Our Trip To The Zoo

Victoria and I went off on our trip to the zoo yesterday. We had such a great day. She must have had a good time because she would love to go back this weekend. I dont think thats going to happen but we will have to go back again this summer. She is dying for Joe and Megan to be there so she can show them around. In the pictures it may have looked sunny and warm but its very deceiving. There was a very chilly breeze blowing that day and we were pretty cold when you werent in the sun but at least it wasnt raining.

Victoria's biggest thing she wanted to see was the Polar Bears. She kept telling them to go for a swim but they didnt. Today I saw photos that the teacher took and the polar bears were swimming. Apparently we missed it hehe.


Another important thing Victoria wanted to do was ride the train. You get to see extra animals when you ride the train so that was lots of fun. Her favourite part was going through the tunnel which she says was scary but not too scary hehe.


I had to get a picture with her standing with this sign. When we got home and looked at the photos she was very excited to see she is taller than the owl.


Victoria and a giant frog. She was very impressed with his size.


Checking out the Rhinos. Again apparently they were more active when other people saw them. They were pooped out by the time we got to them.


I had to get this shot of these turtles because of Megan's love of turtles. She now wants this picture up on her wall. Victoria says these turtles are playing follow the leader but one guy is going the wrong way. She is so silly


We watched a program last week about orphaned orangutans so I had to get a photo of this little guy. So cute.


We took a whole lot more photos of course so I just picked a few to show. It was definitely a good day. I did feel a little rushed because we only had about 3 hours to see everything before we got back on the bus and I wanted to make sure we saw all the animals. There are these huge great playgrounds there that Victoria was dying to play on but I couldnt let her play on them otherwise I never would have got her off and been able to see everything. We will have to go when we have more time and can pace ourselves.

Knitting wise the very colourful baby blanket is just about finished and one of the bunny pyjama bags is waiting to go to its new home. I am halfway done with the other bunny pyjama bag which is in reverse colours. Its still looking hopeful that I will have everything finished by Wednesday next week. Keep your fingers crossed. I am going to try and get a shot of the finished bunny bag tomorrow to post.

Tomorrow morning we are going to Victoria's last story hour. This will be kind of sad because we have been going to story hour for about 3 years now. When it starts up again Victoria will be at Kindergarten all day so she wont be able to go. We will be able to go if a Friday comes up where they dont have school but this will pretty much be her last one. It will be very weird when story hour starts up again and we wont be there. Perhaps I will have to go and listen to the stories by myself hehe.

Megan is off on another camping trip for Girl Scouts this weekend. She is very excited. It sounds like they will be doing lots of fun things. It seems like her troop is getting smaller and smaller. The girls are getting older and just dont turn up to every meeting and event like they use to. Its kind of sad. I dont know if I could see a time when Megan isnt doing Girl Scouts because she loves doing all the stuff they get to do. Victoria has decided that she wants to join Girl Scouts when she is able to join when the new year starts. That will be so cute.

Megan just got awards at school for being on the Honour Roll, receiving a pin, a certificate and $25. She also got an award for being 2nd in Accelerated Reading points which is where you read books on the list, take tests about them and get points for how well you do on the test. I didnt even realize she was bothering to do those anymore because its not required and alot of books she likes to read arent always on the list but I guess she was seeing how she was second. I think she got a pin, a certificate and funky backpack for that as well. I guess we are going to have to start thinking about what to get her as her end of year reward. Hmm it will have to be good.

Well I better get going and get organized for bed. I hope your having a great week.

Phew! Its Been A While

I guess I've got some catching up to do. I have been busy knitting away just not blogging like I should.

Here is the blanket that went with the two monkey brothers a couple of weeks ago.


I gave the present to the lady at MOPS but I didnt see her opening it. We have MOPS tomorrow so maybe I will find out then. I am currently working on a gift for another lady at MOPS who is having a girl. She already has 2 girls. I am knitting a blanket out of this yarn that has many many colours. They look like lolly colours, almost like you could eat it. Its taking me alot longer than I would like it too. I am almost halfway so I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I think its because its made using baby yarn which isnt very thick so it takes a while to see some progress. I still need one more ball to be able to finish it off anyway. I am also doing something for her girls as big sister presents like the other lady. I was hoping to give it to her tomorrow but I figured out about a week ago that it was going to take longer than I thought so I will have to give it to her on the last meeting in two weeks. I should have it all done by then. Fingers crossed. For her girls I am making bunny pyjama bags like I made for Victoria. They will be in reverse colours like the monkeys were. I actually needed to take a break from doing the never ending baby blanket so I worked on one of the pyjama bags. It is in the sewing up stage so progress is being made. Im hoping maybe people will see some of my knitted stuff at MOPS and say oh thats so cool can I order one. Its meant to be a nice gift for some very cool ladies but also a little advertising. Does that sound bad? It kind of does, doesnt it.


Victoria's teacher is going to have her baby at any time. She is due on June 1st and Victoria came home from school telling me her last day is suppose to be Tuesday next week. This works out fine because I have an early Thank You Teacher present to give her and I am visiting the class on Thursday. They are having their end of year celebration and I was scheduled to visit that day anyway so it works out well. I am giving Victoria's teacher one of those things that you heat up in the microwave made of material that you fill with rice for your aches and pains. I also filled this one with lavendar as well as rice to give you that nice relaxing feeling. This one is big, it could wrap around your shoulders if you wanted it too. I thought it could be something that she can you after having that baby or relieving her stress after running after all those 4 year olds hehe. I also knitted the baby a hat. Its sized for when the baby is a little older. I think it would fit a 3-6 month old. I knitted it from this cotton yarn I got from unravelling a cardigan I bought at Samaritan House because I just loved the colours and feel of the yarn. It was all stripey with about 4 or 5 colours. I have alot more of it. The flower patch matches perfectly with it because it was part of the cardigan that I unravelled.


Here is a photo of Victoria with her buddy. This kitty has not left her side the minute she got it. The day before Mother's Day we took a trip to a mall we havent been to in a long time. They had a Build A Bear Shop there. Victoria was so excited just to walk in the door. She was squeezing my hand she was so excited. Joe decided to let her get something there because its something she has wanted to do for a long time and it was just to cute how excited she was. This is the kitty that she picked out, stuffed, put the heart into and then gave it a bath and brush. She got to pick out one outfit and then we filled out the birth certificate. She named her kitty, FUN. She hugged and kissed that kitty the rest of the day. Not just little ones either, big hugs and kisses and they havent stopped since so it was very worth it I think.

A Birthday Shout Out

HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
KYLIE!

THE BEST BIG SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD! I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY!

The Big Fat Grey Squirrel

Today I took a bunch of pictures of the big fat grey squirrel who is often in the walnut trees in our backyard. I snuck outside and manage to get a whole bunch of cute shots. There is also a little red squirrel we sometimes see out there but I havent been able to capture him yet. He is a fast one. I just love to take pictures of flowers, wildlife and scenery.

Monkey Brothers

I finally got the other blue monkey stuffed and sewed together.
Here they are.


The very important monkey butt shot.


Monkey brothers together at last. Dont they look cute together.


The double monkey butt shot hehe.


Here is the green bag all felted and ready to have the details put on. It doesnt look that different in the photo from pre-felting but you can tell in person how it has change. It feels extremely soft now.


Here is a close up so you can see the flecks of blue and cream that is in the yarn. Now comes the part that I always have trouble with, putting the details on.

A Bunch Of Projects

Today I finished knitting the green bag that I have been planning on making for a long time. I unraveled the woolen jumper a while ago and hadnt got around to using the yarn yet. Suddenly I got an urge to knit it. It is not felted yet. I think I will try to get that done tomorrow so its still in its pre-shrinking stage. Once its all felted, shaped and dried, I will have to try and order the fancy ceramic button that I want to get made for it that has a blue bird on it. I am then going to get some felt or embroider and larger version of the bird in the bottom corner of the bag. This is the plan anyway. When I am making bags the plan changes many times before its finished.


I am working on a gift for a lady that I know at MOPS who is having a baby boy in a few months. She is also Megan's adopt-a-teen mum from church and is always doing nice things for Megan so I think its time we did something nice back. She also has two other sons with the oldest one being nearly 4. I have decided to do a fleece blanket for the baby and each brother is going to get a monkey. The monkeys are light blue and dark blue with the colours being reversed for each one so they will know which one belongs to which boy. They are kind of big brother presents. This is the first monkey made and the second monkey is all knitted its just waiting to be stuffed and sewed together. Once that is done I will be able to work on the blanket. I am planning to give it to her at the next MOPS meeting which is on May 7th. I think I have plenty of time. I have embroidered the eyes on these monkeys because the boys are so little. I definitely prefer them with button eyes though.


Of course you have to have the monkey butt shot.


My friend Natalie had her birthday a couple of weeks ago so I decided to make her a shawl for her birthday. She has seen me make them many time for other people and I always got the feeling that she really wanted one too but just never said anything. She really likes purple and Megan helped me pick the right purple to make it in. It only took me about 3 days to make so it was a quick and easy project. It was definitely worth it because she just loved it and said the colour was just perfect. Thats the best part about making things for people or doing custom orders, the look on their face when they really love and appreciate what you have made. I think thats my favourite part of doing crafts and creating things, is that one moment when people receive what you have made and it makes them smile.


This is just a small project that I did last week. Megan's girl scout troop were putting together a basket as a thank you to one of the program directors. We had a meeting where they girls made candles, soaps, shower gel and bath salts to put in the basket. It was an interesting meeting hehe. I made this cotton washcloth as my contribution to the basket. In all the projects I have done I have never made a washcloth. It was kind of fun. I think I will have to make them again. Its always nice to work with cotton especially in the warmer months. As you are knitting with it, it tends to get softer the more you handle it.


I have also been busy working on the Summer Reading Program for the library. I cant believe I agreed to do it again after all my freaking out last year but I have realized after doing it last year it seems a little easier this time around. The theme this year is Catch The Reading Bug so everything will be all about bugs. My partner is the same lady I had last year. We enjoyed working together and I think we are a good pair. We are doing the kids going into Preschool and Kindergarten which means Victoria is in my group and my partners granddaughter is as well. Having the bug theme has made things alot easier as well as there are so many cute ideas that we can come up with its just a matter of which ones to do. We have figured out our 5 week plan and what we will do each week we just have to fine tune it. The 6th week is the big finale so we dont have to have a plan for that day. Megan is going to be a teen helper. She will be helping with the 5th graders. I think its going to be fun.

We just got a note home today about Victoria's class taking a trip to the zoo in May. I am so excited about this because Victoria has never been to the zoo even though every summer I have said I want to go to the zoo and we just havent done it. I get to go along too so we will have a blast. I have went on this trip with Megan when she was in Kindergarten and 1st grade and we had a great time. I will definitely be charging up all batteries and have my camera ready for that day. Its going to be so fun to see Victoria's reaction when she sees these animals in person. I really hope the weather is nice that day. We will make the best of it no matter what I think. We will have to bring some money for the gift shop that day because will definitely want to bring something home.

Megan got a letter home from school the other day saying that she has been nominated for this Maths and Science Scholar Program in the summer. All we have to do is send in the application by the middle of May and wait to hear back. I just got the application today so we shall see how that goes. From what I have read they will go to a local college and stay in some dorm rooms for 5 days. They will be learning all this Hi Tech Maths and Science stuff and it will be kind of like going to college. Her really good friend who is also super smart got nominated as well so hopefully they will both get to go so she will have someone she knows. Only a handful of kids get the opportunity to do this so its really exciting. The best part about it all is its FREE! My only hope is that its not on at the same time as her girl scout camp. That would really suck to have to choose. I will have to find out when thats on.

Well thats all I can think of that has been going on at the moment. Hopefully the computer wont go crazy again and there wont be such a big gap in posts next time. Apparently when I dont write a post my sister thinks something has happened to me as she mentioned in her phone call last night. This is my family's way of finding out what we are up to on the other side of the world.

Spring Has Sprung!

Last week the girls were on a weeks holiday from school. The weather was warm and sunny and we spent alot of time playing outside and going to the park. Victoria was in her element because she just loves to run around outside. We went on a walking trip around our neighbourhood taking pictures of spring. Apparently we were a little ahead of ourselves because this week there are even more flowers and prettiness about. When we went on our trip we were having trouble finding images of Spring. I guess I will have to take some more photos. Victoria joined me in my picture taking with her Hannah Montana camera that makes all the right noises but doesnt actually take pictures. It was so funny to see her doing all these photographer poses and thinking what would be a good shot. Perhaps she will be a photographer one day. She even had to take a photo of her shoe which would have made my dad proud hehe. Family members would get what that means. She told me she was taking her camera home to load her pictures up on her Barbie computer. I guess she's been watching me a bit hehe. On our walk Megan also expressed an interest in photography and a want for her own real camera. I will have to keep that in mind for her birthday.

Here is a shot of a lovely bunch of crocuses we found. Snowdrops and crocuses always tell me that the snow is on the way out. Its always exciting to see them. I never really cared too much about the flowers coming out in Spring when I was in Australia but when you are looking at snow for months on end its very exciting to see flowers again and the promise of warm weather to come.


Whilst out walking I was pointing out to Victoria the buds on the trees and that the buds meant that leaves were coming. Once she knew what they were she was spotting buds on trees and bushes all over the place. It was even more exciting when we could see leaves that had actually popped open.


This photo is a little blurry because I had spotted this bird on a way to walking home and had already put my camera in its pouch. I hurriedly got it out to try and catch this bird who was in a tree pretty close to where we were walking. I believe that it is a woodpecker. We have had some in the walnut trees in our backyard pecking away and I think this is the same type. If anyone knows differently I would love to hear about it. Im sure my Nanna would have loved to have seen this little guy because she loved to bird watch.