Life with a dog

Meet Keva. She's an American German Shepherd (which seems a bit contradictory to me) who showed up in a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend's yard. She came to live with us about a month ago and she is a GREAT companion. Although her name is Keva, I feel equally confident that she could have done justice to the names Shadow, Velcro or Glue. She always wants to be with me and follows me everywhere. She even gets to come to work with me so that Kaelie and Keva can play together (and hopefully wear each other out a little bit). Interestingly enough, Keva is kind of a big lump. She's not a very high energy dog at all, which is really quite perfect for me since I wanted a dog who would sit at my feet while I knit at night.

We have a winner!

Contrary to the quality of this picture, Tyler has declared this scarf to be "Really nice." From him, I'm taking that as high praise indeed. He's pretty excited that he'll get to go to the Harry Potter Party as Harry Potter, but he did also ask me if I'd use one of my pillowcases and cut a hole for his head so he could dress up as Dobby the House Elf. I swear. If this boy had his way, this party would have more outfit changes than a Carrie Underwood concert. I also think it's hilarious (and kinda cool) that he's so creative and believes that his mom can make anything!

House colors

Last night I got a text message from Tyler (it was a Daddy Night) that read:

Turns out I'm a sucker for a cute boy. I happened to already have the gold colored yarn and there happened to be someone going to Joann's that I could tag along with to buy the maroon yarn and last night I cast on this:

The working theory being that even if Tyler ends up only wearing it once (to a Harry Potter party that his step-mother is having) I will get to wear it too.

A Legal Weapon....

Before Christmas, my mom asked Tyler what he wanted from her and Papa Mike. He very charmingly told her that he would like a snake. Although my dad's eyes lit up at that idea, cousin/roomie Jessica's eyes did not. So the idea of a snake as a pet was put on a back burner for a few months whilst we have a non-snake-loving member of the household.

Not too long after, we started tossing around the idea of getting a dog. I went online and did all the "What kind of dog is right for me?" Tests and found that perhaps a Beagle could work well for us...not so big that Tyler gets knocked over, but not so small that I can transport my dog in a purse (and certainly not taking it to Starbucks...Seriously! There must be some health code violation there.) I decided to ask Tyler if he could only pick ONE or the other, would he rather have a snake or a dog. His reply had me laughing hard. "Mom, I would pick BOTH. I would get a poisonous snake so that he could protect my dog and you if someone tried to break into our house." Ummm...But Tyler what about you? Won't he protect you too? "Nope. I know martial arts. I'm already a legal weapon." Oh my humble son cracks me up. Doesn't he look smug?

Sicko

Tyler took two sick days this week and the saddest, most pitiful thing to see is a 6 year old whirling dervish who has lost his whirl. Part of his time was spent bundled into my bed listening to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

He's back at school today so hopefully all goes well!

Do you see Broken Bones in our future?

I certainly do. Tyler got this really cool geodesic dome for Christmas from Grammy and Papa and he's really been enjoying it. His current favorite thing to do is various death defying stunts.

An Ode to Granny's Everywhere...

I have a particular obsession with Grannys....Granny Squares that is. I think they are so charming and, well....just happy. I love colorful granny squares, star/flower/hexi granny squares, simple granny squares. ALL granny squares really. After I took down my Christmas tree and was deciding what blankets to put up on my wall hanger, I figured there was no better time than the present to display my Grannys. Don't they just put a smile on your face? So cheery!

In other yarny news, I thought I would show off another of my other handmade Christmas presents. I made this little guy for my little guy:

As a side benefit, I also submitted it for a Nerd Wars project.

Sadly, Nerd Wars Tournament 3 has ended and I have to wait a whole month for Tournament 4 to start. I know....What will I do with my time? Well, I have a few ideas on that and will keep you posted on what I end up doing for fun until Feb 1st when I can resume my Nerd Wars obsession. Oh! And one more Nerd Wars project I completed (for my very own selfish self) is this scarf.
I swear, any little bright spot on these gray days is appreciated!