Mid-Fall 2010

It's hard to believe, but it's been a whole season since I've last posted. From mid-summer to now mid-fall, we've had a mini- summer get-away, the start of a new school year, visits from dear old friends, ongoing renos to the home, family health issues, and a laptop trauma. Needless to say, very little has been accomplished in terms of knitting, so there's been very little "down" time lately. However, as fall is my fave season of the year, it wouldn't be right without pulling out the camera to capture and share the beautiful vibrant colours of our street, especially when my D reminds me that I should put up a post on the blog.


My K (20 months) is now doing everything in her power to get her way and keep up with her brothers!


D is now outgrowing all his clothes and thinks he's starting to look like a teenager! Already??!!? And my cautious R is still our "old soul" who's chosen his new bedroom downstairs, amidst the partially completed reno, based on its proximity to the bathroom! That's our forward-thinking R!

Iona Beach

This past Sunday, we visited Iona Beach Regional Park, not your typical park with the children's playground equipment, but a park that includes a four kilometre jetty which is really a giant sewage pipe that transports cleaned poo and pee back into the ocean. You see, the park is situated right beside the Iona Sewage Treatment Plant. Surprisingly the boys weren't too thrilled or impressed with the whole idea of walking on top of such a pipe, but they had fun throwing rocks into the ocean. They also had fun picking blackberries (especially the husband) and exploring the beach. D enjoyed beachcombing while R came up with some imaginary fun with the sand. K just wanted to eat all the blackberries and run into the ocean! We'll definitely come back to this unique park, as it is also a great place to ride your bike, walk, go birding (as it is home to over 300 species of birds) and watch the planes land and take off (as the Vancouver International Airport is situated right next to the park).

What We Did After School Yesterday

Not too far from our home is a favourite spot of mine in the city, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens. So... since I had a day off from work yesterday, I decided that it would be a good day to go on a special after school outing. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens is not a big garden like the Van Dusen Gardens, but it's big enough for encountering and exploring interesting plant life, pond life, and just wildlife in the urban setting. It's a nice change from the playgrounds and city parks. The boys enjoyed spotting the koi fish and turtles near the surface of the pond, analyzing the bamboo, seeing a blue heron in the weeping willow tree, and just being in such a beautiful, peaceful place amongst so many people in the middle of the city. I also don't think my three minded the short walk to the Chinese bakery nearby either, which also involved passing many toy and gift shops along Pender. We'll definitely have to make this outing a more regular part of our activities!

My Favorite Month

The first day of fall was yesterday, but I've already been celebrating the coming of fall for the past month or so, obsessively working on my Peace Fleece Fall Sweater, anticipating the start of school for the boys and going for acorn hunts whenever and wherever we spot oak trees.

The past two months have been a blur, for K's already seven months old! She's now eating solids-- rice cereal, oatmeal, and fruit and veggie purees. She's soo... on the verge of crawling, having no trouble rolling over from her back to all fours, moving forwards and back, as if to propel herself forward like a canonball! Utterly fascinated by our cats, K doesn't think twice about grabbing a fistful of fur if the cats happen to brush past her. We really have to watch her carefully so that she doesn't proceed to stuff her hands into her mouth! She's a "taster", something new to us, as D and R did not do this at her age. We'll have to be more vigilant about picking the Lego pieces off the floor. Above is a pic of K at six months. Last month, we had gone daytripping to Gibsons to check out the Fibre Festival and the surrounding area for possible future (camping?) visits.

And another milestone has passed, as our sweet R entered Kindergarten about two weeks ago! R's K class is all day, so it's been quite an adjustment, but he seems to be enjoying his teachers, the class, the new routine, the hot-lunch program, and even his homework!

Finally, as for D, he's happy to be back socializing at school after a summer of drawing increasingly detailed pictures and of reading Captain Underpants and the Magic Treehouse series.

Summer 2009 So Far...

The past two weeks have been exciting and busy with a big visit from family overseas. My brothers, sister-in-law, and 14-month old twins, A and Z arrived just as the second (or is it the third?) heat wave hit Vancouver, so there were lots of outings that involved playing with water to cool down. We became tourists within our own city, visiting Stanley Park on more than one occasion--once to the water park and another to Second Beach Pool--one of the best places for family-friendly fun! Our local haunts, Trout Lake and Robson Park, were also well visited.

Stanley Park Water Park
cooling down in Trout Lake
cousins at play
nothing like sand to spark imagination
some r & r at Robson Park Pool

However, that's not to say that playing with fiber was forgotten.... I was actually forced to dig out and dust off the Ashford Traditional to be able to spin my July fiber, Summer Twilight from sweetgeorgia. My bobbin-lead Louet S10 kept breaking my spun singles with its overly aggressive "takeup" onto the bobbin, so I had to switch wheels. It was getting frustrating trying to spin thin on the Louet, and there was no way I was going to waste any more of my new yummy panda fiber (a blend of superwash merino, bamboo, and nylon) that I was aiming to spin in fingering weight.

So after a visit to Birkeland Brothers to purchase some extra bobbins, I'm now enjoying spinning on a wheel with Scotch tension, one with a lot gentler "takeup". I can spin a lot thinner and easier without the stress of breaking the single when joining fiber. Sometimes I wonder why I waited so long to use this wheel. It's a great wheel for a fairly new spinner, like me! Some photos will be posted as soon as I fill up a bobbin or two....

K is now 5 months!

In other exciting news, K is now well into her fifth month in this world! See how our sweet-natured, easy-going baby girl has grown! She's almost rolling over on her own and has the most deadly strong grip! K's exercising her legs as well, and goes into the Jolly Jumper at least once a day. It's never too early to start training when there are two competitive brothers to keep up with!

Sushi Picnic

A sushi picnic at Kits Beach last night was in order for K's three-month-old birthday. The sun was shining and the playground way too distracting for the boys to eat their kappa rolls and tempura, but we all enjoyed our sushi and did our best to eat as much as we could without spilling too much soy sauce on our blankets and mats.

K is 3 months old!

This past month, K's been cooing, smiling, and trying to "talk" to us, manipulating her lips and tongue to produce as many different sounds as possible. She continues to enjoy imitating conversation. She, surprisingly, doesn't seem to be a big fan of taking baths though, crying at the top of her lungs through most of the bath as though we were torturing her. Could it be our technique, the feel of the water? She is our third child, after all. Whatever it is that bothers her about bath time, we just hope that it eventually changes. One good thing that's developed in the last little while is that she's been sleeping for longer stretches through the night. She falls asleep before 11:00pm or midnight, and I manage to get some uninterrupted sleep between 1am and 5:30am sometimes!!! Yaay, some peaceful knitting time before bedtime!

Above, K's finally modeling the cozy handspun, handknit EZ Best Baby Sweater that I knit before her birth. I super love this pattern and sweater, which I substituted stocking stitch for the gull lace pattern in the original pattern design, just in case K turned out to be a boy. See this post for details.

Baby K is Two Months

There's been a whole lot of knitting going on here lately...... just no camera to take photos with to show you. Unfortunately, we had a break-in here recently and the thief got away with some of our beloved stuff, one specific item being the Olympus DSLR E-500 Evolt. It's slightly killing me here being without a camera while Vancouver is enjoying a stretch of great weather and some spectacular cherry blossoms down our residential streets. However, we're grateful that we weren't home at the time of the break-in, that we have home insurance, and that we managed to take some photos of K with the Olympus a day before she turned two months.

K, as you can see, is plumping up and weighed in at 10 pounds, 10 ounces on the day she turned two months. We're thrilled to report that she's becoming more alert and is starting to coo and smile a lot at us, especially if we talk back to her. We just know she is going to talk as much as her two older brothers, if not out talk them.

Our Baby Girl is a Month Old!

Yesterday marked the one-month birthday of our sweet baby girl! Some things we've learned about her so far... She has a good appetite and is beginning to sleep longer stretches of time, especially in the mornings. Tummy time is a frustration for her, but her neck is getting stronger every day. She can be very alert at five in the morning, refusing to tire out and sleep. She cries the loudest when having her diaper changed at night and tolerates having two curious brothers who like to analyze, touch or kiss her.

And look at the display of affection between siblings that's become more and more common around here...

from another kind of affection that we're used to!

We Proudly Introduce...

the newest member of our family, Kaitlyn! Born just a little over two weeks ago at six pounds, two ounces on February 22, we are overjoyed and thrilled to receive our little girl whom we had no idea was a little girl until she decided it was her time to meet us all out here. We're all still on a "high" with her arrival and even more in shock that she turned out to be a girl. We were just used to "Mama" being the only girl in the household and resigned to the fact that this pregnancy would produce us a boy, as boys run in both Mama and Papa's families. Then, as my pregnancy continued, I increasingly felt that I was carrying more and more similar to my first pregnancy--the belly being high, straight out and round with similar abnormal triple screen worries. So, although the intuition isn't too sharp during pregnancy, we're extremely grateful for a healthy baby!

And as it has turned out, K's two older brothers have been absolutely wonderful and tolerant during this sudden transition and shift in focus at home. R's been kissing her everyday throughout the past two weeks, and D's been asking to hold her whenever possible. So, I guess it's now okay for me to dive into the pink and red yarn stash, as K's wardrobe is severely short of anything in this color range. In fact, she's wearing a beloved D and R hand-me-down in the above pic! Nevertheless, we know that K will be one spoiled and protected member of our family.

Where Did 2008 Go?

Christmas came and went, just like the rest of 2008. I can hardly believe that we are at the end of another year. Upon reflection, 2008 was quite an intense year filled with anxiety for the unknown, passion for life, and gratitude for all I have around me. I wish you all a happy, healthy, new year full of peace and new endeavors!

Handknits Fit!

Look! The handknits mailed to HK this past spring for my new niece and nephew finally fit! At the rate that these two cutie pies are growing, I'll be lucky if they get six months wear out of these Baby Yoda cardigans!

Here's the link to Cari Luna's super Baby Yoda pattern along with some other free patterns.

Back from Vacation

what summer is all about
We're back from vacation, and happy to be in our own beds. We can't believe August is amost over, but much has happened since posting a month ago. First, we had an exciting family visit with the twins, A and Z--new cousins to D and R--our first meeting-- and boy, are they adorable! The twins turned four months while they were here in Vancouver, and they've grown so much in the two weeks that they were here! We're so happy and grateful that my brother's family was able to make the long trip back home for this special visit.

new additions to the family
Then, as soon as my brother's family left for HK, it was speed packing for camping in Tofino and Saltspring. All our camping gear and necessities just went flying into bins labeled kitchen, bed and bath, food, clothing, and kids' activities. I let the hubby take care of the rest of the gear, like shelter, lights, cooler, stove, first aid, and the vehicle. I always feel we take too much stuff, but we manage to use most of it on our trips, and we're always able to jam everything into the back of our van. Oh, and I couldn't forget my knitting project for the road-- my Slipped-Stitch Rib Sock that I started back in May of 2007. I'm happy to report that although I did not complete the sock on the trip, I did get a chance to work on it a lot, especially on Saltspring Island where I had free time to work on it in the early mornings and while the boys were out playing by the lake during the day--D in the water with the other kids and R on the tire swing. All I have left to complete is half the foot and the toe shaping for one sock, and then the closing up of the toes for both socks!

finally, time to myself on MacKenzie Beach
We went on vacation as a group of three families this year, and although challenging at times with not all of the kids getting along, it was fun catching up with old friends, making new ones, and working together as one big group to make the trip a smooth, relaxing, and memorable one. Below are some highlights of our trip from Tofino's MacKenzie Beach to Saltspring Island and then up to Whistler back on the mainland:

waiting for s'mores around the campfire
D posing on the beach
building sand castles
the dramatic rescue of a husband without a lifejacket, whose kayak flipped
the beautiful view from the cottage
hanging out at the Saltspring Saturday Market
hamming it up at Whistler while watching the mountain bikers
We can't wait to do this all over again next year!!!