First Day of School

After Simon's 5th birthday, he also started Kindergarten this past Tuesday and Hannah started 3rd grade. Some days I wonder where the time has gone.

Here they are in the requisite 1st day of school photo.
My "baby" who was all excited about school.
But, there was a wee bit of apprehension before....
they finally took off and left all the parents behind to go to their classrooms.
Hannah with her friend, Wendy, shortly before she ran off to the big kids playground!

Happy 5th Birthday Simon

We had a small party at McDonald's yesterday for Simon.

His "ice cream" birthday cake (the kids don't eat the cake anyway).
Hannah with Reece.
Simon & the neighbor, Blake.
The whole crew, including Elizabeth on the end.
This morning...with his new bike and presents.
Riding his new bike!
My new phone...I know, it is pink and I am not a huge pink girl but, I like it anyway. At least it won't blend in with the black inside of all my purses!

Sewing...and a surprise

One of the gals at work is having a baby so...I made Pirate washcloths, bigs, burp cloths, a huge receiving blanket and then a light blue receiving blanket with embroidered circus animals.
I also had this on my doorstep this afternoon...the 2008 Knitting Calendar a Day. I got it free for submitting a pattern they did not take but hey, I am always open for free.

Mystery Stole 3

As some of you might remember, I tried the mystery stole along last year and did fine until I got to the part where I had to pull my provisional cast on off of cobweb yarn. Um, it didn't work.

This year, I joined but saw the initial clues on other blogs and did not want to knit another triangular shawl but a rectangle and so did not start but.....it is a rectangle afterall.

This is a photo from the group and it is gorgeous.

I gotta do some stash diving because I know I have two balls and think I might be able to worth with a 3rd close but not the same colored ball to make the 1200 yards. I just have to find the 3rd, almost matching ball that might be in my storage locker...and I am not digging in that thing in 110 F heat!

LACE LEAF SHAWL FINISHED!

I finally finished the lace leaf shawl this past weekend but didn't block it until today.

It is probably about 1000 yards (the skein was ~1200 yards) and it is huge!

You can't see it but there are beads all over the shawl and it is a wee bit heavy. I can't wait until it dries. Of course, given the 100 F temperature today, it won't take too long.
Necklaces...they have been collecting space in boxes in a drawer PLUS they get tangled so.....I had this towel rack for another reason in the house so I pulled it out for my necklaces and it looks great and keeps things clean and untangled.

Happy Independence Day

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

We went to the Circus.

Hannah came home from day camp painted up like a clown. Unfortunately, it did not last until Saturday for our trip to the Circus.

I had two extra tickets so we brought along two neighbor girls, Ellen (l) and Moriah (r).
For an hour before the circus, you can go down on the floor and see many of the performers up close and personal.
The girls tried on some costumes.
And, a group photo on our way to the car. We got very lucky with parking and parked in a lot right across the street. The extra $3 was totally worth the ease of getting the auditorium and not having to walk blocks in 110 F heat!
We then went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the west side of Phoenix! Yes, Kristina, it was La Mexicana! Food was as good as always and they had a kids menu, who knew??