So.. it’s weird. Cadi just turned 11. Eleven! Esther’s last day of 1st grade is today. Next fall Jared (and I believe Rori, too) starts Kindergarten. It seems like time has flown by. I can’t imagine how it would be if they were my own.

At least there is a new little one to start the cycle, due in just a month. A month! And knowing Ruth, little Naomi will make her appearance early so I give her 2 weeks, maybe 3. I can’t wait to meet her. To hold her and smell her and kiss her tiny little head and fingers. (Side note: I still have undeveloped photos from when I first met Esther, 7 years ago. Thank goodness for digital cameras. But, I really should develop those and see if anything has survived the last 7 years of being stored in a trunk!)

Can you tell I just love babies? Other people’s babies.

Not that I wouldn’t want my own. But one would be enough, and I hope it’s a boy. That’s in the “someday” file.

In the mean time, the past week I have been knitting like crazy (photos to come, don’t want to spoil it before I give them to Ruth) and I have completed my 3 little projects for Naomi. I have a few projects to work on over the next few months; I may have something to give her when she’s born, but if not, there’s Christmas. I’m working on one last thing for the gift, I have 3 days to work on it and I hope I can do it. If not, it’s ok. But it’d be nice. (And I haven’t forgotten Andrew’s Birthday Christmas scarf. Or my bag.)

Friday is going to be busy. I am throwing Ruth’s baby shower and have a menu planned that luckily most can be done ahead of time. I’m taking the day off work so I can cook and bake and prep. Saturday morning is the baby shower – strawberry themed. Did you know it’s hard to find strawberry decorations and things? I would have thought it’d be so easy, being summer. But, no. Apparently it’s butterflies that are in right now.

And people have forgotten their manners (re: RSVP). I have gotten two calls so far. My mom and sisters are coming, that’s a given. But everyone else..? I may end up with too much food. Although I’m sure any leftover cupcakes or pretzel salad will find somewhere to go!

So.. I know I’m obsessed, but I love it. I finished up Esther’s scarf with the flower, it turned out adorable. I’m now working on a scarf for myself.

So.. two weeks I took up a new hobby with my good friend, Jaime. We had talked about doing crochet, but my first attempts were “ok” but not great. I guess I wasn’t too enthused, and after a try, neither was she. We go to coffee and the farmer’s market every Saturday, and a few shops down is a cute little yarn store I had been meaning to visit. So, that Saturday we walked in and looked around. I love it, it’s so adorable and full of soft yarn, beautiful projects and helpful people. We looked at the classes they offer and they had a Learn to Knit class starting in about an hour. We bought our needles and yarn, paid for the class and came back an hour later to begin.

Almost immediately I liked knitting more than crochet. For one thing, whenever I type “crochet,” I always say “crotch” first and have to correct. Ok, so that’s not really the reason. But, when you crochet (haha! did it again!), you hold your hands in a way that I find more awkward. I also found it easier to miss a stitch and end up with ugly holes. Don’t get me wrong, I did plenty of that in my knitting, too. But I found it easier to keep track of and stop doing (with practice) while knitting. Our first project was a simple garter stitch, which is just knitting the whole row. Our “homework” was to do a little square before the next class. Jaime & I are both overachievers and she ended up with a dish rag and I ended up with this cute little scarf, perfect for Jared.

This past Saturday, at class #2, we learned to purl, which is pretty much an opposite stitch of knitting. We did “knit 2, purl 2″ which produces a nice little ribbed stitch. After giving Jared his scarf, Esther of course wanted one. Luckily the yarn I picked for this project will suit her well, so Sunday I spent my day knitting away and made her scarf. (Photos to come.)

I am working on crocheting a little flower to attach to the end of her scarf, but I’m sure having issues with it! Need to practice, practice, practice, I guess! Unless anyone knows a fairly simple flower you can make with KNITTING instead. I could probably do that easier.

Saturday night we baked delicious Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. They taste just like snickerdoodle cookies, and have a great frosting that’s almost like a marshmallow cream. Yum!

Esther & Jared climbed up on the counter to lick the bowl when we were done.

Finished product: gorgeous AND delicious!

This one was my favorite museum we went to. The airplanes were so cool and getting to sit in them was incredible!

I am a beautiful butterfly!

This fish loved Esther! He would come up when she’d touch the glass, but swim away really quickly!

You can’t tell, but she’s pointing at the guy driving the train behind her.

This was my favorite set of dishes on the dining car.