a smorgasbord

smor⋅gas⋅bord 
-an extensive array or variety

*The budding artist (miss O) in the house has developed a whole new storyline. There are many characters, all of which are named for their color. My favorite part of the pictures that come from her very detailed and eventful stories are the expressions on the character's faces.
*Because of Tim's gluten-free diet all normal bread products are eliminated from the menu. So when I make a pot of soup or fix spaghetti for dinner there is no garlic bread or bread sticks to eat with the meal. I suppose if I wanted to torment him by way of his senses I could whip up some delicious garlic cheese bread like we used to have with such meals. I'm not that mean and those are some serious carbs and fat grams that I can happily live without. However, there are a few products out there that are gluten free that look and smell delicious and sometimes they even taste delicious! Anyway, when he stopped in the grocery store the other day he saw a box of yummy looking bread sticks that would no doubt be a delightful addition to our upcoming spaghetti meal. Here take a look at the box. Yummy, right?

Nice big bread sticks beside that delicious bowl of soup. Mmmmm. Well, when he opened the box this is what he found.

A plethora of hard, crunchy, bread stick-shaped crackers that are a mere 1 1/2 inches in length. What type of bowl were they using in that picture....a ramekin? Sheesh!
*Okay, I know good and well that I am new to crocheting. I have difficulty with the proper gauge. I even struggle with counting stitches. But this is just ridiculous! It was all good through round 10 or so but then the hat just seemed to get bigger and bigger. Sure, if I had a head the size of Andre the Giant it would be perfect! Cute even...but, nooooooooooooooo, I have a freakishly small, pea-sized head that requires adjustments in patterns. So, with the help of miss O I pulled it out all the way back to round 10 so I could do a few decreases here and there to make it small enough for my head. She couldn't believe that I was undoing all of that work, but that didn't stop her from getting covered in yarn as she ripped at it with reckless abandon! I, of course, was rewinding the yarn into a ball so I could try it again with adjustments that I am hoping will actually work. In my mind it works out okay, but we'll see. If it's a disaster the second time then I will call for back-up.
*Remember a few weeks ago when we had unseasonably warm weather? Well, unfortunately we're back to seasonably cold weather. Frigid nights, cold, windy days...alright, already, I'm ready for spring. Evidently, so are my tulips

and miss O's Dutch irises.

Gorgeous, right? I love that dark purple with the golden yellow accent. Such beauty when everything else around is still brown and wintry.
*I know I'm not alone when I say this next thing so don't roll your eyes and think that I'm crazy. The girls opened up the new play-doh the other day and we played and played. I just love that smell...fresh play-doh. One good whiff is all I need but I usually end up with some under my fingernails and some on the bottoms of my socks (because a certain little person always drops tiny bits on the floor), and if I'm having a particularly lovely day I may even end up with some on the seat of my pants. Oh sure, go ahead and laugh, but if you have kids, you know it's happened to you, too!

Well, that's all I have for now. A crocheted hat update is coming soon.