Back to it...sort of.

I suppose it is fitting that this post is on December 1st since my last was November 1st! For my lovely but small group of readers I apologize. I have been having really annoying and frustrating computer problems (on my newish computer no less!). The computer is still not fixed - I am typing this on my honey's work laptop. I have been putting off doing a blog because you know how I hate blogs with no pictures. They are just not as much fun!

It is hard to know what to write after a month long absence! Addie has changed so much. She is crawling and pulling up on everything (even the toilet once when little brother was using it!). That was gross but so very funny. She still has a baby food strike going on although yesterday she took some mac & cheese. Maybe she will just skip the baby food stage? She had her nine month doctor visit the other day and surprise, surprise she is not climbing the charts like her brother and cousin did. She was working her way up in the 95% in height and weight but now she has dropped to 50% in weight and 25% in height. We are looking at some reasons why and hope they help.

Eli is more of the same...three. He is delightful and funny and sweet but also...three. He is excited for Christmas but I think more so for his birthday which is still 4 1/2 months away! His response to almost anything he wants is maybe for his birthday!

We had a nice low key Thanksgiving at my in-law's house. We got some cute pictures of the kids -the one above is of the kids at the dinner table.

Greg, Eli and I left Addie with Grandma and Papa the day after Thanksgiving and went to a tree farm to pick the perfect Christmas tree. Greg and I really do have different taste in trees. I like the tall and skinny Charlie Brown trees and he is more partial to the full and bushy trees. I won out thought because our living/dining room is about the size of some people's bedrooms. It looks so pretty though...love the Christmas lights!

My friend Laura who I have written about finally had her sweet baby boy. Gavin was born on Monday after a nice short labor. He is beautiful and I can't wait to get to know him! Congratulations Mike and Laura!

What would I do without Costco?

Don't you just love Costco? I was there yesterday with my dear and very pregnant friend Laura and we drooled over all of their new holiday stuff. It just made me want to throw a party! They have so much fun holiday food out...great cheeses, spreads and mmmm..candy! Plus they have all of their non-food yummies out for the holidays too!

We were walking down the Christmas aisle when I spotted these -
I was so excited because I have been drooling over the same thing for forever at Pottery Barn. Pottery Barn was asking $199 I think (an outrageous price no matter how cute they are) and Costco was only asking $35! In case you can't tell by the wires they are electric candles. They even flicker like real ones. I'm just not sure how to hide the cords. I made a lame attempt with the pinecones. Does anyone have any suggestions? I will probably leave them out year round because I love them so. I could probably do some sort of garland for the holidays but what should I do for the non-holiday times?This is the fabric and yummy pom pom fringe I picked up the other day for a project. I seem to have a crush on pom pom fringe. I don't actually have any in my house right now but soon I will! I actually remember looking for it a few years back to add to some pillows and I couldn't find it anywhere! Now it is easy to find and I am finally going to try and make something with it.

I bought a bench seat the other day while shopping at Safeway - yes Safeway. It has a cushion on the top that I want to cover in the polka dot fabric with the red pom poms as an accent. It may look ridiculous especially with my lack of sewing skills but I'm sure I'll post the results.

Back to the Safeway thing. You know how they sometimes have seasonal things at the ends of aisles or on top of the freezer cases? Well, I had noticed this piece (I don't know if I would call it wicker or straw or what - something woven) earlier and it was way too expensive but I thought it was cute. I ran in the other day to grab a few things. The kids and hubby were waiting in the car. So here I am in the freezer section and I look up and lo and behold it was 40% off! I thought it might make a better ottoman in our tiny living room then our current extra large ottoman. Of course I couldn't find any employee to help me so I pulled it down myself and balanced it precariously on my cart. I felt pretty stupid pushing that around Safeway but hey, it was on sale. I felt even sillier as the clerk pushed my cart into the parking lot for me and my husband spotted it. He was actually really sweet - he is a good sport with my impulsive purchases. Now I don't think it looks so hot as an ottoman so I have it by my front door. It may end up in the basement with the kids stuff but it will have cute pom pom fringe on it!

Oh, I wish I would have taken a picture. I still might just so you can all see the horror. My husband had an eye appointment yesterday and the Doctor gave him a free trial pair of these contacts that block UV light and that he can wear when he is outside for long periods of time. Basically they take the place of sunglasses. He is telling me this yesterday on the phone as he is driving home. He says that they turn his eyes brown as well. Okay, pretty cool I think. He gets home and let me tell you I was a little freaked out. It was appropriate that it was Halloween because he looked like he had lost his soul. My husband's beautiful green eyes were this dark, dark brown. I could hardly see his pupils. It looked so unnatural and freakish that I made him take them out before he scared the kids. I will have to get a picture for you all to see. Neat idea but I can't imagine this taking off - we would have a bunch of zombies walking around!

Happy Tuesday!

I just have to say that this whole blogging adventure has turned out to be really fun. It has been a great creative outlet although my abilities with the computer leave my blog falling short of how I would love for it to look! I have loved keeping in touch with friends and meeting new friends in blog world. I really appreciate every one's comments and friendship!

I took a finished picture of our front door since I had promised that so long ago. Notice how the wreath I made covers the glass so nicely....now I don't have to have so many nightmares of a strange man looking at me through the glass! Actually I am getting used to the idea of it and it is amazing how many houses have glass in their front doors when you drive around and look.
By the way, I've gotten a little addicted to this softening effect on my photos. It makes things so much prettier then they actually are....my husband thought this effect made it look out of focus! Men! I wish I could walk around in real life with this softening effect going on, especially in the morning before I put my makeup on!
This is the area above my stove in the kitchen. It is one of the areas in my kitchen that puts a smile on my face....plus if it didn't the sign reminds me! When we bought our house we took a few cupboard doors off to have some open shelving. These are the original cabinets in our 1940's era house so they needed a little cheering up with fun colors and pretty flowery trays! I love my kitchen because it is quaint and cottagey but we still dream of fixing it up a little more one day. We just have to be careful we don't over improve because our little house isn't worth all that much!

We are having a pretty quiet week - we need to try and sell our broken down car...who will want it? I think I will have to advertise that someone could take it for parts too. I hope we can get something out of it!

I am thankful to God this week - two of my husband's cousins (they are sisters) were in accidents this past week. One was hit by a bike while walking and the other totaled her car. I'm thankful because both of them came out okay, a little banged up but safe. It reminds me how quickly our lives can change and to be thankful for God's protection -AND to appreciate the time God gives us with our loved ones.

On that note I'll sign off and wish everyone a happy Tuesday.

Just Playing

A gal at another blog I like to read always has these cool soft edges on her pictures. It makes them look so pretty! I asked her how she did it and she has Adobe photoshop. Another gal commented that there is this free website where you can edit photos - www.picnik.com. So I went for a little visit and played around. This is an example of what I was able to do. I don't know that I love the looks of it all but fun to have a FREE editing tool to play with beyond what my computer does!On another note, my hubby finally took the bug encrusted plastic off of our front door windows yesterday! It is like the heavens have opened for us to see all it's glory - okay so that is a stretch!. It is just so crystal clear and beautiful after almost two months of looking through murky plastic film. Plus now I will really be able to see those pumpkin snatchers and they will really be able to see me. On a sad note, we will now have to close the bathroom door every time we use the facilities as the front door looks down the hallway and straight into the bathroom. (Our children are still young enough that it is not traumatizing for them to see us use the bathroom.)

I cleaned off the front porch again last night. It seems like I just decorated it for Fall but since my pumpkins were taken, my mums were dead and everything was covered in leaves I decided I needed to do a little rearranging. I pulled the droopy leaves off of my Kale and moved it onto the chair by the door and put my dried rosehips on the other chair. I also finally took down my dead hanging basket. It looks so bare now but so much cleaner. My steps are totally empty and look horrible. I painted my concrete stairs and porch this summer with floor and porch paint and it has worn horribly. It is stained and dirty. I'm really disappointed with how it has worn - does anyone have any advice on what would work better next time?

I hope everyone has a happy Sunday!

Just another reason I hate Halloween.

Besides the fact that I'm just not into all the scary stuff that goes with Halloween, I HATE that people use it as liscense to do mean, stupid and really - illegal things. What is this I'm ranting about you might ask? Someone stole my pumpkins right off my front porch and smashed one in my driveway and one in my street. In the middle of the evening - with house lights blazing - and a car out front! Not like my pumpkins are so precious to me (although I did spend money on them and they were on MY property). I guess it really bothers me that some punk was right outside my front door (my new door with windows in it that kind of freaks me out anyway) while I was in my living room alone with the kids.

Okay, so I wrote this earlier today and I am a little more over it now...sorry for the rant.

I am in love with my new car. I created reasons to go out and drive it today. When Greg got home we took it to his parents to show them. The kids fell asleep and it was dark and cozy and we were listening to great music....I wanted him to keep driving. I think I like it too because right now it is clean and my house is not. I am going to be gracious and let Greg take it tomorrow morning too (he has this class he is taking for work one Friday and Saturday a month). I'm sure I won't get my act together to leave the house tomorrow morning anyway and having it sit in the driveway would just be selfish! So I am really thankful for our new car.

My blogs are not going to be very exciting for awhile since my camera is broken. I don't know about any of the few that might read this but I prefer blogs with a lot of pictures. And since I am not the greatest writer out there I think my blog needs pictures.

I saw this idea on a great blog I love to read and I am going to copy her. She listed five things she could do well and five she couldn't do well. Kind of fun...join me!

Five things I think I do well...

1. Clean - (Mom don't laugh) My house doesn't normally reflect this but my Mom really taught me how to clean well. When I clean I do a good job. I comet my sinks and dust very well amongst other things (this was once an argument between my husband and I when we were dating - he didn't see the point in dusting the living room when my kitchen was a mess).

2. Tweeze - Yes, I know this is strange but I have certain people in my life whose brows I tweeze. I have also been known to tweeze between my husband's brows a time or two.

3. Paint - I have painted late at night, in my ninth month of pregnancy, while watching two kids...you get the picture. I paint walls, furniture, stairs, ceilings. I think I might be a little compulsive but I think I'm good at painting.

Shoot, this is harder then I thought.

4. Worry - Yeah, I know this isn't one to aspire to or be proud of and we know what God says about it. It is hard to think of five good things I'm good at though. I've moved on to the bad things I'm good at. Anyway, been a worrywart my entire life.

5. Reading fast - This is a really useful talent, especially when you have the problem of not being able to put down a book until it is finished or if you have two children under the age of four.

Five things I don't do well....

1. Laundry - If I didn't include this I know my Mom would comment. It is her personal mission to catch me up on my laundry every time she visits.

2. Feeding my family balanced and healthy meals - I am not a born cook. My gene pool is full of fantastic, creative, gourmet cooks but something happened with me...

3. Keeping my house clean - I know this seems to contradict #1 in my "do good" list but believe me - it is possible!

4. Drive in big cities - I am getting better with this one. When I first moved to the medium sized city I live in now the freeways flipped me out. Now I am just fine. I still won't drive in the really big city my sissy lives in though. Never have and don't know if I ever will.

5. Sports - I think this stems from two facts. I am one of the least competitive people I know and I hate exercise. Enough said.

I think this posting is long enough but that was kind of fun!

Does God have good timing or what?

So we have been driving the same two cars since we were married six years ago. One is fifteen years old the other is eleven. The eleven year old is our "good" car that Greg lets me cart the children around in while he is a good sport and drives the oldie.

We have been dreaming about the day we would be able to get something better for so long! Finally last Saturday as we were out getting our flu shots (fun family outing!) we decided to at least go to our bank and talk to them about an auto loan. I quickly jumped on Craigslist and started looking at Wheel Deals since I now had the go ahead. We test drove something on Monday that was overpriced but really nice.

In the meantime Greg went out of town and took the "good" car because his car just isn't safe to travel in anymore. I drove the kids and I to our Mommy/book group in the old car yesterday and to their Grandparents last night so we could test drive another car. As I was driving I was commenting to my Mom on the phone that it felt like it was going to break down on me...lo and behold it did! Greg thinks the power steering column went out. I am just so thankful I was not on the freeway with the kids when it happened. So Greg picked me up from the broken down car and we went to test drive a much nicer car. I had just tried to fill the car up with gas before it broke down too and I let the pump automatically fill up but it only filled up halfway. I think God was protecting me from blowing too much money on gas for a car that was about the break!

We think we are going to buy the car we test drove last night. Exciting! It is actually from this decade, has decent miles and is a good price!

On another note - we had our pictures taken by this great photographer a couple of weeks ago. She came to our house and was so nice to work with. She just posted our photos at http://www.tinyfeetphotography.com/Henson/G01.htm. They turned out so well. I'm not putting any new photos on this posting since my camera is broken. So go view these and enjoy!

So this is a little add on since I posted this....we bought the car...should pick it up this afternoon. My hubby sent me a link and a friend's password to look it up on Consumer Reports. Bad, bad. bad. I did do research, I did! I guess we can just pray their findings don't apply to our car.

A week in pictures......

We had a busy week! Auntie Nicole and cousin Peyton came to visit while Ian was in town for a conference. We shopped Monday through Thursday. By Thursday we were dragging through the mall (we did have two pregnant gals and three small children!) I am now convinced I need a minivan if not just to fit everyone when family comes to town. Here is a picture of the kiddos in Auntie Nic's nice car. When we went shopping in Grandma's car guess who was sitting in the tiny third row climbing in through the trunk? Ummhmm....but worth it to all ride together.

Addison did very well with two boys this week. Peyton was very sweet with her but sometimes I think he terrorized her. She did maintain her cuteness though! Oh - I think today is the day I will officially say she is crawling. She doesn't get too far at once but she is moving those legs! The boys were able to take a lot of baths together...Eli got a new "dirty dogs" bath toy that he was very into and also experience his first bath time mohawk! Maggie the Labradoodle also came for a visit. Here is Addison checking her out. The boys watching Maggie from the bathroom window on their last day together. Aren't they cute?

Off to Grandma's house we.......went!

We got back yesterday from a five day visit to my parent's house. We went down for the weekend because the guys had tickets to the WSU football game. Auntie Nicole, Uncle Ian and cousin Peyton drove all the way across the state to join in on the fun!

The kids and I stayed an extra two days while Greg headed out of town for work....ah, vacation! (I don't mean from Greg! Being at my parent's house is always a vacation!) I have help with the kids, my Mom makes incredible meals that I don't have anything to do with!

Here is a cute pic of the cousins before they said their goodbyes.
Little Addie discovered Grandma's fruit bowl.
On Tuesday we went out to this great little farm. They have U-Pick flowers in the summer and in the Fall she makes beautiful wreathes from what she has on her farm. My Mom and I took the kids out and Jane (the very nice lady who owns the farm) showed me the ropes and let me make a wreath of my own.

This was a pumpkin display she had at the farm. I thought it was so beautiful I took a picture so I could copy her! She said she put moss between the pumpkins so they wouldn't rot and the berries wrapped around them are rosehips. I love this!
This was her cute pumpkin stand.....she had so many different kinds of pumpkins...really fun!
Here are Grandma and the kiddos waiting patiently while I make my wreath.
Jane's wreath (which I probably should have just bought!)My wreath that needs a few adjustments and fillers!
I think I will hang it on my front door to add to my Fall decor.
Thanks Jane! It was so much fun!

On the drive home yesterday we stopped at this awesome store - The Hurd Mercantile. It is in this cute little town about a half an hour from home. I could have spent a lot of time there and a lot of money. Really cool home decor items, antique, new...you name it. I managed to find a "Welcome to our Cottage" sign I will hang out front and a squatty little turquoise Ball Mason jar! Fun, fun!

Happy Anniversary!

Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our


Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
and it's usually quite loud
Our Mum she's so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed


Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Okay, so not all of the lyrics in that song by Madness are true....


The reason I am serenading my house is because it was exactly a year ago today that we first saw her.


Greg and I had about given up on our search for our first home. The houses in our price range were either disgusting or in sketchy neighborhoods. It had been a good month since we had looked at anything and I had resigned myself to the idea of staying in our tiny apartment until we could afford something better. I really do have to give God credit because He made everything fall into place so perfectly. Our realtor called us up and told us there was a house in our price range in a pretty good neighborhood that we just had to see. Greg couldn't see it with me but my Mom was in town for my ultrasound (more on that later) so she came with me.


We saw the house and even though there was faux, faux, faux everywhere (on the walls that is) we knew there was so much potential. The house had only been on the market for a few days but someone else had already made an offer. That was great because it pushed us into quickly making an offer as well. As you know we ended up with an accepted offer two days after we saw the house. We were able to close in a month and we had a month of being able to work on it before we had to be out of our apartment. God made the timing perfect and gave me the "cottage" I had always dreamed of owning.


I wish, wish, wish I had taken "before" pictures of my house! What was I thinking? Anyway, you'll have to trust me that it is a big transformation. I am grateful for my house today - a dream that at times seemed like it would never happen.


What a difference a year makes.....

This is the other reason I am celebrating an anniversary today! (Much more important then my house by the way!)

A year ago today we found out we were having a girl. The ultrasound picture is of Addie's cute little face and the other picture is her exactly a year later. She's in her "Where's Waldo" sweater on my "Where's Waldo" rug. I am super grateful she is in my life. She is my little sunshine. I love her so much......

Oh Happy Day!

Today was a happy day after I checked my mailbox.....check out this oh so cute bag my friend Michelle made me for my birthday! She is a whiz with the sewing machine (I am so jealous) and she whipped me up this reversible shoulder bag. One side is a dark chocolate brown corduroy and the other is this cute floral print. She even included a little change purse - she is so thoughtful! Thank you, Thank you Michelle!
Today is also the day my childhood friend Shandra is getting married.....in Mexico! Happy Wedding Day Shandra & Tyler! We wish we could have been there but a baby who won't take a bottle just didn't make it easy.This is Shandra & Tyler at the coast in May - we were so happy to get to meet Tyler! They are a great couple!

Oh by the way, the furnace guy came yesterday...an hour earlier then scheduled and my house was a mess. Alert the media, the world knows I am a slob! (Yes, miraculously I survived...he told me he had five kids..all little. I figured his house couldn't be too tidy either!)

The spoils of my battle......

Okay....so I promised you I would let you know about all of the goodies I scored at the JBF pre-sale last night. It was a little crazy - there was soo much stuff and it was packed so tightly on the racks! I overdid it on clothes for Addison. It is always so easy to find cute little girl clothes and so much harder to find cute older boy clothes.

I spotted these cute pictures of the little boy and little girl praying on my way out. I got both of them for five dollars! I thought they were too sweet to pass on - now I just need to see how I can fit them in the kid's room.

My best find was a darling Hannah Anderson snow suit for Addison - it came with little booties and mittens too. It is big enough for her to wear this winter and the next. She really does like it - I promise!
I only found two things for Peyton but I told Nicole I would post them so she could get a sneak peek!
These are just a few of the cute things I found for Addison....don't you love the red velvet blazer?

Does anyone else clean for the Furnace Man?

Sigh.....I worked my little hiney off cleaning for the guy coming to look at my furnace this morning. Am I strange to care what the furnace guy thinks? I even cleaned my toilet just in case he needed to use it. I am too considerate. It doesn't matter that it all needed to be done for my lovely children and husband's sake. I am a woman motivated to clean by the threat of other people seeing my messiness. The joke's on me though....he never showed.

I have a busy few days...for me that is. If I have one outing planned I consider it a busy day. I am such a homebody. So I had my furnace appointment that never happened this morning and this afternoon I have to take my dear little boy to the doctor for an ailment my husband advised me not to disclose to anyone else! Later tonight I get to go to a pre-sale for a Just Between Friends event. It is a big used children's stuff event - I like a bargain! I'll let you know about the goodies I find!

I have yet another reason to love Craigslist. I finally scored a great dining table off of it. We have had a rinky dink IKEA table for the last six years. My husband refers to it as the "kids" table. The lady I bought it from only lived a few blocks from us and was so nice - she even helped me get it home in her van. Here is a picture of it. It has two leaves which would make it more of an oval shape. My red chairs go splendidly with it!
I also wanted to include a before picture of our new front door. This has been a work in progress for awhile now and I am so excited to see it done! We still need to stain it, trim it out and put on the dentil shelf. Do you like the door handle? It was called "Addison" so I knew it was fate! We are planning to work on it this weekend so maybe next week I will have a finished shot for you.Tomorrow Eli is scheduled for his first ever dental appointment. That will be interesting. This is a boy that quite often reacts to getting his teeth brushed like we are stabbing him instead of promoting oral health. I will try to take pictures so you can view the horror yourselves.

I better go get ready for his doctor appointment. Should be interesting.....

The torture begins.....

I just had to include these pictures....... Eli decided to play doctor with Addison. Before I realized what was going on he stuck one huge bandaid on her head!

Moments later....There are two....like little earmuffs!

The crazed Dr. Eli!

My little project that I still haven't figured out!

Welcome to my new blog! I will try to get this posted fast because my little Eli is asking me "What you want to play, what you want to play?" I have limited time.....

I have finally decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon. So many people I know are doing it and it seems like a fun way to stay in touch with people and share photos. I am learning how all of this works and am trying to get my layout just the way I want it. It is harder than I thought it would be though!

My pics are of little Addison on her big brother's bike. Amazingly she stayed on by herself...until she fell sideways and bonked her face on the handlebar and faceplanted in the dirt! Eli was lucky enough to get a big boy haircut from Grandma Sharon this weekend. It's kind of a goofy picture but it is hard to get a good one of a 3 1/2 year old! The final picture is of some mums on my front porch. I finally decided it was fall and I better plant some fall flowers before it was too late.