Ballerina Hoodie

When my "Punkin' Pie" was a baby I thought she would never have long hair while I couldn't seem to get her older brother to the barber often enough.  It made my millennium the day we took her to the haircut place and the stylist was able to put her in pigtails.  She looked so cute I almost couldn't stand it.  She wore her hair in pigtails with little pink flowers almost everyday and would remark that the cute was worth the pain.  This went on for a couple of months until we took her back to get a trim.  There we met a wonderful woman who put an end to my "Punkin' Pie's" pigtails.  She explained to me that "This little girl's hair is too fine to put in pigtails, your just breakin' it off!  No more pigtails!"  After my lecture she explained I should not put her hair up at all, not even pulled back in barrets for at least six months.  Well, my little girl took this to heart and has not let me put it up since.


Now that she is taking ballet at Act Two Studios she is required to wear a ballerina bun.  If you have ever tried to do a ballerina bun on a three year old who only likes to wear her hair down you know what I have been up against.  We are getting better at the hair thing but I definitely only want to do it once.  We also started ballet during the coldest time of the year when we have to bundle up to go anywhere.  This became a problem because she only had hoodies that pulled over her head.  Pull over hoodies are death to the perfect ballerina bun.  A few weeks into her dance classes I walked past our salvation at Michaels.  It was a new ruffle yarn by Loops & Threads, Florence Florencia.  This is a special ruffle yarn that uses a silk fabric for the ruffle part of the yarn.  When I saw it I knew our ballerina dilemma was solved.

I grabbed a skein of Florence Florencia that was black with little pink flowers on it, a couple skeins of Red Heart Shimmer in black, and my design book and set to work.  What flew off my needles couldn't be more perfect.  It is a zip up cardigan with pockets, an over sized hood (to fit over those ballerina buns) and at the waist I used the ruffle yarn to create a built in tutu!  I couldn't be more pleased with the results.  The three layer tutu bounces with her every move and the hood is big enough to cover even twin pigtail buns!

 

Orange For My Boy

Great minds think alike, well at least my son and I do.  We both love the color orange, so when I found this green and orange Tweed Stripes by Lion Brand in the clearance bin at Michaels I couldn't help but buy it.  I have been on a ruffle yarn kick for the last couple months so he has been a bit left out on the new sweater front of late.
This bulky yarn knit up quickly on a set of size 10 needles with a beautiful lofty feel.  I threw in a couple of basic cables around the collar, cuffs, and raglan seams to make it special and tried out an overlapping collar.  He says it's comfy and soft but would be happier if it was just a bit more orange.  It was just warm enough to keep him nice and toasty this chilly spring afternoon so we could take a take a short walk around the block.

A Trip To The Museum

Last week the kids and I, with one of their friends, went on a trip to the Wyoming State Museum.  After I dropped my son off at school the girls and I went out for a breakfast date at Perkins.  The girls shared a chocolate muffin and a bowl of fruit while entertaining the ladies at the next table over.  I don't know if it was how well behaved the girls were or their "chocolate monster" status but when we went up to the counter to pay we were told the wonderful ladies at the table next to us had already taken care of the bill.  A big thank you goes out to whoever you were for not only taking care of the check but for also sharing a meal with us, we will remember your kindness and find a way to pay it forward.


After our meal our little friend requested to see puppies so we made our way to the mall to check out the pet store.  We not only saw some really cute puppies but got to pet a soft bunny.  We then did a bit of shopping; it was a girl date after all; and hit the candy store on the way out.  We made it back to the van just in time to go get the boy from school so we could head to the museum.

The Wyoming State Museum is a wonderful place to take children.  It is free to the public and is just the right size for one adult to take three kids under the age of six all by herself.  While we were there we were able to see all sorts of fun stuff.


The kids learned how Wyoming used to be a swamp and that's why there is so much coal here.  They learned about dinosaurs (they even got to touch dinosaur poop!), rode a fake pony, crawled around in a tee pee, and saw some really interesting fish.  The kids got to stand next to an Allosaurus leg bone to see how tall they were.  There was a cast of one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered in Wyoming, a Camptosaurus as well as the head of a Triceratops which is the state dinosaur.

 After I loaded the girls in the van I turned around to let the boy climb in only to find he wasn't there.  After I minor panic attack I spotted him.  He was still on the museum lawn under a tent.  He had found the remains of the previous weekends Ice Festival that was held just outside the Museum.  He insisted I take a couple pictures of him looking "cool" with his ice friends Yogi and BooBoo before we left.

 We had a great time on our adventure!  It even wore them out so they crashed as soon as we got back to the house.  What better way to end a great time than with a great nap.

  

After The Storm

Here in Wonderful Wyoming the weather is pretty basic.  We have sun, snow, rain, and of course lots of wind.  When it snows it snows, when it rains it pours, and when it is sunny it is hot.  If you aren’t happy with the weather the locals will tell you to just wait fifteen minutes and it will change, unless of course you are wishing for the wind to

stop blowing, then you are just plain out of luck.  

This past weekend the weather took an unusual turn for us.  It wasn’t quite snow, not really rain; it was a weird frozen fog.  When I left work late Friday night I have to say I was not a fan of the fog.  The fog iced up my car and was hard to see through, but the next morning it made for the most beautiful winter scene I think I have ever seen.  Everything was covered in a white blanket of frost with a brilliant blue background of cloud free sky. 

I spent most of my day gazing through the giant windows of my work at the park across the street wishing I had my camera with me.  As the day wore on the sun came out a bit but the air stayed cold and made the contrast between the dark trunks of the trees and the frost white branches even more striking.  The day wore on and by the time I got off it was too late to go home and get my camera to capture the beautiful day. 

The next morning I was pleasantly surprised the frost still blanketed my town and the sky was an even more beautiful blue.  I again found myself staring out the windows at work cursing my lack of camera, but through a happy accident I was able to get off early.  I went home, dressed the kids in their snow gear, grabbed my camera, and we went to the park.  I managed to take some beautiful pictures not only of the frozen park but of my children having a lovely time.  My son hammed it up for the camera while my daughter braved the slides she has been afraid to go down.  We had a beautiful and fun time we might have missed if the weather had been just the same old boring Wyoming norm.