she is here!

Sophia Claire, 11/24/11 8:39 am, 7 pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches long.

my house may be messy...

and the kids may be tired and need a nap, but it will have to wait. We were blessed with beautiful weather today, all the snow has melted, and we have been spending way too much time inside in front of the TV lately. So I kicked them out. All of them, and me, too, I've been needing some sunshine. Usually I keep Gabe in the kitchen with me. He had so much fun out there with his brother and sister, I love seeing the relationships between them develop.  Hopefully they will sleep well tonight, too.

my big boy is taking steps!

Who's children are they?

Well obviously, when they are good they are mine, and when they are naughty they are my husbands. Realizing what we are raising children for is an important part of how we deal with them.

Before we had children (feels like forever ago) I was in a ladies Bible study, the teacher, a dear friend of mine, was teaching on this very subject. Giving our whole lives to God, and realizing that our children are not ours, but His, he gives them to us to raise and nurture, but ultimately they are his, to do with what He wills.

 I was reminded of her teaching as we dealt with the early stages and uncertainty of Gabe's injury. I did not want to see him suffer, or for things to be difficult for him. In praying for him in the early stages, when we did not know how much use of his arm he would recover, all I could do was rely on the fact that this was in God's plan for his life, and that He would use it for His glory.

I have been feeling weary lately, and like I am not doing a very good job of raising my children in Him. I cried out to the Lord, that He has given me these blessing, and to please give me the strength and the knowledge to raise them according to His will. The scriptures were my answer

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. - Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. -Ephesians 6:4

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Promises

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. Gen 8:13


I was driving home today from a doctors appointment after a tiring day during a tiring week. Then I saw the rainbow, and it was just a pleasant reminder of God and His promises to us. 

Out with the old

We've been talking about re-doing our bathroom since we moved in two and half years ago. This presented some problems as we wanted to make some plumbing changes and none of the plumbers in the family wanted to touch it with a ten foot pole. We also were wary of losing our only bathtub/shower for who knows how long. We finally found someone with the willingness to do the project at a time when we actually had funds for it. So today the deconstruction began. I'm going to save the before pictures until the project is finished, but instead going to grace you with the progress pics.

All the fixtures and the first layer of flooring have been removed, there is still a little bit more deconstruction to take place though.

 This is where the tub and surround were. Love the peach and green color scheme. lol.

Where the sink was.

Where the toilet was

math on the wall.

This is a common finding in this house, rip up one layer of floor to find several underneath.

Everything out of the bathroom and on the porch.

Knitting footed longies

Making footed longies

Follow longies pattern. About 1/2 way down the inseam start decreasing every 3-5 rows.

 Decrease round:
K to 2 stitches before the marker, k2 tog, slip marker, k1, SSK, complete round.

Decrease until you have 30 stitches then knit even until desired inseam.

Shape heel:
Divide stitched on DPNS so that the back 15 stitches are on needle
Short Row Heel:
Heel is worked only on Needle One
Row 1: K14, move yarn in front or work, slip next stitch, move yarn back, return wrapped stitch
to left needle. Turn work.
Row 2: P13, move yarn in back of work, slip next stitch, move yarn front, return wrapped stitch
to left needle. Turn work.
Row 3: K12, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, move yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left
needle. Turn work.
Row 4: P11, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left needle. Turn work.
Row 5: K10, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, move yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left
needle. Turn work.
Row 6: P9, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left needle. Turn work.
Row 7: K8, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, move yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left
needle. Turn work.
Row 8: P7, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn front, return wrapped stitch to left needle. Turn work.
Row 9: K7, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
Row 10: P7, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
Row 11: K8, [knit wrapped stitch by inserting right needle through both wraps and the stitch
itself and then knit it like normal] yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped
stitch to left needle.
Row 12: P9 [Purl wrapped stitch by inserting right needle through stitch and both wraps, then
purl like normal], yarn back, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left
needle.
Row 13: K10, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
Row 14: P11, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
Row 15: K12, yarn front, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
Row 16: P13, yarn back, slip stitch, yarn back, return the double wrapped stitch to left needle.
K14 turn
P15 turn

Foot:
K across needle 1. If there is a gap between needle 1 and needle 2 pick up a stitch and knit it
together with the last stitch on needle 1. K across needle 2. K across needle 3. If there is a gap
between needle 3 and needle 1 pick up a stitch and knit it together with the last stitch on needle
3.

knit even until foot measure 1 inch less than desired length.

Toe Shaping with 15 stitches on each needle
Row 1: [K1, SSK, K until last 2 stitches on needle, K2together] for each needle
Row 2: Knit all stitches
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 three times. Then Repeat Row 1 two more times (5 stitches remaining on each needle).

Graft remaining stitches together to form toe.

Wheat-free waffles

Wheat, for some reason, is so much harder for me to avoid than the other allergies that Bug has/had. Hubs wanted breakfast for dinner, and I was very much in the mood for waffles after watching Alton Brown make them last night. I wanted Little Man to be able to partake as well, so I tweaked a couple different recipes, and came up with this

Wheat-free Waffles
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp wheat-free baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1egg
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat Waffle Iron. Mix flours, baking powder and sugar in a medium bowl. In a small bowl beat the egg, then mix in the butter and the milk. Pour wet ingredients on top of dry ingredients and fold until just mixed. Follow your waffle iron instructions for cooking the batter.

I was pleasantly surprised with how well these turned out. Little Man even ate a quarter of a waffle, which is good considering he still isn't a fan of solids foods unless its meat.