I've been away for a while...OK, a looooong while...and it's hard to get back on the blog wagon. To tell the truth, this is a blog I've been working and reworking in my mind for a while, and just can't seem to get it out. As most of you probably know, my granny passed away on June 19. I don't know how I can possibly express in one blog just how much she meant to me, but I'm going to try anyway.

Granny was beautiful, kind, and had a wicked sense of humor. She bought me my first bikini and my first miniskirt, and somehow managed to convince my dad to let me wear both. I think she enjoyed his discomfort, actually. When I was a kid, I knew her as a Story Teller, and the Keeper of Secrets. Andrea and I always thought we were pulling a fast one on her when we'd get her to tell one story after the other at bedtime. Now I realize she was well aware that we were getting to stay up late, but telling us stories was important to her, so she did it. As an adult, I saw more in her stories, and came to know her as someone who lived through some really hard times and refused to let life take away her sense of fun. She had a smile that was irresistible.

I think that most of my favorite stories will always be the ones that involve Granny, and I hope I remember them well. I'll never tell them quite like she did, but my kids will hear them. Most likely, they'll hear them until they begin to roll their eyes every time I start talking. But hopefully, someday they'll look back and remember the stories, and tell them to their own children. Who will roll their eyes. Because that's how it works.

Delana's little cupcake

It's been a while since I posted any knitting projects, so I thought I'd put this one up. Just finished it today. My friend Delana, who has four sons, is pregnant with a little girl. I wanted to make something really cute for her. This hat and mittens were just the thing.

I know it's hard to tell size on this, but it's approximately 6-12 months. The baby is due in May, so I hope it fits her next fall/winter. The hat is pretty stretchy and might be able to go for two seasons.

This was such a quick set. I made it in about a week.

Dyeing (not to be confused with dying)

Here are a few pictures of us dyeing eggs. Note that I made the kids strip down to prevent messes, yet I was the one who ended up with multi-colored fingers!

Gabe really likes to write on the eggs with a white crayon and see the magic writing appear. It should be noted that I do feed this child. If he gets much skinnier I'll have to put weights on him on windy days.

Timothy wanted to try writing on the eggs, too.

We had some random mystery dye packs from last year, and I wasn't really sure what colors they would be. Most of the colors were really cool, but then there was one that was...brown. It wasn't ugly, it just looked like a brown egg.

When it came out of the dye, there was this long silence. Gabe said, "It's...it's..." Timothy piped up, "Poo!"

Timothy was especially impressed at the egg dying process this year.

This was my favorite egg! The only pink dye we had was really grainy, so I overdyed with blue and got this! Now, to try it with yarn!

Our finished products!

Easter '09

OK, time for a few pictures from Easter! Here are the more formal pics. As if my sons have ever taken a formal picture in their lives! It's more like..."formal". So, we start with the whole family.

Now, my silly boys. They clean up pretty well.

Chris and me...I asked why he never smiles, and he said he WAS smiling. His smile is very...subtle.

Grandma and Grandpa were in town for the weekend. The boys had a great time playing with them. Timothy taught Grandma his version of Monopoly, which seemed to involve a lot of going to jail.

S'mores

I'm trying to keep up with the blogging, but I haven't had much time to think about it. I'm hopelessly behind! However, here are pictures of the first time we used our new fire pit! Chris found a great deal on one, and we bought stuff to make s'mores and enjoyed an evening of cooking out! Timothy REALLY enjoyed the s'mores! Can you tell by his sticky cheeks?

It's been a little windy for a fire, so we had to be really careful. We've done fine with lots of daddy supervision. Let's face it, all little boys are pyromaniacs! Come to think of it, so are most big boys!

Gabe is old enough to roast his own marshmallows, and takes great joy in doing so.

I made the mistake of tossing a dropped marshmallow to Buster. I've created a monster! He's mostly polite about his begging, but I can't leave him next to Timothy because the moment I look away, he's ready to snatch Timothy's treat. He seems to feel that's what Timothy gets for being just on the level of his mouth. Oh, well, it does make for easy cleanup of sticky fingers!

Peckish...

We're really enjoying the return of some warmer weather. We'll ignore the minor blizzard of last weekend when I say that March has been a pleasant month. One of the things Timothy really enjoys is going to the park to feed the ducks.

I'm not entirely sure what he's doing here, except that the ducks must have done something hilarious. Ducks, by the way, are very polite animals. Geese, on the other hand...

Are NOT!

I'm thinking seriously of blowing up this photo and having it framed!

If I were any more behind, I'd catch up with myself!

Hi, everyone! Life is suddenly very, very busy around here. I hate it that blogging has taken the back burner for now, but I have a bad case of the Spring Crazies, and I can't seem to focus on writing anything. Plus, Chris accidentally broke the network between the computers, and for about three weeks, I had no access to any pictures.

On a happy note, I'm 36 teaching hours away from finishing up my Pilates apprenticeship! It's a 500 hour program, and I started it two years ago, so I'm quite excited to be almost done! Three more weeks should do it!

The good news is that I've taken lots of pictures, whether or not you've seen them, and I'm going to work on catching up a bit in the next few days. Feel free to hunt me down and whip me soundly if I don't stay on top of my blog!