Catch up and there are only 17 days until my birthday

In case anyone was wondering.

My sewing machine broke and is in the shop... probably because I haven't oiled it in 5 years.  Oops.

We spent Thanksgiving at Fred and Di's house.  It seemed kinda small but it really wasn't... my out of state cousins rarely make it anymore...

I did not go black Friday shopping, not even online!  I was at the farm using my mom's sewing machine to work on a secret Christmas project.

Sprout was home so we spent an evening with her.

 

She likes donut holes.  A lot. 

 Bob's dad built us a mantel for our fireplace.  The board it will hang on is up.  The rest of it is in the basement getting stained and varnished while little miss naps.

Nap time has also been full of pulling nails out of that chair we bought off craigslist way back when...  I'm almost to the point where I can start stripping it.  woot woot.
Someone likes to be right where we are at all times... *grin* 

Or, doing strange things like sitting on the exercise bike.    

Or emptying out the toys and sitting in the basket.   

Our Christmas cards came packaged with all of this fun colored paper.  She had a great time playing in it.  Hehe.   

I went to the dentist for the first time in a very long time.  I have a cavity.  Actually, two small ones on the same tooth.  Woe is me. 
Otherwise, it's quiet around here.  I'm having lots of fun decorating for Christmas, and finding sheep all over the house, and deciding what presents to get for people. 
Blessings.

When the skies of November turn gloomy

So I succumbed to Cecily's cold too.  Woot woot.  Neither of us has been sleeping soundly, so it's been lots of fun. 

We met my mom for lunch and shopping last Thursday.  Fun times.  Somehow little miss came home with a snowman sippy cup...  hehe. 

 

Just chilling in my basket with my toys...

 

Bob's cousin Carrie is getting married so little miss and I went to her shower on Saturday morning.  We made it through about half of it and she decided she was not interested in passing shower gifts.  So we went home and she took a super long nap- it was crazy.  Bob and I raked leaves, mowed ,and got the stick pile and garden burned off before she woke up. 

I finally made and hung some valances in the family room/ office...  it's only been a year.  *grin*  It's hard when you're indecisive, have no idea what color the walls will end up, have four windows in one room that's three different "areas," and don't want drapes where dirty little fingers will be a lot.  So I borrowed an idea from pinterest and made some with canvas drop cloths.  Valances aren't really my favorite, but they're practical, hide the tops of the blinds, and they make it look like we didn't just move in. 

 

If it were just me I'd ditch the curtains and the blinds all together, but I'm pretty sure Bob would not go for that.  He's a shade closing Nazi.  Hehe.

 Oh and I brought home some old bulletin boards from the farm and added some trim so they would be the same size...  I am bad at mitering.  Thank goodness for wood filler, caulk, and paint!  Now the calendar is where I can see it and maybe remember things better.  Maybe. 

 

The Koch's got together for Thanksgiving on Sunday evening and I brought pie.  I like pie.  I used my fun fall mini cookie cutters on the tops. 

 

Little Miss's hair is always in her face and she pulls clips out and tries to eat them.  So I tried putting her hair in a ponytail.  I think it's hilarious but Bob doesn't like it and takes it out.  hehe. 

 

We met Dang for supper tonight at Oriental Palace.  They had a chicken cream corn soup that sounded halfway western so I ordered some to feed Cecily... since I'm not sure she would like spicy stir fried veggies and noodles...  what came was egg drop soup with chicken and creamed style corn in it.  I thought it was good, but she was more interested in goldfish.  *grin* 

Blessings.

Leaves and Sickness and Donuts

So we finally started raking leaves last Saturday.  Rustin and Sharon and their girls came over to help.  It seems like there are fewer leaves this year... maybe it's all in my head.  We mowed them twice this year, which helped, and I think it's been windier and they blew away... hooray!  Anyway, we got the yard clean and then it rained and blew the next day and you can't even tell because the rest of the leaves came down.

 Little miss had a fever for 24 hours Friday and Saturday.  Poor girl.  She slept a lot and was snuggly for a change.  *grin*   Now she's got an awful drippy nose.  (JNell, I really, really hope we didn't pass it to your boys- since I didn't even think about it.)

On Sunday BDY and JNell were in Tremont and they stopped by for a little bit after church.  We don't see enough of them.  We went to Matt and Lena's for supper and the evening.  Good times.

 We've been laying low so far this week.  Today little miss and I made cider donuts because fall is practically over.  Poor sick girl looks sad, but she was enjoying the donut holes immensely and was mad that I wouldn't let her eat more.  hehe.



The mess is worth it. 

 

Bob's not feeling well and went to bed as soon as he got home from work and Cecily's got a cold so I'm the most healthy one here.  So we're listening to church tonight.

 And just for fun, here's little miss showing me what she wants for Christmas from the American Girl catalogue.  *grin*

Blessings.

How does she know that you love her?

When the bathroom looks like this and all he says is, "I take it you're painting in here."



*Grin*  Bob is great. 

And somebody please remind me next time I want to paint something that I have a very curious one year old who doesn't understand wet paint... 

Blessings.

Happenings

Hm, yes, so I've been slacking on blogging.  There hasn't been anything momentous going on... 

 

Little miss was up past midnight 5 nights in a row.  It was 1:30 old time Saturday night... so we got no extra sleep on Sunday. 

 

I did get to spend a very fun Thursday- little miss and I met Amber, Natalie, and Jovie for lunch,  then we went to Jamie's house with Mary and Leann and played with cake and frosting and fondant, and there was sewing club that night.  Good times. 

 

We went to the farm for supper on Saturday.

 

Sunday after church we got to go look at some of the treasures at Grandma Koch's house... we brought home some toys and books. 

 

There was more frosting on Monday- Swiss meringue buttercream is maybe my new favorite frosting.  *grin* 

 

And today I voted.  We almost didn't get to.  When we moved and changed our address on our drivers licences, there was an option to change our voter registration at the same time.... sooo... we thought it was.  And I voted in the primary this spring and had no problems...  today they wanted to confirm our address and realized that they still had the old one.  So we only got to vote for president and congress.  *sigh*  O well. 

 

Anyway, some pictures from the past week or so:

 

Who needs clothes??

This is my new favorite toy.

I'll put that box in a box....

Treasures from Grandma Koch's

 

One day she was so tired she fell asleep at the table- silly baby.  *grin*

Blessings.

Piano Snob

I'll admit it.  *grin*

I grew up with a Yamaha, and nothing but a Yamaha will do.  They just sound better.  When I took piano at the U of I, I got to play the Steinway Grand pianos in the practice rooms.  Yamaha uprights are the only piano I've played that comes close to having the same sound. 

Anyway, there's a new Piano store in Peoria, and Cecily and I stopped in the other day.  A very nice older gentleman showed us some really cool pianos and I learned all kinds of interesting things about how Yamaha's are constructed.  Kind of fascinating, really.  The wood for the soundboards have to have a certain grain per inch, the sound boards have two angled support thingies that channel the sound so that the board is shaped more like a grand piano than an upright, the kind of wood that they use for the soundboard changes the piano sound (Cable-Nelson have Yamaha insides, different tree for the soundboard and they sound completely different!), and lots more that I've already forgotten. 

I did not tell him that I have taken apart a piano and watched the remains get tossed off a balcony.  Poor Moby, may he rest in peace (pieces?).  Hehe.

Sooooo  since they were having a grand opening sale, plus free delivery, plus free tuning, plus we've had a piano category in the budget since, oh, ever and I'd given up on craigslist,  we bought one.  It came today.  There was great rejoicing.

*sigh*  It's so pretty.  And it sounds like a Yamaha.  Now either I need to learn how to play, or somebody who is actually good needs to come play it for me...

Ignore the poor figurine that Cecily is bent on destroying...

Blessings.

Attic day

And other things.  I'm not sure what all we did this last week.  It kind of flew past.  *grin*

We went to potluck, had Jakey and young Matt over, made cookies, planted some bulbs, played in the leaves, lay in the grass and looked up at the clouds, ate dirt (ok, that was just Cecily), and went to the farm.

Little miss had a great time looking at Gus and trying to eat the kitties.

While I was up in the attic going through all of my stuff.  Treasures really.  hehe.  Or something.  I still had school papers from grade school.  I filled two trash bags and two  boxes for Goodwill. 

There were so many things I didn't know what to do with...  like all these figurines.  Most of them were gifts, so I hate to give them away, but I'll probably never display them and they have no value other than memories.  Emily Simon gave me that little bluebird... so long ago.  Anyway.  I took the picture and put them in the donate pile. 
 

These pincushions were a 4-H project one year.  They're totally made out of fabric.  So cute, but I have no place to put them.  *sigh*  They went away too.  

Ooooo, and this went in the trash:  my cast from when I broke my arm in 4th grade!  Why wouldn't you keep it??  Hehe. 

 

Lena was over and she kept me company in the attic... and Dad came up and showed us all of his treasures.  *grin*  It's kind of a cool place.  There are four generations worth of stuff from two families up there.  Which is awesome to look through, but makes me shudder when Dad threatens to 'leave it for my kids to get rid of.' 

 

I brought home my periodic table poster.  Little miss likes it I think.  I'm pretty sure this is a lecture about moles.... 

 

Blessings.  

Board and Batten

It's done!  Well, I washed my paintbrushes so it's as done as it's going to get.  *grin*

 

After Bob got all of the boards, the picture ledge, and the trim up I primed and painted.  It's not pure white- it's called 'antique lace' and I mostly picked it for the name.   

 

Then I covered it all in plastic (so I wouldn't accidentally get paint on it's pristineness) and painted the rest of the wall blue like the kitchen.  I had arbitrarily stopped the blue at the hallway door because I wasn't sure I wanted such a big dark blue wall... this solves that problem.   

Someone was tired of painting.

Blue and white is pretty much my favorite color combination.  It's so pretty. 

We are not good about hanging our coats in the closet and the only hooks were on the small landing behind the door to the garage.  This will be much more convenient.  And pretty. 

I kind of want to squeal every time I come around the corner.  *grin* 

Just a smidge of character makes such a difference.
Now I just need some decorating tips...

Blessings.

The rest of the week

We didn't do much out of the ordinary the rest of Bob's week off.  Wednesday we listened to church with Grandma and Grandpa Beutel.   

Little Miss keeps growing...  She likes to stand up now with her toys.



And she likes to snuggle with her stuffed animals. 

 One night we ate animal crackers dipped in leftover birthday cake frosting and let her clean out the bowl.  Hehe. 

On Thursday Cecily and I went and got her one year pictures taken.  She was a little bit less cooperative this time, (sticking her tongue out, etc.) but we did get a cute one. She was so happy they let her hold this flower... haha.   

 

If it weren't for the green curtains and Dad's hair.... she looks so much like I did, it's uncanny!  

1985ish

2012

On Friday I dragged Bob to Menards to get supplies for my latest project.  Here's the before picture; plain white wall with beige switch plates.  The house was freshly painted white when we bought it, which is great except that they painted the baseboards and the walls with flat paint.  Flat paint is so awful to keep clean and it's not meant for trim.    Anyway, this wall already had lots of marks on it.

Bob's a pretty good sport.  He doesn't really enjoy these sorts of projects, but he does them for me anyway.  *grin*  I've got a keeper.
 

 Cecily approves.   

I'm working on painting (quite difficult with a curious little girl) right now and hopefully it'll be done soon and I can take some "after" pictures! 
 
The pork chop fry was Saturday evening, inside because of the rain.  I made party potatoes with real potatoes and I was a little bit proud of myself.  My parents were in town on Sunday for a potluck so they came over for "lunch call" after church.   

Anyway.  We had a good week.  I think Cecily and I are going to be a little lonely this week...  haha.  Blessings.

Wildlife Prairie Park

So, since Bob is home all this week we decided to do something fun today .  He picked Wildlife Prairie Park since neither of us has been there in ages.  It was a great day to go, the weather was beautiful and we had the place to ourselves.  Oh, and it was half price admission.

The buffalo are always my favorite animal to see, unfortunately they never came closer than this and the tour that takes you out closer to them wasn't running. 

Little miss likes to be outside and she likes stroller rides and she likes animals so she was pretty happy.  *grin*  They've got some 'pioneer' farm animals for kids to see and pet.  This was the calmest donkey I have ever seen.  Cecily poked its nose repeatedly and it just stood there.    

Then we found Bob's favorite animal... the cougar.

Cecily really wanted to pet the big kitty.  She would have dived over the fence if she could have.
They're so pretty, and so deadly looking.

The bobcat was out walking around too.  I wouldn't want to meet one of them in a dark alley...

Besides the animals, the woods were really pretty to walk through.  I made Bob stop and take a picture by an iconic bear sign. 

We stopped and got a pretzel and cheese for a snack and ended up with free popcorn too because they were about to close up. 
 Little miss riding a bronze frog. 

 Our last stop was the big slide; we got video but no pictures.  Cecily fell asleep on the way home with her stuffed cougar and buffalo clutched in her fists.  Poor tired baby.  hehe. 



I put all the videos in one big long one because I'm sure no one but the Grandma's (and maybe Auntie Shelly) actually want to see it... it's mostly Cecily and the donkey, then the cougar and bobcat, then the slide at the end.



 

Such a fun day.  Blessings.

Discombobulated

This week has just been weird.  Everyday has felt like Saturday.  Or Monday.  Bob was off Tuesday and Wednesday for the visitation and funeral so that didn't help with my confusion. 

Tuesday was a long day.  Little Miss and I went grocery shopping in the morning and then most of the afternoon and evening we spent at Grandpa's visitation.  I took Cecily home halfway through to take a nap, otherwise she was pretty good.  She likes to watch people and she loves flowers... and there were plenty of both.  *grin*  Oh and she walked her longest string of steps there too.  Poor girl, took her first steps in a funeral home. 

Mom and Lena came over Wednesday morning and watched Cecily while we were at the funeral.  It was so much less stressful to not have her at church and the cemetery.  Bob went over to his cousin Sarah's house for the afternoon and little miss and I joined them for supper and the evening.  We let Cecily open her last two birthday presents when we got home.  Hard to believe it's been a year, and I am so not ready for it to be fall again!

Yesterday evening we spent at Rustin and Sharon's because Sprout's still here.  Bob went paint balling with his coworkers today  (and came back with all kinds of nasty welts! ouch. I don't understand the attraction...).  He has to take next week as a layoff week from work because of what boils down to an accounting problem higher up.  So dumb.  But hey, he's going to be home for a week!  Hooray!  Cecily and I are excited.  I have all kinds of projects lined up.  Hehe.

Blessings.

Joy, Sorrow, and a Birthday Party

Saturday evening we picked up pizza and ate supper at the farm... it was Jakey's birthday and there were testimonies in W-ton.  Little Miss got to stay with my cousins while we went to church.  

 

We were there mostly for Mike, my friend Katie's husband.  It was a blessing to be there.  Katie, I kept thinking about the first time I ever heard about Mike- in the car on the way to see Les Mis in St. Louis.  *grin* Pretty sure when you said you met him at a tractor pull we were all a little bit sceptical....  but we were wrong and you've been blessed!    

 

 Bob's parents called Sunday morning to say that Grandpa Koch had died early that morning.  Not unexpected, but still sad news.

 

We still had Cecily's birthday party Sunday evening.  She'll be one year old on Wednesday- craziness.  I'm finding it quite ironic that her first birthday will be spent at a funeral; my great uncle died a few days before mine. 

 

Anyway, cakes!  And decorations!  I found online instructions for both of these.  They didn't turn out exactly like the pictures, of course, but they still looked pretty cool for a first attempt at piping. (Not quite as pretty as Mary's cakes... *grin*) It was a fun project that I started way too late Friday night... I was up until 2am finishing them.  



Ruffles and Roses

I thought Cecily Rose needed roses for her birthday... or maybe more like I needed roses for her birthday.  hehe.  So we got some (at Kroger with a coupon, don't worry, I didn't spend much on them) and I'm pretty sure she would love to destroy/ eat them if she could get to them. 


 

This is a blurry picture of the inside- I'm still so excited how it turned out! 



 



She got all kinds of presents, including tractors,

 

a piggy bank that she kept trying to bite, blocks, 

 

and her very own light up Pooh Bear.

Guests hanging out.

Then it was time for cake.  Little Miss wasn't too impressed with the candle, or being sung to, or everybody staring at her. Oddly enough.

She did manage to make a mess eventually, although I don't think she ate much.

Anyway, it was a good time. 
Blessings.