September 30, 2010

Cutie Pie Thursdays: Lincoln in Motion

Mr. Cool snapped these pictures of Lincoln enjoying a Broncos game. Or was he enjoying watching my Colts defeat the Broncos? He is wearing Broncos colors, but he did seem to have fun watching football with us. Maybe he was rooting for both teams.

Here we catch the young lad recovering a fumble. Lincoln in motion can be hard to photograph!

By the end of the game, we were worn out and on the couch.

September 25, 2010

A New Member of the Knitting Team

A local knitting shop is going out of business, so I did what any obsessed hat knitter would do--in addition to yarn, I bought a head. I was able to ask, "Do you have any more heads for sale?" and, "Can I take my head now, or do I need to come back for it?" I also had the thrill of walking down the street carrying my son, who kept exclaiming, "Ooohh!", and a head.

Now she's home, happily modeling my Amanda hat, and with a little bit of Scrabble to help her fit in. She does, however, need a name. I was thinking Ingrid, Sista Cool weighed in with Svetlana, and Mama Cool suggested Hedda. Any other ideas out there?

Mystery Christmas Knitting #3 & #4



What are they? Who are they for?

September 23, 2010

Cutie Pie Thursdays: This Morning


This morning, I pushed my Ikea cart around. I am quite obviously an intrepid explorer.



I pushed my cart on top of the beanbag. "Up, up!" I chanted as I worked hard. I am a pretty strong guy.

I gave myself a round of applause for my success.


What have you been up to this morning? (Mama Sidenote: I love this Target shirt. I think I need to get it in the 18 month size too, as he just keeps growing!)

September 18, 2010

A Hat for Me: The Amanda Hat

Given the name of this pattern (it's truly called The Amanda Hat), I was bound to knit it up at some point. For my tenth hat of 2010, I used some Manos del Uruguay in a lovely denim blue. This knit up FAST (like in four days), some of which was glorious knitting time on the road, and some of which was while Lincoln and I danced around the family room. He pointed to my needles and yelled, "Hat!" I guess the kid knows what mama does. On the needles now: my first sock (take one bajillion), a scarf, a dishcloth, and a bear.

September 15, 2010

Another Rant on Forming a More Perfect Union

There has been a lot flying around the news on the American relationship with Islam, i.e. the mosque/cultural center near Ground Zero, and the Florida preacher threatening to burn Korans.

I believe that America must prove to the world that we are better, that we are more free, that we have totally bought into and believed in freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom of our citizens.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You can protest all you want (peaceably to assemble), but you must understand that our government allows every citizen of America to do these two things: build a mosque/cultural center (free exercise of religion) and burn the Koran (no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.) That is what makes our country great. We are not the Taliban--we will not say you cannot build a place for your religion to worship where you want. We will not say that you cannot protest as you see fit.

We must understand that these things make us great--that we allow for disagreement, but ultimately we allow for freedom. If we want to help Afghanistan, if we want to end terrorism, we must say to the Islamic community, "Come to our country! Build your mosques! Worship freely! But, you must accept that people in our country have the freedom not only to worship, but to express their views. And that is what makes us great and free."

I saw a news story on Islamic children who felt threatened and bullied at school, taunted for being Terrorists. No! This cannot be! The one intensely harmful flaw in America has always been racism, and we cannot continue to teach our children to hate--I was watching South Pacific on PBS the other night, and I sobbed my way through the song "You've Got to be Carefully Taught." We must teach how free America is, and everyone needs to remember it. Learn the Preamble to the Constitution. Learn the opening to the Declaration of Independence. Learn the Gettysburg Address. Take your kids to see South Pacific. Remember FREEDOM! and what it really means--not shutting out everyone who disagrees with you, but embracing differences and dialogue.

September 13, 2010

Cutie Pie Monday: At the Park


We stopped at this great park by Larkspur on our way to Colorado Springs. The Wee Cool ran all over, and swung to his heart's content.


He tried slides, which he wasn't so sure about.


Yeah, swings are definitely where it is at. (If you enlarge your picture and look closely, you can see a marvelous little knight that Auntie Sista Cool drew freehand on his onesie!)


The best part was simply watching him run about. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a small person on our hands! Woo-hoo!

September 07, 2010

A Few Good Hats: A Hat for Every Cool, Almost

I recently completed three hats. This Wool-Ease Thick & Quick Charcoal cabled hat (His Black Cabled Hat pattern) is to keep Mr. Cool's ears warm while he looks presidential this winter.


This Patons Classic Wool hat, in the Whimsical pattern from my beloved Hattitude, is to help keep Sista Cool's ears warm as well. It had 20 i-cords at about 11 inches long apiece. Those took me a bit.


Lincoln is modeling this hat that went to Grammie Cool, a lovely cabled hat (the Claudia pattern) in Manos del Uruguay Wool/Silk blend, sure to help keep her ears (and head!) nice and toasty this fall.

So far this year I have knit nine hats, and not a one for me. I think I might need to remedy that.

September 02, 2010

Cutie Pie Thursday: Serious


August was a pretty serious month. We were serious about cars.


Serious about wanting some fresh banana bread.

Serious about the national deficit. "Look, mama, it takes two calculators to make sense of the amount of debt my generation will owe." (Wouldn't it be impressive if he said that?)

September 01, 2010

The Problem with Education, a Mini-Rant: Or, the Gettysburg Casino

This will be quick, as Linc and I are busy filling cups with things, dumping them out, and then refilling them. It's a busy day.

Several things have happened recently in my reading/viewing/listening that have made me mad at America, education in America, and Americans in general, which may be a bit harsh.

Item One: There are plans to put a casino near the Gettysburg battlefield, where 50,000 Americans died in three days. Some people support it, because it will provide jobs. One opponent made the excellent argument that we would not appreciate it if France put a casino at Normandy. However, how many people really know what happened at Gettysburg, other than Lincoln's address? When I taught it two years, I only had two HS freshman who could accurately tell me what year the Civil War took place in--two out of 140.

Item Two: Every single one of our current supreme court justices was educated at an Ivy League school. This makes me angry, because after reading up/watching up on the Nuremberg trials this summer, I know that Robert Jackson, the US Supreme Court Justice who prosecuted the trials, did not attend college. He read law, and apprenticed, much as Abraham Lincoln did. We don't do that any more. Education in the United States is too strictly regulated. We don't approach learning as its own joy and glory, but merely as a means to make more money.

Item Three: Colorado and other states keep working to get rid of "bad" teachers in order to improve education. I know that there are bad teachers, but do you turn on the radio every day to hear about the country getting rid of "bad" graphic designers, bankers, ranchers, doctors? No. Maybe we need to really consider how to help teachers be good, like class size. As many states cut education budgets drastically, though, this is likely not to happen. I firmly believe that if every classroom had less than 20 students (aside from band/choir and other specialty things), education would improve.

My biggest goal for my son is to teach him that learning and curiosity are a constant joy. Samuel Johnson said that he who is tired of London is tired of life, but I would say he who is tired of learning is tired of life. I guess my son will also learn that mama likes to rant.