Fun With Crochet

It all started two weeks ago at a park where Amy's mom (Jennifer) showed me a store-bought hat that was crocheted and was ruined in laundering. She asked if I was up for the challenge of trying to crochet a similar hat for Amy. So a week later Jennifer provided me some skeins of yarn (Sugar and Cream for those of you who do knitting or crocheting) and I was off -- within 3 days I had created 5 things! Keep in mind I only get to crochet when the boys are in bed or watching something on tv. I have always been told that I am a fast crocheter and I was debating going to a local qualifier at the Mall of America about a year or more ago for "fastest knitter" and "fastest crocheter". In the end I realized that I wouldn't have been fast enough to make it to nationals and so I am glad that I didn't waste my Saturday afternoon there (and the date wasn't a good one anyway).

Nonetheless, I absolutely love crocheting and also modifying patterns to create something new. The multi-colored hat was the one that I came up with that resembles the ruined store-bought one, but the brim is a bit different. I used a pattern for the poncho and it really did turn out cute. Beyond that I pretty much made up everything as I went along. I totally made up the yellow hat with the colored flower off the top of my head --- no pun intended (-: --- and the purse is pretty basic. I tried to replicate the drawstring bags that I used to make with the bottoms of empty Clorox bottles of bleach 30 years ago (Yes, I started crocheting by the time I was 4 and by elementary school my friends were paying me to make them coin purses and vests, etc) This drawstring bag is actually from an empty water bottle so it is small enough for Amy (who is 3 1/2 yrs old).

As you can see, the model's identity had to be concealed as I'm sure he would not be happy to find pictures of himself posing with girl's accessories come high school graduation time!

I love to crochet and really don't think that my little boys have too many crochet needs, so if any of you reading my blog wants to request something, I am up for it. I simply ask that you buy the yarn and I will take it from there (provided that I have the time to complete the project)!

Day Trip to Little Falls

We took a trip up to Little Falls to see Grandpa and Grandma Hagen today (Ray's dad and his wife). Karon did some grilling and grandpa took the kids on some golf cart rides around their acreage. The boys had a blast roasting marshmallows, too. We only get up there about 2 times a year and so the boys really look forward to it. The weather was absolutely perfect and you can see that Karon's flowers were gorgeous. The boys found a rocking chair that they had fun sitting on. Liam spent most of the time trying to avoid Lady -- their dog who seemed to gravitate towards Liam. I think Liam inherited my hesitence around animals.

Ray's Shower Companion

Here is what greeted Ray in his Dallas hotel room shower this morning!

Reading Again

I started to really slow down on my reading (after the big reading frenzy lasting from late November until early March). I needed to take a break around the time of my French contest and then started painting and redecorating parts of the house. I have recently taken up reading again (not at the record speed as before though). Here are the latest 5 books I have read bringing my total to 60 since Thanksgiving. I have found that having read so many now that I am much more critical of the plots/style and so I no longer give away 5 star ratings freely! I really did like the Scheeres book below even though it was very disturbing and therefore difficult to read.

“Jesus Land” – Julia Scheeres 4 ½ stars
“What to Wear to See the Pope” -- Christina Lehner 3 stars
“Once Upon a Day” – Lisa Tucker 4 stars
“Daughter of Fortune” – Isabel Allende 4 stars
“The Amateur Marriage” --- Anne Tyler 3 ½ stars

Science Museum

We went with our friends Jennifer, Rich and Amy to the Science Museum downtown St. Paul this morning. We saw the IMAX production of "Special Effects" in the Omnitheater and also saw the special "Star Wars" exhibit that is here for a short time. We had some good laughs seeing people dressed as Star Wars characters --- particularly the one who turned and said, "What?" to us as I was calling out to a runaway Liam. Can you guess who it was --- Princess Leia (I guess the similarity in first names was a little confusing for her!) Ray also had his eye on a costume in the gift store -- Boba Fett I think it was called. I have yet to see any Star Wars movie if you can believe it.

A Few Connell-isms

Here are a few funny things that Connell has said in the last week that made me laugh. I wish I would have time to jot many of them down, because he says some hysterical things.

Last week when he and I had the stomach flu and were sitting with empty ice cream pails on the couch, I tried to comfort him after we both had thrown up into the pails (the last time Connell had vomited was in Nov. of '06 and so he barely remembered it). I told him, "You're ok. Mommy threw up, too." He came back with, "Yes, but mine is dairy-free!"

We have an imaginary "wish list" that Connell decides to add various toys to at any given time. We have never actually written anything down and it is a joke between Ray and I how this list --- that would have hundreds of things on it -- doesn't even exist. Connell hasn't really caught on to the fact that it is nonexistent. Yesterday he saw an ad for a cool toy and said to me, "Mom, I know that it is already on the list, but I think you better add it again since I think it got covered up!"

When Liam got hurt yesterday, Connell said to him, "Liam, I think you need to call 411-PAIN!" That Connell-ism is only funny if you know that there is a commercial on tv with the phrase repeated over and over for getting in touch with a lawyer after your accident or mishap.

While I was putting some SPF 30 sunscreen on Connell the other day, he noticed the number 30 on the container. He said, "Mom, that means that I can go 30 miles per hour with this sunscreen on!"

Church Picnic

Today was our church's annual picnic/carnival. I volunteered to help and therefore spent an hour running a game. The boys went with Ray -- eating, playing games, talking to people. You can imagine that with a parish of 11,000 people that you only see a handful that you know personally during the hour or two that you are there. I did manage to catch the boys in the petting zoo area (checking out the rabbits) and also at the pony ride. Liam decided to pass on riding a pony and preferred to stand by daddy and watch Connell. We can't say that Connell was totally thrilled about the pony ride. He ended up being more excited about the dunk tank (and begged the entire trip home to have one built in our backyard). The funny part is that while Connell was having a tantrum/meltdown by the dunk tank, our pastor (Father Charlie) took a squirt gun and was squirting him with it to try and subdue him! Pretty funny!

Name Popularity

Upon reading the church bulletin this morning on the way back from mass, I read through the 18 babies that were baptized during the month of June at our parish. There were 12 boys of which 4 had names of Andrew (or a form of Andrew) and 2 had names of Liam. Ray and I really chuckle as we read the baptisms because it seems that at least every other month or every third month, there is at least one or two Liams that come through. It's too late now to change our mind, but it seems like it has really picked up in popularity --- much more in the last 2 years! Connell will probably hardly meet another with his name and yet Liam will be one among many in his grade.

Our Little "Guitar Hero"

Since it was too hot today to go outside (heat index of over 100 degrees in the Cities), I took the boys on a thrift store run. We ended up buying a few "new" toys to add to their collection. Liam chose this electric guitar that actually has 12 buttons that each sound like real electric guitar jamming when pressed. He was so excited to show daddy his new instrument. So when Liam is a guitarist for a famous rock band, I will pull out this photo to show everyone that he had musical talent at age 2 - ha, ha!

There's nothing more that I can say except that we really do love music in our family. I grew up playing the piano, acoustic guitar, French horn, flute, cymbals, etc. in various bands throughout school (mostly middle school) and also sang in the choirs. Ray sang in the choir although he never really took to an instrument. Ray is really a music expert though (various styles, knowledge of performers, analysis of albums). Both our boys have seemed to show an interest in music already -- mostly Connell for the moment. That's fine with us. I am only depressed that no one in the family seems to appreciate the 80s hair band music like I do. Connell heard it played constantly for 9 months while in the womb and yet tells me to turn it off whenever I try to play it for him now. Sigh.

Tree Update

Actually three of our five evergreens in the backyard were affected by the storm. Two were at the angle in the picture shown below and one was slightly bent. Ray used some rope last night to anchor them to the ground to see if we can nurse them for a while. We wouldn't be sad to see them all go (the evergreens were all there when we moved in and we never really liked them) although without them, our backyard would be treeless. Not to mention the amount of money to have them removed (on top of our recent home improvements).

Storm Damage?

Did the storm that rolled through early this afternoon damage our prized evergreen in the backyard? Ray will have to give his opinion, but I don't remember this tree leaning like this before. It doesn't seem to be totally uprooted, but it sure looks damaged in the high winds. Too bad it's not winter -- we could bring it in and decorate it and put a star on top!

We're All Well Again

After an awful day and tough night, we all recovered from our stomach bug. Yesterday we were ALL vomit-free (and that was a big deal since for 5 days Liam had vomited at least once). We are pretty sure it was some sort of bug (and not related to food) since Liam had something for about 4-5 days and Connell rarely eats any of the same foods that the rest of us do due to his numerous food allergies. So it was likely a virus that we simply spread from one to the other (and Ray was spared luckily).

A House Full of Sickies

We have three "sickies" in the house today. Liam, Connell & Clare have a stomach bug today. I hope that all three feel better tomorrow. (written by Ray)

A Mr. Potato Head Day

In our organizing of toys today we also found our Mr. Potato Heads. It was the first time that the boys actually sat at the kitchen table and seemed intrigued by making different faces. I helped Liam to create his and Connell made one on his own that dropped on the floor with pieces all over. I had to capture his disappointment on film.

Christmas in July!

I went through many of our big blue containers/bins of toys today trying to find ones to give away or sell on craigslist. I found so many things in the bins that the kids had forgotten that they owned like this Santa cap that Liam insisted upon wearing for hours.

Daddy Turns Another Year Older

Today is Ray's 36th birthday (but who's counting?) This is the glorious 5 weeks of the year that I can brag that I am younger than he is (until August rolls around and I catch up once again!) He got some new clothes from us and we baked him a cake after church this morning (dairy-free).

A Crazy Night and Day

Liam woke up at 1:15 am and had vomited all over his Pack and Play and himself. I figured there was more to come and so I didn't clean him up too much. Indeed he continued to vomit every 10-30 minutes the rest of the night and morning (I slept next to him on the floor and every time I heard a gag, I was up and ready with the bucket). Although we have started to give him Pedialyte, he continues to throw up most of what goes down. We think it is probably a 24 hr bug and none of the rest of us have gotten anything yet. So hopefully tonight he will feel better.

It has left us pretty much housebound today, so Connell was a little crabby and wanting to get out. I took him to the Imax at the zoo to see "Kung Fu Panda" this afternoon. We had some meltdowns before it even started and then 20 minutes into the 95 minute show he asked, "When is this going to be over?" Many of you who know Connell well could have predicted that! (He has never been to a movie in a theater in his life and the only thing that compares would be Sesame Street Live although that was a live show and not simply on screen). We did finally make it to the end of the 95 minutes, but barely.

Sydney, Connell, Liam & Keira

Here are some photos of the four cousins. Sydney just turned 5 last month, Connell will be 4 next month and both Liam and Keira turned 2 in recent weeks. They had a fun time on the Slip and Slide despite the plumbing/water pressure issues we have been experiencing at the Hagen household lately.

Happy 232nd Birthday, America!

We are ready to celebrate! The Boyce and Wacek and Waldrop families are coming over here for the afternoon. Hopefully we will have some fun pictures of the 4 second cousins for later tonight :-)

Soon-to-be Birthday Boys

Here is Connell with his two friends -- they are almost like "triplets" because Connell was born Aug 6th, Nathan (on the right) on Aug 12th and Jack (middle) on Aug 13th. They have all known each other and played together since meeting the winter of '04-'05.

Goofy Antics

Just a few goofy stories to start the day...

Liam got up in his plain shorty pajamas and he immediately decided that he wanted to change into his Elmo pajamas for lounging around (since the boys are up by 6 am and we don't need to leave the house until about 9, the boys usually lounge around in pajamas for a few hours before they need to get dressed). This is a kid who really doesn't care what he wears (similar to Connell) and so I was a little surprised at his persistence in wanting to change into these. Perhaps it is simply due to his love of Elmo and the fact that these were brand new thrift store finds from this past weekend!

The other picture is of Connell with his Legos. Thanks to Ray's sister passing on all their Legos to us years ago, we traditionally have Legos all over the house and underfoot (ouch!) Connell builds with them, but he also has created a basketball game where he throws them into a wastebasket. Yikes! He makes patterns with the different colors and sizes, too.

New Neighbors

We met our new neighbors yesterday afternoon. He is in the military and so they will be stationed here for about 2-3 years and are renting our neighbor's house. They have a boy named Courtland who will be 3 in September and a girl named Ada who just turned 1 last week. It's interesting that they are a year different from my boys though (Courtland is smack in the middle and Ada is much younger). I still think that with our backyards sharing that the kids might find themselves as playmates quite a bit over the next few years.

Beating the heat

Since the temp got near 90 today, we took our first trip this year to the Kelley Park (which is about 2 miles from our house). It has spurting fountains and tipping buckets among other fun water attractions. There is also a regular park in the background so many of the kids go back and forth between getting wet and playing on the equipment. The boys had a blast. Best of all -- since it is a city park, it is all free!