Isn't Family Grand?

So my husband is the pickiest eater I've ever met. He has a thing with texture so won't eat sour cream, pulled meat, chicken, or fish. He's not a big fan of red meat. He doesn't care for cooked, even steamed veggies, all too much. He's a real pain to cook for! (Apron is made by Boojiboo. Isn't it so cute and classic looking? Spicy too!)

He loves his pasta (darn italians!) and will eat mexican food (thank god for that!) but isn't big on green chili. My family loves our green chili! He has tried it a few times when people have made it to be polite. He does like it, but we make ours with shredded pork roast, simmered all day in spices. And he doesn't like pulled meat (see above statement).

He will however try things, once. Which is a blessing when it comes to finding meals to prepare. However, if he has had it before in his lifetime, he's not always keen on trying. Although I will give him if he doesn't like chicken because of texture, I don't know how to cook that out of it. (Pork Chop Casanovas by Stellalola, too cute not to pass up when this comes up on a search for "pork"! Her shop is adorable with all the smiling art prints of normal everyday sorts of things.)

The point of this background is I was on facebook the other day where his cousin (who recently moved out to our area having married a man in uniform as well) was saying how she was making green chili. So when I told her I wish she were my wife, she made me my own green chili! We had it for dinner tonight over turkey tacos (ground turkey is ok in the texture category) and it was spectacular! Started a whole dialoge on making green chili and trying new things that make us both happy in the green chili department.

Figured I'd share since I know in marriage we all have things we do and don't like about our spouses and have had the food talks as well. Anyhow, what did you have for dinner? (Photo Cousins 1987 by Toshio. I love black n white photography, so much depth to it. Was pleasantly surprised when this came up in a "cousins" search. Try searching your day on Etsy today! If you do and blog it, I'd love to see what you come up with.)

Weekend Fun

We had some visitors this weekend. My hubby's dad and his wife came out for the weekend. Had a nice visit with them. Our kids are the first of their generation on my hubby's side so they're still a pretty big deal. I know grandkids usually are, but the first are moreso.

Although, my brothers and I were the first for my moms parents and we were treated more like kids than grandkids. Her younger sister is only 10 years my senior, she brought my older brother in for her show and tell in kindergarten!

Anyhow, how awesome are these little clips I found on Etsy? Figured in honor of the visitors we had this weekend, I'd search "visitors" on Etsy and came up with these from KarmaBoxCom. Yes not the same sort of visitors we had, but still too funny not to share.

We went to the zoo while they were here. Just a nice day of sun and animals. My kids always have loved the zoo, we've been quite a few times over the past few years. Daughters favorite animal is the elephant. Etsy search, "elephant homefront" shows up with this adorable pink elephant from The Q Store. Pink even, my daughters favorite color... for now.

My son loves all the animals, monkeys, elephants and giraffes as well. Those are my favorites. Figured since I'd found some cute hairclips of "visitors" I'd show off this adorable giraffe from Cutesie Clips. Her clips really are cutesie!

Overall, we had a good weekend. The kids had fun showing off their rooms and toys as well as having granparents around to read to them and play with. Now it's back to business as usual. I've been working on a new pattern for the shop. Hope to have a pic for you tomorrow of what it will be! I really love the way it's turning out and am excited to share. For now, think about what one word sums up your day best, and give it a search on Etsy. Ya never know what you'll find!

What I Did On My Blog Vacation Part 4

Became a 2 car family again! I blogged about when my hubby started taking my car apart to get to the alternator. Granted, he took on the task in the middle of his chemo, and it didn't take a few years, more like half a year and then some to finish.

But lets not dwell on that, and more so dwell on the fact that the car having sat in the garage in pieces for how long, took him all of a night and half a day to put back together once he'd gotten the part needed. I was happy and impressed, as was he at his handy work. My brother even laughed about it and made some comment about being able to tell he's an AM (aviation structural mechanic) with the way he could let it sit and still get it back together, no phantom pieces. At least that's what I got from the comment.

This post isn't so much about what I did during the blog vacation, but about my hubby and what he can do. I guess the idea of moving (we're looking at buying a house) made him want to move so that we weren't packing up parts of a car and towing it someplace! Lesson there is... if you want something done... say we're gonna move? Aha, not so much. Although it did work this time!

One Kid Down

One to go. Ok that sounds a little wrong, but it is true. Here is my boys Easter goodies. Finished. His robot and crown with a lightning bolt. If I have time, I'm going to make a mini lightning bolt for the robots bottom. It'll tie the two completely together.

I didn't realize how similiar the colors were till I finished the crown. Finished the Robot last night and just didn't get a pic taken. Tonight it was his crown. You can find the patterns for both on my last entry.

Hers is all cut out, but needs to be sewn. Also worked on some chocolate Easter Eggs that the kids and I can finish up tomorrow. It'll be a day of eggs, dying and chocolating. During naptimes and bed, I'll finish up her crown and her doll. Should have pics tomorrow.

When you lose

A part of you. Or at least a part of you that has been there for the past year it's a bit strange. Today my hubby got his port taken out. Just one more thing taken off the list on the way back to "normal".

He was awake when it happened, but wasn't able to watch. He said it made a strange slloooop sort of sound. Actually if you've seen Iron Man, you may know the sound. You see when you have a port put in, your body forms a fibrous capsule around it. He's had a bump on his chest for the past year, you could even see and feel the little knobs on the port that help with inserting the needle. I know he feels strange and elated to have it gone.

They asked if he wanted to keep it. Most people do. So he came home with this cup and his purple port, saying it was my new necklace. Not that that's what's going to happen to it, but what do you do with something that's been a part of you for the past year? For now, it'll stay in it's cup on his desk full of Legos... guess we'll figure out what to do with his remind later.

Cart Snafu

As it is the time for shopping, the holidays are among us afterall. I thought I'd share my hubby's latest "cart" experience. You see he rides around on an electric cart for work. They go around base getting what they need and come back. Since it is electric it only goes about 10 mph. However, when you are the passenger and you look over your right shoulder, and the driver is making a sharp left, you may just fall out! Blood loss, no concussion, 5 staples and countless jokes later, this is how you'd look.

He was getting teased about needing a 5-point harness, a helmet (complete with a Raiders emblem... ewwwwww) as well as a few others. Those 2 are my favorites however. This happened a few weeks ago now and he almost completely healed. Which is an awesome thing since that means his system is getting back to normal after chemo.

Although you may not be taking electric carts to go shopping this year, please do remember to be careful in those crazy stores! Or better yet, buy online :) Check Etsy, and search Homefront Team for great selections.

My man

He's been my "babyman" for 2 years now. Last night, became my "littleman". He was a SoCal surfer looking babyman. Now, he looks like his daddy. He likes the change. All be it a bit strange to feel all that fuzziness and no long locks. Funny how much it changed the shape of his face!

Took quite some time to get all that hair cut. And lots of moving around. Daddy started him and he just wouldn't sit still. So I took him over and let him look in the mirror. Then he was ok with me finishing. No "wow, CUTE" came out, but he did say "I like it!" I'll take that.

The Art of Trick or Treating

It's a little late to share, but wanted to show off the kids' Halloween costumes. It was my sons first year trick or treating. Last year, he had just turned 1. He was a great walker, not much of a talker and really not in need of extra sugary treats. This is a pic of the end of the night, when they came home to say "Trick or Treat!"

However, last year his sister did go trick or treating. It was her first year. She was almost 3, and a huge talker. She enjoyed the experience. So when it came to this Halloween, he got to go as well. He's now a 2 year old with lots of energy and personality who thinks he's just as big as his big sister. The last comment is almost true, of his size at least. When we were back home, everyone who picked him said "What do they feed you? (insert heavy strange thing to feed a child... rocks... lead... etc.)"

Back on to Halloween. My daughter wanted to be a werewolf. For all of the summer. Figured it'd be a good costume for my son to wear next year. Could make wolf arms and a head, something to go over her shoes and put clothes on the rest of her. He could do the same thing next year. Then a month before Halloween, it changed to a fairy. A very pink fairy. She helped me pick out the fabrics, trim and a new pair of shoes. Everything pink (of course).

While my son was a scarecrow. This was an easy costume. He had a pair of old overalls, ones he'd not be able to wear again so I bought some felt in yellow and tan and cut it into strips. Then sewed the strips onto the bottoms of the overalls. Cut a few squares of other colors of felt and sewed those on with some straw strips poking through. Picked him up a shirt that was a bit large and did the same. The hardest part of his, was a hat. Which sort of hat should a scarecrow wear? His looks a bit like Pappa Bear from the Berenstein Bears, minus the flower. He really enjoyed his costume (put it on and he said "Wow, cute cute!") and figured out trick or treating by the first house. It was an enjoyable night and now there's a piece of candy every other day or so to remember their Halloween together.

Treatment No. 10

Was this past weekend. It went fairly well. Saturday was not the best day. Hubby felt a little under the weather, having trouble drinking. But did manage to get a little down and was eating fine. Sunday was much better. It was his birthday, the big 2-8!

The kids picked out a little Legos package for him, and I picked up some Geek Soap from Swan Mountain Soaps on Etsy. Figured it was fitting since my hubby really is a geek with his computer games and love of Star Wars. He thought both were funny. Put together his Lego train quick (he now has a Lego helicopter, a car and a train) and then opened up his present from his mom. More Legos, and Star Wars all in one! It is an AT-AP that he then put together. It's sitting on his computer desk.

Then it was time to watch football. Chargers were playing the Broncos so it was a game we got to watch! It's hard being a Broncos fan in SD some of the time :) Man that game had ups and downs and the ending... 2 pointer for the win! Later in the evening we had some pizza and then cheesecake with fresh berries. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries oh my! My daughter asked for more when she finished hers. Had to tell her it was just desert, so no more cheesecake was needed.

The worst part of the weekend was homecare being late on Sunday to take out the needle. But all in all, it's one more treatment done. Only 2 left now. In a month he will be done. Possibly 2 months he can have cold drinks again. No trips back home for the winter, that is for sure!

Treatment No. 9 and then some

So we've surpased 3/4 of the treatments! Hubby's sis came out for a visit and was here while he did his ninth treatment. Still going well and making it through. We had a good visit and even managed a date night to see the new Batman, The Dark Knight. Kinda funny since it has been so long since I have been in an actual movie theater and there weren't many people, it was really loud. Makes me feel old :) The movie was enjoyable and it was nice going out just the two of us.

Hubby was very excited with the idea that there are only 3 treatments left to undergo. It's what he said most of the weekend, "9 down, 3 to go..." with a look of joy and excitement for the weeks to come. It's amazing how fast time can fly by.

Been busy around here. Have a few custom orders I've been working on as well as some new toy bags for the kids. My son has lots of big legos and the bag they came in, the zipper pulled out and is broken. So made him a new tall green fleece bag for his "blocks". We picked up a big toy bin from some neighbors who no longer needed it and so made several little bags for her to keep sets of toys in making it easier to find what she wants to play with. Finished 2 of them completely (little pictures on them noting what is inside) only about 6 more to go. The bags are at least all done. Some however need drawstrings put in so that's something to work on in between orders and life.

One of the orders called for organic yarns. Since I use acrylic for the novelty things, had to pick up some new yarns. Bought some bamboo cotton as well as some banana silk. They're both really easy to work with and I'm excited to see how the banana silk scarf I've started turns out. It's a beautiful yarn that looks like a bunch of berries, ripe for the picking.

Crazy Life

It's been a crazy few weeks. Had 3 visitors, 1 new member of the family, a computer crash, a few more orders, 1 family member hospitalized, and just not much spare time.

The 3 visitors were nice, well actually 4 since one was a couple. My hubby's mom came to visit for a few days. We had fun. Hung out a bit, knitted, shopped, and played with the kids. As well as talked with the adults. She also brought me my birthday present, a set of circular interchangable knitting needles, which I so love.

Then my hubby's cousin and his very preggo wife came for a visit. It was nice listening to their excitement at the new little girls pending arrival. And the last visitor was another of my hubby's cousins who is a new military spouse. Her husband is a Marine stationed out here and so she came out to start scouting housing since he is currently deployed. Played a little guitar hero with her and hung out with the kids.

Our newest family member is named Oli. He's a cute, curious little tabby kitten. We've been talking about getting a new kitten for our cat to play with. We have a 4.5 year old black siamese mix who is just a lover and more dog than cat. He's not been too sure of little Oli who gets into everything and just isn't going away. They're slowly becoming friends however which is interesting to see. We hope they do become great friends. Our Flip has been more playful since Oli came along, and it'd be nice if they could burn off that energy together.

The computer crash was mine, of course. Using the laptop as a temporary fix. It probably just needs a hard drive. But with the car still in pieces in the garage, the pc gets to wait. The laptop is a nice little machine, however it isn't my norm so not used to the keyboard and mouse.

The orders were for more berry purses, a strawberry and blueberry along with some little wallets/coin purses that a few dollars can be slipped in with initials. One strawberry is crocheted, the rest still to be done. When I finally can stock the shop again with berry's I'm sure they won't last! I've got an order for a baby blanket that I've just about finished as well.

And the hospital, my mom has been having issues with her gut. She went in in January for emergency surgery. 90% of her colon gone, the issues were supposed to be gone as well. It was a long recovery process and she still wasn't all the way back to par. Then this past Monday she went back into the hospital for more surgery. Seems she didn't heal quite right and the small intestines had decided they wanted to twist up on her. Some adhesions removed and the twists untwisted, she's once again working on the recovery. Started a comfort shawl for her with my new circular needles. Hoping to have it done this week. We will see though, with the new kitten, it's been difficult to pull out my yarn.

It was treatment no. 7 this weekend and that seemed to go pretty well. Will have to blog about that another time. Oli is coming to play!