do you hulu?

the boys and i just watched a few episodes of some older cartoons on hulu. i haven't had reason to try hulu before now, but with our tv no longer receiving any signals, i figured it would be fun to give it a try.

we found The Land of the Lost series {i'd forgotten how lame it really was}, Fat Albert, and Inspector Gadget. it was almost like watching saturday morning cartoons when i was a kid. except it's a tuesday night. so i guess not really.

it's nice to know it's out there and FREE if i ever need a little extra entertainment. i also noticed there's some movies on there that might be fun to watch {some we've seen and some we haven't}. it might be better if i connected my laptop to the tv...i think a bigger screen would be nice. but i have to be careful not to use too much bandwidth so we don't go over our limit for the month. a good reason not to hulu too often.

i suppose hulu's catch phrase "we're evil, and proud of it!" is appropriate since i just saw an article that says they plan to start charging subscription fees for hulu sometime next year. if so, i won't be using it. and i bet a lot of other folks won't either.

tv diet?

last night, my poor hubby turned on the tv to watch the news and found that all we have now is static.

yup.

that's right.

the local translator station has switched to digital now too.

so i dug out our coupon cards that we got for the converter boxes {since we definitely do not have digital tvs} and ordered two from amazon.com. it'll probably be about a week before they get here. in the meantime, the kids will probably be more bummed by it than either T or i since they each have their favorite PBS shows they won't be able to watch at all this week.

i'd say we're on a tv diet due to the change-over, but i know we'll still watch some dvd or videos so, in reality, it probably won't be all that much less viewing time at all.

fall cleaning?

it was a normal-not normal day here today.
i took a day off from teaching today to "clean" house. unfortunately, i still have a messy house because my cleaning turned into what-can-i-get-rid-of-and-would-anyone-pay-me-for-this-stuff? so i've listed a few of our larger baby items for sale on our local home-school group's website. they'll get first dibs, if anyone wants to buy any of the things i'm selling. if it doesn't sell within a week or two, i'll probably advertise them in the local "shopper" and see if anyone else in the county wants my gently used baby gear.

just the thought of getting rid of stuff i don't need {and thereby giving myself a few more square inches of clean, uncluttered space} makes me very excited! i'm so ready to de-"stuff" my life. if you know what i mean. only...why didn't i think to do this 3 or 4 months ago? i could have had a rummage sale. as it is, it's just too cold and unlikely to get any sale-shoppers this late in the season.

a joke for your enjoyment

bubba told us these jokes yesterday at lunch.

Why do ducks have webbed feet?
So they can stomp out forest fires.

Why do elephants have such big feet?
So they can stomp out burning ducks!


now there's a word picture for ya! ha ha ha!

our projects

my new knitting project:
one of my husband's sisters, annie, gave me some fun yarns for my b-day this year. last night, since i had finished my kureyon kowl, i decided to start knitting with one of these, so i cast on a really easy lacy scarf using the ball of Artful Yarns Portrait which is basically a mohair yarn. it's really soft and fuzzy, and looks nice in the pattern i chose. it should be a really pretty scarf when i'm done. thanks, annie!


Artful Yarns Portrait
Pattern: One Row Lace Scarf by Turvid
{another free pattern i found via Ravelry, but this one's published on the designer's blog!}


T's woodworking project:
we decided the boys need a bunkbed ever since cj graduated to a twin mattress. so a couple months ago {at least}, T went and got materials for building it himself. since then, he's had little opportunity, but when he can he heads to his wood shop and has been cutting the pieces, assembling the bed frames and sanding everything smooth. yesterday he worked on it again for a few hours {he took the afternoon off from work so he could} and we took a few photos of the bunks in process. he's out in his shop again this morning because he wants to get all the pieces ready for stain. maybe he'll even get to start that today. i really can't say, since i'm not sure how much else he needs to do before the pieces are ready for that though.


T reminds me of a stormtrooper with his goggles and mask on.
it must be time to watch something Star Wars-ish. ;-)

bubba's school project:
a writing assignment! after 3 years of pulling out my hair every time we tried to do a writing assignment with Sonlight's LA programs {and i just LOVE Sonlight}, i finally realized that their methods just weren't working for us. so this year i switched to the English 4 workbook {since he's Grade 4} by Bob Jones University Press. i bought it thru Christian Liberty Press because of a friend's recommendation and am so glad i did! i especially like how CLP has published their own teacher's handbook and a test booklet for the student too. it's cheaper than buying the classroom-style teacher's book, yet makes my job much much easier than if i'd just bought the workbook. i also really like that it alternates a chapter of grammar and then a chapter on writing. this was bubba's first writing chapter with the new curriculum and it was so much easier for him. each step was well explained, and he was shown a really good example of what, in this case a personal narrative, should be like. all in all, i'm thrilled that this is working so well. and i'm proud of my son for a job well done!

cj's learning project:
uh. being three. he's learning his ABCs and can count to at least 15 without help. he can now climb up the ladder for the slide on our little swingset without help. and he is learning to pray at mealtimes.
{which is really cute!}


my boys helping mix up a batch of cookies last week. what fun!
too bad we ate 'em all already. gonna have to make more!

well, that's some of what's keeping us busy these days!
thanks for stoppin' by and taking the time to read all about it!

FO to show

{for my non-knitterly friends, FO = finished object!}

that's right! i finished one of my knitting projects.

here's my beautiful new Kureyon Kowl
{made with Noro Kureyon yarn}


pattern: Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama
{if you're a Ravelry member, you should be able to click on the link to get to the pattern.}

this is the first cowl i've ever made {or worn}. i like it! the colors in Kureyon are just gorgeous...the photo doesn't quite do it justice. and the pattern was pretty easy, yet interesting, and fun to knit which is always a plus!

i'm mental!

i just realized something about myself that i found to be kind of interesting.

my knitting style is remarkably similar to my reading style.

in the same way that i often have 3 or more books "in progress" at any given time, i also find that i've got 3 or more knitting {or crochet} projects on the needles {or hook} at any given time. and now is no exception!

books i'm reading:
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery {a favorite from my junior high/high school days}
2. i just finished The Restorer by Sharon Hinck and so am just starting The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul
3. Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey {this one's homework for the Financial Peace University class T and i are taking at church}
4. Eldest by Christopher Paolini {technically, T and i are reviewing this book together...he reads aloud to me while i knit, but i still have to remember the story!}
*and that's not counting the books Bubba and i are reading together for home-school or the Bible reading schedule which T and i are also doing together (aloud).

projects i'm knitting:
1. a cowl--for me, i think. never worn one. not sure i'll like it. but i'm making one!
2. a pair of pink socks--for me
3. a lace scarf--also for me {i think i tend to be somewhat of a selfish knitter. can you tell?!}
*there's also the many projects i have in mind to do and could easily start any time i want, but haven't as of yet begun. since some of these are plans to make hand-knit Christmas gifts, i'm not sharing details!

do you see what i mean though?
i wonder what that says about me.

am i easily bored? um. no. not really. at least, i don't think so.
i can be easily distracted though--especially by yummy yarns, or beautiful knits, or interesting patterns, or thoughts of designing my own knits...but i digress. ;-)

when i read 5 books at the same time, i never have trouble following the many different plots and i rarely confuse characters in the stories. i have a really good story-memory--so good, in fact, that i can leave a book sitting for months, pick it up, and start reading again right where i left off! {occasionally i will re-read a couple paragraphs to refresh my memory, but i rarely will need to start from the beginning again.}

i think this fact about me is at least a little interesting and funny too. and now that i've taken a few minutes to consider it a bit, i think perhaps it's just mental multi-tasking at it's best. {you can think what you want!}

NOTE: the link to my other blog is no longer available. i've decided to keep it "unpublished" so i can use it more like a journal than a shared blog. so this is where all my regular blogging will be from now on.

birthday knitting

i've noticed i haven't written much lately about my knitting projects. rest assured, i've been busy knitting and recording my projects on ravelry. which is my main excuse for not blogging about it more.

well, to remedy this at least a little, here's my latest FO {finished object}

when i last posted, this was still just a ball of yarn.

but now it's a lovely pair of fingerless mitts!




pattern: Evangeline by Michelle Szeghalmi-Shirley

and since it SNOWED on friday {yes, you read that right. SNOW. and there's more lightly falling from the sky as i write} these mitts are perfect for keeping my hands and wrists toasty warm. they almost make that s-word not seem so terrible even though it's only october and therefore should still be autumn...without that cold, wet, white stuff on the ground already.

thirty-five

today i get to write about me. you see, it's my birthday today. in just a couple hours from now (at 3:32pm to be specific!) i will have been alive for 35 years. it really doesn't feel like it's been that many though. i think i must've lost a few somehow in the past nearly 10 years of being a parent. where does the time go?

i got a birthday card from a dear friend that i think really expresses this well. here's what it says:

We'll be friends until we can't remember how old we are.
In fact, that may be now! What are we? 26? Around 26. Maybe 25.

surely i'm no older than 26?! i most certainly don't feel it. to be honest, there are days i don't feel old enough to be a parent (let alone have a kid whose age is going to be two digits this year!)


the birthday girl {that's me!} a few weeks ago in boston.

well, to celebrate me, my mother took me shopping last saturday...specifically yarn shopping! we had to drive 3.5 hours to get there, but i got to check out TWO yarn shops in Fargo, ND. (there aren't any LYS...that is, local yarn shops, near my home.) i happily fingered the many different colors and textures of yarn at both shops {yarn petting is so much fun!}, and i now have three more yummy yarns and some new knitting needles too! mom got to shop for quilt fabric and found a pretty print that will be the backing of the quilt she's working on. and we also stopped by Barnes & Noble so i could pick out my b-day present from my hubby--knitting books! (he gave me $50 in gift cards to spend on me. i didn't quite spend all of it, but i got 2 books and a magazine. i can spend the rest later.) all in all, it was a very long, but very enjoyable day.


my yummy new yarns.