October

Today is seriously the last day of October?

My poor neglected blog

I honestly cannot tell you what we have done the past few weeks!

There has been some knitting. A little bit of reading.

Not a whole lot of picture taking

There has been thinking. I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo where you write a novel in 30 days. 50,000 words. I think I am nuts for doing this. I have never really enjoyed writing fiction. Although I have an active imagination. I need to just step outside of my head and write and see what comes out. I think I might surprise myself. A big plus and what takes (most) of the pressure off is that it is a rough draft and doesn't have to look pretty. 

I am mostly doing it as a personal challenge. To push myself. To give myself a project to focus on. I am hoping this will jump start me out of the creative funk I have found myself in! 

All of this to say that depending on how the words flow each day, and how much time that I usually use for writing here, or commenting on blogs....may be used for trying to get at least 1,667 words a day down.

On top of that we have a first birthday(!!!!!) and Thanksgiving mixed in there. 

November looks to be busy, full and lots of fun! 

I think a goal will be to at least write a weekending post here each week!  

Get outside!

It seems we've been having an awful lot of "moods" around here lately

You'd think I'd remember sooner that just the act of stepping outside for a walk around the neighborhood would help with those moods

When the walls of the house get too small

when I start to feel overwhelmed with all the stuff we have

and the thought that two birthdays and Christmas are looming

which means more stuff will be coming in

sometimes you just need to go out for a walk

to skip and jump through the leaves

pick up all kinds of interesting leaves in order to begin a leaf collection

make friends with the neighborhood dogs

and some people too

take a picture in front of a bush because "I match the leaves!"

marvel at the blue sky &

the big power lines in the back of the development

then come back home for a tea party and a treat

and a rest because walking all that way makes some little legs tired

and you know what?

the mood seems to lift.

Every. Time.

Weekending

The weekend began with rain....lots of it

so Saturday morning was spent cozied up inside making meatballs and a general tidy up of the house

then there was my nephew's kids birthday party

lots of kids

lots of paint

lots of fun!

Saturday afternoon was naps for everyone....even Ree!

running a few errands

spaghetti and meatballs for supper

and a relaxing evening of reading after the girls were in bed

Sunday was a tough morning even though it dawned bright & sunny

everyone seemed in an off mood

I needed to step outside by myself for a few minutes where I captured these pictures

that and Mass helped everyones mood

There was rest time for Ree & a nap for V

Momma watched football & finished up her Monkey sock

Daddy napped too

then it was off to the nephews family birthday party

and early bedtime when we got home for everyone

How was your weekend?

Linking up with Karen

I spy...

*an orange sky

*the world waking up

*God's Eyes that we made yesterday 

*my almost empty coffee cup

*a yoga mat that hasn't been used in weeks

*toys that weren't picked up last night

*knitting strewn about

*my reflection in the window

*the sunbeam making the wooden floors glow

*a house that is lived & loved in

writing along with the WriteALM prompts

Yarn Along

What's that you say? It is Thursday already? 

Honestly I cannot tell you where this week has gone or what we have done! Ree has been stuffy all week. Not enough to say she is sick, but enough where I have noticed a significant drop in her energy level (as well as a significant drop in her talking). We have stayed close to home for the most part. Doing some art here and there, watching too much tv, you know. All the usual stuff when kids aren't quite themselves.

I have been working on some small knitting projects. 3 more baby hats to add to the NICU pile. A few washcloths after reading Donna's post about sending along a few hand knit wash cloths and some toothpaste and toothbrushes to Haiti. It's good to have a stash! 

I've also been writing along with Corinne's writing course Writing Naturally: October. I am loving it. It is really cementing my love for free writing. And lots of ideas, thoughts are coming out of it too.

So that's our life in a nutshell for the week. Nothing big and exciting going on (except for the fact that my sister is going to have a baby in the Spring. This knitting Auntie can't wait until she finds out if they are boys or girls. Did I mention that she is pregnant with identical twins?)

Weekending

Saturday was the epitome of rainy October: damp, gray & periods of rain

it called for lingering in pajamas and watching "just one more show"; a late morning run to Dunkin Donuts & since we were already out in the rain, a stop at Target

when daddy got home from work it was time for a nap for baby & Ree & Daddy time building towers out of used yogurt cups

and a few errands for Momma, with a stop at church & the library

then it was a family trip to the big box craft store where we all lingered in the art supply aisle. Nothing came home with us, but we added quite a bit to Ree's birthday & Christmas lists!

Saturday night was family movie night that was cut short by a stuffy, cranky little 4 year old who needed bed

Sunday dawned early and bright. The epitome of beautiful October: golden sun, crisp air.

There was Mass, another Dunkin Donuts coffee run, the decision to let go of all Sunday afternoon out-of-the-house plans due to a stuffy, cranky little 4 year old.

Daddy worked out in the yard, little girls napped/rested, Momma knit & read & puttered around picking things up here and there. 

All in all it was a pretty nice first weekend of October!

Linking up with Karen.

This week

This week was the slow that we needed

An easing into October

Filled with gray mornings

and

rainy afternoons spent reading, knitting and watching (too much) tv

But I believe, as we reach Friday, 

that it was what was needed. 

I hope you all have a good weekend!

Yarn Along

I was a busy knitter this weekend!

I have begun my Christmas sock knitting. These are the Monkey pattern. Which is easy & I love but for some reason if I work on them for too long I get a pain in my thumb/wrist. So I can only do one pattern repeat a day (or so. I cheated yesterday and did two in order to finish the leg. I am paying the price this morning). 

This weekend I finished Legwarmies for my little ballerina. They are too big. I need to take them in a little bit so they don't keep falling down!

I finished two books in the past few days. The Book Thief which I loved & couldn't put down. Made me think about the Holocaust in a different way...through the eyes of the Germans who didn't believe in the extermination of the Jews. 

And just this morning I finished One Thousand Gifts. This one took me months. So full of little gems that I couldn't read more then a page or two without having to put it down to think/journal my thoughts.

What have you been knitting & reading lately?