Amber Waves of Grain

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!!!! :) Today is Nathan's 32nd birthday. That's right, I said 32! I married an 'older man'. He actually left for Oklahoma this morning. So, we celebrated on Saturday. We went to the orchard in the morning and then in the evening we went to dinner at PF Changs which was delicious. I'll miss him this week. He'll be gone 6 days total (2 in Oklahoma and the rest on a macho hiking trip in the Smoky Mountains with his 3 friends). Anyway, Nathan, if you read my blog, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! In honor of Nathan's birthday, here are a few things I love about him. 1. He's pretty much always in a good mood. He thinks of the glass half-full and always puts up with me when I'm a grump. 2. He makes the best chocolate milk. He takes his recipe seriously; he won't even let me watch him make it. Really. 3. He's promised me a 'minute a day' of back rubs/scratches for the rest of our lives. When I'm pregnant, I get 2 minutes. It adds up...

Hello! So..... I'm constantly being asked about the baby nursery, so here is an update with photos. My dad painted all of the furniture (again, my old furniture from childhood). We are going to use the little desk as a changing table. Excuse the mess while we work on the room, but here it what we have so far! The crib has been assembled. We have a floor lamp & matching toy bins. I got both the lamp and bins at Bed Bath & Beyond with their back to school (dorm stuff) clearance ($7 lamp!). They are a dark pink and match some of the owls in the bedding. I hope it was OK to add this extra accent color. I'm sure my best friends will tell me if not! Notice the orange extension cable with the drill. Ha. I 'attempted' to hang the curtain rods without Nathan but clearly need his help. I won't show pictures of the holes I made in the wall. (Note to self: Just because I once sold power tools at Menards does NOT mean that I have any business using them). Here is the be...

Happy Friday, faithful blog readers!!! Well, I came across these hooks on clearance at Michaels ($1.99 each) and had to have them for the baby nursery. The frames are the same green color as the furniture in the room. I'm not sure what to put in them yet so for now I just threw some scrapbook paper in them (which matches the collages I made earlier). I might stamp her initials in them when we come up with a name. I'm open to suggestions! But, here they are: I also received the last piece of furniture this week. My dad painted the desk (my old furniture from childhood) to use as a changing table. Now I just need the crib assembled and I can start putting the room together more. Yay! I'll post some more nursery pictures as soon as we have all the furniture in the room. Have a fabulous weekend!

Do you smell that?? I sure do; and it's not what we usually smell here at our house, ha. Get a little closer. Ok, closer. Now closer. One more time. Now, take a deeeeep breath. That's the smell of my homemade apple pies that just came out of the oven! Mmmm..... Now, these aren't just any pies. These are "Lois" pies. Lois is my best friend's (Jennifer's) mom. She is a wonderful, wonderful cook. She is also famous for her apple pie. Really, it's the best. Five of us girls went to see Lois back in Feb 2007 for a pie-making day to learn from the best. Let me just say that pie-making isn't as easy as it looks. It takes practice, love, and is really an 'art'. I have the love part but the rest is yet to be learned. I dug up some pics off Mel's facebook acct (thanks, Mel) from our pie-making day. This is me, Lisa, Jennifer, Lois, and Mindy. We weren't the best pie-makers but we had on super cute aprons (from Anthropologie!) and that's...

Looks like Keegan is finally wearing Pull-Ups!!! Hip, hip, hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just look at my big boy!! I'm so proud!!! Oh, no...... WAIT ...... what's that? What's that you say? He's wearing them on the wrong end of his body????????????????? Oh, man. What a bummer. I thought we had it. Back to the drawing board!!!!!! (just forget I blogged this).

Happy 7th Birthday, Oliver!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, again, blog readers! I just wanted to share a few pictures of Keegan that I took this week. He's into trains now so I thought it'd be fun to stop at a RR track for a quick photo shoot. I know, letting Keegan play on the RR track might jeopardize my Mother-of-the-Year nominations, but it had to be done. I liked this first picture best after playing w/ the coloring; that's why it doesn't match the others.

Hello, readers! Since my last post, I was blessed to celebrate my 31st birthday (which was actually yesterday, 9/8). On Saturday night, I went out with the Birthday Club-- Lisa, Mel, Jennifer, & Mindy. You have met them in previous posts. The Birthday Club took me to dinner at Jockamo's Upper Crust Pizza in Irvington (my choice!). Here is their website: http://www.jockamopizza.com/ If you've never been there, they have great pizza and their creamy parmesan dipping sauce (for breadsticks) is one of my favorites. They also have a salad that I love. I'm not usually a big salad eater (afterall, it can't be deep-fried on a stick which is my #1 criteria for food), but this one has bacon on it so it doesn't really count. It's simply called "Spinach Salad" and it has fresh baby spinach, egg, tomato, mushrooms, and bacon, all topped with their warm homemade sweet & spicy dressing. I also love this quote from their menu regarding dressings: "All ...

I am having a hard time editing my other blog entries from today to just add a photo. So, sorry for the whole new entry. Just keeping you on your toes. I finished the final 2 collages tonight. At least I think I'm done now. I get a little crazy when I have rubber cement and paper out. Not the best pic due to poor lighting tonight, but here is the final collection!

Ok, I couldn't resist trying to make another collage. I still want your opinions on the owl one as it might be too busy. But, here is the tree one I just made:

So..... I just whipped up an owl collage to maybe use in the baby nursery. As you know, I'm doing a 'vintage owl' type theme. I used scrapbook paper and just cut out an owl, basically. Much cheaper than buying prints. Anyway, what do you think? Is it too busy??? Be honest. I can take it. If I can figure out how to start a poll on this thing, I will do that so look for one. Oh, and note: I'd use a brown frame instead of this black one so that it would match the crib. So, take a gander and let me know! Thanks! Against the light blue walls: Although the collage would hang on the wall (and I'd like to make a tree one if I ever decide I like this one), I put it here to show you the plush owls I was trying to match colors with. And, the green furniture as well. This is what it needs to coordinate with: Close up-- Cute or too busy?? I can't decide:

Hello, faithful blog readers, friends, and possible internet stalkers! Well, I'm not going to lie to you... this summer has not been easy. For a variety of reasons that I won't get into, this has been what I call 'the summer of stress'. And, it's not over. In fact, some additional trials and big stresses are just starting. But, I am reminded today of the hymn "Count Your Blessings". I will paste the words below: When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one,Count your blessings, see what God hath done!Count your blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,And you will keep singing as the days go ...

Great news! The nursery is painted (Thanks, Dad!) and he also painted my old furniture. He took my old chest of drawers from when I grew up (so it's almost 31 yrs old) and painted it. I put the new door hardware on today and even used the powerdrill. :) He also did the nightstand. Here are some pics: Before & After: Here is the room, a light blue. I know, many people have asked, "Blue?" and go on to say, "But I thought you were having a GIRL." Yes, I know you were all expecting pink, lavender, or girly girl colors. Don't worry... it will make sense when it's all done! More pics to come as it progresses!

Hello! Happy Labor Day! On Saturday, Nathan & I got up and decided to hop in the car for a weekend roadtrip. We had no destination, no hotel reservations, nothing. Not to mention that my pregnant body no longer 'hops' into action and we were trying to travel with a toddler. Anyway, we drove down to Starlight, IN and visited the Huber Orchard. If you haven't been, it's a good place to stop. It's more than just an orchard; it's a farm, winery, and restaurant too. They also have a little homemade ice cream shop with the BEST pumpkin ice cream I've ever had. We ate at the restaurant too and had good 'ole home cookin'.... you know-- fried chicken, corn on the cob, fried biscuits and apple butter, chicken n' dumplings, etc. Yum! I know, you're thinking that a lot of our trips revolve around food. You're right; some people would say we have a "problem." Then we drove and found a hotel that night along the Ohio River outside of Loui...