Counting Down

I am finding new ways to count down to the big change that is coming in our lives this April.
This weekend I sang the first two of 8 performances that are on my schedule through March 18th.
They both went quite well.
Caritas sang for a mass at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis on Saturday night, and it was truly a joy to perform in that room. The architect must have been an acoustical genius.
Our 9-voice group filled the entire sanctuary, even singing pianissimo, it was really exhilarating.
Yesterday's concert was a benefit for a local women's shelter, and even though we didn't have a huge audience, they were warm and generous.
The first concert of the year can be a little daunting but it really helped to have a warm-up the night before, and  all in all we had a successful day.

My singing friends are starting to get nervous that the baby won't want to wait until her due date and they'll have to go on a man down for our last couple of concerts, but I have decided that I am giving up going into labor for Lent.
Lent is another easy way to count down until the big day, since I am due on Easter.
What better way to celebrate the coming of spring and budding life outside than with a little budding life inside the house?

Lastly, I have a list of projects to finish up for the baby: paint the walls in the baby area, get a crib mattress, finish up the rug, maybe a little more knitting for coming home from the hospital hat/booties...
Checking off these to-dos will be very satisfying, as well as a concrete way to count down to getting the house and all of us ready to welcome our new arrival.

I'll have another post later, once I get some photos of the knitting that I was able to finish up this weekend. I may have gone a little over the edge with the cuteness of the baby sweater, but I'll let you be the judge.

Beautiful Afternoon

Just a bit of snow on the ground, mid 40 degree temps, peeks of blue sky;
All of this added up to a quick bike-ride (for the kids, I chose to walk) to the playground.
It got pretty nippy just after we arrived, but we still had a great time playing tag, and swinging on the tire swing.

What I Made in 2011

There have been many days in these past few months when I have felt like I am not accomplishing anything of great import beyond gestating a baby. It seems like all I do is travel from home to work to home and when I am at home I spend a lot of time sitting, feeling sleepy and under-productive.

The laundry isn't getting done, the dishes are piling up, the sewing table is a frightful pile of unfinished projects, you see what I mean? But then I was invited to join a flickr group called What I Made in 2011. 

It was a little empowering to see that I actually did accomplish some small things, like I knitted 8 sweaters, 2 pairs of socks, at least 4 hats, sewed some outfits for the Elder, built a doll cradle... 

Truly, all of these things were accomplished before I was 8 months pregnant and feeling more whale-like than girlish, but it's nice to see them all in one place and imagine a future when I'll have the energy to work on projects again.

It's a day off for the kids today, so we can look forward to some fun time with friends and a concerted effort to get through the dishes.

What's on your agenda?

Just a glimpse

I got to have a glimpse at wee Threetus today.
She's doing quite well and it looks like I have another very large baby on my hands.
She's already about 5 pounds and 11 ounces and I still have 8 more weeks until the due date.

In other family news, the Elder had her first violin recital yesterday, and it was a roaring success.

 The Younger took these during the recital, I liked the motion in this one.

Tonight I can look forward to a quiet night in, finishing up a sleeve and catching up on Game of Thrones.
The new season starts in April! Just in time for long sleepless nights :)

Sad Day for Music-Lovers

The voice that sang me through junior high and high school was silenced today.

Yarn Along

Yarn Along! My favorite day of the week.
This has been a good knitting and crocheting week for me.

I finished the hat I started last week, (also, as I typed that sentence just now I got this in my head ) and I have made some good progress on the matching sweater for She-Who-Has-Not-Been-Named, and I also have been working on a crocheted rag-rug project with my daughter.
It started out as a pile of t-shirts, but now it's a fun rainbow-y rug-to-be!
Can you tell it's been kind of cloudy and grey here lately? lots of colors coming from those needles of mine :)

This week I started reading Treasure Island, but I got about as far as I did the last time I tried to read it, when I was in High School, which is about 3 pages.
There's been a lot of late-night belly dancing from a certain Threetus the Fetus, and so I am waking up in the morning not feeling all that rested.
This has the cascading effect of the kids being sent to school without a home lunch most days (the lunches at school are much healthier than when I was a kid) and also I don't really have the attention span for reading.
It is an interesting story, though, so I'll sally forth.

What's on your needles/hooks/nightstand this week?

Progress

I have made some good progress this week on my list of projects from Monday.

This is the hat to match the booties that I finished up on Tuesday, and I cast on for the sweater yesterday. 

That little flower is so sweet, and it was a breeze to whip up. Maybe the Elder needs some matching barrettes? 

I made some good progress on my t-shirt rag-rug too.

The Elder was able to help out with the crocheting, which was super fun. She ran out of yellow, and I haven't cut the orange or red strips yet, so we're in a holding pattern on this one. It's coming out just like I had planned, though, so that's a bonus.

Since I was able to get so much knitting and crocheting done this week, it highlights the fact that I may have the time to finally start sorting the Baby Area, and perhaps clean off my sewing work table. 

We'll see how that comes along...

Anything fun on your to-do list this weekend?