Making a Home

I don't want to gloss over the joy and wonder we had at Christmas, but I'm afraid if I don't I may never get around to this blog writing thing again. And sadly, I had a whole paragraph written about it and then my browser crashed and lost it all. So, like I said, we had a lovely time. We ate, and drank, and were merry. We exchanged gifts. The kids enjoyed themselves. Here's a photo of our children with their cousins:

I made a lot of the gifts this time. Mostly cabled neckwarmers (also known as gaiters) for the men in the family, and lace cowls for the women. I also made slippers for my mum. They were a special request, and I had intended to needle-felt hers with more flowers like mine... but then she made the suggestion that it might be nice to have a celtic design and I took that as sort of a challenge... I finished them on Christmas Day. 

Back at home things were in disarray as we I madly packed boxes in preparation for our move. Thankfully the kids were too preoccupied with their new games and toys to realize that their old stuff was disappearing - either packed off to Goodwill, the consignment store, or boxed up and labeled "Kid's Rooms".

We had intended to move over New Year's weekend, but weren't ready. Phil spent time painting some of the walls over at the new place, and we made a few trips with our van to get some of the boxes over there. One more week and we summoned our friends to help move the furniture. Thanks to all who helped us that weekend - it was a lot of work! I'm happy to say that the kids made the transition without any fuss. We had talked to them about the move for a long time and had taken them over to help paint and plan which rooms would be whose, so I guess they were ready for it. Alice might be thinking we are nomads, and as long as Phil and I are around, who cares where we are?
Now the old place is empty, although we hope not for long as we've decided to rent it. It's a bit sad to know that no one could even get a loan for what we need to sell it for... I hope the housing market turns around soon. You can see here that our new/old house is coming together. It's a 1960's rambler with a nice big backyard for the kids to play in.

I don't know why the pellet stove looks like that in the photo - usually the blaze is quite tame I assure you. It's odd, but the place felt like home right away. Even though we still haven't unpacked a lot of things and there are items that haven't turned up... For instance, I still haven't found my cutting boards or Alice's stroller... It's a cozy place, and I find myself more often than not just sitting and enjoying it instead of thinking about what we want to do to change it eventually.
The first week we were here, it snowed.

This was taken on the second day after the snow had melted a bit. You can see the kids made maze trails all over the backyard. You see the pots and garden bed in the back? I can't wait for Spring!
One of the best parts about January is the exciting event that these two planners made even more magnificent this year:

Mo and Charisa put on the best Seattle-to-Portland Yarn Train experience yet - this year there were over 200 participants! I spent time with my friends, got to shop at some fabulous yarn stores (Urban Fiber Arts was my favorite this year,) ate at Whole Foods and Via Delizia - if you live in Portland, you have go there. The food is AMAZING, and they have the BEST mochas and gelato. Seriously, they are out of this world. Go. Now.

And here is a shot of all the fibery goodness I brought home. I can't wait to spin up the Merino/Yak - Thanks, Mum and Dad, for the birthday money!

In the lower right-hand corner you can see I started knitting on the train with a yarn called Mini Mochi. So far I've found it pretty comparable to Malabrigo - very nice. We were all worried that the snow was going to ruin our Yarn Train plans so we were very glad that it cleared up.
Unfortunately the days since that weekend have been rather dreary - Nonstop clouds and rain and cold... and it was really getting to me. Yesterday we had a bit of sun and it was glorious... Like waking up. I even went for a walk with the girls while Nathan and Jamie were in their gymnastics class. Today the cold was back... So it was a taste of what's to come.
The kids have been somewhat cooped up, and Evelyn thought it would be a great idea last week to ask her brother to play hairdresser. They went to brush their teeth and before we knew it, Phil and I were standing in the doorway to the bathroom with our jaws just hanging open for a full minute, while Jamie stared at us wide-eyed with scissors in hand as Evelyn's beautiful curls lay all around her feet. "She told me to do it!" he exclaimed. And I believe it.

One hopes that they'll learn from this experience. I think Jamie did anyway. I don't really blame him, poor kid. We were just so shocked that it was done that we couldn't say anything... and with him, that is enough, thank goodness... Evelyn, on the other hand -The girl confounds me. I love her to pieces, but who is this crazy child? I'm just glad that hair grows back!
Wanna see our happy baby? Alice and I have some sweet mornings together while the others are at work or Montessori.

She is eating more and sleeping longer, finally - this is a great relief to both Phil and I, as we could use some rest now and then. We believe her broken arm has healed - I haven't taken her in for x-rays because she's had a bit of cold and cough, but she is building confidence again and will walk with support. I'm hoping we'll get a stretch of time for her leg muscles to build before she breaks again. The orthopedic team would like to start treatment soon for her brittle bones, but I pushed it out another six months to wait and see. I would really like her to be talking more before we try anything invasive. It's so hard to see her cry and not know what she's thinking or wanting from us.
I'm finding as long as I change it up a little, Alice will spend small spurts of time playing with toys while I sit with her and work on a project. One of our duvet covers had started to tear. I was going to repair it, but it kept ripping more while I was trying to get it lined up to sew. Then I thought, "Isn't this how people used to make braided rugs?" I did a quick Google search and found a few tutorials, but it turned out to be a fairly easy thing to do. Just tear whatever you have into long strips, braid the strips together, and sew the braid into a spiral.

Voila... A rug for our new home.