Down Time: Back into the Swing of things

August is here (where has the time gone) and I'm feeling ready to get back into the swing of things. Typical, I'm still stuck in that school year type schedule (here where I'm at the kids do go back to school in August - used to be the beginning of August until the law changed and said that they can't go back before the third Monday of August) and ready to gear up and go again now.

The visits with my siblings were very enjoyable. I'm just sad that one of my sisters never cared enough to change her behavior to come and visit me as the others did. Those of you who are interested in pictures that were not made available on the blog but want to see (and have access) all the pictures are up on facebook.

Chad and I have continued in our typical day to day/week to week fashion. Work is very busy for me - at times we are busting at the seems with babies and other times it's what I'm used to. We're not slow (knock on wood) anymore.

Life remains constant with us - both working on our hobbies and interests with day to day life thrown in. Chad has decided to once again keep a saltwater fish tank but this time smaller. We have it set up on our kitchen counter/bar area and right now it just has rocks in it but I expect him to get fish sometime next week.

I've been working with karate - teaching a few classes and am progressing how I should be.

Hobby wise, I'm very happy. I'm finding more organizational time, especially since most of my supplies are on the first floor of our house now and not upstairs I'm working on my crafts more.

I'm especially utilizing the library more and am taking more interest in beading and sewing, with two more successful projects under my belt, one pictured at the end of this post.

Knitting and crocheting have been a little slower, but I expect that to change as I finalize the Christmas gift list this week and start on the projects now so that I don't have to rush to finish things in December. That means the countdown is on and I'm looking for information from my family members and friends as to favorite colors, animals, interests, etc for me to make my list. And if your an adult and think I may have any interest in making socks for you, contact me so I can tell you what measurements I need.

I am also working a little more on my photography, but I'm choosing to hold some back from you until I decide what I'm doing with them (if you are at my house, ask me to show you the ones I've taken of a dragonfly - I love them) yet you will find a few also at the end of this post.

I am going to do better about photographing projects and I need to make videos for Sarah of knitting to encourage her to keep the knitting bug. Hopefully this means I'll be very busy showing you all of my projects, even if they are just peaks of things that will be revealed after December.

That said, I'm glad to be back and feeling refreshed after my hiatus. It is well worth it. Enjoy the photos:

Mushrooms under one my shrubs: