Goodbye Pumpkin

Our living room has been pumpkin colored since 2002

And we're finally making a change.

But it's a little sad to watch it go.

I'm happier with the color on the wall than how it was on the card, which is always a good thing...

We're about 2/3 through the room with plans to finish by Friday. Then it's on to picking out fabrics for pillows and curtains, and artwork...

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter as our "something pretty, happy, funny and real" today.

Time Out

Last night after getting the boys to bed I knit for the first time in a week.


I quickly discovered that I would have to rip back about 15 rows on the March sock...


And my poor little heart couldn't take it so the March sock went into time-out while I jumped in on the April sock.

This is the toe of the On-Hold Socks by Wendy Johnson. I'm looking to feel even more comfortable with the lace on socks so I can be brave and try something bigger, like Omelet.


I'm back to reading some fiction after recent weeks immersed in non-fiction while planning for next year's homeschool. The Red Pyramid is my latest fiction read (going pretty fast!) and again through Ruth Beechick's The Three R's as I finish planning for first grade and K4.

*****

I'm knitting along with Ginny again this week. Visit her to read about more great knits!

Hosta Pasta

:: Deep breath ::

The recital is finished, and I get to collect myself this week. And my house. I have untold amounts of laundry to do... but after a quick pick up this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find that the house isn't as bad off as I had imagined. Just mountains and mountains of laundry.

I *was* surprised to see that spring has erupted around us. In this last week it has burst out everywhere and we had a great time on our walk this morning discovering the buds and little bits of spring evidence.

And this is the beginning of one of the hostas we transplanted last fall. Ezra was the first to spot it and he cried out, " A bud, a bud!"

I asked if he remembered planting the hosta plants last year and he looked at me wide eyed.

"A PASTA PLANT?!?!?!?"

*That* was a fun one to try to explain. He was completely and utterly convinced that we were going to picking fresh spaghetti every day this summer, and it took a *long* time to convince him otherwise.

Knitting Along

{Knitting along with Ginny again this week}

Ladies and gents, the March sock is so not done. I did get it knit up to the heel turn, but that is going to have to wait until I'm finished with the recital on Sunday. I'm teaching late every night, and then spending the rest of the evening trying to finalize the program, entering compositions into Finale, and taking care of the gazillions of details that go into planning a program with 52 participants and all their family and friends. So, March sock? Let's aim for April 15th. There's only about 6 more hours in that sock (maybe?) but it sadly has to wait.


And a question for you sock knitters- how many hours would it take you to finish a sock like this? A pretty average lace pattern, tiny cable on either side of the lace, stockinette otherwise, minimal ribbing at the top... It seems like I've been knitting this sock forever, but I really only have about 4 hours total in it aside from getting the toe started. Perhaps it's just second sock syndrome catching up to me...


I just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and while I like to read non-fiction, this was very different. It almost felt like a novel in the way it was told and I couldn't put it down. I know that added to my unfinished sock (though I did read while I knit) but this story- heartbreaking in so many ways, elating in so many ways... you simply must read it. This may end up being the best book I'll read this year.

::Inspire::

We work all semester in the studio toward this one weekend, and now it's just a few days off...

 {Ezra folding laundry}

So there is extra time in the studio for me, more time for the boys with their aunt and grandparents and daddy too...

  

 {he takes it very seriously}

And the homeschooling conference is this weekend too...

  

 {Seriously, guys- he *loves* folding laundry- he didn't get that from me}

So I'll leave you with a little inspiration as I finish putting together composition books, finalizing and printing the programs, holding hands, rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing...

:: April's desktop image by Geninne

:: A sweet little baby hat tutorial

:: A free weekly gratitude journal from Ann Voskamp

:: Lesson plans that are inspiring our own for next year

:: Lots of art projects we plan to try over the next few weeks...