Our House in the Middle of Our Street

A February mid-morning in Blaine I had a great reading month, even though our February has been busier than the last 11 months on record. I chalk it up to 2 poetry books, small in page numbers, and one excellent book I couldn't put down. The rest were finished because they were half-started already, and I took snippets of time here and there where I could, mostly in my bed early morning before the kids were awake. It's my best time of the day.  * Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman was a book I had wanted to read for about a year. I went to a really interesting homeschool conference talk titled something like What Motivates Children? by a woman who talked a lot of statistics and scientific data about the topic, and most of the references were from this book. I looked at my list and decided I wanted to read it this month. It was a really fascinating look at new scientific findings about how Americans parent (and why) and how most of it is not working to

 Today we've been living in Blaine for one year. We moved into our place exactly 365 days ago, even though we left Lincoln on February 18th, 2013. Outside of a 3 week stint in Europe, 3 weeks and 1 day was the longest I'd ever been away from family, and from my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. The first month was a really odd feeling. We were on vacation and living our life! We're still living our life, but we feel a little less vacation-y and a little more real world-y lately (car fix,  school field trips! grocery shopping...) and it's winter, grey, and raining, and consistent sunshine is still months away. The snow here is a one-day thing. The clear days are breathtaking.  We went into this cross-country move with very realistic expectations. We knew we'd miss our family and friends most of all, we questioned the work atmosphere Stefan was leaving (meaning, if he'd find another great job that suited him as well as his in Lincoln did), and we

What is your name? Ani! You already know that.  What is your favorite color? Blue Who are some of your friends? Ana, Danielle, Tessyn, Odie, Lucy, Sophie, Emma What do you want to be when you grow up? A dance teacher What makes you happy? When I got my two ponies, the ones whose hair you can brush What's your favorite animal? Horse What is your favorite book? I love every book! What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? make crafts What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? play games on his iphone What is your favorite thing to do with Lukka? forts What do you like to do with your friends? play barbies and stuff What do you like to do outside? nothing Where do you like to go? Big Al's What is your favorite food? chicken nuggets and crispy crowns What is your favorite drink? milk What is your favorite thing to watch? Phineas & Ferb What is your favorite song to sing? Shrek (the soundtrack, she sings along in quiet ti

I have a giveaway to offer today! It's a year-long subscription to the digital magazine Home/School/Life , an up and coming resource for homeschoolers, afterschoolers, teachers, and parents. I know I'm personally looking forward to this, like a breath of homeschool conference air at my fingertips, and without the high cost.  This online magazine looks to inspire you and the children in your life by providing project ideas, field trip locales, book recommendations (my personal favorite), and along with great homeschooling resources like curriculum, grade level, and subject advice.  Anyone can enter by commenting on this post until Friday, February 21st. I'll use the random number generator and will contact you by email (please leave your email address in the comment box) to get you hooked up! 

Hoo-boy. This sweater dress took on a life of it's own. I actually started this in the round in late Fall of 2012. It was a big kahuna. On size 5 needles.  This sweater was a big commitment because of how long it is, how tiny the needles, and how long those rows up top are. I lost a lot of steam on this project, so I would set it down for 1-6 months at a time, but I also love it the most of any project I've made. I'm glad I had a burst of passion to get it done last week, and the time to do so. Each row on the chest took about an hour, and there are probably around 25 of them, at least.  I had seen the Pickles "Daisy Tunic" pattern on pinterest and I loved the look of it. It helped that the little girl in the photos actually looked like Ani with long blond hair braids and fair skin. I knew this would look really cute on her.   I knew I wouldn't knit something wearable in cream because of the stain-factor, but I love teal/sea foam green,