365.191 Just as you are. Right now. Today.

365.191 Just as you are. Right now. Today., originally uploaded by zzwhitejd.

Mary Heather (rainydaygoods on Ravelry) posted on Flickr a super sweet photo of herself for Operation Beautiful. Like quite a few of us who do the whole project 365, I was quite taken with it and decided to do one myself as my 365. I scrawled out a quick sign on Dory's art paper with her crayons and dashed out the door with Jack to the park where Dory was in camp to pick her up.
Once I had her, I set up the camera, set the timer, let the lady sitting at the table behind the camera stare at me all puzzled, and made the mad dash back to the kids before the timer set off.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it. What a wonderful thing we women need to be reminded of!
However, unbeknownst to me until yesterday, this photo became my very first to hit Flickr's Explore! I'm in shock. Floored. Who knew? I won't begin to try to understand why or how the Explore really works with it's mythical 'Interestingness' factor... but I'm so honored. So I just had to share with you!

See?!? Here is page #22:

The meaning of PANIC

I wake up every morning with Jack crying or calling my name. This morning was a wee bit different though.
To back up a tiny little bit, our A/C is out and the windows upstairs were all open for air. It's been very humid and it's getting pretty warm this week.
In the middle of the night Dorothy decided to crawl into bed with me to snuggle since John was gone and we woke up to hear Jack crying/screaming mad. Since my ankle is busted I had Dory go get him from their room so he could come crawl in the bed too.
However... even though the gate was locked, he was not there.
Uh oh.
I hobble out of the bed and whack my good foot on the bed bracket instantly bruising and ripping some skin off...
I glance around upstairs, but he's not here. I can still hear the crying.
I hobble down the stairs with my cane as quickly and safely as I can, trying to listen for the direction of his yells in between calling his name. As I came around the corner off the stairs I see the back door is WIDE OPEN.

Um.

Yeah.

Huh.

Ummmm...

I sat down on the ottoman to collect my panic and try to formulate a plan for chasing a toddler though the neighborhood at 6:30am while I have a busted ankle and am only half dressed... when I just call out to him.
He came waltzing through the door screaming mad.
As he collected his anger and I collected my nerves he stared telling me something about Abby. Abby was apparently outside. I called Abby and, just like Jack, she came waltzing in the door.

Jack had, apparently, decided Abby needed to be let out, hopped his gate, figured out the lock on the back door and let the dog out. He was crying mad because he couldn't work the latch on the dog's lead.

Geez. Way to wake your Mommy, Sir.

Sorry... Savannah continued. Finally.

So, the drive down was nice, that I recall... but Netflix sure came in handy that afternoon! John went in to work for a few hours and left us to unpack and settle in at the hotel - which let me just say is NOT EASY with these two. I finally got them to settle down and watch some Dora and other cartoons on the Mac because while we had a nice large flat screen TV in the room it didn't get a single little kid friendly thing on it. Let's just say I was thankful for bedtime. All week.
On Tuesday we went ahead and headed out of Statesboro, where we were 'stationed' (GSU), and went into Savannah -- to go shopping for WARM CLOTHES. The weatherman had somehow managed to lie to me when I was packing. We had shorts and were expecting the 70's and instead got the 40/50's. BURR! Luckily we found several things and we had brought jackets in case so after buying them each a pair of jeans and socks we were a bit better off. We first hit the health food store just south of Forsyth and got yogurt and carrots. I know, weird lunch, but it worked and was yummy. (And I found a new yogurt I am head over heels about!) I had thought we would head over to the Jepson Center at the Telfair Museum... but it was closed on Tuesdays. GRRR. So, we went for coffee and cake (gluten free cake!) at the Gallery Espresso. We tended to set up shop there everyday at some point. From there we wandered over to Shaver's Bookstore and took up residence in the sweet little indy bookstore. Took home a few bedtime stories while there. I also called my old store and had them order a anniversary present for John. Don't tell him about it though. ;) After that Dory was determined to ride in a horse drawn carriage... but I didn't exactly want to spring for that, so then she decided on a trolley... but I didn't want to spring for that either so we hopped on the free city trolley shuttle. I think it was a wee bit of a mistake this trip. The kids loved it at first, but I heard an earful about a dealer at one corner... thank goodness it wasn't so obvious that I was getting questions from my kids. If I were more naive I might have even missed the conversation myself. Well, by the end of the circuit, the kids were falling apart with hungry and tired. We headed 'home' to the hotel. After, um, more cake.
Wednesday we did finally make it over to the Jepson Center and as I was rounding them up to leave the first part of the kid's area, Dory misunderstood me and wandered all the way to the front door of the gallery by herself. 2 entire floors away. I. was. livid. Wow, I was so mad. Not to mention a wee bit scared since she had, upon getting there, been reprimanded by a docent for touching a statue... that was at the very entrance to the kid's area... who puts a 'do not touch' statue at the entrance of a touch everything area? DUMB.
...to be continued, but the aptop battery is dying.

Language explosion

It's safe to say that Jack is fully lingual now. It started about a month ago when something seemed to click overnight, and has steadily grown since then. Last weekend while I had a cold (thought it was allergies) I took him in the car with me for a short trip tinking it would knock him out for a nap.... no.... he talked the - whole - time. Non-stop. About everything. Including the dirt on the side of the road. And when I was allowed to go through the traffic light because it had just turned green.
Yeah, he's lingual finally. And it happened all at once.

John sent gifts...

John went out of town on what will be a zillion trips this year and since this one was a few days longer than normal he sent extra special cards in lieu of the normal postcard. Jack LOVED his. Dory, well... she had just waken up because after taking a ton of pics with Jack he decided it was time for her to see hers and show her his... so he went to the gate at the stairs and yelled at the top of his lungs for her until she appeared.



Overall, they were a HUGE success!

A Day at Grandma Debbie's

Table tent, originally uploaded by zzwhitejd.

What could be better than playing under a tent converted table with boxes and blankets AND Grandma? Beats me. :)


We headed over to Mom's now that she has left her job on Monday morning after the monthly food delivery. We needed out of the house and had a great time.




The kids helped pull corn stalks out of the garden until Jack was determined to pet the neighbor's cat and went tearing through a MASSIVE red ant mound. You remember the red ant attack of '08 with John, right? Could have been soooo much worse. We abandoned the garden after stripping Jack down to his skives right there in the back yard.




Later, Jack found my (I think, maybe was Tricia's) old Casio PS-6080 and quickly found the demo tunes. Dory and Jack commenced bickering. Dory won. I almost got so lost in nostalgia that I brought it home... I DID come to my senses though. Into a 'toy for Grandma's house' box it goes. I can't believe the batteries still worked. They don't make things now like they used to.......

Living a Sitcom Life

I go to change Jack's dipe this afternoon and found out too late there was poo... and then once the diaper is all removed and I am contemplating how to get him to sit there while I go get a washcloth, I hear the dog - thought it was the bi-monthly veggie delivery and I forgot to set the box back out for pick up...
I go to set the box out telling Jack to "HOLD STILL DON'T MOVE..." and manage to knock over a small bulb flower pot which shatters, dirt, dead bulb and all on the floor a few feet from him in the process...
What do you clean first? A gooey bottom or dirt and ceramic shards?
I went for goo.
Then, of course Dory wants to 'help'.
There was no veggie delivery today, that's next week.
-Oi.

365.19 'brown', can you sign it?

365.19 'brown', can you sign it?, originally uploaded by zzwhitejd.

Sign Language part 2 started this morning. Grandpa couldn't make it so Jack went to class with us. I was impressed with how well he did... Can you make the sign for 'brown'? (We worked on colors today.)

Leaf Piles

Over Thanksgiving, 'Uncle' Andy came to visit. He stayed over at the IL's and spent one of his days raking the front yard into piles 'o fun for the kids - who then had a BLAST. Thanks Uncle Andy!
Follow photo to Flickr for more of leaves...

Kitting for Kiddos!

Ha! In a grand return to blogging, I thought you might like to see some recent pics of Jack and his brand new sweater that has sat in the sidebar for what feels like forever. He was not thrilled with my photo session since he had just woken up from the nap he took on the way home from Church on Sunday. I am so stinking proud of this thing. I think it looks great. One of my favorite things about it is the buttons. They are of the 3 billy goats Gruff, Puss in Boots and Rumpelstiltskin! Completely cute little boy troll fairy tale buttons. I got them at Purls in Asheville.
There were a ZILLION ends to weave in. It will be a long time before I do anything striped again. That was murder. What possessed me to think a striped sweater would be a good FIRST sweater? GAH!

--
Bob sweater, by by Kim Hargreaves for Rowan
The Fibre Co. Savannah DK, doubled, in Lime, Bleu Marine, Linen, Marigold and Rum Raisin (a linen, cotton, wool and soy blend)
US8 needle
--

This just proves there are pictures to be had, even if I have been bad about putting them up! More to come, I promise. Think fall leaves.

Forgive me

Please forgive me for not keeping the blog up to date recently. I have been feeling like - see right now, words escape me. I can't finish that sentence. It's shameful. It's not quite depression, but more like apathy. Like the fight is being beaten out of me slowly. I hate it. What's even worse is I can't tell you for sure what is causing it. I can point out little things that prick at it... but not the root. So, as for blogging, I just don't even know what to write about. I have some responsibilities that I am falling down on miserably. Things that should not be hard for me to just get done... but seem like unscalable mountains.

So, here you go... I'll dump some out unceremoniously for you:
-Jack said "Walk the Plank, Arrr" on Saturday on the way to the IL's... it's his second sentence. His first was the week prior, "Here you go", as he slapped something into my lap and ran away.
-Dory is Dory... a bit starved for attention, brilliant and opinionated. I'm going to cut up an old sweater that I accidentally felted a few years ago, and still have, to be a winter coat for her. I think it will be a perfect fit.
-Thanksgiving was good. We had Turkey at one house, and Ostrich at the other. We did not celebrate it here this year, opting instead to travel. John didn't want to worry about company coming when he was going to be gone just prior to it on a business trip. Ok, I get it. But see? The fight is gone. As much fun as it was, I hated it. Is that awful to say? Thanksgiving was great! Really! It was! Good food, great company, behaved kids... and yet... Blah.
-John has lost 24 pounds so far and is making tremendous strides towards losing much more. He likely already has and just has not reported it yet. I'm so very proud of him and the accomplishment!
-We've been attending a new church that I am very happy with (or was until the last sermon series... not fond of the new speaker that we have had).
-Jack finally got his birthday celebrated at our Thanksgiving get together, and the weekend prior. I do have pics.
-Uncle Andy made a rocking pile 'o leaves and the kids, he and Daddy spent a good amount of time rolling in them Saturday. I have a video to edit of it to show you.
-More FOs to blog about for my knitting readers. Even a killer swap package that hasn't made it up. (Thank you Amy!!!)

How am I doing? *shrug* I'm doing.
And that's not good. See? I'm even apathetic enough to write this post. The list above just looks like a glaring list of failed posts to me.
So, please, forgive me. For not blogging more regularly like I usually do. For being snippy with you for what you think is no reason. For not being as joyous over your excellent news. For not getting that thing done on the time line that I set.
I'm trying. I am. I just have no zip right now.

2nd haircut

Before...



And After...


Does it say anything that both pics are of him strapped down? lol

Halloween 2008!

Jack as Bam-Bam Rubble... and he would not leave the costume on.


Dory as a Monarch Butterfly, she would barely hold still. She is keeping a look out for Ba and the kids so we can head out!


Off we go, Dory flapping in the wind.


Bam-Bam and a hatless cowboy.


The men are organizing the attack. They did a great job!


Patiently waiting for the door to open. All night Jack refused to say 'Thank you.' Dory did well, but Jack got off with it being cute due to his age. The boy will have to learn.


Jack's very first lollipop. :)

All in all, a really good night. Dory traded her candy out for a knitting kit. She was pleased and is doing well with it. I think it is just a great tradition that Ba and family come with us, it makes it so much more fun. I also love that we have such a great neighborhood for going door to door. Dory's costume stank though, who knew the smell of a magnum sharpie wouldn't air out in a day? It gave us all a headache once back at the house, so she was stripped of her wings. By the end of the nigh Jack was *finally* saying 'bam-bam' and bopping the bat on the floor. He had earlier been quite determined that is was indeed a baseball bat and needed to be swung. Apparently he's a natural at that, John should be thrilled. Maybe he'll go as a Yankee player next year.
:) Yeah, it was good.

UPDATE: Ba posted some more of the kiddos here. :)

Jack Attack... finally!

At long last, I finally put the Jack Attack up on Ravelry as a free download. I do not have the pattern hosted here like I do the Mabel and Patty - so if you want it, sign up for Ravelry. Enjoy!

From Ravelry

AAACCCKKKK!!!!

I am SO BEHIND!

Halloween costumes to make... Dory wants to be a Monarch Butterfly and Jack is going to be BamBam Rubbles.
Food to pick up... UNFI was delivered Saturday when I was at SAFF, and it's still taking up room at Lisa's house.
One last second design to enter and write up... Chiodna, a cabled cowl demanded last second attention.
Jack's 2nd birthday is tomorrow... *nothing* is done. Nothing.
Bills to pay... Um, yeah.
Blog entries to catch up on... EEK! I'll never remember it all. At least I have pics of some of it to remember what all happened this month. And the Tweets might help fill in a few gaps.

Okay, a to do list makes me feel a *little* better. (But not much)

The weather has turned cold for the moment, and I didn't prepare in time so the kids are not ready for it. Nothing from last year fits now, of course.

Can I go back to bed?

All Fun and Games... until...

After everyone else left the party, we still had fun. Pile 'o kids style. Until Dory decided she had enough, of course. Such a big fuss for a little bump. More bruised ego than anything. Jack and LJ (Monkey) were having a blast though!

Happy Birthday to Bailey, as well. It's why we were over there playing, not that we need any excuse.

Pinchable? Absolutely. Kissable too.
As you can see, she just loved wearing her new hat(insert Ravelry link, of course). LOL

This cold is a doozy.

It has the kids not tired and slumped on the couch, but jittery and over and beyond hyper. At night time they don't want to sleep and when they do they start coughing and hacking. I am so ready to be done with this round. My nerves can't take it.

Sick Day Story Time

There seems to be some sort of plot to keep us from going to story time at the library. We've been a whopping twice in all the kid's days. Every time we are set and ready to go something happens, like they take a break for a month - or we get sick. Like today. We were all set for the 10:30 story time for Dory, and um, well... she's got a cold. It came on hard and fast last night.
So, I told her we would have our first one right here at home at the same time today.
Here was the program:

A, B, C, D, E by Justin Roberts on Great Big Sun
We handed out the shakey-shakies (egg rattles) and sang our ABCs.

The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg
Dory named each letter. Jack tried.

Number 1 by Hot Peas and Butter from Jack's Big Music Show, Season 1
Everyone did a boogie dance to the song.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
We talked about the difference between seeds and bulbs.

Mahna, Mahna from Muppet Hits (sorry, no link... )
Tried to clap the rhythm. It's a bit hard...

Hush!: A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho
Everyone joined in on the "Hush!" and we practiced some signs for the different animals and words we knew.

If You've Got 1 by Justin Roberts from Great Big Sun
We did all of the motions the song suggested. :) It was fun.

As they "put away" the rattles I ran upstairs, grabbed a rubber stamp and pad and met them in the hallway as they "left" and passed out pretty yellow daisy stamps to match the Growing a Rainbow book.

Our first mock story time was considered a huge success since Dory and Jack wandered around for 5 minutes showing everyone they could their stamps... including the dog.

Come outside, the weather is perfect...

I set them out, and they did pretty well with it. I wish we had a fence so I could do this everyday! The weather was amazing, absolutely beautiful... about 74 and sunny. Amazingly, I actually got some housework done.

Happy Birthday Grandma Patty!

Jack and Daddy had a good time in the kitchen - Jack is quite the Monkey Man now, and will climb anything and everything! The age two antics are in full swing as of this last few weeks, its easy to see his birthday is right around the corner. We had a great day over at Grandmas house, and have all sorts of things coming up to do with Grandma still. ;-) Like a Tea and Chocolate pairing benefit Thursday evening!
John is leaving Wednesday for his annual Fish and Chips with the guys. He says he's going to be in a tent while the rest of the guys (other than Ted) will be in a cabin. Good luck... I bet he'll fall prey to temptation! Anyway, Grandpa is babysitting so Patty and I can attend the tasting/pairing. I'm pretty excited about it.

Dory painted Grandma two teacups and I knitted cozies for them. I drew frames around the pictures and even added a tiny plaque on the lower right hand side... then made them "Gallery Series" numbered editions on the bottom. I am super pleased with how they came out. They don't look like the traditional hideous kid scribble all over and actually seem pretty cool to me. But, I could be very biased on that. I don't know! Grandma loved the cups and said the only problem was that the cozies covered them up... of course!

---
Adding the pattern to the Ravelry Database. Direct PDF download is here. Enjoy Patty's mug warmers.