Home Made Lovely

A Bright Red Bird House

2013-02-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of house talk lately and Audrey has obviously caught on. Last week she came to me and asked if girls can build things too. Of course the answer was a resounding yes. One question led to another and within the hour we were helping her build a birdhouse.

The next day she painted it.

And worked under the philosophy that the more paint on her brush the better.

Here is the finished project. When I told her I wanted to take her picture with her birdhouse she was very excited, but was also very particular about how she wanted to set it up. Which explains the need for the chair and umbrella.

Now we are just hoping the birds like it as much as we do.

House Progress

2013-02-18T08:48:00.001-08:00

I thought I would share a few new pictures of the house progress. It's been awhile and things have changed so much in the last couple of months.

The kitchen, dining and living room areas might just be my favorite spot in the house (although I could easily say that about just about any part of the house!) It is one big open room and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

Here it is looking into the kitchen.

Along the right wall where the windows are in the kitchen will all be open shelving. The stained cabinetry sitting right in the middle of the room are actually bathroom vanities that are just waiting to be installed.

And here it is looking the other direction into the living room.

This is a wall of bookshelves and a wood stove will go right in the middle. On the other side of the room are two sets of french doors and an entertainment cabinet. For some reason I don't seem to have any recent picture of that side of the room.

The other big progress that happened last week is the installation of the tile in the bathrooms upstairs. The pictures aren't great, but I am so happy with how they turned out.

This is the kids' bathroom upstairs.

And this is the shower in our master bathroom.

We are getting close to finishing and so anxious to move in. We've started picking out some new furniture and Bryce has been building a few new things too. I can't wait to share them all.

Our Farmhouse Kitchen

2013-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

Of all the rooms in our new house I am probably most excited for the kitchen. Ever since I moved out of my parents' house after high school I have lived in rentals. Some of the kitchens in the various houses were okay, but none were great. Most of them have been small and not super functional. So being able to design a kitchen from scratch is a bit of dream.

We really want the kitchen, and the rest of the house, to have a bit of a farmhouse feel. So we've tried to incorporate elements that lend to that style while still being new and very functional. As we've been making some of the final design decisions for the kitchen over the past couple of weeks I've put everything together in a design board to see how it would all look.

Here's what I've come up with...

1. 48" Wolf range top and stainless steel appliances // 2. Wall color: Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue (HC-147) // 3. Shaker style inset cabinetry // 4. Twist Swivel Stools from World Market // 5. Open shelving with corbels // 6. Countertops: Glacier White Granite // 7. White subway tile backsplash // 8. and 11. White painted perimeter cabinets, Benjamin Moore Stratton Blue (HC-142) for the island // 9. Stained red oak floors // 10. White farmhouse sink with chrome faucet

I wish I could show you a picture of the kitchen space, but a few weeks ago I inadvertently upgraded the iPhoto on our hard drive, which is where I keep ALL of our pictures. This little mistake means I can no longer open any pictures using our computer because our operating system is too old. Bummer. Good news is that my error was just enough of a push for us to decide it was time to order a new computer. I can't wait until it shows up, hopefully sometime later this week.

Nonetheless, I am so anxious to see it all come together. Obviously we still have more decisions to make like the lighting and window treatments and hardware, but we are getting close. The house is being textured today and will be painted later this week. Cabinetry is scheduled to be installed next week, eek!

Published!

2013-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I received an email with the subject line marked as "**Urgent: WSJ Opportunity". I couldn't figure out what WSJ stood for and normally wouldn't even open something like that, but for some reason I did that day.

After I opened the email I had one of those hit yourself on the forehead, "duh!" moments.

The email happened to be from a lady who works for the company which markets Ball Mason Jars. And the Wall Street Journal happened to be doing a feature on Ball Mason Jars.

Why I was getting an email about all of this?

Well a couple of years ago I did a guest post for another blog featuring a craft using a mason jar. Apparently the marketing group for Ball had found the post, liked the craft, and asked if it would be ok to feature my photo in the story. I know, crazy, right?

It was not one of my better photos and in hindsight I thought the whole craft a bit silly so I didn't even share it here. It took me several hours and a very legitimate sounding follow-up email to believe that it wasn't some scam.

Sure enough it wasn't. My photo (and Audrey) ended up being part of the feature on Ball Mason Jars in the December 19th printed edition of The Wall Street Journal. You can see the online version of the article here.

Be Merry!

2012-12-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Despite my best intentions of getting Christmas cards ordered and in the mail it just didn't happen this year. So this will have to do...

Merry Christmas from all of us,

Bryce, Emily, Audrey, and our newest addition (a boy!) due to arrive in April

Building

2012-11-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile. Am I still allowed to blame my unexpected and unexplained absence on moving four months ago? Probably not. Oh well.

Lots has been going on around here, but mostly I didn't feel much motivation to visit the blog. In fact weeks went by that I never even looked at it. The break was kind of nice.

There has been too much going on to even try to recap everything in one post. But becoming an aunt to the absolute cutest baby boy ever and starting the building process on our house definitely are at the top of the list.

It has been amazing to see this...

turn into this.

And actually, I took that picture a couple of days ago. Audrey and I drove by this morning and the windows are in, the window trim is up and they were putting on the siding. Due to a delay with the truss company the roof will be done next week.

My parents built the house we grew up in almost entirely by themselves. The building process of that house shapes a big part of my brother's, sister's and my childhoods. From the time my parents started until we moved in was years so it is absolutely mind-blowing to me how quickly this project is moving along. They started working on our house September 10th. It hasn't even been two months and so much has been done.

Oven-Puffed Pancake with Berries

2012-08-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

You must try this recipe from Two Tarts for Oven-Puffed Pancakes with Berries. It is delicious. I pinned it awhile back and have made it several times since. It comes together really quickly and easily and is a great crowd-pleaser.

Fernie, British Columbia

2012-08-13T07:42:00.002-07:00

Last month we took a trip with my family up to Fernie, British Columbia. It was beyond beautiful and a place I would love to go visit again. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Audrey is trying to make "moose ears". It was a challenge for her the whole trip. These are actually some of her better ones, usually she would just put her pointer fingers on her head and yell, "moose ears!" Unfortunately with all the "moose ears" hype we didn't actually see a moose, although a few other people in the family did.

If you're interested my brother posted more, and even better, photos from the trip. You can see them here. While you're there take a minute and look around, he has some amazing photographs.

Photo Friday: The Moving Fairy

2012-08-10T07:35:00.003-07:00

While we were unpacking the garage boxes a couple of weeks ago Audrey pulled out her tutu and found my cleaning gloves. She went to town dancing around the garage and yelling hi to anyone within earshot. By the time her show was over she not only had her dad's and my attention, but a few people across the street had stopped to watch too!

Peach Picking

2012-08-09T11:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went peach picking.

The first available of the season.

They're absolutely delicious.

Here's a peek into our morning via instagram.

Happy Thursday!

Guest Posting at Johnny In A Dress

2012-08-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm guest posting over at Johnny In A Dress.

Hop on over and see the appliqued onesies I made for my nephew. And if you're here from Johnny In A Dress welcome, I hope you find something you like.

Tie Baby Shower Invitations and a Free Printable

2012-08-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

My mom, sister-in-law, and I had a baby shower for my sister this weekend. She is due with a little boy in September and we are all so excited! My first time being an aunt. My sister-in-law came up with the great idea to incorporate ties into the shower because this little boys dad is obsessed.

Here's what I came up with for the invitations.

I was really pleased with how they turned out. It is always such fun to design something like this. And if anyone is interested I made a fill-in-the-blank version to share.

Click here to open the Tie Baby Shower Invitation pdf.

I have yet to even look at the pictures I took over the weekend, but I'll be sure to share some of the decorations from the shower when I do.

Linked to:

Motivated Monthly: Hello Baby! at Etcetorize
Pretty Things Thursday at Johnny In A Dress and Scissors & Spatulas

Falling Trees

2012-07-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last week Bryce and I spent a few mornings out at "the property;" which is how we affectionately refer to the piece of land we bought and where we will start building our house. Here's what it looked like in January when we put in our offer.

And here is what it looked like last week, from the other direction.

Although the trees were really pretty they just couldn't stay. Not only are they sitting right about where our house/yard is going to go, but they are also walnut trees. If you've ever dealt with one of those you know they make a huge mess; something we didn't want to have to deal with. And one of them was obviously dead, so that made that decision easier.

We started with the dead tree and then moved on to the tree in the middle. Bryce helped me make a little picture slideshow with the pictures I took of the tree falling. It was a big tree.

We spent the rest of that morning and a few of the following mornings cutting it up and stacking it for firewood.

Here is what the property looks like now. Aren't the wildflowers beautiful? They only bloom in the mornings and are completely closed again by midday. We also have plans to take the biggest tree out on the right, but we'll leave that to someone a bit more professional.

And just in case you were wondering, we plan to plant several trees on the property, hopefully making up for the ones we just cut down.

Photo Friday: Sugar or Salt?

2012-07-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

A few days before we left Sacramento Audrey and I made banana bread with all the frozen bananas I found in our freezer and refused to move with us. She loves to help in the kitchen and is notorious for one, making the job much messier than necessary and two, sneaking extra handfuls/spoonfuls/fistfuls of sugar when we are baking. This time it backfired on her. Instead of reaching into the sugar canister she grabbed the salt container and wasn't so pleased with the result.

Have a great weekend!

Settling In

2012-07-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe almost a month has passed since we moved. It's been a whirlwind. But we're here and unpacked. Well mostly, we have four boxes left just sitting in different corners of the house, but I honestly doubt if they will ever get unpacked.

We've moved back to the same town I grew up in, so being here has been a little surreal. On one had I am very familiar with the area and know my way around for the most part. On the other hand a lot has changed, including me, and it's like learning a whole new place all over again. Bryce has this whole month off so it has been fun to figure it all out together and for our little family to start putting down roots in this new town.

Speaking of Bryce having time off, it has been great having him around. Audrey and I are soaking up every minute with him. Have I mentioned how much I absolutely adore these two?

Hope your summers have been as fun filled as ours so far!

He's Done!

2012-06-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

We are currently up to our ears in moving business right now. The packers showed up this morning and it is amazing just how fast they work.

I'm usually a very do it yourself kind of person, but this is definitely the way to move. As I sit here two very nice men who keep calling me Ma'am are loading box after box with all my stuff. It's pretty great.

But that's not really the reason for this post. This guy is...

As of today Bryce is officially done with his medical residency. He worked his last shift yesterday, he signed off on all his patients, turned in all the final paperwork today and got his official certificate of completion in return.

He's done! Yahoo!

I can't even begin to tell you how hard he has worked for the past seven years or how proud we are of him. Not only is he a fabulous doctor, but even in the midst of 30 hour shifts, 80 hour work weeks, and countless sleepless nights he comes home and is a wonderful husband and a great dad to Audrey.

So congratulations to you Bryce... we couldn't be more proud of you!

Packing Up

2012-06-21T12:23:00.001-07:00

source

Things have been a bit quiet around here and will continue to be for the next few weeks. I'll be popping in every once in awhile, but mostly I'm focusing on crossing things off the ever growing to-do list before we move next week. I'll be back more regularly once we are settled into our new house.

Saying Thanks

2012-06-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Growing up in our family a big deal was always made about sending thank you cards in a timely manner. Whether we received something for Christmas, or our birthdays, or any other reason in between we were reminded, daily, to write a thank you note. To be honest, it got to be a little annoying (sorry Mom!). Now, all these years later, I'm glad my mom nagged us as much as she did. Writing a thank you note when I receive something is just second nature at this point.

Now that I'm the mom I guess it is my turn to pass this nicety onto my kid. So Audrey and I sat down over the weekend to "write" her thank you notes for all her birthday gifts. Obviously she wasn't going to do much of the writing, but I wanted her to take some part in the process.

She was in charge of painting the front of each card and I would write a little note. As I wrote I asked her what she wanted to say to each family and she dutifully responded with "thank you", which when she says it sounds much more like "kank you".

Some Monday Randomness

2012-06-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

1. My bean plants have little beans starting to grow!!! T minus 17 days until we move; is there any chance there will be enough to make a batch of dilly beans by then??

2. That reminds me, we're moving in 17 days! Eek. I have packed exactly two boxes, which is exactly two more boxes than I packed last time we moved (see #6).

3. The Bottle Cap Map over at the Family Ever After Blog is beyond amazing. It was a project at her kids' school. I'm thinking of maybe doing a smaller somewhat adapted version for our new house... we'll see if it happens.

4. My heart melts when I watch Audrey and Ryan, her best friend, play together. Last week they took turns pulling each other in the wagon on the way home from the park.

5. You've probably already seen this marriage proposal popping up all over, but in case you missed it (like me) or need a little something to brighten your day you should watch it right now. It will definitely make you smile and shout out to Oregon... the coolest things always happen there!

6. Have I ever mentioned before that the last time we moved, literally next door from where we were living before, I was five months pregnant and moved all of our stuff one laundry basket at a time? Bryce was working crazy hours and basically left for work from one address and came home to a new one. I'm feeling pretty lucky these days to get to use a moving company for this move and even more lucky that we aren't footing the bill... thank you Bryce's future employer!

Happy Monday!!

Photo Friday: Audrey's 2nd Birthday

2012-06-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

One last birthday related post.

On Monday, Audrey's actual birthday, we spent the morning at the California State Railway Museum. I wasn't quite sure if it would be age appropriate for a two year old, but Audrey had a blast.

In fact she might have had a little too much fun and partied a little too hard over the weekend because by 5:00 that night this is where she ended up.

Have a great weekend everyone. We will be spending it attempting to get organized for the move (I've done nothing so far!) and also being spoiled by friends with a going away dinner.

Airplane Mobile

2012-06-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

My good friend Cate is due with her second baby in just a couple of weeks. When I saw this mobile over on the Silhouette blog I knew it would be the perfect gift for the new little munchkin.

It was extremely simple to put together. I used the 3D Airplane and 3D Cloud shapes on the Silhouette. I used this Mobile Photo Clip from Kikkerland Design Inc. and modified it a little to give everything room to hang.

I helped Cate hang it up yesterday in the little guy's room and it looks great. Now I'm just anxiously awaiting his arrival... I'm hoping for a very on time delivery so we get to meet him before we move.

Posted at:

The Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Seven Party (No. 29) at Positively Splendid
Mingle Monday at Add A Pinch

Audrey's Second Birthday Party

2012-06-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Audrey's second birthday on Saturday with a small backyard party.

We kept it very simple and barbequed in the backyard. I lined the tables with brown paper and set out crayons for the kids to draw with. A few fresh flowers and balloons completed most of the decorations.

For favors I got fun drink bottles with straws from the dollar store and filled each with milk, so each kid got to pick their bottle to use at the party and then take it home with them.

I think Audrey's favorite part of the whole day was when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She was beaming with all that attention.

And eating the cake wasn't so bad either.

It was amazing to see how much difference a year made in the atmosphere of the party. Almost all of the same kids were at her first party and at the time only one was walking and none were saying more than a word or two. This year everyone was running and jumping and talking up a storm. It is so fun to see them all growing up. We will definitely miss this group of friends when we move.

Posted at:

The Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Happy Birthday Audrey

2012-06-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Audrey turns two today! We had her birthday party over the weekend. It was a lot of fun and Audrey definitely "got" it. She knew right away what all the balloons and cake and presents were all about. I'll share pictures later this week. For now we are off to celebrate for one more day!

Happy birthday to the most amazing two year old ever!

A Big Girl Bed

2012-05-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

It was a big day for Audrey yesterday. We bought her a "big girl" bed. She tested it out as we wove our way through Costco.

Although it took her a lot longer than usual to fall asleep once she did she slept the rest of the night and even slept in.

Seriously, how is it possible she is so big already?

I'm off to work on a busy book order, happy Tuesday all!

Single Serving Lemonade

2012-05-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty warm around here lately and we are spending most of our time in the pool. While Audrey splashes around I enjoy the easy task of sitting with my feet in the pool "supervising". (The perks of being a stay-at-home mom!) The other day I was craving a glass of homemade lemonade, the perfect poolside drink companion, but didn't have the motivation or enough ingredients to make a big pitcher so I figured why not just make a single glass. It took about 2.5 minutes, tasted delicious, and left very little clean-up.

Single Serving Lemonade:
2 lemons
1 cup tap water
3 teaspoons sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
ice

In a glass combine sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.

Squeeze in juice from 2 lemons and stir to combine. Add ice to fill the glass. Taste, if it is too tart add more sugar.

Drink and enjoy!

Posted at:

Saturday Seven Party (No. 29) at Positively Splendid

Mingle Monday at Add A Pinch