Almost two weeks!!!

I was walking through the building one morning last week and saw what looked to be two large dogs in the front lawn. Upon further inspection, it was a pair of coyotes (male & female) out front hunting rabbits & birds. The female, who must have recently had babies, was just finishing off a rabbit.
Well, Simon "graduated" from preschool last night. They had a nice little ceremony. Here he is with his friend Zoe.

Getting his "diploma".
And posing for Mom!
On Mother's Day we went to Canyon Lake with my Dad & had a nice lunch.
The vista overlooking the lake in the distance.
After we got back to Dad & Linda's we spent the rest of the day just hanging out at their place and swimming in the pool. It was a wonderful day.

I am still knitting but it is the same thing........and looks the same only bigger!

Shoes..

Hannah has been wanting a pair of "high" heeled shoes since she had some when Dad & Linda got married 2 years ago.

It seemed like so many of the shoes for young girls have REALLY HIGH heels and I did not want her to look 8 going on 18.

So...she has been needing a pair of sandals for dressing up (or just hanging out) and I saw these when we were at Payless.

She loves them. She wore them to the baseball game and around the house that evening with her pajamas!!!

Gosh, she is growing up fast.

The Weekend

I signed up for the Knitter's Tea Swap for round 3. It is kind of like Secret Pal but only requires 1 swap so it is fun to put a nice package together and be done with it!! ;)

We went with Grandma Linda & Grandpa to Stitch N Pitch to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball.

There was a set up before the game with tote bags from TNNA and the LYS in our area.

The set up at the ball park.
During the national anthem, the miliatary opened up a huge flag. It was quite large since you can see it so well and we were A LONG way away.
In our seats....we only lasted about 1.5 hours at the game (as expected) because Simon was bored and tired. They also handed out Diamondback colored camo hats as you entered the game.On the way out they have this great demonstration with balls that go all over and end up going through a huge maze. That was probably Simon's favorite part.
This is the bag of goodies. Apparently not as good as last year. Some knit lites, crochet lites (both light up needles & hooks), some Bryspun straights, gauge ruler and yarn.

On the way home we hit Cafe Lalibela. We had the sampler platter below. It was really yummy and everyone got to try a little bit of something. Simon & Hannah liked eating with their "hands" but weren't 100% in love with the bread you use to scoop up the food. It has a bit of a fermented taste but they seemed to like the food and got a tummy full.
Still knitting my shawl and it is coming along nicely. However, the photo would look just like the other ones but bigger.

A Busy 24 Hours

I met Eva (who moved to the East Coast), Nancy and Heather at a YUMMY Ethiopian restaurant, Cafe Lalibela, in Tempe last night as she was in town for a wedding.

The company, well, it was wonderful since I haven't seen the ladies in months! I would definitely go back for the food.
On Saturday morning the kids & I met my friend Kristian & her hubby, Andy, at the Buttes Resort for an early morning breakfast before they head back to New Jersey.

With Andy & the kids.
We had a lovely buffet and they made the kids special pancakes.
After breakfast, the kids explored the hotel. It is set up above the freeway so we have seen it many times but never visited it so they could see the overlook.

As with any resort, the grounds were beautiful.
In the afternoon we headed over to a local park so the kids could play in the water. Our pool isn't quite warm enough even though the temperature was 101 F yesterday.
I aslo bought a new vacuum yesterday at Sears since the one we have had for 10+ years died (thank goodness). This was reviewed as one of the best vacuums for the money in Consumer Reports. It even beat the Dyson.

This is what the new vacuum picked up in the living/dining room and the master bedroom yesterday. Um, apparently our old vacuum wasn't working all that well.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Weekend....

Friday is my early day...I get off at 2 pm so we were able to go to the softball game of Hannah's softball buddy from 2 years ago in Kindergarten. Here she is with her good friend Kathlyn.

Simon...trying to show enthusiasm.
I have been knitting at lunch and late in the evenings.....I like easy repeating patterns like the Lace Leaf Shawl. Once you do a couple of repeats, it is relatively easy to remember the next row without being stuck to the pattern. I am about 1/2 the way through the 1200 yards of lace I got from Heather in the first Knitter's Tea Swap. I am going to continue repeats until I have almost no yarn left. This will live at my office until the sweater is finished....somehow motivation on stright knitting is hard to come by! You can't see the beads but I have added them every repeat and the yadd a bit o' sparkly and weight.
We had dinner with Grandpa & Grandma Linda last night and went over to the house for a visit. One of the neighbors had this lovely flowering cactus in the yard. The desert really is beautiful this time of year.
I am feeling MUCH BETTER from last week. Antibiotics are an amazing invention!

Ick....UPDATE

UPDATE: Not quite so sick today. I got antibiotics from the doctor and am feeling a lot better today. Not 100% but MUCH better than the past 3 days.

Thanks for the emails & comments.

I am sick.

Something at my new job does my allergies in EVERY DAY. However, towards the end of this week, something else has too.

I felt horrible yesterday and a bit better today but by the time I got home, I was ready for bed and it was my short day...home by 3 pm with the kids.

I have a class in 6 hours (why yes, I am awake at 2 am) that lasts for 4 hours and then I am off to urgent care because I CAN'T SWALLOW.

I think I might have strep throat. Ah fun...but I need drugs to get over it so, here's hoping that is what it is and I feel better by Monday. After 2 weeks at work, I have no vacation or sick days so I gotta go in.

Besides feeling sick, the new job is going pretty well. I am learning a lot but feel I can get a handle on the whole sector of the business and apply my knowledge to that area and maybe do back up for a colleague in the EPA side of my business.

I'll let you know if I get drugs later today.

Easter...

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Ours started early. I know you are shocked. There was hunting for eggs and having candy as an appetizer to breakfast.
Hannah found most of her eggs without a problem.
Here we are on the way to church. Hannah is wearing a dress her Grandma in Minnesota made and Simon an outfit she bought for him. He looks all grown up with a TIE!
The church has a nice play area because they have a childcare at the church too. They were pretending they were pirates on the boat.
The highlight was an egg hunt after church. The kids had a hard time waiting....
but once they were off, there were more than enough eggs for everyone.
Hannah & Simon holding their eggs.
I am knitting although this full time job and long commute is definitely cutting into my knitting time!! I do knit at lunch so have done some rows on the lace leaf shawl.
You can barely see them but I decided to add a bead to the tip of each leaf. It looks pretty in person and will give the shawl a bit of shimmer.
Off to another week at work so I am not sure there will be any great updates until next weekend!!!

The first week....

Here is what the road looked like as I got on the free way at o' dark thirty (5:45 am, wouldn't want to be late) on the first day. Um, I wasn't late.....I was over 1.5 hours early so..........I had a nice cuppa and a bagel!

About 1/2 way, the sun is coming up nicely.
Today, I spent a few hours shopping for work clothes because, after working at home for 7ish years (jeans and flip flops were clothing of choice) I needed flat work shoes (cuz I wore heels all week and my feet are KILLING ME) and more pants & skirts so I can take things to the cleaners and still have clothes to wear.

After I got home, we colored eggs.
Simon putting eggs in cups.....
And, the finished products!
After we finished, Hannah wanted to make a tissue holder for her Grandma in Minnesota. Simon, as you can see, is supervising! We'll post the finished product tomorrow...or later tonight.

Easter Egg Hunt/Party

One of our neighbors had a HUGE Easter part today at a local park. We didn't get the memo about the water area in the park so the kids played other places. Hannah played on the jungle gym....(thank goodness for shorts under her skirt).

Simon in the bouncer....
They met the Easter Bunny!
And went down the HUGE blow up slide.
Finally...getting ready for the hunt.
They let the younger ones go first...you can see Simon in the front with the green basket.
And Hannah with the older kids.
A fun afternoon had by all.

Busy week ahead....

Ok, I have knitted about 4 inches on the Barbizon Jacket. However, with almost 300 stitches on the needles, it is bulky and only gets knit on at home.
I started another Lace Leaf Shawl out of the dark green yarn I regained after the Wings of the Moth and a few other lace tries. It is nice, small and easy to remember and so...goes well in my purse.


I have been buying a fair amount of new clothes for the new job. I start tomorrow.....with a 1 hour commute each way. Hopefully, the house will sell by the end of the school year and so the commute will only last a few months.

New job means very few visits to SnB on Tuesday nights but something has to give and I can't see getting home at 5:30 pm or later, trying to feed the kids and running out the door.

Updates will be sporadic, at best, for the next little while.

I am excited & apprehensive about starting a new job but am determined to make it work since it is a great job and good company.