A sweater for summer and a funny little story of gratitude

Well, not really for summer! We had a really windy day and on a whim I thought to try L's birthday sweater on him - it actually fits enough that he can wear it now. Obviously, pictures were in order (always have to try to get pictures before the handmade garment becomes very well loved. *ahem*) His cardigan is called The Gramps. I think the name is what got me to knit it in the first place. I love the look of it. I modified it a bit and my more detailed notes can be found on my rav page. The sleeves ended up a bit longer than I intended but that seems to happen to me whenever I knit things bottom up. Otherwise, the fit is good. Still a bit big but I do believe he will get at least one winter out of it. The yarn colorway is called happiness and it is dyed exclusively for Happy Knits back in Portland, OR. I think it may be my most favorite blue ever. It's so gorgeous in person. The buttons are from Wooly Moss Roots, also located back home in Oregon.

On an unrelated note, I finished reading Growing Up Duggar, and although it is geared more towards young women, I enjoyed it. I think it will help my girls in the future and I look forward to them reading it one day. I have since picked up Raising a Soul Surfer: One Family's Epic Tale, and can't put it down. I am half way through even though I just started it a couple of days ago (granted, it's only around 200 pages). Sadly, that's fast for me, at least since I had more than one child. Before then I would have finished a book like that in a day. Now I can only seem to find time to read at night and I usually fall asleep while trying to do so. To those of you that accomplish a lot of reading - how and when do you do it? I can't imagine trying to read during the day but maybe I need to try? I would love your input.

And on yet another note, a little story from my morning. My children and I were quite happy that we arrived early enough to Mass to join in the rosary. The only downfall to this was that it extended our time at church by about thirty minutes, and that equals an eternity in toddler time. Little L lost it when he couldn't get his money (that he had been saving for this day) out fast enough to put in the basket when it came around. We stepped outside for a few minutes to help him through it but he had had enough and just wanted to stay outside. I talked to a couple of people after Mass finished trying to make my introvert self come out of my shell but felt so silly. I really don't know how to make small talk, and end up stumbling over my words probably looking like a big mess. I hope I get over that someday. It's hard to make friends in new places when you can't talk!

We piled into the van and as I was backing out of our parking spot, another one of my children was complaining about something. I was just so distracted by that particular child, and thoughts of my inability to speak, that I thought I possibly hit the car behind me with my van, but I wasn't sure. Yeah, completely distracted, huh? It's sad when you don't know if you even did something or not! I got out and checked for damage. I didn't see anything so I thought maybe I was just imagining it but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was a possibility that I actually did hit the car. I stood there for a minute and thankfully the car's owner was just coming out of the church to leave. I explained my distraction to her, what I had thought happened, and that I honestly wasn't sure if I hit her car or not. She smiled and said she remembered those days with small children, told me not to worry about it and went back to her car. Then she shouted out, "Nice to meet you, by the way!"
I didn't catch her name, but I am so thankful for her example of understanding and kindness just when I needed it the most. I don't think that was merely a coincidence.

A sweater for summer and a funny little story of gratitude