Terrible Twos?

Here's what I think...so far, anyway. LD is starting to be afraid of everything that makes a loud noise. He has a temper tantrum if he doesn't get his way and he tantrums sometimes if he does. So I think he's in the terrible two stage, or at least dipping his little feet in! When does the fear stop? I run the vacuum, or start the mower, or a loud motorcycle goes by the house and he is nearly beside himself, quaking with fear. This morning I noticed it with the vacuum cleaner. Before he was curious and wanted to help me push it around, but today, he was a melting puddle of fear in the corner of the living room, shaking and screaming. Heaven forbid I even think about trying to cut his hair. Scissors are a "no, no" and if I even think about using the electric clippers he freaks out. (This child is in desperate need of a haircut). Would it be too mean for me to just stick him in his highchair and buzz away for the minute it takes to cut his hair and for it to be over and done with for the next 4-6 months? He'll cry and scream and upset all of us but he'll forget about it after 10 or 20 minutes. I just don't know the boundary line on this one. I worry all the time that I'm not being sensitive enough to his feelings. The problem is his size. He looks like he should be 3 or 3 1/2 yrs old and know better. BUT, and yes that was a big BUT, he's not. He's not even 2 yet. He's is usually such a good boy. I hope his fear stage is short and he doesn't cringe at loud noises anymore. I know he'd love to ride on the tractor. He sits on it and pretends to drive it but when I offer to take him on a ride he has a meltdown. "Noisy," is all he says, over and over. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and see what his tolerance is. Then I can try to ease him over it or wait until another day to try.

Hopefully this afternoon we can go up to the Mall and pick up my Dad's Father's Day gift. I know it's early but I wanted to order it before they went out of stock. We're getting him a Weber charcoal grill because his old one has rusted apart! He'll love it, I'm sure! I'm also hoping that while we are in town, I can persuade hubby to stop at the LYS. I'm anxious to increase my sock yarn stash. With that said, LD still has to nap sometime today.

It rained for the first time in nearly 3 weeks this morning! Yeah! It's not enough but it's a start. Hopefully it will rain off and on this weekend and really soak everything. Dad is getting ready to plant his garden this week and I'm ready to finish planting our flower gardens out front. They look really nice so far. There is still some work to do before they look really good.

I was able to do several inches on the sock for my niece yesterday afternoon. It was so beautiful outside. After I put LD down for his nap, I took up my knitting, a drink, the monitor and my mystery novel and went outside for some quiet time. I knit for at least an hour plus, then I switched to my mystery novel, "Murder Walks the Plank," by Carolyn Hart. She's one of my favorite authors and I admit to being a bit behind in the series. Maybe while we're out, I can pick up the next few in her series. Anyway, it was lovely out there sitting by myself with no crying or screaming or whining child clinging to my leg. (It's really not that bad!)

I still have not started on hubby's Henley. I don't know why I keep putting it off. I think I just want a big block of uninterrupted time to be able to cast on and work the neck. There is a lot of marker placement and increasing and I don't want to miscount the rows. Definitely a project for the quiet of evening.

Well, I suppose, I've rambled enough. LD is playing on the porch and I should go hang out with him. We have to go pick up Daddy at work at noon so I need to get a move on if I want to play with LD first.

Have a lovely weekend all! And, Happy Knitting!

Apple Blossoms & Air Planes

LD, Grampa and I went up to the ridge last Friday to visit our local apple orchard. Grampa knows the people who own the orchard (he works their farm stand for them in the fall) and they were happy to let us drive into the orchard and walk around. We had Dolo doggie with us and when I finally stopped the car I don't know who ran faster, LD or Dolo! In any case, we had a wonderful time. The apple blossoms are so plentiful this year that the orchard owners have hired kids to come in and prune the blossoms. If left to grow on their own, there would be so many apples they would never grow larger than a plum. So pruning the blossoms will allow for larger apples. Anyway, it was beautiful there. Dolo ran around sniffing everything and leaving his mark. LD and Grampa walked all the way down to the end and back again while I took some photos. Take a look:

This past Saturday we went to the Rag Wing Fly In Air Show at the local airport. They had all kinds of single engine planes, experimentals, sport lights, ultralights, and a few beautifully restored bi-planes. I ended up taking a bunch of pictures of the planes and neglected to take any of LD! He was such a good boy. He ended up being more interested in watching the planes taking off and landing than the ones parked on the tarmac. In any case, here are some samples of what we saw that day:


Grampa had a great time there and so did we. Unfortunately, LD's patience level wore out after about an hour. Not too bad for a 22 mo old!

Today Grampa filled LD's little pool while we brought lunch to Daddy. When we got back LD was so excited to go "swimmin'" and see the "wah-ta." It was a little too cold then. After lunch we went back out to the pool and I let him kick and splash around for an hour. It's above 80 out there and I'm sure it felt great to be wet! He LOVED it! We'll have him go in again after we go pick up Daddy from work today. This time he can splash his daddy instead of me!

On the yarn front, I've decided to sacrifice the beautiful Lamb's Pride wool I bought for myself. It was originally intended to be a sweater coat for me. Now it is destined for a Henley Neck Down Pullover for my darling hubby for Christmas. Since he doesn't read my blog, I'm not giving anything away!!! He doesn't care about what I'm knitting and since he thinks he knows what this yarn is going to be used for, he won't care what I'm doing! Sneaky, eh! I just got the pattern in the mail today, so I hope to cast on either tonight or tomorrow during LD's nap. I don't know how I feel about knitting with worsted weight wool in the summer but I feel if I don't start now, it might be too late later. In any case, I'll be making some socks, too, so that will break up the heavy wool. Speaking of socks, check out these babies!!! My first pair! (Just ignore the horribly white legs!)

This is it for now. Hope you all are enjoying the wonderful weather we're having...that is if you live in Southern Maine!

Happy Knitting!

Green Struggles

So here's a tip for those of you trying to work some "green" cleaning methods into your daily routine. For cleaning your stovetop, in my case, a gas stovetop that fortunately is a new, sealed model. Sprinkle some baking soda on those tough baked on spills that have cemented themselves to your new stovetop. Add a solution of vinegar and water, 1/3 C v to 2/3 C w w/ 1 T fresh lemon juice to cut the smell, and watch it bubble. Use a damp cloth or damp sponge and scrub away the stains. It works like those Mr. Clean sponges with some added elbow grease. Make sure you rinse the surface well or it will streak and leave a gritty residue. Also, BIG TIP HERE: Make sure you DO NOT clog the gas outlets on the stovetop. Baking soda hardens to a cement-like substance and requires the strategic application of a putty knife and sponge. Yeah, first hand experience. In spite of all that, I'm sticking with the above to clean. It's safer than all those chemical cleaners.

The vinegar and water solution works really well on glass, too. Use a clean, dry cloth to wipe it down. Very limited streaking. My dad hates it, though. Even with a little lemon juice to cut the vinegar smell. He's too old school!!

I haven't experimented yet with Borax, though I understand it does an excellent job of deoderizing the stinky areas like, toilet bowls, trash cans, diaper pails and can really make your china shine!

On the knitting side, the socks are done! I've got a picture of myself wearing them but it needs a little editing. I'm still working on the baby blanket and I've cast on for a pair of little socks for either LD or my 4 yr old niece.

Got to run, LD is getting into his daddy's cookies!! Arrrggghhhhh!!!

Pictures

So I tried posting these pics last night but for some reason Blogger wasn't too friendly. It's working better now so here you go!

This one is LD's Memere, Auntie and Cousin. Cousin was out cold!

This one is my sister with LD.

Here is my sister with LD again but here she's modeling her sweater.

And lastly, my sock! I'm about 2/3rd's done its mate and I can't wait to wear them! I'll definitely be doing more socks. I think I'm going to make a rainbow pair for my oldest SIL and some nice warm yellow socks for my MIL for Christmas this year.

It's time for LD's nap so...Happy Knitting!

Yeah, Sister!

Sister is home from school and opened her belated birthday gift...the French Girl Fantine. She LOVED it! She was so excited she tried it on right away and, of course, it looks absolutely beautiful on her! (Pics to follow). She's doing so great. She's done her exams and already has her classes and apartment squared away for her Senior year. Saturday morning she's going to be taking her MCATs and is not too sure how she'll do. She doesn't feel like she's had enough time to prepare what with all her other classes and whatnot. I think she'll do better than she feels she will. She has to. This exam will affect her future for Grad school and getting into a good Med school.

Well, off to finish dinner. The college student will be home from studying at the library soon and will be hungry for dinner! Pictures of my beautiful sister will be posted later!

Happy knitting!

Summary

Where to start...where to start...hmmm. Well, first of all, I can no longer write about the lives and drama of those that work for McD's. Hubby and I decided that we no longer needed the extra $7.25 an hour that I was making seeing's how he triples that amount with OT. He can do in 5 hrs what I did in 15. So, no more who's sleeping with whom. In a way, I'm sad about leaving. It was a great job with little responsibility and I worked hard enough to make a difference. I had fun and met some quirky people so I'll miss having that outlet. Yet, the drama was weighing heavily on me. I found myself getting mired into the muck and caring too much about something that was detrimental to my mental and spiritual health.

Speaking of, as I digress, there is entirely too much lethargy and unconcern for spiritual wellbeing. I admit, as one who struggles on a daily basis with the idea of faith and God, it is difficult to maintain the kind of behavior necessary to glorify Him. I found myself eroding and I didn't like it. I figure I have a hard enough time as it is - I don't need the added temptation to stray. Any time we would get into a conversation about God it wouldn't turn out well. I had a girl flat out tell me that she no longer believed in God and nothing I could say would change her mind. Granted she had some serious issues that contributed to her lack of faith. Still, I felt sad for her and I still pray for her.

Back to the summary, next on the list is LD. He's doing great. He's growing like a weed and is as busy as a beaver. How's that for a metaphor! He's fun and exasperating all at the same time. I expect it's normal for nearly two years old! I love that kid more than I ever thought possible. He's been reveling in the outdoors. Now that all that nasty snow is gone, we've been outside nearly every day. He loves it. We've built a fenced in area for him right outside the back door. Once we move his sandbox and get him a play set he'll be ready to go! And, I won't have to traipse all over chasing his backside! (Good exercise, though!)

On the sticks, or just off: My sister's fantine sweater is finally finished and it looks terrific! I just have to sew the antique French button on and wrap it up for her. I can't wait to see it on her. I hope she likes it. I bought enough skeins of Lamb's Pride worsted to make myself a long 3 season coat with moss stitch lapels. I'm planning on casting on sometime soon. I've found that my current project is my priority - I've finished the first sock and have cast on for the second one! I LOVE doing socks. Turning the heel and picking up the side stitches were so much easier than I ever thought. I just followed the directions and with only one hiccup I managed to do just fine. I still have the baby blanket in my bag, though there isn't much going on with it right now. I'm also going to do a quick project here in this coming week - I need to knit and felt a case for our new portable GPS system. We are loaning it to my Dad and sister for their week long drive back down to Atlanta. Also, my MIL just came back from Ireland with a brick of gray heather yarn (12 skeins) and two huge hanks of aran off white yarn for me. JACKPOT!!! I still have the felted tote bag floating around in my mind to do, too.

Sad note, Dad had to put his dog down several weeks ago. Poor guy had cancer and was really sick. We had no idea what was wrong with him. He was tested for everything and it all came back negative. So the vet did exploratory surgery on him and found the cancerous cells. When the results came back as positive she was quick to call my dad and tell him that he did the right thing in putting Jordan down. There was nothing they could've done for him. Very very sad. My little dog was really attached to him and has been trying to find his place now without another dog around.

My new car is a dream to drive. She is a wonderful, dependable, skippy little car with quite an attitude. Still have no idea what to name her, though!

Word of caution to all you glasses wearers *PLEASE* remember to take your glasses off and place them in their proper place BEFORE trying to have sex with your husband! Yeah, I rolled over mine and snapped them right in half. Talk about putting a damper on the mood! So I visited my old childhood eye doc and for $20 he set me up with a new prescription. New spectacles will adorn my face by tomorrow eve!

What else, what else.... Oh, I'm sure I've forgotten something! But I need to sign off and go get my little BooBoo. Sounds like he's waking up from his nap!

Anyway, I'll remember what I've forgotten as soon as I post this, I'm sure! Happy Knitting!