Happy 5th Birthday, Ben!

Despite the look on his face, Ben had a great birthday. I cannot believe he's FIVE already!

He went from this chubby little fellow (born at 10 pounds, 6 oz!!), shown here with his big brother, Tim, who was 10 at the time:



To this sweet, little boy, opening his new Spider Man Lego set:



We had a fun (though exhausting) day today opening gifts and spending time with my family. We had some delicious Italian sauce, pasta and meatballs for lunch and my sister made the most amazing punch with sherbet, gingerale, fruit juice, and frozen fruit. It was so great to see them (they live in RI and I don't see them as often as I'd like) and what an exciting day for the kids.

Despite of the craziness of the holiday deadline, I was able to finish two more knitted projects.

THE PALINDROME SCARF



I knit this using 3 balls of Patons SWS in natural slate color (and size 8 straight needles), which seems to go with everything. The scarf was quick, easy and beautiful. The pattern was very simple to memorize after a few repeats and the yarn is soft, slightly fuzzy and so warm! I didn't realize how heavy the resulting scarf would be, but I think my mom liked it. I hope she wears it....I begged her to at least wear it once. Highly recommended for gift giving!

TIM'S BAKLAVA

I used a helmet liner pattern for this...click here for the directions. Tim was asking for some sort of facial covering for when he goes sledding and this was perfect for the job. I used the rest of the Lion Brand Cotton Ease in dark gray from my stash, size 6 and 8 circulars and off I went. I think I finished it in about 2 days. Another quick, easy and portable knitted gift/project. Tim loves it and already wore it today. Here he is modeling it, though he begged me not to take his picture:



Not sure, but this may be my last post before the holidays are upon us. I didn't even think I'd get this one done! Ian and I are both sick and trying to keep up our energy for the kids for the next couple days. The guests who were staying with us finally left and now we've had my family here for the past two days. In two more days, we'll have Ian's other friend, his wife and little girl over and...after that...Ian's parents will be here for a few days. I'm trying to appreciate the time we have to ourselves (without guests) while we have it....but, man, I'm TIRED!!!

Hope you all have a truly relaxing and wonderful holiday...full of much needed laughter, joy and love of your friends & family. Many hugs from me and I'll see ya again after Christmas!