Where has the Week Gone?

This week’s activities have all gotten ‘smooshed’ together as it feels like the week has sort of gotten away from us.

Monday was a day filled with errands so we we got a little late start on making our mess and didn’t start till Tuesday.

Our messy activity this week was making bird feeders out of bread slices, peanut butter, bird seed, ribbon and clothes pins. I wish I had photos of the bird feeders we hung…but shortly after hanging, the squirrels discovered our treats leaving nothing but the clothes pin and ribbon to photograph.  B spread some peanut butter onto a piece of bread and then sprinkled/dumped bird seed onto the butter like glitter. We pinched the top of the bread with a wooden clothes pin and then used the ribbon to hang the clothes pin from a tree branch (thinking the clothespin might  better allow us to add bread later on in the week).

On Tuesday, along with making our ‘Monday Mess’, we took time to read this book (in honor of our recent snow accumulation)…

(image taken from www.strangerwinthewoods.com)

This was one of my favorite classroom books…the illustrations are photographs and they are fantastic!

For ‘What’s Cooking Wednesday’ we made reindeer pasta for lunch (thank you to IKEA for providing this tasty and creative treat).

I am still trying to think of something ‘thoughtful’ that might go with this little Stranger in the Woods theme we have going for tomorrow and had hoped our ‘something FUN Friday’  would be making our own snowman in the backyard. After learning that the forecast for the end of the week hovers above 40 degrees I decided not to take my chances and wait for Friday incase the snow melts.

After eating our pasta, we bundled up, headed outside and rolled snow balls together to make our own snowman. Even Little A enjoyed the snow from the comfort of her saucer…

Ella took interest in the snow man as soon as food was introduced into the equation (blueberries for eyes & a carrot for a nose)…

It wasn’t long before Little A started to squawk from her saucer…we took that as her asking to join in on the fun…

Here is our finished product!

I doubt there will be too many deer sampling our little man’s nose…but maybe some birds who are missing the feeders that the squirrels ate?! Who knows maybe that will be our ‘Thoughtful Thursday’ activity…feeding the birds?

Enjoy the week.

Be blessed.

Front Door Sussy!

This afternoon we came home to a very sweet and thoughtful ‘sussy’ delivered right to our front door sent with love from Texas.

Upon opening the postal wrap, we discovered this fantastic book…

(Image taken from www.goodnightcowtown.com)

The book highlights some of our favorite places in Cowtown and brought a smile to each of our faces. I have to admit, my eyes got a little misty as I read through the book and looked at the colorful illustrations…oh how I wish I could wiggle my nose and live in two places all at one time.

Thank you sweet Mrs. P…your thoughtfulness made our day!

Be blessed.

If You Give Our House a Bathroom…

We joke that our house projects take lessons from the children’s book If You Give a Mouse A Cookie  by, Laura Numeroff.

(image taken from wikipedia.com)

The book describes a mouse who is given a cookie, after receiving the cookie he asks for a glass of milk, then asks for a straw etc. etc. etc. 

Well, that in a nut shell this is how our house is…especially in regard to a project we have been working on in our basement. See it all started with the simple idea of adding a bathroom, a place for guests to have their own space and a place for little ones to use during play times.

That simple idea led to the thought process… if the bathroom ceiling is opened, lets run a gas line to the kitchen for a new cooktop someday, which led to running a water line for a refrigerator which led to looking at new appliances…a few months later (as the ceiling has yet to be closed up…we discovered that since the ceiling is open, now is as good time as ever to do what feels like another hundred projects…including running gas lines to our fireplaces as our current ones are stuck in the 60’s, not usable and unsafe.

So…our weekend respite didn’t last long after we got home from the cabin, in fact upon arriving C got to work on quite the demolition project!

This is before…notice the random cut-outs in the brick and the lack of brick on the left side of the fire place…so often with this house (which we are SO grateful for!) we have wanted to call the 1960’s up and ask “What were you thinking?”.

The progression of the demolition as it transpired…

B continues to be quite the foreman as he ‘works’ alongside C.

This photo identifies the reason behind the project…it honestly looks like it was a miracle that the mantel didn’t catch on fire from the looks of what C uncovered by removing the psychedelic ‘mid-century’ brick.

This photo seems to captivate the incredible exhaustion that crept in once about 60% of the 60’s bricks had been removed.

I really don’t do well with messes or living in ‘construction zones’…this project (along with the ongoing basement projects) will prove to stretch me in ways that I know won’t be comfortable as I will learn to live with dust and live in the limbo of not having the 1960’s brick and looking forward to our new fireplace, mantle and bookshelves…stay tuned as I hope more progress photos and hopefully after photos will be posted soon!

I have to compliment C…his willingness and enthusiasm towards rolling up his sleeves and learning how to ‘fix up’ our little neck of the wood is phenomenal. I love that I married a willing and ‘handy man’ and even more love that he is instilling a honorable and quite enthusiastic work ethic in precious little B as he patiently allows him to apprentice his jobs and other tasks around our home.  His time and physical labor is such a gift and provides us with the chance to check some projects off of our ‘dream’ list.

Be blessed.

Weekend Get-Away

Gram and Grandpa were headed up to the ‘cabin home’ for a long over due weekend respite, so we decided to tag along.

After my little ‘bump’ of a week/10 days we decided it would be nice to sneak away from our neck of the wood to get away from our perpetual to-do list and enjoy some quiet wintry down time (as much as you can with two little ones in tow).

On Saturday morning, the youngest nuggets’ anticipation got the best of them, as they both woke up just before the sun came up. C and I were able to keep them at bay for a bit in an effort to let Gram and Grandpa sleep.

As soon as we heard the other inhabitants of the cabin begin to stir, it wasn’t long before these two raced (both running and crawling) to share Cheerios in bed with Gram.

Once everyone was up and a’tum we headed into town for coffee and cinnamon rolls.

After breakfast we bundled up and went for a walk on the lake. The ice this year has done a number to the shoreline, the sand has quite literally been pushed up by all the rocks…this will provide B with quite a paradise come the summer as he and his diggers will undoubtedly have major work to do!

On the lake, B trudged in his big boots while little A enjoyed the comfort and coziness of her snowsuit and sled.

C kept Ella and Bay busy and distracted by playing fetch, while all of us marveled at the ‘locals’ driving on the lake to ice fish.

Despite how bundled we look…we all enjoyed getting outside to enjoy some fresh air and see the lake and our cabin neighbors from a little different vantage point. It’s true, if you dress right…being outside is really fun in the winter!

B encouraged us to make snow angels, but lost interest as he tried pulling little A all by himself.

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree as our little guy could live outside (just like his dad).

It took some creative popcorn convincing to get him inside to warm up.

If you notice, we don’t tend to make the wisest nutritional choices when at the cabin…yes, our son is waiting for popcorn to pop while fisting miniature marshmallows right out of the bag.

One of the best parts of the cabin in the winter is the quiet and lack of things to do…there was lots of play time had in between playing outside and taking naps.

Little A didn’t brave the cold to the extent that B did…though she did enjoy watching her brother play from the comfort of her Grandpa’s lap.

This was their view…

The weekend away is just what the doctor ordered…we are ready and rearing as we look forward to another week in our neck of the wood and wonder what God might have in store!

Gram and Grandpa…thank you for letting us tag along.

Be blessed.

Family Breakfasts

Just before Thanksgiving, we instituted Thursday morning family breakfasts. We thought it would provide a nice little ‘pick-me-up’ at the end of each week.  We felt like now (when kiddos are little) is as good a time as ever to start scheduling sweet untouchable family time as life will undoubtedly get more chaotic and busy as our little family grows up.

Pinterest has provided some fun and out of the ordinary breakfast ideas/recipes…some have been ‘hits’ and others ‘misses’…I thought I would share some of the ‘hits’ as maybe your family might be able to enjoy some of the tasty treats too.

This week we tried this…

http://www.marthastewart.com/330179/bacon-egg-and-toast-cups?&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/mothers-day-brunch-recipes

As you can see, mine didn’t look as pretty (I think it might be because I used turkey bacon…and because I’m not Martha Stewart)…

But B and C graciously tried the breakfast treat…

C liked it…B, well not so much. I think next time I will scramble the eggs before pouring them in…B wasn’t quite sure he likes the yellow yoke part of the egg.

Be blessed.

Something FUN Friday

Since I am still getting ‘nursed’ back to health and B is donning an annoying ‘green’ nose we decided to stay in for our something FUN day today.

While little A was down for her morning nap, B played in the sink. The fun started with washing some dishes and escalated from there as is evidenced by these photos…

About a half hour into fun, B asked if he could take his wet shirt off…I had no idea that would turn into a somewhat bath-like activity as he quite literally dunked his hair in the water and swung his head upwards in a ‘little mermaid-like’ way…the smile that resulted went from ear to ear!

After some shivers set in, he said good bye to the sink and hello to a cozy towel and dry clothes.

Evidence of all the FUN!

Happy Friday…have FUN!

Be blessed.

How Could We Resist…

Being good new neighbors AND enjoying some of this tasty goodness!

Our freezer is stocked…at least through the week!

Here’s to frozen thin mints for dessert (and most likely afternoon snacks).

Be blessed.

Ella’s New Favorite Spot

These photos speak for themselves…

This is where you can find Ella during meal times these days…situated perfectly within tongues reach of any crumb or spill.

Be blessed.