It's a party

T is having a skateboard themed party this year. We got the Tony Hawk party package from Celebration Express. I love doing parties this way - everything comes to my door, paper products, balloons, the pinata, goody bags. I just have to get the cake and put the cake topper on it and it's a party.

Our holiday decorations are up, the tree, my growing collection of snowmen, and the kid's favorite, the nutcrackers. I have a large chunk of the Christmas shopping done.

The kids are getting harder and harder to shop for, this year S had a (pink) iPod on her list. I'm a little torn - I don't want to buy toys they won't play with and will be lost in a matter of days but I'm not sure I'm ready to give in to the tween culture of iPods and cell phones just yet. In the end, they will probably each get some sort of MP3 player because their next stop is asking Papa, who doesn't say no.

Studying

The semester is almost over, finals start December 7th. I'm so happy that Spring semester doesn't start till January 22nd. I hope the break will give me time to relax and get some things done (like cleaning the basement and painting the kid's room.) But until the break you will find me in Panera's back room, studying.

I "heart" Tree Jumper

Sleeve #1 is done, seamed and ready. I am hard at work on sleeve #2.

I have decided to "reveal" this amazing sweater at the Twist Fashion Show. Be the first to see the Tree Jumper, in all it's glory, no completed picture will be posted on this blog till after the fashion show. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to see my Tree Jumper, up close and personal.

Thanksgiving and Tree Jumper

Thanksgiving was great but there's weren't very many leftovers. We ended up having 17 people and I missed counted and thought there were only going to be 13 but everyone had more than enough to eat. We had lots and lots of yummy pies.

I have amazing progress on my tree jumper. I am flying through the first sleeve trying to finish before the the Twist Fashion Show on Dec. 6th.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am one stuffed bird tonight.

Shopping tomorrow at 5:00am!!

Pre-Turkey Day

I had lots of cleaning to do today because the family is coming over tomorrow for the feast. But it wasn't all work.

For breakfast we had these yummy snowman shaped Krispy Kreme donuts. The kids go gaga over Krispy Kreme.

We also made a recipe Lia told me about. Bisquick ,on a stick, in the fire(place) with a little butter and honey, oh so yummy. At first we made them too big and ended up with a gooey middle but by the end we had perfected it.
To close out the day we went to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I give it 2 stars out of 4, definitely not what I expected. It was too long and the story was rather dark. It seemed like the whole movie was meant to sale toys (great product placements.)

Oh no, 2 missed days

Turkey trot recap - not much to tell.
The weather was nicer than I expected so I dressed a little too warmly. It was a short little 2 miles along the river.

The big disappointment was the race shirt they are a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, color of orange. Please, please, race directors out there, get a clue, if you want people to wear your shirt and in turn advertise your race make it a good color (you can't go wrong with white or gray.)

Turkey Trot

Come cheer me on, tomorrow at 9:30am as I run the 2 mile Turkey Trot!!

A post for Thursday

Posting everyday is harder than I expected.

Lia and I taught a Knitting 102 class tonight, it's to help new knitters get beyond knit and purl - to patterns, yarn choice, increases and decreases, plus try to answer whatever questions they can come up with. I think it went very well, the class was a fun group of women and I hope this will become a class that is offered in the future.

Lia is encouraging us (her many friends) to start slowly accepting the fact that she will be moving soon. The first step is talking about it on the blogs so here it is.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Scarf

Since it's getting a little chilly around here, the kid's requested scarves. Under usual circumstances I would not knit scarves, they are boring and take a long time and I think of them as beginning knitter projects. But how could I deny my beautiful children their request.

T has been a little obsessed with Tim Burton movies lately. He loves "Corpse Bride" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas." He picked out Christmas red and green for his scarf and I thought illusion skulls would be a nice touch so I present to you "The Nightmare Before Christmas Scarf."

Happy Birthday, Carrie

I want to say a very happy birthday to a very special friend. We have been friends since high school and we have had our ups and downs but I feel so lucky to have you in my life. I am so proud of the things that you have accomplished. You are an inspiration to me. Love You, Girlfriend.

Jackie's Glovelet

I finished a pair of Glovelets. Unfortunately, I lost the first one which is nothing new to me. I would lose my mind if it wasn't attached to my body.

Anyways, this second one is better than the first one - I was able to put the mock cables on the thumb. What I really love about this pattern is the reverse stockinette on the palm.

Flameless Candle

I got a BOGO coupon for the Glade Flameless Candle, so I decided to try it out. I picked the French Vanilla which smells too flowery for me. I do like the way it flickers and looks like a real candle though. It even comes with batteries which is a plus.

Dang it, I fell asleep before I could post yesterday. Oh well.

The Physical Education Conference was amazing, it reminded me why I want to teach PE. I learned to waltz, some great games with everyday objects, topics to teach in Health, and much more. Of course, I got a lot of free stuff, too. I was so mad at myself because I forgot my camera, so no pictures, sorry.

KAHPERD

Today was my first, ever, Physical Education Conference. It was very physical and a lot of fun. I'm too tired for details tonight, maybe tomorrow.

PhotoShop

D did a little photo shoot with T today to get pictures to PhotoShop. D has spent a large amount of time with the tutorials and practicing PhotoShop and makes some pretty amazing pictures. I'm encouraging him to display his work at a Final Friday.
I will try to remember to post the final outcome of this pictures.

Chants

On our last KC trip, I mentioned I was having a hard time finding good meditation music. Most of what I found was too short ( 5 to 10 minutes.) I wanted something longer (45 minutes to 1 hour) to play as the kids went to sleep, while I knit by the fire, for a whole yoga practice, etc.

Angelique came through in a BIG way. She brought me a bag of CD's to try out and I feel in love with the chants by Jai Uttel. I love the call/response nature of the chants and the overall feeling I get listening to them and responding. They are short (8 to 15 minutes) but I play them on repeat and I'm enjoying them very much.

Brain Age

I'm training my brain in a few minutes a day.

The kid's got a Nintendo DS from my mom but they prefer their old Gameboys because they love the old school Mario Brothers (we don't have it for the DS.)

I have been playing BrainAge. By stimulating my Prefrontal Cortex I will increase my practical knowledge, and I need it, the game says my brain is 80 years old.

Tree Jumper Update

My Tree Jumper is at a stand still; I found a mistake about 2 inches back from where I am at. I am only 2 inches from the end of the body. I can't decide if I should rip back or continue on. I have been working on the Lizard Ridge while I try to decide.

NaBloPoMo

I like the idea of this. But can I do it??

This is a small percentage of the candy we received on Halloween. Again, this year we are calling on the Great Pumpkin - half of the kid's candy is exchanged for a small toy.

Another Friday and another morning of studying at Panera.