The Giving Season

My husband thinks of this time of year as "Football Season"

My kids think of it as "Cookie Season"

My mom thinks of it as "Shopping Season"

But me, I like to think of it as the "Giving Season"

I know that you knitters, you're good, kind, caring and generous folks. Stephanie over at Yarn Harlot has confidence that y'all are VERY generous people, and I think that together we can even exceed her ambitious expectations. So, I'm doing my part by offering a wee bit of an incentive, if you will. What could be better than a little pixie to help you make your donation?



(no, not the baby. you don't get to keep him, he's mine and I'm not giving him up!) But, you do get the hat. Well, the pattern for the hat, that is.

Now through January, I'm going to be donating all of the sales of the new Winter Pixie hat to Steph's Doctors Without Borders campaign. So, buy a pattern, knit a cute hat, and feel good that you're participating in the best season of all - the Giving Season.

Pictures

I have spent the last several evenings going through all the pictures on my hard drive. 6 years of pictures, people. I'm only doing it because hubby asked for two photo albums with family pictures in them for christmas (we've definitely been victims of the digital camera, I can't even remember the last time I had real prints made! Bad mommy!)

My head is swimming, but it's been fun to take a (virtual) walk down memory lane and see how my children have grown over these past few years. It's been wonderful to watch my eldest go from a toddling babe to a georgeous young man. (Witness the stunning pic below, taken with my nifty new camera, which I am IN LOVE with. It's a panasonic lumix, with a nifty leica lens that takes rather fantastic photos)



I honestly cannot even believe that this boy is mine. He amazes me more every single day, he's creative, full of wonder, polite, and really, a joy. (Except when he's screaming at his brothers. Then I want to kill him)

That is the same boy in this picture, from about 4 years ago. I came across it in my pictures searches tonight, and played around a bit with it in photoshop. The end result you see here is magical, I think.

meme-o-me

1. FIRST NAME? Theresa
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yep, St. Theresa of Avila
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? uh, this morning - around 5am when I got up to get a diaper to change the wee babe and stubbed my toe on the bed
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? i never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess so
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Corned beef (with swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and russian dressing - aka a reuben)
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? This blog is my pitiful attempt at one
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way, no how.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? is oatmeal considered a cereal?
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? mentally, yes. physically, not so much.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? edy's special edition pumpkin pie
14. SHOE SIZE? 7.5
15. RED OR PINK? barn red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm moody and can be quite bitchy to those I love
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my friend kevin. he's not dead (thank goodness!0 but he lives far away and we never talk as often as I'd like
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Grey yoga pants, white nursing tank, burgundy zip hoodie, handknit socks.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? a kit kat I swiped from the boys' Halloween stash.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? rusty's sleepy breathing on my neck, college football that DH is watching, with background noise from th eboys playing on the computer upstairs
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? red
23. FAVORITE SMELL? My newborn's head when he's asleep on my chest
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? a very sweet Indian man who is a customer service tech for Cisco
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their eyes
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Absolutely
27. FAVORITE DRINK? alcoholic? A Tom Collins. Non-alcoholic? Sweet tea.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? can knitting be considered a sport?
29. EYE COLOR? greenish gold
30. HAT SIZE? huh? hats come in sizes?
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes
32. FAVORITE FOOD? fresh baked bread with butter
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? pecan pie
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I'm calling out Melissa H. ;)
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Everyone
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Survival Guide from a Family of Nine, Theodore Rex and Can't Wait to Get to Heaven (well, I'mlistening to that last one, does that count?)
41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad - it's a laptop
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Star Wars Episode II: Attach of hte Clones on DVD
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? the sound of my boy's breathign while they sleep, Dh saying he loves me while I'm half asleep in bed before he leaves in the morning
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? California
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? surviving as the only female in a house with 5 guys
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? New York
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I pinched it from Steph

You know you wanna be an avenger!

Last year, a group of us fantastic craftsters (mostly knitters with a few hookers thrown in for good measure) on the Wooly Wonder Forumsgot together to help one of our own, Jesse, raise money to run the Three Day. It was exciting being a part of something so worthwhile, and it became almost larger than life. Now, the Avengers have come together again for a special little boy, the best friend of one of our Avenger's daughter.

Here's some of his story:

Nat is a three and a half year old boy. He's been called the Professor since he was a newborn, and it suits him well. Proffer is a wonderful kid, he loves nursery rhymes and fairy tales. He loves to dance and sing and from infancy has always been very sure of himself and what he likes in life.

On October 25, 2006, Nat's family discovered that he had a brain tumor. On October 27 at 1:30 PM EST, The Professor underwent brain surgery in an attempt to remove the tumor.

It was discovered to be Medulloblastoma. This type of malignant tumor is among the more common in childhood cancers. The surgeon reviewed the post-op MRI, and there is no sign of tumor either radiographically or microscopically. So the only bits that can be left are cellular, and that's what the chemo is for. The fact that this is a fast-growing tumor is actually good for chemo, because chemo targets fast growing cells and eradicates them.

The oncologist is in full support of Nat receiving homeopathic support throughout his allopathic treatments. We know homeopathy helps, and we're hoping that the support it gives his whole body will allow him to withstand the levels of chemo necessary without suffering major long-term side effects.

The Fiber Arts Avengers want you to join us - become an avenger, fight for this sweet little boy. Whether you donate money, Craft something to sell, or even just buy a pattern or two - we appreciate all of it!

In the coming week, I'll be adding a pattern to those for sale to benefit The Prof, and knitting up some goodies to auction. So, get that paypal ready to spend!!

Harvest Blessings Soup

I was craving some squash soup yesterday, and with the bounty of fall surrounding me, I decided to playa round a little. The recipe I came up with was a huge hit in my house - C actually said it was the best soup I'd ever made! So, Ithought I'd share the blessings with you :)

Harvest Blessings Soup

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 large butternut squash (can substitute acorn or delicata squash) peeled, seeded and cubed (about 2 cups)
1 medium yam or sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large granny smith apple (or other tart apple), peeled, cored and diced
1 cup apple cider
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 t ground ginger
1 t gound nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 -3/4 cup light cream
salt and pepper to taste

put butter and oil in dutch oven over medium heat, add onions and garlic when butter is golden. stir often while onions cook about 5-7 minutes, until translucent and soft.

Add squash, yams, apples, cider, stock and spices, stir to mix well. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and process in batches in blender or food processor. Return to pot, add light cream and stir well to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!

seriously, can we just start today over?

or maybe just erase it completely from the calendar? (Warning: postpartum hormone filled whiney-ness is about to ensue. Proceed at your own risk)

As if it's not bad enough that my second-to-youngest is waking up before the crack of dawn (yes, that's really early, folks) But there's nothing like checking email first thing (while aforementioned child insists on watching Barney. Purple dinosaurs should be forbidden before 8 am and at least 2 cups of coffee)

Anyway, back to the email - checking email and finding out that some nasty hacker has set up a phishing scam on your website. Your business website. And the person who alerted you to this fact has also alerted your local police. Now there's a wake up call you want to get (seriously, NOT)

So, come to find out that it's likely a security breech with either my forums or my shopping cart (both of which need to be upgraded and checked over to ensure that the security is fixed now) My host is a gem - Be hosting, and I want to send Erica some flowers for getting rid of the phishing crud from the site approximately 34 seconds after I emailed her. She rocks, seriously.

So, I spend a good portion of the morning (while nursing at the lapop, naturally) trying to get the forums updated and security-checked, when I realize that the only way really to do it is to do a clean install of the forums. Which means I lose all the posts, members, everything.

Can you see me now?


So, it's now exactly 5:16 pm, and I just poured myself a glass of merlot. I am going to forget today ever happened, drink my glass of wine, and watch Star Wars with my boys tonight. Tomorrow, back to work. Onward...

Cha-cha-cha-Changes....

Turn and face the change.

(I've had the Shrek version of this song in my head all day long. God help me)

Changes are afoot aplenty for me these days - new babe, new blog, new sneakers.

First, the babe - Rusty was born Oct 3, 6 weeks early. He weighed in a 5 pounds 11 ounces, and was in NICU for a week. We're all home now, lovin' up on the wee pumpkin, and he is the most incredibly sweet and placid baby. The only time he makes noise is in the dead of night when the rest of the house is (finally) quiet, and I'm convinced it's because he doesn't like the silence. He's already revelling in the chaos that is made by his three older brothers.




Next, new blog. I've given up on ever getting the spam in the comments under control with b2evo, so as much as I love the ease of it and the layout I had worked on forever, I just had to change to blogger. I'm hopeful that the 800+ "new comment" messages that I get in my inbox every day (all for spam comments) will be abated by the nifty moderation here with blogger. I will eventually move the old archives over from b2evo, but honestly folks, let's not hold out breath for that to happen. Remember the first change I wrote about above? Yeah, he's not too keen on allowing mama unfettered computer time.

Last, new sneakers. this is actually a change-in-progress. My beloved cross trainers have finally bit the dust and the soles are literally falling off, so I'm ont he hunt for some spiffy new footwear. I'm thinking maybe some of these:



or maybe these stripey ones:


Both found at my fave online shoe shop

But now, I must go nurse a babe. again.