New blog on the block...

So here we are in the summer and I'm home with the girls. Em has an email account and Nan has been wanting one. I wasn't ready for that yet, but they begged me for a blog to share their experiences that they have this summer as well as reviewing movies and books. Em says she needs a "creative outlet"! So if you know any kiddos that would like to read a blog for kids written by kids, or if you are just interested yourself, their blog is http://emandnan.blogspot.com

Knitting proof....

I know that there are some friends of mine that wonder if I really am knitting. I promise I have been, however I just haven't been that good at taking pictures of it! LOL. Cherry Hat from Itty Bitty Hats. I made it for a friend of mine who is a photographer. I love it!

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cherry-o I know I'm a little slow on the style wagon, but this is my first pair of Monkey socks http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTmonkey.html

Adjustable hat with ribbon and flower (my own design) I've made about 7 of these in various colors with different flowers, but I gave them out before I took any pictures. They are awesome because they are adjustable. This one is newborn to about 12 months. I saw one in a store a few months ago that was crocheted and came up with my own pattern. Hopefully I"ll have it here on the site soon. Still working on some larger sizes.

Bunny Tail from Itty Bitty Hats
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bunny-tail

New hard drive...new modem...yay!

I had just gotten my laptop back with a new hard drive and then my modem went out. Thankfully the internet provider overnighted me a new modem as it was still in warranty, however, apparently overnight means 96 HOURS LATER.

Then I got sucked into the whole thing with school and my other teacher having jury duty. I had 12 school days of me with almost the entire 5th grade and all the end of the year field trips, graduation, super kids day...etc. Not including all of my other responsibilities at home and then I got sick (double ear infection and sinus infection).

I got the modem up and running last night. Last Friday was the last day of school for kids and then I had to go back to work yesterday for my teacher day. Today I am DONE DONE DONE!!! And damn it feels good.

Now to entertain the girls and their friends. Next week I'll be preparing for our trip to Florida. The girls and I are taking a trip to Orlando! However, the rest of this week is for me to chill out and just do my thing here at home with a mini staycation!

It wasn't my fault.....this time....

Usually when I am gone from the blog for this long of time, I give some lame excuse which usually has something to do with the fact that I have a very busy life and just don't make time for blogging. This particular absence, had nothing to do with me! The day after I made the last entry (April 25th), I ended up with a fried Laptop. I hemmed and hawed and procrastinated (something I do VERY WELL!) and finally took it to a genius friend of mine to have it fixed. After 3 weeks and )#*$*(@# dollars and a lot of almost heartbreak I now have my laptop back, minus all of the files that I had. I have a new hard drive (3 times the space) and a faster operating system (or so I'm told because I really don't know the difference LOL). Quite a few things have been happening around here lately and since it is almost midnight, I'll share only a few things, the rest I'll share for another day.
This is a picture of me that goes with this news story http://www.kjrh.com/content/news/2viewgc/story/Hough-wins-Spirit-of-Junior-Achievement-award/LJ9S9sIGbkuYieWisBBcMw.cspx . This is a very special award for me that I'm extremely proud of.

This is a wonderful picture of Nan from my dear friend Sadonna. She is an up and coming photographer in our area and a great friend. She took portraits of the girls a few weeks ago. If you want to look at the proofs go to http://www.sadonna.photoreflect.com and click on the link Anna and Emilee 5/7/09 under the Recent Photos section. She does amazing work and I'm so excited for all of the photos to be edited and be hanging on my walls soon. However, the ball is in my court to get my selections to her.

I have been doing a lot of knitting so stay tuned!

Pictures, puke and playing catch up....

Well state testing (OCCT) started April 15th and just ended April 22nd. Things have been nutso because so much rides on these tests which is completely and totally stupid. What if a child has a bad day? What if a child gets ill? Their whole year's worth of learing can go right out the window. Learning itself is not important apparently, just their ability to regurgitate it on a state test. Wow, that's awesome.....NOT! Even though there was state testing, I managed to sneak away from work one day to go watch DME's 4th grade Oklahoma Land Run last week. It was fun and she had a wonderful time. This was her attempt at being authentic AND comfortable.

Christmas 2007 DME received a BB gun. She loves to shoot... thankfully not animals (as her father would like), but she enjoys target shooting. We are hoping to up her to a shotfun this summer and start some basic clay target shooting. She's quite a good shot, and she enjoys it so much and a special bonus is getting to spend time with Daddy.

Nan.....well her and the BB gun are another story. Not sure if she'll be ready for one for a very long time...if ever. She loves it, however safety is a major issue with her. However, Mr. Outdoors and I got a kick out of the fact that she needed the ear protection on with the BB gun as it barely makes the noise of a snap. We deduced that she does it to shut out our instructions! LOL

Over a week ago, Nan got sick. She had a high fever for 2 days, got better for a day and then one day after that she started projecile vomiting and it lasted for 24 hours. We waited to see if DME would get it and she did. Thursday 12:01am we would up to projectile vomiting and a low grade fever. Mr. Outdoors took off at 5:00am to go on a hog hunt in Texas/Louisiana for 4 days. So I stayed home with her on Thursday and disinfected the house. She was still sick on Friday, but felt a little better. Friday night more projectile vomiting and then Saturday was extremely weak and wasn't able to eat much. This made for a very down little 9.5 y/o girl. She was totally bummed because she was weak, sick and had to miss her favorite thing in the world....soccer.

So I took her to Mr. Outdoor's cousin to have her hair cut. She had been wanting it quite a bit shorter! Turned out super cute, except for the fact that she looks 11! Her Daddy will not like that. We finished the evening with stir fry, movie, and a mani/pedi.

Nan (almost 6.5) had her first T-ball scrimmage today and had a ball. Except that she kept forgetting to run the bases.

Mr. Outdoors has been galavating around and hunting. Apparently last night while he was hunting he was almost bit by a rattlesnake and then kicked it with his pistol! The girls are VERY impressed. Apparently he's bringing home the skin and the rattle. They can't wait.

Tomorrow marks one of my favorite days.... NASCAR at Talledega. I love this race, thankfully it happens twice a year. So tomorrow hopefully I'll be sitting in my recliner by noon and staying there until almost 5~! Am I delusional? We shall see!

Easter in pictures....

And also, not a Easter pic, but 6 y/o Nan getting ready to bat at her first t-ball practice!

Drop out....

I am officially dropping out of Sock Madness for lack of time. But I did more than last year. I didn't even complete Round 1. This year I completed round 1. Next year I'll aim for completing Round 2. Cool thing is I get all the rest of the patterns for free, but I'll get to them on my own time.

I honestly am completely burnt out from finishing Hank's Fleas and Bees blanket. Especially when I finished with only 45 minutes to spare before the Baby Shower! LOL

Fleas and Bees Blanket in progree March 28th, 2009, from Creative Knitting April 2009

Finished blanket April 5th, 2009.

I need to work on some hats for my friend Sadonna for her photo business and a few of the Baby cocoons.

This is such a busy time of the year for me. As a 5th grade teacher my kids have to take the OCCT tests which are a series of State Tests that basically test what my students know. They have to take them in Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies. It doesn't matter what I have taught them or how they have grown during the year. The entire year boils down to teaching for this test. The testing week is April 14th through 22nd. Once this is over I'll actually have a chance to teach the kids and do the things that we want to do, instead of teaching for a test. One upside of all the testing is that I'm not allowed to really interact with the students at all during the test, so I'll be able to get a TON of knitting done! WOO HOO!