Friday, March 25, 2011

Fun Outside


I still haven't figured out the new photo layout for blogger- it puts the ones I add last at the first of the post- kinda doesn't make sense. So we'll just work backwards with this post:
I am always on the lookout for baskets to put my yarn in, and it's a bonus when they are cheap and cute. So when I saw this wire basket at a furniture store, I had to buy it. It's a great size and color and I like to be able to see what is inside.
(I'm a dork, but these things make me happy)
We spent last weekend in Cedar City with my cousin and her family. We have the perfect relationship setup: My cousin is one of my favorite people, our husbands are best friends, our kids are the same age and order (girl,girl,boy), and we love hanging out together. She and I stayed up the first night talking our heads off till 3:00 a.m., we all went swimming Saturday, got a sitter for the evening and went to dinner and a movie. It was a great change of scenery, pace, and people and we had a great time.
When we got home Sunday night, it was super windy outside so the kids and Petter took their new kites (bought in Cedar City) outside to fly.
Until it started raining and the wind ripped the kite out of daddy's hand and sliced his finger. After that we decided to call it a day.

Last week my mom came and grabbed both girls for a horse ride out in the West Desert. They traded off horses (each girl taking turns riding by herself), roasted hotdogs on a fire and had a great time.

Monday, March 14, 2011

5 year old cursive...

In homeschool, I teach the kids cursive right away. I feel like it's easier for them to make curves instead of slants, and I've read that it holds their attention better if they don't have to keep picking up their pencil.
It's really something to see a 5 yr. old writing smoothly in cursive. I usually have her write sayings or quotes but today just had her write "My name is ___________" She did such a beautiful job, I just had to take a picture!

Knitting 24/7

While picking up some more knitting needles on Saturday, I came across this perfect little book: Knitting 24/7 of course the title jumped out at me (because this is what I do-knit 24/7) but often titles are better than the contents. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised- I browsed through the book and had to buy it because every single page had something I want to knit or a pattern I've been trying to find.

Most of the patterns are fairly quick and the patterns are easy to memorize so they can be taken wherever you go; the doctor, dmv, carpool, whatever. I love a good knitting book and am excited to start on a few projects from the book, as soon as I finish my current knitting project: a baby cocoon blanket for my sister in law.

Norwegian Pancakes





My father in law is a great cook and baker. He has a bunch of recipes from the Mother-land stored in his head and not any written down. Getting recipes from him is a little bit tricky too because his measurements are a bit different than what anyone is used to: instead of cups and tablespoons he says to add about a scoop of this and a shake of that and to whisk it until it's the consistency of paint. So after years of practice, I am pleased to announce that I have now mastered his famous Norwegian pancakes. I tweaked them a little bit: he adds heavy cream and I add a bit of vanilla protein powder, but all the other ingredients are the same: flour, vanilla, buttermilk. They are a lot like crepes but much better. My kids love them and it's a tradition that if we go to Grandma and Grandpas house any time before noon, he's going to make them for us.
We all like to eat them in different ways: Olivia loves them with raspberries, Simeon and Jayda like them sprinkled with sugar, Petter likes them all ways possible, and I like them with either a few slices of brown goat cheese, or a few fried eggs.

Served with some fresh-squeezed orange juice- it makes a great meal!
The next recipe to master: his Birthday cream cake.

Friday, March 11, 2011


Yesterday, Olivia went to Liberty Girls. It is an amazing little group of homeschool girls who read books and get together to discuss them and learn things from the book. This semester they have been reading about Josefina (An American Girl) and learning some skills or things from the time period of the 1820's in New Mexico. Yesterday was Olivias favorite day ever- they learned how to spin wool into yarn on a spinning wheel. She was really into it and can't wait to knit something up with her new yarn that she spun herself.
Sweet Jayda had a great day with my mom riding horses. I feel so lucky and blessed to have a mom who loves the outdoors and animals, and loves to share her love with her grandkids. Last week she took Olivia on a big long all day ride, and yesterday she took Jayda. Jayda was so excited to go and didn't complain a bit on the ride and kept the other ladies on the ride entertained. Growing up I did a lot of riding and I'm so glad that my kids get to enjoy it as well. When it gets warmer we will all go together, after making sure Simeon has plenty of Benedryl (he's allergic to horses). Maybe someday we can get horses of our own, but for now this is a pretty great set-up.

I finished a few knitting projects while my camera was out of commission. I finished several hats for friends' babies. I absolutely love this pattern for baby hats- it's easy and quick to do, I can put whatever pattern I want into it, and it has the cute little top. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern (I love her patterns) and I bet over the past few years I've made at least a hundred of them.
It'll be soooo cute on a little boy. Last week at Young Womens, we had a huge Personal Progress Party so the girls could get a bunch of things passed off in one night. I brought some needles and yarn in case anyone wanted to learn how to knit and do it for one of their projects. I think I ended up teaching 8 or 9 girls and moms how to knit- it was great! Made me want to start a knitting club or something... we'll see.

We finished the second book of the Little Britches series, Man of the Family. These books are amazing. They teach lessons and are very entertaining, about a boy and his family in the early 1900's. It is the #1 book series that I recommend to moms wanting to read something fun to their kids. The first book, Little Britches is a definite must read, and the others are icing on the cake. We will start the third book on Monday, and I can't wait. My hubby got me the whole set for mothers day last year- perfect present!

I rarely make things for myself (I'm working on improving this) but I actually did make myself a big, chunky, cozy scarf. It was knitted with chunky yarn on size 17 needles so it was a pretty quick knit. It has fun little bobbles on it and I'm trying to decide if I want to add fringe on the ends or not. I wear it around the house when I'm a little chilly and I get compliments on it when I wear it out- I'll make some more maybe in the fall/winter for gifts.
Homeschool is going smoothly, we have a few little recitals coming up: violin, piano and dance. Spring is in the air, I'm excited to start working in my yard, planting and weeding, and I'm starting a new book group. Petter and I are training for a 1/2 marathon, I think we will do the one at Bear Lake in the first part of June. I'm excited for warmer weather and time at the park, I love living in such a beautiful, amazing place.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Customer Service Rant

So, I have been without my camera for what seems like FOREVER!! I've been just as patient as possible and finally, today, I decided to call the camera shop and see how much longer it would take. The lady on the other end of the line said that my camera is there and ready to be picked up- I of course was thrilled until I asked her when it got finished. She said that it's been finished and ready since February 9th! That's almost a month, and not even a word from them! Grrrr, I'm frustrated and can't believe that they didn't call me! Deep Breath.

So my camera is ready! I'm very excited to get it back and feel like I can properly document my family and our goings on. We have a little violin concert coming up and I'm glad I will have it for that!

Note to self: don't be patient when you have something being fixed- call and bug them!