Family History, Hat Photos, and Preschool Pride

I have been crocheting a lot lately.  I've known how to crochet since I was probably 6 or 7 years old.  I can't remember when my mom taught me, but I was pretty young. 

 

Which got me thinking about where in the family it all started.  I have no idea.  But I do know that my Great Grandma Helen Rennier crocheted a lot.  I can remember her sitting at her chair with a skein of yarn and some afghan on her lap.

 

Her birthday is coming up and I *believe* this was the last time I saw her.  Back in 2005.  She passed away in 2008.

 

But I was thinking about her when I got a surprise package in the mail from my awesome, thoughtful cousins:

 

Kelly & Dan!!!

 

They came across Great Gma Rennier's old Fleisher's Knitting and Crocheting Manual and was so kind to send it to me! ♥

 

It's very old.  I looked up the publishing date on it and found it to be from 1917.  For being nearly 100 years old this thing is in remarkable shape!  It is missing the front and back cover, but all the interior pages are still intact.  AND I love that she wrote her name on it! ♥  So cool.

I actually come from a LONG line of crochet-ers.

 

I can always remember my Gma Kocher crocheting an afghan while sitting in the front room in her recliner with a kleenex shoved up her sleeve.  Isn't it funny what you remember about people? 

My Gma Evelyn was also an avid crocheter.  I remember her coming to one of my basketball games in Junior High and she was sitting in the stands crocheting an afghan while I shot free throws!  ♥

And of course, my mother, has crocheted afghans for as long as I can remember!  She has made so many in her lifetime, I bet even SHE doesn't know how many!

 

And it looks like I might even have a child interested in crocheting...

 

Brooklyn was like... hmmm, ball of yarn... check!

 

 

Pull out a little to get your chain started... check!

Take a bite out of said ball of yarn to make sure it's nice and yummy... check!

Get all tangled up in the process... check!

 

Most importantly, have fun with it... check!

 

Yep, I've taught her well!

 

***♥***

I've made a few more hats since last week:

 

Deer Hat and Dukes of Hazzard Hat for my brother Wes

Turban Hat for Miss Brooklyn

Another Lorax Hat for my mother!

Mickey Mouse Hat for my cousin Alex - he turns 1 year old in a few weeks!

Brooklyn gets all silly when I have her model my hats.

Emma - NOT crying in this hat photo!

She calls it her "10" hat because when she looks in the mirror that's the number she sees.  I told her it was for Uncle Wes and she got a great big smile on her face.  I think she misses her Uncle Wes... so do I.  Hurry up, summer time, we want Uncle Wes to come back!

Brooklyn trying on the Mickey Mouse hat.

I've also been dabbling in a crochet art form called Amigurumi.  Where you crochet 3-D objects. 

I found a pattern to make a 3D heart at this SITE.

AND, I'm almost finished with this patchwork granny square afghan.  I just have one more round on the border and it's all done.  I counted up how many granny squares it took to make this and the total came to 330.  That... is a LOT.   I love how it turned out, but I will never make one again.

 

***♥***

Emma has been really excelling at Preschool.  She absolutely loves it there.  Which, honestly, I'm glad.  I think it would be really hard to send her to a place she hated going to.  The teacher told me last week that Emma is a really picky eater and hardly touches anything in her lunch box.  So I tried to get creative in how I *packaged* her lunch items.

Solution:  plastic Easter eggs!

Worked like a charm.  Her lunch box is completely empty when I check it now.  Which is great.  Apparently me just putting things in small Tupperware containers was too mundane for her.  But if they are in brightly colored plastic Easter eggs... she eats everything!

 

Now I know... and as Brian always says... "Knowing is half the battle".  Thanks.

 

When I picked Emma up from school yesterday, her teacher pulled me aside and said, "Emma did THE most amazing thing today." 

 

I'm not going to lie... I get a little nervous when she starts conversations like that... I have no idea what Emma is going to say or do when I'm not around!

 

So I proceeded with caution and said, "Oh yeah, what's that?... Or do I want to know?" 

 

She said that it was really good.  And proceeded to tell me how Emma not only knows how to count well into the thousands, but is helping other children with their math.  Apparently they use these things called, "Hundred Boards"  (I had to google it.)

This is a "Hundred Board"

 

Well, Emma has mastered this one.  And is now onto the "Thousand Board".  But the really awesome part of this story is this:

 

When she saw a fellow student who is a year and a half older than her, struggling with his numbers, she politely went over to him and asked if he wanted her to help.  He said yes.  So she looked at his board, and started *tutoring* him until he got the right sequence of numbers on the board. 

 

*Buttons popping, huge proud mommy stance going on now.

 

I asked the teacher if she was nice about it.

 

She said, "She is the most polite little girl I know!  She would asked him if for example number 54 was in the right place (which it wasn't, Emma knew this, but instead of just FIXING it for him, she allowed him to look at it and see if it was right or not), the boy said no it was wrong and immediately fixed it.

 

Teacher said there were probably only 4 numbers out of sequence, but Emma patiently went through each one with him.  Then when he had it all correct she told him she was "proud of him" and said, "gimme five!" 

 

I cannot tell you how awesome this made me feel.  I know Emma is smart.  I know she will excel in all areas of academics, but to hear that she is patient, polite, and encouraging other students just makes my heart swell.  That girl is awesome.  She amazes us everyday.

 

***♥***

Then you get her home and you find her in this:

That's right, that's Brooklyn's jumperoo.

 

Well, at least she KNOWS she's too big for it!

Babwhahhahahah

 

***♥***

She is so great at being a big sister.  If I need her to help me calm Brooklyn down, she doesn't hesitate a bit.

She will sit patiently beside her and talk to her.

 

She says the sweetest things,

"It's okay Brooklyn"

"Take a deep breaf"

"Don't cry Brooklyn, I'm right here"

 

It is really the most endearing conversation you could ever overhear.

 

***♥***

I think Brooklyn might even be teething...

that or she really likes the taste of plastic!  She has been drooling and chewing on EVERYTHING.  But I can't see any white bumps on her gums yet.  Probably won't be long.

Well, that's about it.  I hope you've enjoyed this post.  We like to keep things pretty simple around here.  Nothing too exciting.   I need to get back to playing "airplane" with my little co-pilot. 

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

 

Hopefully my niece Zoe will decide to join us sometime soon.  She is now officially one week past her due date!  If this girl is half as stubborn as a teenager as she is about being delivered, my brother and SIL are in for a real treat!  Good luck guys!!!