Baby Polar Bear

This weekend I watched Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus -repeatedly. This is because I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter that has recently discovered "princess" stuff. My sister once theorized that if you want to market something to young girls, all you need to do are put the right words on the packaging. Beautiful, fairy, and princess. This became the source of inspiration for many inside jokes and birthday cards.

So what does this have to do with the baby polar bear? Obviously you haven't seen Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus over and over like I have. Early in the movie Anika (aka Barbie) adopts an orphaned polar bear cub and names her Shiver because the bear cub is cold and shivering. Shiver is not only Anika's cute little sidekick throughout the movie, but she also causes a fair amount of problems for Anika. But that's alright because she's cute.

So after seeing hours and hours of Shiver frolicking around on screen, I made my own little polar bear cub.

Before you ask, I'm not going to sell this pattern. Instead you have to "pay it forward." I will send you the pattern for free, but you have to promise to do something kind for someone else in return. If you'd like to participate, email me at eebrs(at)yahoo(dot)com. Make sure you put "Polar Bear Pattern Request" (or something similar) in the subject line.

The pdf is also available for download from Ravelry.com! Hopefully the link works. Let me know if it doesn't.

download now

I would love to keep a running list of the service that has been rendered to others as part of the "pay it forward." I'll only list the service you rendered, not your name. If you would like your deed added to the list, let me know.

Pay it Forward Services Rendered:

• Toys donated to Kristie's Kids Toy Drive benefiting the University of Minnesota Fairview Childrens Hospital.
• Donated 15 balls of crochet thread to a local charity quilt club.
• A daughter's promise to treat her mother with respect and help out more at home.
• Making a polar bear for Granmar sick with cancer.
• Donating old toys to a charity shop.
• Making something nice for another person.
• Making and donating "snugglies" for local animal shelters -along with toys and food.
• Making hats for Inocent Smoothies which in turn donates 50p to keeping the elderly warm.
• Donating toys to the local fire and police departments.
• Making the bear as a gift for a friend in need.
• Brightening the day of a sick little girl.
• Donating to the local children's hospital.
• Donating to the local Firemen's Toy Drive.

Toy Drive

It's that time of year. The third annual Toy Drive is going on right now. You can read Kristie's blog for more information or read the post on Crochetville. All toys are being donated to the University of Minnesota Fairview Childrens Hospital and will be delivered on August 12. If you miss that date, Kristie will be there later in the month and can take any late arrivals then.

Here's my donation. There are a couple of items that aren't visible.

Now I just need to get to the post office. This is one of those times when a second car would come in handy.

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a great 2007 and will have a wonderful 2008! I had mixed feelings looking back over the past year. A lot of good things have happened and a few things that I wasn't really thrilled about as well. My baby has gone from crawling to walking and talking. My little boy isn't so little anymore and is in 1/2 day preschool twice a week. He uses words like distract, disgusting, panic, and filthy that make him seem too big for having just turned 5. So while I'm thrilled to see how far they've come over the past year, I'm not ready for them to grow up so fast.

Other highlights over the past year... I picked up crocheting again and started making my own patterns. We moved. El Guapo started a new job. I went from working with the kids ages 3-11 at church to teaching a Sunday school class with my husband for 14 and 15 year olds. I found out my sister and sister-in-law were expecting (both due in February 2008). I visited Mexico for the first time on our Mexican Riviera cruise. I got to visit my 91 year old Grandma introduce her to my daughter who shares her name and take a 4 generation of girls picture with my mom there as well. We bid farewell to my brother-in-law who will be serving a church mission in Germany for the next 2 years. My son got ear tubes put in and his adenoids taken out. It's been eventful. We've done a lot, survived a lot, and learned a lot. I have mixed feelings on it's passing, but I'm looking forward to the New Year and all that it might bring.

To welcome in the New Year we had a party. It was over by 7:00 PM since since half the party (our kids) had to be in bed by 8:00 PM. We started with a yummy dinner of homemade sushi. It was our first attempt, so they weren't as pretty as you get in a restaurant. We had a great time and improved as we went. My 5 year old even made some with a little help from Dad.

After dinner we had a mini carnival. It's a tradition from my in-law's that we've adopted. It's great for young kids and doesn't involve staying up 'til midnight. We each were in charge of a game and handed out prizes. My son did a penny toss. You try to throw the penny as close as you can to the line without touching it. The closest wins. My daughter tampered with the results (she kept picking up the pennies) so we're not sure who won. Then we did a bean bag toss, a fishing game, and a shooting gallery (with a toy gun that shoots foam discs). Then we toasted in the New Year (I'm sure it was midnight somewhere) and did confetti poppers. The kids were thrilled and no one lost any more sleep than normal. I have "chronic insomnia with acute episodes." That's what the doctor said. By the way never take Ambien.

I have to admit that in the past I have skipped the New Year's resolution tradition. I figured why make a resolution that rarely makes it past the middle of January. But since there were a few things that I've been wanting to do anyway, I decided to make them into resolutions for 2008. I'm going to list them here, not because I expect you to care, but to help me remember and for a little accountability.

My first goal is one that I talked El Guapo (see previous entry for explanation of Hubby's new name) into doing as well. We plan on reading 25 books this year. We have a few already specified as part of the goal. We are both reading the Book of Mormon and El Guapo also wants to read Crucial Conversations as one of his 25. I have to admit after sitting in on my father-in-law's lecture based on the book, I am tempted add it to my book list as well. I'll be adding completed books to my list as I finish them.

Another goal El Guapo and I have in common is exercising. El Guapo has a specific goal of so many pounds by a specific date. I don't. I just want to be more active and maybe loose 5-10 pounds. I just like how I feel when I've exercised. I have more energy and a more positive outlook. So I'm not looking at a strict exercise schedule, but I plan on having a few dance parties with my kids. And I love that my son likes to do pilates with me. He thinks they're fun, which makes me laugh.

Next goal is to have a better morning routine. I admit that I'm kind of lazy. There are days when we don't get dressed until almost lunch time. Although some of my most productive days have been spent entirely in pajamas. I like to clean in my pajamas. So the goal is to get up, have breakfast with the kids, get all three of us dressed and properly groomed, and read stories. Then we can get on with whatever the day has in store for us. I may have to skip the stories on preschool days though. I hate waking the kids up, so we're often in a rush on those days.

I am also continuing the goal of making one toy a month for Kristie's Toy Drive. So that's a minimum of 12 toys by June 2008.

I am also joining in on El Guapo's goal of not moving this year. It may seem like an easy goal, but we've never had a year without a move. We're worse than the military. We've moved 9 times in 7 1/2 years. Alone I'm even worse. I haven't lived in one place for more than a year since I graduated from high school in 1996. So we're hoping to avoid the hassle of moving and save the cost of a move this year.

There may have been more goals that I was considering, but I can't remember them. Now you see why I'm listing them here. And I used to make fun of my mom for making lists all the time. Now I wish I was in the habit of doing it more often. Sorry this post went on so long. Thanks for humoring me and reading to the end. Have a wonderful New Year!

Peguins!

In honor of the snow and ice storms that seem to be occurring everywhere but where we live, I made penguins. Of course, when you find irresistible patterns, you make them regardless of the weather. Both penguins are headed for Kristie's Toy Drive come summer. It gets way to hot to keep penguins in Phoenix during the summer.

The pattern on the left is from Lionbrand's website. It's an easy pattern and works up really fast.

The one on the right is from Peggytoes. The pattern actually calls for black eyelash yarn for all the black parts. It makes a really cute fuzzy penguin. However, I didn't have enough and I hate working with it. So I tend to do fuzzy yarn projects when the kids are in bed. But I just couldn't wait to try out this pattern. Fortunately he looks pretty cute in just plain old Red Heart Super Saver. I left off some of the details from the original pattern. Partly because I prefer the simplistic and because I wanted it to be a little less girly.

Peggy Read is giving away a copy of the pattern for the large penguin (she has one in thread too) if you have donated to Kristie's Toy Drive in the past or as soon as you donate one for the upcoming drive. You have until June 2008 for the current drive.

A Bear

My son is convinced that he needs this bear. He's sure that he doesn't have enough bears. We go through this every time I make something. Even sweaters. As soon as I put the item away, he forgets about it. This particular bear is joining the Toy Drive stash that will be sent to Kristie next summer. He looks a little plain right now. I think I'm going to have to dig a little deeper into my craft stuff to see if I can find a good ribbon for him.

The pattern was a free one and can be found here.

Little Alien gets a Spaceship!

The alien may look familiar. It's the same pattern as the one I made for my Dad.

Only now he has his very own spaceship. Both were pretty quick to make. The alien is under 3 inches tall and the space ship is 3 1/2 inches wide. This little alien is headed for Kristie's toy drive next summer.

The pattern is now for sale in my etsy store.

My First Cradle Purse

I've been wanting to make a cradle purse and decided that Kristie's toy drive was a good excuse to try one. I started and mostly finished the cradle purse in October. All that was left was weaving in the ends. I also wanted to make a pillow and blanket to go with it. So it sat like that for almost two months. Sad, I know. It was a very busy and very sick time at our house. So I finally got around to it last night. I really like the little blanket. I couldn't decide what color to make it, so I alternated both colors.

The cradle purse is from a free pattern.

Snake for the Toy Drive

Here's toy #2 for next years toy drive. A little green snake. It's the same pattern as the orange and white snake I made before. Now to hide it before my kids see it.

Daisy Charity Square

I have to admit that I've become addicted to Crochetville.org. One of the reasons is all the great people and the other being all the great patterns. Here is an example of both.

A woman named Krystal came up with a wonderful daisy afghan square. She decided to give it away for free to anyone that requested it with just one condition. All you have to do is make up one square and send it back to her. Then she puts them together and donates the afghan to charity. With postage around a dollar, it's not a bad price for a pattern and for a small service opportunity.

She's currently holding a contest. Everyone who sends a square will be entered into a drawing. The winner will be able to choose the non-profit charity that receives the afghan and in whose name it will be given.

To request a copy of the pattern, to read more on the contest, or to view the two beautiful afghans already completed, go to Krystals Blog.

Here's my Daisy Square -already off in the mail!