this week

I wanted to take a quick minute and let you all know that this week is Banned Books Week. I find it so frustrating that people criticize books they've never read, but to try and ban them is just ridiculous to me. Granted, I realize parents have the right to monitor what their children read (and they should monitor it), but eliminating books from schools or libraries just because you have a personal objection to them seems so medieval. (Okay, I know there's a better word for this, but my pregnant brain cannot come up with it. Ironic, no?) Anyway, I've been steadily working my way through the list of the 100 most frequently banned/challenged books (I feel it's my duty to give the government something to do. Did you know that according to the Patriot Act, they can obtain copies of your library records without your knowledge? Fabulous, isn't it?), and I figured I'd share my information, in case anyone else is annoyed by the Big Brother-like intrusion of our current administration. So, if you feel like celebrating your freedom (and have time), grab a book from that list (or preferably check it out from your local library- just in case they're watching you) and get reading. Might I suggest my favorite book series of all time? It just happens to be first on the list.

a little boy's paradise

Our town had Touch-A-Truck day today. Kids were allowed to sit in and climb on over 30 trucks (not to mention play with buttons and levers and of course, blow horns). There were all kinds of different vehicles just waiting to be explored- fire trucks (new and old), bulldozers, line trucks, plows, car carriers, tractors, an ambulance, a giant dump truck, even a ride-on lawnmower. Let's just say Magic Baby enjoyed himself a bit.

Hubby's cousins own that last one, and they gave Magic Baby a hat, which makes him look like less of a dork than the sun hat does (although personally, I think it makes him look way too grown up, too).

Then, on the way out, there was a baby snapping turtle just sitting on the path. (Somehow my husband can find animals wherever we go- even if he's not looking for them.)

The turtle was cool, but not nearly as exciting as all the trucks (in Magic Baby's opinion, anyway).

Overall, another great day- and I'm even blogging about it in a timely way! Go me!

these are days

Not to make anyone who has a job or kids that are in school or any other responsibilities feel bad, but want to hear how Magic Baby and I spent the day?



Running errands? No... (although he did tell me that he wanted to go shopping this morning instead of going "someplace special." If only he'd behave in a yarn store).



Doing housework? Clearly, you're new to this blog.



Sleeping? Only 'til 8:30 (what can I say, the kid rocks sometimes).








Give up? Here's a clue:


That's right, we hit the beach. And don't let the picture fool you (it was actually taken the last time we were there; I forgot the camera today) there was nobody there. (In case you're wondering though, yes I do dress him like that whenever we're in the sun- I have an irrational fear of sunburn.) It was a great day- not too sunny, a nice breeze off the ocean... and if the dern seagulls hadn't stolen our entire plastic bag full of food, right from under our umbrella, while we were swimming and the rude guys behind us just watched the rats and did nothing to help out the fat, extremely pregnant woman all alone with her toddler (I'm guessing on this part, but trust me- they seemed like the type), it would have been an absolutely perfect day. As it was, it was pretty sweet. And oh, did I mention that I was at the beach today? Just checking.

Randomly, as I was telling Magic Baby how we got to go to the beach while everyone else we knew had to work or go to school- I'm nice like that- my aunt and uncle walked up to us. Although I had to amend our discussion ("Apparently, not everyone had to work today..."), it was really nice to see them and Magic Baby had a great time finding shells and rocks with them, getting buried in the sand, making sand castles and splashing in the waves. Only in the smallest state, though, are you pretty much guaranteed to run into at least one person you know every time you leave the house. But I digress- the main point of this post is to say that I had fun at the beach while you were all working. Take that all you paycheck-getters!

made by me

Being the prompt mother that I am, I took the kids to get their birthday pictures done today. (Yes, their birthdays were six months ago. Why do you ask?) Here are the results.

That's Magic Baby in his Little Star Sweater and Big Sister in her Pirate Sweater (which I finally seamed up- it's only been waiting since March. That's how prompt I am). Personally, I'm very pleased with these pics. I think The Picture People always does a great job capturing the real essence of the kids. Don't you agree?

vacation, have to get away

So much to blog about, so little time.

A few weeks ago, my family and I took a trip to New Hampshire. I suppose I should qualify that statement by mentioning that my entire family went. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. We were all there. More than 40 of us in 4 condos. Yup, 40. For an entire week. And honestly, it was great. Really.

We took the kids to Storyland, an amusement park geared at little ones. (Only 10 of us went that day- it was a small trip by our standards.)

Magic Baby loved the train ride through the park, which is good since that was practically the only ride pregnant women were allowed on. Yup, that means I spent $24 to ride a train, a mini-Ferris Wheel and a carousel (where I didn't even get to sit on a horse). Not to mention walk approximately 800 miles. Oh, and to see the joy on my kids' faces. That made it all worth it. Totally.

Okay, so he was really cute on the carousel. See the shirt he's wearing, though? It's an official Storyland one. Wanna know why he's wearing it? Come on, I bet you do... It's because he got carsick and puked all over himself on the way there. Of course, I, being the uber-prepared Mommy that I am, had nothing for him to change into except long pants (which my aunt had convinced me to bring). This means that Magic Baby was carried into the park wearing khakis and a Patriots sweatshirt that's at least four sizes too big... and we had to buy him a new shirt when we got inside. It has a train on it, though, and it was less than $10 (which is surprising), so I guess it could have been worse. Still, pulling over on the Kacamagus Highway was the highlight of my day, although riding home in the wonderful smelling car after all that hiking was great, too.

We learned our lesson, though. This is how Big Sister and Magic Baby kept themselves occupied on the three-hour drive home from NH. They covered themselves with pen. It wasn't pretty (or easy to get off), but it was a lot better than dealing with vomit.

About 20 of us also invaded Clark's Trading Post, where we saw the trained bears and I watched everyone else go on the bumper boats and go rock climbing and do other fun things that are not for pregnant people. Magic Baby spent much of the day shaking his fist and yelling "Scat, you old goat!" which is what you say to Wolfman, the old mountain man who chases and tries to board the train. If you've never been, don't ask.

It's a Clark's Trading Post rule that when the train goes through the tunnel (yup, another train ride), you have to cover your ears and yell as loud as you can. Magic Baby enjoyed this, but not as much as Big Sister did.

That's her standing behind me on the train, screaming her lungs out. At least she had the decency to cover my ears.

This fabulous teddy bear is handknit from real bear fur! How cool is that?! (I tried to get a better picture of it, but it's behind glass and the glare was horrid. Plus, people were giving me funny looks. Clearly, they were non-knitters.) There's a lady from Clark's who collects the bears' fur when they shed, spins it and knits it into teddy bears that are then raffled off. (The money goes to a local shelter.) There are only six of these bears in existence. Obviously, I think this is amazing, and I would have spent the whole day looking at the bears (there's a boy one too, but the glare was even worse on that one) but my family insisted we move on. Considering I had just spent all day not doing anything fun, you think they would have indulged me a little, but no.

And we hung out at the pool. A lot.

My husband, dad and some of the teenagers also played this Assassination game we made up. It involves drawing someone's name from a hat and using a water gun, well, to assassinate them. There are lot of other rules, too, but basically they all have to shoot each other as stealthily as possible (other players can't see you do it or it doesn't count). I know it sounds weird, but the game is actually a lot of fun (although you get really paranoid, since anyone could be out to get you... I'm not even going to tell you about what happened when someone had to use the bathroom), but I chose not to play because, honestly, there's not much about me that can be described as "stealthy" right now. (For the record, I won the last time we played.)

New Hampshire Assassins

Overall, my kids loved vacation this year, and while Hubby and I didn't get much rest, it was worth it. Magic Baby's favorite part was waking up to a condo full of people every morning, while Big Sister enjoyed the pool, and while I didn't get much knitting done, I was able to squeeze in a baby mitten (cast on during the Olympics and knit for the Ravelympics) and I got to teach my (also-pregnant) sister-in-law how to knit.

Overall, a great (if exhausting) time. And honestly, I can't wait to do it again... in a year... after we've all had a chance to recover.

play ball... and run like hell

About a month ago, my husband got a notice from work that in a few weeks his company would be having a barbecue at McCoy Stadium (home of the Boston Red Sox's minor league team, the Pawtucket Red Sox), complete with free tickets to a game. We decided it would be a fun time and penciled it in our planners (um... okay, I wrote it on the calendar. In crayon, 'cause it's all I could find. And I didn't exactly remember to send in the response on time, but that didn't matter because Hubby's work reminded him. The point is, we were all set to go to the game, all right? Geez, stop criticizing and focus here, people). A few days before we were to go see the Sox, it was announced that David Ortiz (a.k.a. Big Papi) would be playing a few games in Pawtucket as part of his rehab for a recent wrist injury. Well, it turns out he would be playing on the night we were there. This was cool for a number of reasons. First, I love the Red Sox. Not that I'm a big sports person, but I'll admit that I'd rather watch a baseball game than a football one (sorry, Amy), and I believe in rooting for the home team, even when they couldn't win a game to save their lives. And, since I grew up five minutes from McCoy, minor league games were a regular summer event for my family, so it's always nice when I get to go back. Also, Big Papi is a legend in these parts. He's an incredible hitter, and he just seems like such a big lovable teddy bear of a guy; he's become one of our favorite players (although I'll admit to being partial to Jonathan Papelbon as well. That guy's just nuts; I love when he dances to the Dropkick Murphys' song on the field after a big win). And of course, there's the fact that Hubby and I rarely get to take Big Sister out without Magic Baby tagging along. (I decided, since the game was at night, and since the game was sold out thanks to Big Papi, that bringing a 2-year-old was a bad idea.) All in all, it seemed like a fun, inexpensive (unless you factor in all the food a pregnant woman must consume during the course of a game) time and we were all excited to go.




Here's a recap of our Big Trip to McCoy.

Here's Big Papi stretching before the game. Our seats were behind the outfield, which affords a great view... if you don't mind looking at baseball players' backsides, and if you don't mind flying objects coming directly at you.

Here's The Man (at his third at bat) hitting a home run. I love being able to say I saw Big Papi hit a home run. It's one of those stories I can't wait to tell my grandchildren. Yeah, I'm like that.

Here's a view of the stadium, right before the spontaneous thunder, lightning and wind started. We tried to stay to watch Big Papi's fourth at bat, but something about standing on the metal bleachers right under the lights while lightning struck nearby didn't seem like a safe idea to me. So we left, and (of course), just as we exited the stadium, the sky opened up. Torrential rain. Lightning and thunder simultaneously (not a good sign). And the group of us running down the street, dragging our screaming eight-year-old, looking for my dad's car, because parking had been so bad we decided just to have him drop us off and pick us up, which would have been a great idea, had not the heavens decided to surprise everyone with a sudden storm. Quite a picture, no?

Once we were safely out and had collected the boy (and dried off), I started thinking about the game, though, and realized a few things. While it's true that metal bleachers and a pregnant woman are not the best combination, and while the wonderfully unhealthy stadium food was, well, unhealthy, and while the storm was unexpected, a nuisance, and a little scary... overall it made for a great night. Good memories were made, and good times were had by all, and really, isn't that the point? So I guess, while it wasn't exactly a perfect night (did I mention it was way too hot to knit?), it was pretty darn close. And I'm glad to have gotten a chance to be there. Lightning and all.

let there be knitting

Recently, MadMad published a post on her blog in which she admitted to sometimes possibly not being a perfect knitter. Now, I'm not one to judge, but honestly, I can't figure out where she's coming from. Take my knitting, for instance. Early on in this pregnancy, I took a hiatus from all things woolen, as I was too tired to even contemplate picking up the needles. More recently, though, I've had a bit more energy and have of course devoted that to housework. No, I'm just kidding. I devoted the extra energy to knitting, of course! Care to see what I've been up to?

First, I made the Baby Cargo Pants from Knitty, and while I did not take the time to check my gauge, I think they came out okay (if a little smaller than I would have liked, but that's my own fault for tempting the knitting goddess, right?).

(I apologize for the darkness of all the pictures in this post. I really have to start taking my knitting pics during the day.)

Project Specs-
Pattern: Baby Cargo Pants from Knitty
Yarn: Di.Ve' Zenith (an incredibly soft, squishy merino that I absolutely love and which happens to be on sale at Webs right now!
Started: June 3, 2008
Finished: June 18, 2008
Comments: The pattern calls for cargo pockets to be added, but I decided to wait until the baby's born. If it's a boy, I'll add pockets, if it's a girl, I'll probably embroider little flowers or something. Also, the original pattern calls for elastic to be added to the waistband, but I used ribbon instead.
I love this pattern because it's the first time I got to make a hem. If you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it. It is way cool.
Next up, a winter bunting-thingey for the new baby. I knew going in to this that there were quite a few problems with this pattern, including some with gauge, so I actually knit a gauge swatch, followed the errata listed on Ravelry and proceeded to knit. I even knit both legs at once, because surely the knitting goddess, who smiled favorably upon my last project even though I so blatantly disregarded any notion of gauge, would be benevolent once more, since I had actually knit a gauge swatch this time.

Of course, you know what happened.

I got almost halfway done with the front when I finally faced the fact that the dern thing was a bit too small. Just a little, mind you, as this picture shows.
'Cause newborns generally have 4 1/2 inch legs, right?

Yep, that one got frogged. I swear I'll try again, though. I mean, the kid has to wear something in the cold. Plus I really like the yarn, the legendary Cascade 220 (which I bought at Webs during their awesome, spectacular spring sale, the same day I saw the Yarn Harlot and got to meet a bunch of bloggy friends in person).

While I gathered my courage to figure out what the hell went wrong with the baby bunting (I mean I had a gauge swatch, people!) I decided to start Magic Baby's winter jacket, since he so rudely outgrew the last one I made for him.

I'm using Cascade Ecological Wool and Zoe Mellor's Robin Hood pattern. The yarn (which I also purchased on that wonderful trip to Webs) is much softer than I originally thought, which is good. It was also a really great price (ah, Webs, how I love thee) and since it's 100% wool, should definitely be warm enough for the boy. The pattern itself is all cabley (interesting without being too confusing for a pregnant woman to follow) and I really really like it. (My original plan was to knit myself a Central Park Hoodie so we'd sort of match but not too much- that would be creepy. I think I'll wait 'til next year, though, as I am roughly the size of a small country at the moment and refuse to knit anything for myself using my current proportions.)

The back knit up nicely.

As did the front left panel, and most of the front right (which is where I am at the mo').

I am now at the point where I'm almost out of yarn. See, when I originally bought it at Webs, I got enough to make the jacket if I used one strand of the yarn at a time, but when I knit the gauge swatch (there I go again, being all proper in my knitting) I found out that I actually had to use two strands held together. Now, most of you in a similar circumstance may have come to the conclusion that you needed to order more yarn before you were this far into the project, but I was in denial for a bit. Now, though, I'm almost done with the right front side and have maybe half a ball left. I'm guessing that's not enough to make two sleeves and a hood, so I'm going to go ahead and order that extra yarn now. Yep, I'm nothing if not proactive.

While I'm waiting for the order to come in, let me clue you in on some "design elements" I inadvertently added to the pattern.

Notice anything?

See how the left-side button band is ribbed and the right is moss stitch? Well in the original pattern, they were supposed to match. Where's the fun in that, though? Instead, I figured I'd misread the pattern entirely get a little funky with it and hope to god the ribbing doesn't stretch too much because there's no way I'm dropping and reknitting all those stitches.

Also, I decided that instead of casting off the shoulders and sewing them together later, I'd just use the three-needle bind off. I'm really proud of how that worked.

Did you know you're supposed to work the three-needle bind off on the wrong side of the knitting? Yeah, that'll need to be fixed, although it did make a very straight line of stitches.

In conclusion, I'd like to tell my dear friend MadMad that she should hang in there with her knitting and not consider herself a failure just because she made one sweater that looks like a cat hacked furballs all over it. I mean, with enough time and patience, she too could be knitting up such wonders as The Baby Bunting of Tom Thumb and The Mismatched Winter Jacket With The Painfully Obvious Seam. I'm living proof that any knitter can be a good knitter. All it takes is a little practice.

Seriously, are those for the same kid?!