A Great Day (too bad the weather is gonna change again)

I am going to start off by telling everyone about the photo shoot! :) The photographer that wanted me to knit some props for her offered to take photos of the kids since she needed some photos to flesh out her portfolio and because I made her a couple of the baby hammocks. I think she also probably felt bad for us because she knew we couldn't afford the school pictures this year. :) She is nice like that.  Anyway today was the day we picked to shoot the pics. I think they turned out great! Here is a link to go view them on her business' facebook page: Serenity and Joey on Reta-Li Images so please feel free to go 'like' the pics and the business! I think she did an awesome job. I also think I have adorable kiddos :) Here is a pic I took of her taking a picture of Serenity:

 We had a lot of fun today. 

I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting or cross stitching. I do have some progress pics to show of my cross stitching WIPs and a couple of pics of my newest knitting finish. I have been spending most of my time reading still. If you notice my goodreads widget on the side of my posts I have a goal of 125 books I want to read this year. I have already read over twenty so I don't think I will have a problem meeting that goal LOL. I read about a book a day when I am in the mood. I have reread some of my favorites and am reading some by an author I hadn't previously heard of. I am also listening to the audio book of Under The Dome by Stephen King. It is great! I listen to it while I knit or cross stitch and also as I lay down to go to sleep. Anyway, here are some pics for ya!

I liked how this second baby hammock turned out. It is twice as thick and soft as the first one. She liked both, so she got both. :-) I think I will make some more and see about selling them on eBay or etsy. I am not sure how much to charge for them though. I have seen them going for around 45 dollars and higher on etsy. 

I am also working on my first sweater. I started it a little over a week ago. It was a vintage kit I got really cheap on eBay. It isn't for me, as the largest size it had on the pattern was a Large and I haven't fit into one of those for about three years now (or longer) LOL. I was afraid I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish it if I tried to make it any bigger, since it was from a kit that came with the yarn. I don't even know if they make that kind of yarn anymore. Anyway, figure it will be excellent practice to get used to knitting sweaters. I eventually want to try making myself one. 

The kids are home this week from school and the weather is going to be nasty the rest of the week, so they will probably drive me insane! So if there are no more updates for awhile, you know I am in a padded room somewhere, rocking and crying for my knitting or something to read LOL. We did have a good weekend this last weekend. Took the kids to a nearby park to feed the ducks and geese on Saturday. Then we grilled out Sunday. It was fun. Monday wasn't too bad either. We got to see Bobby's brother, whom we hadn't seen for over a year. He lives in Texas and works out of the country for long periods of time, so doesn't have a chance to visit often. We only got to see him for a couple of hours, but it was a treat. He looked too thin, but he has been working long hours so I am sure that it is taking a toll on him. Serenity was especially delighted to see him. She thinks he is just the ultimate in uncles. She misses him always and asks when he will come see us again. I know she is seven now, but it is still hard for her to understand how far away he usually is and that he can't just pop over to visit like he did when he lived and worked closer.

Well, I think that is it on the update this week. I wish I could update a couple of times a week like I originally wanted to, but my life just isn't that exciting. :) I don't want to bore everyone after all! I hope to settle back into my stitching, as I really like seeing progress on my pieces. I am still trying to get my stash built up, so have been looking on listia and on eBay for cheap floss, yarn, patterns, and books. I joined a RAK group on Ravelry and a nice lady is sending me some things. I am eager to see what I get! I am like a kid on Christmas whenever a package comes for me in the mail. I hope that someday I will be in the position to RAK people too. I know how much it means to me to receive something off of my wish list, and I want to be able to make someone else happy in the same way. I feel selfish sometimes if I join a group like that. My kids need new summer clothes and here I am asking for crafting supplies. I know, though, that the kids will get all that they need and at least some of what they want from Bobby. He makes sure that they are well taken care of. It might not be the name brand items that a lot of the kids have, but that is fine with them. Serenity is young enough not to worry about that stuff, and Joey is old enough to understand how much stuff costs. 

I have put clothes for them on several wish lists also though, so we will see what happens with that. There is a great website called Gail's List a Wish and it is a community of mom's that help each other out with this type of stuff. Here is a link: List a wish if you are interested in joining. We received a box for winter that had clothes and other necessities in it from a nice lady on there. I haven't been able to ship clothes or anything, but have had some coupons for baby formula that I sent to someone that needed them. Also if you haven't heard of it already, there are groups called freecycle all over the country that you can join to give and receive items. If you have stuff that is still in decent shape, like clothes, furniture, appliances, then you can go list them to give to people that are in need of them. If you are looking for anything, you can post a want on there and if anyone has what you are looking for, they will let you know. I have given and received many kinds of things on there. That is where I got a lot of my yarn at first. One lady had a large tote of yarn odds and ends and gave me all of them, another lady needed some so I shared them with her and she in turn gave me some rug yarn that she would never use, along with some almost brand new jeans for Joey that didn't fit her husband. See how it works? It is great. 

OK. I will stop rambling on now! I hope to have another update soon. I will also take some pics of my progress on my sweater soon to post. Until next time my tangled bunch of tanglers..... Happy crafting!