Just in case you noticed the link on the right hand side of the blog under the profile and wondered what was up. . .
The organization Afghans for Afghans collects hand knitted and crocheted items to send to the people in Afghanistan. Every few months they request specific items and send over several cartons full. In October they'll be sending another shipment. I started knitting about a year and half ago, just really simple things, mind you. I found this hat pattern that is soooooo easy to make! But they are also looking for baby socks (not booties), blankets, vests and sweaters for children, socks, etc. The only thing is you have to use wool yarn - the winters are very cold over there so only wool is warm enough. They will not accept acrylic items. I have found some good deals on wool through a couple of websites: Elann and Knitpicks.
So, if you feel the spirit move. . . join the circular knitting revolution!!!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Band of the Week!
Friday night was a busy one for Savannah! We found out earlier in the week that the marching band plays at every football game, home and away. This last Friday they had their first game - away - in Knoxville, but they were chosen to be the band of the week by one of the local TV stations. Use the link below to see the video. They come on after the commercial for Pellissippi State. You won't see Savannah until the end of the 2nd segment and the beginning of the 3rd segment, but it is a pretty good video of the band.
Band of the Week
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Happy Birthday (a week early)
Savannah got a few early birthday presents this week. Yesterday we went and bought her a "papasan" chair and today she and Sean put up her loft bed. It is pretty cool! Now we just need a ladder for her to get up and down!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
We haven't dropped off the face of the earth, really!
Wow! It really has been quite a while since I posted something. Though Savannah was nice enough to give every one an update the other day.
We entered the whirlwind of packing after my last post, and though we paced ourselves well things still got pretty crazy that last week (July 15-20th). With the help of some very wonderful people we got the truck loaded (amazingly compactly, thanks Dave) on Wednesday of that week, cleaned on Thursday, and pulled out of town Friday morning. Homeless, and out of debt at least for the moment, we decided to mooch off of relatives (thanks Dave and Barb!). What else can you do when you don't have a place to live? They were very gracious to put up with our two cats for a few days. The felines were pretty confused. Friday was one looooooong trip to the vet (fortunately there wasn't a vet at the other end).
The visit with Dave and Barb was really nice, especially since we also got to see Ben and ShanShan. We really didn't think we would get to see them until maybe Christmas so it was a nice surprise. And it was wonderful to not have to pack anything!!!!
Tuesday the 24th we left Illinois and headed for Tennessee. It wasn't quite as peaceful of a trip with the felines, they both didn't really want to take the sedative and took quite a while to settle down. Quite a bit of the trip was spent with at least one cat (sometimes two) draped across the dashboard! And unfortunately, a vet was at the end of this trip. We had to board them for a couple of nights before we could close on the house.
We spent Wednesday running all over the place getting utilities changed over to our name. (You Orange City folk be thankful for the city run utilities!) And we also had to arrange for homeowners insurance and car insurance. At least the kids got to sleep in.
Thursday, July 26th, was the big day. We closed in the morning, went back to Jefferson City and picked up the kids and the cats and went to our new house! The truck was delivered just after lunch - with everything intact and we were no longer homeless!
The next week was a bit of a whirlwind. The Faculty Movers from Carson Newman came Friday morning and helped unload the truck. It was wonderful to have such good help. Saturday we got the kitchen up and running (that felt GOOD). Sunday we unpacked a bit more (hard to relax in the midst of such a mess). Monday Dave and Barb came and they helped us get so much done. Barb and I painted Savannah's room and she helped me get my sewing area arranged plus unpacked lots of other stuff! Dave and Sean put up new light fixtures took Sean's stuff to his office and got the garage operational. They were great help.
After they left on Wednesday Sean and I tackled Duncan's room. You can tell from the pictures that his idea was a little more extreme than his sister's, but it turned out really good. It actually took 2 days to get his done, but he was able to sleep in there Thursday night. And then Friday morning I picked up a rental car and headed for Rogers, AR. Actually, my final destination was Springfield, MO, but I stopped over at Kevin and Pam's (thanks guys) Friday night. Saturday morning I went up to Springfield for ATA Instructor Certification Camp and 12 hours (total) working out and proving I knew my stuff. I passed, HOOORAYYY! So now I can, after a bit more paperwork, get started opening our own Taekwondo club. I got back home late Monday and then we hit the ground running trying to get the kids ready to start school. Of course, that was not as easy as it sounded, but we managed to get everything done.
Savannah had a 1/2 day on Thursday, Duncan and I spent Thursday running around and jumping through bureaucratic hoops. And then school started for real this Monday. It feels so weird to have them in school already, but they were getting pretty bored without all of their friends so at least we have a routine now.
School has been a bit of an adjustment, it seems like every school district does things differently. However, we haven't had very many tears. Duncan is going to have to play the mellophone for the first month and a half but then his band teacher is going to let him play the stand up bass. Savannah was pleasantly surprised by how little the marching band had accomplished by this point, so she isn't as far behind as she had feared. She also only has 4 classes this semester, their block schedule is a little different. She is taking Band, Geography, English, and Theater Arts/Forensics. Next semester she will have Biology, Algebra II, US Government, and Band. It definitely helps with the homework load.
Well, here are a few pictures of the house now that we have some of our stuff up. I haven't put anything on the walls yet, but the piles of boxes are getting smaller. I need to make some more progress so we can get the van in the garage. We bought another car :-0 (the first time in our marriage that we've had more than one vehicle). It is a 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon and looks quite a bit like our last Subaru.
We entered the whirlwind of packing after my last post, and though we paced ourselves well things still got pretty crazy that last week (July 15-20th). With the help of some very wonderful people we got the truck loaded (amazingly compactly, thanks Dave) on Wednesday of that week, cleaned on Thursday, and pulled out of town Friday morning. Homeless, and out of debt at least for the moment, we decided to mooch off of relatives (thanks Dave and Barb!). What else can you do when you don't have a place to live? They were very gracious to put up with our two cats for a few days. The felines were pretty confused. Friday was one looooooong trip to the vet (fortunately there wasn't a vet at the other end).
The visit with Dave and Barb was really nice, especially since we also got to see Ben and ShanShan. We really didn't think we would get to see them until maybe Christmas so it was a nice surprise. And it was wonderful to not have to pack anything!!!!
Tuesday the 24th we left Illinois and headed for Tennessee. It wasn't quite as peaceful of a trip with the felines, they both didn't really want to take the sedative and took quite a while to settle down. Quite a bit of the trip was spent with at least one cat (sometimes two) draped across the dashboard! And unfortunately, a vet was at the end of this trip. We had to board them for a couple of nights before we could close on the house.
We spent Wednesday running all over the place getting utilities changed over to our name. (You Orange City folk be thankful for the city run utilities!) And we also had to arrange for homeowners insurance and car insurance. At least the kids got to sleep in.
Thursday, July 26th, was the big day. We closed in the morning, went back to Jefferson City and picked up the kids and the cats and went to our new house! The truck was delivered just after lunch - with everything intact and we were no longer homeless!
The next week was a bit of a whirlwind. The Faculty Movers from Carson Newman came Friday morning and helped unload the truck. It was wonderful to have such good help. Saturday we got the kitchen up and running (that felt GOOD). Sunday we unpacked a bit more (hard to relax in the midst of such a mess). Monday Dave and Barb came and they helped us get so much done. Barb and I painted Savannah's room and she helped me get my sewing area arranged plus unpacked lots of other stuff! Dave and Sean put up new light fixtures took Sean's stuff to his office and got the garage operational. They were great help.
After they left on Wednesday Sean and I tackled Duncan's room. You can tell from the pictures that his idea was a little more extreme than his sister's, but it turned out really good. It actually took 2 days to get his done, but he was able to sleep in there Thursday night. And then Friday morning I picked up a rental car and headed for Rogers, AR. Actually, my final destination was Springfield, MO, but I stopped over at Kevin and Pam's (thanks guys) Friday night. Saturday morning I went up to Springfield for ATA Instructor Certification Camp and 12 hours (total) working out and proving I knew my stuff. I passed, HOOORAYYY! So now I can, after a bit more paperwork, get started opening our own Taekwondo club. I got back home late Monday and then we hit the ground running trying to get the kids ready to start school. Of course, that was not as easy as it sounded, but we managed to get everything done.
Savannah had a 1/2 day on Thursday, Duncan and I spent Thursday running around and jumping through bureaucratic hoops. And then school started for real this Monday. It feels so weird to have them in school already, but they were getting pretty bored without all of their friends so at least we have a routine now.
School has been a bit of an adjustment, it seems like every school district does things differently. However, we haven't had very many tears. Duncan is going to have to play the mellophone for the first month and a half but then his band teacher is going to let him play the stand up bass. Savannah was pleasantly surprised by how little the marching band had accomplished by this point, so she isn't as far behind as she had feared. She also only has 4 classes this semester, their block schedule is a little different. She is taking Band, Geography, English, and Theater Arts/Forensics. Next semester she will have Biology, Algebra II, US Government, and Band. It definitely helps with the homework load.
Well, here are a few pictures of the house now that we have some of our stuff up. I haven't put anything on the walls yet, but the piles of boxes are getting smaller. I need to make some more progress so we can get the van in the garage. We bought another car :-0 (the first time in our marriage that we've had more than one vehicle). It is a 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon and looks quite a bit like our last Subaru.
Here's the Library/music room/sitting area.
Here's the living room.
Here's the colors in Savannah's room. Notice the things that appear to be sticking to the wall all by themselves - we used magnetic primer on that part of the wall!
And here is a sample of Duncan's room, the wall opposite this one also has the random zig-zag thing going on.
And here is part of the functional basement. ;-) I unpacked my scrapbooking stuff yesterday so I had to show off my new space! The sewing area is to the left in that same room and the sink and stovetop are to the right for the canning area.
Here's the living room.
Here's the colors in Savannah's room. Notice the things that appear to be sticking to the wall all by themselves - we used magnetic primer on that part of the wall!
And here is a sample of Duncan's room, the wall opposite this one also has the random zig-zag thing going on.
And here is part of the functional basement. ;-) I unpacked my scrapbooking stuff yesterday so I had to show off my new space! The sewing area is to the left in that same room and the sink and stovetop are to the right for the canning area.Monday, August 13, 2007
Hello from Tennessee! In our last post we showed you some pictures of the house. We have been busy setting up the house, and painting Duncan and I's rooms. I personally like my room the best, but hey, that's why it's my room. Duncan's room is two different colors. On one wall, he has a dark, but bright blue, almost the same color as the tape we used to protect the woodwork. On the opposite wall, he has a very bright green. On the other two walls, which are opposite each other, there is a zig-zag line going from corner to corner. On the top of the line, the color is blue, and on the bottom of the line the color is green. My room is two different colors of green. Two walls right next to each other are a light green, but not bright. And the other two walls are a darker green, from the same color chart thingy as the other color. We're both going to have loft beds. They won't have any poles supporting them. Instead, the bed will be positioned in the corner, and the two sides next to the wall will be attached to the wall and the part hanging out in the middle of the room will be suspended from the ceiling by cables. It's going to be sooooooo cool! I'm really excited! I would send you pictures of our rooms, but alas, I don't know where the thing is that connects the camera to the computer. So you will just have to wait. Too bad. :)
~Savannah
~Savannah
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