I'm a Knitter!

So I have wanted to learn how to knit for a long time, but I've never gotten around to doing much about it. It wasn't until we visited our friends, the Goates, this last April and I saw the sweet hats that had been knitted for their baby that I was finally determined to learn.

Now, I miss living by my mom a lot, but I have been especially missing her during this whole learning-how-to-knit process. She's an amazing knitter, and I have so wanted her here to help when I have had questions; asking questions over the phone doesn't work quite as well! Luckily, she and my dad were here at the end of April to watch the kids when Chris and I took our trip to Chicago, so she showed me the basics then.

After I practiced for awhile, I checked out lots of books from the library, ready to start some projects. Unfortunately, I don't learn so well just looking at pictures - I need someone to show me how. Fortunately, Chris does learn well by looking at pictures:


Here he is trying to figure out how to cast on so he could show me how. And yes, he said he was fine with me taking this picture!
So I started with a hat, then I put that on hold to try out a teddy bear for my friend Patricia's new baby. Here's the result, my first knitting project!


This little bear was so much more work than it looks like it would be!! I think I prefer hats, especially knitting on the round (no seams to have to sew together). Anyway, I have discovered how satisfying it is to create something with my hands. During any free time I might have, I just turn on a movie or an audio book, and I knit away.

One of the books I found at the library has the cutest hats I have ever seen. If you ever want to be inspired to knit, this would definitely do the trick:

Sibling Rivalry . . . 24/7

So, I'm going to need some serious advice from out there. Annie, Noah, and Brigham have been fighting so much lately! It's almost guaranteed that if at least two of them are together in a room for more than 10 minutes, the sharp words start, followed by yelling, followed by a few pushes, or hits, or stomps on the feet, then finally someone comes crying to me, occasionally followed by another kid mumbling "sorry" to the crier. Now I know that it's the end of summer, and maybe the kids have seen a little too much of each other. Maybe things will calm down once Annie and Noah start up with school tomorrow . . . but maybe not.
I remember reading an Ensign article where a mom wrote that she took literally the Mosiah chapter 4 verse about not letting your children fight. So she or her husband would intervene every time their kids started to argue. That doesn't exactly feel right to me, because kids aren't always going to have their parents around to work out their problems for them; they need to learn to do it on their own eventually. But it also doesn't seem right to always let the kids just go at each other until someone runs away in tears; someone needs to teach them problem solving skills (I guess that would be me?).
I usually end up going back and forth between refereeing and ignoring, which is resulting in some major inconsistency. Anyone found anything that works (at least sometimes) for you? Please let me know - I'm desperate here!!

This is Kirtland!

So, the play is over. Annie had a blast; it was all she could talk about. She played Nancy Rigdon, one of Sidney's daughters. Either Chris or I made it to most of the performances, and I never got tired of watching it. Everyone did such a wonderful job. Although I am so happy Annie got to perform in it, I must admit that I am also so happy I don't have to spend all afternoon doing her hair anymore!

I would start rolling her hair at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It would take almost an hour. Our friends, the Brimhalls, would pick her up around 5:30 so they could be in Kirtland at 6:00. That means that Annie would have to eat something like a sandwich or Ramen at 5:00, while I unrolled her curlers. It pretty much took over our lives there for awhile. Here's the result:

Here's Annie with her best friend, Hadley. Yes, I'm going to brag - don't they look beautiful??!

Annie with a couple of other girls from the play.

Noah's best friend, Andrew, was also in it; he played Annie's stage brother.

Summer dessert

The other day while I was at the store, I had a sudden hankering for a treat I hadn't eaten since I was at Utah State. We made it on a Sunday evening, and you can see from the pictures how much it was enjoyed.

Here's how you make it:

Split a banana down the middle (keep the skin on). Line the middle with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Spread a layer of peanut butter on top, then wrap the whole thing in tin foil. We cooked ours on the grill, but you can do it over a fire or even in the oven. We cooked them for about 5-10 minutes, just long enough for the stuff to melt and for the banana to get warm. We all agreed with Noah when he said, "This is totally bliss!"

4th of July

I adore the 4th of July. It always makes me so grateful for our freedom (as it should!). Also, there's something about warm weather, picnics, flags, yummy food, fireworks, ect. that just makes me giddy. This year was no exception. The day started with a ward breakfast and a bike parade.

I couldn't find Noah for a picture because he was too busy playing in the woods next to the church field. I think he even forgot to eat breakfast.

How can you not love this lady?? You look great Christy!

Later in the day we had a BBQ at our house. Usually on holidays we're the passive type who waits for an invitation from friends, but not this year. We decided to be go-getters and host a BBQ ourselves. Afterwards Brigham couldn't stop talking about how fun the BBQ was, and "when can we have those friends over again?" We all had a great time, and it was perfect weather!

Dinner - there was some GREAT food!

Brigham and Hyrum "setting up" croquet

Hudson and his girlfriend Hannah

After we ate, the dads and kids played croquet. The winner got to ride the hoppy ball around the yard. Way to go Scott!

Good times with sparklers

After we lit our sparklers Annie and Hadley entertained us with a few numbers from "Wicked." I think it might have been a little difficult with the boys beside, above, and in between them, but they did a great job!

Afterwards, I put Hudson down at the Rynearson's house, and the rest of us went out and watched the city fireworks . . . minus the camera.

Summer - looking back

I love summer. I mean I really really love it. I've loved it even more since I have kids in school now. It makes me realize what a busy, crazy time the school year is. I try to keep my kids' schedule fairly open during the summer to they have time to read, ride bikes, imagine, create, explore, and so many other things that fall by the wayside during the school year. I really love the summers here in Ohio. Yes, it can get humid, but I'll take it if it means so much green surrounding us. One thing we all anticipate, almost as much as the end of school, it seems, is the return of the fireflies. I had never seen a firefly before we came to Ohio, and the first time I did, I felt like a little kid. I gasped and ran in to tell Chris, and we watched them, mesmerized. Anyway, before I post some pics from this summer, I wanted to post some of my favorites of the past summers since we got a digital camera.



2006

Nelson's ledges


Geauga Lake

Relaxing in our front yard on a Friday night

In Grandma's front yard

4th of July

Picking blueberries at Voytko Farms

2007

Creek walking in Sulphur Springs

Picnicking in the South Chagrin Reservation

Annie and Noah watching the fireworks on the 4th. They had to sit on top of our swingset in order to see them through all the trees.

Meeting friends downtown for the annual 1812 overture concert



Eating ice cream at Kokomo's, which is the best place for ice cream in the summer!

At the Hill Cumorah

Niagra Falls (great trip with Grandma and Grandpa!)

2008

All the kids reading - I love it!!

Creekwalking

Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie

After picking strawberries at Patterson's Fruit Farm

This picture just makes me giggle whenever I see it! The kids had been playing in the kiddie pool, and afterwards I saw Brigham just sitting on the swing. I guess he didn't have his swimsuit tied up very well.

These pictures are from when we were in Tennessee. Chris' dad has a cousin who lives on the west side, so we've been able to spend time with him and his family while we've been here in Ohio. They have a cabin just outside of Knoxville, on Norris Lake, and they were so nice to let us stay in it for a week. What a fun, relaxing time we had!

10th anniversary in Chicago

Chris and I had our 10th anniversary this past January. We weren't able to do anything big at that time, but Chris had a conference in Chicago at the end of April, so we decided to use that as a delayed anniversary trip. My parents were so kind to fly out and watch the kids for 3 nights while we were there. We had such a great time, and thanks to the Clinic and Delta skymiles, it was pretty much free, except for a couple of extra things we splurged on.

We flew out to Chicago on Friday, April 24. After we rested up in the hotel we ate dinner at Gino's East, which has great deep dish pizza. Look at that thing - YUM. The restaurant is also famous for letting you write all over the table, walls, seats, ect. Pretty cool.

After dinner we just walked around the different stores downtown. This is at the Lego store. R2 D2 here is made of legos - whoa.

The next day we just explored. It was so nice to just walk and if we saw something we wanted to check out . . . we could! Wow - what freedom! These pictures are in the courtyard of the law school at Northwestern.

This picture is of a beautiful old Presbyterian church that we walked by. There was a free concert inside so we sat down to rest and listen for awhile. The concert happened to be by a high school group from Chardon, which is a town in our stake here in Ohio. Small world!

That afternoon we ate lunch in the John Hancock building. The food wasn't all that impressive, but the view was awesome!!

You can't tell in the picture, but it says that the restaurant is on the 95th floor.

That night we went to a little Shakespeare theatre on Navy Peir. They did Twelfth Night, and this was inside the theatre. Yes, that's water - the actors used it in the play. It was an incredible performance! I think this was my favorite part of the trip.

The rest of our time (which I didn't get pictures of) was spent trying to find a church to go to on Sunday (scary downtown spot trying to get on the subway, then getting turned around once we got off the subway!), eating dinner with the our friends the Larsons, who were also there for the conference, and just relaxing and reading. I also relished in the time I had to sit on the bed in the hotel room and watch HGTV. I know, it's lame, but that never happens at home! It was a much-needed break, and I absolutely loved the time with just Chris, and the freedom to do whatever we wanted. But this trip also helped me to remember that I love noise and chaos of my life with the kids.