thirteen

lucky or no, thirteen is how many years i've been married to my best friend.  and yes, after 13 years, we're still the best of friends!  i love love love my man and am so very thankful the Lord gave me such a wonderful husband! 

happy anniversary to my sweetheart!  i ♥ u!

4.18.1998

i've put off posting this today because i'm bummed that my man had to leave today.  i'm not talking about the normal go-to-work leave here.  i'm talking about the my-hubby-has-to-go-to-the-cities-7-hours-away-and-won't-be-home-until-thursday-and-i-have-to-spend-my-anniversary-alone-with-the-kiddos kind of leave.  it stinks--at least we think so.  you can take my word on that.  but he had to go for some work-related classes or workshops or whatever they are.  so i understand.  really.  i do.  in my head i do.  but not so much in my heart which tells me he should be here spending our special day with me! 

so what did i do all day?  let's see.  i spent the morning here at my computer.  mostly just doing some perfectioKnits-related stuff and Facebook. and dripping on occasion.  after lunch, i decided to distract myself a bit and did a little baking.  had to use up my nearly black bananas before they weren't usable, so i baked a batch of banana "muffins" for cj who doesn't care for cherries.  {just used the same recipe and baked in muffin cups!}   and then a double batch of my mom's banana-cherry bread.  yum!  the house smells wonderful!  i just wish i hadn't bumped the top of my arm on the edge of the oven as i was reaching in for the bread pans.  yowch!  that hurt.  still does a little.  i used an ice pack to cool it down and it doesn't look like it's going to blister.  still not really sure how that happened.  i'm usually VERY careful when baking!

after my baking, i turned the computer back on and did some more perfectioKnits-related business {found some buttons that i think will be perfect for some of my items. good price.  ordered 2 kinds in lots of 100.  so excited that they're coming from the UK!}

we finally decided on ramen noodles for tonight's dinner. 
[yes, mom, we'll manage.  i even have chicken thawing in the fridge for tomorrow.]
and now i'm back on here writing this while the boys are deciding which movie we're going to watch.  i think they've decided...so it's time for me to go!

i'm happy to be home

there's so much i want to blog about. i don't even know where to start.

our trip to new orleans was nice. i will wait and post more details about it later when i'm not so tired (and when i get my pics on my computer).

getting away for a few days was so good for us. i've discovered that our kiddos are really quite funny. i guess it's a whole lot easier to be entertained by our boys since i've had some time "off" from being mom, teacher, doctor, etc. so now a lot more of what they say and do seems funny instead of annoying or irritating. that's just proof that moms (and dads) need a break from their children every now and then.

shana has been blogging about uninvited mice. although i cannot compare to the horror of having mice in my house right now (thank goodness!), we did spot a rascally rodent in our garage a couple days before we left on our trip. T put out a trap with a little peanut butter on a piece of cracker and sure enough, the trap caught a mouse while we were away. hopefully, it was the only mouse living in our garage and we won't be bothered by any more.

well, it's good to be home. i'm even nearly done doing up all the laundry we had afterwards! woohoo! like i said, i'll be posting more about the trip in the next few days after i get my pics and thoughts organized. for now, i'm gonna go listen to an audiobook and knit!

Christmas 2008 memories

Christmas Eve was spent here at home and was very relaxing and enjoyable. it was such a beautiful and sunny, but cold winter day. the artist in me just couldn't resist taking a few photos of the trees in our backyard (through the window, of course!) i love how the shadows and snow contrast.

it was so nice to once again take the time and remember that it's the birth of our Savior that we celebrate at Christmas. God has given us the best gift ever in giving us His Son. i think that's one reason why we like to give each other gifts at Christmas. one of my favorite gifts this year is a very interesting knitting book from my dear hubby. oh and also the yarn & new knitting needles from bubba. ;-)


one of bubba's new books: The Tale of Despereaux. and he's not at all happy to get it. *wink*

cj enjoying all of his new books (hand-me-downs from his big bro!)

Christmas Day was celebrated with my parents (after stopping by T's sister's place for a quick "Merry Christmas" and to give T's folks their Christmas present.) as usual, my parents bought us all way too many gifts and the boys both made quite a haul. lots of new toys and some new clothes as well.


bubba and the ultimate movie gift this Christmas--Kung Fu Panda.
cj thoroughly enjoys this movie too. i believe he has discovered his inner tiger while watching this.
every time he's seen it, we've had to listen to him rawr (lots!) and we've had to take care for he will occasionally attempt his own style of kung fu move as well. thus far, he is just being playful.

mom's gift from me: a few of my favorite pics from 2008 nicely framed and matted

mom (and dad) knew i wanted more yarn, but didn't know quite what to get or where to get it, so they gave me a generous gift of money specifically to purchase yarn! i was so excited that i woke up friday morning at 5:30am! (if you know me, you know that's NOT normal!) i then spent most of the day friday shopping online! it was fun to look at the different yarns and imagine what it would look like as a pair of socks or whatever. it was especially fun to be able to buy yarns of a higher quality than i usually can afford! yippee! now if it would just hurry up and get here!!!!!

T was feeling awfully neglected that day, so after i finally decided what yarns i wanted and placed my order, i sat down and played a game of scrabble with him with our new super scrabble deluxe game.


me and the super scrabble deluxe game for mommy and daddy from daddy and mommy!

it made him feel better, i think. except i won. (whomped him, actually!) hehe. intensive shopping does that to me. we had a rematch on saturday and he beat me soundly. that's how scrabble goes, i guess! it really all depends on whether you get the right letters and can make your words fit on the board in just the right way to gain lots and lots of points...or not.

saturday was really snowy. we tried to capture a few pics of it as we four-wheeled it into town in the old pickup truck. it's kinda hard to tell in the picture just how much it was actually snowing though.

since then, i've been knitting and crocheting lots. i began working on a pair of fingerless mitts for myself. i finished the right one, then decided to start a pair of socks. since both projects require the same knitting needles, i can only work on one or the other at a time. i'm especially liking the sock that i'm making--i sort of even designed it myself--and am looking forward to being able to wear it.


brown sock #1--about 3/4 done

which means i'll have to make it's mate right away when it's done so i have a pair. that's one reason why i'm so excited about my new knitting book. it teaches you how to knit two socks at the same time...on 1 long circular needle! it's amazing! i never would have dreamed of knitting like this, but i'm so glad someone else has so i can learn how! it will be so nice to begin knitting that way (after my new yarn and knitting needles arrive). by knitting both socks at the same time, one doesn't ever have to worry about single sock syndrome! which can be a real problem. a knitter will finish one sock and then go on to something else. that poor little sockie hibernates until is rediscovered (months later) and the hapless knitter hasn't a clue what to do because they've forgotten how they made poor little sockie way back when...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

thankfully, this has only happened to me once thus far in my personal knitting history and that was a baby sock that i didn't like! i can just imagine what it's like though. that's probably why i have made a concerted effort to finish off each pair of socks i've made, even if i'm bored to death with them by the time i'm done. socks aren't meant to be alone!

i also just finished yet another crocheted shawl...it's a gift, so i can't say any more about it right now. (but i can post a picture! i wouldn't want the recipient to know what they're getting before i give it! *grin*


isn't it pretty though?!!!

ugh. T just told me it's -24F. brrrrrrrrrrr! time to hibernate myself. g'night y'all!

making a list and checking it twice...

mom asked me yesterday to get our christmas lists to her so she has ideas for our gifts. my 8 year old immediately went to his computer and edited his list from last year. unfortunately, that particular computer has neither internet nor printer. thus, i get to type all his requests onto the "master list" anyways. i really wouldn't mind, but now, every 5 minutes or so, he remembers something else he wants!

another cute video i couldn't resist!

okay, i know i said i probably wouldn't post any more videos, but these kids are just way too cute! my boys were playing with bubba's lightsabers this afternoon after coming in from playing outside. cj was so into it, that i had to take some pics and video of it.

here's a short clip that i find extremely funny.



maybe cj wants a room of his own...