I am sore

Over the past two afternoons I've been working on landscaping while letting the girls play outside. It's only been less than two hours a time, but I'm definitely feeling it, especially in the hamstrings and my upper arms.

Most of the landscaping is ripped out. I need a long-handled pointed end shovel (I'm sure it has an official name, but I don't know it) instead of the square-ended one I have in order to dig up the two shrubs. I cut all the branches off the plants, but need to get them dug up. I also hope to have a rake to get out the masses of weeds and grass.

All that's left in the landscaping are the rock border (which will be dragged to the ground by the garage this weekend) and a mass of weeds and grasses (also will be gone once I get that rake) and two Green Mountain Boxwoods on either side of the front steps that I decided to keep. I like Boxwoods and these are supposed to grow to be three to five feet tall and two to three feet wide. They're about a foot tall right now, but I hope they'll grow soon. I'll probably leave them where they are instead of risking killing them by transplanting.

You can see the boxwood in this photo. It's the small plant to the right of the steps. It's got some dead, dried crabgrass on it.


We're also thinking about a pine tree next to the left side of the porch...maybe a blue spruce, but I'm open to suggestions. Other than those, I have no idea what's going in there come the spring. Whatever it is has to have next to no maintenance and I would prefer it to not attract a lot of stinging insects. :)

The girls had fun playing with rice and beans while I worked.

Yay Ebay

I just bought a gently used Columbia coat for Becca off Ebay for $14, including shipping. She says it's in excellent condition and it looks that way from the pictures. Yay!

Note to self

Check local public school calendar and make sure it is not fall break BEFORE making plans to go to the Children's Museum.

The museum was swamped today and Becca was determined that we would stay even though we actually had to wait in line to get into the Playscape and to ride on the carousel. But we made it and even had a bit of fun. Becca rode a horse that moves up and down on the carousel instead of riding on a bench and Ally enjoyed playing in sand and water once we got into the Playscape.

Our family vacation, late birthday presents, near-finished projects, and phase one of landscaping work

This is going to be a packed update, so stick with me. I'm providing pictures to make it more interesting. :)

Last week Thursday through Saturday we took a little family vacation down to Spring Mill State Park. It was our first trip where the purpose of our trip was not to visit with people. We like visiting our friends and family, but it was nice to take a different sort of trip.
(inside the state park)
Thursday we left during the girls' nap/rest time after lunch and they both slept just about the whole way there. Google maps messed up on the directions, a first for them in my experience, but a cashier at the local Walgreens helped us out.

We stated at the Spring Mill Inn, which is located inside the state park. After arriving and unloading into our room, we took a little walk on some of trails and got to see a tree that had been chewed by a beaver. I stupidly forgot to bring my camera on our walk. It was a nice walk and such a nice evening.

For dinner we went to a local pizza place called Edna's Pizza run by an older couple. The wife made all the pizzas and the husband cleared the tables and delivered the pizzas. I don't know if they have other workers, maybe a few more on the weekends. It was quite good, though.

Becca had a hard time getting to sleep, too excited by the new place and all the things we did. She had requested to have Ally share her double bed, so we shoved the bed into the corner and it worked out quite well. The first night I had Ally join us in bed when she woke up, but that was so uncomfortable in a double bed. The second night was much better, since I only had to replace her paci a couple of times and she stayed in her bed.
(you can see the Inn in the background)
(on the way to the Pioneer Village)
On Friday we had breakfast (at McDonald's) and then took a walk over to the Pioneer Village. My camera died just after we left the inn. With the exception of the yellow jackets being out in full force, it was a nice day. We got back for a late rest time and then ate at the inn's dining room for dinner. After dinner we went on a hay ride and I had charged the batteries, so we got a couple of pictures. Becca liked the hay ride a lot. Ally got kind of antsy with having to sit in the same place for so long.
(hay ride!)
On Saturday we packed up and ate at the inn's dining room. We drove home through Brown County, a much better way to take home. I'd like to stop there sometime when we have more time and older children.
(an attempt at pictures Saturday morning)
It was a nice little trip. Nice to be away from our computers and to spend some focused family time together.

Late birthday presents

Nate and the girls got me a few more late presents. Nate got me a dough scraper and a kitchen scale with a pull-out display, both Oxo brand. I'm just hoping I use them both. I'm excited to have them. The girls got me The Creative Family, which I had out from the library, but I'm so excited to have my own copy. It's inspiring me to get creative with the girls. My sister-in-law Cara provided me with my first ever U2 CD, The Joshua Tree. Just about everyone I know likes U2, so I had to have at least one CD to see what all the fuss is about.

Near-Finished Projects

I actually have one project that is done because it was so simple. We put up inspiration/art wires/ribbons in a few places:

Nate's office (no pic of this one, but it hangs above his head on the wall next to his desk and is mostly used for pictures Becca paints or draws for him. He may also use it for other photos or inspiration later)

The dining room:


This is to keep my fridge clear and provide a place for Becca's art. She likes pulling up a stool or chair to hang up her latest creations.

Above Becca's bed:


This one was meant to be for photos of grandparents or special pictures she wanted to clip up by her bed, but right away she wanted to use it as a doll clothes line for after she "washed" her dolls clothes. I used ribbon on this one instead of wire.

In the girls' closet:



This ribbon is specifically to hang playsilks on. I keep their dress up clothes in their closet, so the playsilks are in their too and I wanted to display them and keep them out in the open to remind the girls they are there.

It's easy to do this project. It took less than a half hour to hang all of them. You need some sort of wire (I used floral wire, because I had it on hand) or ribbon or yarn or string, some clothespins or clips, and screws. We used three inch deck screws because that's what we had. You'll also need a drill to drill them into the wall, and a yard stick, level, and pencil for marking the places to put the screws. Once you have put two screws in the wall take your length of ribbon/wire and attach it to each screw. I tied the wire and ribbon around the screws and wrapped the excess wire. I let the ribbon just hang.

Other projects--the storage bench made from a cabinet is almost done. It's been painted and I have the board, batting, and fabric. I have to attach the fabric and batting to the board, attach the board to the top of the cabinet, and I'd like to make a felt board for the back and then I'm done.

Preschool calendar--I've been making a calendar for Becca. The months, days, and numbers are done. I'm going to make a today sign that she'll move each day and some signs for weather--cloudy, snowy, rainy, sunny to put on the the current day. I hope to finish tonight after I get done with this.

Phase one of landscaping work:

Tonight after dinner we ripped out everything you see in this photo except what I think is a boxwood right next to the steps. There is still some junk to rake out and then we'll cover it with newspaper and wood mulch to kill all the weeds, I hope. I really have no idea what I'm doing, so I hope this is right.


We have much more to do. The stuff you see to the left of the porch is horribly overgrown. I want to put a small tree there that will grow about 12-15 feet tall. I have no idea what we'll do with the rest of the landscaping. We also are going to get the rest of those rocks out from in front of the landscaping. For now it won't have a border. If anyone wants large rocks, let us know.


If anyone has a good site for landscaping info, specifically about low maintenance, simple landscaping, let me know.

Parents' visit

My mom and dad came to visit us this past weekend. We had such a great time enjoying yummy food, watching them play with their grandchildren, and getting some small projects done around the house thanks to my dad.

They arrived Friday night very late, around 11ish. We talked briefly and then went to bed. The girls were already in bed. It's so nice to have the guest room (aka my computer room/craft studio) and the futon for our guests.

Saturday morning we all walked to a nearby restaurant (email me if you want the name, but you can probably guess what is near us if you live here). It was so delicious. The spicy basil cream sauce on my mom's frittata was especially incredible tasting. I had a waffle with strawberries, bananas, toasted pecans and chocolate sauce. We will be going back for sure. I think everybody had something amazing to eat there.

After walking home, Dad and Nate left for Lowe's to pick up supplies, and Mom and I walked with the girls to a nearby park. It took awhile to make the mile long walk over there because Becca wanted to ride the tricycle that Nana and Papa had brought for her (a $3 garage sale find). We also stopped at the produce market on the way to get some heirloom tomatoes and eggs. They held the food for me until we came back by from the park. Being at the park was bit hot. On the way home Becca scraped her knee and Nana mostly pushed her on the trike via the handle on the back.

When we got home we found that the window people had been there to finish up a few things, so that's all done.

My dad installed two extra shelves in our linen closet (we had three, but had huge gaps in between some of them). He also put in a motion sensor light on our house facing our garage (it's on an alley). When you open the door from the garage to the back yard, the flood light comes on and illumines the entire back yard. It's great. Dad also worked on our dimmer switch in our dining room, which was getting a bit hot when it was on.

Nate used Dad's drill to put some screws in the wall in various places for me so I could install some art/inspiration wires/ribbons. It's a fun and easy way to display art and pictures and even play silks. I have pictures that I'll put up in a different post.

Saturday night my parents babysat while Nate and I went to a local Italian restaurant that's only open for dinners. We walked down there and enjoyed a fabulous dinner and first glass of wine in a couple years, I think, and actually had things to talk about. We always wonder if we will when we finally get time to sit down and talk just with each other. We walked back in the dark, taking a different way to be on a busier street. The girls were already ready for bed and had had a great time with Nana and Papa.

Sunday morning we went to church, took some pictures of the girls (wearing my dresses from childhood) on the front steps of the church and then my parents took off. It was a fun weekend.

It wasn't over yet, though. After church and lunch and getting Ally down for a nap, I put Becca in the Burley and biked about ten miles, stopping on the way back to check out some Keen shoes and to pick up a few items at a natural foods store and to play at the park. Ally and Nate walked to meet us at the park. Becca actually fell asleep on the ride.

That's it. I guess that was a bit long, but it's fun to see how much we did. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for visiting.

Update on Ally

A fourteen-month update on Ally is up on the girls' blog. With pictures!

I'll update on Becca (with pictures) after this weekend, probably.

New windows

We got new windows put in today. Hurrah! They still have to wrap the outsides and finish up, but they are in and we used them already, opening them all to let the cool air flow through our house...finally!

They are beauties, if I could ever call vinyl windows that, but I am. They really do look nice and they are super efficient. Nate says he feels more insulated already. :)

Just to clarify, we had thirteen windows replaced. Two in the kitchen, one one on the stairway, and all the upstairs ones. The downstairs ones were already replaced before we moved in and they will put screens in those tomorrow.