Cutie Pie Thursday: Horses!

Lincoln just loves horses. Up close and personal was the best!

He seems to be making a point to Grandad Cool here: now this horse looks like a good piece of horseflesh--neigh!

Cloistered Knitting

I've mostly been working on gift knitting and longer-term projects, but this is a little hat I whipped up for my beloved Mama Cool. The pattern is called Cloisters cap, so I made a little tag for it using a photo I took in London of the Westminster Abbey Cloisters.

I made this out of Cotton-Ease, mom's favorite for chemo caps, and used the colorway closest to the Ovarian Cancer "official" color. It knitted up quickly, and has sweet "gothic" cables.

Cutie Pie Tuesday: Gardening with Grammie

Flowers? Seriously?

Grammie Cool teaches the way of the dirt.

Poppies!

Digging in the dirt can be fun, as long as Mama wipes your hand off after every scoop.

Let's Get Physical: Our Home Gym

After nearly 5 years of fits and starts and cramming this room with junk, we finally completed our little unfinished laundry room gym. (If anyone is even vaguely familiar with Jersey Shore (I've never watched it, just seen it on entertainment shows) we can now do laundry and work out in the same room, which means we just need a tanning bed to live up to one of the show's mottos, Gym Tan Laundry.) We added the floor a few years ago, and this time it was about cleaning, sprucing up the walls, and really making this a place to exercise.

The walls were unfinished--you could see the insulation. And although it said formaldehyde-free, it was still tough to run next to. We had talked about totally finishing the walls, stapling fabric over it, and other ideas, but nothing was happening. As I've been doing the Couch to 5-K, I've been on the treadmill a bit, and the walls were driving me nuts. I bought a ton of posterboard, taped up workouts and inspirational stuff I'd saved from magazines, Mr. Cool helped me staple them to the wall, and voila! Workout wallpaper!

This is now a pretty happy place to work out (especially since we've also added an oscillating fan), and just yesterday I had my first 20-minute run in its friendly confines. If you ever come and stay with us, feel free to use the facilities!

Cutie Pie Sunday: From Scared to Splash, A Swim Story in Haiku

Bath time is awesome
Swimming pools start out scary
Sameness wins out soon

Dunking dad is fun
But is mom glad he knows this?
Not after she swims

Mushroom sprays water
Crowd of cousins laughing loud
Maybe this is fun

Dad hoists me up high
Water in my nose: first time!
Still having fun, though

My Hawaiian shorts
Are wet and so am I: yay!
Not time to leave yet

Happy Boy pictured
Parents are also happy
New experience!

Cutie Pie Friday: My Internet is Back, Or Family Meeting

We had a family ranch meeting/reunion in Laramie, WY in June. Lincoln discovered the wonderful world of hotel room mini-fridges. Especially when mommy stocks them with juice.

Sista Cool, a UW alum and her husband, brotha-in-law Cool, posed with a bucking bronc.

The whole extended clan (minus me and another photog) in Prexy's Pasture.

Lincoln got up close and personal with some art.

Papa Cool highlighted many aspects of family history and ranch business, including a very cool map of the ranch.

Lincoln discovered a giant dinosaur!

My Aunt Susan took pics outside her college at UW--and in front of one of the most redundant signs on the face of the earth.

More hotel room fun: Lincoln discovers riding the cart with the luggage--and your cowboy hat.

A frequent scene of the 3-day meeting: Lincoln playing while we listened and took notes.

Everyone walking by a UW building--so green and beautiful!

Cutie Pie Thursday: Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Don't worry: he got right back up on the horse!

Howdy, mama!

Lincoln received a cowboy hat for his birthday. He likes it quite a lot!

He waves it in the air and says, "Ride 'em, Cowboy!"

He says it's his favorite hat, although he still loves his old ballcap the best.

Baby Got Backstitch

Sometimes, I do crafts that don't involve knitting. One thing I enjoy is simple backstitching. I had this great fabric, and I needed something fun to put over Lincoln's new toy storage. I simply bought cheap embroidery hoops, backstitched over one small part of the design, and cut and glued the fabric into the hoop. I think it needs some ribbon, but I like the effect.

Here is the whole grouping. See--they need ribbon, and maybe something else. Ideas?
And for part of Lincoln's birthday, I embroidered this adorable monkey from a Fancy Tiger kit. I love Fancy Tiger--if you love fabric, wool, knitting, crocheting, felting--and you live anywhere near Denver, please go. They always have the best kits.

The Source of Camera Angst: The New Cool's First Self-Portrait

If you have ever seen a roll of film taken by my father, Grandad Cool, you will understand why finding this on my camera made me laugh hysterically. The sickness travels to a new generation!

Birthday Party Madness

Playing with cousin Kaitlynn and his new race cars, a favorite toy of the day. The day after his birthday, he called all his new toys, "Happy Birthday (insert toy here)!" He had "Happy Birthday hat/monkey/soccer ball, etc." It was awesome, and unprompted.

Enjoying his birthday banana split. Again, sorry for picture quality. I cannot seem to move past his crazy camera antics, or figure just what settings he changed.

Mr. Cool developed an elaborate game for the party involving multiple Barrels of Monkeys. Here, Uncle Matthew demonstrates just how big a chain of monkeys one can create.

The day after, Linc poses with his birthday banner, a fabulous gift/tradition Grammie Cool created. She made banners for Sista Cool and I, and now she makes them for Lincoln. The theme, you may be able to tell, was monkeys. (Although elephants also played a key role.)

When I first turned on my camera, it was set on black & white, which did allow me to capture this lovely image of Lincoln playing his first "Pin the Tail On . . . "Game, "Pin the Banana on the Monkey." It was a wonderful party, and I am already thinking about next year.

Cutie Pie Thursday: Professional Pics

Continuing our tradition, we went and took Lincoln and family snaps right before his birthday. We also decided to continue to be huge nerds, and wear our "matching" Star Wars t-shirts. Here you can see an attempt at mother/son pictures, with Lincoln doing a spot-on Thinker impersonation while ensconced in a leather armchair with Obi-Wan Bearnobi.

A close-up of the wee lad in leather and Chewbacca.

Our best family shot--in full on nerdery attire. Even Mr. Cool is smiling!

I love this little cutie--and Portrait Innovations! If you have one nearby, try it out! It's tough to be cheap, though, when your spawn is this cute!

Did Picasso Start with Toys?

This shot is a bit blurry, as Lincoln has been messing with my camera, but I think we can all see what the lad is up to.

Oh, wait. Now he's coloring on paper. Sneaky. I thought I saw him coloring Buzz Lightyear, though, right?

Ah-ha! Zoom in on Buzz, and you can see the tell-tale signs of coloring. Luckily for him, it's washable marker. Just a quick makeover. (You can also see multiple uncapped markers. We're working on the whole picking-up idea.)