Sunny & Rainy Days

Today I made a day planner page to match my food journal! It took me most of the morning, but it's gray and rainy anyway. April showers bring May flowers, right?

Yesterday was perfectly lovely.  We played outside all day.  Tea parties, forts, swings, and even a family game of frisbee after dinner.

I did it!

I've been sorting through some dietary issues lately and have been trying to keep track of what I eat every day and then how I feel later. It's helped some, and I'm trying to be more consistent with it.  

So today, I finally figured out how to use PicMonkey to make a printable food journal.  I think it turned out super cute!  

A little girl's room

I finished Kip's duvet cover this afternoon (it's a drop cloth + flat sheet!), so I thought I'd post some pictures of her room.  

We got this antique bed on Craigslist.  It's large enough to use for company and makes her feel like a little princess!

 Her closet is overflowing with stuffed animals (see the upside down Care Bear hiding in there?), and I found this on the floor:

These can be almost as painful to step on barefoot as the Legos in her brother's room....but not quite:)

Kids + Camera=

 Fun Times.

 

Ice

Beautiful, but I'm counting down the days until Spring!

Ta-da!

Set up the dining room today.  Rug and table are Craigslist finds, chairs are from Ikea and the corner cabinet is from Freecycle.  We are a thrifty bunch around here.

Country Living

The last few weeks it's really felt like we've been living out on the "back forty."  We've been snowed on and iced in, and have dealt with frozen pipes, gale force winds and a persnickety old well pump which works some days and not others.  We've flushed toilets with water from a full bathtub and washed hands and brushed teeth with water from a jug.  

So, today I decided to channel the country vibe and rearranged the living room so we could have a little sitting area by the fire.  

I brought back the drop cloth slipcovers which have just been moving from piece of furniture to piece of furniture.  I think it's swell.  

My little helper was been her cheerful self as we rearranged:

Now, I'm off to clean up the mess that accumulated while I was otherwise engaged!

Quick, before he gets home from school!

Today I literally spent the entire morning organizing Gus' bedroom.  We moved his dresser in yesterday so I decided today was the day to put everything away.  Until now it has ALL. BEEN. ON. THE. FLOOR.  Our kids have happily spent the last few weeks stepping over piles, and empty boxes and who knows what else.  Scott and I have been doing that, too, just not very happily!    I thought I'd share a couple pictures before the little guy comes home and takes everything back out again.

 

Now, for a reality check.  This is what the hallway just outside the door looks like!

Repeat

Sitting on boxes.

They are a bit bigger than they were here, huh?!

Farewell 2062

Decorated

It's not much, but we've got wreaths upstairs and on the door!

Everything else is a mess: painters have been scraping and sanding and painting and extra wood flooring is inside for the floor man to use for repairs when he comes to start, hopefully, on Wednesday!

Scott's wonderful mother came to visit last week and while she was around everything was spick 'n span.  

Thanks for all your help, Nonnie!!

The kitchen countertops are done and the cabinet doors are on.

I decided to seal/stain the counters with Dark Tung Oil so that it will be food safe and not shiny.  I like the softer, matte look.

The carpenter we hired did an ah-mazing job on the ceiling beams.  The skinny ones are original.  The thick one running perpendicular is new.  It's covering up the beam we used to replace the interior wall between two old rooms.  

Same story here in the dining room:

  

 A finished bedroom!

And the bathrooms are coming along.  The plumber will come back to finish things up once the floors are finished.

Our trusty pellet stove is keeping us toasty while we work....

....and by God's grace we passed our HVAC inspection.  It has been a long saga with that part of the project and we are SO thankful for God's gracious hand in allowing the inspector to smile on us!

We've also passed electrical and propane.  Only plumbing & building inspections left!!