Kindergarten Repeat–and Other Stuff–Plus, a Stripety Giveaway

Morning. I haven’t even had my full dose of green tea and yet I’m buzzing with energy. I think I have the new school year jitters–up early, wanting to do a thousand things all at the same time.

Right now Andrew is eating a still-warm muffin. Yum. Madeleine is tidying her room while singing to Mumford and Sons, and John Ronan is literally running circles around our dining room table. He dressed himself this morning and chose the Dr Seuss shorts I made him.

Warms my heart.

My husband is out back in his sweet office, the door open, taking a phone call no doubt. He’ll be heading off for coffee soon at Via Maestra, just like he does every morning. Yesterday I caught him in his dress shirt (because he had a video conference) and shorts and sandals. Had to snap a photo. What d’ya think? Pretty nice working out of a backyard office!

Muffins! Some day I’ll share my muffin recipe–it’s easy and adaptable to all sorts of stuffing. I especially love adding chopped cranberries, but today I baked to please the kids and made them plain… (Those kids...)

Giving. I baked a double batch of French rolls yesterday–and snuck some cheese into the dough, and gave it ALL away (my kids don’t like it when I do that). One ring of rolls to Jack, our neighbor across the street whom we love, who watches over our home when we’re gone and who helps us with strange electrical problems when they reveal themselves through our breaker box. The other, larger, ring went to a family of a dad and his five kids who are all stuffed into a one-bedroom apartment. If I had the time and the strength, I’d bring them fresh bread every day.

Anyway. This year I just have my little one with me at home; we’re tackling kindergarten together. Do you know how amazingly fun it already is? We started our year off by reading Bob Books, drawing mazes

and eating a long, long lunch at the beach. I think we’ll be eating lots of long, long lunches at the beach this year. Wouldn’t you…

…when there’s all that good stuff to learn about tides, and the moon, and the creativity of God Himself!

Giveaways and a Giveaway. We have some fun giveaways coming for you this fall. It was a smart move for me to take the summer off from that sort of thing. But, I’m ready for giveaway giving again. I would bake bread for y’all, but some of you live a quadrillion fourteen miles away. Bread is better fresh.

However. On our road trip I made all those stripety bags. SO MANY of them. Four bags, plus a hat. (Please, admire all those stitches!)

     

It’s true that I’m a Bag Lady, but four new bags is simple gluttony, even if i did get blisters making them. So, I’d like to give one away to YOU! I’m not a professional stitcher, though. These bags come with a disclaimer. For example, if one of my bags falls apart the first time you use it, no weepy tears–you may not cry, and I don’t want to know about it!

Because. I might cry, and then say, I told you so.

• The Fuzzy Details. First bag. Lots of colorful stripes. Has been sort of felted, which means it’s washable!. Is pretty big–like big enough to carry 25 skeins of yarn. But if you put 25 oranges in it, which would fit, I bet the shoulder straps would lengthen several inches. Which wouldn’t be good…
• The Fuzzy Details. Second bag, which shouts, ORANGE. Yes, in caps. This bag is not up for giving, unless you want to pay me. 🙂 It’s smaller, would probably hold 15 skeins of yarn, and would certainly hold 15 oranges, and look good doing it.
• The Fuzzy Details. Third bag. It’s little. Not felted. I’m doubting any of you will choose this little thing over the big stripes, but it’s cute. I have a feeling this bag, which would hold about 8-9 skeins of yarn, is destined for a miniature girly.
• The Fuzzy Details. Fourth bag. Still under construction. I used every last loop of my $50 dollars worth of yarn for this bag and I think it came out just scrumptious. I plan on felting this bag before consumption. It’s the same size as bag one. Kinda big, and awesome.

The Reason. I haven’t finished the last bag because… we just adopted a piano

and it has upset our whole house, furniture flying this way and that. Couches on the curb for folks to take, chairs finding new nooks, stuffed dogs being displaced…

Today. Is the third day of my second time going to kindergarten, and guess what? We’re going to pray, and read our Bob books, and draw mazes, and THEN, take a packed lunch and picnic at the boulder grove!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn’t it grand?

Summer was great. But kindergarten is better…

If you want to pop your name in the hat for a bag, just leave a comment below. Let me know in the post which one you like best–but just know, the wild orange one that mimicks this wild mood I’m in is mine. 🙂

Cheers! I’ll be choosing names when I get to 100 comments, (or next Friday, whichever comes first–or last–depending on my mood)

so tell your friends!