On again, off again
We just returned yesterday from a nice trip to see family and friends up in Michigan. Right before we left, we bought a futon and had it put up in Nate's office. We also moved the computer I use upstairs. This means that I am not on the computer nearly as much as I used to be. This is a good thing, since I was on it way too much. I rarely nurse by the computer any more and I might be up once during the day to check email or my blog reader. In the evenings I may be on for a little or a lot of time to do various things.
All of this is to say that if I'm slower in responding to emails or posting or commenting, that's why. I'm trying to find where my computer time fits in among the many other things that need and deserve my attention.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Our new backyard
Our friends who sold us their house had us over to our house for dinner this past Friday. It's funny that I keep noticing things I hadn't noticed before about the house. Like this time, I noticed that besides a ceiling fan and light in the kitchen, there is also recessed lighting. Sweet. And I also noticed that our stove is a flat cooktop.
We spent some time after dinner letting the girls run around in the backyard. I think I'm really going to like having such a great backyard. We bought the swingset from them, so that will stay.
The view straight back from the house. The garage is a two stall and only two years old.
The view from the garage.
The swingset
Now all we need is a great shade tree back there.
Our friends who sold us their house had us over to our house for dinner this past Friday. It's funny that I keep noticing things I hadn't noticed before about the house. Like this time, I noticed that besides a ceiling fan and light in the kitchen, there is also recessed lighting. Sweet. And I also noticed that our stove is a flat cooktop.
We spent some time after dinner letting the girls run around in the backyard. I think I'm really going to like having such a great backyard. We bought the swingset from them, so that will stay.
The view straight back from the house. The garage is a two stall and only two years old.
The view from the garage.
The swingset
Now all we need is a great shade tree back there.
Mother's Day gifts
Becca helped me put together gifts for Mother's day. I sent cards to Nate and my grandmothers, but we did small gifts for our moms. Becca painted the cards on cardstock and did the rubber stamping. Once I stopped freaking out about how perfect the stamps should look, it went well.
Each mom got a card and a homemade tablet of paper. My mom got a bag of homemade granola and Nate's mom got two packages of Aunt Millie's whole grain bagels (she likes them and they don't sell them in Texas).
To make the tablet, cut an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper in half. I cut 30 pieces of paper in half so each tablet had 15 pieces of paper in it. Then I punched two holes in the top of each paper. I punched one and then used that as my guide for all the rest. I also cut a thin piece of cardboard the same size as the paper to make a firm backing.
Then we did the stamping. We used a flower stamp. Becca stamped pretty much in the same place at the top of each piece of paper. Once they were all stamped and dried, we fastened the tablet with ribbon. Thread one end through the left hole and one end through the right, front to back. Cross in back and bring them up through the opposite hole. It helps if the ribbon is a little thick. The ribbon for my mom's gift wasn't as thick, so I tied it in front to hold it. Tada. You're done.
Nate's mom's gift:
A close up of the top of her tablet:
My mom's gift:
Becca helped me put together gifts for Mother's day. I sent cards to Nate and my grandmothers, but we did small gifts for our moms. Becca painted the cards on cardstock and did the rubber stamping. Once I stopped freaking out about how perfect the stamps should look, it went well.
Each mom got a card and a homemade tablet of paper. My mom got a bag of homemade granola and Nate's mom got two packages of Aunt Millie's whole grain bagels (she likes them and they don't sell them in Texas).
To make the tablet, cut an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper in half. I cut 30 pieces of paper in half so each tablet had 15 pieces of paper in it. Then I punched two holes in the top of each paper. I punched one and then used that as my guide for all the rest. I also cut a thin piece of cardboard the same size as the paper to make a firm backing.
Then we did the stamping. We used a flower stamp. Becca stamped pretty much in the same place at the top of each piece of paper. Once they were all stamped and dried, we fastened the tablet with ribbon. Thread one end through the left hole and one end through the right, front to back. Cross in back and bring them up through the opposite hole. It helps if the ribbon is a little thick. The ribbon for my mom's gift wasn't as thick, so I tied it in front to hold it. Tada. You're done.
Nate's mom's gift:
A close up of the top of her tablet:
My mom's gift:
Transplanting
I don't know how much longer my basil and tomato plants are going to last. The basil plant has some little flies around it and the tomato plant was partially damaged by wind. It was fun while it lasted and next year I'll have a better idea of what to do.
I'm reminded of Wilson from the show Home Improvement in this picture:
My little helper (she wore the left hand glove since I couldn't wear it)
I don't know how much longer my basil and tomato plants are going to last. The basil plant has some little flies around it and the tomato plant was partially damaged by wind. It was fun while it lasted and next year I'll have a better idea of what to do.
I'm reminded of Wilson from the show Home Improvement in this picture:
My little helper (she wore the left hand glove since I couldn't wear it)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Dress photos-action shots
It was a beautiful day today and I remembered to ask Nate to grab the camera on the way out the door to church this morning. After church, Becca and I went outside and took some pictures by the front steps. She was being very cute and I got lots of good pics of the dress I made her.
It's a good twirling dress
From the back
With her cardigan on
My favorite
And again in black and white because it's so cute
It was a beautiful day today and I remembered to ask Nate to grab the camera on the way out the door to church this morning. After church, Becca and I went outside and took some pictures by the front steps. She was being very cute and I got lots of good pics of the dress I made her.
It's a good twirling dress
From the back
With her cardigan on
My favorite
And again in black and white because it's so cute
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Moving in dates
Not going to post the actual dates right now, but we just found out that we can move into our house two weeks earlier. I think we'll use that time to paint two of the rooms: Nate's office and the guest/sewing/multi-purpose room.
Nate wants his office to be a green. He'd like hunter green, which is not my favorite, but I don't think it will work in there anyway, since his office is quite small and will feel like a cave painted that dark.
No idea what color I want the other room to be. I was thinking something more neutral and then to accent with other colors. The other rooms upstairs are green (the MBR and Nate's office) and a light yellow (the girls' room) and the bathroom walls are half white tile with gray painted above.
I know I don't want the walls to be red or purple or orange. The futon that is going in there has a dark brown microsuede fabric with an all wood frame. Would a lighter, neutral brown on the walls be overkill on the brown? Maybe a blue? Sigh. I love picking out paint colors, but I'm so indecisive and clueless. I like the VO4 Flow and VO7 Wind on this site.
Also, I need to find a good brand with low or no VOCs in it. Any ideas?
Not going to post the actual dates right now, but we just found out that we can move into our house two weeks earlier. I think we'll use that time to paint two of the rooms: Nate's office and the guest/sewing/multi-purpose room.
Nate wants his office to be a green. He'd like hunter green, which is not my favorite, but I don't think it will work in there anyway, since his office is quite small and will feel like a cave painted that dark.
No idea what color I want the other room to be. I was thinking something more neutral and then to accent with other colors. The other rooms upstairs are green (the MBR and Nate's office) and a light yellow (the girls' room) and the bathroom walls are half white tile with gray painted above.
I know I don't want the walls to be red or purple or orange. The futon that is going in there has a dark brown microsuede fabric with an all wood frame. Would a lighter, neutral brown on the walls be overkill on the brown? Maybe a blue? Sigh. I love picking out paint colors, but I'm so indecisive and clueless. I like the VO4 Flow and VO7 Wind on this site.
Also, I need to find a good brand with low or no VOCs in it. Any ideas?
Friday, May 09, 2008
Square strawberry cake
I think I found the recipe I will use for Becca's birthday cake. The couple times I've asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she's said, "a square strawberry cake". I didn't want to use a box mix or gelatin, so this one will work well. I'll top it with a cream cheese frosting and some sliced strawberries, I think. Oh, and it will probably be a rectangle cake instead of a square one...they both have four sides. :)
A few other things I have to do yet to get ready:
1. Dye three playsilks
2. Wrap gifts with playsilks
3. Put together easel
4. Get streamers and balloons to decorate my parents' house and her chair for her birthday day
Is that it? I guess so. Thought there was more. I decided to hold off on making her a doll sling just now since having stitches has made it awkward to sew in the past week.
I think I found the recipe I will use for Becca's birthday cake. The couple times I've asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she's said, "a square strawberry cake". I didn't want to use a box mix or gelatin, so this one will work well. I'll top it with a cream cheese frosting and some sliced strawberries, I think. Oh, and it will probably be a rectangle cake instead of a square one...they both have four sides. :)
A few other things I have to do yet to get ready:
1. Dye three playsilks
2. Wrap gifts with playsilks
3. Put together easel
4. Get streamers and balloons to decorate my parents' house and her chair for her birthday day
Is that it? I guess so. Thought there was more. I decided to hold off on making her a doll sling just now since having stitches has made it awkward to sew in the past week.
Plant transplant
Yesterday evening Becca helped me transplant on tomato seedling and one basil seedling from our greenhouse starter tray. The rest I threw outside to decompose. Becca poured stones in the bottom of the pots and helped to put potting soil in too. She likes to carefully stroke the seedlings. I've been telling her that they are like babies, so we have to be gentle. She has been very gentle so far.
I'm hoping the basil plant survives, at least. I can get wonderful tomatoes at our local farmer's market, but I really want to grow my own basil. Once it gets just a tad warmer, we'll put them outside.
Yesterday evening Becca helped me transplant on tomato seedling and one basil seedling from our greenhouse starter tray. The rest I threw outside to decompose. Becca poured stones in the bottom of the pots and helped to put potting soil in too. She likes to carefully stroke the seedlings. I've been telling her that they are like babies, so we have to be gentle. She has been very gentle so far.
I'm hoping the basil plant survives, at least. I can get wonderful tomatoes at our local farmer's market, but I really want to grow my own basil. Once it gets just a tad warmer, we'll put them outside.
Stitches out
Becca came with me to be my moral support when I got my stitches out this evening. It didn't hurt at all, but I wasn't sure if it would or not. She was so sweet, holding my hand, waving to people who said hi to her, and talking about all the things she saw while we drove.
The nurse practitioner said that the lack of feeling and pins and needles that I'm having in my finger may never go away. I'm praying that it heals completely. I'm glad it's on my left hand and not my writing hand.
She said it would take up to a year to see how much of it will get back to normal. Tonight is the first night in a week that I'm typing with that finger and it feels so strange. Every time I hit a key with it, I feel either pain or tingling or nothing.
The cut itself is healing up nicely and I'm glad to have the stitches out.
Becca came with me to be my moral support when I got my stitches out this evening. It didn't hurt at all, but I wasn't sure if it would or not. She was so sweet, holding my hand, waving to people who said hi to her, and talking about all the things she saw while we drove.
The nurse practitioner said that the lack of feeling and pins and needles that I'm having in my finger may never go away. I'm praying that it heals completely. I'm glad it's on my left hand and not my writing hand.
She said it would take up to a year to see how much of it will get back to normal. Tonight is the first night in a week that I'm typing with that finger and it feels so strange. Every time I hit a key with it, I feel either pain or tingling or nothing.
The cut itself is healing up nicely and I'm glad to have the stitches out.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Our past week and a half
Ear infection
Three stitches in finger
Bad cough
Stuffy noses
Fevers
Sinus something
Sore jaw and tooth
Tetanus shot
Shorter than usual naps
Teething first molar
Sigh...
A better look at the past week and a half...
Supportive, helpful husband
Lots of cuddle time
Painting cards with Becca
Nice visit with my parents
Getting to walk through our house
Beautiful weather
Pulling the girls in our new red wagon
A nice urgent care center nearby with friendly staff
Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Half-Baked)
lots of smoothies
learning patience
smiles from my girls
Much better.
Ear infection
Three stitches in finger
Bad cough
Stuffy noses
Fevers
Sinus something
Sore jaw and tooth
Tetanus shot
Shorter than usual naps
Teething first molar
Sigh...
A better look at the past week and a half...
Supportive, helpful husband
Lots of cuddle time
Painting cards with Becca
Nice visit with my parents
Getting to walk through our house
Beautiful weather
Pulling the girls in our new red wagon
A nice urgent care center nearby with friendly staff
Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Half-Baked)
lots of smoothies
learning patience
smiles from my girls
Much better.
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