As
"they"
say,
It's
all
fun
and
games
until
someone
gets
hurt.
=)
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Memorial (Day) Lane
so. it's been awhile. sorry. No, really, I am! I have 200+ new pictures on my computer, and there is no way I will be able to blog about them all. But Memorial weekend pics I can do. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
spring WIPs
So apparently we skipped winter this year and jumped right into "work outside" season?? We've barely been inside, much less on the computer, since the beginning of the month. I thought perhaps it was time for an update. If you agree, you should say so and maybe I'll try to update sooner next time!
so...the month's works-in-progress, in no particular order:
WIP#1 is not actually an in-progress anymore, but it was when I first thought of this post, so there. boy #2 has mastered his 2 wheeler. oh boy. this means that I now have to run to keep up with those 2 older boys, while pushing #3 in the stroller. Well, that or make them wait at every intersection or parking lot for me to catch up. I'll let you guess which is the preferred method.
WIP#2: We were informed by our insurance agency that our house was basically un-insurable as-is (go figure, it was un-financeable as-is too...). So instead of installing Hardi Board (our first love) we are doing the fiscally responsible thing and painting. The lower half is a grey/blue/green and is somewhat appropriately named "Mount Etna." All the trim and porch will be "Cottage Cream." In this light, the asphalt top half and painted bottom half look remarkably dissimilar. In other lights, they coordinate really well. All in all, even though we were aiming for "not as ugly" I think we in fact ended up with "kinda like it!" This is a WIP that will likely last all summer. ugh.
WIP #3 is school. We don't do sit-down learning every single day (more on our field trips in another post), but today we did. Pictured is our workbox system. Top row for boy1, middle for boy2, third and fourth for group activities or boy3.
WIP#4: boy3 is potty training. Which works out well as long as mom remembers to set the timer and pay attention, lol. We have our good days and our bad, but I presume he'll be reliable by age 2, so yay.
WIP#5: the garden. My handy dandy father build me 3 garden boxes, and they were promptly filled with sheep poo, straw, a little dirt, and compost. The town provided 4 trees worth of stump mulch, and we were in business. I sure hope at least something bears fruit (or vegetable...) because my aching muscles could use the nourishment ;-p ps: way back in the corner is my rhubarb, blueberry, and bush cherry "orchard" right next to the grape vine that I found last fall.
WIP#6 has been functional for awhile, but just this week I did a little work to make it prettier. We have yet to decide how to tackle the paneling, but there is paint on the floor, pictures and a mirror on the walls, and a rug almost finished :)
That's a lot of WIP's. No wonder I'm tired at the end of the day! It does feel good to get cracking on a few things though...pun intended. What do you think?
so...the month's works-in-progress, in no particular order:
WIP#1 is not actually an in-progress anymore, but it was when I first thought of this post, so there. boy #2 has mastered his 2 wheeler. oh boy. this means that I now have to run to keep up with those 2 older boys, while pushing #3 in the stroller. Well, that or make them wait at every intersection or parking lot for me to catch up. I'll let you guess which is the preferred method.
WIP#2: We were informed by our insurance agency that our house was basically un-insurable as-is (go figure, it was un-financeable as-is too...). So instead of installing Hardi Board (our first love) we are doing the fiscally responsible thing and painting. The lower half is a grey/blue/green and is somewhat appropriately named "Mount Etna." All the trim and porch will be "Cottage Cream." In this light, the asphalt top half and painted bottom half look remarkably dissimilar. In other lights, they coordinate really well. All in all, even though we were aiming for "not as ugly" I think we in fact ended up with "kinda like it!" This is a WIP that will likely last all summer. ugh.
WIP #3 is school. We don't do sit-down learning every single day (more on our field trips in another post), but today we did. Pictured is our workbox system. Top row for boy1, middle for boy2, third and fourth for group activities or boy3.
WIP#4: boy3 is potty training. Which works out well as long as mom remembers to set the timer and pay attention, lol. We have our good days and our bad, but I presume he'll be reliable by age 2, so yay.
WIP#5: the garden. My handy dandy father build me 3 garden boxes, and they were promptly filled with sheep poo, straw, a little dirt, and compost. The town provided 4 trees worth of stump mulch, and we were in business. I sure hope at least something bears fruit (or vegetable...) because my aching muscles could use the nourishment ;-p ps: way back in the corner is my rhubarb, blueberry, and bush cherry "orchard" right next to the grape vine that I found last fall.
WIP#6 has been functional for awhile, but just this week I did a little work to make it prettier. We have yet to decide how to tackle the paneling, but there is paint on the floor, pictures and a mirror on the walls, and a rug almost finished :)
That's a lot of WIP's. No wonder I'm tired at the end of the day! It does feel good to get cracking on a few things though...pun intended. What do you think?
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
to hold my pots
My Granny is a spectacular quilter. Every color is perfect, every stitch tiny. She hand quilted beautiful wedding quilt for me using squares first pieced by her own mother that has been on our bed for most of the past 8 (!) years and I bet it will last at least another 100. I think of her often when I am in the sewing room, but my skills don't even come close to hers. Yet still I create, and it makes me happy.
On the phone recently Granny agreed with me that sometimes "done" and "useful" is better than "beautiful" or "perfect." I think she was just being nice, but I'll take it! So, on the day after her birthday (oops), I thought it only fitting to make a little quilt. A.K.A. potholder. It looks better (more square) in person, but I will be the first to admit it is a FAR cry from perfect. But the colors (mostly from a bag of pre-cut strips from my cousin, thanks Amy!) are great and with a layer of batting and a layer of felted wool in the middle, it will be quite useful. Also, it quickly satisfied a crafting urge that struck once I realized all three boys were playing happily in 3 different corners of the house AND might very well stay that way for at least 20 minutes.
Happy birthday Granny! Maybe next time you visit I can get a few more pointers from the perfectionist =)
On the phone recently Granny agreed with me that sometimes "done" and "useful" is better than "beautiful" or "perfect." I think she was just being nice, but I'll take it! So, on the day after her birthday (oops), I thought it only fitting to make a little quilt. A.K.A. potholder. It looks better (more square) in person, but I will be the first to admit it is a FAR cry from perfect. But the colors (mostly from a bag of pre-cut strips from my cousin, thanks Amy!) are great and with a layer of batting and a layer of felted wool in the middle, it will be quite useful. Also, it quickly satisfied a crafting urge that struck once I realized all three boys were playing happily in 3 different corners of the house AND might very well stay that way for at least 20 minutes.
Happy birthday Granny! Maybe next time you visit I can get a few more pointers from the perfectionist =)
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sunday, April 08, 2012
babies in blue on Easter morning
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Take a picture, it lasts longer
At 18 months, boy #3 is doing a lot more of this:
as opposed to this:
and waayyy more of this:
than this:
I thought it prudent to document the last few minutes of babyhood before they slipped right on by.
as opposed to this:
and waayyy more of this:
than this:
I thought it prudent to document the last few minutes of babyhood before they slipped right on by.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Boy meets Drill
hmm, wonder if mom will notice me sneaking in here to check things out? Papa Nate's saw is a bit loud, but it does keep the brothers from interfering, so I guess it's ok. Good thing he is used to kids on the construction site!
Well hello, pointy red and black thing.
Wonder what this button does? Bummer, my fingers aren't quite strong enough. Maybe next renovation time. I hear the porch roof needs replacing, and I am pretty good at climbing!
Granny Boo says this is a DRILL and it is dangerous. cool! (insert the loudest toddler version of a motor possible)
Hello skinny silver thingy. You are very fun to bang. I do wish the bubble would come out though. Maybe I can use that drill to help the process along?
This would work so much faster if I could figure out how that switch works...
Aw man, now everyone's back and Mom's feeling claustrophobic. Maybe if I don't look at her she will think I can't hear her saying put the drill down and come eat dinner. lalalala not listening and DEFINITELY not letting go!
Well hello, pointy red and black thing.
Wonder what this button does? Bummer, my fingers aren't quite strong enough. Maybe next renovation time. I hear the porch roof needs replacing, and I am pretty good at climbing!
Granny Boo says this is a DRILL and it is dangerous. cool! (insert the loudest toddler version of a motor possible)
Hello skinny silver thingy. You are very fun to bang. I do wish the bubble would come out though. Maybe I can use that drill to help the process along?
This would work so much faster if I could figure out how that switch works...
Aw man, now everyone's back and Mom's feeling claustrophobic. Maybe if I don't look at her she will think I can't hear her saying put the drill down and come eat dinner. lalalala not listening and DEFINITELY not letting go!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
MOB challenge GIVEAWAY!
I just KEEP hearing about this little book and the ladies who have read it and taken the challenge. So when an opportunity came up tonight for me to receive a copy for myself and a copy for another mom just in time for a new challenge, I jumped right in. If you saw my facebook post last night, maybe you also have a copy? If not and you want one, leave a comment and I'll have one of my warriors pick from a hat :) The challenge starts May 1, and if you don't win and didn't see the offer in time but still want a copy, relax, it's only $3. If I'd known that I would have been "in" a long time ago, lol.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Call me "Old Fashioned" if you will...
...but there is something about skirts, front porches, and sock darning that makes me smile. A purring kitty never hurt either ;-p
What I'm wearing: skirt from a free clothes place (!), shirt rescued from a college student who destined it for the trash, bracelet from my mom's cousin Susie (btw, if you see this, I LOVE it and am reminding the H every month that I want matching dangly earrings for my birthday!), newly repaired favorite watch, wedding ring.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
St. Patrick's Day in the Morning
Daddy graciously informed the boys that since they were about 1/8 Irish, they only had 3 hours to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Which lit a fire under me to get school going. We all wore as much green as we could find (too bad you can't see my necklace, it's jadeite and very pretty and was a birthday present a couple of years ago) and I raided the bookshelf. Might need to flesh out our selections at the library later on today!
In the Bins:
1) St. Patrick's Day in the Morning was read, and Clever Tom and the Leprechaun will be read later. We talked about St. Patrick and why he is important, and where Ireland is on the map.
2) Boy #1 did some shamrock math. The alligator and tank escaped destruction for the day because they happened to be green ;-p I also wrote numbers 0-15 on the backs of the shamrocks and had him line them up in the correct order. We counted down from 15 to 0 and the resident Saint (ha) was pretty impressed with himself.
3) both boys drew a leprechaun using shape stencils and their own imaginations. #1 wrote the word on his own, #2 practiced tracing and we talked about "starting dots" for letters. again.
4) boy #2 used an activity first prepared by my very own mother for her first class a few (haha) years ago. Sorting pickes into their approprate "jar." Good thing laminate was around, or these would be falling apart by now!
5) Not pictured are their journals, where they taped a 3 leaf clover and narrated back to me the story about St. Patrick using a shamrock to illustrate the trinity. #1 also sounded out the word "clfr" all by himself before I could spell it for him. Yay!
6) boy#3's favorite part of the day was going outside, which is where I am writing this post right now! Hello, wireless router, nice to meet you. I'd like to say I had a green snack all prepared to go with the theme, but alas, it's just date pieces (my mom calls them turds) and pretzels. Please note the adorable jersey lined wool cap. There is a matching diaper cover, but it's under all the other layers of green so you'll just have to imagine the cuteness.
And now there is way too much sun out here to stay on the computer any longer. hooray Spring!
In the Bins:
1) St. Patrick's Day in the Morning was read, and Clever Tom and the Leprechaun will be read later. We talked about St. Patrick and why he is important, and where Ireland is on the map.
2) Boy #1 did some shamrock math. The alligator and tank escaped destruction for the day because they happened to be green ;-p I also wrote numbers 0-15 on the backs of the shamrocks and had him line them up in the correct order. We counted down from 15 to 0 and the resident Saint (ha) was pretty impressed with himself.
4) boy #2 used an activity first prepared by my very own mother for her first class a few (haha) years ago. Sorting pickes into their approprate "jar." Good thing laminate was around, or these would be falling apart by now!
5) Not pictured are their journals, where they taped a 3 leaf clover and narrated back to me the story about St. Patrick using a shamrock to illustrate the trinity. #1 also sounded out the word "clfr" all by himself before I could spell it for him. Yay!
6) boy#3's favorite part of the day was going outside, which is where I am writing this post right now! Hello, wireless router, nice to meet you. I'd like to say I had a green snack all prepared to go with the theme, but alas, it's just date pieces (my mom calls them turds) and pretzels. Please note the adorable jersey lined wool cap. There is a matching diaper cover, but it's under all the other layers of green so you'll just have to imagine the cuteness.
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