So bummed...

Dierks Bentley (aka my Dierks) is coming to Florida in April and he is playing in Kissimmee on Thursday night, Live Oak on Friday, and Kenny Chesney is playing in Jacksonville on Saturday. So, Nick and I were going to make a weekend of it. Well, I just found out the fanclub tickets for Dierks went on sale last week! I kept telling myself I needed to check when they went on sale, but I procrastinated. I can still buy tickets through Ticketmaster, but they won't be in the "super close" VIP section. I'm hoping someone through the fan club can't go last minute and will sell me theirs, it seems I always have bad luck with Dierks tickets!

Some upcoming projects:

I finally finished the project I've been working on FOREVER! It is a present so I can't put any more details on here until it is received, but I will be posting pics as soon as I can. I also made a hat for Nick which I forgot to take a pic of and it's probably all dirty now, I'll have to get it back and take a quick picture today when he comes home. So, now it's on to new projects:

No idea what to do with this yarn, but it was 80% off $5.99 and I thought it was so pretty! There is only one ball of the purple/blue combo (that's my favorite) but 5 of the blue/yellow.

Another yarn that was 80% off $5.99...I plan on making Lexi some sort of summer top. The yarn is really soft and pretty.

My first attempt at socks, I picked some that used big needles to start out with.

I haven't cross stitched in years, but I've been eyeing this kit for months now and finally broke down and bought it. In case you can't read it, it says "Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?" There are more that can be found here, all of them are really funny. If it goes ok, I'll probably be making more.

So cute, can be found at Hancock fabrics 30% off right now (not sure how much longer). There are a bunch of different ones, and you can buy them individually or in a 3 pack. Spencer picked these. There is also a pattern to make a stage that hangs in a doorway:




This will be ribbon sleeves for Lexi that will attach to a regular shirt with the buttons. I just cast on for this last night, hopefully will be done in the next couple of days.

Ok, I gotta go to school now and take not one, but TWO tests...wish me luck!

Spencer at Labschool

My cool little man ;-)

Merry Christmas!

A couple of gifts I made...

I didn't do much Christmas knitting, just a couple of gifts (and one I'm still working on...sorry mom!). Here's a scarf I made for my best friend Alicia (who's up in Tennessee and might actually have a use for it):

I used 4 different strands of yarn and it came out really soft and pretty I think. I hardly ever make scarves since we don't need them in Florida.

I also made a pillow for her:

I made a purse for my mom's birthday, which I lined in Elvis fabric (she LOVES Elvis)! It came out really cute, I also made the keychain.

My little man is 3!

Wow Spencer, I can't believe you are already 3. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday you were born (past daddy's "cut-off date") and we were leaving the hospital with you and going straight to Grandma Rose's Christmas Eve party. You were so sweet and calm even though you were being passed around between 20 family members, and you've been that way ever since. You are so mellow and easy-going, you truly have a go-with-the-flow attitude. You are hardly ever without a smile on your face, and you love to entertain people and make them laugh. You love to "play dead" and make goofy, funny faces. You will repeat whatever you are doing endlessly as long as people are still laughing. I have a feeling you are going to be quite the class clown, your teachers don't know what they're in for! My favorite memory of you this past year is when I was serving black bean cakes for dinner. You took one look at them and crinkled your nose. I said, "Just try one bite Spencer" to which you replied (with a scrunched up mad face that only you can make) "Never". When I asked you to try them again you said "Disgustin". It was so hilarious, the rest of us couldn't stop laughing to eat our dinner. The look on your face and the way you said it was priceless. You are becoming such a big man, you love to play with all your little plastic animals and your trains and cars, and you can play house with sissy for hours. You are very caring and nurturing, and also quite sensitive and you hate to be yelled at (especially if you didn't know you were doing anything wrong). You love to give hugs and kisses, and you are incredibly smart. You are my sweet little baby - to which you reply, "No mommy, I'm a big boy" - but you will always be my baby. I love you so much, and I can't wait to see all the new things you will conquer this year. Happy Birthday Spencer!!

Pretty cool...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 3 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Spencer's Party

I really left my comfort zone this month and threw not one, but two parties! We had a little party for Spencer at the park with his Thursday toddler friends, really easy and inexpensive. Spencer had fun, though Lexi was crabby the entire time because I made her wear boy pants (gasp!) under her dress. I didn't realize it was so short until we got there and the only pants I had were Spencer's. Oh well, it went great and I'm glad Spencer got to have a party with his friends just like sissy.

Tavares

We went to stay at my mom's house in Tavares for the weekend. It was a lot of fun, we went to Lake Idamere park, which was really cool and huge! They had a dog park, fishing pier, and the playground was enormous. They had every cool playground toy a kid could ask for, even a stage. If you are ever in Tavares with children, you have to visit this park. We BBQ'd there, and then went to Mount Dora to look at all the lights and stopped for ice cream on the way home. It was a really fun time.

The park had this huge tree that, of course, we had to climb!

This was going to be our family picture for the Christmas cards, but I never got around to getting them done...oops!

Lexi's Bowling Party!

Ok, I'm finally getting around to posting about Lexi's birthday party. It was at the bowling alley and it was super fun! I've never thrown a "friend" birthday party for either of my kids before, I always managed to get out of it every year. We would have our family party, but never one for the kids from school. Well this year, there was no getting out of it. She'd been to all her friends' birthday parties and the jig was up, there was no way I was going to get away with it again. You see, I'm just not a party thrower. I love to go to parties, just not host them. I have this secret fear that no one will show up, it's crazy but that's just me. Anyway, it was a blast and almost all her friends came. I was really surprised at how fun the party was, I was worried that some of the 3-day kids wouldn't be able to bowl but everyone had fun, even Spencer. After the party was over, she asked me if she could have her party at the bowling alley next year too, so I guess that means she enjoyed it!

Look at that form!

Spencer made lots of people nervous carrying the ball around!

They had this really cool slide thing, so even the little ones could get the ball all the way down, the only problem was there was only 1 of them!

I made shirts for all the kids, they turned out pretty cute...

and this is the back of Lexi's shirt.

A little Christmas survey

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
When I was a kid, Santa just sat the presents under the tree. Now Santa must have more time on his hands (or just thinks he does) and wraps them...there's nothing like seeing all the presents under the tree and unwrapping them Christmas morning.

Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I'm a fan of the white, our tree is all white lights, but our house this year has white and red icicles...pretty cool. I don't like a lot of multicolor.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Grandma Dot's brunch

Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
Staying up way too late with my sister trying to get the presents for our parents made in time (we always made them something)...looking back they must have been so lame, but we thought they were awesome ;-)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
My sister and I always tried to get this tradition started but it never seemed to take off, now we got to Grandma Rose's on Christmas Eve and open a ton of presents!

How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
We put on the Christmas music (Chipmonks for the kids, UGGH, and The Carpenters for me), pour some eggnog (with rum for the grownups) and get to decorating. Nick usually ends up super crabby because it doesn't come out perfect (with 2 little kids and all) and I usually spend the entire time yelling at Nick because he's crabby...it's so much fun!

Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Seeing as how I've never seen snow...I have no idea!

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Does eggnog count?

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Greensleeves or This Gift by 98 degrees...I know, I'm a dork.

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yum - especially the green ones.

Favorite Christmas Tradition growing up:
Decorating the tree the day after Thanksgiving.

Least Favorite Christmas Tradition Growing Up:
Being incredibly sick every year.

Breakfast or Presents First?
Presents!!!

I'm tagging anyone who wants to share a little Christmas spirit! So feel free to join the fun!

Done!

Hip Hip Horray! I am done for the semester! I'm so happy it's over, I don't even care what my grades are (oh, who am I kidding?)!! Maybe now I'll actually have time to clean the house (again, who am I kidding?) ;-)

I can't wait for December 12!

Uggg....I'm so over this semester. Mon is my Calc final and the day everything is due for my Community Involvement class. Why oh why do I wait until the last minute to do everything? Every semester I promise myself it will be different, and then every single time I end up pulling all-nighters in the eleventh hour trying to get it all done. I'm getting too old for this!

Men knitting

Check this out:



I love the football player knitting on the field, that's something you don't see every day!

My baby is 5!

Lexi,

I can't believe you are 5 years old already, it seems like just yesterday when you were born. You were the first baby I ever held and the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Your birthday is also the anniversary of me becoming a mother for the first time, and I couldn't ask for a better present than just being able to be in your presence every day. You have grown up into such a smart, talented, funny, beautiful little girl. You love ballet and gymnastics, being crafty like mommy, telling jokes, going to school, your friends and family, being sneaky and stealing marshmallows when nobody's looking, and playing any sort of game. You constantly ask me when you can be a grownup so you can do all the fun things grownups do, and you love to pretend you're going to "meetings and school" like mommy. Your new favorite things are makeup and hair accessories, and you have a certain flair to your walk that can only be described as "swishing" (I have no idea where you got that from!). You hate being told it's naptime/bedtime, no matter how tired you are, because that means you may miss out on something fun when you're sleeping. You are very caring and loving, and you truly feel bad for other people when they are in pain. You are always the first one to ask your brother if he needs to go to the safe place and you are right there with him holding his hand, getting him water, and showing him the different ways to breathe. You can translate his words when even mommy and daddy can't understand him, and you are right there to jump in with a "you did it" whenever he accomplishes anything. I love you so much Lexi, you are growing bigger, faster, and stronger every day and I can't wait to see what the next year will bring for you, my big 5 year old...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dierks...

Yes, I found tickets and we got to see Dierks in Valdosta - it was so much fun!! It turns out, the tickets that I got were really bad, but if you got to the park early enough you can find a seat in the lawn chair section. Those seats were much better, but we didn't bring any lawn chairs because we had tickets for reserved seating. We got to the park 45 min early and there was already a huge line, but we waited and ran to the concert pavillion and got decent seats in the general admission area. I was under the impression that you had to sit there all day if you got those seats, but you only had to set up your lawn chair and then you could go enjoy the park. Well, since we didn't bring lawn chairs Nick ended up saving our spots while I ran to Walmart to buy 2 cheap chairs. It was pretty crazy, but it all worked out and we got to see Dierks, Miranda Lambert, and the Randy Rogers Band. It was very cold, but I had to break out the little white tank top for Dierks. It's a wonder I didn't get sick, standing out in 40 degree weather in my tank top. Oh well, it made for great memories!

Playing miniature golf at Wild Adventures

Waiting for Dierks

Dierks!!