14
r23 k16.bl,k10,bl,k14
r25 k16,place 12 on waist yarn for thumb and continue knitting in round
r26-36k
r37 ssk,k11,k2tog,ssk,k11,k2tog
r38every other knit
r39 ssk,k9,k2tog,ssk,k9,k2tog
r41 ssk,k7,k2tog,ssk,k7,k2tog
r43 ssk,k5,k2tog,ssk,k5,k2tog
r45 ssk,k3,k2tog,ssk,k3,k2tog
r46k
cut yarn and kitchner stitch last stitches

thumb
pick up the 12 stitches from waist yarn plus pick up two where join is then knit the stitches knitting the two picked up stitches together with the ones beside them bringing you back to 12 stitches this will help prevent holes
r2-6 k
r7 k2tog around cut yarn draw through and pull

for the opposite hand work the button hole on row 6 instead of 5 that will help the buttons be on the correct sides.

sew on buttons where they will make them fit the child snug enough to stay on and you are good to go

I hope you like them

On to the next thing I attempted to make monkey butt a mitten pattern today too but they wound up to small I am going back to the drawing board with my graph paper out and will add stitches and go up a few needle sizes to boot. Here is the work so far. These ones are by a papermate pen to give you a size idea they fit firemonster now so more of a two t. Oh well.






Other then that I got to watch inglorious bastards with my hubby and got one more dish cloth out of the way for my sister. But probably the most exciting news of the day is we may be getting a kitten for the girls for Christmas we have one all lined up I have to call our land lord in the morning and see if we can have another but I am very very excited about this whole thing. I am trying not to be in case it doesn't work out but I know both the girls and naughty will be sooo excited he gets bored I think he was always better off with other animals I think. So we will see tomorrow they have no clue just in case we are keeping it a surprise. So there keep you fingers crossed for a kitty.