101 Update

Another update for my 101 in 1001 list.

Here we go...

I never did post an update, or what my goals would be for June, but I did post in May, and I did not finish those items, so I'll just work from that point, ha ha.

4. Put up a clothesline to use in summer - DONE

Did this on June 3... used it later that day.  With all the rain we've been having, I've been afraid to use it again.

72. Try knitting one item - DONE
I finally completed this last week!  I'm thrilled!  I now know the cast on, cast off (in knit), and knit stitch.  And I figured out why I was getting an extra stitch in the beginning of my project.  Didn't gain or lose any stitches after that point!

So, what did I make?  A purse!  Simple, really.  I just knitted a 'scarf' 20 stitches wide (ended up being 21, but anyway), and many many rows long (I just went as far as I wanted... 3x the length of what I wanted the finished purse size to be).  Then, I folded it into thirds, opened the one third to be the 'flap', and using the yarn, stitched the two remaining sides together by 'knit stitching'.  It worked out rather well.  I braided 10 pieces of yarn to make the handle, added a little embellishment to the front, and voila!  My very first knitted project ever!

51. Create website for published works - DONE
You can read about it here.

9. Visit a museum - Nope... wanted to do this mother's day, but having just had a baby 2 days earlier, something told me this wouldn't happen.

66. Grow a garden (start) - Well, no veggies, but I have a cute little flower garden in front of my house right now.  I've been taking good care of it too!  I'm not sure when to say this is done... since it's flowers and not veggies.  I can't really plant anything more in that specific area, but I have lots of other areas I might make into a garden yet as well. 

71. Learn to play guitar - Didn't happen.  Perhaps I'll try again this month.

100. Get a massage - Again, didn't happen.  I need to make a phone call...

For the month of July, I'd like to work on any of the above items that I didn't finish.  I don't know about the museum thing, though.  We'll see.  Here are new things for me to work on.

62. Fix fire pit area

I really really REALLY want to do this this month.  I have a lot of yard work I wish to do, and I want to use my fire pit sometime this year. 

63. Level out yard
Another item I really wish to finish.  This needs to be done to help with the fire pit area, and our deck as well.  Currently, our stairs are NOT on solid ground on one side, but are perfectly fine on the other.  Yeah... work needs to be done.  As you can see, I've had this one on my to do list every week in June... with weather permitting next to it.

64. Remove dead trees from yard
This is something we started last year already, but there are a few trees that still need to be removed.  Not many, just a couple.  shouldn't take much work on my part... just a bit of nagging... >:)
 
95. Go to 3 different local festivals/fairs (2/3)
I'm hoping to go to one fair this month.  Please please please... M will LOVE it, and I love getting out!  Of course!

98. Go to an anime convention
We're planning on this, we just need to buy the tickets and I want to finish the costumes I started in fall last year.  I'll go even if the costumes aren't done, but I think it would be such fun!
 

Anyway, that's quite the list.  I know I won't get it all done, but at least I have a few things I'll focus on a bit.  Especially the yard.  I REALLY want to work on the yard!

How are your 101 lists coming along? 

A Baby Party

I have more photos for you!  Don't you want to see more photos?  Of course you do! :)

Saturday this weekend was Bram's Baby Bash.  It didn't end up turning out too well... not many people could make it.  There ended up being a funeral and another baby shower on the same day... ah well.  You win some you lose some.  It was a small get together with 2 of our friends and our parents.  I had other visitors on Friday and Sunday, too.  I didn't want it to be a huge thing, so I only invited Bram's grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts (some didn't see the invites until too late... ah well), and our friends.

On to the photos!

 M playing with daddy's Blackberry. 

 Happily waiting for guests to arrive.

 The cake (yeah... I didn't feel like blocking out his name and stuff...)
I was actually quite surprised at how well the leaves turned out. They didn't work with this tip properly in class... I think the icing was too thick in class for leaves.  I made it quite a bit thinner, and it worked so much nicer!

 Grandpa and the guest of honor.

 My friend, Rhonda, from One Step Forward.

 Of course, M was there too.

All smiles! 

Thanks to everyone who came!  Now I need to come up with another excuse to have people over... perhaps I'll finally fix the fire pit and can have a bonfire!  WOO!

Camping for Father's Day

For father's day this year, we went camping.  With two little ones.  Fun!

Ok, it actually wasn't too bad.  Bram slept rather well at night, and while we did have issues with M sleeping, she LOVED being outside.  Loved it.  Really.  We've got an outdoorsy type here, folks. 

I figured I'd post a few pics of our weekend for all of you to see.  Even though the bugs were terrible (I hate being lunch), with a soak down of mosquito spray and some sunscreen, we were good to go.  And on the beach they weren't as bad.  :)

Swimming at the lake.  M didn't like the water too much.  She was gung ho for it at first, but then she tried to touch her feet or something (as my husband says) and got a face full of water.  She did NOT want in after that... as you can see by the pic on the right.  Poor hubs could not put her in.  She literally tried to climb back up his leg.  It was kinda funny...

The guys made a large sandcastle.  There looked to be a storm moving in, and since our kiddos were zonked, we left before they finished it.  I saw a picture, it looked great!  Anyway, I just have pics of the work in progress.  :)

Kiddos and sand toys mix quite well with a pail of water.  (my daughter, niece, and nephew... we were quite the blanket full of young kids... 4 of them aged 2 and under!)

There was a play structure by the beach, and some swings.  M LOVED it.  She was so excited, especially when there were other kids to play with.  And Bram... he was just chillin.

Sand is loads of fun, didn't you know?  It doesn't matter if it gets into every nook and cranny, it's a pile of fun!  Bram didn't really wish to join in any of the sandy goodness, however. He was content to snooze in the sleepy wrap.

It was a good weekend.  I have to say, part of me loves camping (the outdoors part, walking, biking, getting away), and dreads it (the packing, cleaning up, mosquitoes, and lack of sleep).  I think going for only one night, or even just for the day, is good enough for me.  More so when the mosquitoes die off a bit. 

How was your father's day?

Garfield says "I Hate Mondays"

I wonder... is this the only thing I'm going to be blogging about now? Kinda sad, really. I just really haven't taken the time to go on blogger much lately.

Oh, and for the record, I don't particularly hate Monday, I just really don't want to do ANYTHING lately on Mondays... or any day that ends in 'y'. I just do it all anyway. Nope... I'd rather spend every spare moment walking outside (if the weather is nice and the mosquitoes aren't wanting to throw dinner parties), or in front of the Wii playing my new Mario Galaxy 2! I LOVE that game! And M loves watching all the bright characters flashing across the screen.

Anyway, on to the 'list'. Oh, lists, how I love thee (and hate thee... since thou makest me think that I have lots to do instead of video gaming... eth).

The challenge for the week is a combo of indoor outdoor... to scrub the entrance inside and out. Yup... it's a doozy... sorta. At least for my fly poop ridden entrance. Grab a cloth (or sponge, or scrubber, or brush), some soapy water, and get rid of the gunk on the walls the doors (around the handle is prime real estate for dirt to collect), wash the window (I have one on my door... it needs a good scrub) and make that entrance door area shine. I also did the office window, since it's right by my entrance, and now it is so clear and free of grime that it makes me smile to look at it. Oh, and any light fixtures outside could probably use a quick wipe. ;)

Anyway, now I'll just post my to-do list for the week... for the sake of posting it. Yeah. That's it.

To Do (focus, entrance/dining/living/hall)
- weekly chores
- dust in focus area (fun fun...)
- gardening (weeding, watering... ok, maybe not with all the crazy rain we've been having)
- ??? weather permitting, level yard, fix fire pit, and/or chop trees
- scrub entrance interior
- scrub entrance exterior (door and area)
- clean office exterior window
- work on costumes
- pack away some toys (for my own sanity)
- plan last 6 months of M's scrapbook

This week is looking good. I'm going on a date with my hubby tomorrow! So excited! No kiddos, just us (later to be joined by friends). We're going to see Star Wars in concert! To be honest, it's not so much that it's Star Wars, but that it's music, it's a concert, it's a date, and no kiddos for a night! Eeee! I'll probably miss them both after just 10 minutes... ha ha.

Anyway, I'm off. I think I might have a relax soak tonight... to help me sleep and all. It's amazing how I've suddenly been bonding with my bathtub lately. I never used to soak... what on earth happened? I'm hoping Baby Bram will sleep for 6 hours tonight again like last night. A few nights like this and I might graduate him to the cradle in the next 'room'... which is really just an extension of our current bedroom, but a little farther away then the end of the bed. I'm looking forward to 11 hour nights like my daughter has! :)

Have a great week everyone!

Today is Tuesday

Boring title? Yeah... I agree. Ah well, my creative juices aren't flowing very well lately.

So, what is this post about? Actually, it's the challenge for the week! This week, the challenge outside is to rid the sidewalk/patio stones of weeds. Since the indoor zone for me this week is the bedrooms, my challenge is to go through the clothes. Something I decided to do with my clothes is to hang them all 'backwards' in the closet. At the end of a month (or two... depending when I get back to my normal size), whatever I have not yet worn will still be 'backwards', and will go to the local charity. I see no point in keeping things I won't wear. I already got rid of a few items that I know I won't wear again anyway.

As for last week, how did you do on your challenge? I was happy to get the van clean, it looked so nice (even though it only lasted a day or two). As for the decorating in the bathrooms, I love the bit I did. It wasn't much (I got new liquid soap containers, and trashed the downstairs bar soap holder which was hideous, and just cleaned the upstairs one, then put the soap on the bar soap holder upstairs, and downstairs I grabbed my new bamboo holder to put it on... so nice and clean looking).

To Do: Bedrooms: June 20-26
- regular weekly chores
- exercise (did Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri (just a walk))
- dust bedrooms
- clean diaper pail
- flip mattress
- gardening (rid patio of weeds, do regular weeding)
- go through clothes (my own, find new place for Bram's stuff)
- level yard/ work on fire pit (weather permitting... which it doesn't seem to be doing right now)
- scrapbook
- work on costumes for July (hee hee)
- finish knitting purse
- finalize album pick pics, plan pages (did for months 1-6)
- print pics/announcements (just need to pickt them up)
- plan/invite to Bram's party (smile)
- cake (bake, decorate)

Yeah, I am finally going to do a party for Bram this weekend. So, I have to plan it. Which won't take much. It's gonna be very casual. The only real work I want to have to do with this one is making the cake. Otherwise, snacks are gonna be chopped veggies, popcorn, crackers... things like that. Easy... right? No games, nothing but 'drop in' for cake and to meet the little (or not so little, now that I look at him from his newborn pics) guy.

I haven't been keen on doing much more than the basics lately. Meals, regular cleaning, that sort of thing. I want out of the house, but the weather has been terrible, so that means going shopping, which means spending money, which I don't want to do too much of. My lawn is looking long... rain loves us this year (as do the mosquitoes... they are terrible), and getting out to do any yard work is near impossible lately. The second the sun is shining, I need to be out there, otherwise I will get nothing done. Really. We have one sunny day a week, then it's rain again. Sigh. At least I don't need to water the plants, right?

Anyway, good luck to you on your tasks for the week. I can hardly believe this month is wrapping up so soon. And I hardly did anything on my 101 tasks. I need to review those again very soon.