Summer is winding down

and it's really feeling like fall. The days are certainly getting shorter. I had so much fun this summer. I stayed up late and got up early. It was wonderful. Now the seasons are changing and I feel like I need to hibernate. It's depressing. I think I'm suffering from that ....what's it called? Not enough light. I don't even know what to Google to figure out what I'm thinking about. How lame is that?

Black eyed Susans at the mailbox. They seem to take forever to bloom, but once they start....they seem to stay forever. I'm sure the mailman really appreciates them sticking out in the road. Oh well.

Up close and personal.

See...the leaves on the trees are starting to turn color.
Summer, summer, where art thou?
I want you back!

Kid Krafts - Halloween Projects

A quick trip to Michael's Craft Store and $40.00 later, we had craft projects for everyone. Here's just a couple of them.


Here's my little guy working on his paper mache pumpkin. Folk Art paint was on sale. I think we paid 89 cents for the bottle. And the color? Oh...it's "pumpkin", of course. :-)


My middle-school guy bought this and had it whipped together in no time. Wow....he takes after his crafty dad. I gotta say.

:: Creepy Close Up ::

I even found some great W-O-O-L yarn. That's wool as in sheep. As in non-acrylic. Getting the picture? Knitter dudes take note: Crafty Dad found him some natural fiber and snatched it up at just $1.00/skein. Sorry...no pictures as proof, so you'll just have to believe me guys.

P.S. The 40% off coupon is a good thing.

Front Door Project

This weekend was full of fun home improvement projects -- like this one.

The front door needed a fresh coat of paint and the bathtub in the boys' bathroom needed a new caulk job. So...while I crouched in the tub (there's really not a lot of room to work in a bathtub, ya know?), my wife scraped old paint of the door. That was Saturday.

It's Sunday and here's the 'before' shot of the door.


And ... a few hours later, it looked like this.

A little paint makes a huge difference.

I'm not crazy about all the extra work, but it's really not so bad once you get started. It's that nudge, push, or shove that is needed to get the momentum going. When you're done, you say, "Gee, that wasn't so bad. I should have done that weeks ago."

Duh.

WIPs

Another week of fun at work. I guess that's why they call it 'work'....cuz it ain't no fun. Well...it used to be fun. We'll have to work on that. Perhaps I need some serious attitude adjustment. Or maybe a drink.

Anyhow. Here are the hats that I'm working on. Two of them are very close to being F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D. [Warning: poor quality photos ahead.]

Yep...Bright green and blue. Perfect for the seven year old boy. The ends need woven in and this puppy is done. Great photo, huh? NOT. But you get the idea.

Speaking of great pictures. Isn't this another good one? I was using the old camera trying to save some time. Ha! Haste makes waste baby. This one is just getting started. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft. It IS soft...much softer than the acrylic stuff I've been using up. This hat will be the red and blue when it's all done.



Camo hat at the 90% finished stage. Just a few more rounds and it's done. This one is acrylic...which I know makes your skin crawl. Cuz acrylic is like a big no-no to serious fiber artists like y'all. But...when you're looking for something that can be thrown in the washer and dryer several times during the winter season, man-made material seems to fit the bill. I'm thinking of getting some of that merino superwash yarn from Knit Picks. But...with the yarn stash I have, buying MORE yarn is not in the cards right now.


This is a scarf that my twelve year old son is working on. It will be a Christmas gift for a cousin. What a kid. He's a quick learner and doing a really nice job.

So what are you working on?

Have a good weekend and do something crafty.

Doing Better and Better

Hey all. I'm still here. Not at 100%, mind you, but doing much better.

The day job is still extremely stressful. I think a lot of it's self-imposed. I've always been that way. Taking life and work a bit too seriously. I really need to get over that, I know.

The boys are doing very well in school. My oldest, now a seventh-grader (sniff, sniff) got his progress report last week and he's getting A's in all his classes. My wife and I are so happy about that. Woo Hoo..... My little guy (the second grader) is doing very well too. It continues to amaze me what they are teaching in second grade these days. Oh. My. Gosh. I swear, it's like the stuff we learned in 4th grade.

It's been a transition to say the least, but he's handling it very well. There are so many kids that have behavior issues, it's sad. I know there are many, many things that influence a child's behavior and learning skills. I'm not naive. But...I'm very thankful that our family is able to do what we need to do to support our kids and to be involved in their school life. Too many kids don't have that resource. It's really a shame.

On a positive CRAFT note, I've actually been doing some craft-related things. I have three hats going right now.

[Side note to my Knitter Brothers: Guys, the hats are not of the knitted kind, they are creations of the single hook craft we call crochet. I haven't mustered enough patience to get the pointy sticks out. But I swear there will come a day when I do that....]

If I wasn't such a lazy butt, there would be photos on this blog post. Maybe later. I'm proud to say that I actually created a new post. LOL!

Take care my crafty friends.