I finally gave Houston a haircut

More like I finally bribed him into letting me give him a haircut. (i'm not gonna get into what i had to bribe him with) I used Brett's clippers with a one inch guard on them. Easy cheesy. Anyone else need a haircut?
The new do makes him look so much older. Here are the before and after pictures:

Silly Boy

Houston was hamming it up (in his new pajamas) playing catch with a crumpled up ball of paper. It was definitely one of those "you had to be there" things. Funny stuff I tell you.

Sock Progress

I was really hoping to be further along than this but here is where the sock stands:
















I've turned the heel and finished the gusset and now i'm ready to knit the instep. It's all smooth sailing from here.

Poor Tater

He got neutered yesterday and has been sulking ever since. The other dogs, especailly Marzbar (the other male), keeps following him around sniffing and growling. I think Marz is trying to reclaim his position as the alpha male now that Tater is neutered too. It is so interesting (to me anyway) living with a "pack" of dogs and watching their social interaction with eachother. Maybe I should have been an animal behaviorist ... if there is such a thing. Maybe an animal behavior researcher? Whatever ... you get the point, right?

On a sad note, Tater's daddy Buster was hit and killed by a car a few weeks ago. And on a happier note, one of Tater's siblings recently had puppies so our neighbors (Buster's family) were able to get one of Buster's grand-puppies. He is also a pure-bred yellow lab. Here is a picture of Buster below. He is sadly missed around here as he came over to visit often.

Sock Knitter

I'm working on my second pair of socks. These are for Brody. I just started them yesterday and i'm already working on the heel. I don't know what it is about knitting socks but there is just something so great about it. It's addictive and therapeutic. You should try it!

eco-living tips

Check this out. Ways to "live green".

http://www.idealbite.com/

ASPCA Mission Orange

Just wanted to pass this along to everyone.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_newsalert011207#1

Seven Months

Some crazy Gator fans ....

They knew the Gators were going to win so they were sleeping peacefully by the time the fourth quarter started.

Here is Houston cheering for the Gators. He really had fun last night. He got so excited everytime we all cheered. It was just too darn cute. That's my boy ... a Gator fan already!

Brody and his friend Ansley hung out during the Gator game. Ansley traded her pacifier for Brody's water bottle. Ansley's mom, Kim, and I got a kick out of how much they look alike. I never noticed it before this night.

Ready for the big game. Go Gators!!!

My Socks

Here is a picture of my very first pair of hand knit socks. Last year my knitting goal was to learn to knit socks. Mark that one off the list! My knitting goal for this year is to get a knitting guild/group/meeting or whatever you want to call it started here in Lake City. There are just some things I don't want to have to drive all the way to Gainesville for and I figure if it doesn't already exist then i'm just gonna have to start it myself. I've got a great cafe picked out for the meeting place. Now I just have to pick a day/time and get the word out. We have two quilt shops in town that would probably let me hang a flier. I'll probably hang one at the LYS in Gainesville too. (LYS is local yarn store for you non knitters)

The men in my house ... I am seriously outnumbered here.

Bathtime is a lot of fun these days. Houston plays really well with Brody in the tub and I sit and knit while I watch them.

Too much Christmas fun for Brody!

Yes this was taken in December. It is freakin' hot here!!!

December 25, 2006

Christmas Eve '06

GO GATORS!!!

2007 BCS National Champions!

Florida Gators crush Ohio State 41-14.

If you ain't a Gator, You're Gator Bait !

Brody is 7 months old

I can hardly believe how time flies. Where did it go?

A GOOD IDEA FOR THE NEW YEAR

I just ran across something on the internet that really caught my attention. A group of friends in San Francisco made a pact to not buy anything new for a whole year. They made exceptions for food and toiletries and a few other things. Check out the yahoo article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_re_us/shopping_sabbatical
And here is a link to the related blog: http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/

I think this is a great challenge. I'm not sure that I could do it for a whole year but i'm considering doing a three month trial run. Living in Lake City may make things a bit more complicated but I think it's worth a shot. We have a few consignment stores but I don't think we have a freecycle group. This could really help me with my new year's resolution of getting serious about getting out of debt and de-cluttering. I often shop at consignment stores anyway and try to be as enviromentally conscious as I can. I always buy used books (gotta love half.com), nurse my babies and mostly use cloth diapers (little less often now that i have two but Houston is good with the potty and only uses about two pull-ups a day). I think this would be a great challenge and it would have the added benefit of cutting down my grocery bill from super wally world. All those impulse buys would be out the window for a little while.

Anyone up for joining me? I'll have to set up my rules soon. If you look at the blog I posted above and go back to their January 2006 archive you can see the rules they set up.

In the interest of the new year and its resolutions i've been meaning to post mine here. (this way you all can keep me honest) So here it goes:

1. Get serious about getting out of debt (would love for this to just say "get out of debt" but that is impossible in one year. we're about to get on Dave Ramsey's financial peace plan though and i'm excited about it. i want to be non-mortgage debt-free by the time Houston starts school.)
2. Lose 10 pounds (15 or 20 would be great but i'll settle for those last 10 baby pounds)
3. Eat healthier (i find that since i've had kids i'm much more likely to grab fast food ... not just drive-thru but pre-packaged easy to pop in the oven stuff. have you read the ingredients on that kind of stuff lately? yikes! and we wonder why so many people get cancer. i used to eat very healthy. i blame my downfall on trying to be a stay-at-home-,work-at-home,do-too-much, mother of two who lives in Lake City ... the town that will probably never see a Whole Foods, or Mother Earth type store anywhere in the next 200 years. i'm so busy during the day that by the time i realize i need to eat something i don't have the self-control to make a salad or pasta or something like that. i grab what's available quickly or just 'run through somewhere'. and let's not even get into the soda thing here. let's just say i need to give it up!)
4. Get back to YOGA!!! (For the love of God, why can't I just stick with something that I know is great for me physically and emotionally? My life is so much better when i'm doing yoga. I know this. I know how to do yoga. I don't have to practice for two hours a day. Ten minutes a day would be just enough to really make a difference. What is my problem? I have serious self-discipline issues. Anyone have a great used book on this issue that they want to swap for a book on yoga? hee hee.)

Anyone care to share their resolution(s)?



a little side note:
here's something i ran into on a knitting blog ... http://pennyknits.blogspot.com/
Wallys
"Just wanted to let you knitters .. crocheters and sewing Friends out there that Walmart is not putting Craft departments in there New Stores.. And they are " shrinking" that Craft depts that they all ready have... Bummer, Huh ??My Sister workes in the one here in Florida and this is what she told me... She said that we should all call.... 1-800 Walmart..... and COMPLAIN !!!This stinks... I do get alot of craft things from Wallys... For my Seweing and knitting and beading, etc...Go Ahead Everyone and make that Call !!!!!!"

Sharing Some Great News!!!

Brett passed the PE exam! I'm so proud of him. We found out two days before Christmas. We couldn't have asked for a better gift. Of course it wasn't really a gift since he worked for it but you get what I mean.