Just curious... do I still have any followers?

So... it's been five years. A few things have changed. A lot of things haven't. I still knit, but my mojo went missing for a while. It's back now, thank goodness! I've completed three projects recently and I've just started another. And I'm working on writing up two patterns, with more ideas swirling in my head.

I still homeschool my daughters, but only the younger two, because the oldest(18) is in college! Angel's name is Theresa, and she's a sophomore at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, studying youth ministry. She was on the Dean's List both semesters last year, and is on track to do it again. She joined the choir and an intramural ultimate frisbee team. And she just auditioned for and got a spot on Chapel Teams, which means she'll be helping lead worship for chapel occasionally! She's thriving, and I'm so proud of her.

Theresa, aka Angel (Photo by Assassin)

The daughter formerly known as Princess(15) informed me several years ago that she didn't want to be Princess anymore; she wanted to be Assassin. I agreed, but told her she's not allowed to kill anyone, so she's The Assassin Who Doesn't Kill Anyone(and if anyone understands the reference, you're awesome). She's a junior in high school, and she's taking two online classes through a local community college. She's super close to earning her black belt in karate; she and the youngest have been training for almost three years. She loves photography; she got a fancy camera for her birthday last year and has taken thousands of amazing photos with it! I'll put one of them at the end of this post.

Assassin, breaking a board with a flying side kick(photo by mom)

I haven't called the youngest(13) Kitty in years; she's usually Weirdo or Goofball(don't worry; those aren't insults in our family). She's in eighth grade, and she has developed good coping mechanisms for her dyslexia; she's reading and writing well, and she's actually ahead of her peers in math, she's started Algebra 1. She loves art, especially the kind she can do on her own body; she does amazing FX makeup, as well as very glamorous makeup. She is a brown belt in karate, so she's roughly a year away from earning her black belt. Even though she started karate at the same time as her sister, she was in the younger class for the first year and a half, and the younger kids work at half the speed of the teens. So she is three belt ranks behind Assassin. 

Weirdo/Goofball (photo by Assassin)

This is one of my favorite photos that Assassin took. I love how she captured the reflection in the window of the campus coffee house at Theresa's college. OKWU is a beautiful place.

Knit, exercise, knit, exercise...

I'm chugging along on the sweater waist cables...I've finished three repeats, and I think I'll do another four or five.  I'll try it on tomorrow and get another in-progress picture.  After my workout, I think...

Speaking of workouts, I had two today.  Went to the gym and worked my back, and did 15 minutes on the bike.  My legs are still sore from yesterday.  Then this afternoon, I took the girls to the park to learn to ride their bikes.  Angel had never ridden without training wheels, and neither had Princess.  So I figured it was about time for both of them.  And time for Kitty to learn to ride with training wheels.  Angel and Princess both did great; kept trying and trying, and didn't give up.  Kitty tried for a little while, but got frustrated because she couldn't figure out how to pedal.  Oh, and the reason I counted it as a workout was because I had to help all three of them, in separate areas of the park.  I did a lot of running.  It was exhausting, but in a good way.  I'm sure I've totally undone it now, by drinking wine.  Oh well...it's a holiday!

Happy Valentine's Day to my readers(if there are any...)!

Visiting family!

I'm in Kansas, visiting my family. ☺ The girls and I are having a blast. My sister has brought her girls over every day that we've been here, so it's been pretty wild. Here's a little sampling of what we've been up to....

♥

A daffodil at the zoo

Angel, reading to her sisters and cousins
All eight girls, at the zoo. (3 belong to my sister Sara, and 2 to my sister Rebekah)

Watching "Annie" on movie night

Me, having a little quality time with my dad and our firearms. ☺

♥

I haven't had much knitting time, and what I've had was mostly spent tinking. I dropped a stitch on my Adamas shawl, and it fell several rows. I tried to pick it up, but since it was lace, there were yarnovers and decreases in the way, and that just made it worse. I hadn't used lifelines, so I couldn't just rip. I had to tink back about 5 rows, before I was able to pick up the stitch properly. Now I've caught back up to where I was before I messed up. I think I'll finish this repeat, then put it aside to work on Surf.

♥

In case I don't get time to be on the computer tomorrow.....Happy Easter! I hope you have a wonderful Resurrection Day celebration. ☺

Goin' to Kansas!

I'm going to be driving allllllll day tomorrow. I'm going to visit my family in Kansas. Hooray! I haven't been there since February, when my little sister got married. I really wish we lived closer. But then, even when we only lived three hours from them we rarely visited. I wish we lived in the same town; then we'd see each other all the time, like we did when I first got married. Most of the family is still living in that same town. Not us. We had to move once because of the military, then a bunch more times because of jobs. I really hate moving. But I'd love to move back to my hometown.
It's a decent-sized town; everything you need is right there, but it's not quite a city. Rush hour traffic there is like normal traffic here in the city where I live now. The only time you get stuck in a real traffic jam there is after a college football game. Downtown isn't a crazy maze of one-way streets like it is here; their "downtown" is a few square blocks, with nice little storefronts, and the mall at one end. The streets are lined with beautiful trees; the trees are so huge that they reach each other across the two-lane streets and form a green canopy. So pretty. I love my hometown. It's grown a lot since I lived there, so I don't know my way around as well as I used to (which, I must admit, wasn't very well to begin with; I've always had a terrible sense of direction). They have all the shopping and such that you could want, so people don't have to drive to Topeka or Kansas City unless they really want to. I'm looking forward to hitting the fabric/yarn stores and the thrift shops while I'm there. ☺
But mostly, I'm looking forward to visiting with my family, giggling with my sisters, discussing theology with my dad, hanging out with my mom and getting advice from her, seeing my brothers, watching my kids play with their cousins (note to self: pack earplugs! They can get pretty noisy), and getting a chance to finally hold Allyson (the newest baby in the family). I'll miss my hubby, but I'm glad the girls and I get this chance to go.
So anyway, today I'm doing laundry and packing. Got to remember to bring lots of DVDs...it's gonna be a long drive.