Schools out for summer! (to the tune of 'Schools Out', by Alice Cooper). I love days when we don't have to worry about being on any schedule what so ever. My amazing girls finished their last semester of school with straight A's once again. Because they have done so well, Ted and I used this as an excuse to buy the Wii, video game system. It is such a blast. I can't stop playing Elebits (you hunt for little critters all over the house) and Super Paper Mario.
I am posting pictures of Isi, just because she is cute, the girls pictures they are making with the new markers I bought them (professional quality) and this is the back of the sweater I am making for Athena (I am making the pattern up as I go, that's right no pattern). I finished half the front so I still have a long way to go.



Adios amigos,
Love Charmaine

Bags and Shawls

It's been a slow week around here. That doesn't happen too often.
Hera took part in a talent show Friday doing a Pom routine. She had tons of support from all her friends who clapped and cheered for her, it was really great.
Ted was in San Diego all last week. Now that this is the kids last week of school, hopefully we can tag along with him sometime in the next month since this will be a pretty regular trip for him. Sea World, here we come.
Here is the bag I made before I felted. The colors are a little ugly but everything came together great and in the end the colors worked well.
Here it is finished and decorated.
I also knit up this shawl. It has just a little sparkle in it and I am very proud of it.
Along with all this knitting I finished painting another wall in the living room. Only two more to go. Each wall takes me about 8 hours (ouch). We are also redoing our bedroom with some new furniture and hopefully a fresh coat of paint. I can't wait to post some pictures when it starts coming together. My proudest piece is the gorgeous frame I custom ordered for our wedding crowns. Finally they will have a worthy frame and place on my wall.

Chat again soon!
Love Charmaine

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the great women in my life and Happy Name Day baby Isi.
! I think this day should be Happy Woman's Day because you don't need to be a mom to play the nurturing role of a woman. We enjoyed going out for breakfast than I didn't do a chore the rest of the day. My kids all got me cute little gifts and my amazing husband gave me an iPod nano. Finally I can stop stealing my kids MP3
players!
Above is a picture of a dust storm coming in. My mom experienced one of these while she was here. They are pretty neat if your in a safe area. This one didn't hit us too bad but just south of us people were in accidents and pulling off to the side of the road all over the place because visibility was so bad.
We have decided to jump on the 'make your own dog food' band wagon with the pet food scare. I have been doing a lot of reading and can't believe what is in dog food. Nothing worthy of human consumption, that's for sure. We have thought we were doing a good thing buying Java good quality dog food and taking him for regular vet visits and vaccines. We have officially changed our minds. This Sunday we whipped up a big batch of ground beef, rice and left over roasted veggies for the little guy. During the week leftovers will also be added to the mix. We have been doing this for three weeks now and it hasn't been a huge effort plus Java has changed. It's little changes like his breath doesn't stink, neither do his ears and he is way more relaxed. It also hasn't been expensive because I just pull out any odds and ends from the pantry and fridge saving on stuff that would normally get chucked. Now we are thinking are yearly vaccines really necessary as well? Somewhere in our brains we know this may not be right but we want to trust our vets and what media pushes, I think we should start listening to our guts. I'd be happy to share recipes if anyone is interested.
We have also had major ant infestations. They keep finding something else to get into in the house so we finally called an exterminator. I am very against this but feel we had no choice. Finally I am not cleaning like mad every time someone touches food. People here are in shock that we never did this sooner but, up until this point, as long as things are cleaned up we haven't had problems. It's just a bad time of year for bugs.
Speaking of insects, lately our pool constantly has a ton of bugs we have to fish out before swimming. Along with a cockroach, flies and spiders we fished out a three inch scorpion. The first one we have seen here so far. It was pretty cool. That same morning Ted fished out what he thought was a dead baby bird. Turned out is was very much alive! We were worried it would die if we couldn't get it back in the nest however, once the little guy recovered, we found he could fly all by himself.
I am currently felting my bag (it's in the dryer as I write this). After three bouts through the washing machine and a cycle through the dryer it is finally turning into the size of a purse. Poor Ted keeps wondering what smells so bad, I keep forgetting to tell him it's wet wool. My camera battery is dead otherwise I would show you an updated picture. Oh well, just more to show next week. Right now my bedroom and living room are a wreak due to painting and redoing stuff, I hope to post pictures of that soon as well. Chat more soon!

Have a great week,
The Sfikas House

It's been another crazy, surprising week in the Sfikas house. Isi had shots last week and we were informed she should be weened off the bottle because she has her first molars. I have been dreading this for some while and thought I would give Isi her bottle before going to bed but this has only delayed the process, so I took it away entirely. I was all ready for a night of hell when to my surprise Isi went right to sleep without her bottle and has successfully done so all week! I know, any of you who have been through this process have the right to hate us.
Hera participated in a Pom and Cheer Showcase in downtown Phoenix yesterday. Her class (of only 5 who showed up) competed against 5 others in their category and hers placed 3rd. Hera was adorable and did a really great job.
This week I am participating in the Neilson ratings. I have a little diary that I mark down what we watch everyday for a week. I was given $30 for participating however I thought I only had to do this for 3 days, had I known it was for a whole week I would want better compensation. The scary thing is is that I myself easily can watch 4 hours of TV during the day not including what the kids watch, movies and workout videos. It all ads up to some pretty crazy amounts of hours.

I am working on several knitting projects at once. No wonder I feel like I get nowhere sometimes with my projects. I am working on a one of a kind creation (short sleeve hoodie) for Athena, I have started on a bag to be felted (first time felting, should be interesting), and have supplies to make a black shawl. Above are my swatches for Athena's project, it's too complicated to describe so I'll just keep you updated on how it's coming. Below is the hand bag. Somehow it is supposed to turn into something beautiful?


Wishing you an interesting and surprising week,
Love the Sfikas house