kidding around

Who needs a TV when you have a whole shelf of books to enjoy?!

I change my house around- A LOT. Not necessarily rooms turning into other rooms, but the couch is in one spot and then moved the next week. I really don’t know what I would do if I had a huge house with lots of money to buy furniture. I probably would be utterly discontent and anxious all of the time.

Since I don’t always (never) have money to buy new furniture I shift things, make pillows or get rid of stuff. I like it that way and thankfully my family doesn’t mind. I had o laugh, last night Simon was pleading with me to move his room around. I told him to wait until another day and he begged that I let him do the moving- uh oh, I sense some competition.

Anyway, after doing some cleaning and re-arranging I thought I would pay my local thrift store a visit. I went in with one mission and that was to find a solid bookshelf costing no more than $20. Well, after shaking off some temptations and ready to leave emptyhanded, I found this great piece. I know you can not see it all in this shot, so try it here. I LOVE it. It holds lots of books and has many little cubicles that we can organize into library, school library, and our own collection. I got it for $25 and had no problem going over my limit.

I like hanging out on my couch (soon to have new pillows!) and watching my bird, reading the book titles and just plain daydream. Like my furniture, this shelf changes regularly and it is much more stimulating than watching a talking box with stupid fluff coming out of it.

Okay, if your name is Kim and you are my sister AND you are about to give birth…don’t even think about clicking on this!

DON’T!

Isn’t it so cool that all these sunflowers came from a seed about 6 weeks ago?

I was really late in planting sunflowers in this soil rich plot. Last year we had a pumpkin patch, the year before tomatoes. I’ve been trying to give myself a break and not feel guilty because we have not had a real garden in a couple years. But I also have had to be realistic with all the other demands and I suppose it was not my priority.

But now after seeing a couple dozen sunflowers poke their happy faces in this world- I must plan for next Spring. Not too much, but more than one crop!

By the way, the wall of hops in the right corner is my husbands doing…he will harvest the hops soon for some homebrew. This beautiful wall came from seeds from last year’s crop- cool, huh?

Over the past few weeks, we have finessed our kitchen. My husband finally attached the base boards, I painted the cupboards, added a curtain and just some basic work.

We decided that our house would really benefit (this may be a bit of a rationalization) if we added a professional kitchen work table…and I am happy to report that it’s super handy! I love my work surfaces to be clean and uncluttered and I would often get annoyed if there were cell phones, wallets and change on my counters (not insinuating anyone here!). Anyway, this space is great- our kitchen is really the center of our home’s floor plan so it’s a great space for all to enjoy.

I love this perspective coming from our stairs. Here is even a better look…

Sorry for more photos concerning my daughter’s birthday. I suppose I should have waited and shared them all at once-

She is not a big fan of cake and so I thought making a bigger version of her favorite cookie would suffice. I make these cookies at work often and they are a perfect mixture of almond, vanilla, and butter! Hmmm, where are the leftovers?

Okay- now that Ellie’s birthday is over and the kids have started school, it’s time to get crackin’ on my “to do” list. I have many ideas swirling around, but unfortunately I also have tasks that need to get done like finishing painting projects, planning a baby shower and potty training for Penelope…

It’s my sweet Elisabeth Helene’s 8th birthday today and her first day of 3rd grade!

I love this wonderful girl so much and will write a personal note to her (I do every year). We will be having Nana and Papa over for Chicken Satay, coconut rice, and garlic green beans…her favorite. Funny, we served this for her first birthday bash.

Here is my sweet Simon’s first day of school mug shot! He loves kindergarten and wanted to go back once we were in the car. I love the optimism of a grade schooler. The kids go to a great school and this is such relief for me.

Penelope will still be my sidekick. I believe she and I are up for some adventures!

First off, I want to thank those that commented on my last post. I appreciate your sympathy and supportive words. I found it really comforting to hear from people I have known and others that I have met throught this blog. I am obviously back and feeling a bit numb…and figuring out how I can be a supportive daughter to my mother. One thing I came away with was a huge sense of pride I have for my family history…I am a very grateful person.

Before leaving last week, I was busy with making Ellie her birthday gifts. I knew once I got home I would not have much desire to do sewing. I think it was also a good “therapy” and it just calmed my mind.

I found these suitcases at my favorite thrift store…why do they make such ugly ones now? I love the plaid one especially. I know Ellie will love filling these bags with all sorts of make believe stuff.

So tomorrow is school and Ellie’s actual birthday. My husband was brave to host her party on Thursday night while I was gone. It was a “make your own pizza, paint your toenails, and sundae” party and it was a hit.

Anyway, thanks for checking in…sorry for the bad photos. I tried to shoot them on the sly while Ellie was busy with a project. Oh well- in reality they are fun and the recipient will be delighted.

Hey kind readers.

I ‘m sure those of you who have shown interest in reading “Sky Burial” are anxious to find out the winner of my give away.

So-Mimi won!

… and if she would be so kind, to send it to Megan. (I need both your addresses)

You may remember I asked the winner of my giveaway to send the copy off to my sister. Well, she has since bought her own copy, so I thought it would only be fair for someone else to read this great story.

There has been a lot going on here and I hate to be so personal. My beautiful Grandma passed away this morning and I will be heading back to Iowa. I was incredibly fortunate to kiss her sweet cheeks on Saturday and whisper to her mutiple times my love for her. It is really quite amazing all of the timing and I am eternally grateful that I was to see her.

May her memory be eternal.

I haven’t posted in “Corners of my Home” for some time now and thought I should keep up with my membership. We have been busy finessing our kitchen and I have become quite pleased with the results. Our kitchen is really the center of our home…physically speaking. So I have really wanted it to reflect us, since we spend so much time in this place.

When we bought our house 4 years ago, it was the exact opposite of my style. The exterior was pink and blue for one thing. The owner then took that color scheme and splashed it all over the house. Oh- except the chartreuse bedroom with ladybug wallpaper- not cute, believe me.

Anyway, we knew we should jump at the chance of purchasing a place and looked past the “outhouse wallpaper” and “Winnie the Pooh” border in the dining room. Needless to say, we put a lot of sweat equity in this place and I can say honestly I am proud. For the 6 weeks before we moved in, Nathan and I worked our tails off to get this place tolerable.

Please do not think I am a design snob, I totally appreciated that the woman that lived here beforehand loved this place. Maybe a litte too much, along with her liquid nails and plexiglass!

So the change in this photo is that I painted the insides of the doors cream. Two years ago, I painted really ugly cabinents this green color and it was an improvement. I totally resisted the “Home Depot” kitchen look and was happy they painted so well. But the green got to be too much. Oh- and the window frame got a fresh coat of paint. So much better!

Have a nice weekend. I will be travelling to Iowa alone this weekend to visit my mom and Grandma. It will be a tough visit, but I am anxious to see my mom.

As I mentioned earlier, Ellie’s birthday is around the corner and my head is full of fun gifts for her. She is at such a wonderful age that I am glad I get to do it all over again with Peppy!

This summer she has had a ball playing with a neighbor girl. We live in an old, historical neighborhood with no kids. So when we discovered a girl lived a few houses away, Ellie was thrilled. They have been playing dolls non-stop. I try to ignore the baby talk. I laugh when Ellie slips out of character often because I don’t tolerate baby talk especially when the kid is over 3! I know I seem mean, but I like to have her talk more confidently, especially when conversing with me because I just lose patience (boy, I sound terrible!). Obviously I ease up on the talk since they are into the imaginary play and I am all for that!

Anyway, her friend is an only child and tends to have a lot of toys. Like lots of Beanie Babies and American Girl stuff…which is fine, I really don’t care what other people do and I don’t even know what to do if I had one kid. I think I would always have to resist the temptation of buying fun stuff.

Well, of course Ellie wanted an American Girl baby doll and I have resisted. She got “Kirsten” last year with family pitching in and we had a ball. We went to the city, visited the store, had lunch, took the trolley…fun day. But I just felt like we didn’t have to buy a doll there. I have found many cute dolls at Target and the thrift store, so why do it? Fortunately, Ellie was all jazzed when her aunt took her to Target and allowed her to buy a treat. It was happy to find out she bought a cute doll and doesn’t really care about the brand. I have to say I was proud. Who knows how long this phase will last anyway? I am so happy my 8 year old wants to play with dolls. She actually has had no interest until now.

So- with all that to say…Check out these fun patterns. There were so many I couldn’t make up my mind which one to buy. It didn’t help that the lady at Hobby Lobby said they were all on sale last week for $1.99. Oy. I plan to make Ellie some doll clothes and hopefully I will find a cool suitcase to put them in for safe keeping. I love doll clothes and hope Ellie will keep them for her kids.

I then discovered this super cool repro. of a 1930s motif…I’m saving this for Christmas gifts for the girls. I probably will need to go buy more of this too. Don’t you love it?