Snow!

It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow...snow,

I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow, 

I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow, 

to see a great big man entirely made of snow!

We woke Saturday morning to two whole inches of snow!!  It wasn't much, but Ellie was excited.  So excited that we let her eat breakfast in front of the window.  

Then we got all layered up, and headed outside!

Once we were actually out there, however, Ellie didn't love it as much as she/we'd hoped.  So we made a snowman and headed back inside.  

Later, after Fi had eaten both the arms and carrot nose, she decided she would eat the hat as well.

Here's a little video from Christmas morning, Ellie really likes horses!!

Five GOLD-EN Rings!!

Happy fifth day of Christmas!!  We had a great holiday at our house, starting with Christmas Eve.  Audrey and Andrew arrived around four and we ate a heavy hors d'oeuvre feast that would have made my mother proud.

All dressed and ready for church.

But not before a few Christmas carols!

So glad Audrey and Andrew could join us again this year.

After church we whisked Ellie up to bed and Santa's elves got to work bringing her main gifts upstairs.

Everything ready to be discovered in the morning.

Ellie went right to her new kitchen,

and seemed to love it instantly!

We let Ellie eat her breakfast in her new chair while we started on socks (and our monkey break baked).

Slinky in stocking = huge hit.

Uncle Andrew loves socks!

This year, Aunt Audrey wasn't feeling so hot, but she had a good time nonetheless.

 

Audrey gave Ellie the most special gift for Christmas - she made our family in doll form!!  Right down to the clothes they're wearing - those dolls are the Crawfords (check out the madras shorts on Pete).

Like every gift that morning, they had to go straight to the sink for washing.

Pete, meet Pete.

Audrey and Andrew had to leave by ten to make it to other family commitments, so we had the rest of the day to relax as our little family.  Ellie napped from eleven-thirty to one-thirty, but not until she'd gotten in a few more rounds of play with her kitchen.

How would you like your eggs cooked?

Zut alors!  I have missed one!

Catching up on our reading.

After nap we took photos for her 20th month blog (coming soon),  got Ellie dressed for real, and opened the rest of our presents.  Pete deep-fried a turkey breast for dinner and we ate it with green bean casserole, mashed turnips, and rolls.

So that was our Christmas!  Hope yours was as enjoyable and relaxing as ours!!

You've gotta watch out for the Ale 8 Bandit - she's fast like her daddy!!

(thanks for the outfit Aunt Soo-soo!)

Christmas is coming!

I think we're ready....

We went on a tree hunt,

discovered that Ellie has a future in pole vaulting,

honed our vocational skills,

visited the man,

reunited with big dolly,

listened to children sing,

hung ornaments,

assembled presents,

and enjoyed the view.

Life lately.

#231 - Buh Bye Black Door

I'm trying to catch up on blogs - this entry is from the week before Thanksgiving, but I hadn't edited the photos. 

I've finished my first project from the Young House Love book!  #231 - Paint your front door.  Truth be told, I've wanted to paint our front door for some time, but needed to convince Pete that it could be done.  Showing it to him in the book was all it took!

I picked the color several weeks ago - the day we were featured on YHL - but then we had a little cold snap and I couldn't start my project.

There are actually two colors pictured above.  I chose the one in back - Lotus Leaf by Behr, mostly because it was available in an exterior paint and primer combo.  The other one was a Martha Stewart color in a brand I can't remember.

I bought the special small foam rollers called for in the book, and some fine sandpaper for prepping the door.  I already had liquid deglosser and an angled brush on hand from some other painting projects I've done around the house.  Here's what our front door looked like before the first coat.  I had already removed the door knocker and mail slot and wasted about 45 minutes trying to get the doorknob off - if you have any suggestions, please let me know.  There were a couple of spots of caulk that hadn't been properly sanded before the previous owners painted the door black, so I sanded those down along with the area around the hardware before applying the deglosser.

 

Then it was time for thin and even coat number one:

Then, after the second and third coats dried, I put the hardware back on:

It was, of course, after 11pm by then.  I need to take a picture of the whole house in daylight hours so you can see the whole effect, I'll try to update tomorrow with one.  The whole facade of the house looks better.  It's much friendlier-looking, not so dark and dreary.  I also ORBed the heck out of the door knocker and mail slot, so that's another YHL project in the bag.

My only regret:  listening to the employee at Home Depot who suggested the satin finish over semigloss - I didn't have the book with me so I took her word for it.  I do wish it were a bit glossier.  But even in it's satin-ness, it's 200% better than the black!

I'm thinking I'll do #234 next - I've got an old birdbath that's practically begging to become aqua before winter.

UPDATE: Here are some before and after pics of the door. 

Before (old pics I found in iphoto) - note the brass door knocker and mail slot.   (and cutie baby girl on her first day of 'school')

and after:

We hope to have the trim of the house lightened up to match the new windows- a bone color  -and I'm hoping that we can make the storm door bone at that time.  Also, note Fiona photo bombing my shot.  And yes, we do still have our fall pumpkins on the stoop.  Hoping to make it more wintery this weekend.

Bonus pics:  photo of my first-ever fall mantle.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Ellie at dinner.

Pinterest for the Win!

This pin has been all over Pinterest lately -  from the blog, Living with Punks (link below)

 

Tutorial:  Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion 

 

 

So I finally bought the yard of fabric and trim required and made one for Ellie!

It's really hard to get a still photo of her these days.

 

Ellie really seems to like it - she stars saying 'ashes, ashes' every time she sees it.  (Little Girl is ALL ABOUT Ring Around the Rosie)

The tutorial was very easy to follow with many pictures - I plan on making a second one very soon in leftover fabric that matches Ellie's nursery!!