2.10.2011

a recent increase

I LOATH crumbs!!
Hannah is getting messier and messier (as she gets older???)
Abby is 4 but still doesn't grasp the purpose of a plate...

I am currently sweeping about 8 times a day (5 meals/snacks) and several naughty raids of the pantry (see evidence below). I now strategize which foods make the most mess and then not serve them (graham crackers are history).
I think crumbs have a super power...no matter how hard I try, I can never get them all...grrr


(just look at that knowing smirk)

1.11.2011

corner lot deception

a corner lot is desirable...until there is over 1/2 foot of snow (a small amount for Denver)...
then you notice all that extra sidewalk...I'm so sore!!


(check below for playhouse completion)

Playhouse


Ryan wanted to rip out this very odd, very large item...I thought it could repurposed

before:


after:


the hardest part was getting the tent pattern right...


Abby couldn't go down in the basement for two days before Christmas. All she knew was that I was making her some sort of surprise. The suspense almost killed her. Even Christmas morning, she wanted to see what was downstairs more than what was under the tree :)...
...she loved it!

12.28.2010

Family Photos 2010






(more on my facebook page)

12.17.2010

basement, boom-box, and labor pain


When we bought our home we knew we would need to do something about the eyesore of a basement it had, but it was put on the back burner until all the plumbing issues arose (see previous post)...

before: gross!


after: ahh...much better :)
ps: stay tuned for an "after after" of that monstrosity of an entertainment center I am turning into a playhouse as a Christmas present to Abby and Hannah...shh


Remember back in the day when music didn't fit in a 1" x 2" device and people lunged huge boom-boxes on their shoulders? Hannah loves to rock out "boom-box style" to the alphabet song


For the most part, I'm a self-taught sewer and had made a couple "quilts" (pathetic imitations posing as quilts) but I jumped at the chance to learn how to do it correctly. A friend of mine, and experienced quilter, organized and taught a group of us the craft...crazy nice, huh?! I consider this my first real quilt. It turned out better than I expected since at one point the rows formed more of rainbow shape rather than the grid it should have been! FYI: doing it the right way is way more work than doing it the wrong way...

I've decided quilting is like labor and delivery. When it is finally over you swear you will never do it again... over time amnesia sets in and before you know it you're back at the hospital with contractions... I am now in the "just-delivered-never-doing-this-again" phase...
but the girls are going to need matching bedspreads once Hannah's out of her crib... ;)


It will be one of Hannah's Christmas presents...
...and she better want to take it to college :)


11.29.2010

dSLR love

Awhile back I splurged on a dSLR camera ... I LOVE IT!!
I've only started to scratch the surface of what this camera can do, but I don't know how I ever lived with just a point and shoot.












makes me happy :)

10.15.2010

Never rains when it pours...

...either way, I'm developing a sincere hatred for water.

Monday is laundry day. It was only after 4 loads of laundry that I went down stair to find all the water I used covering most of our basement floor! Much as been done (aka: many bills incurred) and as I write this, the problem still isn't fixed. Joy.


Also on Monday: Hannah fell down our stairs...the full flight...the stairs that have not been finished yet and are still raw cut subfloor. Joy 2.



She sports a cast well, I think