Another busy pre-Christmas weekend...

Yesterday, A had a birthday party to attend in the morning. R came along with me to drop A at the party and then we headed to the store in search of R's gift to A for Christmas. We also made a quick stop at the craft store because I wanted to look for some yarn for a hat pattern that a friend gave me. Yes, the CMAD-ness continues. And just wait until I teach R to knit! I'll have another enabler in the house! Woohoo! R had fun browsing the different yarns while I picked out what I needed. I can see her already turning into a fiber fiend like myself. I let her pick out the color of the yarn once I found one in a suitable thickness. I spent a good deal of the weekend knitting (when I should have been doing other things like laundry, washing the kitchen floor, vacuuming... but hey, that dirt will still be there for me to clean tomorrow, right?). The hats I churned out were actually very quick knits - the fiber was sooo chunky - especially considering the thickness of the sock yarns I've been dabbling in of late. So, here are the results of the one green ball of yarn that R helped me pick out:

Both hats have a tassle hanging from the top and I added the straps to Miss E's hat so that she won't be able to pull it off as easily. They both seemed pleased with the results (E walked around for at least a half an hour with hers on and she got mad if we tried to take it off) and now I need to make one more for Miss A -- but she wants hers in purple to match her new coat. I have to see what colors they have at Michael's!

In the meantime, I've also been knitting a pair of socks for R (shhhh....don't tell her - she thinks they are another pair for me). Here's the first of the two:

I'm well on my way to getting the second one done. And then I think I will try to start a pair for A so she won't feel left out! And speaking of socks, here's a shot of Miss E in her warm and fuzzy pair:

They were a bit slippy on the hardwood floors but she got used to them pretty quickly!

This weekend we also put together our gingerbread house. This is one of the things I never attempt to do from scratch. I like buying the inexpensive kits from the store complete with premade frosting-glue and plenty of colorful candy bits for decorations. This year I bought a kit made by Wilton and was impressed by the difference from last year's no-name brand kit - more candy, smoother frosting (although I had some issues with the house pieces sliding on me because the frosting did not seem to set fast enough), a plastic guide thingamagig that helped in house construction phase. It also came with gingerbread man, snowman, and two trees to decorate and place around the house.

Oh, and remember that snowman I made when we were out playing in the first real snow of the season? He didn't last very long. The next day R looked out the window to check on him and found this sad (yet funny) sight:

Spike managed to hang on to his hair for quite a while there but he was looking flat out tired here, don't you think? The following day there was not a sign of him to be found. Hopefully we'll see him again later this season...

Ok, time to check on laundry and then head to bed. Once, long ago, I put a load of laundry in before going to bed and the damn machine malfunctioned. Water flowed into the machine and the mechanism that tells it to stop filling didn't do it's job so the water ran over the top of the washer and onto the basement floor ALL NIGHT LONG. What a mess! From that day forward I swore never to leave a load of laundry unattended overnight again.

Lastly, if you can spare any get well vibes send them to Rick. He is suffering from another cold (sinus infection and chest congestion)... poor guy. He's in bed already and he is planning on staying home tomorrow. He spent most of the day on the couch and since he never really complained that he was bored I know he's feeling like crap. Usually I can't keep him still for very long! He's always busy with one project or another!

Laundry-check time and then some sleep - I need to get a good nights' sleep if I hope to be up walking at 6am with my neighbor!