What a wonderful week it has been! My little Bennie boy turned 7 on Thursday, April 25th ... my goodness, how time flies! We surprised him that evening with a hibachi dinner at our local Japanese restaurant - he was happy! The evening was full of ooh's and ahh's and good eats. Afterwards, he opened his gifts and his squeals of delight could be heard by the neighbors, I'm sure! We gave him a new scooter. He proceeded to zip all around the house right up until bedtime - even then he couldn't bear to part with it, so it traveled upstairs to "sleep" on the bottom bunk! Too funny ... :) Then on Saturday, we celebrated his special day with family and friends at the bowling alley - we had a ton of fun! At one point, Bennie even claimed that his face hurt from too much smiling - love it!!
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| thinking about his wish ... fried green tea ice-cream! |
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| Yahoo! A new Thomas train! |
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| "The best birthday, ever!" |
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| The scooter moment .... :) |
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| party loot! |
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| Ollie was so proud to bowl all by himself! |
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Bennie loves animals - Gramma & Papa know just what he likes!
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On Sunday, we drove about 20 minutes south to my Mother-in-Law's house, in South Bristol and spent a lovely day outside enjoying the breezy day. The kiddos were given a ride on the "Big Orange Kabota Gator" by Mammy and made sure she took the muddiest trails through the woods! Bruce and I were able to hike about in the woods and just enjoy the sounds of nature. I so love the water falling in the gully ... I was also taken with all the different shades of green mosses on the rocks and trees. The fresh air, birdsong and fluttering butterflies did so much to brighten my spirits!
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| The kiddos and Mammy in the Kabota, searching out the mud! |
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| the moss varieties were beautiful |
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| this one looks as though it belongs in the ocean! |
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| this too, looks as though it is underwater ... |
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| deep dark greens ... |
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| this one was so soft and vibrant |
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| Love all the different shades of green! Obviously, it's my favorite color ;) |
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| One of many waterfalls in the gully ... |
After a time, we returned to Mammy's house and the younger boys discovered all of Bruce's metal Tonka Toys from when he was a child. Many hours were spent moving sand, dirt and stones about as we sat enjoying the view of Canandaigua Lake and the wind blowing in our hair. Millie and Foxie were busy running & riding about with their older cousin, William. At times their laughter would even make us chuckle. As the afternoon waned, we reluctantly put away the toys and said our goodbyes - many tears were shed by little Ollie, as he just did not want to leave the sand pile! That babe just adores playing outside - actually we all do!
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| Little Ollie, hard at work with the bulldozer |
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| Bennie discovered the logging truck |
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| fun, fun, fun! |
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| the view looking South |
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| I just love all the beautiful daffodils |
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| the bright yellow flowers make me smile! |
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| tuckered out after a long day .... |
When dinner was done and baths were finished, I gladly tucked the kiddos is, as I was tired too! Fresh air has a way of doing that! I wasn't too tired, however, to begin (yes, another!) project. I just could not help myself!! You see, all 25 luscious colorful skeins of Stylecraft DK yarn arrived from Deramores (yep, across the pond!) and OH MY!!! (The excitement new yarn can evoke -- "Hello, my name is Aimee and I am a yarn junkie.") Hahaha - my kids and hubby think me a bit silly, but I just love new yarn!
Anyway, after fiddling about with patterns and color sequencing, I've decided to start a ripple blanket - yippee! I'm using the guidelines/pattern created by Lucy at Attic24 (I really do owe so much creative inspiration to her!! Thank you Lucy!! xoxo) and surprisingly it's so easy! The way the ripples, well ripple (!) is so soothing and enjoyable to crochet ... I'm sure many people think I'm slightly batty to begin yet another blanket, but I figure, this way, I have several different projects to choose from, depending upon my mood or how much time I have to sit and crochet. And frankly, with the spring season finally here, I have many outdoor projects to begin! (Ugh, even as I type this, my yard is beckoning me to come outside and mow it!) However, I'm sure I can squeeze in a bit of crochet with my morning coffee! yippee!
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Gorgeous! Stylecraft DK colors:
row 1: lipstick, lavender, turquoise, spring green, shrimp, magenta, sherbet
row 2: clematis, pomegranate, teal, raspberry, meadow, cloud blue, grape
row 3: denim, fondant, wisteria, aspen, aster, saffron, violet |
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| Loving this yarn and my new Symphonie wooden hook!! It glides so smoothly .... sigh |
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| the beginning of the ripple! |
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| I'm loving this! |
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| My sleepy kitty Gus ... my crochet companion |
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| the end of row one - it all worked out! hooray! |
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| row two complete |
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| row 4 - color change! |
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| yummy! |
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| early morning happiness ... Emma Bridgewater mug of coffee & crochet |
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| one more pic, with the sun shining on it! xoxoxoxo |
Hoping you all have a wonderful day!
~aimee
xoxoxoxo
PS I have also been working on Bennie's chevron afghan!
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| Bennie's choice colors - greens - the marled yarn looks like camouflage much to Bennie's delight! |
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| green goodness |
