I talked awhile back about some changes we are making in our lives. One of the things I started really thinking about was the kid’s toys. Compared to some, they may not have a ton of toys, but in my mind they have way. too. many. When I started to realize that they weren’t playing with the toys they had, I determined that I was, in fact, right. They have so many that their play room doesn’t stay clean and then they can’t find the pieces of what they want to play with. And they have so many that they don’t know what to play with.

Generally, I go through their play room about once a month and re-organize all the toys, putting all the blocks together, all the polly pockets together, all the little plastic bugs together, etc. So, after a big re-organization, I decided to transfer about 3/4 of the toys to the basement, all sealed up and properly divided. Now the playroom stays basically clean and they actually go in there and PLAY with what they have. In a month or so, I’ll swap some of they toys in the basement for what they have now. It will be like getting new toys!

But I think the biggest reason I’m thinking about all this has to do with their attitude. I’ve noticed that they are just as happy with one My Little Pony as they are 10. Honor is perfectly happy to have four matchbox cars as he is to have 50. I was thinking about an attitude of thankfulness. Do my kids need to expect to have one in every color, or should they be happy with one or two?

I think of the toys that I had when I was little. I remember being SO happy to get ONE barbie for my birthday or ONE cabbage patch doll for Christmas. And, maybe because I only had one cabbage patch when my friends had five, I want to buy things for my kids. I can afford to buy Eden a new polly pocket and Honor a new set of legos, so I do. But I’m starting to first think about if I should, not if I CAN. My end goal for my children is to have kids who are grateful for what they have and who don’t expect to get a toy every time we take a trip to the store. And I hope that attitude will transfer into adulthood and they will learn to save for what they want rather than whip out a credit card and get it RIGHT NOW. It’s a lesson that so many of us have learned the hard way and I hope that I can spare my children that one lesson by teaching them to be thankful for what they have now.

I started knitting these socks at my mom’s house during Christmas. They only took me a couple days to finish. Gotta love that worsted weight yarn!

I knit these two at a time on a size 6 32″ Addi Turbo, toe up, magic loop. It took two balls of Big Mexiko, a worsted weight, self patterning superwash wool. I know that a lot of people don’t like knitting worsted weight socks because they’re too thick to wear with shoes, but I LOVE to come home from work and put these on my cold feet. They are SO comfortable! And if you do wear clogs (or God forbid, crocs) these would work great.

beep, beep, beep

beep, beep, beep

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

“Mom, the food needs you.”

Today I attended the funeral for my dear knitting student. I’ve lost very few people in my life (I am lucky) and death has always been a hard one for me to grasp. I keep thinking, “She can’t really be gone. I don’t want it to be this way.” As if my will power alone will change the course of history. I think it’s the finality of death that is hard to grasp. There is nothing else in life that is so absolute. It also brings to light the fragility of life. In an instant everything can be different. Keeping that at the forefront of my mind would change the way I live my life.

Sitting in the memorial service, I was struck with a thought. I don’t know if I can say this without sounding like an ass, but why does it seem like the people we lose first are the last ones that should go? The very best are usually the ones we can’t hang onto. Life is so terribly unfair.

I do know one thing though, my life is better for knowing her. Tangle is better for knowing her. She was a wonderful person who could light up a room and I will miss her so much.

Sunday
Roast Chicken and Baked Sweet Potatoes

Monday
Roast Beef with peppers, potatoes and garlic

Tuesday
either vegetable curry or chicken with salad

Wednesday
Beef and Mango wraps

Thursday
Chicken vegetable soup

Friday
Date night!!!

Saturday/Sunday
Salmon Tacos
Thin Crust Pizza (whole wheat tortillas, ricotta, veggies, mmmm…)

Better late than never, my year in review. I think all I really have to say about 2006 is that I potty trained Honor, but just incase you wanted more info: (I have to say, I can’t believe how much the kids have changed over the past year. Just one year ago, Honor was still sleeping in a crib and Eden BARELY had any hair!)

January
-We attempted to let Honor sleep without the walls of his crib.
-Eden went through a stubborn streak. In an attempt to get her to say things (like her memory verse and “thank you”) we bribed her with a $40 groovy girl car.
-Honor started carrying around collections of small toys that he called his treasures.
-I was accused of being a bad mom by the lady at the fabric store.
-We had the carpet cleaned. It lasted 3 days.

February
-I took the kids to our friends farm to see the baby pigs.
-Honor started wearing orthodics in his shoes and a fabric brace on his leg in hopes to straighten out his foot.
-Eden turned 4.
-I went to Stitches West in California with my friend Joelene.
-So began my drama with Bresnan cable service.
-I got a Nikon D50 camera!

March
-Honor got sick and puked for the first time. He really hates puking.
-We started potty training Honor. We were dumb.
-lots and lots of knitting projects were finished and I released my first knitting pattern for sale.
-I won an ipod nano from Blingo
-We adopted a 3 month old beagle and this website got a fresh, new look.

April
-I had an abscessed tooth and the worst pain of my life. 2 root canals and countless dr’s visits later, I had much less money.
-Honor plus potty training puppy = mad mommy
-Honor’s fascination with bugs began
-Eden’s hair was finally long enough to pull up into an itty bitty pony tail
-Jim turned 31
-Eden learned how to knit

May
-Eden got her ears pierced
-The yarn store I worked for moved to a location close to my house.
-Honor started wearing big boy underwear. I did a lot of laundry.
-We had to officially ban the “b” word (butt) from our vocabulary.
-Honor smeared the contents of his diaper all over the kids bedroom carpet. Twice. I ripped it out and painted their bedroom floor.
-A real starbucks opened, I emailed them because they wouldnt make my drink. They make my drink now.

June
-months of potty training started to kick in. For his reward, Honor was allowed to say the “b” word – just once.
-We took a nice trip over the mountains to Denver. The trip that is hereby referred to as the one where we went over the mountains and Eden was sick.
-The yarn store that I worked and taught for decided to close. I decided to open up my own store in it’s place.
-The kids took swimming lessons.

July
-We went camping with some dear friends in the rain for the 4th of July.
-I was busy, busy, busy creating my first ever newsletter for Tangle, ordering yarn, purchasing furniture, painting…
-The neighbors ginormous tree fell down, missing our house and theirs too. phew!
-Eden went to Wyoming with my mom to visit my Grandma. Her first trip away from me. We both survived just fine.
-I filled up the hard drive on my computer.
-Eden pulled a shopping cart containing Honor and two wooden chairs onto herself. We all survived that too.

August
-Tangle opened for business.
-Because I was working full time and the kids were being watched by various family members and friends, I began enjoying my time away from the kids. And felt guilty about it too.
-Honor CUT up a handknit sock scissors. He’s banned from scissors for life.
-Eden learned about the perils of country music.

September
-I turned 25, Honor turned 3
-We spent some much needed time up in the mountains. We even took the dog with us.
-Eden began declaring to everyone, “Daddy Cheated.” At monopoly Eden, at monopoly.
-Potty training really started to sink in. Honor celebrated with a trip to Chuck E Cheese.
-Jim and I both worked our asses off. (too bad not literally….)

October
-I experienced a slew of migraines.
-Jim and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in Glenwood Springs.
-Joelene came for a visit and we had a fantastic time.
-Honor had an ear infection.
-I had the joy of pulling glued down, puppy urine soaked carpet up from the cement stairs leading down to our basement.
-Jim spent some time visiting his sister.
-Honor was officially potty trained.

November
-I finished my Hourglass Sweater. I love it
-I took my first ever road trip by myself to help someone who needed me. It was VERY hard on me.
-We celebrated Thanksgiving with a wonderful family.
-I pre-launched the website for Tangle, which took up SO much of my time.
-Eden began showing a real interest in Bible stories. She quotes just about any story you can think of.
-Jim formed 5 marketing group. As if we needed another business to run.

December
-I had a busy month at Tangle.
-We celebrated Hanukkah.
-I started taking Sam-E for depression.
-One of my dearest students at the yarn store was given a very limited time to survive bone cancer.
-We went sledding.
-Jim took the month off from playing the guitar at church.
-Honor became very difficult to deal with, throwing fits and disobeying every chance he got.
-We celebrated the new year’s arrival with most of our closest friends, happy to see 2006 behind us.

“Honor you’re a cool boy.”

“You’re a cool dirl mommy. Eden’s a cool dirl too.”

“No I’m not cool, I’m pretty.”

I have so much to write about and no time! My time has been consumed with Tangle’s website and I’m happy to report after hours and hours of editing, shooting photos (still a work in progress), checking fiber content, etc.., that almost all the yarn I have in stock is up on the website. All the remaining product is forthcoming too! I can’t even begin to describe the amount of work, I’m just glad it’s almost done!

I have so much more to write about: my year in review, my improved mental health, changes we’re making in our lives, Eden’s Bible scholarly ways, a few finished knit projects… So until I find a spare moment, tell me about something great going on in your life?