Good News/Bad News

Ella had a fantastic weekend. The weather was lovely, Clio is a fun friend, and she went on all kinds of adventures... The bad news is she seems to have lost her $400.00 glasses.
Last time I saw them:

Ron says we can use our tax return to replace them. I suppose we could also use it as a write off? Damn. I am frustrated.

You Are 54% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

A big 'ol post!

Things have been busy around here!

Last weekend we took Ella and Clio geocaching. It was rainy and chilly but we had a blast! The girls had so much fun tromping around in the mucky wetlands, and were surprized to find the caches were filled with toys! We went to one on the wiosh trail and one a t a place called Assylum Point park. BIG FUN. We wanted to go again this weekend but it is very cold, windy and (yeesh) snowing!

So THIS weekend we had Clio over night again! But no geocaching... so we had fun just hanging out around the house. The girls watched too much Sponge Bob

And got crazy hairdo's!

We got a call from the bookstore that Ella won the drawing for a Bunny prize so we headed down and picked it up. Thanks Apple Blossom Books!

We are hoping the Bunny can make it to our yard through all this windy snow. Brrrrrr, it is cold.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

More Knitting Pictures

Okay, here is the purse I made for Clio. It seems that she does not want this one, though. Ella does so it's no big deal, but Clio says she wants one that is "all pink" Hmmmm, I think I'll just try to come up with something a little more flashy and crazy for her. I have an idea in mind for using this cool silver fuzzy yarn I saw the other day at the store...

Sorry this is not the best shot of Clio... She was just way too into playing with the ball. She is having a sleep over at our house tonight and then tomorrow morning, if it's not too cold and rainy, we are going geocaching. It should be fun. I have little GPS units for each of them!

Well, I better go check on the gal pals. Have a grand weekend.

Arts & Crafts

I knitted this purse for Ella and she loves it! She wants to wear it every day and that is just plain cool! I made the shoulder strap a little too long wich is why there is a knot at the top. It's my first purse attempt photographed, but I have made one for Clio, too. That picture will be posted shortly. Here is Ella in her PJ's wearing the purse.
The colors are a bit funky because I was not sure how my first attempt would turn out so I used the odds and ends from other projects: yellow socks, pink socks, and her hat and scarf combo... All said and done , I am happy with the outcome if only because she really, really likes it.

Spring Break 07 the movies!

Here are some more movies from our trip to Two Harbors. It takes so long to upload them that I only seem to ba able to put up a few at a time. I'm just way too busy to sit and wait... Thanks again to Jenny and the gang for such a fun vacation!
Carl and his horn

The parade

Spring Break '07

In Like A Lion

No Kidding! We got dumped on by snow and sleet, but today it is 43 and very sunny. It's a nice change of pace... Ella had a successful sleep over at Clio's last night and we are looking forward to Clio coming here later today. I had to take an exam for Office Support people this morning down in Fond du Lac. All went fine but it's never fun to have to get out of bed at 6 on a Saturday to take a state exam, especially when your kid is at a friends house and the chance of seriously sleeping in for the first time in 5 1/2 years is spoiled.

On to other things, Work has been very busy because of Women's History Month AND I have added a second job at the University. I now also work for Women & Science. It's kind of a misnomer because the goal of W&S is to increase Math and Science participation from minorities as well as female students. But, whatever, I didn't name it. I just work there. I really like the job so far. I help coordinate conferences and assist with general office duties. In May I get to take my family on an all expense paid trip to the Wilderness Resort in the Dells. This includes free passes to the water park. I am hoping to have a super time! I think there is a similar trip in November, too. Two conferences a year.

Okay, here are some videos:

Ella and Clio dressing up to play fairies

Ella wearing a grocery bag mask and goofing around

here is a picture of some beautiful blue eyes...

Ella and I were talking the other day about her not writing on Sparklepockets. She said she was still thinking of a really good story to tell. It has been months! Sorry to all the folks who go over there to read her. Maybe she has writer's block? If she ever posts again I'll send out a link.

Time to sign off. Gotta play a board game with my sweet little baby.

Snow, snow and more snow!

We have had so much snow... It's kind of nice because it's not too cold out and the snow is so fluffy and pretty. Ella and Clio have been having some fun today.









I wonder how much snow we will get tonight? It reminds me of how winter was when I was a kid. 6 foot high piles of snow on every street corner. Sinking up to your waist in drifts... I was beginning to think that those days were gone forever. I hope you are all enjoying it, too!

Finally

I guess I just wasn't waiting long enough for the darn pictures... Okay, here is Ella eating pink heart cake and wearing her fantastic Mama-made valentines socks on V-day.
And a very fashionable shot of the perfectly fitting socks. I can't believe how easy the pattern was! If anyone wants to give these a try I can pass it on. They only take a 50 gms ball for the pair and knit on two needles, but I did need to use two stitch holders while turning each heel. If you have spare needles of the same size you could use those instead.

Maybe...

It seems I can post a picture from a different computer... So perhaps there is something wrong with my home connection? This cutie pa-tootie shot is from October 2006. It was the only picture I had at hand.

Darn it All

Blogger is currently giving me grief and wont upload pictures... Bummer!

A HIghlight From Our Trip

Kindergarten?

We just found out that the registration for kindergarten is TONIGHT!!! Oh my, where is that birth certificate? Why didn't we get the letter in the mail that all of Ella's pals got informing us of this momentous event? It's a good thing Clio's mom mentioned it to Ron today. We would have been so screwed. Kindergarten round-Up has a sloppy lasso.

Sweet

I can't wait to go get some!

Green Comics Presents

This is the best darn comic book ever! Thanks Buchermonster!

Knitting starts again!

The knitting group at work starts again tonight and I am looking forward to it. I have all ready made HUGE progress on my project: Ella's sock. I will get the other one started today and, hopefully, finished by next week. This little sock was pretty simple to make and it fits perfectly! But she does have two feet so I can't claim the project is complete.

Dear Mom and Dad

No, I am not pregnant! (JoAnn says you've been wondering...)
I am just trying to be a bit healthier.
Don't let this stop you from coming up to visit us! Ella would love to see you guys more often.

Brrrr. -15 is not my favorite way to start a day

It's very very cold.

I tried to upload a video of Ella giving a lecture on how the human body works. It's quite hilarious, but too many MB's. I may have to upgrade my youtube accounts to a "directors" account. It's still free, but you get to post bigger movies.

Due to the weather, the Hardys have decided to spend the weekend "home bound". Yesterday Ella did all of the cooking!

And she helped clean the windows.

Note the fancy tie-dye dress Grandma Andy sent from Florida. The very cold mailman delivered it yesterday and Ella fell in love.

Well, even though it is cold enough to freeze off parts of my body, I think I may go outside for a few minutes to get some sunshine. It's very sunny. I need a little fresh air. And we are almost out of toilet paper, the one thing I forgot to buy on Thursdays pre-freeze stock up shopping trip. Foolish.

Back to School

It's funny to think that my life revolves around semesters again, but it is true. Spring semester has started and I have been swamped with work! It should clear up a bit in the coming weeks until I get swamped again with March Women's History Month and all the programming it includes.
We are preparing for a cold snap this weekend by shopping today for everything we (and Grandma Peg) might need. We plan to spend the entire weekend at home in a nest of pillows and heated blankets. Ella said "Wouldn't it be cool if we lived in a magic world and our house was magic and we could just pick it up and move it south? Not for ever... just for a few days. Like a vacation!" I think it's brilliant. Our high temps are supposed to be around 1 degree.
I am really looking forward to our knitting group this semester. I am going to try my hand at some socks. I have no idea how to "turn a heel", but it sounds mysterious and strangely exciting. I found a pattern for toddler socks and if they end up too small for Ella I am going to give them to sweet little Esther Amelia. I hope they end up matching!
Hey, the snow just stopped!
Send us some warm thoughts... We'll need them.