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

Aloha!

Aloha!

We are back to reality. Maui is incredible and our vacation was a dream. We were packed with things to do like biking down the volcano Haleakala, dining, beaches, fireworks, spa treatments, golfing and a kayak turtle adventure. The bike ride was too cool even though we missed out starting from the very top which was too windy, cloudy and freezing. The picture above and below are both from the bike ride. Ted played golf while I checked out the turtles. I thought I would be a little scared being so far out in the ocean snorkeling, however, these turtles are so gorgeous and laid back you can't help but feel the same way. Good thing we never found out about the sharks in the area till later that evening! Next time we bring the kids!

I drove my mom to the airport this morning. It was so great to have her down and watch the kids. They all have an even more special bond. While we were in Maui Hera and Athena had a harder time with us gone than the baby and had me cracking up when they said I wouldn't be happy with all the junk food Grandma came home with. Hera even cleaned out the pantry so she could find everything easy. Their idea of junk food was pop tarts, fruit snacks, yogurts and cheeses. Not that, that is great but you would have thought the girls ate only cake and ice cream all week. Isi was an angel and I think she gained a couple pounds and grew up while we were gone. Besides climbing on chairs and having to sit on one like her big sisters, her newest words are Gramma, cheese (when she sees the camera), and the most hilarious is 'Oh, man'.
Finally I finished Isi's dress, not bad for no pattern huh?



Chat more soon!
Love Charmaine

From North to South

I am finally back on the planet earth to try and update you all a little on everything we have been up to lately. My excuse is I really wanted to post the dress I knit Isi, however, I have to adjust the buttons before I take a picture of her and I keep stalling because so many other things have my attention.
Since my last post we went all the way home to Terrace, BC to visit family and celebrate my Mom's 50th birthday. The picture is my mom in the sweater I made her.
The kids had a blast playing in all the snow, making snow families and forts. Of course their other big highlights were playing for hours in Papoo's arcade and celebrating Easter with family.
We stayed in Vancouver a night both going up and coming down and it was really great to catch up a little with best friends and family. I loved that I got to see Connie with her cute pregnant belly.
Upon getting home the Easter bunny had somehow found a way into our house. Too fun. My highlight was finding out Hera received straight A's on her report card just like her big sis! How did I get two such smart girls?

My mom came down a few days after we got back and is staying until the end of April. We went camping for a night at this amazing park called Joshua Tree National Park. For those of you interested, this is what a Joshua Tree looks like. You would never believe the hidden secrets the desert has to offer if you are willing to take a closer look. Nor would you believe how cold it gets especially with a little wind. You have no idea how happy I was our tent was still in one place after hiking because of the wind! Below is the kids at Skull Rock.

I'll be back in touch when we get back from Maui next week (without kids, whoo, hoo)! I can hardly wait!

Love the Sfikas Family

Spring Break, Painting and Knitting

Between Isi teething, my severe allergies, spring break, and a successful party for the guys Ted works with, I seem to have fallen way behind on my blog. We have some catching up to do. This last week we went to the Zoo and visited their new, temporary, exhibit, 'Stingray Bay'. The girls were able to put their hands in the water and the stingrays would come right up to you to be pet. Isi loved it and screamed like crazy the whole time out of excitement. We also played mini golf and attended a Coyotes vs. Dallas Stars hockey game. The Coyotes were winning but the Stars caught up and won in a sudden death shoot out. Too exciting!

I am posting pictures of one old project and one new project. The first is of the guest room that received a paint job and a new bed. Neat color, huh?

The second is my custom, hand knit, one of a kind, knitting design I am working on. I have decided to start coming up with my own patterns and this will be the very first one of a dress for Isi from a pattern I sewed with fabric for her. So far I have learned that decreases only on the sides somehow make the sides way longer than the rest of the dress. Having already, almost completed this project once, I faced my denial and ripped the whole thing apart to start over (5days of knitting to be precise). This time things seem to be working a lot better and I should have a picture up the next time I update my site.

Keep in touch,
Love Charmaine, girls and one Ted.

How about them Canucks, eh?

The big highlight of the week was taking the whole family to a Canucks vs. Coyotes hockey game. Can you believe we all got in for $40? Turns out we committed a huge sin by wearing Coyotes hats even though we couldn't help cheer for Canucks. A few people thought we were crazy and my family was too rowdy that some people actually went and found new seats. It was such a fun game we couldn't help ourselves!
Yesterday it hit 31 degrees Celsius here and is supposed to keep getting hotter through the week! We went to a Seattle Mariners, and Chicago White Sox spring training game with Athena's classmates and their families. We took part in our first tailgate party ever! It was soooo hot we only held out for half the game before coming home to go for a swim. The pool is still a little cool for me but the girls dove right in.

I am back tracking in time to show you all some pictures I took a few weeks ago while Teds mom and sister were here. One of our trips was south to some ruins which seem to have been built according to the stars. We also couldn't help but stop at this Prison Outlet store were inmates from Arizona's largest prison sell crafts they make. We even caught one prisoner helping out at the store! Can you believe we stopped here with Teds mom?


Hugs and Kisses!
Charmaine

Milestone Birthday!

Holy Crap! I'm 30! How the heck did that happen? Above is a picture of myself with Teds little sis Katherine the weekend before my birthday. Ten years ago I would never believe you if you had told me I would have three girls and live in Arizona. What a ride life has been up to this point. I may be 30 and how I feel now inside, outside and about life, I would never trade just to be 20 again. I had a nice quiet birthday and was just happy to have Ted home, who never should have been in town except for some last minute changes that allowed him to come home. I went shopping for myself, by myself (which I haven't done for years), I picked out a gorgeous Australian opal necklace (my gift from Ted), the girls made me gifts, my Dad sent gorgeous flowers (he almost always forgets my birthday, good thing he was on the ball, or else....), and my mom sent me a beautiful silk robe and beaded purse.

Isi is pictured with my purse she had claimed for the day and wearing the new dress I made her. She has learned to say mine, along with an insanely high pitched scream that she thinks makes her cute and funny and can run the DVD player all of her own.
As for Athena and Hera, their new thing this week is Taekwando! Finally I signed them up at a great place right around the corner from my house. I might have to try it out one of these days.

Till next week,
Hugs and kisses,
Charmaine