Shouting Appalachians

We got our new lights up!  My brothers came over Saturday night for pizza and wiring... they're so handy. 



Out with the old...



in with the new!  It's so much less heavy and dark in this corner now.

And while we were at it these lights went too.  They were nice and low profile, but also kind of space age and the light was weak.  So much so that we rarely turned them on because there wasn't much difference between on and off.

The mess on moving day.

Jakey is multi talented.

I love light.  Bob picked these out because I was being indecisive.  I think at some point the randomly placed ceiling fans will go away... we only turn them on occasionally for Cecily to look at.

 These walls are still white... suggestions for colors or decorating tips?

Little miss has outgrown her baby towels.  I think she likes her big hooded towel!

Sunday we went to W-ton because it had been awhile.   After church we attempted some shaped note singing out of the"Sacred Harp".  I need a piano... because I can't sight read anymore.  So it was quite interesting sounding but fun to try.  Steve and Renee joined us for supper and we got to see their Guatemala pictures.

Blessings.

Six months

We've had another quiet week, which I love.  We haven't been doing much outside because it's cold again.  And I've been lazy so we haven't been doing much inside either.  *grin*  Well sort of lazy.  I've been half-heartedly chipping away at my spring cleaning list. 

Cecily's six month picture and mine...  I think she looks like herself.  I've also heard she looks like a Klopfenstein baby, and the ladies at the eye doctor think she looks like my Dad.  Hehe, poor girl. 



Speaking of the eye doctor, for the first time in my life my eyes got better instead of worse!!  Maybe there is a plus side to pregnancy hormones... although they could change again when she stops nursing.  I must confess I did for a brief minute try to figure out how many kids I would have to have to get back to 20-20 vision, although I don't think it works that way and it would probably be more efficient to get Lasik. *grin*    

Blessings.

In my Easter Bonnet

First off, this girl is way too smart.  She's figured out that bottles and cans and glasses hold liquids... here she is attempting to steal Bob's IBC cream soda (such an easy birthday present!). 

We had a pretty quiet week.  I think my highlight was going to Dale and Meg's on Thursday for a Passover Seder.  It was a blessing and good for my soul.  Having it the night before Good Friday helped me to focus since I seem to spend most of my time in church taking care of little miss right now...  There's something about participating in an event that has been commemorated for thousands of years that makes my heart happy.   

Susan came home for the weekend so we spent Saturday evening with her and we dyed Easter eggs with the girls.

There were a few casualties.  Cecily tried it.

 And this is right before she dumped that cup of dye over.  Then the carton of finished products got dropped so there are no pretty pictures of Easter eggs this year.  *grin*

In my Easter Bonnet, with all the frills upon it.... 

I think she likes her Easter dress.  It makes her eyes look really blue.  

We were with the Beutels Sunday night at the cabin... Cecily did really good all day until Carrie's bf, Paul tried to hold her and she started screaming.  I felt kinda bad for him, I think she'd just had about enough Sunday and Easter at that point.  *grin*

Blessings.

Birthdays

So my cousin Ned turned 21 this past weekend, and since he just happened to be in Illinois there was a party.  And since he's 21 we got a keg for him.... of root beer.  1919 Root Beer.  It's probably some of the best root beer I've ever had, but it's only available on tap so you can't get it at a grocery store.  But you can find a distributor and get it in a keg- 16.5 gallons of wonderfulness.

They loaded it for me at Baumgarten's, but it took Fred and Troy to get it out of my trunk at the farm...

It was about at this point that I realized that I had forgotten about needing a keg tapper and we had no way to get the root beer out.  Ooops.  Since I have sooo much experience when it comes to kegs.  So Cecily posed for us while we called around trying to find a tap. (Hopefully this is her only experience with kegs too.  *grin*)

My brothers were in charge of keeping it iced down and transporting it to Herb and Lori's.... where we enjoyed it in frosty mugs.

And by the pitcher full.  

Profound words:

Cecily got lots of attention.  Kisses from Shena... or is this Kebe?  *grin* 

Ned took a nap.



In the evening the boys that weren't going to communion came to our house and played Risk.

 Maybe this is why you lost Troy...

Sunday was Bob's birthday.  Cecily helped him open his presents.  We went to his parents' house for supper and more cake that evening. 



Good times... good root beer.... it even tastes good flat!
Blessings.



Fresh Air

Spring.  I love it.  I love our yard.  We have a redbud tree.

There are four old fashioned lilac bushes, and one new bush (the kind that doesn't have much fragrance).

Our garden is not planted yet. 

Iris and tulips are coming up in the flower bed.

Oooo and there's a crabapple tree!! 

And peonies!  Two different kinds!!  Yay!  I kind of want to give Nancy a hug- she planted lots of my favorites!

We took Cecily to communion last Saturday in one of her new dresses.  I didn't even try to take her into church... we sat in the baby room... much better for my stress levels.  She ended up being really, really, good and some of the younger girls were sweet enough to hold her while they passed the bread and wine.

We invested in a lawnmower since it took Bob three hours to push mow the yard last fall... I'm kind of excited.  I got to try it tonight and it's going to take me awhile to get used to driving it.  It's been three years since I've used a riding mower, and I've only ever used a zero turn mower.

Little miss wants a ride...

Blessings.

Shopping

On Thursday Mom, Shelly, and Cecily & I drove up to Woodfield mall.  Cecily was really pretty good all day.  I drove into and out of "the city" since it keeps all of our adrenaline levels and blood pressures down... and those were the two times Cecily decided to cry.  The rest of the day she was pretty content sitting in her stroller and posing with the random hats aunty Shelly kept trying on her.

And swimcaps!  Somehow I don't think this would stay on her in the water... 

It was lots of fun.  I didn't end up buying much for myself, but between all of us Cecily came home with a ridiculous amount of cute clothing.  It's hard to resist in stores like Janie and Jack and Hanna Andersson, especially when there are sales.

We also spent an inordinant amount of time at Anthropologie... hehe... where they kept telling me how cute my little boy was... um.. ok... yeah she's wearing a blue striped shirt, but she's got lime green pants on...and a bow... hehe. 

There's quite the variety of stores and it never ceases to make me feel slightly dowdy... oh well, I would look really silly wearing most of what they're selling.

We ate supper at the Cheesecake Factory which was really good.  I was full so I didn't eat any cheesecake.  *grin*  And then we came home and little miss decided that she wouldn't sleep through the night and she didn't want to sleep in. *sigh*

Blessings.

Warmth

I love spring.  Cecily and I have been spending lots of time outside working in the yard.   Well, I work, she supervises and makes sure I take lots of breaks and decides when it's time to go in.  (Slightly frustrating sometimes because I could get lots more done... haha)  Today we hauled sticks to the town burn pile and worked on trimming the overgrown honeysuckle vines on our fences.  Anybody know how to kill a vine?  We have more than plenty and I kind of want to thin it out a bit.  I'm glad we live in a small town; of the 5 loads of sticks and vines I've hauled in the last few days, random people helped me unload 2 of them. 

Ooohh... and Mr. Faw came and tilled my garden today!  (For Mom- he's not a creepy gypsy!  He's nice and his tiller has a sticker on it that says "My boss is a Jewish carpenter."  *grin*)  I haven't planted anything yet, it still seems waaay too early. 

So here's a picture finally of the 3rd Saturday Quilt club quilt that I've finally finished piecing.  Now I need to decide if I want to try to quilt it myself or have it machine quilted. 

Cecily's pretty Easter dress- the pattern is from the 40's, but because I can't not modify a pattern I added the sash and the tucks on the skirt and an invisible zipper. Which are amazing and have revolutionized sewing for me. The buttons came from grandma Koch's stash and the lace from my mom's stash.  

 The tucks should probably be lower, but I realized that too late and I don't think I want to take half the dress out. 

And what you've all been waiting for: gratuitous pictures of Cecily!  She's sad because she needs more toys...

After a long day in church. Little turtle baby.

And she's learning to grab onto things- like hair!  And she doesn't know how to let go so beware! *grin*

Blessings.

You're so sweet

...horseflies keep hanging 'round your face...

Yes, Bob does think I'm crazy when I start singing little miss songs like that one.  (I blame my father... hehe.)

Hooray for nice weather!  Tuesday I headed north for part of the day to help Katie paint at her new old house.  So much fun.  I really like the paint colors she picked out, they look really good with all the woodwork and cabinets. 

Yesterday Cecily and I picked up sticks in the yard and I think I got a little bit of sun.  And it was pi day- I still have some left over from potluck so I didn't make a new one.  Sadly, we don't have any nerdy shirts for Cecily in her current size.  So this is for Gab; little miss trying rice cereal in a Heartland Bank pi bib.



Today is the Ides of March.  Beware and all that.  It's also my grandparent's anniversary...

Blessings.

Spring has sprung

It looks like there are iris and tulips and resurrection lilies coming up outside.  There are crocus blooming in random parts of the yard too.  Yay!  I love spring.

This weekend felt really long for some reason, which is nice!  We went to rotating potluck on Friday.  I baked a peach pie and a rhubarb-apple pie (both from the Farm Journal Pie cookbook) and they turned out amazing.  They set up better than any pie I've made I think.... *grin*  I like pie.  We took little miss with us and she did pretty good, but she just gets louder and noisier as the night goes on so we broke up the party a little bit early. 

Saturday we went to Menards and picked out a new light and got some stuff for our drainage project.  Woot woot.  And now that the utilities were marked today we may have to change that plan... yikesabee. Clayton randomly dropped by on his way home from a wedding that afternoon. My parents volunteered to watch Cecily in the evening while we went to testimonies.  They were for an older couple and it was a blessing to be there.  It made me wonder what my Grandparents' provings were like and if Grandpa got choked up.  I do know he was afraid of being under water so he held on to the side of the tub for dear life... hehe.

Little miss did great with her four babysitters;  Jakey and Aunty Shelly showed up after we left.  *eye roll* Now we just need to decide what to do with her during communion. 

I was eating lunch on Sunday and when Clayton sat down next to me... um, what?... yeah he and Nick just decided to come to Tremont to see "friends."  (I'm pretty sure that is code for "a girl.")  And Breanna was in town with her in laws so after lunch in walked Shelly to see her.  *Sigh* nobody ever comes to visit me. 

I love this weather and I want to be outside.  But then I go outside and see all the work that needs doing and I don't even know where to start.  Ugh.  And I need a tiller.  Anyway.

Blessings.

The world is at sixes and sevens

And why the house hasn't fallen down around our ears long ago is beyond me.  Our lights, on the other hand, seem to fall down quite frequently. 

Remember this lovely light fixture?  I makes me think of an old library or office or newsroom where they would all wear visors to shade their eyes....  I also maybe thought it was kind of ugly, but I could live with it.  *grin*

I've never really touched it except to dust it occasionally.  So last night Cecily had actually gone to bed early-ish for a change and Bob and I were both using our computers...about to go to bed... and the glass shade fell off.  All 346 square inches of it hit Bob on the neck and shoulders and then hit the floor and shattered.  There was glass EVERYWHERE.  All over the desk, the couch, the floor, her bouncy seat, her excersaucer on the other side of the room.  Ohmygoodness scared the daylights out of me!  Poor Bob got a few small cuts.    

I'm sooo glad little miss was sleeping!  It took a long time to clean up.  I finally went to bed around midnight, and now I'm paranoid about Cecily and glass.  But, it's an ill wind that blows no good- this corner hasn't been this clean since we moved in, I got a jump start on spring cleaning, and now we have to replace the ugly light! Woot woot.

Blessings.

Life

You're getting positively elderly... going to Florida, being a Grandma, hehe. 

We've been keeping busy.  My brothers came over for real food a few times while my parents were in Florida (they went to drive my grandparents home- or so they say.  Hehe).

Cecily and I spent an afternoon at G and G Beutel's to see Laura and kids... Mom and Auntie Shelly and Troy came over.... we went to a baby shower for Melissa and Lincoln... I've been working on her Easter dress and stenciling a border on our wall.

Yeah.... never thought I'd be doing such a thing, stencil borders haven't been "cool" for a while.  But, I got a book about Arts and Crafts houses for Christmas and stencils were cool in the 20's and 30's.  And I really liked how they looked.  Anyway, I fell in love with one and decided to put it on the beam between our kitchen and family room. 

The middle is weird because my math is bad and neither Jakey nor Bob understood what I meant when I was talking about repeats; so this is what I ended up with.  I still like it.  And it took forever (baby breaks) and made my wrist sore so I'm not redoing it and probably never going to stencil again. *grin*

Bob is teaching Cecily to type.  

And reading her "Trail Through Danger."  She likes westerns.  Really.

I'm getting excited for spring. 

Blessings.