Prairie Mama

I am sure I won’t be around tomorrow to wish you all a Merry Christmas, so I’m doing it today. I hope your day is filled with love, joy and peace. Oh, and laughter, we can never have enough laughter.
Here is a little something to start the laughter.

And, some pictures from this month. We’ve loved it, the snow, the baking and S taking pictures

Tuckered out on Emma’s birthday. He insisted on party hats. I love that boy.

Here is Miss A with her favorite way of nursing. Yes, she is nursing in that picture.

Here is a little bit of my Holiday Crafting. S and A are getting crowns for Christmas. We are also making S a sword and A a wand. But, neither are ready yet (come on, it’s only 3:30 on Christmas eve, there is still time!). But, here are the crowns I made for them. I also made A a sweet little dress. I got that fabric this summer and have enough to make myself a skirt also. Love it!

I hear you, but Kim, what about the knitting??  Yeah, nothing got done.  I’m pretty sad about it too.  I had pretty lofty goals when it came to my Christmas knitting.  I have one fingerless glove done for me, the sleeves almost done on S’s sweater, the yarn to make a jacket for A and am working on the socks for J.  I have to just come to grips with the fact that I am not a fast knitter, and it slows me down even more when I get to play Mommy…which is everyday!  So, I’ll take being Mommy and not getting much knitting done.  My babes are worth it, every second.

Happy Birthday Emma. Today you are 5. I just can’t believe it. It seems like yesterday and a million years ago all rolled into one.
Today we will celebrate your life and miss you immensely.

Love,
Mama, Daddy, S and A.

Tree up?  Check.

Ornaments on?  Check.

Gifts bought? Check.

Gingerbread house attempted? Check.

Treats for friends and neighbors done? Check.

So, that leaves…um, everything else!  I still need to finish the making part of gifts.  I am making a skirt, wand and crown for A and a lucky little girl who is the same age as Emma whose Mama can’t afford to give her gifts this year.  I also need to finish the crown I’m making for S.

This weekend I’ve been a busy bee.  On Friday night, we decided to make a gingerbread house.  I bought a kit at Michael’s, and it looked pretty easy.  That is until I tried to do it with a 3 year old and 18 month old.  Then it just turned comical.

 We bought our tree on Saturday, it is BEAUTIFUL, even if it does take up half of our living room   The kids love it though.  A kept saying, “Tree!” last night.   I do love the smell of a fresh tree.

I also made marshmallows this year.  Every year, we make treats to take to our friends and neighbors.  So, on Saturday night, I made candy cane marshmallows.  They turned out so fantastic that I decided to try my hand at chocolate marshmallows.  Oh.my.gosh.  They are HEAVENLY!

Really, these pictures don’t do them justice.  I’ve packaged them all up so that I don’t eat any more of them!!!  They are divine though, and super easy to make.  I am going to find some vegan gelatin for the next ones though.  They are super yummy.

My plans for this week are to make J a hat for Christmas.  We found this one and he really likes it.  So, I’ll get going on that.

I’ve also decided that I am not making a Wallaby for A.  She is going to get Swing Thing .

I’ve been a long time admirer of this pattern and have decided to finally make it!  I think she will love it.  I’ll make it big enough so it should fit her next year too.

Other than that…I’m just going to veg this week.  Emma’s birthday is on Saturday.  I can’t believe my baby girl would be 5 this year.  I’ve been teaching the 5 year old class at church this year and it has really been an experience to see what she would have been like.  I miss her.  I just miss her so much.

So many reasons not to take a 3 year old Christmas shopping.  This week, we’ve heard these things said in our house by the boy.

“DAD! We got you some old man slippers!”

“Mom! We got you some new pajamas!”

Good thing he’s cute.

Ok, I have been busily working over here. Not all knitting, but most. On Saturday, S had a birthday party for one of his best little friends, O. She is a princess in every sense of the word, sweet, feisty, lovey…you name it, that’s O. So here she is opening her gift.

Last Friday, we went downtown and S was wearing a way too small hat.  It was snowing and I realized that this child really needed a hat.  So, on Sunday, I let him pick out some yarn and I cast on for the EarWarmer Hat from Little Turtle Knits.  I love this pattern.  It is so quick and easy and really fun.  I finished it last night and this morning he was very excited to model it for me!

So, do you want to see his sad excuse for a hat that he was wearing?  I swear, this is SUCH an improvement!

We got that hat for him when he was 18 months old.  That was 2 years ago!!!  YIKES!  Poor kid.

Now for my WIP’s.

First, when we were in Kansas City, I got some YUMMY yarn.  This is Cascade Ecological Wool.  I really like it and can’t wait to knit it up.

I have also been feverishly (until I had to make a hat for someone!) working on S’s sweater.  I am doing the sleeves and they are SLOW going.  I am doing them both at once.  I keep telling myself that as soon as I finish the sleeves I’ll be almost done and he will be in the warmth of my love for the rest of the winter.  So, I keep knitting

And finally, those blasted socks.  I’ve been working on these socks for a year now.  I really want them to be perfect.  While we were on our trip, I was getting ready to do the heel when I realized that I’d only cast on 56 stitches.  Now, J is skinny, but that is a way too small sock for him.  So, I had to rip it out, completely.  So, I am working on it again.  My new goal is to get it done for his birthday in February.  I should be able to do that.  That is, if nothing else catches my eye and tells me I must knit it!

So, the holiday’s are upon us and I will be sewing a crown for each of my children, making 2 wands and a fairy skirt.  Those are my sewing adventures

Happy Holiday Knitting and Crafting to all of you!