Lily, aka Tinkerbell, at her birthday party

Lily and Paige

a break from studying...

Here are some pictures that Josh created from snapshots of Lily and Joseph. They are growing so fast! They have been gone from Maine since the end of May, but are headed home next week. Lily turned 3 while she was gone.














A picture of the shawl. I think it is turning out pretty well. I have been unable to get a picture of the third bird visiting the feeder, that may be because Fraser is watching as much as I am!

KIP day--June 9, 2007

My one venture out of the house on Saturday. I went to the Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick and participated in KIP day (knit in public). As you can see, my knitting is in my lap because the green skein of yarn became a problem. All of the sudden, there were 2 strands coming out of the skein. I knew it wasn't the other end, that was tucked into the label on the outside. Well, thanks to my couch partners, we unravelled and wound not 1, not 2 but 3 balls of yarn out of the skein. Luckily, ball number 1 remained attached to the shawl and is the largest ball. Balls 2 and 3 are connected and could be made into 1 ball, but by then, we were tired of winding... I could never have kept all this straight. Thanks again for the help!! The picture is thanks to Anna, I copied it off her blog http://www.annasflyingneedles.com/

mmmm...

Gourmet cook, Seth fried up a few soft-shell crabs for dinner last night. He even used the cast iron skillet. Memories.... The crabs were crunchy and tasty-just right!

lilacs

well, it is lilac season here in maine. i cut these 2 flowers off my lilac bush that was transplanted from my grandmother's house in maryland. it is the second year it bloomed and both years has had 2 blossoms. they smell wonderful. and there are new shoots at the bottom of the older portion!! i love lilacs...

another bird!!!

here is bird number 2!! they are coming!

Interesting photos

This photo is of John's mother, Brunese Walker. Jill, John's sister sent it to us and I love it!!! I can see how her children look like her. They also got their laughter from her. When the Walker clan gets together there is always laughter. So, heres to Granny, biker babe, you are missed.





On to another cool cat, here is William before he went to prom this year. I meant to put this up earlier but time got away. William went to the doctor this week and after he has his follow up ct scan, should be cleared for action. I know he is thrilled. He has big plans for the summer, homework for his AP classes and soccer camp. I am disappointed that he won't be coming to Maine, but he is growing up and busier than ever, both during the school year and over the summer. Good thing there are free minutes on my phone!!

I have received a request...

JOSH, you have been mentioned!

hello birdie...

Finally, I have a bird at my bird feeder!!! I put the feeders up months ago. I moved them recently and then I saw a chickadee and now this beauty. WOO HOO!!! Now if the hummingbirds will come to the feeder off the kitchen window.

family and more family

William has some competition in the clean your wing bones division!! Joseph at only wings for the first time last night and he ate 7 rasberry bar-b-que wings at Gridiron in Lewiston. They have 35cent wings on monday and tuesday, and they also have 2-for-1 beer... Joseph gave me his beer! (just kidding, he had chocolate milk)

More of John working... what else? He rarely slows down, although, Laconia is coming up and he plans on being there.

Seth is trying to beat John at chess, not gonna happen anytime soon!


Katie and Lily were in a fashion show at church. Aren't they beautiful?

well, a picture of the shawl that I am making. It is pink, you know, my favorite color! However, it is not for me.... It is a prayer/intention shawl. It is a very interesting concept, not one I made up on my own. Here is the link to one site about them--http://www.shawlministry.com/. My friend, Kim, had a book about them and she let me borrow it. Of course, I am not reading anything but school books right now... and the cover of the book is PURPLE. Actually, it is not a long read and it was also interesting.
Next picture shows Wiggie and the previously featured cat bed. The blue chair is his favorite chair, however, when he lays in it, he likes to pull out his hair. I am tired of cleaning up hair. I decided to put said cat bed into the chair. It might be noted that Wiggie is laying as close to the arm of the blue chair as he can get and in as little of the cat bed as he can. Somehow, I get the feeling that he does not like the cat bed. Of note, the throw in the back was crocheted by my grandmother. We use it often to keep us toasty here in the Maine spring.

the roofers

Here are John and Seth finishing the roof on our house across the street. John can barely move because he was working so much and so hard. Hopefully, soon he will take some time and RELAX

Well, I thought I would share some knitting. Last Thursday and Friday, I attended a conference on breastfeeding in MA. Also, in on the trip were Amy, Kim, Laurie, Melissa and Penny. We drove down in 2 cars and stayed in 2 rooms at the same hotel, with a hot tub and pool--indoors!! It was fun to get away and have girls time! At the conference, we saw Carly, friend and fellow SNM. Our table was the knitting table, all 6 of us were knitting during the conference. Breastfeeding conferences seem to attract knitters! I have been to fetal monitor classes, no knitting. I find that interesting.

So, onto the actual knitting projects...first, the reversible cable scarf. It matches my cat hat. I made it wider than the pattern calls for and hopefully, it will do the trick for warming my neck next winter.



Here are the knitted breasts. One for breastfeeding class and one for the knitting shop. It was quite interesting to discuss what they were when they were being knitted. Also, an opportunity to discuss breastfeeding and breast cancer. I am already planning for the next set, in different colors...


And I started on another baby bonnet. I love this pattern!!! And so the saga of my conference knitting has come to an end.

the real william update

well, I guess I didn't really give the lowdown on what happened to William. For those of you who know William, you may know that when he turns sideways, you can't see him! He is tall and SKINNY. Last week, when he was playing flag football, it got a little physical and he tackled a soccer buddy. Unfortunately, the buddy's shoulder and William's spleen connected. William ended up in the ICU at the hospital in Monroe, GA. He was there for a couple of days, then was a patient of the regular floor. He was watched very carefully, with many blood draws, an IV, 3 CT scans and lots of vital signs! The best part for everyone was no surgery! While he was in the hospital and had to stay mostly in bed, we watched TV, read books, and played scrabble. William even won! He got to go home on Wednesday morning and I flew home on Thursday. Even though the hospital would not have been my choice for a vacation, it was nice spending time with William. Angela and Jeremy came and hung out with us. We even got some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, thanks to Matu and Poppy, Katie and Josh. And all the nurses and other staff at the hospital were great!

William was very proud of his legs while he was at the hospital. He had just created the checkerboard look because the soccer team was going to state. As you can guess, everyone noticed...

update on william

Well, it was nice of William to wait on me to be on my way to GA before he decided to be admitted to the hospital. Luckily, I was part way there and even though I had decided to come on home if I was unable to get a flight out of NY, I trudged on. I managed to be on 3 airplanes and 2 taxi cabs. Not my idea of a good time! Luckily, I had help. Thanks to some people I met along the way. Thanks, Suzanne, Timothy and Derrick for your help in getting me to GA. It was quite the adventure.

A tribute to Aunt Suzy and Aunt Fanny

For anyone who can walk all day in these kinds of shoes, a tribute is deserved. Many times, I saw Aunt Suzy and Aunt Fannie in these shoes doing things arounds the house, wearing dresses, just like all the ladies of that era did. After wearing these shoes, I was foot-sore and somewhat weary!! So hats off to you, Aunt Suzy and Aunt Fanny, and to the countless other women who spent many years in these types of shoes!!!

and the snow came back

Maybe it will be spring soon. At least the kids enjoyed the snow....

I worked the weekend and was privileged to assist with 2 great births! Sometimes, when things are so rough, it is hard to remember why I do what I do, or why I should continue on with school. Thanks to those families for letting me be a part of their experience! I learn something each time I am a part of someone's birth or new family time.

the final product, the cat hat

Here is Joseph and his cat hat with ears.

memories....

when my sister and I were little, my aunts used to let us fly like airplanes on their legs and feet, while they were laying on the floor of my grandparent's living room. We had so much fun. So, in case I forgot then, THANKS, Joi and Cindy for playing with us and having fun! Now, one may wonder why this memory comes to the blog....

I guess the tradition was passed on!!

I made it back to knit-at-night, at the lys, The Knitting Experience Cafe, on thursday. Kim went with me. It was good to be there. Chesley, you look GREAT and I'm glad things are going well. While I was there I got one of the ears for Joseph's famous cat hat done. Hopefully, the other will be soon to follow. Of course, with all the improvements in the weather, he won't need it this year. Luckily it is a little bit big on him!

These are without the cat ears, just in case you wondered.

Kim and I did our first breastfeeding class at work. Yeah! it is done. It seemed to go pretty well, no one fell asleep on us. The powerpoint slide show worked and the video played! Now we have 2 more to go.

I have finished my first 2 classes at school and have one more to finish. The next term starts April 9th and I have signed up for 2 more classes. Trying to keep up...

almost balmy here in maine

Not much to report on from the north, except the snow is starting to melt. John got out his Yamaha motorcycle and has been doing some riding back and forth to his jobs. A sure sign that spring is on the way...

My first term is almost over at Frontier. My fingers are tired of typing, so it is good that I will have a week off between terms. What will I do with myself??? Let's see there is sewing, knitting, cleaning (well, maybe not), starting to exercise, doing nothing, see, the list could be endless!!

Here are some new pics of the kids.