Happy New Year!

Do you know what? It's gonna feel good to talk with you this year. Along with doing the different items for my own health and family...I'm making a goal to write more with you! I'm NOT going to bore you with my goals. BUT please know that I'm planning on writing more.
I have my new calendar, a new set of pens, a new journal and some note cards. SO I'm set for hitting the new year. :)

Here are a couple things I'm looking forward to in the year 2014!
~ I'm doing a pen pal with http://whitepeachblog.com/ so I will be doing a little note for my person as well as a little gift every month.
~ I'm excited to see Z-man progress...he has already progressed so much in a couple months of school.
~ I'm excited to read some new books this year...and actually do my thoughts on them here! I already have a list to do.
~ I'm ready to get my health in proper order. Drinking more water, eating cleaner food, more veggies and fruit, move more, etc.
~ I'm excited to see Colorado again in March! AND hoping to meet NEW friends!
~ I'm excited to see how much my daughter will learn and grow!
~ I'm excited to do more photo a day challenges (on Instagram) 

What are some goals that you have to look forward to this year?

A little of this & a little of that.

 So after talking to Rick and really thinking it over...we decided to not put up our little artificial tree. We are leaving for Florida in 13 days...and I want to make sure that all my stuff is put away before that. That way when I come back at the end of January I don't have to do it then. BUT I did want it to look light and colorful in the house.So lights are up and some decorations are up...it's nice when I move from an apartment to a house...I really don't have a lot of Christmas stuff yet. I do miss putting up the ornaments though. We try and get a new one every year for us as a family and then for the kids...so I still think I need to get those. ;)

With Z in school I wanted to do something special for them. SO I wanted did a search on the world wide web and pinterest for ideas...There were some that were SO cute and then some that looked like a LOT of work. So I actually saw this and thought this was AMAZING. I found it first on Pinterest. Then got directed to Martha Stewart's page HERE! I thought it was LOVELY! SO...I went to the store got buttons (Christmas colors), ribbon in Christmas colors and wiring. I just had to find; scissors, pliers, a ruler, a lighter to take care of the fraying of the ribbon, and an eager son who wanted to help.
Here are my finished products. :)

I have enjoyed making them! Z didn't make any of these actually, he just kept putting the buttons on and taking them off. All well he had fun and so did I! What are your kids making for their teachers for presents? Leave me a link or something in the comments. :)

hmmm...sort of wordless Wednesday...

So on Sunday (the last day of July) I ended up taking pictures & and getting great news...I'm sorry that it has taken so long for me to let you know about it or see the pics.Did you know that it's hard to crawl in a dress?
But she sure looks cute!I certainly LOVE her!!!First he is just playing with his ChuggersHe then sees me and say hithen he figures out I'm taking his picture and says "cheese!" how can I not love him too!
The good news is that Rick is actually coming home (from Ohio) early! He's actually coming in on Thursday morning instead of Saturday morning. SO we have a sitter for us so we can go out on Thursday afternoon. We will actually be able to go to the Iowa Cubs game on our anniversary all together (Friday). Maybe even another trip to Farmer's Market on Saturday before Rick leaves for Colorado in the evening.

Weekly Works...

So...this is the craftiness of me. This past week I actually got finished with a knitting project...no it normally doesn't take me too long to write about it...BUT right after I got it finished I started not just 1 project BUT 2 projects! WOW all I can say is WOW!

So I finished...

Aspen's Hara Dress...you can find the pattern on Ravelry, here. I really like it...I need to do some adjusting in the back by the buttons. As well as make a matching headband for Aspen! I think as long as it fits her around she can wear it as a shirt. :) As the weather gets colder and it still fits I can see just layering with a shirt under and a pair of leggings.This yarn is the first kool-aid yarn that I ended up dyeing. :) I LOVE the change of color and the ability for it to be worn with lots of different stuff.

I'm currently working on...

I started doing a Ruffled Summer Top...you can find the pattern on Ravelry, here. This I'm going to try to finish it by April 29 for a SpringKAL contest put on by the designer of the pattern. :) This is getting knit up in the second kool-aid yarn that I ended up dyeing...I know you can't really see much of what it's going to look like from what I ended up knitting so far...but the top of the work is the top of the summer top. I'll keep you posted on the completion of this project. :)
I also started a skirt...with the yarn that I got from my wonderful mother-in-law. I think I posted about getting the yarn in the mail and then I ended up getting wrist tendonitis and couldn't knit for a while. This yarn is so fun to see the colorway change! I actually got this pattern from a friend...so their is no link to it!

On a side note...I won a giveaway from a facebook friend who has an Etsy...So I'm going to "feature" her and her store RIGHT now!
You can find The Adopt Shoppe on ETSY or Facebook.
She started making necklaces to pay for their daughter's adoption. They brought Mia home in August 2010. Now they're on the list to adopt again!!! So they're saving for this next one! Every dollar she make from this goes toward the next adoption. Isn't that a GREAT cause!!!
This is what I won!

Wednesday...

Here are some pictures...

Label: Wacky
Where: Florida
Why Wacky: Icicles in Florida?
Label: Warm
Where: Iowa
Why Warm: Wool = Warmth!
Label: Wordless
Where: Iowa
Why Wordless: He fell asleep before I put him down for a nap...he was so tired! And he slept for over 3 hours!!!

What other labels could you give these pictures that start with W?

Weather here in Iowa (where I am at) is currently 42 degrees...which is way better then the 20s it has been. The Sun was out and melting the snow.