A long time ago.......

A long time ago in a land that seems far away, a not so young woman named Meredith started a blog about knitting and yarn.  At first only her dear sister read it, but soon a few people here and there started to reach out.  The blog was simple, no awards for writing here, but still Meredith kept at it.  There was some mention of family, young men growing up and work, lots about a beautiful dog named Max and that about summed it up.  As life got busier and a special Little Boy joined the family, knitting and all yarn related activities seemed to take a back seat.  This blog started to evolve and move as the years went by, with an increase in work loads, and increase in Little Buddy activities and older boys graduating and moving on with life.  There were some spots of weaving, still some knitting, and then crocheting became the thing to mention here in this space.  Now it feels like ages since anything was actually knit here, well knit with success that is.  It has been over a year since I have knit with a real purpose, actually 15 months to be exact.  I have been feeling the call to pick up the needles again so that this blog called Mereknits, would actually have some knitting content.   After finishing my second Olivia's Shawl I thought I might try to take up the knitting challenge once again.  I am making, or might I say trying to make the Longline Cardigan with Malabrigo Twist in the color Grapes.  I know I will be playing a bit of yarn chicken with this one but we will see how it goes.  So far I am enjoying the simple pattern and the rhythm of two needles in my hands.  I am just taking it as it goes, with no stress to actually get the project done, maybe it will work this time.

As for the shawl, it is made with Berroco Modern Cotton in the color Salty Brine.  I have used this before with another shawl I gave to a dear friend.  This yarn can be a bit splity but is beautiful to work with.  About 750 yards used with a size G hook.  This is for Little Buddy's special assistant at school for her end of the year present.  She deserves so much more than this because she is so incredible.

Little Buddy and I were treated to a real surprise this week.  Our dear friend Tammy at T's Daily Treasures sent us a special treat.  Look at Little Buddy he has a jersey straight from Kuwait!  Tammy treated us to other special surprises one of which was this wonderful cross stitch.  Tammy I can't thank you enough for thinking of us as you travel and celebrate all the wonderful things in your life, you are the very best!  

As for today it will be a bit sad.  This is Little Buddy's last day with his Physical Therapist.  He will be moving onto someone new in a few weeks at a new clinic.  PT Terri, as we call her, has been such a blessing to us.  She has worked so hard to help Little Buddy move on with gross motor skills and ambulation.  We are taking her these beautiful roses as orange is her favorite color.  They are a bit more orange than this photo indicates, nothing garish, just pretty.  We will miss her so much.  

I just had to add this to make you all smile.  Little Buddy is a bit, well maybe not just a bit obsessed with Honda Odyssey vans.  I am not sure why but he is.  He talks about them all the time, so much so I have to tell him to get a new subject.  His teacher found this for him and he finished coloring it in last night.  Red is his favorite color and he swears when he can drive, at 18, 19, or 20 he is going to get a red Honda Odyssey van.  I hope his has a better paint job than this one.  Happy Friday everyone.

As I am finishing up writng this and have just heard about yet another school shooting I  think we can all use a Little Buddy smile.  When will all of this horror stop?

Happy Mother's Day to all of you................

Happy Mother's Day to you all my friends.  As in years past I always think this should be called  Woman's Day.  Women help keep the glue of this world together.  We love, care, and work tirelessly to keep our friends, family and pets moving forward.  We love so deeply it often hurts, and are often hurt in return.  But it doesn't matter because we love unconditionally so many in our lives.  You don't have to be a mother to do this, yet your contribution is every much as important.  So to all of you celebrating, Happy Women's Day.  I am honored to be right there along side you, loving, caring, getting hurt and getting back up to fight some more.  To all of you missing your mother's today, I am right there with you.  I have been missing mine much longer than the four years it has been since she passed.   To all of you who make the world a better place by simply loving, sharing and taking care of others, you have my deep gratitude.

In case you have not seen me lately here I am.  I think Little Buddy did an excellent job.  I also got a bouquet of paper flowers with little sayings on them from him.  Here is my favorite: What do you like to do special with your Mom?  "Cool down"  Of course I had no idea what he was talking about and he told me, "We like to cool down in the warm breeze in front of a fan."  I am not sure this has ever happened but I'll take it.

  

We had a big milestone birthday this week.  Mr. 20 is now Mr. 21.  He celebrated appropriately I might add.  Well done to my beautiful boy, I love you and am so proud of all you have accomplished.  Life has not always been easy for this boy of mine, but he is a fighter and is doing so well.  I am in awe of him every single day.

As for the rest of the week I have been under the weather as well as trying to work as much as I could.  It has been so busy and now I am heading into another week not feeling perfect yet.  I can't even begin to catch up with all of you so I will leave you with loving thoughts for a wonderful week ahead.  

A bit of this and that on a Saturday.....

Happy Saturday everyone, well unless it is Sunday where you are then it is happy Sunday to you.

Another busy week for me but I seemed to get through it with no lice exposure so that is a bonus.  I started off my morning today with one little boy I know sleeping in.  I checked on him twice thinking he was unwell, he slept till 9:00, a record for him!  We had to rush a bit to his gardening club eating breakfast in the car.  While he was there I decided to not run any errands, instead I walked around Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  It is surrounded by beautiful homes and is right in the heart of downtown Tarpon Springs.  Usually there is a manatee or two out there swimming along but none were to be found today.  After my walk I sat in my car and listened to an audio book while crocheting away on this shawl.  Once again I am making Olivia's Shawl.  I need to get this done as it is an end of the year present for Little Buddy's school assistant.  School is out in just under 3 weeks so I better get moving.  

My gardenias are blooming and have been for a few weeks.  The scent when you walk outside is intoxicating.  I have loads of flowers blooming right now, it is a perfect time of year.  Soon it will be much to hot for anything to survive, just when all of you will have abundance in your gardens.  Gardenias are one of my dear friends Gracie's favorite flowers, this one is for you Gracie.  

A couple of years ago when my Father died I rescued this wee little Christmas cactus from his back porch.  It was dried up and I thought it was dead.  I took it home and re-potted it and it grew to four times its size.  Well until this past Winter when I thought I had lost it.  I broke it all apart, taking off the bottom of the plant and stuck it in the soil.  Only this tiny little bit has survived but it looks like it is doing well.  The same thing happened to my gigantic Christmas cactus, well one of them anyway.  It is now half the size it was, it was almost rotting, but hopefully now is on the mend.  I also rescued two ginormous mother-in-law tongue plants from my parents, one of which is with my sister.  I had to split mine in two they have been growing so well.  You can see it hiding behind my geranium, which must be over ten years old.

The photos of the boys are pre and post facial haircut which was performed this morning.  I could not even get a photo of Hank in the post stage, he would not sit still.  The boys have had a difficult week with Bear having an infection from his surgery that needed antibiotics, and Hank hurting his right front leg somehow.  They are both doing much better now.

I have several friends going through some difficult times right now.  Know that I keep all of you close to my heart and am always wishing you all the best.  Blog friends mean every bit as much as friends that live near.

After an afternoon in the pool with Little Buddy we are in for the night.  Tomorrow is another beach adventure, wish me luck.

I better get going to work on that shawl.  Have a great evening.

The weekend......

So this is what a weekend is all about, you actually get to do things that help you to relax a bit.  I have had such a great weekend.  I had no paperwork and no big projects at home to complete. It all started yesterday with Gardening/Socialization Club for Little Buddy.  It is an hour and a half on Saturdays for a month or so.  After I drop him off I can run some errands all by myself while he is having a good time.  After lunch we came home and he had another swim in the pool.  It was much too cold for me as the solar panels had been turned off by accident, but he didn't seem to notice.  He swam and paddled around for almost two full hours.  It was so fun just to sit near him and talk while he dove under water and resurfaced still on the same subject.  The weather was beautiful, simply perfect.

Another wonderful morning with, "The Aunts," as Little Buddy calls them.  They are heading back to Wisconsin next weekend for the entire summer, they will be missed.  We headed to our favorite beach, Honeymoon Island, in Dunedin, Florida.  It was really busy and so crowded.  I guess all of those people moving back up north for the summer were saying their good-byes.  Still all we needed was a wee bit of room.  This was a trial for me and The Aunts were there to lend a hand.  I wanted to see if Little Buddy could walk on the sand with his crutches from the car to the beach, and from the beach into the water.  He did it all by himself just perfectly.  This will help me so much getting him to the beach by myself this summer.  We only went one time last year because I just couldn't carry him, chairs, towels and toys onto the beach all at the sametime.  Now that he has enough balance to walk in the sand with his crutches we will be able to go many times, life just got a lot easier.  

Little Buddy was also able to walk into the water.  Now there were some waves so we had to hold onto him when he got a little deeper, but that is no big deal at all.  His giggles and happy yelps were infectious, he brought joy to so many people around.  Two lovely older women were just in love with him, even coming over to tell him he was the most handsome boy on the beach!

As for my two other handsome fury boys, they are adorable but in the doghouse with me.  While Little B and I were facetiming with Aunt Claudia they were ripping apart my favorite children's book, Where The Wild Things Are.  Let me just say the wild things are right here at my house.

Hope you all have a wonderful week.  I am not ready for it to be Monday yet, but here it comes.

A week in a blink........

This week has flown by in a flash, I guess as all of them do.  On Sunday Little Buddy was well enough to venture into the pool.  It was his first time in this year and he did very well.  I sat on the side because this old body of mine is not getting in unless it is a lot warmer.   He bobbed around and swam a bit, mostly playing with a shovel and pail on the steps. I hope to take him to the beach this weekend, we need to go before it gets too warm out.  There is a fine line here in Florida.  We are thin skinned so like the water warm, but not too hot which it will be in July and August.

In other news the boys are officially 6 months old as of yesterday.  They are darker in real life than these photos taken this morning.  As you can see they would not look at me at all.  Bear, the one in the rear is topping out at a slim 31.4 pounds.  Hank, looking even bigger because he is in front is denser and taller, he weighs 37.2.  Six months is the turning point for behavior or so my Vet tells me.  Right now I am not seeing a big change.  We are a work in progress............

As for the rest of the week it has all been about work, work and more work.   See how absolutely fun my life is?

Hope you all have a great weekend.  

Exactly......

Exactly 2 boys having had their surgery this week.  

Exactly 1 who will not go potty or poop with a cone on his head.

Exactly 300 times I have said, "stop licking" even with collars on.

Exactly 1 boy who came home from school ill yesterday.  

Exactly 2 throw ups cleaned up after I got home from work yesterday, one all over me right after I got out of the shower.

Exactly 3 times I have now treated myself for suspected lice.  

Exactly 3 times this mother did not tell me she had found lice on her children until I was already working with them.

Exactly 2 peppermint shampoos with peppermint oil afterward which stayed on all night, and 1 major lice shampoo yesterday because she found them on the little boys hair after I worked with him on Tuesday but did not inform me until I was working on him yesterday.

Exactly 400 swear words spoken to my sister on the way home from work yesterday before stopping to get lice treatment.

Exactly 3 times in 2 weeks my bed has been completely torn apart and washed in super hot water, just in case.

Exactly 4 times I have checked Little Buddy for lice, zero found.

Exactly 8 times it has taken me to wash most of lice treatment out of my hair, most is the key word, there is still some there.

Exactly zero lice found during the 100 times I have combed my hair with a lice comb.

Exactly 4 minutes spent crocheting this week.

Exactly 5,000 times my head has itched because I think I have lice but I do not.

Exactly 100 times your head will now itch reading this.

Exactly way too much information for all of you, but this is my life my friends and you know I am all about reality.

Exactly 1 tooth finally pulled out and visit from the Tooth Fairy this week. You can see the adult tooth already there, and in the wrong place I might add.

Exactly 1 boy who is going to cost us thousands of dollars in orthodontia. 

Exactly 2 fur boys who had a bath and a face haircut by me prior to surgery.  I wanted them to look their best.

Exactly 2 places that have Little Buddy on their waiting list for physical therapy, my frustration on that subject is still at an all time high.  

Exactly 1 watered down juice box and a small bowl of goldfish crackers ingested by one little boy so far today, with nothing coming back up.  Hooray!

How exactly has your week been?

Thanks, Olivia's Shawl and a bit of this and that.............

First off I'd like to thank you all for your comments on my last post Reality Check.  You made me laugh and I felt completely understood.  The only misconception here is that you all think that was a rough week, technically that is just like every week I have.  Well minus the lice exposure...........

I have finish number three of 2018.  This is Olivia's Shawl, from Annette Ciccarelli of My Rose Valley  Annette published this pattern recently on her blog and I knew I had to make it.  It is one of those simple but brilliant patterns that makes up fast and beautiful.  I worked on this in the evenings when I had time to sit down and catch my breath.  What I find so wonderful is that the border is made up at the same time as the body of the shawl.  I made this with Sirdar Snuggly baby bamboo in the color Limey.  I used four balls so about 416 yards for this piece.  This yarn has been in my stash a long time, since a dear yarn store in Tampa closed many years ago.  I got it about 50% off so it was a steal.  I used a size H hook and have already started another one.  I think this will be for Little Buddy's teacher for an end of the year present.  I am not sure if she will like it or not so I will also give her a gift card.  His assistant will get the next one, also made from stash yarn.  I am now under 19,000 yards of yarn in my stash, a world record I think!

Deb from the famous Araignee's Tangled Web had a soap giveaway and I signed on as fast as I could.  I was wanting more of her her delicious lotion bars and a bit of lip balm.  I am a lip balm-aholic.  Deb also sent this beautiful strawberry, lemon and thyme soap and yummy facial soap.  You do not see the lip balm because it is already on my bedside table.  I opened it immediately and put some on my parched lips.  It is perfect!  Deb you are so kind to do all this work and then share with all of us.  There are a few items left if you want to go visit and beg for something wonderful, you'll be glad you did.  Thank you again Deb, you are so talented and so lovely to share, you are very much appreciated.

One of the little boys I work with was doing a grown up dot-to-dot when I walked in one day.  I had never seen one.  He loves it, well except when he can't find a number and has to ask for help, he gets a bit testy then.  I ended up buying a big book for three of my kids to work on, including him of course, then I realized this might be perfect for me.  I did not join in the coloring craze when it was big, I just did not have time, but I thought this might be fun to do while Little Buddy does his homework on the weekends.  Might this be what I need to stay calm as he takes forever to get anything done?  Maybe this will help me be more zen as he takes forever to write a sentence, not because he can't, more like he doesn't want to.  I'll let you know how it works.

Hank.

Bear.

The boys continue to grow at warp speed.  Their backs are now taller than the highest spot on my knee.  I am almost 5'10 so that is pretty tall for almost 6 month olds.  Puppy damage was at a minimum this week, only a dish cloth and a stuffed toy, one of theirs I might add.  Bear, the innocent looking one had Little Buddy's new glasses in his mouth literally 30 minutes after we got home with them.  Luckily there were no scratches, the spare pair was picked up yesterday.

I had Little Buddy's annual IEP today, seems he is doing all he is supposed to be but still needs help with physical things and of course his socialization.  They are so happy with his progress in school, and so am I.  I thanked each and every one of them, they work so hard to help him be the best he can be.  Without all these brilliant people in his life where would he be?  On another note I found out today we will have to switch his private physical therapy.  I am not happy but the hospital that is affiliated with this clinic is moving onto episodic care.  Meaning that the kids have to have had a recent acute medical issue or need to be treated for one particular problem.  I find this offensive in so many ways, because they are saying they should handle the medically fragile cases and the rest should go to community therapists, which of course is what I am.  I personally think we can all handle acute and not so acute, it is what we were trained to do.  He has had this therapist since he moved in with us and she has been wonderful for him.  He is making continued progress and has not slowed down.  I can be put on a waiting list so she can see him in six months when he shows signs of regressing, sorry that is not about to happen with my boy. So as of Monday I will be on the hunt to find him a new therapist and hope that this new person is going to help him to continue to move towards independence.  There is always something to worry about isn't there?

I am currently recovering from my 35 Botox shot protocol from yesterday.   I have to say I am not feeling my best.  I am supposed to take it easy this weekend, do you think I can?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends.