First Knitting Project!!

OK--so this may seem lame to you experienced knitters out there (ahem--Kat!), but I finished my very first project ever: two bibs for a friend of mine expecting a baby. I got the pattern from a woman in the knitting circle at the library. I love the buttons--cute, huh? It's very simple; all straight knit. I modified it to make it smaller since the original pattern made a bib that fit Dahin. I just cast on 30, knit 26 ridges, then knit 6, cast off 18, and knit 6. For the first 6 I knitted on that row, I secured the stitches with a safety pin to make sure I did not lose them. Then, on the other six, I knitted up about 4.5 inches and cast off. I took the safety-pinned 6 and knitted up 3.5 inches, knitted 3 and then passed one stitch to the other needle with out knitting it and knit the next 2 stitches (to make the button hole--for a larger button, you might want to pass over two un-knit stitches--sorry, don't know the technical term for this. Original pattern called for "casting off" 2 stitches, but that did not work well for me). Then you knit a few more rows until you reach about 4.5 inches on that side and caste off. On the side without the button hole, sew on a cute button and, viola!, you have a cute baby bib. I used 100 percent cotton, 4-ply yarn. The Sugar and whatchamacallit yarn--at work and can't remember the exact brand name (Sugar and Cream?).

Farmer's Market

The Oakland Grand Lake Farmers' Market has become a regular haunt for me and the kids on Saturdays. The highlight for the kids (and me) is the kettle corn. So amazingly, melt-in-your-mouth delicious, the kettle corn stand has to be the first stop as we make our way around the different stalls. One of the great things about living here is the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables year round, and its relative affordability. You can see how many farmers' markets are in the East Bay area alone at http://www.edibleeastbay.com/pages/farmers.htm There's the Berkeley farmers' market, the one at Jack London Square, the one down the street from where we live every Friday--literally every day of the week there is a farmers' market and you can pick and choose depending on your schedule. We like the Grand Lake Farmers market because we can walk to it and, of course, because we know exactly where the kettle corn stand is.

Gold Rush Kettle Korn--The World's Best Kettle Korn!
A touch of sugar, a dash of salt, and a whole lot of pop!

Ronan tries one of many samples while Oliver admires the nectarines and plums.
Root veggies--I swear that exposing my kids to this plethora of lovely colors will one day inspire them to love veggies. So far, no luck. We're still in the steamed broccoli, corn on the cob, and baby carrots rut.
Yummy samples. These oranges were so sweet!
Every week there are performers at the market. Sometimes we get to see Asheba, our favorite local kids performer (see more on Asheba at: http://www.asheba.net/), and this Saturday there was an instrumental jazz group and a vocal group. Both were great, but we really enjoyed the vocal group, despite the questionable set choices of "Rehab" among others. Hey, there were kids there; I mean, really. I LOVED their version of the Jackson 5's "ABC, easy as 123" (or whatever the title is). It was fun sitting and listening to them while munching on kettle corn.
Oliver loves organic produce and he asks, "Mommy, how come the tomatoes we grow don't look like this?" I wonder, too. I also want to know what "dry farmed" means, 'cause I want to try it.

Mr. Moonlight Eyes

At knitting circle, one of the ladies said about Ronan, "He's got those 'meet me in the moonlight eyes.' You're going to have your hands full." Well, regardless, he certainly gets away with a lot now because of his puppy dog looks, which he's totally mastered now.

Buki the Clown

The Oakland Public Library had its last event of the summer reading program at the Oakland Museum. The highlight for the kids was getting faces/arms painted by Buki the Clown. We've seen Buki a total of 3 times this summer and the kids play "Buki the Clown" at home. They each take turns being Buki and immitate her act. In addition to face-painting, they made chocolate-dipped marshmallow tarantulas and made bug puppets from paper bags (the theme for this summer was "Catch the Reading Bug"). There was also an opportunity to pet bugs in the nature center. They all got certificates at a final ceremony/magic show that celebrated their reading achievements this summer.

punk rock boy

Ronan got a mohawk because he was inspired by his cousin Austin's haircut. We call Ronan "meot-chaenggi," which means he is a very stylish little boy. His other nicknames are "too-too-fishface-dancemaster" and "gangpae" (gangster), but we won't go into exactly why right now.

3 Live Crew

B-Boys and Girls, watch out!! Here comes 3 Live Crew with their def moves and killer jams. Yeah Boy!

Fenton's

There is an ice cream place called Fenton's in our neighborhood that's been around for over 100 years. It kind of feels like you're a part of history when you're there. Plus, Fenton's serves some of the best ice cream in which you will ever, ever indulge. We love it!