The Day After

So last night we met up with a couple of friends for my birthday.  It was fun.  We had a great time.  The band was really great.  I tried my first jager bomb.  It tasted like Nyquil.  Kevin said it wasn't made right.  He only had a couple of sips of his and poured the rest in my glass.  He subsisted on Bud Light the rest of the evening.  Me, I stuck with pineapple juice.  And maybe a little Malibu rum for flavor.  Hee hee hee hic. 


  The beer bottle is not mine.  Honest.

 Oooh...a lapdance from my husband!

I just luvs him soooo much.

Aren't we cute? 


Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

The After Thanksgiving Special

So we had a great Thanksgiving day.  We hosted dinner for my in-laws: Cleo (Mother-in-law) and Dan (Father-in-law), Stephanie (Sister-in-law), Meghan (Niece) and  Amy (Cousin-in-law).  It was a nice day that didn't get hectic or overwhelming at all.  Kevin fried three (yes, three!) turkeys.  One for us to eat at dinner, one for having later and for everyone to take some home, and the third was for his business partner.

After dinner I made wine-a-ritas (Peach Bellini, yummmm), some had beer, some had wine (I indulged in the wine, too) and we sat on the back patio with the firepit blazing (it was cold out there).  Football on the t.v. all day.  Cowboys won!!!  Longhorns whooped them Aggies!!!  Oh yeah, the Packers won their game, too.  But that's not important.  Hee hee hee.  I wish I had pictures to post but my camera wasn't here at my home to use. 

We decided to brave the crowds for some Black Friday shopping and it really wasn't bad at all. 

Now on to today - IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!  The best part of this weekend.  Hee hee hee.  Not sure where we're going tonight.  I have a couple different places in mind and I will certainly let everyone know.  I do hope to have my camera back before then so I can have some pictures to post. 

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Thank goodness for kids

Some of the most precious reasons to give thanks are the young children.  For me it begins with my granddaughters, Aaliyah (2) and Leslie (4).  

When I am with them they give me such joy.  They are constantly laughing and smiling and on the go.  They do tire me out.  Funny but I don't recall their mother (Jennifer) or their Uncle Paul or even their Aunt Bethanie tiring me out this much.  And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I was a lot younger when they were that young.  Nosireebob. 

Leslie is such a good big sister.  She watches out for her little sister.  In January they will have a baby sister and I'm sure that Aaliyah will be a good big sister, too. 

They always bring on a smile whenever I talk to them on the phone or when Leslie sings to me.  I wish we lived closer so I can see them more often but they are an Army family so they go whereever duty takes them. 

My oldest niece, Megan (10), is always fun to have around.  She likes to play practical jokes on her cousin, Bethanie (14).  She almost always has a smile on her face showing off her dimples.  Together she and Bethanie make up the dreaded duo MegaBeth.  Okay, not so much dreaded as you just never know what can happen.  But no matter what, they are always there for each other.  Megan also has a curiosity about her as she's always asking questions about anything and everything.  Sometimes the answers are easy and sometimes they're not.

We also have one nephew, Nathan (10), who is the lone boy at family gatherings.  Paul used to be but now the torch is passed to Nathan since Paul hasn't been around here much during family gatherings, what with serving overseas and all.  At least he has two cousins he can hang out with.  Nathan doesn't talk much when the family is together unless he's playing Wii.  Then he's all hoop and holler.  He reminds me what it's like to have a little boy in the house again.  And I like that (because I miss it at times).  He's a great kid.  He's only been in our family for 3.5 years and I'm proud to call him my nephew. 

Our two nieces, Evie (3) and Aimee (2) are inquisitive.  They have a curiosity about everything, which is good.  But sometimes it can not be good.  Like the time they decided to suck the blue out of a poster marker.  It must not have been good because they didn't touch any others.  At least they didn't get sick.  They are always wanting to learn new things and try new things.  Which is a good thing. 

So I give thanks this Thanksgiving for my granddaughters, my nieces and my nephew.  They are a blessing in my life.  Whenever they are all here it's noisy but it's a nice noise.  Our house is quiet these days since there is only a teenager living at home and she uses headphones when she plays her music.  And boy am I thankful for that. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

The time to give Thanks is almost upon us

Actually we should be thankful for all we have more than one day a year.  I know I am.  But this one day of Thanksgiving is especially more significant because we can all stop and think about everything that has gone on in our lives the past year and be really thankful. 

This year I'm thankful for my husband's health.  Kevin was in the emergency room almost two years ago.  His health is so much better this year even though he still has some bad days.  At least his bad days are much less this year than this past year.  He is the love of my life and I don't know what I would do without him.

I'm thankful for my oldest daughter, Jennifer, and her family.  She is due to give birth to her third daughter in January.  So that will make me a grandma of three beautiful granddaughters.  Nothing like three granddaughters to keep you young at heart.  My son-in-law, Alex, was injured during his second tour of Iraq with the U.S. Army and I am very thankful he didn't lose a limb or worse, his life. 

I'm thankful that my son, Paul, came back from two tours with the U.S. Army unharmed.  He just turned 22 and I feel that now he should be able to get his life started in the direction he wants to go.  He knows what he wants and knows what he needs to do to get there.  Although his friends from high school are almost finished with college he is just starting.  I feel that he has experienced more and learned more from the Army so that he will appreciate college more.

I'm thankful for my youngest daughter, Bethanie.  She is a freshman in high school this year and is hoping to make the dance team.  She is interested in photo journalism and wants to be an actress.  I am thankful for her sunny disposition and she makes us laugh. 

I am thankful for my dad and step-mother, Eleanor.  They have been so helpful to me during these trying times when I didn't know what was happening with Kevin, especially when he spent a week in the hospital with a poison creeping up one side of his face and swelling his eye shut.  No matter what else was going on they have always been there for me, for us, offering their support. 

And last but not least - I suppose I'm thankful for Louie the Doxieshire.  He does make me laugh at his antics and squirrel chasing.  He can be asleep in his house (dog crate) but whenever somebody, namely me, gets on the couch with an afghan or blanket he's right there ready to get under it before I can even situate myself.  I am now making him his own afghan for his pillow so he can burrow under it. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!!!

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Beautiful Downtown Houston

Such a beautiful clear day in Downtown Houston. Nice and cool.















































Until next time, keep on hooking.



Terri

Girls' Weekend Getaway

The weekend before Halloween my SIL, Stephanie, MIL, Cleo, and I went for a girls' weekend getaway to a nice bed and breakfast called Lamb's Rest Inn. It was a really nice weekend. I didn't realize how much I needed a getaway until that weekend.




















There were some steps behind the house that lead to the Guadalupe River. So peaceful.

Not sure but it appears someone lost their canoe.

It was so peaceful out there that I was able to finish up Leslie's sweater in no time. After we finished walking through Gruene and visiting the wine store for an hour or so.



Until next time, keep on hooking.



Terri

Aaliyah's sweater is finished!

I decided on a sweater jacket made with Lion Brand Homespun for Aaliyah, my 2-year-old granddaughter. I sure hope it fits her.























After I finished the sweater I really didn't know what else to crochet. Although I do need to make a newborn sweater for the newest granddaughter due January 6th, I decided to bring out my knitting needles and chunky yarn and try my hand at making a scarf. It's coming along slowly.



















Louie's looking for his Harley.
























Kevin and Bethanie at the Ballunar Festival.



















Until next time, keep on hooking.


Terri

Leslie's sweater is finished...finally

I finally finished Leslie's sweater. The sleeves will most likely be a bit big for her but hey, she can always grow into them, right?
























Now I just need to find the right pattern for Aaliyah and make hers.


Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Office with a great view

How would you like to look out your window and see this all the time?




Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

It's finally coming together

Well I'm excited. The sweater is finally coming together. It's taking such a long time, longer than it should. But then again I only seem to be able to work on it during the ride to and from work and during lunch. Whenever I try to work on it at home things get in the way. Okay so one of those things may be because I start snoozing but that's beside the point. I have one sleeve finished, except for the ribbed cuff, and one more sleeve to go and it will be finished. Then I can start another one.

After the sweaters I plan on making some Pocket Prayer Cloths. I will actually start those this weekend because I have a road trip this Friday and I'll have a lot of car time, unless I'm snoozing. Good thing I'm not driving. Girls weekend getaway - looking forward to it. I had better bring plenty of batteries for my camera so I can take all the pictures I want and not have to worry about the camera not working. I should have some to post here next week.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

As promised...

As promised in yesterday's update (see, that wasn't too long of a wait) here is an updated photo of the sweater I'm making for Leslie, my 4-year-old granddaughter. I have the neck, yoke and armholes. Now to get started on the body and finally the sleeves.












Bethanie's first day of High School. Isn't she pretty?















Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Halloween is coming!

Gosh golly gee whiz...it's been a long, long time since I've updated. In that time I've had the flu, we moved to a new house, my laptop died and I found out Granddaughter #3 is arriving in January 2010.

The holidays are coming and I've actually started my gift-giving crocheting. I'm making a pull-over sweater for my oldest granddaughter, Leslie:
















I'm actually farther along than these pictures but I don't have any new ones. I will post as I progress.

So...Louie...He has the enemy in front of him and he doesn't know what to do. He chases them along the fence everyday. They even tease and play with him.















Until next time, keep on hooking.


Terri

Memorial Day 2009

Today is the day we honor our service women and men who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Please take a moment to honor them. We also honor those fighting the fight today. My thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of them, especially to my son, a soldier in Iraq today. May he and all the others have a safe return home soon.

This is my son, Paul, with some Iraqis he made friends with. He says they were having tea.


















Over the weekend we went for a three-hour boat cruise. I'm glad we didn't get shipwrecked on a deserted island because I didn't pack a suitcase or my millions because after all, it was only a three-hour cruise. This is Louie enjoying his boat ride.























Until next time, keep on hooking.


Terri

Spring has sprung

We finally got our big boat out in the water. Well, it's not that big, only 14' but compared to our peddle boat it's the big boat. Anyway...we got out and took it for a flight...I mean we went pretty fast. It felt good.

And now I know Spring is here:

Aren't they cute???

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Boating

So we got the new rudder for our peddle boat. Kevin took off the broken one, put on the new one and off we went for a little ride into the sunset. It was wonderful. The fish were sure jumping. One of these days I'm sure one will jump right into the boat with us since the peddle boat sits low. Last summer one jumped right next to me and almost landed at my feet. Just glad it didn't.

Until next time, keep on hooking,

Terri

Inside looking out

Hey you...yeah you squirrels out there. Don't even think about climbing that tree and jumping to my window. I am the protector here and you will regret it. I will bark and growl at you until you give up and realize that you're not getting in.

The same goes for you ducks waddling below the window. You just try flying up here and see what happens. I have orange sauce and I'm not afraid to use it.

As for you cats out there, you will not get in here to play with the yarn. It's all mine, mine, mine. I mean, hers, hers, hers because I wouldn't dream of messing with it (well, I might dream it but I wouldn't actually do it...much) because the Mrs. likes to make stuff with it and sometimes she lets me have a fuzzy ball of yarn. Neener, neener, neener.

I am Prince Louie IV, Super Dorkie, protector of home and family.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Louie

Happy Easter!

We have the Easter Bunny; Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang have the Easter Beagle.

I have the Easter Dorkie.
Louie wishes everyone a Happy Easter.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Easter's on it's way!!! It's my favorite holiday after my birthday.

So it's been almost a month since my last blogging. My son, Paul, went back to Iraq for another six months. I kept myself busy making these adorable cropped cardis and matching totes for my granddaughters, Leslie and Aaliyah. I just hope they fit.
















I'm still going to my Monday night therapy group a/k/a CLACK, my Monday night crochet/knit group. Best therapy there is, especially after Paul left again.

We finally decided to clean out our peddle boat, which was still chained to a pole from Hurricane Ike (so it wouldn't blow away). It had been repeatedly filling up with rain. It was disgusting - slimy, filthy. But we (meaning Kevin) scrubbed it out and once again it was its natural shade of blue and white. We planned on taking a ride in it but we got in and tried to peddle and it wouldn't do anything. So out we get, pull it back out of the water, and find that someone had broken the rudder. So now we have to wait for who knows how long for the replacement to come in. We were so looking forward to getting on the water. Our bigger boat isn't ready yet but I'm sure by mid-May we'll have it ready and out.

Until next time (and hopefully it won't be a long next time), keep on hooking.

Terri

Two reasons to Celebrate!

1. My granddaughter, Leslie, is 4 years old!

2. My son, Paul, is coming home from Iraq!

Too bad I don't get see Leslie for her birthday as they live out of state from me. And my son is only home for two weeks before he has to go back but it will be so nice to actually get to hug him for real instead of the hug emoticon on Yahoo chat.

More later on this.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Time change again; squares for lapghan

So the time has changed again. This day sure did go by fast. Which left me little time to work on some 8 x 8 squares that my crochet/knit group is doing. We are making a couple of squares each for a lapghan for a member's friend who has cancer. I did the first one in a rose color with a light gray border (I know, it looks green on here) then decided that it wasn't "manly" enough. So then I did a light gray square with a dark gray border (which looks blue and green in the picture. Why does it do that?). Ahh, better and more manly. And of course the second one came out too small; maybe if I blocked it and stretched it, it would be the right size. It's only an inch too small.

I think the reason is that I changed yarn type for the second one but didn't change the hook size. I am going to either go up a hook size or add two rows with the original hook to get it the correct size. Not sure who is going to put it all together but I would like mine to make the cut and not end up on the cutting room floor.

Not much going on here around here so I'll sign off here.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Stick to Hooking

Big Le Sigh...I really should stick to hooking. It's what I do best. Those pointy stix just don't get me. Or is it me who doesn't get them? Either way it's not working very well for me.

I thought I was going to do something easy enough, a dishcloth. At some point(s) I noticed that my points went through some of the strands of yarn instead of the whole loop and of course I didn't notice it until after I knit a few stitches behind it. So the last one I noticed I tried to take off the three stitches that were knit correctly and put them back on the left needle so I could fix it. Well it didn't work. I now have a big ol' pile of red yarn barf instead of a nice red dishcloth.

I still carry the needles and some yarn with me but so far I haven't taken them out. They seem to co-exist nicely in my bag with my hooks but I dunno...

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

Louie likes his beefy bone.

Sunday, a day for golf

So today was too beautiful to stay inside so we decided to go play 9-holes of golf. I did good and Bethanie did pretty good. I think she might have beaten me but then again, she was the scorekeeper so who knows what she was writing down. Kevin played his usual good game.

Kevin giving Bethanie pointers on the 8th hole.

This is Bethanie and Kevin at the driving range after we finished our 9-holes.

I hit three or four balls then gave it back to them. Guess now I need to make some golf-head covers. Don't know what they're for but a lot of people have them so I guess we need some, too.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri

I have a knitted FO!

So I decided my practice piece was the right width for a cozy for my iPod Nano and I kept practicing until the length was right. I finished it up a few days ago but wasn't sure about the bind off because I didn't want to ruin it. This morning I decided to take the plunge do the bind off. Came out a little loose but still workable. I simply sewed the sides together and made a carry handle and viola...my iPod can now stay warm!





As for my WIPs, I'm working on a Grab and Go Tote, made with the Caron one pound from the March 2009 issue of Crochet! magazine. Although the picture shows the yarn as a deep blue it's really a lavender color.


Until next time, keep on hookin'.

Terri
now a hooker chick with stix

Have a cookie...

I've crossed over to The Dark Side cue ominous music. My crochet/knit group (a wonderful group of ladies) have been waiting for me to convert from the side of Goodness and Light, and I gave in this past Sunday night. That makes me a Hooker Chick with Stix. Here is my practice piece. This is only three rows, I think.

Sunday night I cast-on 10 (actually Kevin did the first cast-on but I'm not supposed to tell anyone so shhh...). I didn't do anything with it Monday because I had crocheting to do. So Tuesday during the bus ride to work I decided to practice. So I started row three. Remember I only cast-on 10 but my row ended with 9 stitches. Frog, frog, frog. Cast-on 12, knit one row, end up with 13 stitches. Frog, frog, frog. Cast-on 10, and so far I've come out with only 10 stitches for all rows.


So anyhoo...I decided to start this really pretty Filigree Bowl. I hope to finish it soon so that I can stiffen it and begin using it. I didn't realize that it takes up to three days to dry. I've never done this sort of thing before so I'm hoping I don't screw it up.
















Way back in March 2005, March 10th to be exact, I became a grandma for the first time. Thank you, thank you. And about a week afterward I decided to make this crib pillow for her. The theme for her room was Care Bears and at the McDonald's had itty bitty Care Bears in their Happy Meals so I put one in the pocket of the pillow. My youngest daughter, Bethanie, liked it so much she wanted me to make her one for her bed. She picked out the yarn and well, I haven't made it yet. Mainly because we moved shortly thereafter and I haven't found that yarn yet. I told her it would have been made already but she picked Aggie colors. But I also had a one pound ball of yarn in a pretty Dusty Rose and can't find that one, either.

Until next time, keep on hooking.

Terri