This is what 5 looks like...

Happy Birthday Princess Peanut!

Today, It's Kindergarten....

...tomorrow, it'll be college.

Summer Catch Up...

Wow, I can't believe it's been six weeks since I've posted anything here. Sorry about that. It's been a crazy, busy Summer.

There's been lots of knitting. I can't believe the number of FOs I have just from the last few months.

I took my first ever knitting class at Threadbear in July. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some nice people. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the lace scarf. Here's the last photo of it. All of the details are on ravelry.

Every year, I knit Peanut a scarf. This year, she got to choose the yarn. It's some sort of Joann Sensations yarn. It's incredibly soft, bulky and fuzzy. Each time she sees me working on it, she'll put it to her cheek and say, "I love it".

With her 5th birthday looming, I know I can't hold off Barbie too much longer. In anticipation, I bought the Nicky Epstein book 75 designs for Barbie or something. I found this pattern online and made it for Peanut's little buddy's birthday this week. It was a huge hit. It seems a lot like the Tempting pattern on the top, so I was thinking if I did it again, I'd add a belt or a ribbon element at the neckline. (The Barbie is vintage. It was a donation from a coworker's childhood Barbie stash...we've been toying with naming her Buffy Van Schnaussen...I don't know why but it seems fitting for some reason).

Since buying my D60 in April, I've taken nearly 5,000 photos. Yeah, that's a lot. I have my first photographer gig this weekend and I'm super excited.

This is Peanut on 4th of July at a friend's farm. The kid loves dirt, that's for sure.

I did some school shopping for her and she did a fashion show. Despite being a size 7, the Hannah Montana shirt was deemed too snug and was gifted to another Hannah fan. But she did express her joy for the outfit here first. (The pose does accentuate the problem areas a bit :) )

We finished our Parent/Tot bowling league. We came in second place and we got a trophy. She felt the need to dress for the occassion. After 12 weeks of bowling, the kid can finally throw the ball down the lane without zigzagging between the bumpers...when she feels like it. I was quite proud. A few frames, she didn't even use the bumpers. I had a career high game of 146 during the season and I'm so glad we did it. We really enjoyed the time spent doing this together and I know we'll do it again next year. All of the family leagues through the year happen on Saturday or Sunday mornings and that doesn't quite work with her visitation schedule.

And this is my baby...my great big girl...1 week out from Kindergarten. I can hardly believe it. I don't quite know where the last 5 years went. Because this is her 5th birthday, she's having a big bash for it and allowed to invite lots of friends. I made the invites and put them together last night. It was such a deja vu moment, as I'd done the same with her 1st Birthday invites as well. I couldn't be more proud of my little Peanut. She's intelligent, insightful, caring, clever, funny and beautiful. The traits I complain about are ones that we value in adults, and I try to keep that in perspective at those tough parenting moments.

Momma's so proud of you my dear Scoot McGoo...just don't grow up too fast on me.

Before the battery dies...

First the finished things...
Pair #2 for the CIC sock challenge

A requested washcloth for AJ. It's garterlac

A Twin-DiP sweater. One down, One to go...

The WIP's
Hemlock ring in the making...

Mystery shawl swatch...it's still a swatch. I'm having a hell of a time with the cast on for this one.

Precious things...

1 Preschool Graduate....

1 set of tiny baby feet...

Published

The condos near our apartment caught fire on Tuesday night. After securing Peanut and Wally for a quick exit (if need be), I grabbed the Nikon and started shooting. I have over 300 shots from the night. I submited my best 20 to the local paper, and they'll be running 3 or 4 of them with the story on Thursday! They're already using one of them for their main web site page.

If I had taken my photography classes sooner in my college career, I would have minored in it. It really feels good to be back at it again. The few photos I've gotten of Peanut that make me stop are enough alone to justify the purchase of the camera.

Where the heck did May go?

Peanut's visiting her dad this weekend it's been a good time to catch up on things I haven't had time for recently. Like updating my blog..


Seems like we've had one activity after another this month. My bowling league ended and I got 3rd most improved woman's average for the league. Not too shabby for my rookie year. Our team joked that we needed to get yellow stripes for our shoes. It was a great time and I'm pretty sure we're going to be doing it again next year. In the meantime, Peanut and I are signed up for a parent/tot league that's starting soon.


We participated in Relay for Life as part of Peanut's school's team. We had a great time! Here's the photo of her before we left. She insisted she couldn't go without the beads in her hair. Less is never more with her.

At home after...a rare shot of Wally-cat. Have I mentioned how much I love the new camera?


Some of us have started getting together at lunch at work on Fridays for a little knitting group. It's been a great deal of fun! One person joined without having ever touched needles. I think she's now building a stash of dishcloth cotton. I've started another pair of socks to send to CIC. Two of my coworkers are also doing socks. It's just been a nice break in the craziness work has been recently.


I've been lucky to have been doing a lot of knitting recently. I'm still working on baby sweaters. Seems like the one will never get finished. Of course it doesn't help that it's my last project to pickup. The BFF socks will not be finished in time for her birthday. I'm working on Aunt Peanut's scarf and dishcloths for her. Oh and I just finished a pirate themed golf club cover. I may be doing a lot more of these in the near future. AND I signed up for the Goddess Knit Mystery Shawl KAL. I think that's what it's called. I bought some KnitPicks lace weight around Christmas that I'm going to bust out for it. I may have also purchased one of those fabulous kits Laura had made up. No confirmation email yet and I see now they're sold out...so we'll see. Those are for me.

Oh and we did adopt a Wii Fit on Wednesday. Holy cow!! It's even more fun than I thought it would be.

32 Years 23 Hours 35 Minutes and counting....

The house is finally quiet. We've had a flurry of activity from the time the alarm clock went off this morning. Peanut spent a good chunk of the day with Grandma. I spent the day attending my dear friend's son's 1st Communion. I've attended Catholic weddings, but this was my first 1st Communion. I always find the Catholic ceremonies beautiful and interesting.

It is my birthday for a few minutes more. It's been a good day. The big (adult) celebration is next weekend. Tonight was spent with family and Peanut. She picked out my tiny birthday cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" with a tea light burning on top. It was the perfect way to end my birth day. I wouldn't have traded those two giggly minutes for the fanciest party.

I mentioned in my last post that I bought myself a D60. Below if one of my very favorit shots that I've taken in the last 10 days. There are a few others I may share later that really made me stop and say, "I took that." I had photography classes in college and I have a Pentax K1000 here somewhere, but it fell to the wayside when adult life took over. I've missed it for years and it's like and old friend has come back into my life.

**I think this photo truly captures Peanut. Dirty fingers, tosseled hair, a Giselle bandaid and a million watt smile**

The best gift I received this year was one I gave myself. I set a goal on January 1st of losing 50 lbs by my 32nd birthday. That's today. While I didn't make 50, I did hit 42 this morning. I've worked hard for it and I am most proud of that this year. I bought a pair of stretch denim capris March 1st. They were very stretched in the dressing room. I bought them anyway. I wore them for the first time this afternoon and they'll soon be too big to wear without being taken in. I was shocked by that! I just tried them on to see how much more I needed to lose before I could wear them comfortably. All the hard work is definitely paying off. My next goal is 70 lbs gone by Labor Day. I think I'll get there. I just need to remember that it needs to be about me for a little while or I won't be around to worry about anyone else.

FOs and BPs

I've tried repeatedly over the last 6 weeks to update the blog. Each time, blogger just wasn't having it. Sorry about that.

Some of the ladies at my office have started a knitting circle. Some of us are working on socks for CIC. I finished mine in record time over the weekend.

I finished a couple of teeny tiny hats. These will potentially go to my boss's new twins. Keep your fingers crossed they'll be too small for them once they're born. Their mom's been on serious bedrest for a month now and they're not due until June.

This the EZ sweater from The Knitting Almanac. So far so good. It's in KnitPicks Cotlin. Love it. Ordered 6 more skeins for the other babies I know coming soon.

And I'm trying to expand my horizons. I'm giving Maze from Sensational Knitted Socks a go. They'll also go to CIC.

Notice anything different about these photos? They're crisp, clear and have great color? Yeah, this is where the BP comes in..Birthday Present. My birthday is in 10 days or so. I've been admiring a certain camera from afar for several months now. I've done my homework and saved the money...and I bought it today. Riza might like her Canon, but I've always been loyal to Nikon. Well, with the exception of the Pentax in college but that doesn't count. A D60 now resides with us. I feel as if it needs a name. These two photos make it worth every penny.

Boxing Wally

Here's a video of Peanut boxing:

And here's the latest addition to our family, Wally-Penelope.

He's a 4 year old stray we rescued. Someone at some point really loved him a lot. He's the most friendly and loving cat I've ever come across. Peanut loves him. I don't know if she loves him because he's her pet or because he's someone she can boss around.

In other news...I'm halfway to my goal to lose 50 lbs by my birthday! I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule with my 10 lbs per month goal.

Wii Bowling

Here's the video of Peanut bowling:

Still here...

I've had a heck of a time getting in to post to the blog. I really don't care for the Google aspect of blogger now. It's so much more difficult just to get logged in, it seems.

We're still here and still insanely busy. Peanut's practicing writing her name in anticipation of Kindergarten in the Fall. She attended a Valentine's Daddy/Daughter dance with her dad last week and here's the before & after photos....

I've done a little bit of knitting recently. I'm still slugging away on Peanut's Haiku sweater. It's like the ever growing bumpy, hot pink blob. Last weekend, I whipped up Penny for a friend who got a Maltese puppy for Valentine's day. It's so freakin' cute! I have yet to get a photo of it, but will soon.

I joined Weight Watchers at work 3 weeks ago. This fits in very well with my motto for 2008, Be healthier. I'm down 22 lbs for the year. I can attribute some of the success to the Wii I recently stood in line for at Toys R Us. I gotta say, that was quite the study in human nature right there. Whether I'd gottent he Wii or not, it was totally worth watching people forget they are adults and that a gaming system is not the most important thing in the world. "Grace & Dignity" were not words most of them were familiar with. My favorite was a dad that showed up at 10:10 that morning to find a line up of people with the vouchers in the store. He then took it upon himself to scream at the very cordial Toys R Us employee about how unfair it was that they were out of them already. All of this was done in front of his 9 year old son. Way to go dude, that teaches your child an excellent lesson right there. Peanut was staying with my Aunt & Uncle for the night or I wouldn't have bothered to go at all. But anyway, we are enjoying nightly games of boxing and bowling. Main point here that we're getting off the couch and doing something rather than watching tv. She's actually getting pretty good at the bowling. I have video that I will try to post over the weekend. I love the fact that I was able to download the original Super Mario Brothers for $5. Ah, some things you never forget.

Dancing Queen

No idea where she gets the dance moves from, but she definitely makes it work. The outfit was a Christmas gift and right now, a bride is just as good as a Princess in Peanut's book.