Little Chef (in training)

I have to say that I really enjoy some help in the kitchen. Since Kate isn't quite ready to help out, here she is familiarizing herself with the kitchen. Looks like she'll be a happy helper soon!

Welcome to our Home

Okay, this really isn't our home. This is the "model" home (laid out like the one we will start building soon). So imagine these pictures far messier, waayyyyyy less upgraded, and not so nicely decorated:) If you can picture all that, then you can imagine our house:)

Great Little Minds

Yesterday Ike watched closely as I put my makeup on.

"Mommy, why are you making your face dirty?"

Well, I've never thought of it that way before . . . :)

~

"I won! I won!" Ike exclaims after crossing an imaginary finish line.

Next Wyatt runs over the finish line exclaiming, "I'm two! I'm two!"

~

"Sweetie? Sweetheart?" Ike calls now when he's looking for me:)

Happy Days

When we were young, Mom used to have my oldest sister's friends over after school once a week. She always had a little sewing project ready for each girl, she made treats, and read In Grandma's Attic to us as we sewed. I got to participate even though I was probably just four years old. I probably insisted that I did as they did and Mom probably just figured it was a great way to keep me busy.

Having the "big girls" over thrilled me and I was happy to no end that I was allowed to join them. It made a lasting memory with me and I can't wait to do this with Kate and her friends. I've already planned the first project: tea towels! Embroidering is a simple project that anyone can have fun with. I'll probably pull out the fancy china and have hot chocolate served in tea cups. Childhood should be full of wonderful memories -- as mine was:) It sure does help that my Mom was creative and enjoyed sharing her loves and talents with us. It left quite an impression on me:) To this day one of my favorite things to do is pull out my sewing basket, make a cup of coffee or tea and sit in a cozy chair and embroider. From simple things come simple joys!

Now, if anyone has any ideas on what to do to make happy memories with boys, I sure could use some input! I was raised in a house of girls:)

Sick but Happy

We pulled this chair out of Ike's room and placed it in the family room. Kate has taken over the chair and loves climbing all over it and occasionally sitting down and enjoying watching all the bustle around here. It has even helped her start trying to walk. She now takes a daring three steps between the little blue chair and the couch! Yay!

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Bill doesn't like soup. I love soup. This poses a bit of a problem, but an easy fix if you ask me. I'm the cook so I get to decide what we're having for dinner:) I also like to make sure that Bill is happy (which if you ask me, it's more important that dinner pleases the family and not just the cook). So to make the soup more alluring I make sure there's a fresh loaf of bread coming out of the oven as soon as the soup is done! No one can complain about soup if there is fresh, warm bread on the table!

Art Class (from the good old days)

My artwork never earned over a B at PCC (for the one year that I went). I could show you my community college artwork that earned mostly A's but it's far, far worse than these:) PCC had an excellent art program and the most talented artists I've ever seen. To this day Bill and I "ooooh and awe" over Elizabeth and Jon Seest's artwork (Bill's classmates). Their work is absolutely exceptional and I highly recommend you take a look (if you are into that kind of stuff) http://seest.studio.googlepages.com/. Amazing! Absolutely amazing!

Faces are by far my favorite thing to draw!

This guy earned me my first (and only) B. Blah.

Recognize these eyes? Blurry picture . . .

My average C.

This little guy was the cover of a LIFE magazine from the 1940's. I bought the magazine at an antique shop just so I could draw his feisty little face.

My Guys

Shabby Shoes

Kitty's Corner

He Makes Me Smile

This moring while packing up some things in the closet, I got sidetracked and decided to try on my wedding dress.

Upon seeing me in the foofy white dress, Ike's eyes got wide and he smiled and shouted, "Mommy, yo-wa pwincess! . . . Daddy is going to ma-wee you!"

:)

For the Love of Junk

As most people know, I am a "junk" collector. Don't worry. I don't dumpster dive or anything, but I sure do enjoy rescuing a piece that is begging for a home.

A couple weeks ago, Bill and I were out to lunch (the local bagel shop) and conveniently enough it's a few doors down from my favorite antique store:) Of course Bill has grown quite tolerant of my fondness of . . . "treasures" so he doesn't mind if I pop in for a spell while he keeps our little Blessings amused in the truck for a few minutes.

I rushed through the store with one thing in mind -- a beat up (yes, the more beat up the better) cabinet for my laundry room. And when one has something in mind, it makes treasure hunting a lot easier. There burried under a host of vintage teacups was exactly what I was looking for -- a large beat up, glass knobbed, ten times painted cabinet! And I of course let out a sigh -- much like that of a girl in love:)

Bill, though tolerant, is not as fond of my treasures as I am. My finds mean two things to him -- 1 where are we going to put that? and 2 what kind of project do I have to work on this time? Poor guy. So when I went back to the truck to inform him of my latest "need" he rolled his eyes and dutifully got out of the truck to help load up the "junk", fully aware that my heart was set on it and no amount of reasoning would change my stubborn heart . (I would also like to add that he's figured out how to hang the solid piece of wood and has come to terms with it being in the laundry room . . . as long as it's hidden away!) And since it will be hidden away, I will most definitely post pictures of my laundry room for all to see! Oh, how I adore mixing the old with the new and making my house a home!

House Update

Our home is a disaster! I've been trying to pack and keep up with the housework, but no amount of cleaning seems to make the place look put together. We've got boxes stacked and paperwork flying around. The toys never seem to make it to there designated area -- they are everywhere! But we're making progress on the packing and the laundry stays folded so everyone looks nice while our little home looks like it could use a visit from Merry Maids.

On the progress report though, we've made an offer with a builder and they've accepted our offer! It's a beautiful home with lots of cottage-like appeal (it's either got the appeal or in my mind I can see it having that sort of appeal someday . . . whatever). On the plus side, it's got a great home school room that should be well in use come fall! We are very excited about that!

We've got an apartment agreement set up so we should move into it five days before the closing date on our house. That should give us plenty of time to set up house in the apartment as well as get this home scrubbed down for the new owners. We've got a lot of work ahead, but hopefully a wonderful outcome is around the corner.

Handsome Little Fella!

"Can I take your picture, Ike?"

"Okay, just ONE picture, Mom."

(He knows I go a little camera crazy since it takes me about ten before I get the one that I want.)

Chatty Kat

It's a Parenting Tool!

Ahhh, the minivan.

My Mom gets asked every so often how we girls grew up without giving her (too) much trouble:) She always says something along the lines of "I don't know" or some lame thing like "expect them to be good." I, however, know the REAL reason and it had EVERYTHING to do with our ugly, blue, Ford Aerostar minivan. Oh! how it shaped our lives . . .

We were quite fond of the thing at first. My oldest sister was probably thirteen when my parents bought it. It was wonderful and roomy and we loved our minivan . . . . that is until the thing stuck around long enough for each of us to start driving. Quickly our minivan became a curse and we were annoyed and embarrassed to be driving a "mommy" vehicle around. There's nothing like cruising in a minivan. There's nothing like being asked to a party knowing that IF you did go you'd show up in a minivan -- we never went:) There's nothing like being asked on a date as a boy walked one of us to . . . the minivan -- we always declined:) In fact, now that I think about it, that van sorta killed our social life:)

Nevertheless, that minivan taught us a lot! It kept us humble and grounded. It taught us to work hard and go to college (so we would be able to purchase more posh SUVS of course)! So tonight when my sister and her husband drove up in their new minivan I had to smile. I see a bright, well-educated, grounded, humble, and respectable daughter in their future:) So a pat on the back and many prayers and wishes to you dear Michelle! You've made one of the best decisions of your life!

Also I would like to note that it's more likely that our loving, respectable, God-fearing parents, the grace of God, and many prayers that are more likely reasons that we grew up the way most parents hope . . . So we'll just call that minivan "the grace of God."

House For Sale and Sold!

Bill and I signed papers with our realtor on Sunday afternoon and were told not to expect it to be on the multiple listing site until Monday night. Well, it just so happened that it DID make it to the site the next morning. We got a call from a realtor to show our home on Monday night and we also got an offer!

Apparently, the people who put in an offer were going to put in an offer on another house after three months of searching. Their realtor informed them that a house (our house) came on the market that morning and he'd like them to see it before they put in an offer on the other house. It just so happened that they liked our house better so they put in an immediate offer! We don't even have a "For Sale" sign in our yard:)

We ended up getting our full asking price and now need to figure out where we're going to move to!