~Catch-up and Worm Binder?~

Hi everyone! My family is at Nicole's first softball tournament of the year - I couldn't attend because it will be a 12 hour day and my leg can't handle that. I will try to go tomorrow for the playoffs. So here I am with the aforementioned "catch up post", along with a picture of one of the goodies bought during my non-knitting time :) This year, other than the surgeries, has been pretty busy. My second child and oldest daughter headed off to college in the fall - she LOVED it - made the Dean's list and can't wait to go back. My son finished his Junior year in College and can't wait to get out! ugh! He loves his program -Architecture- but is not crazy about where he is - we are hoping he can graduate on time as he has a class to make up - I'll spare you the "rant". My blog turned 3 on October 2nd - I missed the blogiversary :( - but hopefully can celebrate the next one! My 3rd child was a sophmore in High School this year and just finished her second season on the Varsity Softball team. The team did much better than we expected, since they lost 8 seniors last year! The coach is looking to my youngest to move up to the High School next year to be the Varsity Pitcher. Can't wait :) My youngest daughter (4th child) played field hockey for the first time this year in middle school - did great - and is now loving it as much as her older sister. She also played basketball for the middle school after giving it up for a few years - I am told she did a fantastic job but unfortunately I never was able to attend any of those games. Maybe next year if she plays for the high school. During my blog absence my son Matt had his 21st birthday, Lyss her 19th, Emily her 15th and Nicole her 14th - they have grown up WAY TOO FAST! It was a first for all of the holidays without my Mom and as hard as it was on me, it was even harder for the kids - they were so close to her. Mother's day brought a surprise that I believe in my heart is a gift from her, my front yard was a sea of violets - Patti called me from New Jersey and told me that her yard was the same. She has never had a violet in her yard for the 12 years she has lived there. My mom carried violets for her wedding and they were the only plant she could grow without killing - they were always her favorite flower. My Dad was in tears when he pulled into my driveway and saw them all! Enough catch up for today, but now I have to show you the neat little gadget my husband picked up for me (at my request). I had read somewhere that a "worm binder" makes a great circular needle case. Well, when he and Matt went to the Bass Pro Shop this winter, I had him look for it. To say I love this thing would be a TOTAL understatement! (click pictures to make bigger) It has a pocket on the outside to keep your necessities handy... It has 4 zipper pockets on the inside (both sides) to store my Denise needle tips, cable needles, tape measure, etc... It stores my DPN's, Denise cables and the other "must have" circs! It is wonderful -small and compact and I can take it with me and know that I have all I need safely zipped up. It will be wonderful this summer camping too. I was always trying to anticipate what I might need, but we all know that while on vacation you MIGHT go shopping and find some yarn that you can't live without and you just have to cast on with it and now I will have enough needles with me for any emergency! Ravalry continues to enthrall me - I can't figure out how to even BEGIN to catalog my stash, or needles for that matter! The thought totally overwhelms me - not to mention the fact that once I start digging in my stash, I'm afraid I'll start more projects than I can possible keep up with, just because I love the yarn so much! Any suggestions?????? Before I leave, here is a quick picture of a little FO I made for Patti. She has a Koala collection to match my Panda collection - I thought she would like this as a little surprise next time I see her. I'll be back to show off more of my "little purchases" and a few more very small FO's soon. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend!