Things have heated up around here! We got up to 97 degrees on Wednesday, and I think yesterday was even hotter. We are supposed to cool down for the weekend, but I think Spring is over and Summer is here! Pool Time! Alli spent a couple of hours in the pool on Mother's Day, and slept quite well that night!

Speaking of Mother's Day, the Kids (with help from Ralph) got me a yarn winder! I spent part of Sunday going through my yarn organizing it, and winding up most of the partial skeins that I have. I got AJ in on it too, because it was fun to wind the yarn up. Not bad! They (and Ralph) did good! I was talking to my sister later that day, and told her about it, and we decided we really are getting old when a yarn winder is the perfect Mother's Day gift. (Of course, she is older than me!)

AJ is counting the days now until school is out. Both kids get out on June 9th. Not much longer! AJ has a full schedule for most of the summer.

I am officially finished with baseball this year. Note that I said I was finished, not that baseball was finished? AJ is done. He had his last game last week, and Alli played her last game yesterday, except....Jamboree. Jamboree is next weekend, and I am planning on being out of town, I think I am officially done! I haven't decided if I want to do it again next year or not. I don't know what benefits Alli got out of it. The benefits would not be from playing baseball, but would be from having to do something different. I enjoyed working with the kids (and the adults are great!), so we may do it again. Maybe if we keep working with her, she will learn to throw (on command)! I won't go so far as to say that she had fun, but she didn't complain too much.

Spring is here, finally! The temperatures are staying in the mid 80's, it is sunny, and the pollen is awful! Ralph planted my garden yesterday for me. (I helped while Alli was napping!) This year I only planted green beans, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers for our veggies. I did plant some flowers, but I don't know how they will come up. Someone has problems reading the package. I have an entire packet of seeds for each type in one 4 inch spot. When they come up, they will be so thick I won't be able to selectively pull any out!

Here is the progress so far on my Seraphina Shawl. Since the weather has changed, I don't feel a big push to get it finished, as the temperatures are running in the mid-80's, and will only go up from there. As soon as I go to work though, I remember why I am working on it. The hotter it is outside, the cooler it is in my work area. We are located next to some critical computer equipment, so they keep the temperature low around us. Luckily, everyone in my group would rather be cool than hot, so we don't complain until our teeth start chattering. It is hard in the summer to come and go....65 degrees inside, and 115 degrees outside, and that is before we go get in the car! To keep me motivated to finish it, I have started marking where I start so I can see my progress. As it gets bigger, it takes longer to make a row, and one row isn't as noticeable, so I feel like I am not getting anywhere. There is hope though. I just need to keep plugging along and not get sidetracked!

In my previous post, I talked about Alli's birthday. Today, while I was trying to get a few things finished up (like wash my car!) she helped herself to the extra cupcakes. She thought pretty highly of herself for finding them hidden in the microwave! I am still cleaning up cupcake crumbs (all over the new couch, of course!) She got a complete change of clothes, and will obviously need a bath tonight!

We had Alli's birthday party at school yesterday. There are a total on 10 kids in her class right now, so I made up some ""goody bags" for them, made cupcakes with extra frosting, and got a bunch of balloons to go out too. It went pretty well. I had a new dress for Alli, pink stripes on top and a pink skirt. She evidently has decided that she doesn't like frosting now, as she took the frosting off of the cupcake with her right hand and ate the cupcake with her left. She then proceeded to twirl her bangs with her right hand, which did still have frosting in it. No need to put mousse in her hair! She then had a cup of root beer, which she spilled down her front. Within a half hour, she went from clean to a mess! Needless to say, no pictures this time of her birthday!

I finished the pillow top for my new couch (done in a basket weave pattern), and the color is wrong for the new couch. It works great with the couch in the "den", so I guess that is where is will go if and when I get it put together as an actual pillow I was 3/4ths done when the furniture arrived, and I found out it wasn't going to work out, but I went ahead and finished it (good for me! I usually have a hard time finishing anything, especially if it isn't turning out like I want it to!)

Since I finished (sort of) that project, I am back to work on my Seraphina Shawl. I got a couple of rows on last night. I probably won't work on it much today. AJ has a game this afternoon, so I will leave work a little early and go to it, and then I have a meeting with the Pastor of the church I have been going to. Dinner may not happen until 8:30 tonight! And, I still have to bake cupcakes for Alli's classroom for her birthday tomorrow. I got the stuff for the goodie bags yesterday, so I just need to put them together and make the cupcakes. I am also going to get a balloon bouquet and take out to school. I can share the balloons with the other kids, too!

Challenger Little League

Saturday was Alli's first Challenger's Little League game that I got to see. She had most of her games rained out, and her first game that she played was when I was in Texas. Needless to say, Ralph forgot the camera for that game! She looks so cute in her uniform! She also looks older! Her birthday is Friday (day after tomorrow!) and she will be 9. This year, we will be having her birthday party at the school, and I still haven't gotten started on it. I know what I am doing today and tomorrow!

Alli didn't mind sitting on the bench, and she didn't mind hitting, but she didn't particularly like playing outfield or running the bases. (Like I am surprised! Those are the activities that require an effort!) She and Dad played third base.

The League is pretty special, and the coaches are great! I don't think Alli is that thrilled with it, but it is good to get her out and about in different activities, so we will problably continue with this actvity.

Swimming

Now I know Spring / Summer is here. Alli was very restless last Saturday (read that as cranky) and to cheer her up, we went outside in to beautiful weather. She immediately went to the pool gate, as if she wanted to go swimming. I think to myself - why not, the water is still so cold she will just get her feet wet, and then lie by the pool for a while, and if it makes happy, why not? The water didn't seem to be as cold to her as it was to me. Since I didn't expect he to actually get in the water, I didn't change her into her swimmies. She plunged in fully clothed, diaper and all. That will teach me! She didn't do a lot of swimming, just enough to get soaked.

Sunday though, was a different matter. I actually put her in her swim suit, and she and AJ swan for a half hour. Then AJ got cold and got out. Alli stayed in for another 20 minutes or so. Anytime I start think she doesn't listen to me, she surprises me. When I had had enough sun (and figured she had too) I told her it was time to get out of the pool. The little imp immediately swan to the far end of the pool and treaded water for awhile. It took me three time telling her to get out of the water before she reluctantly swam to the shallow end. Trust me, I was not going in to get her!

Furniture Pictures

I have pictures!
This is Alli - testing the couch!



This is the rug - the colors don't show as well as I like!

I got some pictures this morning while waiting for Alli's bus. Here is the pillow - so far - and a washcloth I made while on the plane. They are sitting on my new coffee table. Pictures are scheduled for tomorrow for my new furniture!

Well, vacation is over, and I still haven't caught up! I spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas (for business) and I am really behind. The good news is that the week is almost over, and I may get caught up over the weekend.

Texas was a lot of fun. Busy, but fun. The weather was cooler than expected - only in the 80's - so even with the humidity, it wasn't too bad. The conference was great, and I am looking forward to putting some of the things I saw and learned into practice.

Before I left for San Antonio, I asked AJ what he wanted me to bring him back. His reply - "a monkey". When I explained that I was thinking more of a T Shirt or candy or book, he still wanted a monkey. When I explained that Texas wasn't exactly known for their monkeys, he decided - he still wanted a monkey. I looked at LAX - no monkey. I looked at the hotel/resort - no monkey. I explained my problem to the resort staff - still no monkey. I did get a very cute armadillo (actually - two of them, one was for Alli). On the way back home, I looked at the San Antonio Airport - a MONKEY! Now AJ had both an armadillo, and a monkey. (And no where to easily stuff both a monkey and an armadillo. Luckily, my co-worker still had room in her luggage for me to stuff the armadillo!) Once we got home, the monkey was an instant success, and the armadillo is now an armo-piggy. (He is still pretty cute! He is sitting by the computer as I type.)

I didn't have a lot of time to do too much of my handwork. They kept us pretty busy with classes, and wining and dining us. (Not to mention lying by the pool, with the Cabana Boy stopping by frequently to see if there was anything else we needed to be completely happy. I could get used to that!) I did get about half of my pillow done on the plane. (Pictures should go up tomorrow.)

Spring is here, at least for a couple of days! I think the temp got up to the mid 70's today, and no clouds and best of all - no rain! With the last storm dropping so much snow, the mountains surrounding us are beautiful! I am just glad I didn't have drive in them during the storm. I was planning to go up to Susanville for Easter, but changed my plans when chains were required to get there! The kids don't have much fun trying to find the Easter Eggs in the snow anyway (unless we don't dye the eggs first!). There's not much challenge to finding dyed eggs in the snow.

AJ had his first baseball game today - unscheduled! His school schedule was for 11 games for the season, and the first 5 were rained out. So far as I knew, his first game was tomorrow. He called his Dad today (from school) and said they added a game in this afternoon. His team lost, but AJ got to play 4 of the 6 innings at first base, and managed to make the first out of the game by fielding a groundball. I wish I had known he was playing, but I don't know that I could have taken the time off anyway. I am still trying to catch up from vacation last week, and I took yesterday off to take Alli to Sacramento for a Doctor's appointment. I think I need to put in a little bit of work, once in a while! They may not miss me if I am gone for a while, but everyday? They might notice!

I am off again next week too. I am going to Texas for a Conference put on by one of the computer systems we use. It should be a fun trip, the other person from the Bank that I am traveling with is fun, and there is usually a lot of information at this conference. We leave Saturday morning from Redding at 7:00 am, and get back Tuesday night at 11:00 pm. If I am not careful, the bank may get used to me being gone and decide they don't need me!

I'm back from vacation - not that I really went anywhere. The kids were out of school for Spring Break, and a friend visited for a few days, and somehow the week just flew by. I didn't really have a list of things I wanted to do while on vacation, which was a good thing. The most strenuous thing I did was drive - and I like driving!

When I first decided to take vacation at Spring Break with the kids, I had visions of picnics in the park and walks on the River Trail. Instead, it rained. And rained, and rained. It is still raining. We did have one good day, and one sort of good day, but they came after my company went home. We even had to drive through snow on our visit to Susanville. Not what I had in mind for "Spring Break". I guess it was a change for my guest, as she lives in Texas now, and they have already jumped to summer. I promised to send some postcard of Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta so she can refresh her memory of what they look like.

I did finish the Easter Projects I had started, cross bookmarks and crocheted egg covers over plastic Easter eggs. I played Easter Bunny and delivered baskets to the Bank. Last night of course, I set up baskets for the kids. AJ isn't up yet, and Alli hasn't noticed them yet. She probably won't until AJ gets up and gets into his. Once she finds out there is candy inside the plastic eggs, she will pay attention!

I started a couple of new projects (I know, I know - I haven't finished all my other project yet!). One is the Seraphina Shawl, done in Simply Soft black. It is turning out very nice, even though I had to frog 6 rows (frog is "rip it, rip it"). I am almost back to where I was before frogging. I also started a pillow cover to go with my new furniture (coming next week!). This is a simple project, so I can work on it at meetings, etc. I found out that I have to concentrate on the shawl more than I thought (that would explain the frogging!) so I don't think I will take it with me when I can't concentrate solely on it. Hopefully, I won't have to frog anymore!

I finished the baby afghan! It took a lot less time than I thought it would, and it turned out very nice! I ended up doing it all in white. I think it would be nice with a border of pink or blue, but Joanne's didn't have the pink in stock when I wanted it, so it stayed all white. I took it in to work to show off, and everyone liked it. I am teaching (trying to anyway - she started real lessons with someone else, but she sees me everyday, so it is easy to ask me something) someone from work to crochet a baby blanket for her soon-to-be first grandchild. She was impressed with the afghan, and the time it took to make it!









I also have started bookmarks and plastic easter egg covers. I need at least 8 of each, and I have 2 bookmarks and 4 eggs done. I need these by the 12th, so I should have plenty of time to finish them. I keep trying different patterns for the egg covers, and I will probably have all 8 done, just trying patterns out! I still have to put tassels on the bookmarks, but they work up pretty quickly too!

Once again, it is raining! Yesterday, it cleared up for a minute, so I sent AJ out with his dog Jasper for a walk, to get him away from his computer games, and to give her a little exercise. They weren't gone but 10 or 15 minutes, and it started pouring. By the time they got back, they were soaked. They ran all they home, so they both got some good exercise at least, and Jasper got a bath! I am afraid to send him back out again today, even though it has cleared up for a few minutes (again). AJ has three baseball games scheduled this week, and Alli has one on Saturday. The 10-day forecast has rain everyday, so we may not start baseball yet! One of these days, we will have baseball here, but it will probably be a short season.