M can only be one thing for me

M-O-T-H-E-R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,

"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,

"H" is for her heart of purest gold;

"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,

"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"A word that means the world to me.

--Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

I really love being a mom although I will admit that can be really hard work. I’m always wondering if I am doing the right things and there are many times when I wish I could ask my own mom how she did things when I was young. One thing I have learned is to go with my gut feeling - even if others are doing it, if it doesn't feel right to me, it probably isn't ok for us.

I've learned that I need a lot of patience and there are times when I am definitely better at practicing it than others. Sometimes I find myself being drawn into the world of an 8 year old and reverting back to that age myself. Then when we start arguing with each other, I need to remember to step back and ask myself – who is in charge here anyway!

I love making things for new moms. I think I enjoy baby sweaters because they take so much less time than adult sized sweaters. I just finished this for my neighbors’ soon to be granddaughter. It's a pattern from Monkeysuits and knit from Cascade 220 Superwash.

I've also finally finished putting the buttons on these two baby sweaters. I wonder why it takes me forever to do those last bit of finishing details - it seems that I'd rather start knitting something new. The sweater on the left is the Rocketry Baby Cardigan in Manos wool and the one on the right is made from Zealana wool/delaka blend (possum wool - cool, huh!) and is a great free pattern.

I’ll even do some baking for a soon to be mom. My daughter’s teacher was out on maternity leave this past year and the woman who came in to take her place was also pregnant. When she was leaving, the class threw her a shower and this was one of my contributions. Cupcakes from the book Hello Cupcake.

I had to make over 40 regular cupcakes and then the same number of small cupcakes. Every detail is edible - the little bottles are a mini marshmallow and a tiny chocolate candy coated kiss. Then you can add a little Teddy Graham for the baby's teddy bear. So cute and they were a big hit.

Proof!

There has been some sock knitting going on here.



Last week we went to a free outdoor concert/picnic at a local farm. It's the same farm I go to to pick berries and other fruit and it is a beautiful spot. Apparently they have these concerts almost every Tuesday during the summer and I hope to go to a few more. You can bring your own food and wine but they do have food for sale. Besides their regular collection of homemade sandwiches, salads and yummy baked goods, they coordinate a menu to go with the style of music that is being played. Last week it was fish and chips or bangers and mash to go along with an awesome Beatles tribute band - Abbey Rhode. The music was so much fun. As you can see, the kids thought so too!

Where is the summer going?

The summer seems to be just flying by. Is there some sort of time warp that happens as one gets older? Since I do have to work over the summer, I need to find fun camps for my daughter to attend. So far she has gone to art camps, horseback riding camp and now she is in Girl Scout camp. So far I have been very lucky since she likes going. My workplace and boss are a little flexible but I don't know what I would do if it was a struggle to get her off every day.

I still feel the need for some down time for both of us - it is the summer after all! So I have tried to take some time off for some summertime activities. Early in the summer we went camping with our Girl Scout troop.

The girls stayed in platform tents and the leaders had a one room cabin. I seemed to be the only one who was really excited at seeing the name of our camping area.

Does anyone else get it? Here's a clue - you might need to be a Harry Potter fan to get it. Yes, that's right - the Weasley's house was called The Burrow. Now maybe I amuse very easily, but I got a big kick out of staying in The Burrow.

We also spend time in New Jersey and one of the things we did was visit the lake that my sister and her family joined.

The kids loved playing in the water and the kayak was a big hit with everyone.

My daughter and I had a great time paddling around the lake. It always amazes me how much she can enjoy things and it makes it fun to do things together. My brother in law was awesome and took the kids out in the sailboat. It too was a big hit with my daughter.

This lake club also offers camping sites and we ended up camping there for two nights - another delight for my daughter but not quite as much for me. I didn't sleep all that well but was happy to be camping with adults that took their morning coffee as seriously as I do. I would have been a hurting girl if I hadn't been able to have my morning coffee.

This past weekend we took a quick trip out to the Cape - Wellfleet to be exact. I really wanted to check out the bike paths and the motel we stayed at was just off of one of the converted rails to trails. We also visited one of the ponds that exist in this area and, once again, had a fun time swimming and playing in the sand.

And yes, there has been some time for knitting but that will have to wait for another post. In the meantime, I will leave you with this awesome link - the Twist Collective premiere issue. I've just started looking through it and it is beautifully done. Enjoy!