Since You're Reading This...

I thought I'd just ask...do you have any bedroom furniture you need to get rid of? I'm hunting for painted white (real) wood furniture for the baby's room. If it's cheap enough, we're fine with sanding/painting ourselves. We mostly just need a dresser, but want a few other items if the price is right. We're looking for very specific sizes, since it's a small space. Since many of you are parents, I thought you might be in the market to get rid of some of the below items...

Dresser
Changing Table
Armoire
Side Table
Bench/Toy Chest
Hanging Display Shelf/Shelves for the Wall

Let me know if you have any ideas or items you need to get rid of!

Crane Mobile

Last weekend, we completed a really fun & easy project. I bought some cute scrapbook papers & made some origami cranes. Then Lance cut up some coat hangers. Viola. Two dollars later, we have a cute little mobile for Katie Belle's room!! The picture doesn't do it justice, but Jordan from Oh Happy Day! took a good picture of hers. To make your own, check out her blog post here.

Why I love the CSA

Heard at our house this morning, as my little helper helped shell (and eat) peas. "I take 'em out. Just like Mommy!"
Then, he gobbled them up - raw!"I like 'em. I really do."
Also from the CSA this week: Garlic Snapes, English Peas, Detroit Beets, Red Pontiac Potatoes, 2 Types of Lettuce, Cabbage, Green Onions, Cherry Belle Radishes, Strawberries.

Family Photos

We recently had Amanda Mankin take some photos of our family. Ethan was not very cooperative - I don't think he sat still & smiled for the camera even once! But Amanda still chased him around & got some good ones. We got a few previews back this weekend - so cute! Thanks Amanda! We can't wait to see the rest!

Staying Put & On the Losing End

So we've pretty much decided to just stay here until after the baby is born. Like I've said before, the insurance process is moving at a snail's pace, so we're probably going to just stay here until that is all settled. Although I haven't started unpacking the boxes I've already boxed up. I'm not quite that confident in our new plan.

I'm also starting to get very nervous about the whole settlement process. The estimate that our contractor came back with is Tens and Tens of Thousands of dollars more than the one the insurance company provided. I'm getting the sinking feeling that we're going to be spending a lot of our money to get the repairs completed. How is it fair that we have to negotiate, like we're buying a used car? Shouldn't they just flat out pay for the repairs, no matter how much they cost? Someone hit our house while we were sleeping, and now we will have to use some of our own money? Didn't we hire the insurance company to work on our behalf?

I'm trying to remind myself that this will be okay. I don't know how, and it may not be cheap or easy, but we'll be fine. I can just get pretty frustrated if I let myself dwell in the moment.

Yum - And Dairy-Free!

I've been on a baking frenzy lately, trying to clean out the pantry a bit. I wanted to share 2 tasty recipes that I've had lately.

Vegan Fudge - Ok, honestly, I can't find the super-delicious recipe I used, but I bet this one is good too!
Dairy-Free (Vegan) Chocolate Pudding

CSA, Week 3

This year's CSA has started & we've been enjoying strawberries, radishes, lettuces, green onions, asparagus, cauliflower, thyme, cabbage...Green onions have been coming out of my ears, but thanks to this guy on You Tube, they are now frozen & ready to use whenever I need them. Aside from the strawberries, the CSA hasn't gotten too exciting yet, but the growing season is just getting started!

If you are also experiencing an influx of veggies, you can learn how to freeze vegetables/fruits this or this Guide to Freezing Vegetables.

Yard Work

We've been staying busy transplanting flowers from the wrecked side of the house to other areas of the yard. I know they are going to get trampled when work begins, so we're trying to find new homes for the irises, lilies, black-eyed susans, coneflowers, and tons of other plants. So far, we've added a row of irises next to the fence & then we prettied up the ditch with some daylilies. We ruined them for this year's bloom, but hopefully next year's will be fantastic!

This is what the ditch looked like before.And Lance hard at work building a little rock retaining wall.And the finished project! Doubting the lilies will bloom this year, but hopefully next year the ditch will be a little more pleasant. (Because who doesn't want a pleasant drainage ditch?)

Learning to Embroider

For a couple of years, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at embroidery. I’m a sucker for 40’s & 50’s vintage linens, much of which has been hand-embroidered. For Christmas, I tried a basic free-hand embroidery on a bag I made. But haven’t mustered up the courage to try again. Until now…This weekend, I decided to give it a go. So…drawing from inspiration on Feeling Stitchy, I found a vintage bird pattern, transferred on some additional lettering, and gave it a whirl! Not perfect, but very easy & so much fun!!! When baby girl gets here, I’ll finish it up & frame it for her room. I’ll post a picture when I do!

What to do with a Vintage Flour Sifter?

I need help! We’ve been busy planning the design of our new kitchen, which has been going pretty well, but I’m now stumped! I know it might not seem that important, but I need to find a spot to put this flour sifter:We love the architectural details of this house and kitchen & how it hasn’t been fooled-around-with. So I want to find a creative place to fit this in (that doesn’t take up too much valuable space.) I'll probably never actually use it.

The only idea someone has mentioned would be to place it on top of the cabinets as a little design detail. But we are making the cabinets go to the ceiling, so that won't work.

So LET THE CREATIVE IDEAS FLOW! I’m totally stumped on this one, but can't stand to throw it in the trash! Ideas??

Do You Skype?

If you don't, you definitely should. Especially if you have out-of-your-area friends you don't get to see often. Skype works like a FREE computer-to-computer phone. If you have a video camera on your computer, you can see your friend live in action! So this means if you have an updated Mac, it's super-easy since the audio/video part is built-in. You should most certainly check it out if you have someone you want to talk to & see! (It can also make calls to cells/land lines for a fee.) We have friends in Germany, and it's nice to have a free way to talk to them now!

Baby Bedding

I haven't been able to find exactly the bedding I had pictured to go with this lighting fixture, so I've decided to make it! Well, the sheet & bedskirt, that is. I've asked 2 people about making the bumper crib. Hopefully one of them can do it! These are my fabrics. I'll post the finished results one of these days.

I did fall in love with several bedding collections from Serena & Lily. Too bad this Ruby bedding was $1,000!!

If anyone has any other referrals of folks who can do an (inexpensive) bumper, please send them my way, in case my 2 people don't work out!

Ouch, My Tank!

Gas Prices - Sheesh! It hurts to fill up my tank these days. Lance needed a new car, so bought himself one of these fuel-efficient babies. I can't wait until it's time to ditch my gas-guzzler! I'm trying to drive less, but other than that, haven't taken any huge money saving measures. It's time now, though! So I'm wondering...What are you doing these days to save money? Or are you just putting less in savings?

30 Weeks

Getting Closer! I'm feeling good, but dreaming of a good night's sleep, but know it's a long ways away!

My Wife, The Optimist

Lance here. I have taken over Carrie's blog for a day. I know it won't be as interesting but I wanted to show everyone this picture. Yesterday I proposed to Carrie that we wait to move until after the baby is born. With a baby on the way, our family has been the mercy of State Farm in terms of timing. If we stay in our house until WE are ready to move (regardless of the settlement, baby or construction) the power is back in our hands. The reality of our situation is that we could be in a rental paying out of pocket or in Carrie's folks house waiting for months with no work started. If we stay put, we'll move whenever work is about to start, with State Farm paying for moving & temporary housing. I think we all agree but Carrie had already set some things in motion to move (and was fine with that). The reason I wanted to show the picture was to just say my wife is an optimist. The day after I mentioned this, Carrie started hanging new art in our house. I thought this was a funny to walk in the bathroom and see new art hanging among the chaos.

Anyone for some lemonade?

Lance

Family Tree

I FINALLY finished up the family tree that I got from Red Envelope over 5 years ago. Whew! Just in time for my granddad's 95th birthday coming up! (You might remember, I posted pics of Granddad, from back then and now). I am the type that HATES to leave unfinished projects, so this has been on the mental-to-do list for 5 years. The pressure of making it perfect was just too much, so I kept putting it off. So while it's not perfect, I'm happy with it! Yeah for crossing things off the list!

Unblogworthy

Not much going on around here these days. Just researching appliances on Consumer Reports, weeding the yard, doing a little packing,...yada, yada, yada. I thought I'd share a picture of our wall art, which we've been enjoying for the past month. Our whole house is covered with this wall art - little arrows which indicate cracks in the plaster. Lovely, huh? Can't WAIT to get out & get work started. Insurance Stinks! (Apologies to those of you in the business.)

Wedding Weekend

Congratulations, Laura & Gabe! It was a fun-filled wedding weekend, full of pictures. I thought I'd share just a few. Unfortunately, I forgot to take tons of the bride & groom TOGETHER! So here they are at the rehearsal. The bridesmaidsThe lovely bride, with her mother & Sarah.More bridesmaids, this time with the bride! (promise i didn't wear flip flops during the wedding) Laura, you looked stunning!

Gardening & Composting

Last year, I told you how I had no desire to garden, but inherited a wonderful yard, rich with blooming plants & trees. So this year, I started a Gardening notebook so I could remember what all we have & how to care for each plant. So far, I’ve noted in my book that we have tons growing in our yard: hyacinth, daffodil, peony, iris, lily of the valley, gladiolus, calla lilly, crocus, surprise lily, daylily, coneflower, black eyed susan, lamb’s ear, azalea, rhododendron, vinca, hydrangea, holly fern, hosta, parsley, mint, rosemary, sage, lavendar, lilac, dogwood, forsythia, – WHEW – and even more that I haven’t yet identified.
You might also remember how I started composting last year, which has been incredibly rewarding. Many times I’ve watched it rise & fall as the leaves and produce decomposed. It has been fun to feed my plants with dirt that was once a pile of avocado peels & coffee grounds. I can’t wait to see how it affects the flowers this year. Of course we won’t be around, but I’ll drive by & check it out!

Happy Gardening!

Dedicated to my Hubby

Check out this baby changing station, found in the men's bathroom of a local store. This is dedicated to my hubby, who discovered it & thinks it's hilarious. He says if I post this on my blog, I'll have record-high number of comments from males. Come on boys, don't disappoint. For the record, I agree with him that they should have thought things through a bit more before naming it. "Sturdy Station"? It wouldn't take much to grab a marker & give it a whole new name. But, gee whiz, he think's it's hilarious.