Pinterest

This child does not look 2 months old.  I'm not quite sure how old I think he looks, but I really can't believe how big he is and how quickly he is outgrowing things.  I also try and see if I can see myself in him, but he pretty much always looks like a mini Jesse.

Onto another subject.  I like to get inspiration for house projects and clothes on the web, the newest craze is pinterest.  I'm sure most of you have heard about it, but when you find pictures you like, you can pin them onto a virtual board and it links you back to the original posting on the web.  The other day I was about to create my own pinterest account when I ran into a slight problem.  You see you have to have a facebook or twitter account to sign up.  I do not have either of them, and really don't want to.  But I'm pretty sure Jesse doesn't want me to hijack his facebook account to save a bunch of style and decorating items....people might get the wrong idea about him.
And if I had a pinterest account I would be sharing this pumpkin recipe with everyone through a link.  Instead I have to try and copy everything and post pictures in order for you to see it.  But I love the fall and all the great apple and pumpkin recipes so here is the first one I want to try.

Pumpkin Dip
16 oz. light Cool Whip, thawed out
1 (5-ounce) packet of vanilla pudding (instant)
1 small can of Libby's pumpkin - (15 oz.)
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, mix together pudding, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Gently stir in Cool Whip.This takes about 5 minutes to get the mixture smooth. (After mixing, I usually stick this in the refrigerator
for a while before serving it.)

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Flour tortillas (I used about 7 large tortillas) and holiday cookie cutters
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
Butter flavored Pam cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. Use metal cookie cutters and a cutting board to cut your tortillas into desired shapes (use leaves for fall, gingerbread men, trees, stars, etc. for Christmas). Place them on parchment or foil-lined baking sheets.
Spray all of the tortilla cut-outs with butter flavored cooking spray on the top side that is facing you.
Sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Lightly spray again with cooking spray to make sure the cinnamon sticks.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Place the chips on racks to cool off. Serve with Pumpkin Dip.

Oliver at 2 months

Weight = 12lb 13oz (70%)

Height = 24 1/4 inches (95%)

Bella at 2 months

Painted Cabinets

We have started work in the hall/kids bathroom.  Which for right now is painting the vanity cabinets black.  This weekend Jesse and I (mostly Jesse) will be tiling the bathroom.  Goodbye ugly blue sticky tiles.

As you can see, the cabinets used to be white.

Therefore the inside has been painted white.

What I can't decide is if I should leave them white or paint them black or do a pop of green color similar to this.

Except with our vanity, the doors are always shut, so it won't be visible unless you are going to be grabbing cleaning supplies or whatever random thing is stored underneath the sink.  Trying to decide if it's worth the work, although I think if I leave it white, it's just going to look unfinished.  So the main question is - black or green?

*Update*  I have been told by Jesse that the inside is not important, and for now it should just stay white.  I'll have to add a pop of color to another project in the near future, and lucky me I already know where that is going to be.

Wedding Trip

Warning - Picture overload.

We made it, the longest car ride Bella has taken and of course Oliver too.  And they both did amazing.  That's not to say we didn't have crying and fussy, but it was limited.  A very special thank you to the Pizza Hut in Russell, Kansas.  They were very accommodating and it was a great place for both Bella and Oliver to get some much needed time to stretch out and lay down.  And both trips we had to make two stops for eating and stretching.

The reason for the trip was a family wedding. Oliver was up pretty much the whole time we were at the reception, so he did a great job with little sleep.

 Bella needed time to lay down - so a sleeping bag was placed in the corner, so she could play as needed.

 Bella did a lot of dancing, which she loves.

 And of course, Oliver still loves to stand.

And the best part, both of them slept through the night until 7am the next morning.  I think that is a first!

We are Back

I have pictures to share from the wedding we attended and stories to tell about our trip there and back, but first I thought I would share this little story.

We got home today and I was hanging out with the kids in our family room as Jesse unloaded most of the bags.  He took the suitcases upstairs and came back down and informed me that we now have birds living in our attic. He was pretty sure they were in the attic, because he could hear them chirping when he was in the main part of our bedroom, but not when he went towards the balcony, the closets, or over towards the windows.  We were trying to figure out how they would have gotten into the attic, maybe when the roof was replaced they left something open??  Anyways, Jesse was commenting on how much fun it was going to be to get into the attic and try and get rid of the birds.

A little later on, Jesse went back upstairs.  He then came downstairs and reported that he had killed the birds.  I hadn't heard any commotion, and was surprised he had killed them.  He said he started to hear them in the duct work behind our dresser and couldn't figure out how they would have gotten into our bedroom wall.
Then he looked to the left and saw Oliver's swing.........and turned it off.  Those nature sounds must be pretty realistic.  Problem solved!

And we are off

I think we are certifiably crazy.  We are headed on a 7 hour road trip to McCook Nebraska with a 2 month old who isn't the biggest fan of his car seat, and a 4 year old who can pretty much only tolerate the car for around 3-4 hours.  Not to mention the fact we will be staying in a motel with a baby who still cries himself to sleep most nights (it's usually less than 5 minutes, but a very loud 5 minutes) and a toddler who wakes up crying every night.

Wish us luck!!!!

Pictures

I have this blog, that I keep up to date, and with having a blog we take lots of pictures.  Problem is, I don't ever print out the pictures.  I got an offer from shutterfly the other day, for 200 free prints.  I figured I should jump on it while it's free.  It's been well over a year, almost 2 since I have really printed anything out.  Needless to say, this "free" project has taken me about 4 hours to complete.  Maybe I shouldn't wait so long between getting things printed.
Also, they really get you when they offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount.  I was all done picking out my 200 prints and then noticed that shipping was going to cost me $12, so basically if I picked out more things worth $18, then I would get free shipping.  And to me, it's worth it to actually get a product versus paying for shipping.  So more hours spent compiling a photo book, so I can get the free shipping.   At this point I'm not quite sure it's all worth it.  Remember yesterday when I said I had a messy house I was going to clean, needless to say I haven't gotten to it yet.

Onto a totally different subject.  I'm sure I have talked about how Bella always loves to cross her legs.  She used to do it more so at her ankles.  Now she has begun to cross them at the knees like a grownup.

I can't believe she's almost 4 years old.  Most times she still seems really young to me, but other times she can look so grown up.

Messy House Tour

I can't believe I am going to show you this, but I was walking around the house and noticing that it is a complete pit.  So instead of taking the time to clean it, I am going to blog about it.  Actually I will be cleaning it shortly, as it really needs it

So here goes.

Living room, filled with toys and the vacuum that needs to be used in that room.

Dining room still set up from poker night last Friday, and boxes from Jesse's trip to Costco, which I need to find a place to put stuff away.

 Kitchen - the biggest mess; pots and pans to be cleaned, more things to be put away on all surfaces.

 Family Room - pretty much always looks like this, with all of Bella's toys out.

 Rec Room - boxes with stuff for donation that need to be sorted and cataloged so we can claim them on our taxes.  Also another place for random toys, which means they have basically taken over three different rooms.

 Hall bathroom - I started a new painting project, needs to be cleaned up before bath night tonight.  The pain of only having one bathtub that works around here.

 The craft room - a new project has been started.....notice anything Erin?

 The craft room is also a guest bedroom and an office, these boxes still house all my stuff from working in an office (which means it has sat here for months).  I need to figure out what to do with it, and what I really need to keep.

The bedrooms were actually in decent shape, so I didn't take any pictures.

Well I better get busy cleaning - but don't hold me to it!

Jesse's Work

Jesse has been very busy working on the house lately.  He has recruited the help of many family members and friends in the last month or so to accomplish it all.  It's not a very exciting place in the house to be working and the results don't look too spectacular, but let's take a look anyways!

We will start in the garage, where we, oops I mean Jesse and Curtis, had to remove a wall and replace it in a day.  And then Jesse and his dad spent a week taping, muding, priming, painting, and organizing the garage.

Jesse asked me if I had a place in mind for his box of Nebraska pictures and memorabilia, to which I replied: "Maybe when the basement get's finished."

"So I should just hang them in the garage?"

"Yes that sounds like a great idea."

So stay tuned to a decked out Nebraska garage coming soon........

 The following weekend our brother-in-law David and my father helped with replacing the water heater and adding a new water softener.

 I told you....exciting pictures.

These next two rooms........

Now look like this, as most of the demolition has been finished.

 Which means it was time to start some electrical work.  Jesse, with the help of some co-workers added a new sub-panel, as our current one was maxed out.

It's amazing how all those items both take a lot of time and cost a lot of money.  And unfortunately you don't really get a wow factor out of them.

Now for some future design ideas - our current mudroom

May one day look bright and colorful.

Or clean classic white.

Or go gray tones to match the garage.

And the stairs leading up to our main floor.

Could be painted black and white.

 Or something more colorful and fun.

But I'm thinking the mudroom and stairs will be the first mini project to be completed in the basement.  We have been coming into the gross and depressing area for far too long!  (Well that also goes for our bathrooms, so we will see which project wins out.)

Design Sunday

I thought maybe on Sundays I would show you something I have made recently.  Mainly because I have actually gotten dressed, fixed my hair, and put on makeup for church, so I am more camera ready than other days.  That being said, there is no help for poses, a model I am not.  And maybe next time I should recruit Jesse to take my picture, so I don't have to use a strange place where the self timer works.

It's a long silk tank top, which I have been wearing with jeans for now; but I think it would look cute with leggings and a cardigan for the winter.  It's quite a wild print that I picked up at Joann's, and on sale the whole thing only cost me $7 and 2 nap periods worth of time (which is about 2 hours and that was mainly because I had to figure out how to add darts, translation work around my breastfeeding "girls").

In other news, I started a bigger project today which involves this room:

The hall/kids bathroom.  Now it just needs to be completed before we have guests staying with us, I think that gives us less than a month!