A Measly Four Puffs

That's all I got done this week - 4 measly little puffs.

I usually try to keep my blog upbeat and fun (that's how I usually am anyway), but this past week has been a little hard.  Sunday especially.  My mom went to the ER and I went with her.  She is fine, she is having a bunch of medical problems (nothing terminal - just the "stuff" that happens as you get older) and she is scared.  I brought my knitting, thinking I would get some of that done.  My mom really just wanted me to sit there and hold her hand and talk to her.  So, that is what I did.  I did manage to show her the virtues of Pinterest :o)  I think she might be now as addicted as I am to it.  We spent hours looking at things she was interested in and things she liked - easy to talk about all that.

Well, enough of that!  Mom is home and doing well.  I am tired, but fine also and the days keep marching on.

This week I want to plant some new things in my garden and work on my weaving.

Sharing at:  Gingerbread Girl, and Frontier Dreams.

Hexis and Homemade Candles with Kids

5 puffs this week.  I used the Candy Skein yarn that I purchased last week and love it!!  It's soft and doesn't split and those stripes are the best!

 Sometimes the kids come up with such fun things to do.  One of my kids had made candles on a field trip last year and wanted to make some again at home.

 We started by melting the just plain old white wax and added wax dye.  Blue was the color of the day.

 It was very hard to cut that wax in smaller pieces.  It took my big knife and that meat tenderizer (I used it like a hammer on the handle of the knife) to break off pieces.

 Cut strings for the wicks - they are too long, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

 Then we set up an assembly of sorts - several stops with a can of melted wax and a can of water.

 The kids then walked around the table stopping at each station to dip their wick first in wax and then in the water.  The had so much fun talking and walking!!

 Some of them made big ones and formed them into shapes...

 others just let the wax do whatever it wanted.

 The 7 year old meticulously made different forms.

 The 10 year old trying to get a skinny one to stand up.

 Still trying.  It never did stand up, but she didn't mind.

The candles of our labors :o)  Not perfect, but perfectly fun!  They want to make more as soon as we use these up.

I love these times with the kids where we can just stop all the crazy business and take a breath.  Do something fun together that they have initiated.  These are the times, I hope, that they will look back on and think how fun it was to grow up in our home with all their siblings.

Sharing at:  Carole's, Nicole's, and 5 Minutes for Mom, and Mindful Mothering.

Tuesday Tallies and New Yarn!!

11 puffs this week!!  Back on a roll - it is crazy how addictive it is to knit these little things!!

 I also had the chance to sew a few more together, but haven't taken a photo yet.

 New yarn in my mailbox is ALWAYS a happy occasion.  And these mini skeins are just so cute!!

 The names are just as cute as the mini skeins:  Berry Slushie, Grape Taffy,

 Raspberry & Cream and Purple Marshmallow,

 Grape Fizz and Plum.  The pink puffs at the top are made out of this Grape Fizz.

 This yarn comes from Tami and is part of her Candy Skein shop.

OOPS!!  These other skeins just jumped right into the package with the mini skeins!!  They are so pretty and the picture does not do them justice!!  These yarns have already been made into cakes and are just waiting for me to knit some little puffs with them :o)

Sharing at Carole's and Nicole's.

Finding Time for Me

Summer vacation is coming to a close - the kids all start school on Thursday.  This comes, as always, with a bunch of mixed feelings.  I am a little sad to have them going back, we have great times over the summer together.  I love hanging out with my kids and watching the siblings (and cousins!) reconnect.  The school year is so chaotic with each child going their own ways for school and activities.  I am also looking forward to more "me" time.  With everyone home for the summer, I have not had a chance for any breathing space.  My exercise routine went out the window as did the time to accomplish much of anything else.  I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

 I was able to keep knitting (a real sanity saver!)  These are hexis for the last two weeks.  Not so many of them this time!

 I also kept up with my garden.  This is just some of the bounty.

 Lettuce from the salad planter.

 I love the look and taste of those that look like little trees.

 I have tried to start a pineapple plant from the top of a pineapple - Only time will tell.....

 This is how the celery looks now that was started earlier this summer from the bottom of a bunch of celery from the grocery store.

 A new celery bottom waiting to be planted.  I love celery in salad!

These are plans for more crops to be planted in the next week or so.  This has been such a fun experiment this summer.

After the kids go back to school on Thursday, my plan is to do.......NOTHING.......this will be the first time that I don't have lists of things to get done.  Don't misunderstand, there are many, many things that need to be accomplished, but for Thursday and Friday I am giving myself a "free pass".  A little time to breathe and to hear myself think.

I am sharing for Tuesday Tallies and 5 Minutes for Mom today.

Tuesday Tallies & Kid's Organization

As you can see, this week was a little more busy than usual.. only 6 puffs completed.  My favorite of this bunch is the one in the upper left had corner - I'll have to make sure that's somewhere in the middle when I sew all these together :o)

 My sister-in-law sent me a photo of a chore box.  I thought it was such a great idea that I created one for our kids here!

 When she sent me the photo, I quickly put it on my to do list and it just sat there.  Well...earlier this week I wanted to mop the floor and the amount of kid's stuff that I would have to pick up just to start this job seemed daunting.  I realized that sometimes I get frustrated and demoralized because to complete any task there are several steps of "clearing" that need to happen first.  I guess you can imagine what happened next....the floor did not get mopped, but this box was born.

 Then I created the chores.  I kind of just walked around the house and wrote down things that needed to be done.

 Then I typed them up, cut them apart, and folded them.  There were several more sheets than the ones above and now that I have been able to think about it more I have quite a few other "chores" that I have added.  There are also a couple of "free pass" tags in there as well.

 The basket for picking chores.  I hold it just above eye level so there is no trying to pick a certain job.

 Just love it....

This is our box that first day.  One of my sons had all of his shoes in there!  Books, bags, jackets, and a broken toy (it needed to be won back so it could be thrown away).  The kids worked diligently - all of them had things in there - and pretty soon the box was empty.

It has been a few days now and I have not had to add anything to the box.  There has been an unexpected upside to this, the kids are going around every evening to pick up their things (that's not unexpected) and while they are doing that, when they spot something that belongs to a sibling they are either picking it up for them, or calling that kid to pick it up.  It has fostered a general working together and taking care of each other (this is the unexpected part!)

I'll keep you posted on how this continues to work (or not work).  The kid's "To Do" list from last week is still working fabulously.  They get up and it is almost a race to see who can move the clothes pins from one side of their board to the other.  The big test will be if this plan will be workable once school starts and we don't have as much free time.

Check out Carole's for more Tuesday Tallies and check out 5 minutes for mom for more Tackle it Tuesday projects.  These are great sources of inspiration for me :o)

Hexi Puffs and Kid Chore Challenge

My weekly hexi puff update - 14 this week.  I'm not quite sure how this got done, since I feel we have been busier than ever - we had camps, dentist and orthodontic checkups, orchestra "stuff", and....well the list is endless!!

 I really like these color combinations and am working up the courage to start sewing them together.

 I really like these little ones that look like they have hearts all over them.  I learned a new technique with these - how to knit holding the yarns in both hands - one in the right and one in the left - definitely hard to do!  The tension is still not right, but I am working on it and am so happy to be learning something that I have wanted to know how to do for a long time.

My Tackle It Tuesday Project

Lately, we have been having a few challenges with getting the kids to do their chores.  They "forget" or they "don't have time" or any manner of excuses.  I saw this idea on Pinterest the other day and the lightbulb went one.  Literally, I heard a "ding" in my head!!  I sat down with the kids - all 5 - and we talked about the importance of chores and teamwork within a family.  How we all work together to keep ourselves and our home safe and organized and that we are all in charge of taking care of each other.  It was a great talk - not the kind where I lecture them and they roll their eyes - but one where they were totally engaged and had some great input.  I introduced this idea from Pinterest and they were completely on board.  The lists were created by them and I wrote them on clothes pins.  Then we made door hangers out of the back of some empty cereal boxes and clipped them on.  Every morning they start out with their complete list on the "To Do" side, and as they finish their work (we call it work here - and all of us have work), they move the clip to the "Done" side.  We'll see how it works in the long run, but for now they are all excited to move those clips!!  Hopefully this will decrease the amount of nagging from mom!

Head over to Gingerbread Girl for more Tuesday tallies and over to 5 minutes for mom for more Tackle It Tuesday Projects.

Tuesday Tallies is BACK!!

Gingerbread Girl is back!!  And so are her Tuesday Tallies!

These are my puffs for the week.  10 in all - I am truly addicted to these, but am dreading having to sew them all together!

If you are interested in more Tuesday Tallies, take walk on over to Gingerbread Girl.

Tuesday Tallies

So... one of my favorite DPNs has bit the dust.  As you can see, it snapped in half - while I was knitting with it!

 Huge bummer!  I really liked this set of DPNs.

 Just to show that I can't just use the longer half of the broken one to knit with :o).  I actually thought about sanding it down so the end was smooth, but I think it would be too short to safely hold the stitches.

 Enter less attractive metal DPN of same size.  I am using this one with my other wooden ones.

 These are the current hexis.  I am still knitting with the mini skeins from Tami and I love all the colors. More, I think I love the names of these yarns.  The green stripey one up there is Mint Chocolate.  How yummy is that??

This one started out with one of Tami's skeins and when I ran out I added in the light purple and the cream from my weaving ends.  No waste here!  :o)

Hexis

My hexis for the week. 9 of them - I had no idea I was averaging more than one a week :o)  The pink variegated, pink and white are all from the mini skeins that I purchased over at Tami's.  Each skein knits up approximate 2 3/4 hexis, the yarn is soft and I love the colors!  Can't wait to see what her next set of mini skeins looks like.

Tuesday Tallies

I am sort of back on track with my hexies.  I am loving making these little embroidered ones, but they take quite a bit of time :o)

 5 hexies in about 2 weeks.  I love the embroidered ones.  The striped one is made up of yarn from several different projects:  The linen stitch scarf (orange), friendship bracelets end bits (green, red, and blue), and the end warp from my first loomed project (dark and light purple).  It's so cool to use up these little bits and bobs and I think the end blanket will have so much more meaning as I look upon it in the years to come!

 My personal favorite of the embroidered ones - the 16yo likes the one with the white flowers the best.

I love how the single stitches look like hearts - I also love that both purples are from my very first loom project!!

Tuesday Tallies and Noon Art

I don't have very much to show for my hexies this week.  I managed to finish two.

 This one, made with some of the leftover yarn from my linen stitch scarf.  I actually really like embroidering on these.  It is a little fiddly - I do it before the hexi is stuffed and closed so I have to get the needle inside that little thing, but I think the effect is worth it.

 This hexi is made with size US5 needles and dishcloth cotton.  I had a vision of my blanket having many different sizes of hexis - the abundance would be the tiny ones with the larger ones scattered about.

 I actually "hate" the bigger one.  It is very wonky and I don't think it is very cute at all.  It is also not the right size to easily fit two of the smaller ones to a side to easily add it to the blanket.  Oh, well!  Gotta try new things once in awhile.

 This is a piece of cardboard that was cut off a box.  I save these along with all cereal box cardboard and any other cardboard that is flat and not too thick.

 These types of cardboard make great patterns and can be used for many, many crafts.  I am the lead for noon art at our elementary school and each craft has to work for approximately 275 students aged 6 years to 11 years old.  That is a huge range in terms of ability!!  Here I am prepping for friendship bracelets.  First, you need to cut out circles - I traced around a juice glass for the circle.

 Stacks of circles

 More stacks

 There are over 300 in this box.  Some of the children will want to make more than one and I want to encourage them to be as creative as possible.  After the circle are cut, a hole needs to be placed in the center of the circle...

 Then, eight half inch slits need to be cut into the outside of the circle.  After that, seven 24 inch lengths of thread (or yarn - I prepped both) need to be cut and knotted together - place the knot into the hole in the center of the circle and then separate the 7 strands into the different slots.  Then they are ready to be used.  I will post again about how to do the actual friendship bracelets soon, but a google search will tell you all you need to know :o)  They are quite easy (once they are prepped!!)

 These are the first ones that were prepped.

 300 prepped and ready to go - you can see that some are made with embroidery thread and some are made with yarn.  I am going to try to encourage the younger kids to use the ones with yarn because they will see results much faster.

Extra forms just in case - I will also bring yarn and thread.

This prep takes quite awhile and is why I have not gotten my hexis for the last couple of weeks done.  Now I will be able to keep up with my hexis - I won't be able to "catch up" but I should be able to get my original goal of 7 per week done.  Let's see if I can do it :o)  Or if something grabs my attention!!