What a Busy Week!

The end of the school year brings so many challenges: TAKS tests, projects, field trips, and Morgan's dinner theater have kept everyone busy, plus we've been planning for next year when Morgan goes to high school. Then Tanner was chosen for induction into the National Junior Honor Society! We could not have been prouder, especially since last year, Morgan was inducted.

So last Wednesday (May 5), we witnessed Tanner and over 100 other 7th graders receive their NJHS certificates.

Here's Tanner with his principal and the NJHS sponsor receiving his certificate (sorry it's so fuzzy):

Here's Tanner celebrating with cake (Morgan and Dad are in the background).

We wanted to take photos of all of the boys (everyone was dressed so nicely). However, Connor wouldn't cooperate at all -- seems that he had enough of 'playing nice'. But I figured that we would have another chance at Morgan's dinner theater performance, which was Thursday and Friday (May6 and 7).

Morgan had the role of Bensonhurst, the very proper (read: stuffy!) butler in Murder's in the Heir, a production where the audience chooses the murderer from among the cast.

Morgan and the rest of the cast and crew had been rehearsing for months. And they all did a terrific job! Here's Morgan looking suspiciously at another character:

And we were finally able to take a photo of the boys. Sadly, Connor still wouldn't cooperate completely.

Luckily, we have another opportunity this weekend -- Morgan has been invited to the Awards Ceremony for the Young Pegasus Poetry Competition sponsored by the San Antonio Public Library. Over 2200 poems were submitted, and 82, including Morgan's, were selected for publication. Hopefully, everyone will cooperate at photo time!

The Accidental Gardener Strikes Again....

Saw this happy little sign of spring the other day:

The significance? Well, I thought we lost the passionflower that we enjoyed all of last year. It bloomed and bloomed and bloomed some more. It also attracted a mess of butterflies, so we literally had continuing cycles of caterpillars turning into chrysalises (or chrysalides, according to dictionary.com -- who knew?) turning into butterflies. We even took some of the chrysalises to school for our favorite teacher, Mrs. K. (She teaches the children in the gifted program and kept a butterfly house in her room.)

Anyway, we ended up with a pretty harsh winter for South Texas and the passionflower appeared to have suffered the worst for it. But now, it has three little sprouts coming up from the ground! Can't wait to see the blooms and the butterflies again!

No news on the afghan front for now. I did take a break from the three (yes, three!) different blankets that I have in various stages of completion to make something for me -- a top designed by my fave designer (and crochet genius!) Doris Chan in one of my favorite yarns ever -- Spa, an acrylic/bamboo blend.

DS2 took this photo of some stranger posing in my top. Ok, I confess, it's really me, but I think he must have had a dozen cameras pointed in my direction. You know, because one camera adds 10 pounds. Anyway, I love, love, love this top and thank you, Doris, for such a terrific pattern. (The pattern is available free on NaturallyCaron.com)

I'm planning on making a second top in yellow. The only change I'll be making is fewer rows on the body. Because the yarn is so drapey, it turned out longer than I thought it would. I may even get up the courage to make this gorgeous top, another Doris Chan design:

The Latest WIPs

I was finally able to wrestle DS3's birthday blanket away from him to shoot a photo. He sleeps with it every night.

I used the five colors of yarn that I chose last year when I was working on a baby blanket for a friend's nephew. Originally, I thought I would make this in a ripple pattern (see below) but then I decided to make an oversized variation of a granny square. DS3 and I both love how it turned out!

This is the next primo blanket, a griddle stitch (alternating sc and dc) in purple, green, and yellow stripes. It reminds me of pansies!

I also recently finished a top (for me!) in a soft bamboo-blend yarn. I hope to post photos soon!

Trying to Catch Up....

Well, lots has happened in the last two months. I have finished two blankets, one for my sister and one for DS3's birthday. I also started another one in purple, green and yellow for the primos. (It reminds me of pansies.)

Here's the one for my sis in blue, white and purple:

I'm also working on a top in a bamboo yarn in purple for myself. It's turning out so nice that I think I'll make another in yellow. Can't wait to share a pic of that one.

Spring has brought lots of changes to South Texas. Because we had such a wet winter, the wildflowers have been the best we've seen in years. (Unfortunately, the rain also brought an astounding number of potholes!) We even finally managed to sprout some bluebonnets in our backyard (the seeds were planted 3 1/2 years ago!).


And here's another backyard surprise -- Boomer's back! Apparently we grow the right kind of weeds! He stops by almost every night around 5 and sometimes we even see him in the morning.



But the best bluebonnets by far are on what I call Bluebonnet Hill!

Happy Spring!

Four Down, Seven To Go

Here's the afghan I completed this week (#2 for the primos, if you're keeping count):

If you think I'm counting incorrectly, there was a change (and a few additions). Afghan #1 went to the first primo; afghan #2 was kept by my mom for herself (her excuse was that it matched her bedroom perfectly); afghan #3 was for my sister; and this just-completed one is afghan #4 for the second primo. So although the original plan was to make seven afghans for the primos (cousins), somehow four more were added to the list (two for Mom, one each for my two sisters).

That makes the score: four down and seven to go. Sounds daunting, but on the upside, #5 is already started, and #6 is a repeat of #4 with a different color scheme (which went very quickly)!

These projects are all temporarily on hold while I complete a quick entry for the Etsy Texas Crafters February Design Challenge. Sneak peek -- I'm combining these two very different yarns:

Stay tuned for a pic of the finished project and a link to the Design Challenge!

The Winter Games

I just love the Olympics, but this year I really love the outfits the American team wore at the Opening Ceremonies, especially the moose hat:

J'adore!

And I absolutely love the cable knit sweater the athletes wore also (but I'll have to save up for that little beauty --$425 at ralphlauren.com!) Maybe I'll just learn how to knit....

Belated congratulations to the Jefferson Middle School theater arts group for their Superior (the highest possible) rating at the Middle School Theatre Festival! They did an awesome job!

And DS1 won a medal for All-Star cast! Here he is receiving his medal along with his classmate Justin (they are the two tall boys).

And a belated Valentines Day greeting to all -- we don't really celebrate Valentines Day (never have), but I brought home a heart-shaped balloon and that just made DS4's day!

That's love for you!

Finished One Project and Started Another....

I'm so glad I finally finished my sister's blanket! It turned out so nice:

And I started a new project right away, another blanket for the primos:

It's made of solid squares in aqua, ivory, and grey (a modern combination, to be sure). The squares are connected when you work the last row (no sewing! yay!). I love this pattern -- it works up so fast! After a week, I am about half-way done!

The pattern is free and available on redheart.com (search for the Square Upon Square Throw). I like this so much, I'm thinking of changing up the colors and making another one! (Turns out my other sister wants a blanket, too, so the second one just might end up being for her!)