Third grade this year! I decided to try to to start a little tradition of taking goofy first-day pictures in odd years. This morning I got this.

So glad they're not yet too old to be silly.

Wee one came up to me in the library yesterday with a picture book she'd picked out, yelling "read this! read this! read this!" Usually I'm happy to satisfy her, but this time there was a problem.

I don't know Spanish! She was very insistent though and as the book was merely a picture book, I hoped I could guess or make up something to go along with the images.

I think, Hey, that's got to say princess, so I say "Princess".

Alright! Another easy one. "Daddy."

"Witch." Oh, I got this. I'm even learning a few words here.

"Mama." Child's play. Of course, it's a kid's book!

Whooops, no idea. Make something up. "Then mommy and daddy talk to baby Raul." Why are they suddenly talking to him? And what was with all the other people before? "And then..."

"Uh, baby Raul goes potty." What??!! This is the last page. Why the hell is he suddenly on the potty?! There were like ten words total that I couldn't figure out and you're telling me they were about the potty?!

Turns out, as I'm sure all you Spanish-speakers could have guessed all along, Todo El Mundo Va! means something like "everybody goes" and this book, much like the classic Everyone Poops, is a cute little potty training picture book. Mommy and daddy were explaining to baby Raul that everybody, even princesses and witches, have to run off to the potty sometimes. So Raul figures he could too.

I almost felt super lame about the fact that I, never in a million years, would have been able to guess that that's what this book was about. Almost. Until I looked up the book on Amazon. There it was Todo El Mundo Va! (Spanish Edition) with a picture and even a little pricing bundle with another Spanish-language potty book and a Spanish Dora book. BUT then this description follows: "Makes a great addition to bilingual and Spanish classrooms, as well as a resource for South American culture and history." Now, I may have missed the potty connotations as I was reading it, but I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if it had been about, as they say, "the giant Nazca Lines in Peru and the woman who revealed them to the world."

Hmmmm... since wee one liked this book so much, perhaps I should take Amazon's suggestion and also get her Markings: Aerial Views of Sacred Landscapes. I can't wait to see what Raul will do in that one!

Fourth of July weekend is always special for me since it's my birthday. And this weekend it was even more special because it was a BIG birthday. We celebrated my 40th by going to a little carnival, where I squeezed my 40 year-old body into this kiddie carousel bus for a ride with wee one.

Good times. (Although I was scared for a minute there that I'd never be able to get out!) Other big birthday events include a fun dinner out with the knitsmiths last night, a Red Sox game this week and a weekend trip to NYC! This turning 40 thing definitely has its advantages.

And now for the ugly. I'd planned for my 40 fat quarter quilt to be a present for myself for my 40th, but before I can finish it, I've got to improve my quilting skills. So this week I've been working on the ugly picnic blanket. Anyone remember that one?! As a warm up to quilting the kids' quilts and, eventually, my big birthday 40 fat quarter quilt, I'm doing my first time ever free motion quilting on the ugly picnic blanket.

 
front and back

It looks alright from a distance, but up close, it's pretty ugly! The meandering stipple pattern rocks (yes, I'm using a template!) but my stitch length is anything but uniform. Luckily, the quilt was meant to look ugly (so I won't feel bad dragging it to the playground and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on it and letting the kids sit on it with sandbox feet) so no amount of gorgeous quilting was ever going to save it.

click to see the big ugly!

Still, even with all that ugly fabric and all that ugly quilting, I'm growing very fond of it. Like turning 40, it's big, it's kinda ugly, but it's goooood.

Yesterday was Stitch n Pitch day at Pawtucket, the Red Sox's local minor league team. We went to the game with my in-laws, who expressed an interest in seeing a genuine American baseball game. (Baseball is so unlike any of the sports they know that it was a considerable task trying to explain the rules.) I had no idea that knitters would be there! But what do I see the moment we enter the stadium?

Webs bags!

I made the whole family wait for me while I investigated. I met the lovely folks organizing the event, got to see some of the knitted hats they were collecting for the Salvation Army and picked up a project bag with needles, yarn and some free patterns. We even ended up sitting right next to all the knitters.

Stitch & Pitch is announced and the knitters cheer

I had too many children for me to knit during the game (kudos to all those knitters who I saw knitting through the entire game, all 11 innings of it!). Wee one was so good though. Animal crackers and fried dough helped a lot. Despite no score through 10 innings, the boys were still into it, cheering "we need an out!" when the Bisons were up, "we need a run" when the PawSox were batting, and in desperation "we don't like the yankees" when those didn't seem to work.

After the end of the 10th (still 0-0), we moved on to the free Family Fun Fest they'd set up on a neighboring field. And while the boys bounced in bouncy houses and practiced their pitching, I watched the scoreboard (all I could see of the game) as we fell behind 2-0 in the top of the 11th, then in the bottom of the 11th scored one run, and another, and got a walk with the bases loaded to win the game!

It was thrilling! There was a home run, a walk-off walk, and knitting.

It's spring! Don't you just feel like treating yourself a little?

Here's my pile of lovely little spring treats: Kaffe Fassett's Country Garden Quilts (thanks mom!); Marvel Comics' version of Pride & Prejudice (I couldn't resist!); a spring color mini-skein set from Sunshine Yarns (soooo pretty!) and a Twilight-inspired mini-skein set as well (Vampire Baseball... love it!). And this afternoon the kiddos and I are treating ourselves to big bowls of popcorn while watching the Red Sox opening day.

Spring is here! Treat yourself.

Wee one is two!

Yesterday, she had little friends over for birthday cupcakes and an impromptu dancy party. And today we opened presents, including her new dolly.

She was a little disturbed when she first opened the box and found a dolly that wasn't quite her dolly. But once we got her old dolly and she realized this was a second one and no terrible fate had befallen the first one (something horrible like having her be her original pink color again!), she was okay with it. "New dolly," she said. And then, "two dollies!" Uh-oh. I'd originally made the new dolly so we could wash the old one, but I fear she may have other ideas!

Wee one's been feverish for the last two days and as of yesterday afternoon has taken up semi-permanent residence on the sofa, attended by dolly, blankie and her four humble servants, mommy, daddy, S and B.

What a busy weekend we've had! It all started with wee one's very first haircut.

She'd heard me telling the boys that it was time for them to get haircuts and at one point she just decided that she was going to get one too. After several days of her touching her head and saying "cut? cut?" I promised her we'd ask the stylist if it was too early to cut her hair. (Yes, she's almost two, but her hair is still very thin in spots and short around the front. The boys didn't get their first haircuts until after they were two!) The stylist agreed with wee one that it was indeed time for a little trim. She hopped up in the seat as if she'd gotten her hair done every week of her entire life and got a pretty little bob, a pretty little bow and was delighted.

Pitch Car

Then it was time for a little something special for the boys. On Saturday, I took them to a local board gaming convention (one we used to go to regularly before we had kids: no war games or miniatures or LARP or anything like that, just the German-style board games we play at home). The boys enjoyed playing Keltis, Incan Gold and No Thanks with our old gaming buddies, but their favorite games of the day were the flicking games.

Crokinole

On Sunday, it was time for my special treat, swap day at Knitsmiths!

I picked up some lovely mohair to use in a scarf (like in the Purl scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts) and some Cotton Fleece that might become another Smockie for wee one.

And for hubby, I worked a little each night on finally finishing up his t-shirt quilt. I know I posted it as being done last Christmas (um, yeah, Christmas 2007), but I hadn't actually done the binding yet. When I pulled it out to put the binding on, I decided that it needed a whole mess more quilting as well. So I spent the last few nights quilting a large grid through the centers of the blocks and sewing on the binding.

We've both been enjoying snuggling under it on the sofa. Hubby is very pleased to have his special quilt finally and I'm loving how soft, warm and cozy the flannel is.

So a little something fun for everyone. Not a bad four days at all.

B, after school: "Did you see the inauguration?"
Me: "Yes, I did. Did you get to see it?"
B: "Yeah!"
Me: "And what did you think?"
S: "It was sooooo boring."
B: "I liked the singing."

Yes, the singing was good. And sometimes even boring things can change the world.