Another Month

February's over, so bring it on March! I'm so happy Spring is nearly here. With Abi getting older, she gets bored inside quickly and it will be nice when she can go outside to play.

I'm still working on my resolutions for the new year and I'm glad to say that I'm still on track for some of them.

I've finished my book for the month of February. This month I read The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, courtesy (again) of my sis-in-law's book collection (thanks Lisa).

If you want to know what I thought of it, read my review on our family cooking and book club blog here.

I also finished another knitted project.


I knitted Abi another sweater (you can't have too many, can you?) and this time, I think it fits much better.



This sweater is a variation of the maroon and brown variegated one I did last month. It was a little bit harder, mostly because of the collar (I probably started over 5 times). It sure turned out cute, though. I'm currently working on a dress for myself (sewn, not knitted) for my brother's wedding in a couple of weeks.

As for our little plants, they've sprouted and are doing pretty well. I hope they just continue to do so.

Finally, Abi's cousin Savannah stayed with us last week because her little sister was sick and her mommy was house-sitting. She and Abi had lots of fun together, as always.

Gardening in the Basement

We were on one of our many family shopping trips to Target (you gotta love that store) and while perusing through the "dollar bin" items, I spotted some tiny pots with herb seeds and soil. They're usually there, but since spring is right around the corner, I thought it might be fun to try growing something. So, we bought one of each to try and they are currently sitting on our kitchen windowsill.

There's basil, parsely, cilantro, and chives. The chives didn't come in a terra cotta pot.

We live in Kevin's parents' basement apartment, so natural light is a little hard to come by. Luckily, the fence around our yard is white vinyl and reflects sunlight down the window-well pretty good. Hopefully it's enough. When they start to grow, we'll transplant them in these pots we also found in the dollar bins.

Valentine's 2011 & Spoils from IKEA

Valentine's Day has never really been a big deal to me. I like to get flowers, that much is true, and to ask for them a couple of times a year is okay, I think. If Valentine's Day gives me that excuse, then so be it. I just mean I'm not crazy about it. Kevin usually takes me out for dinner as well (it's an excuse to eat out), but this year, we have all had this really bad cold and has inhibited our ability to taste anything, so he decided he didn't want to waste money on food we couldn't taste. He did buy me flowers though... last minute... at Wal-Mart, but it's the thought that counts, right? They're not too bad looking.


He also bought me some chocolate truffles that he and Abi have been helping me eat the past couple of days.

Today, Kevin got home from work early and wanted to go to IKEA. We haven't been in a while and it's a new year, so I figured they'd have some new stuff out. So we went and had lunch there and shopped around. Several hours later we emerged, much like every other time we come out of IKEA, with things for Abi. It's so easy to spoil your kids. I swore to myself that my kids wouldn't be spoiled, but it's SO easy.

Anyway, Abi fell in love with two things while we were shopping:

A play tent (mostly because her cousin Riley has the same one and she had so much fun playing in it)

And a chair that's so obviously made just for her because it's small.


See what I mean? Spoiled. The phrase, "just say no" does come to mind, but so often I'm saying "no" while Kevin is putting whatever "it" happens to be in the shopping cart. I lose every time.

Won't You Meet "My Neighbor?"

I've finished another project for the year. Meet Totoro.




Before you say anything, yes, the pattern I found is for the blue Totoro (see a few posts down to refresh your memory) and, no, I'm not color blind nor am I incapable of counting (the little points on his tummy). I decided to make Abi's Totoro the grey one mostly because Wal-Mart didn't have the right blue and I didn't want to go across the street to the craft store to see if they might have it. Call me lazy, but I'll call it "making it my own." I still didn't get the right amount of points on the tummy for grey Totoro, but as long as Totoro purists don't send a lynch mob after me, I think it'll be just fine.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this character, let me just quickly fill you in. My Neighbor Totoro is a Japanese kids movie made by Hayao Miyazaki (who also made the films Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Ponyo to name a few). This movie was a staple for my husband and his siblings growing up, though I never even heard about it until I was in college.



Abi likes it, and that's all that matters to me.

Count your Blessings

I was looking at the website Jake of the Web and he has this video of some of the flooding that happened in Australia and all I could think of was how grateful I am to live where I do and for the blessing of being safe. Mother Nature is definitely a force to be reckoned with.