Something from Nothing (AKA: Free Playroom)

Winters are long here. 

Way. Too. Long.

And COLD. Like, new-meaning-to-the-word-COLD cold.

As the time approaches and we're spending less time outside, this Mommy was getting desperate for a new place for the boys to play. I'm trying to limit the amount of toys in their rooms, cuz it's always a disaster--or it would be if they had their way, but we're the old-fashioned kind of mom and dad that make them clean up several times a day.

I know. So rude.

Anyway, I wanted an area where they could be louder and run more and not worry about my things and not always have to clean up so much cuz no one would see it, and a place to stash those huge toys that quickly fill up bedrooms and somewhere away from the bedrooms in case someone's sleeping. Even more important considering there's another baby on the way.

Enter our unfinished basement. Unfinished plus 40 years of storing someone else's pack-rat tendencies. And bugs. And mice. Unfinished brick walls and cement floors and exposed pipes and wires and things in the unfinished ceiling. We do plan to finish the basement in the next couple of years, so all of the exposed elements will be hidden and I wasn't thrilled about spending a lot of time and effort painting. Besides, the point was to do this for FREE!

Because I started with nothing, there's no picture of it. LOL! Just the mental image you get from reading the above paragraph. Here are the afters:

No excuses, Mommy!

Not pictured: rug, twin mattress to act as a couch, basketball net. It's also conveniently close to the laundry area so I can fold clothes while the boys play. And there's a bathroom!

We're all loving the new play area, especially our budget!

Candle Cozy

Something about candles makes me feel warm and cozy when the weather gets cold outside. I picked up this Pumpkin Spice candle at the grocery store this week.

The brass leaf inspired me to personalize the candle a little.

I cut a strip from a scrap of burlap... 

... then unraveled the edges.

I wrapped it around the candle and slipped the elastic band with the leaf over the burlap to hold it in place.

I liked it so much I did a similar version on a smaller candle. I've been enjoying the warm glow and yummy smells on this cold and rainy fall day.

Goodbye Garden!

Snow is in the forecast for tonight.

Sigh....

I went out to the garden this afternoon and picked the last of the produce.

It's been a warm fall, so having this much to pick in mid-November is a good thing!

Lots of parsley and some little cabbages.

Carrots, a little bit of broccoli and baby lettuce.

I also dug up three little parsley plants and potted them in garden soil. We'll see how they do in the house. I can grow a great garden and other houseplants, but herbs just don't do well for me.

There's some cleaning up to do to prepare the garden for spring, then it will sit under 3 feet of snow until March.

Sigh....

Fire in the Sky

We had such a beautiful sunrise this morning! I love those reminders of how much God cares for us. My husband took a couple minutes before breakfast to catch the fire in the sky. 

'Before' & Your Opinion, Please!

Other than the usual stay-at-home Mom things, you know, the cooking, cleaning, baking, organizing, bed-making, laundry, sewing, more cooking, dishes, more laundry, entertaining children, disciplining children, dressing children, helping children, changing diapers, going to the park, grocery shopping, dusting, vacuuming, meal planning... 

Yeah, other than that, I am working on a project. Thankfully we've had a warm fall and when my boys play in the yard and sandbox for an hour, Mommy works on this:

Awesome 'before' picture, isn't it?! Yes, it's a weird angle, yes it's strapped to our trailer, yes, it's parked in the barn gathering dust and critters and acting as target-practice for the barn swallows.

It's (I think) and antique tall dresser with matching vanity and mirror. We got it for FREE back in April. With the garden growing like crazy and it being a million and six degrees centipede (as dad would say), the project got put off. We did move them into the garage when we became aware of the target practice from the barn swallows. But it got covered with a sheet and crammed in the back corner behind my husband's project car! 

At last, I'm working on them. The pieces are beautiful and I would so like to keep them! I think they'd look great in the nursery. So far my other half isn't so keen on the idea as it was intended as a little income venture. 

So here's your part: I'd love to paint them pink with brown glaze to show off the shapes and detail. BUT... I'm planning to sell them and want to be safe, so I'm thinking white or off-white with the same glazing. 

What would you do?!

Raw Experiment

Our family is about 90% vegan. I guess if you get technical, we're not even that, cuz true vegans don't eat honey and wouldn't use leather products and we do both. We also enjoy eggs sometimes, though I make a point of buying the ones from vegetarian/grain fed hens. Occasionally we'll eat cheese when we go out to eat, and I have a weakness for vanilla lattes at Starbucks and they are not the same with soy! I probably have 2 or 3 a month, so that's much better than my everyday (and sometimes more!) habit from a few years ago.

So... something my husband and I have been curious about is raw foods. If you ate raw, what would it include? An apple for breakfast, plain lettuce for lunch and raw carrots for supper? I finally ordered a raw cookbook to find out. This is the one I chose:

The authors are Erica Palmcrantz and Irmela Lilja and I got it through borders.com with a birthday gift card --thanks Aunt Sharon! It's a beautiful, inspiring book and I read it through this weekend. No, I don't normally read cookbooks just for fun! All the way through this one, I kept thinking, I can do this! These recipes look great! 

My husband was completely on board, so we decided to eat raw suppers for a week and see how it goes. So far we've eaten recipes like this:

Carrot salad--our version had sunflower seeds too.
My kids (18 mo & 3 yrs) loved it!

and this:

Zucchini/carrot 'pasta' with pesto, tomatoes
& calamata olives--so delicious!

So far, we love it!

I know, I know, you think we're crazy. Well, from all the testimonies we've read, people who eat 80-90% raw food say their energy increases in about 3 days, they don't get sick as often, they lose weight effortlessly and one woman had an amazing testimony about how easy and less painful childbirth was when she ate raw and when she didn't! Ok! Sign me up! (My labor with #2 was long and very painful. I'm willing to try raw for 6 months on the chances of a shorter, easier labor!)

We'll keep you posted.

Random Pregnancy Ramblings

Even though I have every symptom in the book (positive pregnancy home-test, nausea, less energy, food aversions, and many more) I never quite feel officially pregnant until I hear the baby's heartbeat.

Nothing prepares you for that first time you see your first baby.

Clearly not the first time I laid eyes on J, 
but he still melts my heart at 3 months!

Some days when my 3-year-old and 18-month-old are being hard to manage, I wonder what in the world I was thinking when we decided to have a 3rd child!

J1 and J2 were both due in April, but their unwillingness to be born until 41-42 weeks delayed their birthdays to May.

Chances are, all 3 babies will be born in May of an odd year. (No chance left for J1 and J2, but we'll see for sure with Baby 3 when (s)he is ready!

My kids will always share birthday parties and won't know any differently! 

To you and you and you!!!

I wonder sometimes if I should use a laptop--is it safe? Does anyone know?

If I went to a conventional OB, this would be considered a high-risk pregnancy because I turned 35 last month. I love my midwife! Our first appointment is in 10 days!

This is Week 13, the last week of the 1st trimester! (But please don't do what I just did and google images for '13 week gestation' because they show pictures of aborted babies... Horrible!)

According to parenting.com, "your baby is growing quickly. She weighs about three-quarters of an ounce and measures between 2 1/2 to 3 inches from the top of her head to her bottom. She's in her fetal period, when the organs and tissues that took shape in the first trimester start to develop. Her intestines, originally part of the umbilical cord, have found a new home in her abdominal cavity. Her tongue and vocal chords are also getting ready for their debut at birth, and her eyes are moving closer together. Her ears are in place, and her head is roughly half the size of her whole body."

Even though the above article is full of "she" and "her", I'm completely expecting another boy. A girl would be great, don't get me wrong, but we just seem to make boys around here! My dad says when you live on a place in the country with lots of property, a big yard and garden, you need boys! 

If my Mommy mojo is completely off and we DO have a girl, this is how I'd like to change up the nursery.

And I might need to do the dresser like the talented Kim at Savvy Southern Style did for her new granddaughter!

We have a thing that we keep the baby's name a secret until he's born. It was easier the 2nd time around--not only did people remember from the first time, but we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl and that seemed to deflect the name question.

I wasn't thrilled about not finding out if #2 was a boy or a girl, but when it's all said and done, I'm glad that's how it happened. Don't get me wrong, I was just itching to find out if I could start buying pink! But it's one of the great surprises in life.

I feel better about my body when I'm pregnant. Especially in the 2nd trimester. 

What are your random thoughts on being pregnant?