My boys are SO funny!

If you know me and my boys, you know there is ALWAYS something going on that is down right hysterical, odd and or simply funny.
Last night was no different.
Big thanks to Caroline for breaking up the madness in my house, or maybe adding to it, while Brent is away for work.
Caroline stopped by and had little gifts for the boys. Magic Tricks!!
Of course an impromptu Magic Show was put on and Caroline and I sat on the couch in tears!! They were so funny!
I would share with you the hilarity of it all, but really, you had to be here. You just had to be here, Right Caroline?
Even after Caroline left, Nathan was in the living room doing his magic show for no one sitting on the couch.
It's good to laugh with friends.
Thanks Caroline, I needed that last night!

It's a Trick, we got Treats today!

Our city T or T's on an odd day. They do it the Sunday before halloween, so that means today.

I present to you Neo from the Matrix and Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants.
We had a blast!

I ended up making both costumes. I couldn't find a Patrick costume anywhere locally, and a trench coat for someone Jacob's size wasn't easy to find either, so out came the sewing machine.

Play that Funky Music

Guess who's starting viola lessons!

Recycle

Can you recycle a kid??

Remind me to check my bin before I place it out on Monday!

Family and Friends

With the recent events that happened back home in Kentucky, it has made me appreciate, love and cherish my family and friends more.
Friday was Brent's birthday. Ericka was so nice and made him one of her awesome cheesecakes. Her husband even did a bit of shifty work at his job so he could run home and get the cheesecake so they could bring it to me at knitting on Friday Night. Look at this cheesecake. Don't you wish you could have some!! It's totally delicious!!!!!!

There's a little under half left. If you ever are in the presence of one of Ericka's cheesecakes you better treat yourself to a bite!
Saturday Jacob got the treat of having a sleepover at a friends house. When we went to pick him up on Sunday the parents said that Jacob is welcome anytime at their house. It made me proud to know that Jacob showed his best behavior while at his friends house.
After we picked up Jacob we programed Brent's new TomTom to get us to Milford, NH for the Pumpkin Festival.The TomTom was a great gift from Brent's mother. We are having fun trying to trick it. :)
There were some rather LARGE pumpkins at the festival. The one behind the boys was over 1000 lbs.!! It was grown in Bedford NH.
The fall season is upon us in New England and I'm sure the Leaf Peepers are in full force up North!!
We introduced the boys to fried dough with powdered sugar and a bit of cinnamon on it. Nathan had on his clothes and in his hair. I'd say it was a hit, wouldn't you??

Jacob wasn't crazy about it at first, but after I put cinnamon on his, he looked like this.....
Yeah, he likes cinnamon!
On the walk back to the car we crossed some train tracks and this was the view down the tracks.

I received some mail over the weekend from a swap I joined. This was called the "Favorite Things Swap". You were to pack your pal some of your favorite things to have while knitting. My pal, Jenny, sent me a wonderful package!! A handmade project bag. I love the fabric used on this! Some orange cotton Jawoll Sock yarn, Size US2 DPNs, Burt Bee's lip balms, Bee's hand cream, Chocolate!!! with peanut butter in it no less. yum, and a book. The book is one she told me she reads to her son. I was so touched that she involved something personal like that, that I can share with my boys. Thanks Jenny!!

I missed a family reunion this past weekend back in Kentucky. I did get a treat though. I called my mother yesterday evening and she was just saying goodbye to her brother, Edward. Jacob is named after this uncle of mine (Jacob Edward). I was able to speak with him on the phone and it was so good to hear his voice and chat for a bit. I hope one year we'll be able to go home for one of these family reunions that I grew up loving going too. It really sucks that I missed getting one of my Aunt Lorene's fried apple turnovers!!! grrrrrr

Numb.

I read bad news from home today.
I'm a bit in shock. I knew this couple. Went to cook outs with this couple. They were so fun.
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Socks Socks Socks!

I finished the Uptown Boot Sock from Interweaves Favorite Socks Book. The yarn is from Sereknity.com. And it's the Vintage colorway from last year. Vintage colorway of recent is a bit different.

Dumbo!! Do you see what I see??

We never know where our mother is taking us.

Well now, this is an odd sign!!
LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!! It's Elephants on Parade!!
WOW these things are huge!
Just a couple clowns, clowning around.
Ringling Bros. is in town and yesterday the Elephants walked right down Elm Street. I, of course, HAD to go see this! I have never seen an elephant parade. It was AWESOME!! If you didn't know.. I LOVE ELEPHANTS!! Sonya, are you a little jealous right about now??

In other new....Nathan is FIVE today! Where does the time go?? Below is a picture of the boys a couple days after Nathan came home from the hospital.

I'm still here.

Yes I'm still here. School started and then preschool started and then I started walking the mornings Nate's in school and boom....busy busy!

There has been knitting and sewing, so I'll get to the fun stuff.

I knit this hat. Not sure I like it. TOTALLY not flattering on me for sure! Found the pattern on Ravelry, but didn't fav or queue it there so now I can't remember where the pattern came from. Anyway... too holey, don't care for it.
Sewing has been fun. I'm making these List takers now and they are going to make nice gifts this year for teachers and such. Watch for some on my etsy in the next month or so. The pattern came from JChandmade. I really enjoy reading Jennifer's blog and seeing what she creates with that sewing machine of hers!!
She also had a free tutorial about how to make fabric magnets. These are quick and fun!
Remember this sweater I posted a month or so ago that I started. Well I was going along loving the knit until my husband uttered the simple words "Raw Hamburger Meat". I couldn't go on knitting knowing that I'd look like walking meat. I ripped out the arm. Gave the yarn to my good friend Heather of Sereknity and she dyed it for me.

Below is the picture of the yarn now. It's a beautiful Eggplant color and I'm much happier with the yarn. Thank you Heather!! You saved the yarn for me. It looks more purpley in person. Trust me...it's SOOOOO much better!
I am knitting some socks from Heather's yarn. This is Vintage "Vintage". She dyed this yarn last year and has since changed her Vintage colorway a tad, so I have the vintage Vintage color. These socks are going to be so nice and warm! The Eggplant color in the socks will match my sweater perfectly!

And finally, a reveal package from my Secret Pal 12. My SP12 was Courtney. This gal spoiled me really well!! The yarn is so yummy, the ducks are too cute (stitch markers) and she also sent some homemade pear preserves! Courtney was great with emails and reading up on my blog and Ravelry queue to see what kind of things I liked. Very sneaky. Thank you Courtney for all of the treats you sent my way during this round of SP12. It was a great round.

UH OH! it's too cute!

Pattern: Uh-Oh's by Anna Hrachovec at Mochi Mochi

Anna had this video on her blog too the other day and I thought it was too cute so I wanted to post it too. The little crochet person is adorable!! I want to learn how to make those little dudes. :)

I can dance!

It's rainy out and I'm cooped up in the house and maybe a little crazy! What else is there to do but DANCE!
Get up and dance with me.

Growing Up Too Fast

It happens the same time every year!! School starts and my kids get older! Jacob is now 8 and in third grade, (picture below from first day of school last week for Jacob.) I made cupcakes in ice cream cones and sent them off to school on Friday, the actual day of his birthday. I can't believe I have an 8 year old! Everything for his birthday was Tony Hawk related. Clothes, Tech Decks, back packs, skateboard knee pads and elbow pads.
If Jacob turning 8 doesn't get you all worked up...how about this?? Nathan is going to Pre-school this year!!! He will be 5 in October. FIVE PEOPLE, FIVE!!!! This is going too fast! I don't have babies anymore. I have BOYS! Below is the picture I took this morning of the boys ready for school. Nathan was very excited. Brent took him to school since it is close to his work. Brent said he was holding Nathan's hand and when they got in the school Nathan said "Let go Dad. See you later." ....and off he went. LET GO?!?!? LET GO?!?! Are you freaking kidding me?!?! LET GO!
And so, we did. One in 3rd grade, one in pre-school. I AM HOME ALONE!! Do you hear me?! ALONE!! (OK, OK the dogs here) It's quite, no TV, no PlayStation, just me and the hum of the computer and clicking of keys. I did go to the gym this morning at Brents work and actually enjoyed a work out.
I am so proud that my boys are excited about school. I hope they keep that excitement!

I can't wait to pick up Nathan and see how his day went!

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

Wow this has been the busiest weekend of our lives since we moved here to New Hampshire. And let me tell you, It has been WONDERFUL!!!!!! I almost don't know where to start. How about with Zeland. That's the big fella with Brent in the picture below. We are dog sitting this weekend and this 3 year old German shep. mix has won us over. Yes, Yes, even me, the one who claims not to be a big animal person. Hey Melissa, now I know how you feel when we come and take Lincoln home. We are SO going to miss this boy!

On Saturday we went to Tokyo Joe's Studio for their annual open house. The boys had a great time. Jacob even got in on the fun and jumped in to take a turn on the dunking booth.
He is always prepared when it comes to going under water.
Nathan got in on the fun by throwing the balls and dunking people. I think he left the dunking booth a couple times to play on the other jumpy blowup things, but always came back to the dunking booth.
Brent and a couple of other "kids" took a turn in the jumping cage. They were doing flips and such. Yes it's true, boys will be boys!!
Saturday after the open house we went home and met up with my good friend Caroline. We crashed her sister's pad and went swimming in her pool. COLD COLD water! Nathan swam until his lips were blue. We had to make him get out. He loved it! Later that evening we went out to dinner with Caroline.
On Sunday I took advantage of Brent having a Sunday morning off from working out at Tokyo Joe's and went to The Yarn and Fiber store in Derry, NH. Gina was working so a couple of the Manchvegas Knitters decided to go keep her company (ok ok I called and harassed a couple of them to remember to meet me there, but watch, they'll be ever so thankful I did!)

Jackie finished a sweater she had been working on and she picked out the coolest Skull buttons to put on it. I think I want some of those buttons for the sweater I'm working on. Brent says things are only cool if they have skulls on them. So I want a cool sweater. LOL
After knitting for awhile on this beautiful Sunday, some people walked in and the girl was holding a dog. Um, HELLO, didn't you see the sign that say "No Pets..." wait a minute, HEY THAT'S BOB FROM RAVELRY!!! Ok, forget the sign and GET IN HERE!! He was with Casey and Jess and two of their friends on a road trip to somewhere north of us in NH. We had the most enjoyable visit with the five of them!! Casey and Steven (one of the friends) came in a sat at the table where we were knitting/munching on goodies, and talked with us, while Jess and, oh forgive me I've forgotten Steven's wife's name, shopped around the store. Bob tested out his four legs on the carpeted area and seemed to be enjoying the traction he got on the carpet and was like a flash zooming around the room!! (See, I told you the gals would be happy I called them about coming out to knit.)
In the picture below from left to right: Jackie, Caroline, (blogless) Amanda, Bob, Jess, Gina, Me and Casey.

After the enjoyable morning and early afternoon at Y&F, I went to the grocery. Was NOT looking forward to that because Sundays were always crowded at the grocery, and I still find it comical when the REM song comes over the speakers playing Shiny Happy People, but these people are far from happy and even FARTHER from shiny when the grocery is that packed. (That song always comes on when I'm at the grocery....ALWAYS!) But being a holiday weekend, I guess most people were gone because I was able to enjoy my REM song with out a lot of people at the store!
I got home and got the groceries put away and then the boys and I went back down to see Caroline at her sister's house and we invaded the pool again. This time both boys swam until they were shivering. I took the chance to sit back and relax since Caroline was taking a dip. The kids ENJOYED playing with Caroline. After swimming I walked Nathan back to the house and grabbed my knitting and went back to hang with Caroline and knit. It was the perfect afternoon to sit and knit.
Isn't Caroline's penguin too cute!! It's a bag and there's a grommet in the back to thread your yarn through so your yarn ball stays clean and doesn't roll away!
I started a sweater yesterday morning at Yarn and Fiber. Below is how for I had gotten for the day. I'm loving that big fat Cable!!

And finally, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!!!! Wish I could be with you all to celebrate. Hope you have a great day!

It's our 13th wedding anniversary. Yep I still like him.
Brent and I camping sometime in 1995 after we were married.
Brent and I at our "Pack the Pantry" Shower that our friends threw for us. Little did he know that would be the only time in his life he'd see me holding a mop, broom, duster, or what ever that thing is I'm holding....
Brent and I (looking dazed for some reason) at my Brother's wedding in 1997.

Possibly interesting information about us (but probably mostly useless or something you already know.)

Met in Feb of 1994
Engaged Dec. of 1994
Married Aug of 1995
1st child - Jake - Sept 2000
2nd child - Nate - Oct 2003
At one time we had 4 dogs, Kramer, Molly, Lincoln and Trixie.
Still have Lincoln.

My favorite song that was sung at our wedding. "If" by Bread

Love you Brent!