Life is so exciting in the fast lane called parenthood.  Each day presents a new adventure to be experienced.  Alas, at our home it is also the season for curriculum planning and I am having so much fun deciding what we will delve into this coming year.  Couple that monumental task with home construction, preparation for a son coming home, and a business to run and you have the makings for a huge stress attack.  But all is good at our house.  We are just busy and not able to keep the blog up to date as regular as would be liked.  I promise that I will be taking pictures at unregular intervals, so perhaps in the future I will share some with you.  Until then, please pray for us and our construction mess.  It really must get done to lighten the load on my dear, poor hubby.  He is trying so hard.

May the Lord bless you and yours,
Stacie

Yes, we are well past Easter, but I still wanted to share our happy little sign with you.  Ben and I worked on it for a few hours having lots of fun making it.  Thanks to my wonderful sister we now own a Cricket, thus the sign.  Thank you, Karina.

The flowers have been extra beautiful this spring.  We've had tremendous amounts of rain which has made everything green and lush--well lush compared to our normal around here.  The tulips really surprised us this year.  We had at least double our usually number of blooms.  In addition they seem to have cross pollinated producing striped varieties in addition to our regular reds and yellows.  Spring flowers are such a ray of hope after a long winter.  I love them.

Just had to share Nate with you.  He is enjoying his new smile, care of Dr. Thompson.  His teeth are moving quite rapidly.  Now instead of hiding from the camera, he jumps right to the front and smiles from ear to ear.  He has turned into my right hand man in the kitchen making everything from bread to desserts.  Nate also is always the first to volunteer to watch any girlie flick my heart desires.  He'll watch them all.  Last night we watched Grace is Gone.  It's fun.  We do watch a few action packed screen stories as well, the Bourne series being at the top of our favorites.

 My crochet and knitting projects are bringing me such joy and relaxation.  My little neighbor shares a birthday with me, so I just "had to make" this little girl purse.  She, of course, "needed" this creation to hold her valuables in as she goes to the store.  It whipped up in about 2 hours time and was a delight to make.  Ben agreed to be my model so you can see how big it is compared to a child.  The purse is not suited to his size as you can see; but the little girl is a tiny 5 year old, so it fit her just great.

 Ben decided to play photographer while I was knitting on the scarf.   There was plenty of time to knit to my heart's content as we sat and listened to a recording of Where the Red Fern Grows.  What a wonderful book.  I had no idea it talked so much about relying on prayer and our Saviour in life.  I recommend it to everyone.

My lovely necklace is a stitch counter.  What a life saver that proved to be.  The hair was washed and drying.  I especially love the way it does that fly-away thing.

I've added a pair of wooden circular needles to my knitting stash.  They are nice in concept--you don't loose your work as easily as with the straight needles, and the needles are real short so they don't hit your arms while you knit.  The down side is two fold:  first, the yarn sticks on the wood slowing down the work; second, the plastic cord refuses to relax so it fights with the knitter all the time.  I can't complain.  They only cost $4.80 instead of $8 with my 40% off coupon at Robert's Crafts.  I think I'll start saving up for the nicer needles as supposedly the cording will lay flatter and not fight with me.

The scarf for my Sweetheart did get completed.  I think he looked quite nice in it.  The color is Velvet Orchid, very rich and yummy looking.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  If anyone should happen to find more of the color in the Lily Sugar and Cream yarn PLEASE get it and I'll pay you back.  I can't find it anywhere.

This bag was a steal of a find earlier this year.  I decided it would be perfect for my yarn crafts.  I love, love, love the colors, and inside it is bright yellow.  Such a happy bag.

 I finally finished my crochet clutch.  The flower over the clasp is still bugging me so I'll redo it soon, but for now it's okay.  I love the way everything is easy to find and access now.  I thank Kim Walus at www.bittybitsandpieces.blogspot.com for sharing her "My Crochet Clutch" pattern.  She has lots of other great stuff.  Check it out.

We have saved the best for last.  Little Jo decided that after owning a new bike for month he no longer needed training wheels.  Soooooooooo . . . we took them off  AND he took off.  Watch this little delight learning to ride his bike for the first time ever.  It took him about two time with Mom supporting him till he just took off on his own.  The next day we went to Auntie Deb's house where he proceeded to learn to start and stop all by himself.  That also took just a few tries till he had it.  Jo rode up and down her sidewalk for the next hour or two till he had mastered starting all on his own.  No more babies at our house.  I'll try not to cry as I am cheering for him.

Happy days to all.