2012... 2013

Today is a very special day!  Yes, it's New Year's Eve, but it's also my baby Dodo's FIFTH birthday.

How did that happen?  Five years.  Already?  It's not real.

We're not having a real celebration until next weekend, but she did get a couple things today.

Crazy Birthday Cake hat (Snappytots pattern)

Panda Bear hat (improvised)

I didn't finish her Dodo hat, but she really didn't care.  I made her some brownies and they got to enjoy some sparkling cider to celebrate her birthday and NYE.  Bill took the girls out for breakfast AND lunch today, so she was definitely spoiled all day long.

I decided to clean up my photos on the computer.  So I thought I'd share some highlights of the year...

 Started off the year by getting to go on my first (and probably only) cruise!

 Bill's Aunt and Grandmother came to visit

Isabelle turned 6 and Bill's mom and her boyfriend came to visit.

 My parents' apartment burned down.

 Our trip to Moro Bay State Park

Olivia turned 8

 The Color Run!

 Our Crazy Christmas Tree

 Snowpocalypse 2012

So... what's up for 2013?

I have an afghan in the planning stages.  I'm learning Tunisian crochet and making up my own pattern as I go along.  Because I have to be complicated like that.  It's going to be a Sock Monkey theme.  I can't wait to get started.  I'm just waiting on my yarn.  I ordered it online because JoAnns had the yarn I needed on sale and I wasn't going to make it to the store in time because of the Snowpocalypse.

I have my half-marathon training going on AND I've started Turbo Jam.  I bought a Fitbit and hope that will help to keep me on track and focused.

I want to use my phone camera less and my real camera more.

I want to just enjoy this year.  Be proud of myself.  Continue with my goals and just make this a great year.

Happy New Year to all of you.  May you make 2013 the best year of your life to date.

I've got POWER!!

So... how was your Christmas?  Did Santa bring you something nice, or were you naughty this year?  Hmmm?  I got mostly gift cards and cash.  I won't complain.  =)

We went to my parents' for Christmas Day, despite the threat of snow.  We had a good time and the girls were spoiled with a Princess Dream Castle and bows and arrows.  We left there about 5pm, and the snow had already started.  It took us THREE HOURS to get home.  It was awful.  Three hours in the van, driving 20-30 mph for 70 miles... with three over-tired, hyper kids.  Good grief.

We got home and got the kids to bed, just in time for the power to go out.  On the way home, I had noticed several friends posting on facebook about their power going out and I just had a bad, bad feeling about it.  Here in Arkansas, snow usually means massive power outages.  Because it's Arkansas and we don't prepare for this.  Our last White Christmas was probably decades ago, so no one really thought it would happen.  But it happened and shortly after getting the kids in bed... boom, no power.

We woke up chilly with a thick blanket of snow on the ground outside.  We got several inches.  I was supposed to go to work, but the roads were terrible, so I stayed home.  The girls played for about 5 minutes in it before deciding it was much prettier to look at from inside the house.  

So, we sat around all day Wednesday... no power.  I went into work for a few hours today, but came home to... no power.  Luckily, our house is really well insulated, so with that and the gas oven, we were able to keep it from being too uncomfortable inside the house.  The girls were so stir crazy that I was ready to tie them to a chair.  Then, about 8pm tonight, the lights came back on.

Such a relief!

Hopefully the road conditions will improve tomorrow so that Bill will feel safe enough to take the truck and leave me the van and I can get the girls out for a while.  But it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so I really don't have much hope there.  We'll see...

Zoe's Zebrunicorn and the Dumpster Tree

The girls are busy coloring in their giant coloring books and I'm relaxing with a cup of coffee before we get ready to go to Grandma and Pawpaw's house.  I thought I'd share the final handmade gift this year... the Zebrunicorn!

I used the same pattern as I did with Olivia's unicorn.  There's really not much more to say about it.  =)

But the tree...

Lord, the tree.

We waited until the last minute to put up a tree.  I made a deal with the girls that they could have the tree if they cleaned up after themselves, and they failed to keep their end of the bargain.  So we waited until this past weekend.  Bill was supposed to come home Saturday night and I'd help him get our artificial tree out of the attic.  He was late, I was tired.  I went to bed.  I woke up at 2:30 am to loud voices.  We had a tree.  Not the one in the attic, though.

Bill cut it down himself.  It was growing at work, in the fence behind the dumpster.

I can't make this stuff up, guys.

Kinda gappy

A little too tall

And thorny

But he was so happy.  I don't really like real trees.  I don't like the smell and they're messy.  But he was happy.  So, we decorated it.

We had to secure it to the wall.... it fell over twice.

Yeah, he went there.  

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas, y'all!

It's not staying up much after Christmas.  Bill didn't even put water in the stand... 

I can hear it now... in 20 years "Isabelle, do you remember the year Daddy brought home that tree from the dumpster at work?"  Making memories....

Merry Christmas, you guys!  From my crazy family to yours!

Hobbes has a girlfriend

I told you that Isabelle wanted me to make a friend for Hobbes.  A girlfriend, to be exact.  I wasn't really excited about making a girl Hobbes, but I think she's pretty cute.



I used the same pattern that I used to make Hobbes.  She's a lighter color than Hobbes and I made her smile.  Isabelle says Hobbes looks sad, so I figured his girlfriend should look happier.



I still wish I could have made a Calvin... I may still try to at some point... but I'm glad Hobbes has a girlfriend, too.  They make a cute couple.



(Boy, Hobbes is looking a little rough.  Eh, it just means he's been loved...)

Rosey Ripple Afghan

I get to cross something off of my 37 List!  I have completed my Rosey Ripple Afghan!



I started this way back in summer as a way to break up the monotony of the Rose Field Throw (which is no where close to being complete).  I am giving it to my Mom for Christmas.  It's only a lap throw... it's about the size of a baby blanket, really.  I didn't make it wide enough to be anything else.  But it would be good to curl up on the couch with a book and keep the tootsies and legs warm... and my mom does that a lot.



I used the Churchmouse Vintage Crocheted Blanket pattern.  It's a paid pattern, but worth it.  I will absolutely use it again.  I've never been a big fan of ripple afghans, but this one won me over.  Every time I worked on it in public, it definitely got attention.

I used Caron Simply Soft in Pistachio, Persimmon, Country Peach, and Off White.



It's very possible that I used a larger hook when I started it than I did finishing it, that or the fact that I was working amigurumi at the end but not at the beginning (my tension is much tighter with ami, so it probably carried over)....  the beginning is a little looser than the end, but it's not incredibly noticeable. I don't think so anyway. 

I think the Rose Field Throw will take much, much longer to finish.  I'm still contemplating just making it a pillow cover.  I have a laundry list of other projects I'm dying to do.  =)  As usual.

Hermoine the Unicorn

I have completed one of the girls' Christmas lovies! 



This is Olivia's unicorn.  I used this pattern.  Bonus... it's a free pattern!



I really loved this pattern, with a few exceptions.  The nose kind of is a little too round for my liking.  One of my favorite things, which is also the other exception (bear with me) is that you attach everything as you go... there is no sewing on of the ears or legs, you crochet them into the head and body as you are making them.  I absolutely love that there is no assembly at the end.  However, it does make it a little awkward to crochet at times.  But it was worth it knowing that nothing could fall off later.  Like Olivia's cat's tail. 

The hair is Red Heart with Love in Fruit Punch.  I'm not a huge fan of variegated yarns, but I really like this one.  I think it was perfect for the hair.   The body is just I Love This Yarn in white and the horn is gold something or other... it's the color of Hobbes' girlfriend.  She just needs to be assembled.  I'm so close!

Zoe's Zebrunicorn is almost finished.... it just needs the mane and tail.  Same pattern.  Stay tuned!

37 Things To Do While 37

Originally, this blog was a 101 things to do in 1001 days blog, but I never finished it.  1001 days is a long time to keep up with a list of things to do.  But hopefully a year isn't.  This is a list of 37 things I want to accomplish before I turn 38 on December 6, 2013.  (There are actually more than 37 things.  I couldn't help myself)

Fitness Related

• Walk a half-marathon (complete 3/3/13)
• Walk the River Trail loop
• Do Turbo Jam (started 12/28/12)
• MS Walk (5/4/13)
• Heart Walk (4/20/13)
• Diabetes Walk (4/13/13)
• Mud Run (can't do, same day as SWHM)
• Go to Yogathon
• Get below 240 (2/22/13)
• Get below 230 (5/29/13)
• Get below 220
• Get below 210
• Get below 200
• Climb Pinnacle Mountain
• Go to the waterfall @ Petit Jean
• Read "It Starts With Food"   finished 1/4/13... highly recommend, by the way
• Soaring Wings Half Marathon (registered, it's 10/26/13)

Family Related

• Family portrait
• 3 dates with Bill (5/20/13)
• 3 dates with Olivia
• 3 dates with Isabelle (6/5/13)
• 3 dates with Zoe
• Take pictures of the girls in my wedding dress 
• Take a picture every month with ME and the girls (January, February, March, April, May - done)

Crocheting

• Finish my Rose Field throw/pillow
• Finish my Vintage Ripple throw completed 12/22/12
• Make another afghan (begun, progress less than slow right now)
• Make a doily rug
• Crochet a mandala

Sewing

• Finish my green quilt
• Finish my lantern pod quilt
• Make a "coloring book" skirt

Miscellaneous

• Pay off van
• Get a new tattoo
• Get new glasses 
• Get a pedicure
• Paint the washer and dryer
• Make a motivation board
• See a movie... in a theater... not a kids' movie.