Since Alli decided to be an early bird this morning, I thought I would update my blog. Alli woke up around 3:30 or so this morning, and never went back to sleep. At 4:45 she finally just got up (and I let her stay up). Before this, she was laughing and playing in her room. Since we run a monitor on her at night, she was keeping me awake too! More coffee!

Well, my pumpkins didn't win anything at work. Technically, the snake tied for third, but...the person running the contest didn't have two gift certificates, so being the good person I am (and being the one to count the votes, and it not being my home office, etc.) I conceded third to someone else. No big deal, but AJ was hoping we won. My department didn't win for dress up either. Since I am temporarily working at the Placer Street Office, I just decorated my desk, but everyone else dressed up big time! My department dressed up as heroes - astronaut, police office, fire fighter, nurse, solder and school teacher. We were beat out by the circus (Payroll Department) and the Information Services department (Good Girls Gone Bad - dressed in black and white striped prisoner's outfits, and they paraded through the bank in ball and chains - way too cute!) Too much competition this year.

I finished another doily - To the Point. I am not thrilled with this one - not my style! This is for one of my Yahoo Groups. I think it will make a very nice Christmas present for someone though!

I also took stock on my snowflake inventory. I have 35 done, (31 already stiffened). Let's see, I need at least 80, and there are how many days till Christmas? I think I will have to concentrate on snowflakes for a while and ignore the doilies! One of AJ's friends would like a pair of the fingerless gloves I made out of the camouflage yarn, so I can work on that in between snowflakes - just to break up the same-old, same-old.

Halloween is almost here! I am pretty much ready for it - not ever as much as I like though! I made pumpkin jars and filled them with candy for my co-worker's desks. They turned out really cute, and pretty quick to make!

I also made a "BOO" bookmark. I started to make one for my co-workers too, but....just didn't get that far, so AJ gets the one that I finished. Maybe next year!

The bank has a pumpkin decorating contest, and my parents brought me down some gourds that they grew (I have never seen this type before!), so....we have a "snake and mouse" grouping for the contest. They grew the pumpkins too. It may be hard to see the snake part, but it is cute. I will also do a "regular" carved pumpkin for the contest too. The competition gets tough sometimes, as the first prize is a day off with pay! Since the customers get to vote on the best pumpkin, you never know who is going to win. The bank also has a costume contest, and my "group" are dressing as "unsung heroes". I am out of the office that day (training at other office) but my desk will be decorated as a school, with books, an apple, a dunce cap, and a chalkboard. If I remember to get chalk today at lunch, I am planning on writing "out to recess" on the board.

Golden Goose Doily finished at last! I didn't think I would ever get this one done. I used a partial ball of thread (because I had just bought it a couple of weeks before) and when I needed a new ball, guess what - no thread! I eventually bought another brand and the colors are close enough you can't tell. I could tell working with the thread it was different - not quite the same feel. This one just might be a Christmas present for Alli's daycare provider!

Horse Therapy

Here is Alli's last day of horse therapy (until Spring). Her last session was on a Saturday, so I went along with Ralph and took pictures. We have to stay in the shadows of the barn so Alli doesn't see us, so the pictures are not as good as I would have liked.


The ramp

Alli on the ramp

The horse arrives


Getting Alli on

Loving the horse


Round and round we go


Alli


More loving


The crew (the lady in burgandy T-shirt is the therapist. The others are all volunteers!)



All Done!

Here is the "newspaper boy's cap" I made for a co-worker. It is not quite my style, especially in the camouflage yarn, but it is cute. Jasper was "helping" me for the picture too!

Here are the ribbons I have been working on (not very hard!) The one in front is supposed to represent the Autism Awareness ribbon, which has a puzzle piece pattern.

Replacement Poncho Finished

I finished the "replacement" poncho for Alli last night! I think it looks better in red! I have a request from the CFO of the bank to make a poncho for her granddaughter, so now I need to see what color she wants it. This poncho did not take long to make - I started it Friday night (barely started - just a couple of rows) and finished it Sunday night. Because the Homespun yarn frays so badly, I knotted each fringe - which seemed to take as long as making the rest of the poncho!

New Yarn! I found camouflage yarn the other day, and picked up a couple of skeins. The next problem, what to make? I found a pattern for fingerless gloves, and AJ OK'ed making them, and.....he likes them! I finished the first one Sunday, and the second one at his soccer game last night. I also got a request for a hat in the same yarn from a co-worker. I didn't know the yarn would be that big a hit. It worked up very nicely! I have also started a scarf for AJ from the yarn, using the Knifty Knitter loom. That is definitely a "work at home" project. The weather is turning - rain is forecast for today - so we are feeling the cooler temps. We were in the 90's last week, and now - the 60's! I think we are all glad it is cooler, it just takes a little while for our bodies to adjust! Hopefully the rain will put out the fires that have burning for a month, and the air will clear up. The last picture is AJ and his cat, playing fetch with his dog (wearing his gloves!)

Well, I finished Alli's poncho, but now it isn't Alli's poncho! It is a little too big for her, so rather than frog it, I am just going to make another for her, and give this one away to someone. It was very quick to make, and I really like it, it just is a little more "poncho" than Alli needs.

Last weekend I took AJ out to the local Pumpkin Patch with the Boy

Scouts. The scouts work a weekend at the Patch, and get funds donated to them, and this year, the owners of the Patch asked all the groups to come in and put in some "sweat equity". The boy's job was to repaint some signs that the Patch had. They turned out better than I thought they would. I spent 4 hours trying to keep five 10-13 year old boys (armed with paint) from getting too wild. They don't like the Moms to go with the scouts for the most part - because we do try to make them behave. Dads seem to be a little more easy going - boys will be boys type of thing. The other two dads that were there didn't seem to be at all concerned about the boys - paint and all! I'm just glad the signs turned out. They are placed out in the field, so you don't get too close to them (which is a good thing - none of us are artists!) AJ is on the far right in the picture - painting Donald Duck.

Here is my newest project - almost complete! I have a poncho for Alli almost done - just needs "finishing"! The pattern calls for a fringe, and I haven't decided if I am going to put one on or not. I like it the way it is, and it will probably be less fuss this way, but....a fringe may be cute too! I may have to fringe part of it to see how it looks! As you can tell, Alli is thrilled to be posing at 6:00 a.m. for me! I took some better shots that this one, but this is all the "saved" to my camera. I have had a few problems with it lately! I also have a "bad" picture of AJ and the latest Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. It came out a little dark, and a little out of focus - not too bad for being taken in the gym at one of the local schools! He is getting to be quite tall!

I have got to get back into the habit of writing again! The new school schedule is finally getting to be "normal", so now I need to get back to updating the blog daily, too! I did finish a couple of doilies lately - as you can see. My current project is a poncho for Alli. It is very simple - just double crochet around and around. I am using Homespun in light yellow, and on row 6 (out of 20!) It is a good TV project - not much thinking! My lists of Works in Progress (WIP's) and Works in Mind (WIM's) are growing! I need to get started on Holiday bookmarks for my "usual" Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts. I got started on my snowflakes, but haven't worked on them for a while, and I started making thread angels for gifts, and have two done (well one done, and one in pieces waiting to be put together. Between the Doctor's office, Boy Scouts and other "waiting places" I got a couple of washcloths and potholders done lately too!

WooHoo! Another birthday come and gone! Funny, I don't feel any older (and don't say "funny - you look it!") I did manage to meet one of my goals this year - I lost 10 pounds before my birthday! Now I just have to keep them off, and firm up what is left! I do have a plan for that, but I haven't started yet. Alli's bus is coming at 6:10 this year, so I have been thinking that I will take a walk right after the bus comes, and then shower, and get ready for work. We will have to give it a try here, once the bus schedule settles down.

Alli has started her horse therapy classes, and seems to be enjoying them. She is riding for about 25 minutes once a week. I haven't been out to see what they are having her do. Ralph takes her and said that a lot of the work is on building her strength and balance. This last session, they had Ralph move out of Alli's sight, and said she seemed to work better if she didn't have eye contact with Dad ("Save me Daddy - they are making me work!") She worked a little longer, and wasn't as adamant about stopping when she saw Dad. (We had the same issue when we did bike riding classes. Every time she made the loop, she wanted to stop by me. That one we fixed by giving her a piece of candy for each loop she made. Probably not going to work in the horse arena!)