Summer Is Here

Sorry I haven't blogged for a few days week. Just didn't want to.

Anyway...


One of my favorite snacks: 1/2 cup plain yogurt and a tablespoon of honey.


Found this dead, half covered (wasp?) thing in my garden dirt. When I was pulling weeds, I found a lot of red cacoon things. I think this was what was inside. (Shudder.)


Here's what the garden looks like so far. Coming along nicely. We're starting to get raspberries on our raspberry bush as well.


All my garden babies. I think the carrots just sprouted a couple days ago too! =D


I made Morgana and I tuna melts for dinner on a night that Stu and Kate were both gone. I love them! Morgana does not.


For Father's Day breakfast I made apple-bacon, cream cheese "stuffed" french toast. So good!


My little blonde beach babe ready for fun in the sun at Nana and Papa's pool on Father's Day. Yes, she's wearing flip flops with no heel straps. Since she's my kid, she's required to learn how to wear flip flops early!


Momo's pretty ring. She loves jewelry. This is actually an adult toe ring, haha.


Someone got some big girl panties today! Picked them out herself.


Morgana helped set the table for dinner tonight. She did the plates, forks and glasses. She was so exicted to learn and help.


Here's my progress on the mermaid tail I'm crocheting for Morgana. I was finally able to get another ball of yarn for it today. Hopefully, I'll only need one more ball after this to complete the whole costume. I'm even going to crochet her a shell top.


This week's manicure. Essie Brownie Points with some sorry lookin' flowers and dots.


Here's my manicure at day 4. Not too shabby for Amber. There's a youtube channel called Love4Nails and she has the best advice for nails! Sealing the free edge, top coat touch-ups, cuticle clean ups (when the polish or top coat start lifting near the cuticle) and wearing cleaning gloves (to clean and even while loading the dishwasher) have been my saving graces. And now that all my acrylic damage is grown out, I get to put Love4Nails's nail care to the test and see if I can have broken nails less often. She said in one of her videos that she only broke three nails over the past year! I gotta get in on that!

Hmmm, didn't do much else besides grocery shopping today. Well, I did water the garden. Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend!

Tails, Sprouts & Bread

So, I started crocheting Morgana's mermaid tail last night. Used up the whole ball of yarn that I got in one night. Now I have to wait until Sunday to get another ball. Booooooo! I'm so excited to make it that waiting is going to be hard.


Here's some more sprouts from our garden. I think-- I think these are the cucumbers... and not weeds... I hope. They don't look like any of the other weed sprouts coming back up. We planted mint today.


Made banana bread today.............. That's all I have to say about that......... Oh, and that it's delicious, as always.


I forgot to post this picture on Sunday. This is Midnight Blue and Nail Junkie, both by Sinful Colors. GGMa bought them for me when we visited her in St. George. I love them!

I also washed a big box of clothes for Mo that my sister got rid of from her kids. Thank goodness! I'm running out of shirts that fit over Mo's head and cover her belly completely! Luckily, her long pants that she's outgrown can now be capris. She's gotten taller and her head has grown, but all her bottoms still fit her waist and most of her shirts still fit her arms.

Morgana went potty mid-day, so she got to wear her big girl panties for the 15 minutes. She even told me that she had to go potty while wearing them, so we rushed to the potty and she went again! So proud! She went potty again after dinner and asked to wear her big girl panties again. I told her it was okay with me, but she had to ask Daddy. (The deal was anytime she went potty before dinner, she could wear them.) Stu said it was okay, so she wore her big girl panties while we played Go Fish, no accidents.

Stu and I also talked about going to Comi-Con here in Salt Lake City. What days we'd like to go, how to work it out, about taking Morgana along. Jonathan Frakes is going to be there. He played Commander William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I would really like to meet him. I LOVED that series in High School! Also, you may or may not know that Stu and I have been watching all of the Star Trek series and movies together for several years. We're watching Enterprise now.

I did some typing on GGMa's journals and tried to catch up on folding laundry.

Tonight, I'd like to finish that folding, knit and watch some Angel.

Going Coconuts

I bought some cotton yarn to start crocheting a mermaid tail for Morgana. She keeps telling me, "Mama, I want a mermaid tail." So sweet, I can't resist that request. I also got some Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat. I've heard it's comparable to Seche Vite (the best top coat in the world). I can't always afford Seche, so I thought I'd give this drugstore version a try. Lastly, I got some coconut oil to use on my hair, nails/cuticles and feet. It has no smell, so I texted my friend, Sarah, about it. She said it's only cooking grade and won't have the same health benefits of other coconut oils. I'm still gonna try it though. Anyone ever tried this brand of coconut oil as a beauty product? What did you think of it?


For dinner, I made BUBBLE PIZZA! Saw it on Pinterest. It wasn't as good as I would have liked. I think it was just that the pizza sauce I bought wasn't to my liking as far as taste. My husband, on the other hand, loved it.


I painted Kate's toes tonight. I painted Morgana's finger and toenails, too, but accidentally deleted the picture- Doh!

So, Morgana (under a deal between her and Stu), got to wear big girl panties for 15 minutes today, because she went potty before dinner-time. She was excited. Stu and I both let her know how important it was to tell us if she had to go potty while wearing her panties. So, every minute, she was like, "Mama! I needa go potty!" "Mama! I needa go peepee!" So, I took her to the potty 2 or 3 times. She never went though. I'd rather she tell me when she doesn't have to than not tell me when she does.

Kate observed Morgana's entire bedtime routine tonight as Stu and I have a wedding reception to go to Saturday that starts at 7 pm, the same time Morgana starts getting ready for bed. So, Kate is learning Morgana's bedtime routine so she can put her to bed while she babysits on Saturday.

Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned it to my blog readers, but back in March, Stu made me a lasik surgery screening appointment for my birthday. We set the appointment in July, then we had to pay some big medical bills recently, so we are waiting to see if we have enough in our health savings to pay for the surgery. I'm so excited! And I really hope that I can still get it because my brown, plastic framed glasses just broke in half on Friday when I went to go clean them. So, I'm down to one pair of glasses. Those were my favorite pair, plus, my eye doctors have always recommended having at least two pairs of glasses in case something happens to one pair. This is a must when you are as blind as me. I can't see clearly past, literally, 6 inches in front of my face.

Welp! I'ma go watch Star Trek with Hubbykins and crochet on Morgana's mermaid tail and probably watch an episode of Angel before I go to bed. I'm almost caught up to where I'm at watching Buffy! Only four more episodes!

Fun In The Sun

Sorry no post yesterday. We spent the night at my Mom's on a whim to make sure Stu would have the car tonight for a game tournament he was going to.


My sister had bought another kiddie pool, since Papa popped the previous one. So, Friday afternoon was water time.


...as was today, with outdoor lunch as well.

And, exciting news...


We have pumpkin sprouts!!! 12 in all! The leaves are as big as the tip of my thumb! OMG! I'm beyond excited!

I also got Morgana to go on the potty twice yesterday as I had just started taking her with me whenever I have to go, at the suggestion of my Mom.

Bedtime did not go so well last night. Morgana was awake for an hour in bed after lights out and showing no signs of slowing. Plus, she started really crying, I finally went in and tickled and cuddled her to sleep. That was a mistake, because tonight I'm having to deal with her calling for me and crying again even in her own bed. She usually just lays silent or quietly talks/sings to herself for an hour before falling asleep. But, being at my Mom's, oh my Hannah! She would not settle down.

I started working on my gray ruana jacket again yesterday. I had run out of yarn for my Infinitude scarf and wrist warmers and was waiting on yarn I had ordered online. It came today while I was still at my Mom's. Yay!

I missed watching Angel while I was at my Mom's, so for that I'm glad to be home tonight. I'll also be painting my nails tonight, since we weren't home last night.

Back In The Saddle... Almost

I'm so sorry I have a week's worth of catching up to do! I got sick, then lazy and tired (probably lingering sickness), then a little sick some more. So, let's catch up!


Here's the gift I made for my friend, Christy! A pineapple scarf! I have crocheted for 10+ years and never done pineapple. Sacrilege, I know!





I'm almost done with my Infinitude scarf (pattern on Ravelry)! I'm not sure I have enough yarn to finish it, let alone the matching wrist warmers I want to make along with it. I had to order more yarn online, as stores around here don't seem to carry Bernat Super Value anymore, especially not in that color. I figure even if the dye lot doesn't match well, no one will know. The pattern has a lot of shadow in it and the way it's worn will distort any color differences anyway.


Morgana and I made sugar cookie bars last week. They have the same texture and taste as the store-bought ones. So happy I found this recipe! I've been looking for a soft sugar cookie recipe that actually turns out soft for ages! This is Mo's favorite part about making sugar cookies.


...Well, and this, too.


Here's a yummy-licious photo of the finished product.


Morgana drew Dot from A Bug's Life. 2.5 years old, people.


GGMa was staying at Nana's this week, so we had a visit. All the girls played Ring Around The Rosey with her. I swear, this woman looks and moves like she's 10+ years younger than she actually is. (I may have said that before, but it's just amazing!) I admire that!


Then, Mo and I brought GGMa along to get Chinese take-out for dinner. We saw this BIG goat in a fenced area right next to the restaurant. First goat Mo has ever seen. She loved him/her.


My silly monkey getting her hair did for bed.


Presenting Miss Curly Mo! She loved them and asked me to do curlers again for her tonight. The curls fell out by the end of naptime today. =( Oh well. Still fun!


We had more garden fun this morning. So far, we've planted cucumbers, pumpkin, carrots and spaghetti squash.


The garden isn't much to look at and I'm not done planting (or weeding for that matter), but I'm so proud of the work I've done so far!

Morgana's doing well with her sleep changes. I leave the room at nap and bedtime, checking on her periodically. She usually falls asleep for nap in 10-20 minutes and bed takes about an hour. But, she's getting really good about just laying still and quiet in her bed every time. I'm proud of her!

My Mom also gave Morgana some big girl panties. Stu and I have told her that she can wear them for a little while if she goes in the potty anytime before dinner. She seems excited about the idea, but hasn't tried to go yet.

Sunday, Stu and I saw the new Star Trek movie. We loved it! Nice to have a date with my hubby again as they are few and far between these days.

I had two of the three college girls upstairs (we live in a multi-family house with an apartment upstairs), Shelby and Kira, over to crochet tonight. I've had them over a couple times prior to help them with crochet. Shelby already knew how, she just needs a little help advancing her skills and with a pattern she's working on. I taught Kira how to crochet and she caught on SO quickly! Tonight, we started her on some single crochet squares as she wants to make herself a simple tote bag. It's such a pleasure having them over. Morgana loves them, they love her and they're very patient, just going about their crocheting without being distracted by Morgana's shennanigans as she plays in close proximity.

Still trying to catch up watching Angel so I can watch Buffy and Angel in storyline unison. I think I have at least six episodes to go.

Hmmm, I think that's everything. Gonna, go check on Morgana and see if she's asleep yet, then watch some Star Trek Enterprise with hubby.

Planting & Drawing

Little Miss and I starting planting our garden today.

We got cucumbers and pumpkins planted.  I just made a copy on our hand-me-down copy/scan/print/fax machine of the seed packets, cut them down to size, punched a hole at the top and the bottom, then threaded them onto sticks we found around the yard. Then, covered them with a ziploc sandwich bag to keep the row markers dry. You learn to be resourceful when you're on a budget.

Morgana's garden clothes having a hang dry. If she doesn't get completely dirty, she gets completely wet washing off with the hose before we come in.

Morgana also drew these little flowers on her MagnaDoodle. She did this on her own accord, from her own imagination. Pretty good, huh?

So, I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix. I'm on season four and at the beginning of the next episode, the "previously on" snippet also includes scenes from Angel. I was contemplating if I wanted to watch Angel and watch them simultaneously as they apparently aired. The completist in me won't let me not do it. So, I guess I'll be watching Angel now too.

I texted Christy today to let her know the gift I made her is now ready for her. We got to talking about gardening instead and there was never anything more said about the gift. She said she'd like to bring me something called preen that will help control weeds in my garden. She's such a sweet lady; always willing to help. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't do more for her although I don't what I could do. That's why I made her a gift.

Morgana is doing so well with naps, bedtime and sleeping through the night these days. It gets easier all the time. She has also gone potty a couple of times between yesterday and today. Hope she picks it back up again.

Finally, Some Yarn.

My acrylic damage is ALMOST grown out. Can you tell I really miss my long fingernails? Trying to paint tips?

I'm knitting myself an Infinitude scarf (pattern on Ravelry). This is the same pattern I used to make a scarf for Teen Miss for Christmas amd then I made one for my oldest Sister's birthday. It's a great pattern! My Mom saw me knitting this and said she'd love to have a white infinity scarf, not specifically this pattern though. She said she doesn't care what pattern I use if I decide to make her one.

I also finished the gift I was making for my friend, Christy, this weekend. No pictures yet, I haven't given it to her yet.

Today, Mo and I weeded in the garden more, for only about 10 minutes.  I'm wondering if I can get away with using only half the garden this year as I'm running out of time to plant. Then, maybe after I get what seeds I have planted or fill up half of the garden with planting, if I want to and have time left, I could clear out the other half and plant more.

I'm getting back into typing GGMa's journals (that she pays me for) again. We need some more money. So that, hopefully, we can try getting into a house soon.

Mani/Pedi Lemon

Little Miss got her first mani/pedi (by me) today. Before this she only got her toenails painted.

Teen Miss let me try one of her lemon Luna bars. So good! It tastes like a lemon dessert.

I didn't do much else today. No knitting or crocheting. My husband came home from a five day business trip today. Though, I did manage to take a nice nap with him.  =)

I'm trying to get Mo to where she'll go to sleep on her own. I'm at phase "sit on the floor in front of the door".  I started by laying with her until she went to sleep after she was weaned.  Almost there. It's been almost an hour since lights out tonight and she's still awake. Though, I think she's finally settled down and is done crying, talking, shouting and playing around.  She's getting better. The hardest part is not trying to make her settle down or punish her for talking or moving. It does no good and the interaction seems to only get her more wound up. Now, she only gets a one minute time out if she gets out of bed or stands up in bed.  It's also really hard to not talk to her. If she asks me to fix her blanket, I will, but I won't say anything and just go sit back down. If she wants something like for me to put one of her stuffed animals back that she doesn't want anymore, I don't engage her.

...I was wrong. She's sitting up and talking again. Sigh. We'll get there.  I hope. Wish us luck!

Have a great night!

Tangled Yarn & A Sickling

Sorry I haven't posted the last few days. Been lazy and Morgana was sick throwing up and feverish the last two days.

Teen Miss is home sick today as well. Morgana seems to be feeling much better today though. She slept until almost 10 am! Though, I was in her bed with her all night and morning. So maybe that helped. I think her fever broke early this morning.

I have been taking steps to get Morgana to learn go to sleep on her own. The trip to St. George and her illness has put us behind by a week, but that's okay. Each week I change how she goes to sleep. It went from nursing to me laying with her to me sitting right next to her to sitting on the edge of the bed, etc. It's going really well. And, in St. George, I discovered that she can sleep through a lot more noise than I thought she could.

I've been working on my secret project for my friend, Christy. She knows I'm making her something. She just doesn't know what. Which reminds me I hardly crocheted at all in St. George. Surprised myself!

GGMa gave me a back massage with peppermint extract oil our last night there. She doesn't have very strong hands but it was still very appreciated.

Well, as soon as Little Miss passes out for nap, I'm gonna hit the showers.

For more of what we're doing, visit my flickr photos!

Me untangling cotton yarn, a bowl for throwing up and Little Miss napping next to my leg while she was sick yesterday.

More Doctor, Ugh!

Well, my MRI was normal. Good news, but still don't know for sure what caused my little episode of aphasia.


This was a "good morning, Daddy" photo that we sent Stu last Sunday morning after our monthly sleepover at Nana's.


This is what I looked like everytime I prepared breakfast or lunch for Morgana a few days last week, after washing my hands and scrubbing to my elbows each time. Stu took care of dinners. I had some kind of digestive illness all last week. It was so taxing and uncomfortable. My tests came back normal on this sickness, so who knows what I had.


I made Morgana a robot head, at her request.


I crocheted a hair donut in a color of yarn to match my hair, which is important because my hair is too thin to really cover a hair donut well. I love it!




My baby dragon!

Speaking of baby dragons...


My friend, Christy, requested a pair of crocheted baby dragons. They're finally done after a week of fighting off illness, a week of procrastination because she was out of the country for over a week and then another week where I had that digestive illness.


This is Little Miss's favorite bedtime "story" right now. Reading excerpts from recipes for bedtime feels weird to me, but she loves to look at the fun pictures while I fill the silence with instructions.


My mom asked for a simple travel mug cozy since her two favorite travel mugs are stainless steel and slip when she tries to pick them up with really dry hands. She asked for a simple double crochet cozy in black.

Morgana and I are also planning to go down to Southern Utah with Nana (my mom) to stay with GGMa (my mom's mom) and her husband for about five days next week. I'm so excited!

Well, it's getting close to bedtime, I'm getting tired and still need to update my Ravelry projects. Goodnight all!