Beautiful Weather

That is the theme from all the pictures this week.  It has been a week of record breaking warmth - 70s and even 80 degrees. 

 
The kiddos took advantage of the fine weather with more picnicking on the deck and grass out front.

Baby L is spilling out new vocabulary all the time. She regularly says Mommy, Dada, woof, meow, vroom, ball, Abi, doggy, Hi, and waves at people in greeting.  She is starting to copy me when I repeat things to her.  No two-word phrases yet though. (I know the pediatrician is going to ask me about that at her 15 month check-up so I keep listening for it).

  

 Theodore, the newly freed cat/rodent patroller, has been endlessly trying to get petted. He follows me around when I go outside and often comes to greet us when we get home.  He is ceaselessly meowing away in my kitchen window sill while I do the dishes.

 Big sister A got a picture of his funny nap location:

 We went to check out a new (to us) local playground.  Ladies from the ward told me about it invited us to come hang-out there.

 The big kids are pretty great about helping baby L.  I love to see it.  I think the kids being really close friends is one of the side benefits of homeschooling that not many people talk about.

Brother S was proudly telling me that he learned how to do this now.  He is getting to be such a big kid. I couldn't believe how hard he was laughing as we pushed him on the swing.  He also got double skinned knees while running down the driveway earlier that day.

All that playing outside makes for tired kiddos:

More cooking happenings this week.  We made the "Toll House Cookie" recipe from A's Look and Cook book for FHE.  She is hoping to make apple pie soon...

Two Cooks in the Kitchen

Big sister A re-discovered her Look and Cook children's cookbook and wants to make something new every day.  She says that she is trying to help me by contributing to the cooking.

So far she has made waffles, chocolate cake, cinnamon toast, and ... she says tonight's dinner is going to be a surprise.

She put wolfie on top to make it look more like the picture.

Brother S is rapidly progressing in his latest adventure -- potty training.  We wanted to wait until we were settled in our new house before we launched into it. Up until about a month ago he said that he did not want to use the potty like the big kids. Now that the time has come, he has taken it in stride.  The candy and Thomas the Train underpants are helping him ease into it. Hehehe.

I caught him and L in the library the other day reading together. It was so cute!

I still love these old bright color chairs. Too bad they wore out. The white slipcovers were in the wash.

First Home Projects

Of course there are a zillion things on our "to do" list for the new house. I have to keep reminding myself, "one thing at a time".  First, empty all the boxes...

Just like we did in the kitchen of our old house, we are planning to replace all the low hanging brown ceiling fans with white flush mount ones.

Forgot to take a before picture... Just imagine a big bronze and brown bladed fan. And here is the after:

Now it blends in nicely with the ceiling. One down. 6 more to go.

 The first room I organized was the library.  All the books are put away by subject and reading level.  The pretty ones are going to be merged with some botanical type decor as I acquire it. More to come on that as I get it all fixed up. 

In the meantime, I couldn't help sewing up a couple quick throw pillows with some of my botanical type fabrics!

 

 We found a 2 of the Ikea Hemnes Daybeds on craigslist. They have nice storage drawers and pull out to a queen size bed. We put one in the girls' room. That means that once the bunks are put together each child will actually have their own bed...  I am not sure they will ever stop wanting to sleep together though.  They are currently all sleeping on A's bed, which is pulled out to queen size.

I think the second one will eventually be for baby L (so the girls will have matching beds in their room).  For now it is the guest bed in the office/guest room.  

I wanted it to look like a couch so I made a zipped cover for the mattress with a canvas drop cloth (leftover from the primary nativity performance).  I also had these 2 khaki canvas couch pillow covers that I found in Ikea's As-Is bins for a dollar each.  I was not sure what to put in them, but finally I decided to fill them up with the extra bed pillows. That will work for now and be handy to pull out when guests come.

 And a couple quick throw pillows to keep the colors from killing me with their neutral-ness. Now we just need some guests to come and test it out!

Breaking in the New House

On February 17th we closed on our new house. Our stuff was scattered around, some in Uncle P's basement, some in a local storage unit, and all the rest in a storage pod at a long term storage facility.

We transferred almost everything from P's basement on the 17th. The pod was delivered the next day. Our hometeacher helped us empty the local storage unit into a large Uhaul. Then Saturday morning about 12 guys from our new ward came over and emptied both the pod and Uhaul truck into the house. It was a ton of stuff. They had them both emptied in under 2 hours.

Moving in and checking stuff out...

 First meal in the new kitchen (before the table was moved in)

 Shortly after we moved in... L was showing us how to use pots as cups.

Baby L demonstrating how to use the new "parquet" (wood floor) attachment on our vacuum. The house has a central vacuum, but the suction could be better. We will update the vacuum unit some time soon and get some of those floor level kick plates for the kitchen and dining room. 

It's been like Christmas for the kids -- getting back all the toys that have been packed away for the last 6 months. 

 

 

 

Backtracking through Daddy's Phone

Here are some good pics that were hiding on daddy's phone.

 Making Valentine cookies:

Tasting Valentine cookies:

 
Traditional baby eating spaghetti picture --  except this baby really likes to rub food into her hair. At almost every meal! it's a mess.

The Barn Cats aka Rodent Controllers

Our first new farm additions are cats! We found a local rescue program that helps rehome cats who cannot be adopted through normal shelter channels because they are outdoor animals. With the evidence of mice in the barn's electrical box that we found during our home inspection, we thought it best to enlist the help of some friendly non-house cats. They are all spayed/neutered and fully updated on all shots etc.  Plus, they are "free". (The organization likes to receive a "donation" of however much we can give towards their program, ahem). It is a win-win for all of us.  We have three cats in the barn now.
They have to stay in big kennel cages (part of the service) until they get used to their new owners, home, locale, smells, etc. After 2-3 weeks we can start leaving the door open and letting them come and go as they like.

Introducing... (they came with their names)

1. Sapphire

She is the most wild and runs away when I try to hold my hand out to her.  She will come out and eat while I am bustling around cleaning their cage and putting things in order. She is 4 years old.

2. Rose

Rose is a little more tame than Sapphire. She is only a year old. The Cat Lady said that she will become more friendly over time and that she was able to pet her. I have not been able to pet her yet. That might have something to do with the wild hooligans who are with me.

3. Theodore

I can't believe that the shelter thought he would be hard to rehome.  He is super friendly and loves to be petted.  Whenever I open the door he puts his head under my hand. He is also very talkative. Of course, he is the kids' favorite.  Theodore is 3 years old.