Crochet. And stuff.

This is Rick. Rick is a corporate zombie, from the book Creepy Cute Crochet . I borrowed it from the library, but I really, really want this book for keepsies. Rick is my first crochet project ever, and as soon as I opened this book and saw the instructions I knew I had to make him for Cori, my bloggy friend. Because she appreciates the finer things in life, like zombies. Crocheted zombies eat Polly Pocket brains, did you know that? Poor Polly...she didn't even see it coming :( .


This guy is a Cthulhu , which is some sort of mythical creature, from the same book. I know what you're thinking...you're thinking, "could you please use that word in a sentence?"...to which I would say, "Oh no, there's a cthulhu in the cookie jar!" .

I've also been working on some crocheted 'sponges': that's one thing that I've really wanted to end my addiction to, those stupid Dollarama dish sponges with a scrubby on one side. I know they will probably outlive humanity in a landfill somewhere, and that has always bugged me. So I have been frantically crocheting double-thickness, four-inch square "sponges" with a skein of cotton yarn from Wal Mart. No, I don't like crocheted dish cloths. I don't like how floppy they are. I like that a sponge just sits in my hand and doesn't flop all over the place. They're working out really well, I'm pretty happy with the way they've turned out. I can't show you a pic, because I've used them all now and they don't look half as pretty as when I first made them lol.


Ponyo noodles, as Kylie calls them. We went to see Ponyo a few weeks ago, and now Kylie is obsessed with ramen noodles cooked in those covered bowls (am I the only one that didn't know that you pour boiling water over ramen in these bowls, put the cover on, and then in a few minutes you have cooked noodles???) . Anyway, we had to run all over Chinatown looking for these bowls. Yes, we tried T&T and they were out. Anyway, Kylie is using the cheater chopsticks because she was super hungry and didn't have the patience to fart around with the usual chopsticks.

ITLAPD is coming!!!

This time of year, I get ITLAPD newsletters in my inbox regularly. You can sign up for them here: The Poopdeck .

Today's newsletter included a tutorial for those not sure how to begin talking like a pirate. I thought it may be of use to someone...somewhere.


** A Note for Beginners

Saturday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and most of you know what to do.

But what about beginners? What about those who’ve never babbled like buccaneers, cursed like corsairs, or fumed like freebooters? How do you do this thing called pirate talk?

Here are a couple of handy hints, courtesy of The Pirate Guys.

* Me hearties – This is your basic starter kit for pirate palaver. Tack this phrase on the end of every sentence and your on your way to talking like a pirate. “I’ll have a pepperoni pizza, me hearties.” “Fill it with regular, me hearties.” “Turn your head and cough, me hearties!” You get the idea.

* Remember the Five A’s. These five words that are the glue that hold pirate talk together. They are:

-- Ahoy – Hello
-- Avast! – Stand and give attention, or more simply, listen up!
-- Aye – I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did.
-- Aye Aye – Yes boss, I’ll get right on that.

And of course –

-- Aarrr! (Not aarrgh. That’s the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin.) Aarrr is extremely flexible, the blunderbuss of your filibuster vocabulary. Load it up under any circumstances and let fly. Basically “Aaarrr” means whatever you want it to mean. It can mean, among other things, “Pour me a tankard of ale,” “I am well satisfied with this cheeseburger,” “Excuse me, old chap, but I’d rather you not look at my girlfriend that way,” or “Hey everybody! Look at me! I'm talking like a pirate!”

Basically, “Aarrr” means, “I’m here and alive!”

So there you have it. Now sit down and watch a couple of Robert Newton movies for your advance work, or read our books – “Pirattitude! So You Want to Be a Pirate, here’s How” and “The Pirate Life: Unleashing your Inner Buccaneer” available at http://talklikeapirate.com/book.html – and you’ll be all set for Saturday. And the rest of your life.

Sammy Sunshine is 2 !!!!

Holy crap, has it been 2 years already??? My baby is in a big girl bed and everything now!!!

Sammy Sunshine celebrated her second birthday with lots of cousins and assorted aunties, uncles, grammas and one Papa. We had a blast.

Kylie finished her dress for Sam just in time and we got lots of compliments. Such a bright, cheery fabric, and Kylie put a lot of time into it. My gosh, do I ever love my new sewing machine. I don't know why I didn't buy it 10 years ago.



I was only able to get one decent picture of her opening presents, just because there were so many little kids crowding around, which is cool. She had so much fun with all of them.

Oh yeah...it was also Scott's birthday, and I was so busy frosting cupcakes and cleaning that I didn't even have time to make him supper when he came home from work. He had to make supper himself lol. Poor guy. I tried to make it up to him by watching Underworld with him after the kids went to bed on Friday night, but I seen to have a mild form of ADHD when it comes to movies...I just couldn't keep up with it and ended up crocheting and Googling a few things while he watched. There's a prequel and a sequel and we watched the middle one because he felt that one was the first one...oh my gosh, when did movies become so much work???

This and That. And this.

Wow, it's been a while! So much going on, so let's do this in point form:

• the big kids started school last Wednesday: Kylie is in grade 6 and Jacob in grade 3. They're so big, my gosh :( . Seems like the girls in Kylie's class are getting meaner and meaner as they get older, I'm not looking forward to junior high.
• I'm working on year-end financial reports for PAC, which is waaaay easier this year. Last year, the previous PAC treasurer came to my house and dumped a big box of papers on my table, that I had to sort and file...it was crazy, I just about gave up my post about 20 times while I worked on that report. This year, everything is meticulously filed and xeroxed (maybe I'm a bit over zealous in that department). So the reports are coming together quite quickly.
• I've decided that I won't be at the school so much this year...I just don't have it in me anymore. I'll keep the role of treasurer, unless someone else wants it, which would be fine: I just won't be around for hot lunches and day-time meetings, etc. Time for someone else to step up (I hope).
• I ordered my very first piece of fabric from etsy!!! Oh my gosh, I was so scared...I don't know what exactly I was so scared of, though lol. It's just a hunk of sock monkeys by Moda for a scrub shirt. I love me some sock monkeys.
• Sam is in a big girl bed!!! She looks so small in her Dora bed, and I'm a bit sad that my last baby is in a twin bed...but she loves it, and she looks darn cute in there. I was sure she would be up at least once during that first night, but nope: 10 hours straight. Nice.
• I have now finished 2 crochet projects!!! Yay, lookit me go. I got a whack of library books on the subject and now I'm an expert (just joking, as if!). And I'm almost bored of it already lol.

Well, later taters. Off to clean floors and wash diapers...what an exciting life I lead :) .

Felt food finished.

I had a few more things that I wanted to complete before Sam's second birthday next month...maybe I can finish it for Sam's 3rd birthday???


Breakfast.


Lunch...a tasty sandwich with baby carrots and strawberries on the side.


Biggest carrots in the entire world for a snack...


...and salad for supper. This is to counter-act all of the cookies and cupcakes that I made last summer.

I wish I was a better picture-taker-er, but I'm not. Something to work on :) .

Some sewing...

I just don't have any sewing gumption anymore. So what did I do? I went out and bought some yarn and some crochet hooks lol. I'm going to figure it out if it kills me.





Jacob and I made a guitar bag for his electric guitar. It has a wide shoulder strap on the back, so he can throw it on his back when it's time for lessons in the fall. Jacob traced the guitar onto the back of some Christmas gift wrap, we added a couple of inches all around and then cut it out of some thick denim. Jacob top-stitched the strap and help to design the pockets. I put in the zipper and did the rest of it. There are 2 pockets: one for the amp cord and one for his picks.


Jacob needed a tie for a wedding (the skulls tie), and Kylie just wanted a tie (the checkered one). They are skinny ties, maybe 2" across. Not even. I was thinking of posting a tute...I just don't feel like it right now. Maybe when the big kids are back in school.

FINALLY...back to school shopping is over. Army & Navy was advertising some Puma knock-offs in their flyer, so we went there this morning to get some for Kylie...who knew there would be ladies lined up in the parking lot for these shoes??? We got the last pair, and thank God they fit Kiki!!! Those shoes were sold out in less than 5 minutes. There were ladies arguing over House of Dereon shoes...honestly, this store is full to the brim with bargain basement junk, and once in a while they get some name-brand designer stuff and ladies go absolutely nuts for it. Jacob found some jeans and shoes at Wal Mart that he liked, and now we are set.

Jacob is having a friend sleep over tonight, and we went swimming today so everyone was fast asleep by 9pm. Scott is asleep on the couch...I should send him off to bed.

Night, all!

Tuesday.

So there are 15 days left until school starts, and this is the first year that I have to say...I can't wait. Truthfully, I've had it with summer. The weather has sucked, my big kids are fighting at every opportunity and I hate taking them anywhere. I can't wait to go to Wal Mart whenever I want to and not have to punish someone by the time I get to the parking lot. I'm just done. My wish of home-schooling is GONE. Good riddance, summer!!!

Today, my to-do list is almost at the point of exploding. I have to:

-bake a cake
-clean 2 fridges
-sew 2 teddy bear outfits for a birthday gift
-organize my pantry
-take 2 ginormous boxes of fabric to the basement
-make Rice Krispie squares with Jake
-fold laundry and put it away, nag the kids to put their own laundry away
-help Kylie with a sewing project.

Kylie has decided (finally) what to do with this fabric , gifted to us months ago by the lovely Spacestitch . Kylie is making a patchwork dress for Sam for her second birthday, which is less than a month away. It's a lot of cutting and a lot of sewing, but I think she's up to it. It pains me immensely to cut into this fabric, though....it's so purdy :) . Why does Canadian Fabricland have to suck so much???



By the way, we were lucky enough to win some Bento pics in a bloggy give-away from Spacestitch, whose Etsy shop is up and running and full to the brim with lots of beautiful things. Stop by and take a look :) . That is, after you look at the above picture and think to yourself: doesn't that boy ever comb his hair??? No, he does not lol. Another summer fight.

My attendant of honour at my wedding has found me on FB, after I took the 'unsearchable' privacy thingy off of my account. Something that bugs me: when you find meet/talk to someone after a long period of time, and they make a point of telling you every possible wonderful thing that has happened to them over the past million years since you saw them last, but they absolutely forget the part where they should ask you how you are doing. So does that mean they don't care to know...or do they just expect you to offer up that information? Whatever...his wife is a bitch. That's punishment enough for him lol.

Later, taters :)