3rosebuds

American Girl Farmhouse Bed from Knock-off Wood

2011-01-12T18:01:00.002-05:00

Okay, you have to forgive me for one more Christmas post and a title that may generate so much traffic that my little old blog on the edge of the internet crashes and burns. But, the title fits and I can't go any further into January without showing you the AMAZING bed my husband and son made for my younger daughter for Christmas.

I am a big (big, big) fan of Knock-off-wood along with just about the entire universe or at least the thousands of facebook fans who ardently follow her every furniture plan. I have big plans to actually build some of those plans one of these days, but this Christmas it was my husband and my 6 year old son who jumped in and got the job done. I didn't get the action shots of them working on it, but here is the end result:

I very inexpertly made the bedding for it. I have less than minimal sewing knowledge and skills, so it was kind of an interesting morning when I decided I wanted to make a "quilt" for this little bed. I ended up getting some flannel fabric in a cute print and doubling it over, making kind of a pillow out of it by sewing up the edges. Then, I stuffed it with a little batting and just sewed in random patterns all over it.

So, now, it kind of has the look of a quilt-at least the dolls aren't complaining! If you want to find the plans for the bed, just visit Ana's site. I will warn you, however, that you will want to make every single thing on her website.

Here is just one more picture of the bed because, seriously, it's too cute:

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getting organized for Christmas..... 2011!

2011-01-06T07:03:00.002-05:00

Yup, you read that title right. I am thinking about next Christmas even as I un-decorate the house from this Christmas. My house looks like it has a hangover right now, from a really great party. There are random pieces of wrapping paper under the couch. A sparkly ornament slid underneath the China cabinet and you can see it when the light hits it just right. There are stray decorations still up, but most have been packed away for next year.

Every year, there are the same amount of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the same amount of hours in each of those days and yet, some years like this one, I can't seem to get it all done in time. Of course, we were still renovating and painting the kitchen well into October, so that could be partly to blame for my late-entry into the Christmas planning game.

I also really like to let each holiday shine-without being overshadowed by the next. We have a fun Thanksgiving tradition of making a Thanksgiving List and I cherish each year's list more than I can say. Some years, it's a competition between my kids to see who can write the most. Other years, they are reflective and genuine. But, every year is a treasure. Only after we have celebrated Thanksgiving can we head into Advent and Christmas.

So, to get ready for next year, I have sent my future self some reminders (in my outlook calendar which also synchs with my iPod-love that technology) for things that I want to finish early so that my Thanksgiving to Christmas will be a little smoother. I set reminders for:

some projects that I didn't get finished-like the yarn ball wreath and the felted sweater bags. I put these on September so maybe they will be done by Christmas
Christmas photo of kids (and maybe us, too!) that needs to be done early so my cards can go out a little earlier than this year
gift card buying. I think next year, I will spread this out so that it doesn't pack such a big punch all at once. We have lots of "grown-up" kids that get gift cards or money so I can do them early and just stash them away
Gingerbread houses-I already bought 8 of them on clearance and they are ready to go for next year.

I also did something I have seen around on other blogs, which is give each of my kids their own ornament box. This, I hope will eliminate some of the craziness that can happen when we are decorating the tree. It can be especially tough for my youngest to wait for his ornaments and, being the youngest, he has the least. The very best thing about this idea for me is this:

Okay, it looks creepy, I agree. But that angel in the plastic box has been the subject of much, heated discussion between my kids every year. They argue a little, whine a little and then each try separately to convince us that it's indeed their turn to put her at the top of the tree. Now, with the angel tucked safely away in my oldest daughter's ornament box, we shouldn't have any problem next year (in theory).

Now, I just have to finish putting it all away-I already miss the glow of the lights.

goodbye 2010

2010-12-31T17:27:00.000-05:00

This year has been, well a year. It always seems to simple and trite at the end of the year to sum up what's happened and make goals for the new year to come. But, it's human nature, I suppose and I am one of those list-makers, goal-setters kind of people. So, I will look back and then forward, knowing that I don't really know what this year will bring any more than I knew how 2010 would shake out.

Whatever your resolutions for the New Year, thank you for reading my blog-even when I am sporadic or post too many pictures of my dining room. Thanks for your wonderful encouragment and delicious compliments on my cooking, baking and decorating. I wish you all good things in 2011 and beyond and hope that you will keep stopping by to see what's going on in my corner of the world.

Oreo Truffles Recipe and tips

2010-12-13T14:43:00.002-05:00

I've had several people email and ask me for the recipe for the Oreo Truffles, and a lot of people visit that page on my blog, so I though I would just put all the information here for easy, holiday baking access. The recipe is really so simple that it's almost not a recipe. Also, some people refer to them as Oreo "balls" but I think truffles makes them sound tastier and maybe like they took longer to make than they actually do.

The first time I made them I did so under the misguided theory that because I don't really like Oreos, I wouldn't be tempted to eat these little chocolate covered bits of goodness. Rarely have I ever been quite so wrong. These taste amazing-and have the richest texture and they are cute to top it all off.

Here's how to make them:

1pkg Oreos crushed (don't use crumbs-actually crush the cookies)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
Chocolate for melting and covering the truffles

Mix the cream cheese into the crushed Oreos. I generally use the smallest size Pampered Chef scoop and scoop out as many little round truffles as I can, shape them and stick them in the fridge to chill. Don't rush to coat them in the chocolate because the colder they are when you start dipping, the easier the whole process will go.

I use the Wilton brand candy melts for white and color and the Baker's semi-sweet for Chocolate. The ones I really love to make (and eat) are the Golden Oreos covered in semi-sweet chocolate.

Another tip, from one of my best friends, is when you are melting the chocolate, add a tablespoon of vegetable shortening to the chocolate-it make is smoother to dip and shinier when it's cooled off.

These little sweeties are all dressed up for Christmast in their red ribbons. You can add sprinkles, non-pareils, sparkling sugars, whatever you want to make them look festive and even more delicious than they already do!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit with Hooked on Houses

2010-12-09T08:59:00.002-05:00

Well, I missed the first blog-link-party-extravaganza that Julia at my all time favorite blog, Hooked on Houses, hosted. In an attempt not to skip holidays, I don't put up any Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving, but that often means I am not finished (or satisfied with what I've done) until well into December. The room that holds most of my Christmas goodies is the dining room because, well really, it's the most finished room in the house. Here's a shot of my china cabinet with my small collection of dishes (all different)

Last year, I had that garland (which I got for cheap at Target from Smith and Hawken) on my dining room light, but this year, we added an advent wreath to the table and the combination of low hanging garland and tall taper advent candles seemed to be less than advisable. Here's how the table and the light look:

I had big plans to get this runner all cute-d up for Christmas with felt snowflakes, but sadly, my idea didn't quite work out the way I planned. For now, the felt runner is lonely without the boost of the white snowflakes, so we will see what happens. My refurbished sideboard is making its first Christmas appearance and looks pretty spiffy draped in red and serving as home to my cute peppermint candy tree.

Remember how icky that used to be? I do-you can check out the before in this post.
Of course, nothing in this house would be complete without a little bit of Lego fun, so here is a new addition to my decor, the Lego Advent Calendar.

Let me tell you, this little piece of Danish ingenuity was well worth the price. My first grader has been up and dressed for school in record time since his opening the Lego piece is contingent on being ready for school. Brilliant, I tell you!

I am participating in Julia's Link Party-go see more by clicking on this button!

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

Oh Holy Night Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Welcome December

2010-12-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

If you are like me, you may have missed November completely-it seems like I just turned the calendar to the month that contains Thanksgiving and now all of a sudden it's the one that holds Christmas! EEEEK!! We spent the first December weekend doing appropriately Christmas-y things like church, forcing our kids to stand out in the cold and have their once-a-year-so-you'd-better-smile-or-we-will-be-out-here-all-day pictures (better known as the Christmas card photo.

This year, we revisited a place we had enjoyed several years (and one kid) ago for the taking of the photos-the PAGODA which is really cool looking and completely out of place in Eastern Pennsylvania. It's also just cool and a little scary if you are afraid of heights or the combination of your adventurous 6 year old and 87 steps and a steep, rocky incline. But, it is cool:

We also went to another favorite spot of mine, Glicks Greenhouses for their annual Poinsettia show, which the kids loved and I loved, too:

We hung the lights, watched The Santa Clause and baked cookies. All in all a perfect Christmas weekend, but now it's back to reality December Monday, which includes more running around, laundry (doesn't every day?) and a bunch of stuff I would rather not do-but pretty soon it will be Christmas weekend again! I have to get my dining room in order so I can show it off-the only problem with using the dining room for all our meals is that it generally looks like we eat all our meals there!

Happy December Monday!

yummmmm..... nutella cookies

2010-11-29T11:24:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the last post, I have a lot of butter in my house right now. That can be dangerous, I know, but it also makes whipping up a batch of cookies pretty simple and painless (unless you count the calories-but at Christmas that just seems cruel). So, when I saw this blog party linked on one of my favorite blogs (Anything Pretty) I knew just the cookie I wanted to share.

My kids LOVE Nutella and they come by it honestly. We always have it in the house and my kids actually prefer it to peanut butter when it comes to lunchbox sandwiches. Many of their friends have been confused over the years by their "chocolate sandwiches" and many more have been converted to Nutella fans after having lunch at our house. But, back to the cookies. I found this recipe several years ago, on the Food Network-it was actually for Halloween but we love them anytime and especially at Christmas.

Here's how they looked last Christmas after we piped some snowflakes onto them and added those sweet little round sprinkles:

You can find the original recipe here: Giada's Hazelnut Chocolate Smoochies I have made a few changes and don't usually use the kisses because we like the cookie in its natural state.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup orange sprinkles, or orange sugar

1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey's)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

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Cinnamon (and other) Scones from King Arthur Flour

2010-11-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

One thing I love about this time of year is that I can shamelessly load my cart with tons of butter and blame it all on the baking. I mean, really, you can't expect to be able to bake anything unless you have several pounds of (preferably Land O'Lakes) butter in your fridge and freezer, can you? I certainly can't.

Once you've stockpiled your butter, it's time to get serious about baking and planning for baking. Last week, while innocently searching the web for a cinnamon scone recipe, I found the promised land (insert angelic voices singing here) the KING ARTHUR FLOUR WEBSITE and lost myself for hours in their recipes, their blog and then their shop where they have all kinds of amazing things I never knew I even needed for baking. Gourmet ingredients meets cool baking tools and acccessories and they even have gluten free stuff that will make baking for my mom (who has celiac) a lot simpler.

After drooling onto my laptop for several hours, I finally got down to the business of making these beauties, Triple Cinnamon Scones:

I didn't have all the ingredients that they suggest in the recipe, so I used a few substitutions-making mine only double cinnamon scones because I didn't have the cinnamon filling. I also took the "traditional" route and sprinkled the scones with cinnamon sugar before baking rather than using the glaze they suggest.

The recipe was very easy to pull together-basically some flour, sugar, baking soda (these are scones after all) and then some 1/2 and 1/2 (how could this go wrong? I ask you!) and eggs along with the cinnamon chips. In case you haven't seen the cinnamon chips-I used these from Hershey:

So, it's just mix the dry ingredients, cut in 1 stick of butter and then add the wet-forming it into a log of dough and then cutting it however you want. The recipe suggested these rectangular shapes and I really liked them.

After a little freezing (30 minutes) and then a little baking (17 minutes seemed to do the trick) you have these amazing scones:

After these came out so, so, so good, I thought it might be time to change things up a bit. If cinnamon scones are good, why not try something a little more chocolatey? And, if chocolate is good, isn't coffee even better? Why, yes, I think so!! Here's where it got interesting:

I took the basic recipe, which results in a moist scone-pretty amazing in itself. Then, I added some Starbucks, because really-why not?

If you haven't baked with the Starbucks VIA instant coffee-believe me, you should. It is perfect for baking.

I mixed it with the 1/2 and 1/2 and let it sit a while before mixing it in the egg and dry ingredients:

As it sits, all the granules dissolve and it smells heavenly. I added it to the dry ingredients with the egg:

Then, I added the chocolate chips, mixed and formed it into a log. I followed the directions from the King Arthur website about the size of the scone dough. It's really helpful to know you are on the right track and kind of fun to use a ruler for baking. Those little white spots in the dough are chunks of BUTTER, yes butter. I am pretty sure that's why these are so moist when they are done.

Again, they went into the freezer and then the oven. The end result was yummy! Next time, I think I will sprinkle them with a little raw or sprinkle sugar for a touch of sweet (the dough isn't very sweet at all) and a little extra crunch which makes the cinnamon ones so delicious. Hungry yet? Here's a bite:

Here is the recipe for the Cinnamon ones (again, from King Arthur Flour)

Too early for Christmas decorating??

2010-11-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Ever since the kitchen went from disaster area to nearly completed, I have been DYING to put some decorative stuff in there. Obviously, it's not Thanksgiving yet and we are having some family here for Turkey Day, so it's still a little too early for Christmas stuff, right?? right??? I really want to pull out some of my pretty red decorations and put them in my pretty "edgecomb gray" kitchen. Somehow, I think all my decorations will look nicer this year, without the backdrop of pink and too bright green (the green was my fault, to be honest).

But, I am showing restraint. Waiting, however impatiently, one more week-to put out lovelies like this one:

Sneak Peek at the kitchen re-do

2010-11-15T08:04:00.003-05:00

I have been hesitant (or lazy, you choose) to post photos of our kitchen renovation because we aren't quite finished. Doing all the work ourselves has been awesome, humbling, frustrating and ultimately very rewarding. Of course, if the budget had allowed, we might have considered hiring someone, but I doubt it.

This remodel technically did start with outside help last winter when we had the kitchen roof replaced, demolished the ceiling (that's the part we did-you can see the damage here) and our contractor basically rebuilt our ceiling so that it's vaulted. I sort of hesitate to use the word vaulted because it's a really small kitchen, but there it is.

Fast forward to this September and the project picked up some momentum again. I spent several weeks painting cabinets, staining countertops and generally losing my mind. This last week, with the finish line clearly in sight, we tackled a small project and the results are amazing.

Here is the space we started with (before renovation) And, yes, that is one pink countertop tucked underneath the other-don't ask:

Yep, pretty bad, all things considered. After new counters, painted cabinets and a lot of work, it looked like this:

Much better, even with the glare. There's something about not having pink countertops anymore that just makes me happy.

I could never figure out why there was a big open space next to that cabinet, but maybe it was because of the configuration of the old countertops? It would be hard to reach there over that L shaped pink structure that was there before.

We purchased a sheet of MDF, which I had never worked with before. It's actually pretty amazing and if you are painting it-a perfect material for a few small shelves. We were lucky enough to already have shelf brackets on hand that we had picked up at our local builder's surplus store so it was just a matter of elbow grease to get this done.

First, we measured; next my husband cut the MDF to the right size for the shelves we wanted.

A few coats of the same paint that I used on the upper cabinets on the sink wall (Minced Onion by Benjamin Moore) and the shelves were ready to go in. Leveling things in an old house, and especially this section of our house can be tough. This section of our kitchen used to be a porch and has a decided slant to it, so it's definitely a bit of a challenge.

My husband installed the brackets:

And, then the shelves finished off the whole thing:

It's kind of hard to believe it's the same space, but it is! Here's a side by side of the very before and after:

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Public Service Announcement for all Lego enthusiasts and Target shoppers

2010-11-12T13:02:00.002-05:00

It's been well documented on this blog that my youngest child, my son, loves Legos. He eats, breathes and sleeeps legos and will regularly inform anyone who is listening that he wants to be a Lego designer when he grows up. In fact, readers of my blog also love Legos because this post has gotten more hits than anything else I have ever written. The cute photos of those chocolate minifigs went so far around that I got them sent TO ME. Pretty cool, internet-thanks for that!

Anyway, with that information in mind, you can imagine my excitement when I found this at Target yesterday:

Thrilling, really-it's a Target gift card with a Lego set right there. The very best part is that the Legos really are free. The only charge is what you put on the gift card, so the Lego set is a bonus! I grabbed it, stuck it in the cart with all good intentions of putting it in my son's stocking and honestly, patting myself on the back a bit. Score!! cool Lego stocking stuffer, right??

Not so much. Here begins the PSA. If you purchase this really cool gift card (the little plastic box is actually the gift card-cool!) Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT leave the gift card on the counter, completely visible, right next to the sink. Because, if you do, when your Lego kid comes home and you tell him to wash his hands right away, the Lego gift card will be RIGHT THERE!!!

He was totally excited and did have fun putting together "Bullseye" the little white Target dog, but yeah, not so much for the stocking stuffer. Oh, well... Maybe someone can learn from my mistake. Here is what it will look like when it's finished (hopefully, for you on Christmas morning)

Christmas Card Photos thanks to Shutterfly

2010-11-12T07:26:00.002-05:00

I have been using Shutterfly for pretty much all of my digital photo printing and organizing since shortly after I (finally) went digital. Honestly, I had used another company when I was still using my beloved film camera, but once I was all digital, I made the switch to Shutterfly initially based on the fact that they didn't send me emails threatening to delete my old photos if I didn't place an order soon. On their website, they state their policy pretty simply: "Shutterfly has never deleted a photo." I like that! I also love that I can get my printed photos at my local Target.

So, I was pretty excited when I found out that they are giving away 50 free photo cards to bloggers everywhere just for writing a 150 word post about their cards! Count me in! I love their cards, so it's not hard at all to write about them, and to spread the word that if you have a blog, you can get 50 cards (FREE) as well. Here's the link for the promotion: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Now, the worry about getting the perfect shot with 3 kids has begun. I just finished up an awesome project about local parks and we found this spot in one of them:

I love white birch trees, especially a whole bank of them. When we found this particular spot, both of my daughters said we should come back and take our Christmas card picture here (I was so proud).

In years past, I have taken a group shot of all three of my kids together. Honestly, it's been getting tougher and tougher every year. The odds of getting everyone looking at the same time, and smiling and not doing bunny ears is statistically very low. This year, for the first time ever, I am seriously considering changing over to one of the collage cards and taking individual shots of each kid and then putting those photos on the card.

I think I will still take a few group pictures and see if I can use at least one on the card with the individual photos also. I like to prove that for one day at least, they were sitting together nicely and not making bunny ears.

After browsing through the selection of Christmas photo cards, these are my favorites so far:

With love Chartreuse (bonus that it's called chartreuse)

This one is really nice, too:

It's cute and called Peppermint Bliss

Now, all I have to do is get something for them to wear that doesn't clash, schedule some time for the photo, devise an appropriate ~~bribe~~ treat for cooperation and hope that it doesn't rain. Not too bad.

If you've got a blog, be sure to sign up for your own 50 free cards, just follow this link and you will receive instructions on how to participate: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

A Deadline and a Paycheck

2010-11-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

I love listening to NPR-really, I do. When I am home most days, whether I am working or not, it keeps me company. Even though I am not always paying attention, I like to think that some sort of information or knowledge is seeping into my brain through radio osmosis. I also really like the names of everyone who reports for NPR. I think if I ever have another baby (which is very, very unlikely) or get a dog (again, not going to happen) I just my name it Owen Bennet Jones, just so I can say the name several times a day.

Another, sometimes frustrating, consequence of all this radio listening is that bits and pieces, snippets of reports and interviews do often find their way into my long term memory, but they are only that: bits and pieces. I can't remember which show I was listening to (was it All Things Considered or Here and Now? I wonder)

I am sharing all this, possibly boring, information because a few weeks ago I heard something that really stuck with me. A musician was being interviewed and the reporter asked something along the line of "how did this album come together?" The musician, half joking, answered: "I got a deadline and a paycheck."

Yes, so simple!! I am deadline oriented and who doesn't want to get paid for their work? When I have a writing job, even the most mind numbing, mundane topic (like vacuum cleaners or cell phones) I can get them done because I have both a deadline and a paycheck. Brilliant!!! (if you are imagining Owen Bennet Jones saying that in his British accent, you are not alone).

But, more often than not, the things I have to do are amorphous-no deadline and certainly no paycheck. I spend a lot of my time on volunteer projects and those certainly have a deadline but always lack a paycheck. Arbitrary, self-imposed deadlines don't really work for me-my own experience has proven that time and time again. But, would it be possible to self-incentivize? I am not sure. Right now, my "to-do" list includes many things with deadlines that have to be done and will get done, but it also includes things like:

learn to use sewing machine (which I've had for at least 5 years)
hang frames in upstairs hallway (they somehow fell off over the summer)
organize photos on laptop (that could take literally a week)
write a novel (yeah, that is really on the list)

When it comes to following through, it's hard to find time (and, honestly sometimes the effort) for everything you want to accomplish and things just pile up. In a day that also includes laundry, helping at school, cleaning out the fridge, shopping for socks because seriously everyone in the house only has one of each sock and some work thrown in, tthe things you want to accomplish get further and further aways.

So, a deadline and a paycheck-I can dream, right? I am giving myself a deadline to learn to use my sewing machine-otherwise it goes! Those frames need to get back on the wall and I am plugging along on my novel this month at Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). None of these have a paycheck, yet-but I hope the deadline helps.

Kitchen progress

2010-10-12T08:29:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been nearly 3 weeks since I took the first cabinet door off its hinges and put it into a pile to be painted. Since that time, we have primed and painted the face of the cabinets, primed and painted doors white, primed and painted doors green, removed the last remaining pink countertops and installed a sink. Not too shabby for 2 amateurs. I am especially proud of my husband's work with the sink-he refigured the pipes for the new sink and installed a new garbage disposal! Impressive. Here is some evidence:

First, let's take a look at where the kitchen started, way back in 2007:

Now, this is how it looked earlier this year:

This is how it looked a few weeks ago when we started taking the doors off and priming:

I wish I were better at posting during this process, but the work has been overwhelming to say the least. Trying to get all this done while still feeding my family, managing all the activities of 3 active kids, my husband and me, plus a big freelance project has left me no time to keep this blog current. I hope these photos will do for now. Here is what it looked like at the priming stage:

Once the pink laminate countertops were removed, things improved significantly.

Today, I am finishing up the painting of the cabinets-more photos to follow. There are too many for one post at this point.

some summer highlights

2010-09-24T07:43:00.001-04:00

I am feeling a little nostalgia already for summer 2010 and it's only been fall for about 2 days. Of course, it doesn't help that we have been sweating it out around here this week, with hot and humid days and not much cooler nights. I feel somewhat responsible for the return of the heat since I did take all the window unit air conditioners out last week in a fit of wild abandon where I was sure the summer was over.

This summer, we didn't stray too far from home, thanks to our never ending kitchen remodel. We joked that our "vacation" should be sitting on my son's bed and looking out at our new kitchen roof because that's where our vacation budget went. But, we did make the most of the time we had. Let's run the highlights:

one kid turned 13:

Another kid turned 6:

We took some great day trips and we went to all 3 outside movies at our local park. We have decided that we don't really care which movie we see, as long as it's outside:

We finally got the firepit I've always wanted. Of course, because we live "in town" we aren't technically allowed to have any kind of open burning. Also, we only have what I lovingly call a "postage stamp" for a backyard, so there's no chance of adding a landscape feature type firepit. Instead, I picked up this lovely tabletop grill at Target, on clearance for $4

And, it worked great. We had an awesome night of roasting marshmallows and making smores. 3 of my family members actually used nestle crunch for their smores, which I think is sacrilege but if they can live with themselves, I guess it's fine.

getting busy in the kitchen!

2010-09-20T18:49:00.000-04:00

I seriously feel like September has knocked me out! Between school starting, and then a four day weekend, then a 3 day weekend and oh, just for fun, one more 3 day weekend-I am on the verge of exhaustion. But, the days are still warm, the nights are cool and there's a lot going on in my kitchen-both of the cooking variety and the renovation.

First, the renovating:

The countertop was relatively easy to sand, stain and seal-thanks to much internet searching and reading the blogs of others who have successfully put in butcherblock.

We decided on a stain (minwax provincial) which looked like this when we tested it:

I did one area with the wood conditioner and one without-just to see the difference. Honestly, there wasn't much difference in the color, but when I removed the tape, I noticed that the stain had bled underneath on the part without the conditioner. The section I conditioned seemed to take the stain better. That was just my mini-science experiment to see what the conditioner does to the wood.

Then, I impatiently (because really what other way is there?) got to the business of staining and sealing the piece of countertop. It didn't take long at all except for the incredibly long drying times between coats. It was some of the longest 8 hour spans of my life and I have been in labor twice-just saying.

This is the final result. I am in serious love with the finish on the counter and I *think* we have come up with the colors for the cabinets, though I know I will have paint remorse for a while after they are done.

Yesterday, we made the trek to IKEA (okay it's only like 40 minutes, but still) and got THE SINK. Yes, the double bowl, domsjo sink from IKEA!!! Of course, it is still in the box in my living room, but at least it's here. We also got the rest of the countertops and they are keeping the sink company in the living room.

Soooo.... while we make our plan of attack for painting the cabinets and installing the counters and the sink, I thought "why not give my new counters a try?" I mean, for the last week, I have babied the countertop, but if I am committing to having butcherblock in my entire kitchen, they better be ready to take a beating.

Enter-pumpkin scones-the famed starbucks recipe from food.com. After tracking down some elusive canned pumpkin and convincing myself that it's okay to mess up my new counter, I got down to baking.

It actually caused me a little harm to make my new counter this messy, but I forged ahead, thinking that if it can't stand up to a little flour and sticky scone dough, I better not have this in the rest of my kitchen. Thankfully, just a little dish soap on a towel and it was good as new.

Now, I am on to filling the freezer with as much bulk cooking as I can stand. Today, 6lb of ground beef's worth of chili:

Now, the weather can get cooler-because I am ready!

Some thrift store treasures

2010-09-03T21:36:00.000-04:00

I have a little crush on thrift stores; I will readily admit it. There is one store close to home that I will just swing into and out of-just to see what's new or old as the case may be. That store has been the source for several pieces of furniture that currently live in my home, including the sideboard that I rehabbed in the spring:

Our china cabinet which was one of the very first pieces of furniture we bought after we moved in. Here it is all decked out for Christmas last year.

There's also the dresser in my bedroom, but it's too icky to take a picture of. It's in desperate need of a facelift.

These days I am in the market for a certain piece of furniture that I want to serve a particular purpose in my home. My inspiration is this brand new Ikea piece that we saw on our recent trip there to get the countertop.

Yes, I know that is very modern and looks nothing like something I would pick for any room in my house, but bear with me-it's the seed of an idea for a little boy who has a love of these little plastic items:

Okay, sorry, I had to put one more shot of the lego minifigs on the blog-though I am wishing the pic was on my new countertop! So, my search for a new play/storage piece for legos led me to yet another thrift store last week. I scoured the large space quickly for the right raw materials, but with no luck. As I was leaving, I spied this beauty near the register and snatched it up for just $3

Pretty sweet and the resulting screams of joy from all three of my kids were well worth the two dollars and all the change I could scrounge. I asked the owner if there were any legos and he said there weren't right then, but he would let me know if some came in. (Lucky for me a friend owns the shop nearby). Imagine my surprise when she called me later that day to tell me there were three boxes just waiting for us. I headed back down and grabbed these for only $12:

Not too shabby! After much scrubbing and soaping, and then a little bleach for good measure I nearly doubled my son's lego collection and haven't found that piece of furniture just yet! Oh, well-looks like more thrift stores in my future.

one small step for my kitchen

2010-09-01T20:30:00.001-04:00

Our kitchen gives new meaning to the old saying "if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." It must have been added on at some point in the life of this old home and gets hot, hot, hot-even hotter than the rest of my unairconditioned, aging, brick home. We don't spend too much time in here in the summer-a quick run in to get a drink, meals thrown together and ingredients grabbed from fridge and transferred outside to the grill. The days of baking and cooking have to wait for cooler temps when you've got a kitchen like mine.

Of course, that also means that all our kitchen renovations have been on hold for the summer. (well, that's due to a combination of heat and budget-but even the cheap stuff has to wait when it's 100 degrees!). We recently added a new dishwasher to the kitchen, which has made my life much more enjoyable-just ask my kids. They haven't hear me say things like "don't you dare use another glass!!!" or "can't you eat that spaghetti on a paper towel instead of a plate?" We got a white dishwasher-I have a thing for the good old white appliances and this one puts us solidly on the side of white, with only the stove (and hood) being "bisque."

We have been living without a countertop in one section of our kitchen since...well, since I decided to rip out one section of the hideous pink laminate "just to see" how that would go. It came out really, really easily, but replacing it has been much, much harder. After going around and around about what kind of countertops we wanted, I kept coming back to this photo:

From the blog, This and That I love (love, love, love) the warm look of the butcher block and the soft shine of the wood and the white cabinets and the faucet--okay I love everything about this kitchen. I love it even though I know my life is not ready for white cabinets. I need something a little more forgiving in the slacker-cleaning department, but the wood was really growing on me.

I was desperate to have a countertop at the very least to replace the one I tore out with such gusto back when there was still snow on the ground, so we headed to our local IKEA in search of the same countertop. So, what once looked like this:

Now, looks a little something like this:

Now, we just have to paint the cabinets, paint the walls, get and intall the rest of the countertops and change out the sink. We still have a long way to go, but progress is progress!

I think I broke my blog

2010-08-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

You know, I'd like to think I am pretty good at computer-type-stuff. Having a techie husband can often make me feel computer illiterate, but overall I can usually figure out whatever I need to when it comes to blogging. This time, however I am stumped! I was trying to give my blog a little fall makeover, but I am not too thrilled with the result. I was also thinking of moving over to wordpress, because so many of my friends have wp blogs-just seemed like it would be easier but I am not sure I want to do that either.

So, thanks for your patience with this-I am going to call in the big guns (my husband) over the weekend so that he can help me figure out-should be lots of fun.

Yoga

2010-08-20T07:11:00.002-04:00

My yoga instructor and friend, Barbara, recently asked me to put my thoughts about yoga into a post for her blog. I was beyond thrilled at the chance to actually put into words what the practice of yoga has come to mean in my life. So, if you have a chance, take a look at her blog, Yoga wisdom for everyday to see what I think.

Books, books and more books

2010-08-19T07:07:00.002-04:00

Remember this photo:

That seemed like quite the ambitious pile at the beginning of the summer, after all, I had never read actual books at the pool before. Prior to this year, I had been more the magazine type-having to look up every few minutes to locate my kids and make sure they were still technically above the water. As this hot, super hot, insanely hot summer winds down, I am thrilled to report that I have read most of these books plus a few more. I recently read The Help, loaned to me by a fellow book lover and pool goer. I loved the story and the characters and felt sad to say goodbye to them on the last page. I try to avoid lists on my blog-seems a little like cheating to this English major (though I love reading other people's lists-go figure), but I am going to make a list of all the books I've read this summer.

Gods In Alabama

The Weight of Silence

The Reliable Wife

The Life of Pi (UGH!)

Firefly Lane

The Help

Little Bee

The Mermaid Chair

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

Right now, I am speeding through Dead Until Dark, which is a Sookie Stackhouse novel-of True Blood (on HBO) fame. I normally don't even like to read books that come in that tiny paperback form but it's a fun and quick read and it's really interesting to see where the inspiration for the show came from. I am also starting The Book Thief, which my mom recommended and is apparently young adult fiction. So far, it seems a little dark, so I may put it away till November or so.

philadelphia on a budget

2010-08-05T09:01:00.001-04:00

The theme of our facation/staycation this year was saving money. After our kitchen/roof renovation earlier this year, money is tight and we were looking to save a few bucks, but still have some fun. We already have a membership to the DaVinci Science Center in Allentown, PA so we decided to check into their reciprocal program. I was thrilled to find out that our membership (which only costs $90 for the year) also got us admission to the Franklin Institute and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Thanks to my oldest child turning 13, we are now a family of 3 "adults" and 2 "kids" when it comes to paying admission, so the total price for the 5 of us at the Franklin Institute would have been $69.50, while the Academy would have set us back another $56. With our membership card, it was, well priceless (and free).

We also took advantage of a family pass from our local regional rail line, SEPTA. We were able to get into and out of the city for only $28 for the 5 of us. We will definitely use that again-next time we will do the historic district-when it's a little cooler in the fall.

Wegmans and Knoebels

2010-08-03T09:13:00.000-04:00

Last week, we were on what I begrudgingly called "facation" because my husband had a week off and we weren't going "anywhere" (hence the witty combination of fake and vacation. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when the week was more fun than I had anticipated and we were able to pack a few day trips into it!

Our first trip combined two of my favorite places: Wegmans and Knoebels. If you don't have a Wegmans near you, I truly feel sorry for you. I have always loved grocery stores, and this one is so much more than a grocery store. What I hadn't realized is that they sell discount tickets to all kinds of cool and amazing attractions-though a good many of them are in upstate New York where the company is headquartered. Through their "That's the ticket" program, we were able to get Knoebels' all day wristband tickets for our kids for a discount of $4 each.

Now, on to Knoebels. If you have never been there, it's almost hard to describe. The park grew slowly out of a campground and has an old fashioned feel. There is no admission fee to go into the park, which is great for me because I am the biggest ride wimp in the universe. On this trip, I rode the train, the whip and... okay, that's it. Just those two.

During the week, there is the option to get an all you can ride wristband, which for our kids was $20.50 for my older two and $16.50 for my youngest (who is still under 48"). We bought ride tickets for my husband and me (mostly him as I mentioned earlier) which brought the entire cost for the day of rides to about $100-for our family of 5!!!

The food there is also just incredible-affordable and really good. We ate lunch at the international food court for about $25 and then dinner was pizza for (again!) $25. Other years, we have "camped" there (meaning in a cabin) and that is fun, too.

All in all, our first day trip of facation was a huge success, even if we did get home at almost 1am and not get up till late, late the next day!

Lego minifigs--edible edition

2010-07-31T17:47:00.004-04:00

If you've got one of these:

and that one is having a birthday, you need to get yourself to one of these:

Or, the website will do. Whichever you choose, you should definitely purchase this:

As always, please excuse the pink countertops-I promise we are working on replacing them. Anyway, after purchasing this, which is actually an ice cube tray, you should also buy some of these:

Next, melt the chocolate and fill the trays-the yellow faces and hands really make the minifigs convincing.

Then, you should pop them in the freezer, especially if you don't have air conditioning and it's summer. In just a few minutes, you will have edible minifigs!!!

Again, ignore the countertop, I know it's hard. Next, you should definitely have your chocolate minifigs line up for professional portraits:

You should also introduce them to the real minifigs, but it might confuse them:

Then, you should put them on cupcakes and serve them to a boy (or girl) who is celebrating a birthday!

Because, trust me they will love it!

This post has been linked to:

mid summer morning- a few things

2010-07-21T08:03:00.000-04:00

I have no energy left-between the hot days (thankfully spent mostly in the pool) and the window-unit a/c frozen nights, I am tired. This has been one long, hot summer so far and we still have about 1/2 of it left. So, here are my 10 summer things (because paragraphs seem like too much of a challenge today)

1. My legs are tan for the first time in years! Thanks to my children for getting older and being good swimmers, I am working on sitting by the pool and reading and I think I have perfected it!

2. We have not done one improvement/painting/updating project in weeks-honestly we barely have the energy for lawn maintanence in this heat!

3. I finally finished the Life of Pi and have rarely been so happy to see the last page of a book. Sorry to anyone who liked it-I detested it from beginning to end.

4. I have read, since finishing that book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Firefly Lane and The Reliable Wife, all of which I liked infinitely more than that other book that two me almost 2 weeks to read.

5. I am now the mother of a teenager!

The next few weeks are jam-packed. First up, is our Facacation (note my clever combination of "fake" and "vacation") and then Vacation Bible School, and then we have family visiting from California. After all that is over, there will only be 2 weeks left of summer break-not sure how that happened.

The kitchen is finished!

2010-07-14T07:54:00.000-04:00

It was tough work, but my kitchen is finally finished-here it is:

Wait, what? That's not my kitchen. What? Oh, right, it's summer vacation and I have three kids-I nearly forgot. Now, I remember-that is a photo from a magazine...ohh.... it's all coming back to me now.

In real, wide awake life, we are all about summer break with the wet towels, wet bathing suits and coolers full of all kinds of sticky messes that trips to the pool inevitably bring. We survived the crazy hot weather of last week, my oldest child turned 13 over the weekend (!!!!!!) and we are getting ready for camp this week.

We have done several things on our summer list and I have read a few books already-some I loved, others I barely dragged myself through just so they wouldn't beat me (I am talking to you, Life of Pi). I guess the kitchen, my actual kitchen, can wait till fall-but I do love the one in that photo.

good gravy, it's hot

2010-07-07T11:55:00.000-04:00

We had a record breaking winter, full of snow that measured in feet rather than inches. I even had one unfortunate day when I decided to go for A WALK (I know, crazy) in the snow. I had this theory that if I didn't get out of the house and away from the company of my working at home husband and my 3 bored children, that I might, just might turn my home into a remake of The Shining. Anyway, with all good intentions, I took my ipod and myself out to walk to Wawa (in case you don't live in the mid-atlantic, it's a convenience store but nice). I managed to make my way through the snow-I even took a photo to document my walk, after all there were a few brave robins looking for food and the sun was shining.

Yup, that's all snow. Anyway after stopping for provisions and enjoying the fresh, though cold, air. I was making my way home. Looking at my ipod, I didn't see the car that was coming around the corner nor did I see the GIANT PUDDLE OF FREEZING COLD WATER AND SLUSH that the car was about to careen through on its way past me. Needless to say (or maybe I still haven't come to terms with it) I was drenched from head to toe in the coldest water I have ever felt in my life. And, I still had to walk 3 blocks home. I looked at the car as it sped away and may or may not have thrown a few choice expletives in their general direction. I dragged my cold, wet, humiliated self home and got into my pajamas (at 3 pm in fact).

All that is to say that I will not complain about this heat-though I am getting close. Hope wherever you are, you are staying cool.

oreo truffles, chores and... yuck!

2010-07-02T07:43:00.000-04:00

A little over a year ago, I found this recipe for oreo truffles. I figured that they would be a great dessert to make because I really don't like oreos that much-so I thought it wouldn't be bad having them around. I could not have been more wrong. They are beautiful and delicious, so if you continue reading, be forewarned.

Oreo truffles:
1 package oreos, crushed
1 8oz stick of cream cheese, room temperature

melting chocolate
tsp of crisco
sprinkles or other decorative toppings

Crush the oreos, the finer the better, and blend in the cream cheese. Chill mixture until it's firm. Form small balls with oreo mixture. I use the small scoop from Pampered chef to keep the size pretty uniform. Once they are shaped, chill again until firm. You could even freeze them for a bit.

Melt whatever color chocolate you are using. I love to use the golden oreos with semisweet baking chocolate (again-you have been warned). Add a teaspoon or so of vegetable shortening to the chocolate (thanks to my friend, Kathi, for that tip) to make it look prettier and more smooth. Dip truffle balls into chocolate and then place on waxed paper to cool-make sure you add the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet. You could also use more chocolate to decorate the tops of the truffles by putting it into a ziploc or pastry bag.

Keep the truffles refrigerated until serving. You should also stay away from the refrigerator during that time!

In other news, we are in full swing with daily chores, and the flower pot system is working really well. I love that I am a little removed from the whole process and don't have to actually tell my kids what they have to do each day. My youngest actually told me that his job (that day- cleaning up the porch) wasn't so bad because he had just done it a few days earlier and the porch wasn't that messy! Love it.

A few people have asked me what kind of chores my kids have and how I decide who does what. To answer that, I will first tell you that my kids are (almost) 13, 9 and (almost) 6 so their abilities and attention span vary greatly. I try to match up their personalities and interests, if you can call it that, to the task I am asking them to do. Here are just some of the chores they have:

dusting each room (separate chore stick for each room)
collecting trash from bedrooms and bathrooms
taking out recycling
cleaning front and back doors (both are glass)
bringing down the laundry and sorting for washing
putting laundry away
cleaning their own rooms
putting dishes away
dusting baseboards
vaccuuming basement (our only room with carpet)

There are more and I have some more ideas about chores for kids, but that's a sampling of what they are doing. My youngest usually gets either the porch, or cleaning up our "shoe basket" where we all leave our shoes when we come home.

In YUCK news, I came downstairs the other morning to find that I had left a wine glass on the table with just the tiniest bit of wine in it. The gross part was that there were fruit flies all over it-blech!!! So, I decided to use wine as my "bait" for this old school fruit fly trap (Andi, you were close on your guess).

It actually worked and served as a bit of a science project for my kids on the habits and life cycle of fruit flies. Of course, the best way to get rid of those pesky pests is to put all the fruit away, but I wanted to make sure there weren't any stray bugs anywhere. The flies go toward the bait (in this case the wine, but jelly works, too) and then can't fly back up the cone.

Any guesses what this might be?

2010-06-30T23:05:00.000-04:00

I have this vague memory of a show, a game show, I guess, from when I was a kid. The host would show people (maybe they were celebrities or somehow famous) an item and they would have to tell the contestant what the item was. The obscure item would be pretty much unrecognizable, and the contestant would have to decide which story to believe about the item in question. Like I said, it is a vague memory at best-probably something I watched with my grandmother, who also loved The Price is Right.

So, can you guess the use for this?

Sorry to say there is no prize for getting it right, and no celebrity guest star, but if you also remember that show, you will have my undying gratitude! I will be back soon with the answer to this and a few other questions I have gotten this week, as well as the Oreo truffle recipe!

The pile gets smaller for now

2010-06-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

We are in the second full week of summer vacation and I have read 1.6 books-a pretty good start if I say so myself! My first pick was gods in Alabama, by Joshilyn Jackson:

What a great choice to start my summer! This book was a quick read, but wasn't "fluff" by any stretch of the imagination. With fully developed and relatable characters and an intricately woven series of flashbacks, this book drew me in and kept me reading obessively until the very last page. As good books often do, it also left me wishing there were a few more pages (those darn "reading group" questions at the end always make it seem like there is another chapter!).

I love Southern Literature, Southern fiction-all things southern. I took a Southern Lit. class in college and fell head over heels for Eudora Welty and others, all with the lush heritage and amazing language they could have only learned in the south. Jackson's narrator couldn't have seemed less southern at the outset of the novel, but as I read on, I learned that Arlene was a bit a of nomad in her childhood and came a little late to the Alabama home where she spent her teenage years. The story unravels like a phone call from a good friend with a crazy but enthralling story to tell. One minute you are getting a play by play of her day, the next you are getting the backstory you need to make sense of it all. I won't give details about the book, just go and read it. I think her others will be in the pile of books that is getting smaller and larger at the same time.

As quickly as I read gods in Alabama, I am reading The Life of Pi that slowly. I know so many people who loved this book and Amazon, Paperbackswap and WeRead are all telling me that people who liked books I like also recommend Life of Pi, but UGH. I won't let it defeat me, though and today is the last day of both Pi being on that liferaft and me reading about it-if it kills me I will finish this book. I love some little pearls from this book, but it is way too much like science class for me.

Read any good books lately?

I will leave you with a picture of sweet oreo goodness. I think I like taking pictures of these almost as much as I like making them, and let's be honest, eating them. I made these for a fundraiser one of my friends did for her participation in the 3-day Susan G. Komen walk for breast cancer. It was "yoga for the cure" and you can read more about it by looking at the blog in my sidebar: yoga wisdom for everyday

Sweet summer so far

2010-06-23T07:40:00.000-04:00

Well, we are nearly a week into summer vacation and it's going great thus far. My kids already have that half-tired, half exhilarated look that is somewhere between beach bum and extreme sports enthusiast. As for me, I am "tan," (according to my husband) which is no small feat for a person with 50% Irish heritage.

One of my favorite parts of summer is my garden. This being the third year we have lived here, it's actually starting to look a little presentable. I have a sweet collection of coral bells in my tiny front yard that are in full, albeit miniscule bloom. My lacecap hydrangea looks a little worse for wear after the epic snowstorms we had this winter, but it still got gorgeous, delicate lavendar blooms:

I went to my favorite garden center, Glicks greenhouse for their 1/2 price sale and loaded up on plenty of plants to fill in the empty spots in my side garden and backyard. I filled my hanging baskets as well, with some favorite flowers: lantana, sweet potato vine and this other one, whose name I can't remember but it looks like mini petunias:

I also got some annual black eyed susan, which are starting to bloom and are simply amazing:

We've been hit with heat wave after heat wave this spring/summer, so it's easy to forget that it is still June and technically on the 3rd day of summer! I can't wait to see the growth in the garden this year. It's time to get the pool bag ready again and pack lunches for the kids and me-life is so hard in the summer!

A Quickie

2010-06-21T11:58:00.002-04:00

You know those projects that kind of sneer at you from the corner, taunting you, almost daring you to complete them. You know the type-the ones that really will only take a half hour or so to complete if, and it's a big, gigantic (if )you just took the time to do them, and had the necessary supplies on hand. One of those projects has been staring at me for about 3 years. It was shortly after we moved into this house that I decided to use a pillowcase to camoflauge the ugly and stained cushion on this chair that I got from my mother's house (thanks mom!).

It's brilliant, right? I mean-you can't really tell that it's a pillowcase-not even when you see the bunch of fabric hanging off the side of the chair. Granted, it did cover the off white cushion which was stained and overall in need of help, but still-a pillowcase? Not my best work.

Last week, I was determined to get this chair off my back and finished once and for all. So, after cleaning the local grocery outlet nearly completely out of snack food, we also went to the fabric outlet where I snagged a couple of remnants-one of which was destined for this chair. I went to work, ripping off the old beige fabric, only to uncover this 70's gem:

If you look closely, you can see that the red velvet has nearly turned to dust and there are little red velvet particles all over my floor. Don't look too closely, though because there is also regular dust on my floor. I ripped through the velvet:

To find the foam underneath lacking in a little support and comfort. After getting all the velvet and staples out, it looked like this:

Okay, maybe I didn't get out all the staples, but close enough. I added a little batting to give it a little more softness:

Then, covered it in my cheap fabric remnant, so it looks like this now:

Not too shabby, for an old chair. And it only took about an hour or so (well 3 years plus an hour or so) to complete. And now the chair won't be giving me the evil eye every time I walk by.

Chores made simple (I hope)

2010-06-17T07:04:00.001-04:00

A while back, a friend sent me a link to this amazing chore organizer project on the equally amazing blog "How does she?" Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I was able to marvel at her creativity, her skill with power tools and the genius of this simple system for doling out chores to (possibly) willing children.

In the past, I have tried lists, written chores on scraps of paper and let them choose blindly and then eventually just given up! I like the idea of the popsicle sticks because they should last all summer (at least). I also like assigning chores because I can tailor the task to the child's age and ability.

I am a firm believer in giving kids chores (just ask them, they will bore you with exaggerated stories of child labor camps) but often fall short in the consistency category. When there is so much to be done in a day-homework, reading together, sports practices and other obligations, it can be just easier to take it on myself or even ignore it completely until the kids are at school or I can't stand the mess anymore. I am really hoping that this very simplified version of the idea from "How does she" will help me stay on track this summer and give the kids the chores they should be doing. Honestly, I am also hoping that it will save me from saying things like "Am I the only person who can bend over and pick up socks on the steps?" Or, the ever popular "Can't anyone flush a toilet?"

So, before I share these pictures, please go and look at all the details of the much more beautiful inspiration piece that gave me the idea in the first place-you will be blown away with her skills. Mine, on the other hand, took a more simplified approach. First, I considered using mason jars, but they are a little too tall for the popsicle sticks that will be the assigned chores, so I picked up a few of these pots:

Personalized them just a bit:

Next, I got the popsicle sticks-the wide ones that look more like tongue depressors, and simply wrote the chores on them in green (my favorite color) sharpie. Alison actually included a printable template for the chores so that you can cut them out of paper and mod-podge them to the sticks. For me, it's all about being done in the time that I have, so a sharpie had to do the job (and I must be quite a task master because I had WAY more chores than the template):

I've also added two clothespins to each flower pot; these are like gold around here. One is for computer time and the other for TV and neither can be used until the chores are done (what's that noise? angels singing? I think so).

TA-DA!!! my chore assignment system. Let the complaining, trading and bargaining begin! Oh, and hopefully the eventual submission and cleaning, too! I decided that because today is the first day of summer vacation, we would start out with just one chore each and work up to a few for each day.

The Garden Tour

2010-06-15T07:41:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, a good friend and I left kids and husbands behind to go on an area garden club's home garden tour. Each one was amazing in its own way, and we had a great time snooping around all the gardens. I think I learned something new at each one that I want to incorporate into my garden at home.

At the first house, the homeowners were so nice and answered tons of questions about all the plants and how they handled certain landscaping obstacles like planting on a hill and keeping the weeds down. Even though their house (and garden) were the newest on the tour, it looked like a mature garden and not like plants plopped down into mulch-which gave me hope for some of my own newer beds. Here is a shot of the landscaping near the pool:

The next house had a kids' dream garden, with two trains running through the yard. It was a house similar to mine-a brick twin with a small yard, which was nice to see especially since our next destination was over 10 acres. They had so many beautiful plants packed into that little in-town yard. Of course, at my house we need to have some grass available for kickball games, but I loved the patches of larkspur and this cool idea made with rebar and old bottles:

Not sure if I can use it at my house because rebar and glass plus about 12 kids average per day may not be the best combination, but it is a clever idea.

Another home on the tour had these:

Which has me dreaming of more construction and a mini-vineyard in my postage stamp backyard. Between the recent fence project and the raised veggie bed we built last week (photos to follow once we have dirt and plants in it) I don't think I'd better push my luck right now with a grape arbor, but it's an idea for the future.

The next house was also amazing, with several buildings, barns, chickens a gorgeous pool and a plant sale that we took full advantage of. There was also this little gem, that I thought was so cute:

Now, I will be keeping my eye out for a cheap birdbath to fill with a little succulent garden.

The final house on the tour was truly amazing-something you just wouldn't expect to find in someone's home garden-a Zen Japanese garden that spanned a huge area on the side of the house. Here are a few photos so you can get an idea what we were walking through:

That was all at someone's home-if you can imagine, not at a sanctuary or arboretum. The house is actually for sale, which is kind of a shame because it's going to take a very special buyer to want to either keep up with this garden or take it out (which would be sad). Besides the obvious creativity and work put into this garden, I was amazed at how they used salvaged wood and branches to build so many gates and benches. It was the little touches and details that made the difference here.

The whole day was so inspiring, and really made me look at my own yard and garden a little differently when we got home-I will have to "tour" my own space this week and see what's going on there.

True house confessions

2010-06-10T20:26:00.001-04:00

Now that we have been in our house for just about three years, I have to say it feels like home. When we moved in, it kind of felt like it would never be ours and I found myself wishing for the old place-even though I really hated living there and renting for so long. It took a while before this house became our home, before we got that relaxed feeling after being out all day, and before we had enough furniture to really qualify a few rooms as being made for their intended purpose.

But, now it's ours and it feels like home-all except one room that I have only been in 2 times in the whole time we have lived here. That's my confession! We have a room in the basement that hold the oil tank, and I went in it when we looked at the house and one other time-that's it! Here is a photo of the door (and the floor in my messy office-but that's another kind of confession!)

So, what's your house confession? I would love to know!

The summer is shaping up nicely around here

2010-06-08T08:03:00.000-04:00

My kids can swim-all of them. Even my youngest already passed the swim test and got his bracelet and can go down the 150 foot water slide at our local YMCA pool! He actually did that last year, but I wasn't quite as confident in his swimming then. If you have been home in the summer with your kids, you just might know where I am going with this. Basically, I can read at the pool! Books, actual books!! Last year, I was bold enough to bring magazines, but this year, I am reading books at the pool. After years of swim diapers, baby pools, standing in the cold water and getting splashed and trying to manage 3 kids with different swimming abilities-I can read at the pool. Of course, I will still swim with them, but the cold hard truth is that I don't have to! This seems to be one of the milestones I don't have mixed feelings about-I am thrilled!

So, enter my own reading list. I have gathered, from friends, the church library and the used bookstore, a good start to my reading for the summer. A few were recommended by friends, one I don't want to read but all my book sites keep suggesting it and another I picked solely because I liked the cover art. I won't divulge which is which among the books. Oh, and one other is by a very favorite author, so I hope reading that one will be like visiting an old friend.

Happy (almost) summer!

That was some storm

2010-05-28T11:18:00.000-04:00

I wish I lived in Boston, so I could say that we had a wicked awesome storm last night and have it sound convincing, but I don't so I will share some photos instead. We had two very hot and humid days, which sent us scrambling to put the window a/c units in our old house and me trying to remember exactly how to keep the downstairs of our house cool when it's more than 90 degrees outside. We try to tough it out without the a/c as much as possible, but when you can't go to the pool, it's hard to cool off.

So, here's what the storm looked like here:

Someone, although I am not naming names, thought it would be fun to go out and try to collect some hail. Then, that unnamed person got hit with some hail and realized that hail is just like cool, icy rocks falling from the sky so she got her kids and huddled under the gazebo on the patio. Then, that person may have yelled for her husband to help them (though not sure what she could have expected him to do). One of her children may have been running in and out of the hail and gotten a huge welt on the side of his body when a chunk of hail hit him. Of course, it's all speculation.

Here is one of the pieces of hail:

Luckily, this is what we got when it was over:

And, we got a much cooler day, to go with that rainbow!

The Summer List

2010-05-26T07:54:00.000-04:00

One of our very favorite traditions every Memorial Day is to make THE Summer List. We all sit down together and make a list of all the things we want to do before it's time to hit the books again in August, which always comes around much too fast.

This is the best list I make. After all, most of the lists I make during the school year include things like pay bills, go to gym, grocery shop...you get the idea because you make the same kind of list every single day whether it's on a piece of legal paper, in your calendar or just in your head. But the summer list, this one is different. The summer list is a little bit of adventure, with things like go hiking, go to Knoebels, go to the beach. It also has goals, like read 100 books (that was a contribution from my 8 year old last year) or ride a two wheeler. The goals are pure fun and no one really cares if you don't reach them. In summer, it's the journey that counts the most.

I've already got a few ideas for my part of the list this summer. With an almost teen in the house, I am starting to realize exactly how precious the time here together is and I want to make the most of it and enjoy every last drop of summer with my kids. And, I want to finally use my ice cream maker-I think that might be first on the list.

cupcake love

2010-05-24T20:03:00.002-04:00

My oldest daughter was confirmed this weekend. True to form, we threw a huge party, with everyone we know and had tons of food, lots to drink and some super-cute-time-consuming-but-totally-worth-it cupcakes! We had to pick a symbol to represent her for confirmation and we chose the sunflower because it has heliotropism. That fancy biology word means that sunflowers follow the sun-always looking forward and into the light, which we thought was just perfect for this independent and courageous girl of ours.

The bonus was that sunflowers are crazy gorgeous and I got to decorate my house with them:

We also used some paper flowers that I got on clearance at Michaels a while back (thank you Martha Stewart for this little project). And, thanks to Target, I scored all the cute paper products and cute little paper balls for cheap:

And then, there were these little goodies that grew in my refrigerator (right next to the Mike's if you notice)

Oh, for cute's sake, these were adorable! As I mentioned before, totally worth the time it took to make them. And, really so easy. With a few lessons in piping from my talented sister-in-law and a little trial and error, these weren't too hard to make. It's just an oreo cookie and some canned frosting on top of a cupcake from a mix! so cute-here' a close-up:

And, strangely, the light in the refrigerator is good for taking pictures-I will have to remember that. I wanted to take more shots of these because they are so crazy cute, but I decorated them at night and then we were short on time yesterday before the party. I really didn't want to greet my guests by saying, hold on-just one more close up of this really cute cupcake!

my unofficial and very late movie review

2010-05-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

Well, I did finally, after too many technical difficulties, get to watch The Time Traveler's Wife the other night. I had actually planned to watch it on a night when my husband was working, but had trouble with the dvd player, so he humored me and sort of half watched it with me the next night.

I am sorry to say it was 101 Dalmatians all over again. The more I think about it, the more I disappointed I am in the screen adaptation (as they say). I didn't really buy the chemistry between Rachael McAdams and Eric Bana (though I did love her as Clare) and I thought he was pretty boring as Henry.

The screenwriter took an interesting take, showing the movie mostly from Henry's perspective. I think that decision made the movie much darker than the book. It reminded me of other sad movies, like Leaving Las Vegas for some reason-maybe all the dark pauses between scenes. At one point, I thought I was watching a made for tv movie and a commercial was coming.

I also wonder if the movie took the plot it did because some of the book was a little creepy- like when Henry and Clare tied up and tortured the high school guy, or just Clare being in love with a man in his forties when she was still just a child. What didn't really play out as too creepy in the book could have been super creepy in the movie. Though I loved seeing "Burger" as Gomez, I missed the development of his relationship with Clare from the book.

The moral of this story, I guess, is that books are just better. I was thinking of some other books that were ruined when they were made into movies, and the first one that came to mind was "House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende. Again, great book, terrible movie. I suppose I will just keep reading.

mulch ado about nothing

2010-05-17T13:24:00.002-04:00

I would like to apologize for that pun, but I won't because I think it's hysterical. Must be the nerdy English major in me, or the product of listening to too much Wait, wait don't tell me!! but that's some good stuff! Maybe I can get a job writing their limericks-I do crack myself up and it seems like it would be selfish not to share all this talent.

Anyway, as you could reasonably infer from the title of this punny post, this weekend was all about yard clean-up. After doing my Monday morning blog-browse,I've realized that we were in good company as it seems everyone was out in the pollen ridden air trying to spruce things up. Thanks to my very strong husband and my skilled and very willing neighbor, our fence is well under way. Remember this?

After some Craigslist help and more elbow grease from my husband, it looked like this (kids not included):

and, today, it looks like this:

It's definitely getting there, and while we didn't exactly finish it over the weekend, the hard work is done (by my husband-I had nothing to do with any hard work on this project. I simply made runs to HD and Lowes for supplies)

We also weeded and mulched the flower beds in the front of the house and along the side:

and, now it looks (you should be ready for this) MULCH better!

Don't judge a book by its movie

2010-05-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

When I was nine years old, I went to see Disney's 101 Dalmatians in the movie theater. If you grew up in the 70's and 80's like I did, you know that going to the movies was a big, huge deal. I can pretty much remember all the movies I saw in the movie theater as a kid. My own kids, like most in the 2000's (is that what we call them) have their pick of kids' movies at any given time-on TV, in the theater, wherever. They have nearly instant movie gratification.

So, in the fourth grade, with my Dorothy Hamill haircut and probably running shorts and tube socks, I went to see 101 Dalmatians. In preparation for seeing it, I had already read the book by Dodie Smith, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. If I remember it right, I may have even had the book with me when we went to the movies. Here is the original cover-not sure if mine looked like this, but it might have.

You see, there was this one part at the end of the book, once Cruella had figured out that the puppies were gone. The shock of losing her potential new dalmation coat was so great that her famously black and white hair CHANGED COLOR!!! The side that had been black suddenly went white and the white side went GREEN from the shock. I waited through the entire movie for that one part, and it never came. I remember still sitting in my seat, watching the credits, while my dad tried to convince me the movie was over. I kept telling him that maybe there would be more-I way dying to see that part.

That was the first time a movie didn't live up to its book. All the way back in 1979. There have been many, many other books since that time that have been ruined once they hit the screen, but I have been prepared. The disappointment of 101 Dalmatians has served me well and taught me not to get my hopes up for the movie.

So, tonight, after reading The Time Traveler's Wife I am going to watch the movie. I am trying to keep my expectations low, but I really loved the book. We will see if it's Cruella DeVille all over again.

ahhh... progress

2010-05-10T13:45:00.002-04:00

Well, if I have learned anything from the last 3 (almost) years of home ownership, it's that we will never be "finished." I know that somewhere there is someone who feels like they are finished with their home, but I have never met them and probably wouldn't like them even if I did meet them. So, in the effort to feel some sense of accomplishment, I present my newly refinished sideboard:

Not only does it look much better than it used to, but it now houses a pretty groovy wine rack where the bottom two drawers used to be. I was actually more than a little bit ready to give up on the wine rack idea and just paint the drawers and return them to their previous home, but I decided to give it one more try. I am certainly glad I didn't give up because I was able to snag this little diamond in the rough for only $1.50 thanks to a local thrift stores 50% off everything sale.

Once I heartlessly cut off the hearts with my handy jigsaw, the rack fit perfectly in the space left available when Iremoved the bottom two drawers. After a few impatient coats of paint from that same old $5 oops paint can, the results were pretty amazing. I love the new hardware-and it defnitely helped this old sideboard make the transition from early 70's to vintage-y 2010 status. Here's a great shot of what the cabinet really holds (besides the wine)

The art supplies is this cabinet are all part of my "keep it where you use it" theory of organization (to use that word loosely). My kids do the bulk of homework, art projects, coloring and creative stuff at the dining room table, so having their supplies on hand is key to both easy access for them and simple clean up (let's face it, that's mostly for me). Having the storage double as an attractive buffet for parties is just a bonus for me. And, before we move on, let's remember what it used to look like (about 2 weeks ago):

And, for an even more shudder-worthy retrospective, let's see the same wall just a few days after we moved in a mere 3 years ago:

This post is linked to: between naps on the porch-metamorphosis monday

Thanks to the genius of Craigslist...

2010-05-03T07:53:00.002-04:00

We are one step closer to putting our fence in out back. Our little postage stamp (as I like to call it) yard is in need of a facelift. After living here nearly 3 years and spending a ton of time on the interior of the house, it seems like it's about time to start improving the landscape. Enter, Craigslist. I got the idea for this from young house love quite a while ago, from reading about how they transformed their (much bigger) backyard. So, with enthusiasm and only a little trepidation, I listed our unwanted shrubbery on Craigslist-free to whomever would like to come and dig it out.

Thus, our yard went from this:

To this:

The people who came to dig in the blazing hot afternoon sun only wanted the forsythia, not the unnamed "shrubs" that are back there, but it's a start. I am going to give it a few days and see if anyone else responds to the ad and wants the rest of the shrubs (keeping fingers crossed).

In other news, the sideboard is nearly finished. I still have to get some more paint on the very bottom of the legs and work out one more idea and then it will be time to sort through all the art supplies and get them back into their proper home. Here is a sneak peek of the cabinet still in progress:

Happy Monday-it's a hot and rainy one here!

Ten things

2010-04-29T11:35:00.002-04:00

Today seems like the perfect kind of day to stop and be thankful, mindful and pick out just a few of the things I am enjoying right now. Life around here is crazy-busy (I think that should be a word) and there's no end in sight, even more of a reason to stop for a minute and look, really look.

1. Lilies of the valley (from my side yard)

These smell so amazing for some tiny little flowers. Apparently some bunnies must like them, too, because the tips of the leaves have little bite marks.

2. Sunshine and warmth today-yesterday was too chilly and windy

3. The new vera bradley catalog, which came with these lovely paper dolls. I haven't decided yet if I am going to share them with my daughter or keep them for myself

4. Yoga-oh look, there I am sitting poolside doing yoga. Oh, wait-that's another page from that Vera Bradley catalog!

5. I have exactly one week left in my thirties. I feel like that should have been written in ALL CAPS but I don't want to scare myself especially considering my advanced age.

6. I have a lunch date

7. I just found out that my iPod has a pedometer. And, it's 1200 steps to walk my kiddos to school the short way. When I pick them up this afternoon, I think I will go the long way. I did accidentally end my "session" with the pedometer, but I did 3400 steps in two hours. Not bad for an old lady.

8. In addition to the numerous weeds that are flourishing while I can't really garden (tree pollen) I found a pretty purple columbine growing in my backyard this morning.

9. Naked juice-specifically red machine. Love it!

10. Sparkpeople-just started using their site again after a long hiatus. I really like logging what I am eating. In some weird way, I think it keeps me on track.

Hope you have 10 things time 10 today that make you happy and give you a moment to pause, reflect and be thankful-or just make you smile.

time for a little makeover

2010-04-27T11:21:00.002-04:00

We are still very much in the process of furnishing this house, nearly three years after signing away our money, time and quite possibly our sanity to purchase it. When we moved here, we didn't even have to rent a truck, party because we only moved 1.3 miles and partly because I was bound and determined to leave all the hand-me-down and unwanted furniture behind. My theory was that if we didn't bring it, we would be more likely to replace it. The proof of exactly that is the futon that still lives in my basement, but that's a tale of woe for another day.

Today, I am turning my attention to this little beauty:

This thrift store gem only cost $30 and when I bought it almost 3 years ago, I thought I would have it for about 6 months and replace it with something taller, more interesting and, well, just better. The only thing is, I haven't found anything that fit those criteria and my budget. So, here it sits-on the side wall of my dining room.

Because it's in my dining room, you would probably be thinking that it holds linens or china or maybe fancy dishes we only use at Christmas or Arbor Day-but, you would be wrong! It holds every art supply and assorted piece of junk my children can collect until I force them to purge and get rid of at least some of it. In fact, when I emptied it to get started on the refinishing, my son saw the bag that held the contents of just the top drawer and said "MOM! what did you buy us???"

Here's the progress so far:

I am quite pleased with the new look. I bought the hardware and the legs at Lowe's and they were so simple to attach. I just positioned the metal base at each corner of the bottom of the cabinet and screwed them in. The, the legs just screw into the hardware. Luckily, my husband helped with the jigsaw to cut off the front legs. The back ones were attached with a peg and a few screws.

Because I just happen to have a few gallons of "oops" paint lying around, I am thinking of painting it black with maybe distressed pale green over it. But, I am not so sure. I am sure, however, that I will get that kids out of the left cabinet before I paint it-or it could get messy!

the best soup ever

2010-04-20T07:49:00.001-04:00

A few years ago, we were at Wegmans for lunch and I had the most wonderful southwestern chicken soup. If you have never been to WEGMANS you should stop reading this immediately and go there-not the website, but the actual store. If you have to drive several hours, don't worry-it will be worth it.

Back to the soup-it was amazing. I tried to track down the recipe on their website (because they do publish most of their prepared food recipes) and even asked my brother-in-law who was a chef there before moving on to his own restaurant. No one, and I mean no one, could get me the recipe. Thus began my quest for making the perfect soup.

On top of being so crazy delicious I could eat this every day, this soup ends up being really healthy, too and it's simple to make. Line up your ingredients:

This is about as easy as it gets, because all you have to do is start dumping the ingredients into your soup pot.

Let's start with the onions. I hate, hate, hate chopping onions, and thankfully someone at Wegmans knows this and they have packaged their chopped onions for me so I don't have to cry about how much I hate chopping them. I also love how their food is called FYFGA (food you feel good about) because really, I do feel good about already chopped onions. Put some olive oil in the pot and pour in the onions. I use half of this bag.

Once you've got the onions nice and translucent, it's time to bring on the chicken. I usually marinate the chicken overnight (at least) in the Wegman's Fajita marinade. This marinade is tomato based and spicy without adding any heat. I cook the chicken covered on low-medium heat till it's tender and ready to be chopped.

Many people use two forks to shred chicken or meat in soups and other recipes-I prefer this tool, which is used for making cheesesteaks. This way, I can chop the chicken right in the pot.

Next, get your can opener ready, because you are going to add the canned goodies:

I use two cans of original ro-tel and a can or two of mexicorn-undrained for both. The next step is the beans, and lots of them. Don't forget to rinse the beans if you are using canned (or drain them if you are using dried and then soaked beans). I use three cans of black beans, you could use more or less or even throw in some other beans if you want.

At this point, the soup looks like this-try not to eat it yet.

Sorry for the blurry photo-I think I was getting hungry! Add 2-3 cans of vegetable broth and a few cups of water and simmer the soup for a few hours. In the end, it comes out like this:

We eat it with shredded cheese (I like the jalapeno jack or cheddar for some kick) and a few crumbled tortilla chips. I tried to figure this soup out roughly for Weight Watchers and I think a one cup serving (without the chips and cheese) is 3-4 points. Enjoy! If you end up making the soup, let me know how you liked it!

the joy (and horror) of picking paint

2010-04-07T07:51:00.002-04:00

As much as I love color and thinking about colors and taking about 1,239 paint samples from Lowe's on every visit, the thought of actually selecting a color for any given room is incredibly stressful. It's like having to pick a favorite ice cream; it honestly can't be done without at least a little bit of remorse. Like, maybe I should have had black raspberry instead of the coffee...

In the spirit of complete decisiveness, I present the new color for my kitchen (maybe)

I love the small samples you can buy just about everywhere now because they really help you get an idea how the color will look on the wall. The paint is supposed to cover a 4' x 4' area, but I usually do what I did here in the kitchen-paint a small square on each wall. That way, I can get an idea what the color will look like at all times of day on the different walls in the room.

The wall color is fennel seed by Martha Stewart (home depot) and the ceiling is endive (also Martha by home depot). I love the idea of painting the ceiling a light color because our new raised ceiling is a focal point in the room. The cabinet color is called seal (Martha again), which is a rich charcoal.

So, this is it for the kitchen (I think!)

I live in zone 6....I live in zone 6

2010-04-05T15:42:00.001-04:00

but today has me wondering. It is a toasty 80 degrees right now, on April 5th. I feel like I should be out in the garden, weeding, planting, something. But, I do actually live in zone 6 and it's way too early for it to be this warm, or to really start planting anything of substance. After all, we could actually still have frost, though it seems more than a little unlikely. The temperatures around here are going to stay up in the 80's till about Thursday, then go back down to what will feel like a chilly 59!

In the meantime, I will share some gorgeous pansies from one of my two very favorite places to buy plants. These beauties are from Renninger's Farm.

What says spring better than pansies? I actually love pansies-they are so bold and seem to really not care that winter might try to show up again. Here are some more lovelies:

One (actually two) of the reasons my kids love to go to Renninger's with me are these guys

and this one:

I love the sign near the pig-pen. Basically, it says to keep your fingers out because fingers look like tasty pretzels! That's some good advice, especially when the owners of Renninger's give out baskets of pretzels for you to feed the pigs.

Lastly, my son had his own personal chicken following him around the other day when we stopped in:

So, I will keep reminding myself all week that it's not time to plant yet, it's not time to plant yet... even if it feels like June!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T16:56:00.001-04:00

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed Easter. I for one am ready to come out of the season of Lent, not only because I really miss eating cheese, but because I need to be an Easter person and not a Lent person.

Thanks, also to everyone who stopped by thanks to my post on Hooked on Houses-your comments were wonderful and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing my own "visiting" thanks to Julia's blog party. Oh, and don't you just love how I hid Easter eggs for you in that photo? Happy Easter!

In honor of freaky (house) friday-my dining room

2010-04-02T08:49:00.002-04:00

I fell in love with the blog hooked on houses at first sight. It was like finding a 12 step program for house obsession and it made my heart warm to know I wasn't the only one who did this:

I think the best time to take a walk is at dusk–after people have started turning on their lights, but before they have closed their blinds! (from Julia's quiz "are you hooked on houses")

She does all the snooping for you: celebrity homes, movie homes, homes for sale. So, when she announced her "freaky house friday" blog party, I thought I would jump in and share with my dining room.

My house, just 3 short years ago, was decorated in early 90's mauve, colonial blue and floral overkill. Just about every room had some sort of stencil or adornment to remind us that flowers are great, really great. The dining room, though, was really something. Here's a look at a few of the "befores"

I should also mention that the living room and dining room were covered in mauve carpeting, which we will discuss at another time. For now, just check out that awesome paneling. I don't really know which part of it caught my eye first, the irridescent floral border that was only about 24" from the baseboard or the interesting choice to paint the upper part of it white, and leave the bottom in all its wooden glory.

Whichever it was, the dining room was now mine. Even before we had moved in, when I was imagining how I would decorate this house, I wanted a very traditional dining room. I love toile-love it! So, in my perfect dining room, it would be toile, chair rail and then a neutral color.

Because we were very new at renovating and had just spent about every dollar we had on the house, I didn't want to rip out the paneling for fear of what was behind it. Even now, I am glad I didn't take it out, because after ripping out the kitchen ceiling, I know what I would have been in for.

So, I... filled in every groove in the paneling with joint compound
every groove
every one
with joint compound

during that process, it looked a little something like this:

I can't show you what I looked like while doing this, but I am pretty sure it was scary! Even the hulk seems a little annoyed with the whole project.

The process was time consuming and at times frustrating, but eventually, it looked something like this:

This was before we did the floors and got our new table. And, judging from the china cabinet, it was also before I owned any dishes.

Here is the dining room today-pretending to be ready for Easter:

And here is a blurry shot of that same wall and the closet door from the before picture. That little blur is my son who just got a new scooter.

I think my dining room has definitely come out of freakiness. We eat every meal in this room, the kids do their homework, I spend many days working on the laptop at this table-it's our favorite spot to gather.

oreo truffle goodness

2010-03-30T16:35:00.002-04:00

disguised as Easter eggs...yummy sweet, sugar and chocolate coated Easter eggs.

Can't wait till Sunday to have these

oh, and cheese which I gave up for Lent!

Thanks to Ana at Knock-off Wood

2010-03-30T07:33:00.001-04:00

Just in case you are like the only person on earth who has not seen this website, Knock-Off Wood, you should leave here immediately and head over there. Ana is seriously the most talented and prolific semi-professional, stay at home mom, living in Alaska (yes Alaska) carpenter you could ever cross paths with-even on the internet.

From the first time I saw this website, I just knew I was going to become a master carpenter (mostly in my mind-the same way I can do pretty much all the gymnastics and ice skating I see on the Olympics) and complete all the projects on her site in record time. While other people have pretty much done just that (check out her "bragging board" section for proof), I decided to start small. My objective: Gabe's room, which started out looking something like this:

Not much to look at, to be honest. With this project in mind, I was happy to find that I had in my possession a few stray pices of wood, left over from a wall storage thing we bought when Cecilia was born (score one for reusing 13 year old wood). I also got some new clothespins and painted them with the blue glazing paint I recently got at Ikea on clearance (score again). Here is a photo of the tedious but worth it painting process:

I also stained the scrap wood with antique finish stain from Ikea that I got for 99 cents!! I actually love the shade that the antique stain brings out in even cheap pine, so I got several cans just for good measure, yet another testament to my ongoing obsession with oops paint and the like.

Next, I assembled the necessary tools:

Which included my new favorite: the staple/nail gun I purchased because apparently I lost the old one. This one is superior anyway because it shoots small nails in addition to staples, which made attaching the clothespins really simple. With Ana's design, she used glue to hold the clothespins on the boards. Because I know my son, I went with the small nails to hold them on.

Here's a look at just the boards, all nice and level. Well, except for the fact that the concept of "level" is relative when your whole house isn't level and your plaster walls aren't straight. But, this is as good as it gets around here. I had to stop short of both the wall and the frame of the window if I wanted the boards to look level, but that's the "charm" of a house that is nearly 100.

So, I used the staple gun/nailer to attach all the clothespins to the boards, and only nearly stapled my finger once, which I thought was really talented and amazing.

After struggling for quite a while trying to hang two frames perfectly next to each other on the wall that isn't straight in a room that's not level, in my old house, I resorted to some old-school tactics to get the frames up. I won't show you how I did it, but let's just say, it isn't pretty. The end result, however is:

All, in all, I am pretty pleased with my first small project from Ana's amazing blog. I can't wait to really build something big!

a little perspective

2010-03-22T08:18:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with all the big and little things I still want to do in this house that I forget how much we have really done in the 3 years since we moved in. We were so fortunate to find this house because it really was very updated considering its age of almost 100 years. The electrical was already updated; the kitchen was at least from the 90's and the basement was finished. The finished basement was like a small miracle when we were looking for houses.

So, in the interest of feeling a sense of accomplishment-I present the western wall of our kitchen (and our oldest child). Here is how it (and she) looked 3 years ago when we bought the house:

Yes, that is a pink kitchen with pink countertops and pink knobs and pink rose stencil all over the wall.

Here is the same space just a week ago! Oh, and that's the same kid, too-just for shock value. We still have to do the countertops, the backsplash, the ....oh, yeah, I am not supposed to be making lists, I am supposed to be basking in the glow of accomplishment.

snow day bathroom

2010-03-20T21:49:00.003-04:00

I've never been a fan of snow-not even when I was a kid. Somewhere back in this blog, I detailed one of my many, many horrific snow stories. In case you want to read it, go here. I would much rather put this winter for the record books far behind me and get on with the business of Spring!!!! Of course, once I start sneezing I will be ready to dump spring for its much better looking cousin, Summer, but that's another story altogether.

On snow day 9,876,856 this winter, I decided that it would be a good, no great, idea to re-do my downstairs bathroom commonly known as the boys' bathroom. In this old house of ours there are no "facilities" on the main floor, so when you have to GO, you either go up or down to do so. Our upstairs bathroom had already had a bit of a facelift, but downstairs was beige and boring: Exhibit A:

Armed with $5 oops paint, some vinyl flooring that looks really, truly like wood and a good dose of invincibility, I started the process of getting rid of the boring boys' basement bathroom. the first victim was the medicine cabinet, which the previous owners, thankfully only hung on the wall. Score one for no drywall repair!!

Next, came the paint-I have to admit that I have a problem with "oops" paint. I cannot for the life of me resist a $5 can of paint-even if I have no use for the color-it's $5 for a GALLON!!! Anyway, after some messing around, I came up with this color which seems to be somewhere between gray and deep plum.

Thanks to Layla at The Lettered Cottage, I learned about this great and inexpensive vinyl flooring that goes down like wood planks and is perfect for this little bathroom makeover!

I also put up a new light fixture (okay, my husband did that one), new mirror and hung ~~cheap~~ clearance curtain panels over the shower and the shelf area-more photos to follow!

If you ask me, that's a good way to spend a snow day!

A little demolition is good for the soul

2010-03-10T07:46:00.000-05:00

"Picnik Show"

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I never knew before we started this project, but I really like breaking stuff! I am not sure what that says about my personality, but I felt really at home using the crowbar.

You know I have always been in love with our house, from the moment I laid eyes on it just over 3 years ago. In case you don't know, this is our first house and it took us a very long time to get here. We were busy-going to school, having kids-you know, that kind of stuff. When we finally bought our house, it was a dream come true.

One thing that was anything but dreamy was the kitchen. With pink walls, pink COUNTERTOPS and a lovely floral stencil lining the walls, it wasn't exactly what I wanted in a kitchen. But it worked fine, and we painted it a shade of green I never quite settled on and got on with being busy.

Until-the roof leaked.
and leaked
and leaked
we patched and patched (and prayed)
but still, it leaked.

So, this demolition is the other side of the roof repair-the great ceiling renovation of 2010, which coincided with the snowpocalypse of 2010!

a little snow never hurt anyone

2009-01-22T15:12:00.003-05:00

Or did it? If you ask my kids, I have way too many "poor me-I grew up with too much snow" stories, but I did grow up where there was too much snow, at least for 5 very formative years of my life. We didn't always live in Southeastern PA, which gets minimal to moderate snowfall, or did before all this crazy warming started, but I digress. When I was in second grade, my very Brooklyn parents took my sister and I to the northern part of NY state, Albany to be exact. My first memory of our new home was looking for houses on my birthday and having to go to Sears to buy a Winter coat because it was SNOWING ON MY BIRTHDAY (May 6!).

So, fast forward several years later and we have all gotten as accustomed as possible to living in the land of snow. At this point, I owned long underwear, legwarmers and wore snow pants to school under my uniform skirt-that was a great look. We also used to sneak our saddle shoes out to recess in the armpits of our heavy coats. Once past the nuns' watchful eyes, we would pull off our boots, slip on the traction-less saddle shoes and basically ice skate on the front lawn of the school. Oh, and my neighbor down the street used to keep an ice rink of sorts for us in his side yard-he would use the garden hose every night to keep it going.

So, my snow story. I was about 9 and unlike my oldest daughter, was short. Our front yard was of course covered in about 4-5 feet of snow-as it would be till spring. The snow had an icy crust that you could walk on (do you see where this is going yet?). The lawn was actually a hill leading up to our house, but from the porch, with all the snow drifts, it was a straight shot out to the street and then about a 10 foot drop to the ground.

I decided to walk across the icy snow to go to the mailbox and about halfway there, hit a soft spot and fell in. Yes, I fell into the snow, with just my hand reaching up above me. If you ask my parents, I wasn't out there very long, but if you ask me it was just about a minute short of hypothermia. The only thing more horrifying and humiliating than being wedged into a snowbank for probably hours was listening to your parents and older sister laughing hysterically while they try to shovel toward you from the street!

so, my kids can have their Pennsylvania snow; I've had my fill. Occasionally, I will participate in a snowball fight and our whole family did walk a mile through the fresh snow to get sandwiches the other night. But, for the most part, I am counting till spring.

Have you seen this?

2009-01-09T19:52:00.002-05:00

I rarely ever watch videos, always worried they will end badly or surprise me with unwelcome nudity, but this one is amazing and this woman is amazing. Watch it, believe me.

the Thanksgiving list

2008-11-26T07:41:00.002-05:00

For the last several years, we have been making Thanksgiving lists. We always talked about thanks and remembered what we are grateful for on Turkey Day, but thanks to our wonderful Pastor, we have a tradition of the list. Our kids have to make a thanksgiving list BEFORE they can make a Christmas list-it's the rule. Now, well meaning relatives who are bound and determined to get their shopping done usually beg for lists before, so we allow a little wiggle room, but for the most part, it's thanksgiving list, then Christmas list.

I think it's a good way to live: give thanks before you ask. Remember your blessings before you put out your hand for more. I want to be the one who thanked Jesus, not the one of the nine who forgot.

It's also made the whole process a lot of fun. This year, it's a bit of competition between the girls as to who has more items and Gabe is writing a bunch of his "thankfuls" himself for the first time. After dinner on Thursday, while we are listening to "Christmas Island" (jimmy buffett) for the first time this year, the kiddos will make their Christmas lists.

So, in the meantime, here is my thanksgiving list. I am grateful for:

God, my faith even when it seems too small or not enough
my family, big and small, the ones I enjoy and the ones who drive me crazy
my oldest daughter who is growing too fast for me, but just right for her
my younger daughter, who is changing and growing just as God wants her to
my son, who is still my baby even as he is learning to read!
my husband, simply my life-even with our hectic existence lately
my home, which after a year and half still takes my breath away
my friends-couldn't live without them
coffee, specifically Starbucks (again, don't want to live without it)
the change of seasons
the change of presidents
a warm home on a cold day
having enough always
our cars, with their combined mileage of nearly 300,000 miles!
apples
pedicures (though infrequent)
messy kisses from a 4 year old
the occasional chance to sleep in, even though it comes with a wiggly kid or two
beauty
art
creativity
the chance to be a writer, and the hope of more to come

I am sure there are more, but I have to wake someone for school. Oh, yeah, I am thankful for school :)

apparently, I suck at being grateful

2008-11-13T10:50:00.002-05:00

Well, my best intentions to keep up with my blog have as usual, gone by the wayside. I don't know why I neglect this little spot; sometimes I don't know why I write it either. But, for what it's worth, I do.

So, let's see, it's almost mid month and am I still living in gratitude? I am not sure. I am finding it hard to concentrate lately and getting caught up in and rattled by the minutia. Small, but time consuming writing projects that make me feel less like a writer and more like an outsourced drone, tedious household tasks that need to be done again even before they seem finished the first time (laundry for example), not enough time with the people I love, not enough creativity, not enough warm socks and hot coffee, too many phone calls, but not enough conversation, abrupt emails that should have said more, wondering if I am on the right path these days.

All that sounds like ingratitude, huh? Well, this morning knocked me off my feet. My middle child, who is always full of either vinegar or sugar, came into the kitchen dressed for school and nearly took my breath away. Where did my little one go? Not the baby, not even the toddler, but the little girl, with the rounded cheeks and soft features, the one that always had trouble waking up and would want at least 20 extra hugs every morning? Thankfully, she is still snuggly, but she is looking so grown up.

I dropped everything and sat down with her to tell her all my favorite things about her from when she was little and from now. How when she was little, she used to sneak in her sister's room and lay on her bed and play with her stuff while she was at school. I also confessed how I did the same to my sister when I was little. I told her how much I love it that she is reading my books from when I was a kid (Charlotte's Web this week). Also, how Charlotte's Web was the book she carried around and "read" when she was 2.

So, I am grateful, so very humbled and grateful. Grateful perhaps beyond mere words for this answer to prayer. See, things with this girl have been tough lately. She's been having a tough time and so have we. We have all needed patience that only God could give us and I have been praying and praying for help. And, today, here it was. I saw her through new eyes. My most fervent prayer is always to see people as God sees them, not as I see them, and I think today, for a moment, that prayer was wholly answered with my daughter and, I am grateful.

When God sees her, I think he must see her like this:

Gratitude

2008-11-01T07:19:00.000-04:00

Ahhh... November. To the retail industry and most of the media, this month is nothing but a speed bump on its hurried way to the biggest money making holiday known to our western culture. Of course, I am talking about Christmas, but that has become the holiday-that-must-not-be-named these days. But, to me, November is a welcome respite, a time to reflect, to think and to be quiet before the hustle and bustle of Advent and Christmas. The trees look bare, the leaves having all but fallen. The weather is chillier and darkness comes earlier.
While Thanksgiving isn't a religious holiday, I think the Pilgrims had it timed just right. Give thanks for the harvest, give thanks what will carry them through the long winter. While I may have the conveniences of modern life and don't have to store up supplies for the coming season, I do have to take stock of what I have in my life and give thanks. And, I plan to do that here for November. Some will be deep (I hope) some will be frivolous, but I will be grateful for all. So, today, I am grateful for the opportunity to express my gratitude here on this blog. And, if you are reading, I am grateful for you.

Rejoice always

Pray without ceasing

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in

Christ Jesus for you

Fall is also called Autumn

2008-10-03T16:18:00.005-04:00

Well, I have made soup, my toes are a little cold and my house is decorated in harvest/halloween!! It must be fall. I seriously love this time of year, it is a welcome respite after the rush and heat of summer. The (now) quiet afternoons, the chill in the air that makes my kids actually get a jacket without being told, and the calm it seems to bring to my soul: I am grateful for all of these.

The seasons have always been a reflection of God's love and grace to me. First, the beauty and power in creation. The new life of spring, the vibrance of summer, the stillness of fall, the hibernation and waiting of winter. Each season has its own beauty and if you watch for it, there is reason to stand in awe and thanks for the gifts each will bring. Second, there is the message. It is so easy to draw comparisons to our lives, our faith and our moods from these seasons; it is almost too simple. Sometimes we are bursting with joy, sometimes we are waiting out our own personal winter. We find time to gather our harvest and bring family together. To me, the change of season means a time to refocus on my faith and Autumn is the best time for me to do that, with a return to schedule, to quiet time with kids in school, to knitting and cooking and baking-all with a heart of gratitude.

And, I like decorating my dining room for the "harvest"!!

there just might be

2008-09-09T17:16:00.003-04:00

Okay, so we are in the third week of school, with 2 kids full day and that little one going every day for the afternoon, and I have to say-things are good. I have wondered for a while what it would be like when I didn't have anybody home and, well, it's good. The last time I had no one home was when I had a little alien invading my body (that would be the middle one) and my oldest was in preschool 2 mornings a week. It didn't last long, as eventually, she was born and my tiny window of nothing was replaced with feeding, changing, holding, more holding, you know the drill.

So, now. it's good. I think there might be a grown up inside me trying to get out. Today, I realized that I was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the day, drinking a cup of coffee and chatting with a friend in the middle of the day with no kids at home. And, tomorrow, you know what?? I can do it again. Of course, my "free" time is limited since I am taking on some larger projects, and technically, I only have 2 hours and 18 minutes (but who is counting??) between dropping off kid 3 and kid 1 coming home.

Don't tell anyone, but school is good :)

I leave you with a photo of the space left behind when you take out the ugliest medicine cabinet in recent history:

september cometh

2008-09-05T14:01:00.005-04:00

So, September is here. As I sit in my dining room with the window a/c blaring directly in my face, it's hard to have warm feelings about the idea of fall. What I would like is cooler feelings in general and less 90+ degree weather. It seems that even though I swore off the a/c for the season, I cave in on the 5th day of heat and turn it on (and am secretly thankful that my husband didn't have time to take the units out last week.)

Since I last posted, I have become the mother of a middle schooler, a second-grader, and a 4k-er! Okay, I have always been the mother of these kids, but their respective grades are giving me a little pause this September season. I know many moms who feel as I do-that September is the new year, the time to start fresh, the time for resolution. Really, my life looks pretty much the same on December 31st as it does on January 1st, except that I generally have a new Turkey Hill calendar on the wall. (and my kids are searching the back for the ice cream flavors and bugging me to use the coupons).

This year, my resolutions are to be organized enough to be open to some new opportunities. I am praying and waiting to hear about some exciting new jobs that might be coming my way. I am going to be ready if they arrive! I am also ABSOLUTELY SCHEDULING IN time for exercise and creativity. I am doing this and eventually this. Which as this point seems crazy since I have never been a runner, but I just have this feeling that I should run.

Today, I am both cranky and grateful, mostly cranky due to the heat, but also because I have a stack of articles to rewrite with SEO optimization and the most interesting topic seems to be powerwashing. Also, as I listen to NPR today, it's science friday which generally makes me feel just a little less smart than usual.

Also, a little heartbreaking, I BROKE my camera last week. The last 8 days without a camera have been painful to say the least! Luckily, I got the first day shots before it broke!

I am grateful that we live where we don't have to board up our homes or evacuate and I hold in prayer everyone who has done that for Gustav or is doing it for Hanna or will do it for Ike. After spending several years raising money to help the reconstruction effort for Katrina victims, my heart aches for all the current troubles in the Gulf and the southeast.

I am grateful that my kids are healthy and happy and that they have a/c at school (our 90+ year old elementary school only has it in a couple of rooms and mine have it!).

I am grateful for friends and family.

I am grateful for my faith and for the peace it is giving me as I await (somewhat impatiently) news.

I am grateful for my husband's job and for his willingness to work so hard for our family, even when he isn't satisfied with what he is doing.

I am grateful for my a/c (have you noticed a theme here?)

Have a wonderful and safe weekend.

army guys and bows

2008-08-04T07:28:00.004-04:00

so, yeah I am feeling pretty pleased with the cake I made for Cecilia's birthday. I have absolutely no professional training or experience with cake decorating, but I do have that irresistable combination of optimism and enthusiasm that allows me to pretty much try all kinds of things that I have no experience doing. Like refinishing wood floors, electrical work, and using fondant on a cake. I mean, I do watch Ace of Cakes now and then, and I do still love using play-doh so what could go wrong? This time, exactly nothing went wrong and the cake for my oldest daughter looked fabulous. Now, before you ask me when I am starting my professional career, I must share the other cake I made for the same party:

Not exactly Ace of Cakes material, but this army rendition of the pool cake made one little four year old boy VERY happy. The river is made of jell-o. I wasn't too happy with the way the color came out, it pretty much looked like a vat of grape jelly, but luckily, the birthday boy didn't care about the color. He just loved the combination of army guys and frosting, so life was good.
Now that two of my children have "turned" a new age, I am finding myself feeling nostalgic. We are headed into uncharted territory this year. The oldest is bound for middle school, and the little one is headed for every day pre-school at the big school. It feels like kindergarten to me even though it is officially called 4-k. I feel a little like someone pulled the rug out from under me and my kids have grown up without me noticing.

I am not a fan of change, so this year should be interesting. Just the thought of all the new schedules and activities has me a little anxious, but anxious or not, the new school year will be here in 3 weeks!!

in the groove

2008-07-01T07:21:00.002-04:00

We are certainly adjusting nicely to the lazy days of summer. My kids have a tan (well as much tan as kids who favor their 1/2 Irish mother can get), I am sporting what I like to call my savage tan (again-see the Irish comment), The house is staying wonderfully clean because we are pretty much never in it, and we are all staying up late, the kids are sleeping late and everyone is in a vacation-type mood.

As of right now, we don't have any big summer plans-thanks mostly to gas prices and the price of heating oil that is lurking just around the corner for us in the fall. We are also going to be saying goodbye to our 11 year old car soon and a reluctant hello to a car payment for the first time in about 4 years. So, it's close to home for us but we are making the best of it and having fun together. The summer days go so quickly-we've been out of school nearly a month already and I am not sure where it went.

So, all this brings me to my gratitudes for summer, I am thankful

that I can be home to share summer with my kids

for the pool we belong to

that we are all healthy

for family

for summer birthdays

for the beauty of creation in this season

for 99cent shakes at sonic

for packed lunches and dinners eaten at the pool

for sunscreen and chlorine scented kids

for air conditioned libraries and movie theaters

for the 20 minutes of reading time required daily to get a free Dairy Queen blizzard at the end of the month

for friends

this is what it looks like

2008-06-18T08:50:00.003-04:00

when you have left your aunt and cousin in the baby pool and decided to just jump into the big pool all by yourself, with no grown up, not even an older sister in the pool. If you are Gabe, you would have a hard time understanding why that is not a good idea, because, as he puts it "but mom, I can totally swim."
Good argument, actually, but I won't tell him I think so. For his crime, he had to sit out for a few minutes. I would have liked to keep him in exile a little longer, but the wind was so chilly, I thought it would be heartless.

summer's here

2008-06-17T07:22:00.002-04:00

So, we had a picture perfect day on Sunday and I have no pictures to prove it. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes with strawberries, maple sausage, coffee and orange juice. My kids said it was weird having pancakes for breakfast-I guess it's been a while since we had breakfast for breakfast. We usually do breakfast for dinner around here because my idea of a good breakfast is a cup of coffee.
We took the kids up to the school playground and "practiced" softball with all of them for a while. Gabe got too hot, so he and I came home and packed some snacks for the pool. We hit the pool around 3 and stayed till 7-stopped at the store on the way home and then had dinner around 8:30. It was 10pm by the time we got the kids into bed and they were all tired and smelled of sunscreen and chorine-probably my favorite smell in the whole world.
It was a day of simple pleasure, just being together with no agenda and nowhere to be.

masterpiece

2008-06-02T08:06:00.003-04:00

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? Either way, this portrait of Cecilia took my breath away. Cecilia takes art classes at a local studio in the Fall. It is a great place to be creative, an old house by a pond, with a little stream and a koi pond right inside. So, the daughter of Cecilia's teacher is very talented and created this portrait of her last year and we finally got to see it today.
The portrait is indescribably beautiful. It totally captured her personality. I was pretty much in tears when I saw it yesterday and that took me by surprise. The artist is using it next year to apply for college and then I am hoping we can purchase it! I need to have this portrait.

string

2008-05-23T10:14:00.003-04:00

this boy is so much fun and he has his grandfather's ability with knots and string. My father-in-law could tie a knot that no one, and I mean no one could untie. He was a cook on merchant ships that ran a trade route from Europe to Africa. He would be gone on long voyages, gone for more than a year at a time. Of course, this explains the spacing of my husband's siblings quite well.
He could tie a knot, and now Gabe has somehow genetically inherited his love of all things tie-able (not sure that's even a word. He is constantly tying knots, tying string, taking my bathroom robe belt and creating marvelously intricate patterns and knots, tying chairs together, tying himself to things. If he could get the cat to stand still, he'd tie her to something.
So, last week, when he found the ball of string that I used to tie up the climbing roses on the trellis on the front porch, he was in heaven.

here it is

2008-05-22T14:11:00.004-04:00

Now, two posts in one day. Apparently, the woman who lived here before us LOVED roses. She had planted many rosebushes and lovingly stenciled roses and vines and ivy with roses and little patches of roses all over the house. While the stencils were covered within days of moving in, I have taken over the care of her living roses and this is the first beauty of the year. I pruned all the roses in March, and was hoping that the plants would be okay after my attempts at caring for them, and it seems that they are!!

wow

2008-05-22T07:18:00.001-04:00

So, without resorting to self-loathing and excuses, I cannot believe I have not updated this blog in more than two months. All my good intentions have gotten me nowhere and I have neglected this little journal miserably.
April was truly a blur this year, starting off with what we like to call Tonsilectomy on Tuesday (can you tell that Julianna is into Magic Treehouse books right now?). She handled the surgery really well, but it was both scary for us and reassuring at the same time. As I answered all the pre-op questions, I said a little prayer of gratitude for each "no" I was able to give: no heart problems, no liver problems, no kidney problems. You get the idea. It really helped give me some perspective on how healthy and lucky we all are. For some parents, a tonsillectomy would be a joy and they are just hoping that their child will live. I don't want to forget that; I want to be grateful as I share this time with my kids.
We also have become a sports family-which has been so much fun and busy and crazy. Cecilia has taken to softball like a natural and is starting a skills class this week. One of the coaches has suggested private pitching coaching for her (who even knew this existed?) At the rate of $40 an hour, I think we will wait just a little for that one.
I, for myself, have been up to my eyeballs in busy! I have taken on several larger writing projects which, although not very inspiring, have been good for me. Squeezing work in around the kids' schedule and spending time with Gabe this last year before school has been an adventure and a challenge. We are also in full swing Vacation Bible School planning mode. And,now I am up to my ears in the end of the year excitement. School awards, preschool picnic, ladies lunch at church, field day, pool day for the fifth graders, Alex's Lemonade stand for the fifth graders, it's all good and all fun, but wow. It's a lot to pack into one week. Now I know why the Duggars homeschool their kids-the schedule would kill them.
I am going to take a picture later of my very first rose of the season-it's on one of the red rosebushes out back.

she is seven!

2008-03-06T08:49:00.003-05:00

I can't believe my baby girl is seven today!! She has been sick with some type of stomach flu all week and hasn't been to school yet this week, but her birthday has arrived anyway. All in all, she is handling it well, with breaks of crankiness and complaining, mixed in with the enjoyment of being home and some birthday gifts already. We always give "sibling gifts" first thing in the morning.
We also stayed up late and decorated the dining room with photos of the birthday girl.

so, yeah, I scrapbook

2008-02-28T22:19:00.001-05:00

Well, I haven't scrapped in just about forever. Last month at my crop for Katrina, I attempted to work on some pages, but my purpose in being there is really to make everyone else comfortable and serve food, and handle all the details. I like to crop a little while I am there, but can't focus for long. So, this weekend, during Friday's snow day, I scrapped:

And, while Friday was our first measurable snow of any consequence, only one of my children had any desire to go out and play:

Sorry he is sideways, but I forgot to format the photo first. He had a blast and we made a snow-snack, which was a little hershey kiss shaped sculpture because the snow wasn't wet enough to really pack. We stayed out for about an hour and then it started to really sleet and we came in. We had a really nice day of movies and crafts and snacks and (for me) scrapbooking.

at the risk of being redundant

2008-02-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

I am again forced to blog about my dining room. I know my faithful blog readers have been wondering what exactly my dining room looks like these days, and now, you know. We finally have our fabulous table! It is more beautiful than I had imagined, all 7.5 by 4 feet of it! It is so strange sitting so far away from each other, since our old table was only about 28"across. We aren't quite settled into it yet and I am very cautious about allowing drinks around it, but so far I am in love with it.

As is usually the case with me, one piece of furniture arriving has put other pieces of furniture into motion and now my house is bordering on chaos. The old table needed to be relocated to the basement where it will serve as a desk. This required the removal of the old desk and some shelves as well as the painting of the office area. All of this, including the purchasing of $5 paint, happened between 1 and 3:30 pm on Saturday-not bad if you ask me. The office is green, which is my favorite color, but a shade that is slowly growing on me. Of course, when I told my husband I got the paint for $5 he proclaimed it to be the perfect color. Moving the old table downstairs was more work than I had anticipated, but now that all the pieces are in place, I really like the way it looks. I think it will work better as well.

At the same time, I decided that Gabe's room needed some work and cleared a bunch of toys out of the basement so that I could move the toy storage from the basement to his room and move his nighttable back up to Cecilia's room because she really needed it.

Sometimes I am amazed that my husband still speaks to me!

winter inspiration

2008-01-29T16:58:00.001-05:00

So, because I am always inspired by this blog I thought I would try to find something beautiful about winter. I am way more of a bah-humbug type when it comes to winter. I don't like to be cold. I have a 3 year old who doesn't like to wear a coat and who still needs to be buckled into a carseat with a coat he didn't want to wear anyway. I spend the winter looking for the longer days and waiting for the warmer weather.
The idea is winter white and because there's no white stuff on the ground around here, this is my offering. This lovely mixture became my favorite muffins-cinnamon strawberry from Cooking Light magazine. I don't think they end up being very "light" around here because we can't stop eating them, but at least they start out that way.
Today I spent the day cooking and baking (after a little work this morning and while Gabe had his friend over). I made some meals for friends who are going through some rough times. One had surgery yesterday for breast cancer, the other is awaiting news about brain surgery. It felt good to be making the "good soup" for them. Something small, not a cure for the cancer or for an unexplained mass on the brain, but something. Slicing onions, cooking the soup in the stock pot that's so big I could actually have used a stool to reach in for stirring, filling the containers, all of it was a prayer, something sacred.

Galations 6:2

bear one another's burdens and in doing so,

fulfill the law of Christ

super gabe

2007-12-15T16:47:00.000-05:00

Me: Gabe, look at this picture

Gabe: that's me, mom

Me: yes, that's when you were superman for Halloween

Gabe: Remember that? That's when I saved the day

less than 2 weeks

2007-12-12T14:04:00.001-05:00

Because my house is decorated for Christmas and because I just love sharing pictures of my dining room-here it is:

So, the photo is poorly lit, but you get the basic idea, right? I am loving having myveryownhouse at Christmas. It's so much fun decorating and making everything festive.

We are mid-hustle and bustle around here, with activities revving up and shopping coming to an end. I am trying to keep some peace and room for reflection in this season of advent, but am coming up a little short as usual. It's always so hard to make the space for quiet in a home with four other people! Wishing you all a wonderful, magical, memorable Christmas, full of joy and light.

I am holding in prayer this advent season all those whose Christmases will not be filled with joy, those who have lost loved ones or whose family is in turmoil, or who are caring for a sick relative or spouse. The events of this year have taught me to be both thankful for the blessings I have and to be prayerful and mindful of those who are struggling. It could easily have been a sad Christmas for us, but for God's healing and mercy for my mom.

It's the most wonderful time...

2007-11-28T19:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it is nearly Christmas, but here it is just getting to my big charity crop planning time. The crop is January 12th, so I am in full swing planning mode and I really do enjoy it. This is what it looked like last year:

this year, I am hoping that we will have to beg, borrow and nearly steal to have enough seats for everyone that wants to come. So, if you are a scrapper and you are close to me-just email me for more information! There was a lot of creative energy in that room and such a sweet spirit. I am hoping to have another presentation this year of what our work-crew did last year in Mississppi.

So, as I continue to give thanks for all my many blessings, I am also grateful for the opportunity to host this crop! Hope to see you there!

every good and perfect gift..

2007-11-15T07:34:00.000-05:00

This year has changed the life of my whole family. 6 months ago today, we bought our first house, this house that now feels like home. Before we bought the house, I was so weary from living at our old, rented place. Couldn't wait to get out after living there for 6 long years. I was so glad when we finally closed the door on that house and that part of our lives; that was certainly a literal ending to what was figuratively a long and exhausting wait and struggle to get to this point.
Now that we are here, in this home that I love, I can hardly remember living anywhere else. I was so unhappy being there and am now completely content and often, still, thrilled with our house. Sometimes, especially when I am walking in the upstairs hallway, I remember when I first came to look at this house and I could immediately picture us living here. I feel so blessed to have this home, so grateful for this amazing gift. There are so many beautiful moments in this home, I am constantly reminded to be humble and grateful for being here.
So, my concrete things in this home that I am grateful for:
a really big sink with the cool faucet
the front porch
high ceilings
the pretty walk along the side of the house
21 windows and 3 skylights
wood floors
the dining room I worked so hard on and now is so cozy
a finished basement for all the kids' stuff
the kids having their own rooms
being close enough for the girls to walk to school
the bay window in the living room
the woodwork, especially the staircase
the feeling of coming home to ourveryownhome every single day

it's november

2007-11-14T07:07:00.000-05:00

So, I am celebrating this November, apparently, by scrapping photos from last November. This is one of the layouts I made on Saturday when I spent the day with some great friends, just talking, laughing, snacking, and scrapbooking. It had been so long since I had even pulled out my supplies, but it was such a fun day and it felt so good to create a little. Being in the company of that group of women is always rejuvenating for me.
I just realized this morning that next week is Thanksgiving and I haven't even begun my Thanksgiving list. We hold this tradition near and dear in our home. Our pastor started it, handing the kids a cute piece of paper a few years ago, simply title "Thanksgiving List" and instructing them to complete that list before they even beging their Christmas list. My kids are always amazed when they hear about other kids making their wish lists well before Thanksgiving!
In the spirit of gratitude, I will begin my list here.
I am thankful for:
my home
my mother's improving health
my family, big and small
answered prayer
my husband who drags me out of bed much too early to have coffee with him before he goes to work
Gabe having such cute manners, like holding doors for me
Julianna being able to read chapter books and feeling so good about it
Cecilia's talent with clarinet and the joy she finds in playing it
the love my parents have for each other
coffee
friends
my new slipper socks
learning to knit
creativity
heat on a cold morning
our wood floors

There's a start, I will keep adding.

some golden grahams goodness

2007-10-02T14:52:00.000-04:00

Do you remember these? These were an absolute favorite of mine as a kid and I had to BEG my mother to make them. She was never a big fan of melting anything-we actually talked about that at last year's cookie day. My mom would make all sorts of intricate recipes, fancy cookies, tarts, whatever-but you would never find a rice krispies treat or an indoor smore in her house.

In case you don't remember these-it's:

8 cups golden grahams cereal

6 cups of marshmallows

5 T butter

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (the original recipe says milk, but we use semi-sweet)

1 t vanilla

take out 1 cup of marshmallows, then melt the rest with the butter and chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and then add the cereal and the separated marshmallows.

On the green front, I got sandwich containers for my kiddos lunches so we can eliminate the baggies. They are going to try the water type bottles they already have for their lunch drinks and we will see how that goes. I also got new recycling containers from our borough so that we can really recycle and it's now on my oldest's chore list to handle the paper recycling. I am also trying to get more info on composting-everything I have found so far is a little pricey. I think that's the way with a lot of the "green" stuff-it's almost like a status thing. Anyway, not sure if I made my goal of 5, but we are all looking for ways to reduce how much trash we are making. Oh-and I am only allowing individual snacks to be eaten out of the house.

going green

2007-09-28T07:24:00.000-04:00

so, this week as I was putting my groceries away and just generally cleaning up the kitchen, it struck me. We, as a family, generate a TON of trash. A ton. Maybe I have been watching too much "living with Ed" or maybe I am just starting to realize that so much waste just can't be good, but something needs to change.
I am going to spend some time this weekend (you know, my spare time) to come up with 5 concrete things for our family to "go green" and really reduce the amount of trash we make. I have a sneaky suspicion that part of that idea will involve more cooking for me so that we can eliminate some of the packaged foods (like snack foods for the kids' lunches). I think I will also go old school and get my kids some thermoses for their lunchboxes-thereby eliminating the dreaded juice box.
Anyway, that's my goal.

one hat, two hat

2007-09-26T14:08:00.001-04:00

One hat complete and one hat in progress. I actually knit the first hat in just one day-one day with a LOT of knitting!
So, now it's 1.25 down, 5.75 to go. This is my first time following a pattern and it is a simple one, but I am still pleased with how the whole project went along.

have you seen this???

2007-09-21T07:21:00.000-04:00

As if I don't feel old enough with my ten year old daughter being only about 2 inches shorter than me. American Girl, a company I have supported financially for years now, comes out with their new HISTORICAL DOLL!!! So, this one is from the 70's and she is HISTORY!!!! Wow, nothing like that to make you feel old.
Basically, though, it got me thinking about how much things have changed since I was born in the seventies. I am going to work on a whole list of them and hopefully make it part of a scrapbook that will include pictures of me from when I was a kid.
So far, I have these: When I was a kid
Everyone smoked
My dad had big sideburns and wide leg pants
my mom set her hair in rollers every morning using a little tabletop mirror in the kitchen
Our house and our car were not air-conditioned
I had a record player that was a pink suitcase
we wore corsages to church for holidays
our family had only one car

I will keep adding to these-I would love to hear others!

The floors

2007-08-22T08:31:00.000-04:00

Well, with another[emergency] home project looming on the horizon, I thought I would finally post about our floor refinishing. After considering our options, which were few given that we didn't have $2500 for professional floor refinishing, we boldly forged ahead with our decision to tackle the floors on our own. I spent most of the night prior to the project either awake, worrying about the floors or dreaming about landing with the sander in our basement. Neither scenario afforded me much sleep or peace.

So, first thing that morning, Sandro headed off to the rental place and I got the final pieces of furniture out of the way. We woke up the birthday boy, sang to him, gave him presents and cinnamon rolls and then banished the kids to the basement with a movie and the promise of endless tv and snacks if they would just stay down there.

The sanding actually went much smoother than either of us had anticipated (no pun intended). it was mainly time consuming and because this was July 30th-it was also sweaty work. Sweat mixed with floor dust-not a pretty sight. By lunchtime, we had completed the requisite 4 passes through the living room with ascending levels of sandpaper grit: you got your 20, your 36, your 60 and your 100. We skipped the 80 like we were professionals who knew exactly what we were doing.

I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch and then to a friend's house while Sandro started the dining room. I came home and handled clean up and did a little more sanding. As is our custom, we didn't speak of how the job was going-no need to get ahead of ourselves. By 5 pm the job was done and I was on my way to pick up the kiddos and get home to shower.

Finally, at dinner, we had a little celebratory patting each other on the back and marvelling at how well we had done. The next morning, came applying the wax-again time consuming and sweaty-this time with an overpowering smell instead of the dust from the day before. We headed out of town for the wax to dry and vacationed at my parents' house for the day.

With buffing the only task left, we were supposedly home-free. But, the industrial strength buffer we had planned to rent was not the right tool for the job. Honestly I was disappointed that we wouldn't have the chance to drive that big buffer and more than a little put out that we were running out of time and our victory seemed about to turn to defeat. After a little bickering, Sandro procured a hand buffer and the job was back on.

So, we are still quite pleased with both the floors and ourselves.

2007-07-02T07:31:00.000-04:00

This morning, my family will attend a funeral. Our "building superintendant" at church passed away last Wednesday after several complicating incidents finally culminated in pneumonia, which as for many elderly people, was the last straw. This man was a hard worker, with a servant's heart and a preacher's mind. He was such an example of the saying "preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words"(which I think is St. Francis of Assisi). His quiet demeanor and humility were a blessing to all who knew him.

He and my son shared a special little bond from the moment they met more than 2 years ago. Last summer, on Gabe's birthday, we brought cupcakes to church for the kids to have after the service since we don't have any snacks for coffee hour in the summer. Well, during the service, Wayne put out quite a spread for Gabe-a tablecloth, two pretty trays for the cupcakes and hand-written signs that said: Happy Birthday to the boy, Gabe is 2!!! And, this past year, when Gabe was in preschool, Wayne was known to check in on him through the window of his classroom, and for his part, Gabe never wants to leave church without saying goodbye to Wayne. When I tried to tell the kids about his passing, Gabe said "him at the other church." I said, "honey, Wayne's in heaven"-to which my son succintly replied "yeah, at the other church IN heaven." I guess I should know better by now not to correct my kids in matters of faith.

So, today, the five of us will go to the funeral and remember this man, this servant of God-today for an hour or so, but also forever.

a little bit of accomplishment goes a long way

2007-06-27T15:31:00.000-04:00

the hulk says "wallpaper is tough" Actually it was both more difficult and easier to wallpaper than I had expected. As expected, my scrapbooking skills came in handy when lining up the pattern and my general "eye" for things being straight made the job easier. What was hard, as always, was the math-the measuring the figuring out of the numbers. I am not so good at that fancy math stuff, you know?? I honestly hope my kids don't get my math sense, because I wish much better for them.

so, here is one of the back of my head as I am hanging wallpaper, proof, that I, and not the hulk did the work in the dining room.

and, here is one completed wall. The photo is crooked, not the wallpaper.

It's too hot for words today and I have to go up and find Gabe. The girls are watching wizard of oz in the relatively cool basement and we are headed out to the mall when Sandro gets home-too hot even for the pool. I am tired, sweaty, tired of being sweaty, kind of hungry, kind of crabby, ready to have furniture in my living room... you get the idea.

transformations!!

2007-06-19T07:41:00.001-04:00

Okay, so maybe my mom is right and I sound like a new mother obsessing and adoring her new baby, but I can't get enough of this house. It is so exciting to be decorating and working on the house, I can hardly wait to get to each project. For the last week, we have been working on the dining room, which has gone from this:

to this:

to this:

I have spent my time alternately admiring and criticizing my work. It was very tedious to fill in each line of paneling with joint compound (twice for good measure). It was very messy to sand all that joint compound so there wouldn't be any lines. It was very boring to clean up all the dust from the joint compound (more than twice). Overall, the project was pretty cool-it feels good to be working on OUR house-not worrying if we will have to paint over it, or if we will get into "trouble" for doing it.

My wallpaper should arrive soon and we are painting color tonight!! Pretty soon, I will have a real dining room. Oh, and I took the kids to the hands on house yesterday in Lancaster-just my thinly veiled attempt to do some outlet shopping. I went to the pottery barn outlet and the PB kids outlet and found exactly nothing that I wanted!! I saw some gorgeous lamps, but since I don't have furniture yet, it seemed a little silly to be buying lamps!

just one home now

2007-06-06T07:35:00.000-04:00

Well, we did it. We moved. It doesn't seem real except for the fact that now life is settling in. We only have one place to live-no more "vacation home" as the kids called it for a while. School is wrapping up nicely and I am in full swing VBS mode as well as trying to get the house painted so that we can attempt to refinish our floors sometime in the near future. I miss having furniture in my living room a little more than I expected to.

the kids are settling in nicely-only Julianna still misses the old house, but that's just her nature. I found out from our old neighbor yesterday that my landlord ripped out the carpet (which, incidentally was like 100 years old) from the old place and my dreams of a returned security deposit have begun to wane.

I am so anxious to get the dining room and living room livable! At the same time, I feel really nervous about making decisions-it's weird! I need to pick out wallpaper for the dining room and paint for the living room and upstairs hallway before I can really get started. more pictures soon, I have to remember to bring the digital camera down and upload the photos.

a few thing i've learned

2007-05-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

I had 3 bottles of nail polish remover, all in the kitchen
I also had no less than 200 cupcake papers, but every time I make cupcakes, I can't find them and buy more
you can actually pack up six years of living in a little over a week
i can live without tv, but not without internet
a lot of things expired before i had a chance to use them
the end of something-even something you wished would end-is always a little sad in its own way
if you feed kids enough junk food, they will get really excited about grapes and apples
it's possible to lose weight while eating crap if you don't sit down for 3 days straight
I also had 3 stovetop espresso makers
5 people have a lot of stuff!!!

on moving

2007-05-26T21:49:00.000-04:00

This is it. the big move. the one we've been waiting, wishing, hoping, praying for. I've stayed away from the new house the last couple of days, almost as if it's not real, but more so because doing anything there is preferable to doing what's left to do here. And, I have got to finish here. Tomorrow night, we will spend our first night at the house and monday morning we will wake up in our own home.

tonight, as I pulled the last few things out of the kitchen cabinets, I thought of all the moves I've made in my life. As a kid, I can only remember 2. Then, there was moving back and forth to college. Into my first place and relationship and shortly after, out of both of those. Into my first real independent place, with a friend. It was dumpy and old, but I loved it. Then Sandro moved back from Lewisburg and into that place, where we lived when we got married.

When I was almost 8 months pregnant with Cecilia (on another memorial day weekend) we moved to another apartment-it seemed so big, but with a tiny kitchen. It had its bright spots and we had so much joy there-bringing our first child home, welcoming Sandro's parents (meeting them for the first time), living close to family.

Our next home came only a year later, and bringing us a little independence-off to Delaware on a little adventure just the 3 of us. We grew so much that year, our young family, our young marriage. We dreamed and planned for the future there, in our "most luxurious apartment home in New Castle." Or so the sign said at the entrance. We made a decision there that put us on a course to this very move.

Our next home was less than luxurious, but it was affordable (barely) I went to work and Sandro went to school and work. We spent a year in color-coded scheduling, with me counting down the days till I could be home with cecilia. Sandro finished school and we went to Italy for an amazing month. Later that year, we grieved with Sandro's brother and wife as she lost her sister and we all felt the helplessness of life ending too soon. As is the way with life, sorrow was quickly followed by joy (and a little worry) as we discovered that we would soon be a family of 4.

that year dragged on in the tiny basement apartment. With the two giant rottweilers and the stripper/prostitute upstairs and the domestic violence couple across the hall, there was rarely a dull moment. But soon, Julianna was born and we squeezed her crib into a corner of our bedroom and started looking for a new place to live.

Six years ago today, we saw this place where I am sitting typing for the last time. We have had so much joy here. We've hosted friends and family for holidays, the annual cookie day, birthday parties, movie nights, even the home parties have been fun. We welcomed our son to this home, this boy who completes our family and brings so much light into our lives. Our girls have shared a room since he was born, and this last night neither of them can sleep-both have been down here twice. I wonder if they are uneasy with the idea of their separate spaces.

We've had sadness, too. I remember sitting on the steps and watching as Sandro took the call telling him his father had died. I remember sitting in the same spot, sobbing while talking to him long distance on the day of the funeral, feeling in every fiber of my existence that my husband should not have buried his father without me at his side.

As of tomorrow, I will live somewhere else. I think taking the last 2 weeks to move was good for me, allowing me to ease into the idea of our new home. I wrote our last rent check a month ago, but it didn't sink in; my belongings are slowly disappearing-arriving either at our new house, or finding new owners. Still, it's been slow sinking in. This morning we had coffee and bagels at the new house, but the coffee was in disposable cups and the table was a card table. still, not sinking in.

By Wednesday, I will not be back to this place, maybe then it will sink in...

day 2

2007-05-17T07:30:00.001-04:00

It was a surreal experience to say the least. Yesterday morning, I pulled my car into MY off street spot and walked through MY backyard. I said good morning to my neighbor's cute bulldogs and took my table and set it on MY patio. I then opened the door to MY home!! I barely held the tears back as I stepped into the kitchen.

It's so overhwhelming. I am trying so hard to just accept this blessing, and not worry and not fear. every good and perfect gift is from above

We spent the day scrubbing, wiping down cabinets, taking down curtains. Gabe and I scrubbed the front porch and it was heavenly. I got him his own bucket and we washed the porch. The old owner left a carpet sweeper in the basement so we used that to clean the green indoor-outdoor rug that provides the no-slip area on the porch. Surprisingly, it worked really well-it looks like it's about 30 years old. The kids were great, but getting a little bored just when it was time to go to a friend's house.

While the kids were away, Sandro and I decided to start pulling up the carpeting, which was so much fun I can't even explain it. We are going to pull the tack strips up a little at a time and then lay the carpet back down until we get the furniture dragged through there and the walls painted. So far the floor looks good.

It is truly amazing that this is our home-doesn't feel real just yet. Maybe when we make the first mortgage payment.