February 17, 1967

Dear Mom,

On this special day, 43 years ago, you brought twins into our world!  In the months prior, Kim wished for a girl and I wanted a boy. 

 "Twice as much to love, two blessings from above." 

 "The Twins" were happy, healthy, rolly polly babies!

Now that I'm a mom, I can't imagine how you did it...Kim was in kindergarten, I was only 4, and then you had two new babies to care for.  Phew!!

"It's double the giggles and double the grins, and double the trouble if you're blessed with twins."

At 17 months, The Twins were already partners in crime.

  

**Brother has requested privacy and asked that no photos be published beyond this point**

Christmas 1970

3-year old Wendy was not afraid to talk to Santa!

Wendy at age 7 - Remember those loooong stocking caps?!

                             

Christmas 1974 - Wendy with Holly Hobby and the Barbie Jet

Smiling with Zeke in 1977

1979 - Who wears short-shorts?!!  

High School

May 1989 - A beautiful bride, wearing her mother's wedding gown

"So much alike, forever linked, and yet they’re also quite distinct."

 Happy Birthday to "Our Twins" ! 

Love, Bonnie Jo

2+2=4

Dear Mom,
Once upon a time there were two well-behaved little girls. They played dolls together, watched Captain Kangaroo, Batman and The Beverly Hillbillies. Sometimes they did Jack LaLane exercises with their Mom. They played with their Penny Bright dolls and ran through the sprinkler in the summer. They had a huge goldfish named Herbie and others named Salt and Pepper and Cindy and Jinks. Life was good. Then one day, those nice little girls learned that two more babies were coming! How exciting!
Forty-three years ago those babies arrived. The Little Girls' Daddy took them in the car to show them the hospital where Mommy and the babies were. The oldest little girl strained her eyes, looking for Mommy, certain that she would be waving out the hospital window.
The younger of the two girls was not in school yet, and got to stay home and help Mommy with the babies. She was there when they came home from the hospital. A new brother and a new sister. Grandma came to help Mommy and they watched Love Is A Many Splendored Thing every afternoon.
Soon, the babies grew to be toddlers. Nothing could stop them. Together they were able to move furniture and flush the Little Girl's favorite doll dress down the toilet. The Little Girls tried to keep their room off limits, but it was hard. Especially with two toddlers working together and the Big Sisters at school.
The toddlers turned into children. Toys and clothes were handed down. GI Joe was introduced to Barbie. The Four Siblings played games called "Joe" and "Chin and Jane" and used their imaginations for hours.They lived in the Wonder Years when it was safe to play outside all day, nobody needed to schedule a play date and baseball games were something the neighborhood kids gathered together to play, with a rock for home plate and a particularly large dandelion for second. First base was the corner of  Tinker's dog house and third base was whatever was handy.
The Four Siblings were blessed to have parents who worked hard to provide them with such an enchanted life. And on this day, when the Two Little Girls became Four Siblings, I want to thank you for ALL of that.
We love you Mom.
Kim

The Tooth Fairy and Oatmeal Cookies

Dear Mom,
We were visited by a fairy last night!!  My baby's first lost tooth . . . .

And we made cookies.  I am on a quest for the perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.  I think I may have found it here!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Love,
Wendy

Happy Valentine's Day

Dear Mom,

Happy Valentine's Day

Holiday accessories are not something that Bumper Joseph will tolerate. Patsy likes her Valentines Day bow. I may have to knit her a sweater.

With the Boys in Detroit to see a Red Wings game, The Young Lady and I had grand plans for the weekend which included watching the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. I envisioned myself finishing (or at least getting close to finishing) a sweater while we watched. We both fell asleep during the parade of nations. The last thing we both remember is Jamaica. We missed all the good stuff. I did better last night. Still didn't finish the sweater, but the short track speed skating kept me awake. I just love Apolo Ohno. And that smile is a Dental Hygienist's dream. The Young Lady lost her battle with Mr. Sandman a mere 20 minutes before the short track finals. All this Girls Weekend stuff just wore her out, I guess!

During the last winter Olympics, in 2006, I participated in the Knitting Olympics and knit this sweater.

It was cast on during opening ceremonies and finished before the torch was extinguished. I don't think it is coincidental that I had Carpal Tunnel surgery a year later. So, with that in mind, I, like all good athletes, know when it is time to retire from competition. I will continue to enjoy the sport, just not at an Olympic level.

Love,

Kim

p.s. I tried to get a better shot of Miss Patsy Cake, with her pretty bow. Here are my less than successful shots.

Pillowtalk

Dear Mom,

Wendy's pillowcases arrived! Actually, they are MY pillowcases. Wendy made them for me- a custom order, specially for the guest room. The colors are perfect and I am happy to toss the worn out shams and replace them with these.

They are exactly right. Thank you Wendy! .
Love,
Kim

Number Six

Dear Mom,
This one practically knit itself.

Love,
Kim

Snow Day

Dear Mom,

Gloria and Golda were curious...

but they would NOT get their feet in the snow!

The cardinals are abundant,

and the woods are a winter wonderland.

(It looks like I'm not the only creature that has been on this trail!)

But ohhh...if we only had some blue sky...

Love, Bonnie Jo

Puppy Kindergarten

Dear Mom,

Armed with pockets full of puppy training treats, the Young Lady, Patsy and I attended the first of 5 puppy kindergarten classes last night.

It will be no surprise to you that your Granddogger was the smartest puppy in class. Patsy mastered the "Leave it" command after 3 tries. Mastered it so well, in fact, that she became quite bored with the exercise and laid down while Gordon, Roxie, Bella and Bentley, Sookie, Cocoa, Aster and Wilson practiced "leaving it" around her.

We were surrounded by an assortment of breeds- golden doodles, boxers, a Newfoundland, a Cavalier King Charles and an English Spaniel- all fuzzy soft and adorable, but it was Patsy, the ?? breed who stole the show and the admiration of those around her. She could have gotten by on the cute factor alone, and I worried at first that she would be the class flirt, or worse yet, the class clown,  teasing the dogs on either side of her, but when the time came to buckle down and get serious, Patsy made me proud.

No school today due to the winter storm. I won't be surprised if the kids stay home again tomorrow. Every day they miss will be made up at the end of the year, so this Snow Day was not met with the same enthusiasm as the last one. Yesterday's visit to the grocery has the pantry and fridge stocked, and I have plenty of fiber to knit and spin once my daily housework is behind me. Staying home has never been a struggle for me. And even though I am ready to be done with snow and ice and cold and grey, I really can't think of any place I would really rather be.

Stay warm!

Love,

Kim

Old Dogs and other stuff

Dear Mom,
It would seem that Pitsy Patsy SassyFrassy has been teaching the Old Dog a new trick. The former couch potato known as Bumper Joseph, who rarely left his position on the couch unless it was to move to a position on the chair where he could gaze out the window, has figured out that Patsy gets a treat when she is a "big girrllll, gooood dooggggy" outside. Bumper now asks to go outside several times each hour so he can be rewarded with a Snausage when he comes back in. The never thin Bumper may very soon look like a Snausage.

And remember that hyacinth bulb I bought at the end of last year? The one that was all full of sunshine and promise and spring days to come? The one that was going to get me through the dark gray days of winter?
Well here it is!

yep. Nothing. Six weeks of sitting in the windowsill, in a bulb vase. Teasing me and giving me nothin'.

I have 2 more bulbs chilling in a paper bag in the fridge, supposedly ready to see the light of day. I wonder if these will work. I am not holding out much hope. If I have anything pretty to show off, I will share it.

Patsy has her first Puppy Kindergarten class tonight. I am sure there will be plenty about that to tell you tomorrow.

Love,

Kim

The Fifth Hen

Dear Mom,

This is what I call my "Fifth Hen".  It makes an appearance in the chicken run every winter.

The Fifth Hen is not just an upside-down clay flower pot and saucer--it is actually a warmer for the hens to cozy up to on cold days.  It is wired with a porcelain socket containing a 75-watt light bulb, and it plugs into an outlet in the coop. I got the "idea" from the February/March 2008 edition of Backyard Poultry.

The heat radiates warmth to the surrounding perch area. 

I often find Meg snuggled up to the Fifth Hen.  She does not have as much heavy feathering and fat as the big girls, and it has been a cold winter!!

I won't argue with the fact that the Fifth Hen probably does more for my conscience than the hens' comfort.  What can I say?  I just adore my girls!

(And I think my girls kinda like me, too!)

Love, Bonnie Jo

Best Friends and Brownies

Dear Mom,
Few people are blessed with all I have been blessed with.  Two of my blessings are best friends.  My first best friend is my BFF, Brooke.  I met her several years ago at the yarn store.  She was an employee and I was only just a customer then.  After searching for a very long time for a knitting friend, she spoke to me about a hat she had designed in "short rows".  She had me at "short rows".  It was love.  There was no going back.  Now we both work at the yarn store and she dances with me to Mmmm Bop (by Hanson).  She is extremely funny.  She shares my love of knitting and Burn Notice.  She is an encouragement to me in ways that are unbelievably incredible.  She loves me in spite of who I am!
My other best friend is my neighbor, Joey.  I met him a few years ago when they moved into our neighborhood.  I couldn't remember his name so he said, "Doughy Joey cuz I'm not done yet!"  Okay.  He had me at "Doughy Joey".  We have kids the same age; one of each of our children share the same birthday.  He shares my love of coffee and baking.  He is also extremely funny and very much reminds me of Daddy.  Which is why I like him so much.  He travels often so there are stretches where I don't see him. (I do, however, see my third best friend, which is his wife, Kim!  And she is fabulous that she even tolerates me.  And Joey and me together?!  Remember--he is like Daddy!!!)  He was home on Friday and asked if I would bake these brownies with him.  I think he really just wanted my cake flour!  I decided they would be the perfect "cookie of the week"!!  We are snowed in, after all; who doesn't want a fluffy brownie?!?!
So.  We decided that we should double the recipe (which turned out to be a very wise decision!).  So we (and when I say "we", I really mean "he" because he kept reminding me that I needed to take pictures for the blog!) beat the eggs whites until stiff; gently folded the egg whites into the chocolate mixture ("very gently otherwise the egg whites will fall" . . . . says Doughy Joey.  Up to me, I would have added everything all at once and had flat egg whites!!!  Chocolate is chocolate; brownies are brownies!)  We licked our beaters.

We (again when I say "we", I really  mean "he") gently poured the chocolate batter into our mini-muffin cups.

We baked the mini cupcake brownies for 12 minutes.  They were light and fluffy.  And as we were taking them out of the oven, we (and when I say "we", I really mean "HE") DROPPED THE PAN OF BROWNIES!!  All. Over. The. Oven.  (I reminded him that I had to take a picture of it for the blog!)

See?  Good thing we decided to do a double batch!  Because we (yes "we") were able to make our second batch, bake them successfully and dollop each of them with melted chocolate frosting.

They were extremely yummy brownies and I will bake them again.  Admittedly, most of the fun was baking them with my best friend, Joey.  BUT, if we (I mean "he") didn't drop that first batch, maybe my BFF Brooke would have been able to have some of these brownies, too.  She has been patiently waiting for a cookie of the week cookie and hasn't been able to have one yet.  Soon, BFF Brooke!

Thanks for taking your Friday afternoon to bake and giggle with me, Joey.  And thanks, Kim, for letting us bake and giggle!!  My blessings are huge!

Love,

Wendy

Why God makes Puppies Cute

Dear Mom,
I have to post this quick.
Patsy is napping and I may not have much time.
I have learned that roving is very appealing to puppies. So is yarn.
I am sorry to have to tell you that these two facts along with her sassy puppy attitude and a few accidents yesterday have earned Patsy a middle name.

Patsy Judith.

In the past two days, there was a stand off over a Tiger toy.

And an excellent game of tug-of-war. I wish I could post sound with the photo. Pardon the blurry nature of the photo- the action was pretty fast moving and intense.

And in a strange turn of events last night, when nearing my wits end, I decided that Patsy could just sleep in Borrowed Crate#2 and got her all settled in.  Bumper Joseph started barking at me and didn't stop until I let Patsy out. They slept together in our room... All night. No accidents. No early wake up calls. I would feel betrayed by Bumper and outnumbered by dogs (because, I guess, I AM)  if not for the fact that I didn't have to put on my coat and boots at 1:50am.

Plus she is so darn cute.

Just look at those cute paws.

Love,

Kim

Sock #5, Baby!

Dear Mom,
Sock #5, finished while Knitting With Friends today, kindly photographed by CarolWho'sHouseGotStruckbyLightning. The sock is shown here surrounded by a puppy bone for Patsy and some big brother toys for Bumper from the very thoughtful DebbieWithThePrettyFarmhouse.

Sock #6 has been started.

No crate escapes. Borrowed Crate #2, I love you.


Love,
Kim

Not cool enough

Dear Mom,
I am not cool enough to pretend that it isn't exciting when I see one of my designs published. It is. I look at the knitting and then at my name and then do an internal happy dance.
It is even more exciting to see knitters actually knitting my designs. And to use one of my patterns as a spring board for further creativity is the best. Like CarolWho'sHouseGotStruckbyLightning's Walk in the Parka and WendyBee's Quilted Vest.  I'll be watching that one- can't wait to see it finished.

Patsy "Smarty Pants" Wagner escaped from the deluxe borrowed crate on her first official time in it. I came home from the desperately needed haircut ( I was looking like an 80's hair band groupie) to find the puppy Not In the Crate. No damage done, no accidents. I imagine the escape was so exhausting that she had nothing left in her but a nap. Borrowed Crate #2, a more utilitarian crate, is scheduled for delivery this afternoon. We shall see if that contains her. I do not want to miss knitting with my friends tomorrow.

Both dogs are sleeping on the floor next to me. I feel like the mother of an infant. Do I take advantage of the quiet time to knit or nap?

Knit. Especially if I am going to have a sock #5 to show you.

Love,

Kim

The Libby Sweater

Dear Mom,
Here is the Diva's sweater from my new friend to knit with, Leslie!  The pattern is called Libby and Leslie designed and knit it for a special little girl.  When I saw the pattern almost a year ago, I thought of my special little girl, too and knew it would be perfect.  I used Ultra Alpaca from Berroco yarns.  The yarn is pilling but I'm strangely okay with that because the Diva is wearing the heck out of this sweater!  I mentioned before that this is a FAB sweater pattern!  Very easy-to-read-and-understand directions.  This is a good pattern whether you are a beginner or a more advanced knitter.  I am in love with the swing coat look.  I love the decreases.  I love the simple beauty of the garter rib.
This is my year of the finished project and I'm soooooo happy that this is the first finished sweater of 2010!!!

Very very happy happy!
Love,
Wendy

Her name is Patsy

Dear Mom,
The vet's diagnosis?
It's a dog. A good old mix of everything good, no particular breed. Which is a relief because I was sure I saw some Great Dane in there and pictured myself driving my little Matrix around with Patsy's head sticking out of the sunroof. She will be a Large Dog, but not a Giant.
I had forgotten how wiggly puppies can be, and the only good photos I can get of her are while she sleeps.

yes, that is a handknit blanket she is sleeping on

As the shock and awe wear off, and I adjust to my new reality, I have decided that Patsy is a very bright little girl. Bumper, however, like all older siblings, just wants her to go away.

This New Reality has put a cramp in my sock-a-week resolution. I may not git-r-done this week. We'll see. In my rattled state, I've done very little knitting since Friday. Not good.

But....

Amidst the chaos, I received a package from Wendy. It was filled with a variety of spinning fibers.

In a random fashion, I spun and plied a good bunch of it with the hope of creating an interesting novelty yarn, and ended up with this!

This distracted spinning and plying was the perfect respite and a fulfilling bit of intermittent creativity this weekend. Thanks, Wendy!
Love,
Kim

The New Cookie

Dear Mom,
The cookie recipe for this week is from one of Diane Mott Davidson's culinary mystery books.  Title of the book unknown--oops.  I was clearly more interested in the cookies and not so much the mystery.

Vanilla-Frosted Fudge Cookies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg whites, unbeaten

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2-3 Tbsp. skim milk

additional unsweetened cocoa powder

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together; set aside.  Mix together the oil, sugar, 1 tsp. of the vanilla and the egg whites until well combined.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Chill 1 hour.

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large non-stick cookie sheet with vegetable oil spray.  Using a 1/2-tablespoon measure, scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and cooked through.  Do not overcook.

Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.  Mix together the confectioners' sugar, skim milk and remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla until pasty.  Add skim milk if necessary.  Spread a small amount of vanilla frosting on each cookie.  Put the cookies back on the rack, dust lightly with cocoa powder and allow the frosting to dry. Makes 4 dozen cookies

So now the "real" process.  I used bigger than 1/2 tsp. scoop so this batch only made 2 dozen cookies.  We also didn't dust with cocoa powder because we wanted to eat them right away; no allowing the frosting to dry!!!  These cookies didn't last an hour in the house.  They were delicious!!!!  Soft in the center; crispy on the edges.  Sweet all over.  I will makes these cookies again and again, probably with the same results---gone in under an hour!!

The Diva made the frosting and Pippers did the actual frosting.

I want to thank everyone for their kind, sweet comments from yesterday.  It is some kind of wonderful knowing that we are all strong women that can lift each other up with kind words and deeds.
In the top picture, the Diva is wearing a sweater ("Libby") that I knit from a pattern designed by one of my favorite blogging friends. My New Friend To Knit With (please come and knit with me; we can bake cookies together, share a coffee and everything really will be okay--thank you so much for that encouragement!)!!  I finished the sweater this week and have been waiting for a sunny day so I can take pictures (may be awhile).  I LOVE the sweater and the pattern is uber fabulous . . . . I can't wait to "show it off" on the blog soon.
Go make these cookies; eat them up!  Enjoy your weekend!!
Love,
Wendy

How I've Learned You Can Never Say Never - OR - Is He Still My Hero?

Dear Mom,
You might think that after all those years working for the pedodontist- the years before I became a mother when I boldly stated on hundreds, perhaps even thousands of occasions, "My kids will NEVER do that!" that after becoming a mother and eating most of those bold statements, I would have learned to never say Never.
As in, "I will never have another puppy."

Except My Hero (is he still My Hero?) must not have been listening because he came home from work with this.

Yes, it is the classic Puppy in the Dark on the Side of a Busy Street Story. Found by someone who couldn't keep her (of course), given to someone in an apartment and at work all day (of course) and that journey brought her to our house.

To say that things are turned upside down is an understatement. We can't even decide on a name for her.

But she already has someone who loves her.

Love,

Kim