on the needles

Friday, May 23, 2008

Libby's Wrinkles

Libby snuffling the grass.



One of the best things about Mastiffs is their wrinkles. It gives them such character. Libby has alot of character. :)

Have a great long weekend everyone!

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Clementine

Clementine would like me to remind you that she is....

Lord of the Couch!



She also takes her title of Supreme Denizen of the Carpet Under the Computer Chair very seriously.



:)

Hubby says that Clementine is my daemon. I think he is right.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Scooter's New Trick

He actually seems to like this. What a character!



Some types of birds actually like to play with their toys while laying on their backs. Scooter doesn't ever lay on his back on his own but, once he figured out what I was asking him to do, he didn't seem to mind doing this trick for me. He likes to be petted under his chin & on his neck so I don't think he has much fear of exposing his belly to us.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Squizaires



Many, many squares to be laid out & sewn together. Sheep jammies required.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Charming Lucy

I've been posting mostly pictures of Scooter lately but Lucy has been getting her share of attention as well.

Hubby took these charming photos of Lucy with one of her favorite "foot toys".



She is just like a baby with the way that she likes to explore the world - everything goes in her mouth first. Whenever one of the parrots is doing something I don't want them to do, I hand them a toy to distract them. It works really well.

Simple toys like these are very much loved by our parrots. They have a variety of foot toys - ones to be chewed up, ones with funky textures and shapes, noisy ones, soft ones etc. Anything new and colorful is a welcome addition to their toy basket in the play area.



Lucy loves to try to remove the colored plastic rings. After a while when she can't get them off she loves to drop the toy on the ground. I think she likes the sound it makes. It's noisier than most of the other foot toys she has!

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Letters

As if on cue yesterday's mail brought me two letters from my sponsor kids! We had sent birthday packages to Mary Joy (one of my son's special sponsor kids) in the Philippines and also to Hermelinda in Guatemala and they replied to thank us for the gifts.



Mary Joy turned twelve. She has the neatest handwriting I have ever seen! She writes her letters to me in English and says she loves school. Her letter had four photos in it! Yay! She was wearing the t-shirt I had picked out for her - it fit and looked so pretty! I was relieved that it fit her properly.



Little Hermelinda just tuned six. She is so adorable! I love this picture of her. She looks like she is so unimpressed with having her photo taken. Her expression is just so real. I've seen this same look on my daughter - when she is a little tired and we insist on taking her picture anyway. Precious! Hermelinda calls me her Godmother and always sends a "strong hug" in her letters. She is too young to write herself so I have gotten letters written by her mother, uncle and even a neighbor. It makes me feel good to think that she has all these people around her to help her out.

Hermelinda's letter included two new photos of her. She is so tiny and her hair is quite bleached out by the sun. Adorable!

I'll have to scan some of these letters and pictures to show you guys. The kids always illustrate their letters with drawings that are very sweet. You have to see the letters to get the full effect. :)

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day

So, despite the fact that I was sick most of the weekend (the dreaded tummy again), I had a really wonderful Mother's Day.

We gave Hubby's parents their gift of a donation through Children International to buy water containers to help families keep water safe and clean. They really seemed to like the gift and more than once said that it was really thoughtful and they would rather have that then more "stuff".

We also gave each of Hubby's parents a book - this one for Grandma and this one for Grandpa. They are those books where you answer questions about your life and write down your memories etc. I really hope they will actually fill them in - I can't think of a better gift to give to your kids and grand kids! When I think of my Grandparents I don't think of the things they gave me, I think of the stories they told me and the memories that I have of them. I'm definitely going to get copies of these books for the rest of the Grandparents & Hubby and I will probably fill out some of our own too.

For my own Mother's Day we also kept the "stuff" down to a minimum. I got the Knitpicks needle case I needed and now my wooden interchangeable tips are safely housed and organized. :) And best of all, Hubby and the kids each gave a $100 gift to three of our sponsor kids! We all discussed it and ended up deciding to help out our three poorest kids, Jester, Zoila and Harry.

My son chose Jester who you guys of course already know. His family has a total of $50 a month, only $10 per person.

My daughter chose Zoila. Zoila is nine and a half and is from Honduras.



Isn't she beautiful? Her smile is so sincere and sweet. Her family has $63 a month - only $7 per person. Zoila likes to play with dolls and she does lots of chores around the house to help out.

Hubby chose Harry, our new sponsor kid. (Remember, my son told us we had to give the boys a chance? So we have started sponsoring a few boys as well. We have 16 sponsor kids now!)



Harry is from the Philippines and is thirteen and a half. His family has only $30 a month! Can you imagine? It works out to only $6 per person. Harry likes playing basketball, and has a twin brother. His parents are separated.

The gifts to our sponsor children are child specific, meaning that the money will go directly to the child. Children International works with the families to determine what the child needs the most, clothes, school supplies, maybe a bed...whatever will best benefit the child. In time I will receive a letter and photos telling me exactly what the money was used for and also a letter from my sponsor kid. I can't wait!! I'll be really excited to see what they each get and especially to see the photos. It will be like having Mother's Day all over again!

I had such a great Mother's Day - hugs and kisses and (mostly!) sweetness from my own kids and the fun of giving gifts to my sponsor kids - Hubby said I'm like an extra mother to them so it was a fitting thing to do for Mother's Day. I even cheated on my wheat avoidance had chocolate cake - I was sick already so what the heck, right? It was damn good cake. :)

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Friday, May 09, 2008

It's Official!

It's official....

Scooter is a boy!

Maybe that's why he likes to kiss and love me so much? Maybe he's a Momma's Boy. :)



So I guess we will keep the name. Which we probably would have done anyway since he answers to it already. :) He is such a great bird. So smart and fearless. I've got him learning to lay on his back for me. Aside from being just the cutest thing ever, I think it's also a good idea to handle a parrot every which way possible when they are young & impressionable so that you can avoid problems later.

Today's random cute photo - Scooter butt.



And in crafting news, I have started putting together my crochet squares. The little bundles were really starting to pile up! After I got past my first bit of "seaming confusion" (I always feel like I have forgotten how to sew things together. It takes me a bit to get the mojo back!) - everything is in high gear now. I'm actually enjoying putting the squares together to make the large patch. Probably because they are turning out exactly as I envisioned - which seems to be a rare thing sometimes! I haven't felt any project disappointment with this so far at all. It's alot like quilting in how I am putting all the little bits together to make one large patch. After I get all the large patches together I can lay them out & see what kind of designs I can make. Fun! Pictures soon I hope. :)

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Jester!



We got an updated photo of our sponsor kid Jester! I'm so thrilled! We were so happy to see a little smile on his face. :)

Damon at Children International was also kind enough to email me these photos of Jester that were taken for the waiting child presentation that CI did about Jester.



Jester goes to school four days a week and spends the rest of his days working however he can to help earn his family a little money. He carries coconut lumber to building sites, he plants grass in neighbors yards, he weaves abaca fibers into rope (for which he earns 2 Philippine Pesos for every kilo of rope). He also sells candies and pastries which his Grandmother makes. Generally Jester does what he can to help out. What a great kid! I'm so happy to be his sponsor.



It's hard to imagine my own son working for the family like Jester does. Even though they are the same age, their life experience is so different in some ways.

My son is really hoping to go visit his special sponsor kids in the Philippines someday. Wouldn't that be awesome?

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Pure Sweetness



Luca gives Sarah a kiss.

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