Lil' Miss Foxy

Knitting has been slow going the past few months. I have a few dolls I'm working on, but just wasn't feeling them. Tried working on an afghan I've been slowly knitting for over a year now, but wasn't feeling that either. So a little knit break I took.

Finally picked the needles back up, started and finished Lil' Miss Foxy within a week. She was a cute, easy knit and got me back knitting. Or maybe it's just because Fall is almost here. Probably both!

Lil Miss Foxy pattern can be found on Ravelry here.

Backyard Chronicles

This summer I made it a point to spend more time in our backyard. Last summer we spent hardly any time in the yard, and I vowed this year would be different. And it was.

With a little sprucing up, and Fonzy working tirelessly on the yard, our backyard has become a place I've been happy to spend time in. Morning coffee feels good in the sunshine.

A few things we did in the backyard was put the cement squares down for our picnic table, got a new burnt orange (a favorite color of mine) umbrella for the table, an outdoor rug and a new fire pit. With just those few changes it made the patio area so much cozier. See Titus's smile. He loves the changes too!

Of course, I've shared plenty on Instagram and Facebook of my sunflowers and gladiolus. I have flowerbeds in the corners of our back fence. I LOVE my sunflowers. Can't get enough of them. I'm thinking of planting even more next Spring! Unfortunately, my pumpkins never grew. Oh well, maybe I will try them again next year.

We've been doing more grilling too. Lot's of grilled pizza this summer. The boys complain they are tired of pizza, but I'm not! I'm thinking a few more nights of grilled of pizza before the weather starts to change. Fall is in the air! I feel it creeping it. And with Fall right around the corner, I see us using the fire pit a whole lot more. We've used it a few times already, but Fall is really fire pit weather.

I included a picture of our side yard. In a previous post, shared below - I shared how we ripped out some old bushes and planted tropicals. They are so pretty now. And the grass has filled in nicely. I noticed how many bare spots we had in the yard in the post below, but most of them are filled now too.

Our backyard in the beginning of the summer here.

Father and Sons

Father and Sons.

An evening a couple weeks ago Fonzy and the boys decided to play football in the middle of the cul de sac. Of course I couldn't let this opportunity pass without taking some pictures.

Fonzy and the boys make everything a competition. Fonzy is hanging on to his glory days and the boys are trying to finally beat him. He gives them no slack, and never have since they were little. They will compete with anything! They've even had rap battles. I still have the raps saved in notebooks.

This day, there was lots of laughter, yelling, and smack talking....and I hope memory making.

That's what I hope most of all. That after all the competition, and smack talking they remember the fun they had. They will look back on these pictures when their childhoods are just memories, and say, "Dad, you remember that time we beat you in football?" And of course Fonzy will say "No! You remember that time I beat you both at football!" and I believe right then and there, a new challenge will be issued and they will be back at it. All a little older, probably a little slower, but football in hand, ready to do it all again!

Myrtle Beach Weekend 3

Weekend getaways are so good. It's been a while since we've done a weekend away. It was much needed. It felt good to wake up and have nothing that needs to be done. No chores, no sports, no cooking....nothing. Just a day ahead full of adventure. A day spent lounging on the beach, salty breezes blowing, then out to dinner that evening. Ahhh.....

Dinner at the House of Blues was good. It was also the only time I took pictures of food! And it was so dark, I couldn't even get great pictures. We had an extra long wait for our food to arrive, but we didn't mind too much. I guess that's all part of being on vacation. No rush, no place to be. The cornbread with maple butter was good! Had little pieces of jalapeno and cheese in it.Sweet and spicy! Yummy! I ordered the lobster mac and cheese and loved it. It now has me searching for lobster mac and cheese recipes to make my own. I've found a few recipes that might be good.

After dinner we headed out to the deck to listen to live music. Fonzy and I have great memories of Ezekiel dancing the night away on that deck. Unfortunately, when we got out there the live band was on a break and the mosquitoes decided to eat Fonzy and the boys alive so we didn't last long.

Driving back to the hotel, the boys wanted to play Putt Putt on one of the many miniature golf courses they have in Myrtle. It seems there is one on every block. There's dinosaurs, pirate ships, volcanoes, mermaids. All types. We picked dinosaurs. Nothing like a friendly game of putt putt among dinos. Of course, being with all males, any sport turns into a competition. So the boys and Fonzy went at it. Ezekiel was the winner! We've decided we want to play putt putt more often. Good family fun.

Sunday, before we left Myrtle, Fonzy and the boys wanted to head to outlet stores. Now, I am not one for shopping. I dislike it immensely. But they aren't big fans of the beach so it was a give and take. So off to the stores we went. I found one store I actually enjoyed. Kitchen Connection I think it was called. I saw so many gadgets, cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, programmable crockpots....the list could go on and on with what I wanted. I really think the programmable crockpot is a must. Especially with Fall right around the corner. Haven't got one yet, but I see one in my future.

All in all our weekend was great. I wish we had more time away, but school and work call, so back to the real world.