Christmas dinner 2012

(Jonathan) Every year, our church organizes an adult Christmas dinner program where folks sign up to host or attend a dinner at the homes of families in the church. Last week, Chels and I hosted our first dinner and had a great time! Here are some photos of the decorations and food we enjoyed...

Our table set for 11 people.

Ambience.

The beautiful place settings Chels put together.

The side table I built recently.

Duchess potatoes.

The hostess and master chef herself!

Cheerful monkeys.

I built this Star of David last week.

If you look closely, you may see the notorious festive monkey-penguin in the background...

There were many wine selections.

The centerpiece of our meal was this amazing forest-raised ham from our dear friends at Botany Bay Farm.

It was delicious. Now I am hungry.

One of the desserts was these very tasty gluten-free chocolate pies provided by our guests.

Food, celebration, and the fellowship of the saints are great blessings indeed!

Kids say the darndest things

(Jonathan) One of the best reasons to keep a daily journal is to record hilarious conversations with kiddos. For instance, I overheard these conversations throughout the day yesterday...

Chels: You're probably going to have a scab on your chin for the rest of your life.
Kaylee: I'm not going to have a life…or a Facebook.

Chels: Do you want to know a cool idea?
Elijah: What idea, mommy?
Chels: I have a really good idea. We should put bacon on the salad.
Elijah: Oh mommy, you're so funny.
Chels: But is it a good idea?
Elijah: Yes. But with pepper bacon.

Chels: You're my favorite little boy.
Elijah: Aww…you're my favorite little mommy.

New knitting pattern: Vashon Cowl

Introducing my first pattern for adults....

the Vashon Cowl

this pattern is available for 4.99 USD

Vashon is a simply cabled one-piece cowl knit in a soft baby alpaca yarn. Inspired by the little rippling waves along a foggy shoreline, this cowl is warm, lightweight and inviting. Designed for both novice and advanced knitter, the wave cable pattern knits up quickly in the round and is finished off by a simple garter stitch edging.

from Ravelry

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from Etsy

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from Craftsy

Size: one size fits all adults

Finished Measurements:

-Blocked circumference: 32 inches
-Blocked height: 11 inches

Materials:

-330 yrds of sport weight %100 baby alpaca yarn; shown in Knit Pick’s Andean Treasure, 3 balls in “fog heather”

Tools: 

-Size 7 24” circular needles

-tapestry needle/ cable needle/ stitch marker

Gauge: 

-Unblocked: 6.5 stitches/ 7 rows = 1 inch in wave cable

-Blocked: 5 stitches/ 7 rows = 1 inch in wave cable

I am so excited about releasing this pattern! It's my first pattern for adults (yes, I am finally branching out from my stubborn ways...) and it's the first pattern I designed for myself, modelled myself and I even figured out how to design the cable chart in excel myself. Thus the excitement! Jonathan took the photos for me and I couldn't be happier with them! 

As for the pattern itself, this was a FUN knit. The yarn is just gorgeous... 100% pure baby alpaca which is unbelievably soft. Although, every time I felt how soft it was, the mental picture of a cold, naked baby alpaca flashed through my head--which I shamefully admit made me laugh out loud every time. ;) But knitting through 3 balls of Knit Pick's Andean Treasure was worth the disturbing mental images! You should check out the other color ways of this yarn line--simply gorgeous! I chose "fog heather" because I was imagining a foggy coastline during the initial design process. Plus the cable pattern is called "waves" so that had something to do with my inspiration as well. My Grandma grew up on Vashon Island which is the biggest island in Puget Sound up by Seattle and from her stories I've gathered that it was usually cold, foggy and wet there most times of the year. ;) My goal was to design the perfect cowl for those kinds of conditions... a cowl that was soft, warm and cozy--perfect for layering in the fall and winter months!

Here's one last photo I had Jonathan take for me during a break in the rain and wind... 21 weeks along on friday and a new cowl to boot! Life is good... :)

The monkeys go to school!

(Chelsea) Last week was our first "official" week of school! With a bit of planning and late night perusing of Pinterest for fun ideas, I managed to know what I was going to work on with Kaylee at least half a day before we did it! ;) The nice thing about pre-school/kindergarten is that you don't have to be super organized or have much of a schedule--you kinda can ease into the whole homeschool teaching thing. Kaylee loves learning and always looks forward to doing school so that helps too. :) 

I even got a fall craft in last week! We went on a nature walk to look for fall leaves (got some wiggles out too) and talked about the different colors and shapes of leaves. I had found THIS printable leafless tree on pinterest and thought it would be great for learning about a tree in different seasons. So we glued the leaves on and then colored the trunk! The kids were thrilled. They were having so much fun, I had to get a few photos to share! :)

We've also been doing bible and catechism/ memory and lots of story book reading (I braved the library with the monkeys for the first time!) with both Elijah and Kaylee. Then of course, Kaylee has her own school throughout the week--letters, numbers, sounds, writing--and then we do some sort of craft/science project on friday if life permits. :)

Snapshots of autumn and a recipe!

(Chelsea) We have had SUCH a gorgeous summer and (so far) fall... And I know I shouldn't speak in the past tense yet, but with rain on the forecast I felt like I needed to document such beauty before the rain washed it away. Not that I'm complaining about rain! Both air and ground are so dry because it really hasn't rained in over three months--shocking for the NW! At any rate, enjoy the photos I managed to take despite the fact that our yard actually looks like a desert wasteland. ;-) And... scroll all the way to the bottom because I have a new recipe to share that's perfect for fall!

Believe me, the flowers above and below are the only things still blooming (or are green) in my yard... sniff!

I had a bit of fun editing this one... :)

And now for the good stuff! :) Because I had a zucchini living on my counter for about two weeks I figured it was high time to do something about it. After much drooling on Foodgawker, I finally found THIS recipe which I loosely based my version on. I've been trying to bake more healthily (being pregnant is always encouraging toward this goal) so, I've added a few more ingredients for the health benefits. :) Below is my recipe for an oh-so-delicious Harvest Bread. You must try this before fall ends! It's like eating zucchini bread, apple muffins and carrot cake all at once, plus it's good for you. What could be better?! 

Harvest Bread (yield: 2 loaves)

Bread ingredients: 

3 eggs

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup whole plain greek yogurt

2 tsp vanilla

1 TB apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini (I used a yellow zucchini, so it looks a bit different) 

1 apple, grated

1 large carrot, grated

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups unbleached AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

Streusel topping: 

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup of cold butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together eggs, coconut oil, yogurt, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and sugar until blended. Add grated vegetables and fruit and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Add slowly to the wet ingredients while mixing. Do not over mix! Divide evenly and pour into both oiled bread pans. Mix together the dry streusel toppings. Then grate the 1/2 cup of cold butter into the dry ingredients and blend with a pastry blender. Mix together with your hands until the topping sticks together into large crumbs. Sprinkle on top both pans. Bake for 60 -70 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

New knitting pattern: Oxford vest

introducing the....

Oxford Vest pattern

This pattern is available for $4.99 USD

The Oxford vest is a classy, striped garter stitch vest designed especially for little men with big style! This is a simple and fun knit. The vest body is purled in the round, with the shoulder sides and back worked separately and joined with a three needle bind off. The contrasting garter stitch edging results in a charming “stitched look” and is finished with a special super-stretchy bind off along the neck line.

From Ravelry

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From Etsy

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From Craftsy

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Sizes: 3-6 months, (9-12 months, 18-24 months)

Finished Measurements:
 -Chest circumference: 9”, (10”, 11”)
 -Armhole depth: 4”, (4”, 4”)
 -Finished length: 11 1/2”, (12”, 12”)

Materials:

 -Knit Pick’s Comfy Worsted yarn: 220 yrds of MC, 109 yrds of CC1, 109 yrds of CC2

 -Size 5 12” circulars and DPNs and size 6 12” circulars. 

 -tapestry needle

Gauge: 4 st/ 7 rows= 1 inch in stockinette (checked on WS)

I know it's been a while since I released a pattern... June actually! I basically took the summer off of knitting without intending to. Between summer activities, vacations, house remodeling and feeling like I had the stomach flu for three months, I just didn't have the energy for some reason. ;-) But I'm getting back into the swing of things again now that fall is upon us. This vest was actually mostly designed back in late may, but after I did most of the work on it, I put it aside because I thought it fit the fall season better. It was inspired, of course, by my adorable two year old (who is THE cutest boy ever!!) and who looks so very dashing in a sweater vest! I just love preppy English style on little boys and I thought this vest just about summed it up. 

As far as the actual knitting goes, this vest is a piece of cake with lots and lots of purling and just enough stripes to keep things interesting. And the yarn (KP's Comfy worsted) is SO soft and perfect for children's garments. I know if this next baby is a boy I'm going to have to knit him one too, but it would  look super cute in girly colors as well!

First Day of Fall

(Chelsea) Last Saturday was officially the first day of Fall and also our first totally-just-our-little-family-adventure day trip. :) It was very fun and we actually got some photos of the kiddos as well! Enjoy the ones below and if you want to read more about our adventure (and see more photos), Jonathan did a post over at his blog HERE. :)

Diamond Lake 2012

(Chelsea) Our last big family adventure of the summer was a trip to the famed Berkompas vacation destination-- Diamond Lake, OR! As of this year 4 generations of Berkompas' over a span of around 40 + years have enjoyed making memories together at this beautiful lake. Our family hasn't been able to join the clan until this year so we were very excited to go spend 5 days there around Labor Day. As you can see from the pictures below, we had perfect camping weather and were even able to enjoy our camp without the help of mosquitoes (a plague earlier in summer). Although almost a month has gone by, we still miss the special calmness of this beautiful lake and can't wait until we get to see it again next year (this time with three kids in tow)! Enjoy the photos... If you want to see more and read Jonathan's perspective, go check out his blog post here. 

In the early morning mist rolls over the lake....

And then the sun comes up :)

And so do the ducks! They are especially loud in the morning...

It's cold in the morning, but once the sun hits it warms everything up right away. 

The lake is surrounded by marshy meadows dotted with smaller lakes and streams and pine forests. 

This is the very recognizable Mt. Thielson...

The lake water is cold...

...But perfect for fishing!

Elijah and daddy really like fishing!

It was the kids first time fishing and my first time fishing in a boat. We loved it!

Elijah learning the ins and outs of catching the fishies...

Rainbow trout are so beautiful and SO tasty!

And Elijah now knows how to properly touch a fish's eyes ;-)

It's tiring work though so he took a nap... :D

It's so peaceful just waiting for a bite out there on the water...

Because we only had one boat for everyone, we stayed in camp a lot too... And took walks! 

Kaylee got a surprise present from daddy--her first bike!

And with a few lessons she was cruisin'!!

We hung out by the campfire a lot too :)

Especially in the chilly mornings...

And take nice long naps. Some normal looking....

And others not so much...

And then when the kiddos woke up we'd go to the dock to see if the fishermen were on their way back yet.

And then 'Lijah would measure each fish with his tape measure. SO cute!

One day we rented another bigger boat so more people could go fishing at the same time. The kids were very excited!

All four of us got to go in the same boat with Zampa :)

And Jonathan got to drive ;)

 Unfortunately vacations don't last forever and we had to leave, but before we did we got to visit Crater Lake which is very near by. It was amazing!! 

Our first view of the HUGE lake.

And our new, very trusty Pilot that got us there and back again with no issues :)

It's truly breathtaking!

And the water is a shade of blue that I've never before seen in creation. 

And so very deep!

Me + a stroller full of monkeys and one on the way--proof that I've now been to Crater Lake!