January, 2011 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives January 2011

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Color Me Happy Crayons

Posted on January 7, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I love to color. Yes, I am an adult and I love crayons, paper, coloring books, and more. When I was teaching, I used my students as an excuse to go out and get packages of markers, colored pencils, and crayons. Each year I loved seeing the perfect new boxes of items fresh for creative fun.

Now I have a secret. We have lots of crayons in the house for the kids. I also have a box that is just for me. MINE! They are all mine and I do not share with the boys. I bought them to try with NHL, but fell so much in love with them that I save them to use for my own projects. These are my precious Crayola crayons:

I love these crayons because you do not have to deal with pulling paper off them, or sharpening. They are like a marker pen with crayon inside. The best part, they have even helped me to plan out a new knitting project for the year.

So with this in mind I ask you:

Do you like to color? Are you more of a crayon, marker, or colored pencil kind of person and why?

Categories:
Aloha Friday me moments photos

Asking For a Friend’s Forgiveness

Posted on January 6, 2011 9:22 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, my mother and her friends had a playgroup. There were five families and we often did things together. We would get together at different houses to play, go to Mc Donald’s Playland for lunch, and have holiday gatherings.

Over the years, all of us grew up. Some of the girls saw each other at different Girl Scouting events during elementary school. As a December birthday baby, I was not in the same grade as the majority of my friends. Thanks to this, we were not as close as we got into middle and high school.

Flash forward to the world of adults. One of my playgroup friends moved back to the area with her husband. We started talking and spent the entire summer practically with each other all the time. We were both teaching at the time and had time to frequent book stores to enjoy the air conditioning, hang out at her pool, eat her amazing salad creation, and go on double dates with our husbands.

What I loved the most was watching my friend and her husband with NHL. They were so patient and wonderful with him. I still vividly recall the two of them coaxing him into their pool and getting him excited about swimming. TechyDad and I had never been able to do that. You could tell they were going to be amazing parents one day.

When JSL was born, the two of us would often go to visit my friend together. Then as things got more hectic with two kids, we drifted apart a bit. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, I was just too tangled up in my own world and did not want to burden my friend with our chaos. I also felt guilty. Yes, I felt guilty talking about my boys with her. Chalk this up to stupidity on my end.

We have talked here and there over the last two years, but it has not been the same as it was before JSL was born. I have tears in my eyes as I type this because I know I am to blame for a lot of it. I have wanted to make things right for a while now, but life kept getting in the way. Not using this as an excuse, it’s just the way it happened.

I have missed being there for my friend during some rough times, and now I want to be there during a joyous time. Yesterday, my friend and her husband announced that they are expecting a baby boy this summer.

Memories of my friend and I talking after JSL was born come flooding back to me. She was worried about having a baby and things that go along with it. I want to be there for her and her family and help them during this special time. I only hope she will allow me to be a part of this.

Categories:
friends looking back me moments

Crocs Time With Mickey Mouse

Posted on January 5, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
Disney DisneySMMoms shopping Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tales – More Book Time in 2011

Posted on January 4, 2011 10:05 am by TheAngelForever

Reading is very important in our house. TechyDad and I are constantly reading to and with the boys. NHL also likes to read to JSL, and JSL wants to read on his own. As a teacher, I know the importance of exposing children to literature, different genres, and authors. Our book collection is rather large, not including some of my other books from when I was in college getting ready for my own classroom.

Still, one of our favorite activities is to head to the library. I had wanted to take the boys there last week during break, but illnesses had other plans. Yesterday, JSL and I went to the library. We had a great time. First we looked at the DVDs to see if there was anything we wanted. After that, I checked out the audio books for me. When we were finished there we went to the children’s area. I got two more audio chapter books for NHL to read along to since he really liked doing that with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Right before leaving JSL and I explored the picture books for him.

I checked out three new audio books for me. I want them to listen to when I get back into my exercise routine and to knit and read. In 2011, I hope to read more for me – not simply the kids. Time to be a little selfish for once.

I look forward to sharing what we are reading here in Tuesday Tales again this year. So what are you looking forward to reading in 2011?

Please be sure to link up to your Tuesday Tales and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Categories:
books jsl me moments nhl TechyDad Tuesday Tales

Log Cabin Knitting Project For 2011

Posted on January 3, 2011 8:52 am by TheAngelForever

As 2010 ended, I finally conquered one of my knitting goals. I figured out how to add colors to do a Log Cabin project. Before I started anything larger, I wanted to finish the scarf for my mother. Mission accomplished. With being sick, it took me about a week to finish. Here are some photos of the process:

While everyone was sick I spent quite some time on Ravelry. I found a gorgeous pattern that I wanted to try for a Log Cabin family blanket. Basically I will knit 20 Log Cabin squares and then put them together to make one large blanket. It makes the process more portable and easy to stop and go as I need to.

Yesterday, TechyDad was itching to get out of the house for a short trip to get some food items. I managed to convince the boys to go to Michaels with me to select some yarn. My plan was to get each of us to pick a color and work with that.

We all walked to the yarn section. I pointed the boys to the Caron Simply Soft. I really like this yarn since it is easy to work with, soft, washable, and has no dye lot. NHL kept picking wild colors that would not go with much of anything. Finally he settled on a green color. JSL wanted a blue. TechyDad selected a red. I was going to do a gray and be plain, but was pushed into a purple to add more fun to it.

We left with the yarn and did our shopping. Once I finish off a second purple scarf, I am going to begin my Log Cabin project. The only item I will need is a row counter to help me stay on track (stores are always out of them). Of course, I was really excited to plan things out. I took out index cards, made squares, and used my crayons to do some preliminary plans. Here is what we picked out and my geeky plan – pretty funky and fun!