Happy almost new years eve!

I am not much of a party person, nor have I ever been to a New Years Eve party. But I do know that lots of you may be drinking or know someone that will be. So PLEASE never drink and drive. Do not start the year off with heartache. Fun is fun but use your head.
May the new year bring you lots if happiness.

Hooded scarf and fingerless mitts

Well here they are. Some of the pictures were taken before I was finished and everything was assembled.

 The last 4 pictures are of the set I made my friend for Christmas. 

When in doubt...write your own pattern

 I recently made these super cute fingerless mitts. I made 2 pair actually. First pair was for my friend for Christmas the other pair for myself.
 I had already made my friend a scarf so I tweaked the mitt pattern to go with it. For mine I made the mitts first. I have had my eye on this hooded scarf pattern but it doesn't match the pattern for the mitts. SOOOO...... I am using the idea of the hooded scarf and making a pattern of my own that matches the pattern of the mitts.
 There is a matching hat pattern that goes with the mitts, but I do not generally like hats. Plus I would still be making a scarf pattern anyway since there does not seem to be one anywhere on the internet that even remotely looks like the hat or mitts.


 Here is the link for the hooded scarf.
 http://crochetncrafts.com/crochet/tlc-hooded-scarf.html
 Here is the link for the hat.
 http://www.redheart.com/files/patterns/pdf/LW2087.pdf
 Here is the link for the mitts.
 http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/ED4F487A-3814-4342-B4F4-0365646A6154/135652/WR2017.pdf

 I am using a different yarn than the pattern calls for with the mitts. So I did have to adjust it a little bit. Not much, just enough for using ww yarn over the sock yarn they used. I think it was sock yarn. It is called "heart & sole"' after all.


 I will take pictures of everything after I am done so you can see what I am talking about.


 I can give you the pattern adjustments for the mitts if anyone is interested. 
 I always seem to be a bit stingy with my own handwritten patterns, so I am still in debate over posting the hooded scarf after I am finished.

It is so hard to be nice anymore

 We had some new neighbors move in recently. We have the same landlord so we knew all about them before they moved in.


 It was two young girls,sisters,each has a one year old baby boy.


  I remember being a young mother. Not exactly the easiest thing in the world. Also I knew that these girls weren't exactly made of money either.


  I wanted to do something nice for them. I made up two of the tiny octopus toys that I like to make. I just left off the eyeballs,choking hazard and all. I put them in a basket and left them on their front porch.


  Weeks went by, no word from the girls. I know I didn't make the toys so I could be constantly thanked or needing lots of praise. But maybe some word that they even got them. Nothing. 


  Last week my landlady said something about the toys asking if I was the one that made them. I said yes I did. She just said "oh". Then this past weekend one of the girls stopped by to borrow something. She was the oldest sister. The younger one has moved out with her boyfriend already. Anyway, during the time she was here she made a point to mention that when the babies got the octopus toys all they did was fight and hit with them or throw them at the mom's head. Now as she was saying this she wasn't smiling or joking in any way.


  I thought I was doing something nice for someone. It made me happy to make toys for these babies. I knew how much my niece and my own kids love these toys and how much fun they have with them. I really truly thought I was doing something good.


  In your honest opinion......was what I did wrong? Should I have went over there and asked the girls first if the babies could have the toys?

oh yum!

How can opening a few cans, pouring them out in a crock-pot and adding some spices turn out to be the best pot of chili.......ever?


 I swore to myself I would not eat to bursting tonight. I did. Again. As I do every chili night.


 I always make enough to feed an army,but I will tell you how I made it anyway. So if you have a big family, a pot luck dinner to go to or a church function.....this will make PLENTY!


 I am not a big "recipe" type person. I usually don't make things the same way twice. But here goes.


 2 big cans of tomato sauce 29 oz
 2 cans of chili beans approx 16 oz (the kind with seasoning)
 1 can of Del Monte-zesty chili style diced tomatoes 14.5 oz
 1 can black beans approx 16 oz
 1 can light red kidney beans approx 16 oz
 1 can dark red kidney beans approx 16 oz
 1 can white kidney beans approx 16 oz
 1 pound sausage
 1 pound hamburger
 Chili powder to taste
 Shredded cheese and chopped onions for when serving.
 Frito's scoops


 I opened all my cans and put everything in my crock-pot set on high for about 30 minutes. In a skillet on the stove I cooked the sausage and hamburger together and drained the grease. I added the meat and some chili powder to the crock-pot and set it to warm/low for an hour or so. I would have preferred it to cook longer but I got a late start and we were HUNGRY.
 This can get set to low and simmer all day while you are at work and add the meat when you get home. Or add it at the beginning. No set rules here.


 What made this chili night even better was my son's friend had a bowl with us and kept saying how this was WAY better than his granny's chili.

What a way to start a weekend.

This week has been a sort of quiet one. My daughter was sick at the start of the week but it was just a short lived bug of some sort.
 Starting last night my youngest was being crybaby-ish and grumpy. This morning he woke up with a fever and has felt really bad all day. I have been keeping a close eye on him and watching his fever. 
 He did decide to climb in my lap and choose that time to throw up. (sorry for that) We got all cleaned up and he has had some medicine for his fever and is feeling pretty good now.


 I have been spending quiet time watching "American Horror Story" online. I have never watched before yesterday. My friend told me about it and I had to investigate. 
 I am HOOKED! I wish I had cable so that I could watch new episodes as they come out.
 So I have been sitting here at my computer working on Christmas presents and watching my new favorite show.
 It is getting bigger and is ALMOST done. I will hate to give it away lol!

 At the moment my son has a friend staying the night and they are about to drive me up a wall!!!! 
 For some reason every friend my kids have ever had have parents that do not allow kids to be at their house. So all the kids come to my house. I don't really want to complain much about it. I at least know they are not getting in to any trouble. I just wish I could have a night off. I am surrounded by children ages 4 to 17, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. No joke. No exaggeration. (I have 2 kids that sleep in my bed permanently)


 Well I can see that my next episode is finished loading so I am going to go enjoy while the boys are being quiet with their games for right now.