New things I have recently made.

 Over the past month I have made several little projects. In all of them I have learned something new.

I made these cute fingerless gloves for my 6 year old son. He loves them. I learned how to make thumb holes or casting off a few stitches in an area and joining them back up later.

 

Next I did my first knitting with Bulky yarn. It was great because it went fast. I knitted this flat and then had to seam it. I have never done that before so it was a great learning experience. This is a Kindle case I made for my Mom. The buttons are old buttons I upcycled from a stash I got from my Great Aunt. 

Third but definitely not last. I broke out my neglected sewing machine and made this dress for Gioia this week. It is a fabulous way to use up lots of cute fabric. Its a Knotted Strap Dress made patchwork style. First time doing any buttonhole work. I also found a new nice way to gather fabric.
(Click on her picture to make it bigger if you want.)

Luca Scrapbook 1st and 2nd year

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Gardening 2012. Round 1

 A few weeks ago we got this load of compost from Missouri Organics. It has been a real challenge to keep the kids out of it. After all it is a giant pile of dirt. Except, if I pay for dirt, you don't get to spread it all over the yard. Sorry. :)  Ha ha! So, it is finally warm enough to plant some cool weather veggies so I made some beds and got to it.

 I planted Spinach, Kale, Radish and Lettuce. Then I started cleaning out the chicken house and putting about a 2 inch thick row of bedding mulch in between the beds. Both the beds and the mulch are about 2 feet wide. This is our first time trying it this way so I will report back if the chicken mulch stuff (which is pine bedding) keeps the weeds away.

I was getting a little help from my friends. This is Silvia. She is a Silver Laced Wyandotte. She is the head hen around here. She comes running to me when I am out there. You never know if I have some tasty treats for her. :)

Knitting - Doll skirt.

 So my new project has been learning how to knit. As my mom says, I have a boring life and need another project. HA HA! But it is really fun and so far I have been sticking to small projects that are easy to finish. I think this keeps me going with it. I really DON'T have the time for super long projects. Since it is spring we will be gardening and doing more chickens.

Anyway, my first finished project is this cute doll skirt for Gioia's doll. Gioia even knitted a few rows on it. It is a 3 tiered skirt that has 3 different colors of yarn in it. I took only a couple days to do.

Pattern from here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/three-tiered-doll-skirt

Giovanni is now 5 months old! How does time go so fast?! He is such a fun baby. Full of smiles and giggles. He is also such a big guy. He is currently 15 lbs and 26 inches long. He is wearing 6-9 month clothes. He can roll over both ways. He is also trying to scoot a little.

This week he tried bananas and sweet potatoes and declared them both a hit. He would laugh and smile each time I gave him a bite. He likes to jump in his Johnny Jumper. When his dad comes in the room he giggles and cries for him. It is really sweet.

Zoo day!

Last Thursday we went to the Kansas City Zoo. We have a membership and almost never get to go in the Winter time. However this year we have had unseasonably warm weather. This last week on Feb. 2nd we had 60's so we went to the Zoo with my Mom. She hadn't been since I was a kid. She really enjoyed it. The KC Zoo was very run down in the 80's and very depressing. They have made it so nice now with most animals having a natural type of habitat. The weather was so great. All the animals were out lounging around. Here are a few pictures. 

Giovanni! 4 months old!

My sweet funny face is 4 months. I can't believe it! He is rolling over and scooting around. He has tried out the Johnny Jumper seat and loves it. He is starting to drool and chew, teeth are just around the bend. I love this little guy so much! He is really a joy of a baby.

Locks of Love

Several weeks ago Gioia and I went to get our hair done. I was getting some color and she wanted to go shorter. Luckily she had enough to give to Locks of Love. They require 10 inches. Wow! So here are the before and after pictures. She is loving her short do. She says its easier to brush with no tangles.

Baby update.

I thought I would do a catch up post for baby Giovanni. He is growing like a weed. He is starting to wear 6-9 month clothes and he is just 3 months old. He smiles and laughs at us. He loves his daddy and will grin and cry for Daddy to hold him. He is a pretty good baby and sleeps well at night, waking up just to eat.

Christmas Fun!

We had a great Christmas! Gioia, Dominic, and Luca all got new bikes. Giovanni got new clothes and a soft rocking horse. The big kids also got G: Generation girl doll and horse, D: Woody Doll, L: Buzzlightyear. They have been having a blast with all their new things. The best part is that this week the weather has been in the 50's and sunny! So the kids have actually got to enjoy their bikes.

I bought Massimo lots of music stuff for his Man Cave. He got me a Mothers Ring and a Shark Steam Mop that I had been wanting. It was great! We had Christmas with my Mom and all the family. The kids were in a Christmas Program at Church. Gioia also sang in the Kids Choir at Christmas Eve Mass. So we have been busy and really enjoying the Holiday season and the birth of Jesus to its fullest!

November update.

Here is my sweet boy at 6 weeks. He was 12 1/2 pounds! We are having his baptism in a few weeks. That will be nice.

We are getting ready for the Holidays. I have the Christmas cards printed and will mail them in December. We are starting our shopping for the kids. We even got a new Espresso maker for us on sale with a mail in rebate. $70 for a $200 machine. :) It makes awesome coffee. The big kids are in classes with our Homeschool group. They have taken classes like: gift making, play writing, wood working and art. They do Gymnastics, Sunday School and 4H. So we are really busy!

Our chickens are laying pretty well. We have whittled down the raccoon population for now and haven't lost any more birds.

Baby Bathtime!

Baby Giovanni taking his first tub bath.

Giovanni is one month old.

Today my sweet Giovanni is one month old! How did this happen? It must have happened in my sleep deprived hazy. LOL! Anyway, here he is in his over 10 lb goodness. :)

We also tried to take a holiday photo today. I should use this for my cards. I really should. It's pretty hilarious after I got done being mad that they couldn't act right for 10 minutes. The photo was perfect except for Gioia acting the idiot.

3 weeks old

Last week when Giovanni had his two week appointment he was 9 lbs and 12oz. Today he is 3 weeks old.Here are a couple pictures of his royal cuteness.

 

Stationery card

Double Take Blue Birth Announcement

Shutterfly cards for Valentine's Day, Easter & Father's Day.

View the entire collection of cards.

Baby is here!

Baby is here! Giovanni Lee Perreca was born on October 4th at 2:14am. He is 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long.

This picture was taken with my camera phone. So not the best, but I will get some more in the next few days.

38 weeks pregnant!

Luca turns 3!

Luca turned 3 this week! I can't believe it, the time has flew! It is hard to buy gifts for the third child. We have so many toys. He is also not much help because as I would ask what he wanted, he kept saying "BIG cupcake!" Ok! I can handle big cupcakes but what else. So we went with this awesome pirate ship sand box. It is really for all the kids of course. He also got some legos, rain boots and bucket and shovel. He was really happy with all his gifts and they have been playing a lot in the sand box.



These ships don't move themselves people! I put it all together and got the men to move it to the final resting spot by the clubhouse/swing area.

Renassiance Festival

We went to the Ren Fest over the weekend with my BIL and his girlfriend. It was really fun. The kids had a blast. We bought them swords and hats. We watched the Jousting Match, some singing and a Fire Guy who was really cool. We also ate yummy food and walked around in the beautiful 70 degree weather. It was a great day.

Finishing things up. King quilt.

I have been working on finishing up projects before the baby comes. It feels really good to be doing craft projects again and especially finishing up ones that have been started for a while. This weekend I got my King size quilt done for my room. So in this first picture I have made the two cedar nightstands, the headboard and the quilt. :) The only thing left for this room is to order two chocolate brown roller shades and make the window curtains. Then the room will be totally done.

The quilt I have been working on for a year. I took a long time off from it but finished it this weekend. The back side (2nd picture) is strawberry fabric and pink with brown dots for the binding.