Dining Room Progress

A couple of you have asked how the dining room came along. I'm happy to report that it's going fairly well. I'm pleased with what's going on so far but still have quite a few additions to make.

After some tweaking and re-planning of furniture arrangement we've landed here.


The details:

Desk - Craigslist
Sofa - Craiglist
Table and chairs - Ikea
Shelf Unit - handmade by Justin using Ana White's plans.
White board - Huge panel of "showerboard" aka "tileboard" from Lowe's for $12. For reals.




Future plans:

Spraypaint cubbies - Rustoleum High Performance Enamel in Safety Red. Recommended by Little Green Notebook here. I've used this color before and I love it.
Paint Desk - Cornbread by Martha Stewart at Home Depot. Pre-mixed in a little sampler. Awesome.
Frame Whiteboard and Map - Sultana also by Martha and pre-mixed.
Make some horizontal striped black and white curtains
Perhaps a few shelves to the right of the map for sewing suplies
New light fixture - maybe something like this, this or this. Any thoughts?

I've also been looking for and considering a vinyl calendar for the white board. Maybe something like this?

Paleo Clam Chowder

Adapted from this recipe.

8 oz bacon (from Farmer Ben)
1 small head of cauliflower (plus more if desired)
1 c chopped onion
1 c chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 c chicken broth (organic from Costco)
1 c heavy cream (raw from Jackie's Jerseys)
6 (or so) oz. cream cheese (sadly, Costco :-(
2 cans clams (I found mine at Trader Joe's which was my inspiration for finding a Paleo chowder recipe)

1-2 Tb. fresh dill
salt, pepper to taste

The recipe I linked to also suggests red pepper flakes which I forgot to add - but it was still delish.

Cook bacon until crispy. Chop and set aside. Reserve drippings and add onion, celery and garlic. Sautee on low heat until soft. While onion, celery and garlic are cooking, boil cauliflower (I separated mine into large florets to cook faster). Cook 8 - 10 minutes or until tender. At this point, if you wanted, you could set some cauliflower aside to add back in to the chowder. Next time I make it I'm going to do this - I think this would be delicious but I didn't have enough.

Here's where I deviated from the original recipe a bit. Blend cauliflower, broth, cream and cream cheese in blender until smooth. Add to onions, celery and garlic. Add clams and juice from clams (you can chop clams smaller if you'd like - I didn't). Add bacon, dill, salt and pepper. I added pepper but found it didn't need extra salt. Bring to medium heat until warmed through, being careful not to burn or boil.

Side note: I added diced, boiled sweet potatoes for some more "chunks." I didn't think the flavors blended well. Like I mentioned before, I will definitely add the cauliflower chunks next time.

This is well worth your time to make, my friends. Completely delicious. It was relatively easy and my kids liked it too.

Happy Birthday Adia!

and Playing around with Picnik

Do you use Picnik?

Today is Miss Moo's 4th birthday. I've been spending most of the morning taking photos of her and making preparations for a little family gathering we're having here tonight. Serving cupcakes and pizza, of course - her favorite.

Picnik is quickly becoming a favorite on-line tool for me. I have a less than mediocre camera, don't own photoshop and know pretty much *zilch* about photography. With picnik I just add one easy action and voila! My blah photos turn out pretty cute.


So here she is... the birthday girl herself. All picniked out.

We love you Adia!

(winterized)

1960's-ized

What My Heart Desires

A few of you have been asking if there are any baby updates and I'm so thankful to know you are all thinking about me and wondering. I hope you know that I never mind people asking. I'm pretty much an open person - open here, open in real life. Wait. Is this real life? Anyway, nothing new to report for now. There is some legal work that has to be done and none of the medical stuff can be started until that's done. So that's where we're at.

Along these lines though, I've been thinking about so many things lately. About babies. About family. About being a mother. About baby names! (which I pretty much do all the time) I feel ready for another baby. At least ready to be looking forward to another one.



People often ask us this question: How many do you want to have?

To casual friends or acquaintances, I usually tell the truth. Without hesitation. They look shocked for moment but then quickly move on, keeping their comments and judgement to themselves. Admittedly though, it is often most difficult to discuss this topic with those closest to us - to the ones who know us best, know our struggles and our weaknesses, our sinfulness and our imperfection. I read their critical questioning or their concerned silence - I know what they're thinking. Sometimes they're not just thinking it - sometimes they say it out loud.

You seem stressed out enough as it is.
You have your hands full with three.
When is it going to be enough already?
You can't save them all, you know! (Which, by the way, is not our goal. God is the only one in the business of saving)
Well I don't care how many kids people have, as long as they can pay for them all!

It's hard to hear sometimes. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I wish I would just keep every challenge, every frustration, every impatient response to myself so that no one would know. But the truth is that being a parent is hard work. Harder than I ever thought it would be. Justin and I were a couple that talked at length about parenting before we ever had kids - we decided what kind of children and family we wanted, how we wanted to parent... and for the most part, we have stuck to that. And yet, it is still hard. It is not a magic formula where you shove kids in one end and have them come out uniformly on the other end. I'm fairly certain (I hope!) that if you asked this mom or this mom or this mom that they would tell you the same thing.

And still, my heart's desire is to have a large family.

I don't know if this is going to happen. That is for God alone to know and for me to trust. And I do trust Him. Implicitly. Sometimes I even wonder if I have the physical and emotional energy to raise and homeschool a lot of children. The answer to that is no. Right now, I don't. Sometimes I think ahead to how the Lord could possibly answer my prayers and I think, "Ack!! I was an only child raised by a single, newly-believing mother, all the while going to public school. I struggle with pain and fatigue and anxiety and hormones. I don't know what the trivium is or the difference between the Westminster and Heidelberg catechisms. I don't even think I remember how to do Algebra! Why in tarnation do I ever think I could do that?!?!" (ok, so I've never used the word tarnation, but you get the picture) Yet, when I imagine myself as a grandmother, as a mother-in-law... as an old woman on the doorstep of eternity - I see myself surrounded by family. Children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren - a miraculous and surprising HUMONGOUS heritage of faith that might, by God's grace, go on for generations. It would be my life's sweetest blessing.

So I pray, almost every day, that God would make me the kind of mama that would be able to raise many children. I pray for wisdom, grace, energy, tenderness and consistency. I pray that I would teach with patience and passion. I pray that I would be slow to anger and quick in love. I ask for diligence and organization and clarity. I ask that God would cause me to be faithful in what He's given me today as I trust Him for the rest. I am not perfect, I never will be. That is one thing I know for sure. I also know that God is able to equip me for whatever He puts before me.


So we'll see what happens.

And for the record, between you and me... maybe a nice round number like... 10? I have no idea how something crazy like that would happen....but you never know! God always seems to have some amazing adventures up His sleeve.

Gettin' Stuff Done

View from my in-law's living room the morning of New Year's day.

Justin has to work a lot this week. It's always helpful to help pass these days by filling them up with work/activities. Last night I compiled a mental list of goals for the week. I figured I'd better spew them out somewhere. Here you go (in no particular order):

Make and Eat food - Since we started this whole Paleo thing (about 6 months ago now!) I don't cook very often. When Justin's home he cooks dinner and when he's not home I tend not to eat much and just fix cheater junk for the kids. ie. rice pasta and cheese or quesadillas on corn tortillas. Enough of that. I'm relying on Paleo Mama and Everyday Paleo for my inspiration.

Door Draught - It's been cold around here. Every time it's cold I walk around our little old house, feeling the draught coming from under the doors and say, "That's it! I'm going to make some door draught stoppers!" And then the weather warms up and I forget about them. Not this time. I'm doin' it. This one's cool, but I think I'll make something more along the lines of this.

School - Sure, we do school here and there and the kids are doing fine but our day just runs so much more smoothly with at least a loose schedule. I need to find one that works for us. I need to get our priorities out on paper. Find our groove. Create our culture. Still thinking about this.

Keep my house clean - We had a family work day on Saturday - inspired by the Duggars - and my house is sparkly clean and tidy. For my own sanity, I need to try and keep it that way. What we're working on: One thing out at a time. Put stuff away before you get something else out. If possible, wear clothes more than one time before they go in the laundry.

Get caught up on laundry - need I say more? Never ending. I really don't mind it so much.

Start some selfish knitting - I have some grey cascade 220 laying around that is begging to be used. The only problem - I can't seem to get these socks out of my brain. Before winter ends I am determined to make myself a couple of pairs of cozy house socks, a chunky cowl, a hat that I love, some fingerless mitts (maybe these) and possibly, oooohhh..could I wish for this much??? A warm, huggable, shawl collar grandpa sweater??? We shall see.

For my Grandma

Hot Water Bottle Cover

Pattern: linked above
Yarn: more of that sale stuff that I can't remember
Needles: size 7 circular
used magic loop and a kitchener stitch graft

I didn't have enough yarn to make the pocket. :-( But I think she'll still love it.

I'm awfully proud of myself that I completed a post-Christmas Christmas gift in record time. I'll give it to her tonight.

Happy Holidays

Knit Edition

Pattern: Thorpe Hat
Yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash Chunky
Needles: Hiya Hiya interchangeable size 9

As usual, I was busily knitting away during the days and nights before Christmas. I wasn't about to let a family-wide stomach bug keep me down for too long.

A few weeks prior, I decided to bag the individual hat patterns I had chosen and went with variations of the Thorpe for everyone. It is quickly becoming my favorite hat pattern - especially since learning the magic loop method. Using chunky yarn makes this a particularly warm winter hat and I really like how it goes down a little further in the back to keep little necks warm. A friend of mine passed along a neat stranded design which I easily adapted to the Thorpe to make it a little more interesting. I also couldn't resist adding a pom pom to Xochi's (post pic). What little girl doesn't look cute with a pom pom? After taking this picture I also added braided ties to each of the ear flaps.



I made a pair of One Cable Mitts for my sister Abbey to match her hat I made her. (I would list the yarn except I got it on sale, threw away the label and can't for the life of me remember what it is) She loved them. I am thankful for a 13 year old sister who loves and appreciates my knitted gifts. AND wears them... thank you home schooling.

On Christmas Eve, we get together with my mom's side of the family and exchange gifts. Several years ago we decided to exchange small stocking-stuffer sized gifts, $5 and under. As soon as the Mrs. Meyer's seasonal scent was released I snatched up about 10 bottles of dish soap and then set to work knitting some simple dish cloths. As a side story, a month or so ago my grandma had to make an unfortunate and unexpected early morning trip to the emergency room. She called me and asked me to call 9-1-1 for her. On my way out the door, I had enough sense to grab my needles and yarn and was able to knit up about 3 washcloths in the 8 or so hours I sat at the hospital. As it turned out, she was fine... she just needs to schedule the gall bladder surgery she's been putting off. Using a bit of twine, I tied the wash cloths to the soap and used them as my stocking gifts. I wish I had a picture to show you - I was so glad with how they turned out.

Pattern: Basic Knitted Dish Cloth
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton

The one thing I didn't get finished before Christmas that I really wanted to was a knit Secret Santa gift for our Jazzercise gift exchange. I finished them today though and will present them tonight at our big reveal party.

Pattern: Mitten Cuffs by Jane Richmond
Yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash
Needles: Size 10

I'm super excited about this little pair of mitts and can't wait to make a pair for myself! I love how you can wear them long or buttoned short.

And finally, I started on this hot water bottle cover for my grandma. She always appreciates my knitted gifts and I know she'll love this one just as well. I saw it on A Friend to Knit With - Leslie is using Cascade 220 (which is an absolute favorite, versatile yarn of mine) but I went with something else I had in my stash.

While there were plenty of knit gifts for other people, Christmas didn't pass without a couple of kniting related gifts for myself. Justin, as thoughtful as ever, got me two knitty gifts that I'm so excited about.

First, the Knit Kit. Love, love, love it.


And second, this wonderful book which I had seen on a blog before Christmas and told Justin I wanted before I initiated the "no Christmas wish list rule" in our home.

Knitting at Home

I can't wait to get some yarn, pull out my needles and cast on
for something out of it.

Oh!! And did I mention that those needles are my new Hiya Hiya interchangeables that I bought completely with consigned clothing money? Our local yarn shop is a combined yarn/consigned clothing store. Imagine my delight when the clerk told me I had $80 credit... sooo.... I bought the whole set!! Woo Hoo!!!