Who's at the door?

I've been very busy having company lately. Which is a good problem to have, I assure you!

After tomorrow evening we will have had company for dinner four days in a row!

So, to go from almost nothing to four nights a week is a little challenging-forces me to lighten up! While it's been great, I'm hoping we can get it down to maybe one night a week. 

I've gotten behind on posting, been too busy cooking and cleaning house.

I wanted to say 'thanks' to all my followers and readers! I love how this blog helps me feel a little more connected with those of you I don't get to see that often.  

Off to bed - have an awesome week everyone!

  

Toasted Apple Turkey Sandwich

Here is a really great sandwich that I made the other day.

The bread is one of those artisan breads with cheese. I toasted it, added turkey,cheddar and was going to put avocado slices on it but realized I was out, so I used apples instead.

 I loved the crunch of the thinly sliced apples - maybe better than the avocado.

So, do you have a favorite sandwich? Would love to hear!

A slow morning....

I am off to a slow start this morning, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and then was up what felt like dozens of times. 

First, our dog decided to come upstairs and settle down on my pillows which I had put on the floor beside our bed. Put him downstairs and lowered the thermostat - it was a bit hot. Came upstairs, locked the baby gate to keep him downstairs. Back to bed and trying to sleep in spite of the Pilot's snoring. (He had a cold)

Some time later, I was awakened by a loud thump and a little cry from Big Sister's room. I didn't hear anything else so I decided to she was fine. But then I started to feel guilty about not checking on her - finally checked on her, she was in bed.

Then Mosby (the dog) wanted to be let out - little barks and scratching at the door. Drives me crazy! 

Back to bed again. This time Little Brother wanted me, tried to get him settled but soon I heard him again and now both of them were calling for me. One thirsty, one couldn't sleep, it was about five am by this time, I was not getting out of bed again! 

I yelled(very un-motherly I know) for Big Sister to get a drink from the bathroom and told Little Brother to come to my bed, which is not what I normally encourage. All was well till seven when we had to get up and get ready for school.

It all kind of felt like when they were babies - getting up every few hours. Makes me grateful those nights are mostly over. There's just no way as a new mother you can prepare for it.  

I am thankful for my coffee this morning!

My sister-in-law has a giveaway on her blog, All Things Vintage, Check it out if you like!

I'm off to work on stripping a door. Wish me luck - don't enjoy this one bit!

It will be installed between our kitchen and laundry room, I can keep the dog out in the laundry room on cold nights! (evil grin)

Don't feel sorry for him, feel sorry for me, he's got the sad face down to an art!

Burlap Wreath

I'm seeing burlap everywhere these days. Some I like, some not so much.

 So, when I saw this wreath last night I thought, I can do this and it's kind of cute!

Go to this site to make one yourself!

 I think it's not full enough so I need to buy some more burlap to add to it. The burlap seems to slide down from the top and leave some gaps.

 Also, I cut the strips about 3" wide instead of 5" and only used one clothes hanger.

I used a Command strip to fasten it, no nail holes!

I am wondering what it would be like to use some burlap webbing, the kind with the red lines in it, to make a wreath.

I might try that next!

Hall Bathroom, what do you think?

Lately, I've found myself looking at shower curtains, wondering if it's time to change this one up a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I love this bathroom, the beadboard, the pine floors, the fixtures...

I actually really like this curtain, it's an old chenille bedspread that my mother found. I hated to trim off the extra length so I just folded it over and sewed very small buttonholes in the top to hang it by.

The window in this bathroom is kind of behind the door so you can't really see it, but it just has a white cafe curtain that's a bit makeshift, not quite big enough.

The yellow walls light up a lot when the morning sun shines in the window. This is more of a mid-day shot, so it looks a little bland.

I guess I'm just wondering if this room needs more color. Should I find a big floral for the shower curtain/ window?  Or should I embrace the simplicity- the old fashionness of white and yellow.

This is nothing new, every time I contemplate changing something, I flip-flop a million times. So, I would welcome all input, I need it!

Or what about just a different style white?

Of course, I wouldn't spend this kind of money. (Anthro ) I'd definitely try making this.

Thanks for putting up with my rambling!

                                                                

Birthday Fun

My birthday was drawn out this year, I loved it! Every couple days I would get a new gift!

My dear, one and only sister, got these milk glass dishes for me.

 I like the simplicity of the white and I think the name 'milk glass' really fits.

 Hmm, I'm getting thirsty...

 This pillow came from a sister-in-law, who is also a dear friend. Isn't it amazing - and she made it!

I also received other gifts including green bowls from my Mother, love those and a really neat green pitcher from another SIL. I didn't get pictures of everything but love them all.

And here is the big one : 

Wusthof knives! These were from my husband. Thank you dear! 

We don't really surprise each other on our birthdays, he asked what I would like, I gave him my (very long) list to choose from and this is what we agreed on. I have been eyeing the Wusthof Santoku knife on Pioneer woman blog for a long time. 

Had to start chopping right away!

Thanks all for an awesome birthday! 

                          

Project completed!

Here is my little table, all done and I'm loving it!

I sanded it a bit, primed with Kilz, and put two coats of a mis-matched paint from Lowes on it. On a warm afternoon I took it down to my husband's shop (so it would be warm enough) and sprayed on two coats of polyurethane.

I shopped around looking for a cheap knob, but couldn't find one, so I ended up getting this one at Anthropologie. It was eight dollars, which is kind of a lot for a knob, but I only needed one. They have so many beautiful ones!

Here are the others I brought home. I was shopping with my three year old, trying to keep him from breaking something, and there where way too many to choose from. But when I got back to the table, it was obvious which one was right. And I don't mind returning things to Anthropologie!

Before.

After.

Next I hope to post some of my awesome birthday gifts!

Master bedroom, before and after.

We moved out of our house while we were working on the kitchen foundation. We were anxious to move back and decided to finish our master bedroom and laundry room and just live in those two rooms until we could get the rest finished.

Here is our bedroom pretty much as it was when we bought the place. It had three big old windows which I took apart, reglazed and repainted. ( A whole lot of work.)

This chimney got taken out. I liked the wall paper but it had to go, a little unfinished :)

This is looking down the hall into our bedroom. I guess I didn't mention, on the left of the room we moved a stairway and made that area a walk in closet and master bath.

This is is looking out from our bedroom to the hall and kids rooms.

Sheetrock!

Shiny floors!

Bathroom door before and after.

This is close to how it looks now, I need to take some really good pictures, sorry about the quality.

Finished bathroom!

I decided to go all white thinking I could always paint the drywall if I got tired of it. So far I haven't!

I'm glad we were able to reuse the beadboard, it adds so much texture to the whiteness.

The tub was free, it had a crack. We were able to get it patched and it's been so nice, especially in the winter!

I don't have any pictures of the closet, I'll post some if I ever get it looking organized. Doubt that will happen till we move out!

Next up:

Laundry room.



Edited to add:

Here are some more recent pictures of the bathroom.
I'm having a hard time finding the right light to take pictures, hope to eventually have better ones.

goodbye 2010

The Pilot took us on a little sunset flight around the city. It felt like a good way to wrap up the end of the year.

  I read a lot of great blog posts from you all - reflections on the year and all, but I don't feel like I have my thoughts together very well.

I know I have much to be thankful for. A better realization of God's grace and his patience with me.

It's been a hard year in many ways, and yet I am closer to understanding what it means to be "more than conquerer through Christ". I used to pray for strength just to survive a rough time, now I'm learning that he wants me to have so much more. 

I'm thankful for my family. You all mean so much to me - I'm so blessed!

I had a lot of fun shopping with my sister and sister-in-laws the other day, we should do it more often!

I have some plans for the new year, more like ways to keep busy till spring. I want to deep clean the whole house, room by room. I also want to spend time working on the decor of my rooms. It would feel good to have my house feel finished. I think we got so burned out renovating our house that we have just never completed some details. 

I'll post pictures to show what I've accomplished, it should be fun!

Wishing you all much happiness in the new year!

fun at anthropologie

I went to find my mother a birthday gift. I found this set of flower measuring spoons for Big Sister. She wants to play tea party with them, they are the perfect size for doll teacups. I know I'm a big push-over when it comes to things like this, but they were on sale...

For my mother a scented candle, Happy Birthday Mom! It's fun sharing our birthdays, sorry I was so much work 35 years ago.

For my sister-in-law, Sara, these were going to be mine, but looked just like her style so they now have a new home.

So, I got a little excited about their sale table, but sure had fun!

at the beach (with snow)

Little brother and Big sister with their lollipops.

They have still hardly made a dent in them.

The gingerbread house.

It was demolished in about 5 minutes!

 It started snowing, this was something new for me, to see the water and the snow covered beach almost meet.

Notice how the pictures become blueish. These were taken a few hours after the snow started. 

Sunrise

We had a lovely time, very relaxing. It's great to be back home though - I love my bed!

at the beach (the cold, cold beach)

We are having a lovely time here, the waves are incredible, so huge and crashing. Which also means it's very windy. 

Just so amazing to see the vastness of God's creation - I'm humbled and overwhelmed - that a God so big and powerful would care for me. Yet he does, I'm more aware of this then ever. 

The  schedule for this morning: While everyone else is checking out the wright Bros. memorial, the kids and I will play at the beach then warm up in the hot tub. 

Enjoying His creation,

Melissa

Hello everyone! We are leaving in the morning, going to the coast to spend a few days with family and friends. I hope to have some lovely beachy pictures to share. If I don't get swept into the ocean by a creeper wave like last year!

  What happened was, the Pilot, myself and kids were walking along the beach with a few others when we decided to explore a washed - up shipwreck that was on the beach, about half on the sand, half in the shallow water.

 We were walking around on these big timbers, me with the camera around my neck, looking down of course, when this HUGE wave came out of nowhere and knocked me to my knees. We had some frightened wet crying kids but we all survived!

 I was sure I had ruined the Pilot's expensive camera, and we did have to pay a bit to have it cleaned and repaired but it's still going strong.

 I'm not planning to turn my back to those waves, believe me!

I'm off to finish up packing/house cleaning/baking...

Stay warm, drink lots of hot chocolate and have a lovely holiday!

Melissa

my cranberry scones

I thought I'd share my scone recipe. This is slightly adapted from allrecipes.com  'Simple Scones'.

 I've found these to be fool proof, once I forgot the sugar and we still ate them all.  Also, it uses basic ingredients which is the way we roll around here.

 So, go ahead and try them, especially if you want to impress with your baking ability!

Cass House Cranberry Scones

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. soda

 1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbls. butter, cold

1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins, currants, dried bluberries, etc.)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the butter, I found using a cheese grater works great.(Sorry!) Butter must be very cold. Use your fingers to work the butter into the flour. Next stir in the cranberries.

Now, mix your egg and sour cream together and add them to the rest. Use a fork to mix together into a ball against the side of the bowl. ( Think biscuit dough, but don't over mix.) 

Pat out into a circle and sprinkle with sanding sugar. (You can use regular sugar but sanding sugar adds a lot more glam.)

Cut into wedges and place on cookie sheet.

 Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!