Yesterday was Mother's Day. We had pancakes with strawberries and cream, went to the baseball game and then the girls and I worked on homework while Dennis went to play volleyball. Nothing fancy, just the way that I like it.

Today I am about to start work, my mind still at home with the shock of an imposssible pile of laundry to fold, while at the same time it is racing ahead to the end of the day with more homework to attend to, an emergency orthodontist appointment and the pile of laundry that won't get folded while I am here. It is frustrating trying to juggle so many hats and so many people.

Yet I wouldn't trade motherhood for anything. From the surprise of first learning that I was pregnant with Fiona, the upmost frustration of dealing with age thirteen and every shade of the rainbow inbetween, I love the fact that I have two children and they call me Mom.

It makes having to work a bit more bearable.

The second was the book. Then I had to read the other two books that are available in that series.

And now I am back to knitting twilight again:

I apologize for the crappy photo. Cell phones aren't great, but they work in a pinch. This particular yarn is Fleece Artist Sea Wool, needle size 5. It is for a dear friend's birthday sometime this month. I have many friends with birthdays in the the merry month of May. Could it be for you?

Right before Christmas, Shannon lost the first of two retainers. We had absolutely no idea where it could have gone off to, she swore up and down that she hadn't thrown it out, but we couldn't find it. So we got a new retainer, which she promptly lost in about two weeks. We are now on the third retainer. Come to think of it, I haven't actually seen her wear it for a few days so even that might be in question.

Midgeling has two daughters younger than Shannon and a lot of the clothes that my girl has out grown go that direction. Yesterday at lunch, Midgeling asked me if we were missing a retainer, a blue and white one with a hippo sticker encased in the resin. Kassie, her six year old, had put on a pair of pants that Shannon had just given her and found the retainer in the pocket in apparently perfect condition.

Now I am not at all sure that the pants were actually washed before we gave them away.

Complemented by Carolina Silverbells, the tree that replaced the raggedy Dog Wood in my parent's front yard.

I also restarted my ISE6 scarf because I wasn't liking the fabric. Here is the new version:

The pattern is from A Fine Fleece, Knitting with Handpun Yarns. the pattern is an adapatation twilight.

Wednesday Fiona and I took a little walk:

The Seattle Peace Park. Every time we have driven past this statue, I have yearned to photograph it. So Wednesday I finally did. I can't say that I photographed it well, but at least I made the effort to follow a dream. Art is a work in progress and perhaps another day will yield different results.

Then I turned around and snapped a picture of Fee, sitting on a bench. I don't think that she was too happy with me on that one, but I think that the result captures the essense of 13 at our house. On the way back to the car I was captivated by the shadows on the University Bridge:

On the knitting front, I started a pair of socks in my own pattern:

They are headed toward the frog pond. There was a knot in the skein and after the knot the pattern was coming out totally different. I am not sure what I am going to try with it next, but for right now it is on a time out.

It is another button tab hat! The yarn is my own handspun from Crown Mountain Farms roving.

It's the first of May, and that means flowers. The above rhodies were a gift from my father. I love the richness of the blooms.

My apple trees bloomed three weeks later this year than last. Most likely due to it being a colder than usual spring. Yesterday I noticed that the bleeding heart had finally bloomed:

Now I am waiting for my daughter to arrive home so that I can take her to an appointment. It never ends does it?

Sunny spring light
Casts a smile across bright blooms
White pink in the sun.

State gymnasts flipping
Bars, Vault, Beam, Floor while waylaid
Gymnast watches. Weeps.

eta: I wasn't sure if benched qualified as a two syllable word or one. So I changed it.

It is a modification of the Princes Lace wrap. Since the yarn is a superwash yarn, I am hoping that the curling will block out. Since I took a picture last night, I have ripped out and started over with a slip stitch at the beginning of each row. Unfortunately I dropped my camera and broke it, so you will just have to imagine the improvement!

Oh wait! I forgot about the cell phone option! Here you go~

And Tuesday afternoon Shannon said goodbye to her cast and is busy getting re-acquainted with her right arm:

And just because these are some of my favourite spring flowers:

This pair is Blue Moon Knitters Without Borders colourway in lightweight, which I didn't find on the website. I am not sure if it will be available, or if it was a Sock Camp exclusive.

The pattern is simple: 66 stitches, 1x1 rib for a bit then a 5x1 rib for the main part of the sock. I am just about done with the gusset on the second sock and I am really loving the experience!

But he is home now, I am trying to deal with work issues and household things. Shannon gets her cast off today and that is good.

I have made swatches with CookieA:

And I made a pair of slippers with Cat Bordhi, which were then given to CeCe:

And just for grins the difference that gauge makes. My monkey is the smaller one. CeCe's the larger. They were knit on the exact same size needles. Go figure

This weekend I found myself pondering aspect of parenthood that they cannot teach you childbirth class. They don't tell you that along side the moments of intense pride and sheer joy of parenthood, that there will be moments of shear frustration and terror. Not just the terror of the decisions that your child will make, but the terror of your own feelings of ineptitude and frustrations that are a direct result of your offspring's actions. Especially when the intent of their actions is totally counterpoint to the results of their decisions.

And since that particular woman/child is barely embarking on those teen age years, I suspect that we are in for a long haul. I can not seem to speak in any sort of language that she can understand, nor do I seem to be able to take a step back and temper some of my reactions. I think that at this point it will be a miracle if we can make it through these turbulent teens relatively unscathed.

I am rapidly discovering that you cannot totally protect your child from the unintended cruelness of other children. Shannon has been going to practice every day despite her broken arm. She has also been going to the meets to cheer on her team mates even though she is not competing. I fail to understand how a fellow team mate could tell her that she didn't understand the point of Shannon being there, after all she wasn't able to compete.

Somehow I think that this other child totally misses the point of team work.