Saturday, February 27, 2010

"published"

go here to see byron's first "publication." we passed this on our way to a "resort" ski weekend while we were living in missoula. byron immediately pulled over and took a "picture." "this" has always been a "pet-peeve" of his. it seems that he found a "blogger" that feels the "same" way.

so, for a little more background on the "resort" weekend. byron decided to give me a weekend away for my very first skiing trip. while i was imagining a view like this...

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he had signed us up for a view like this...

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and getting excited about things like this...

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(anyone know what "historica" refers to? maybe they just ran out of "L"s)

and making me do stuff like this, while being told to "pose the hell out of it"...

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i think i did a pretty good job tolerating, i mean, posing. i will admit, it was a very memorable trip. and i've never been that sore before in my life--from the skiing--not posing.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

more sun, please

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this past weekend we were finally able to emerge from our hibernation. and since the exteneded weather forecast did not (and still does not) look promising we decided to spend every waking moment outside.

sitting on our hopeful, soon-to-be, master bathroom

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testing AWD capabilities of the baby stroller

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throwing the ball to delia. nope, just delia. layla prefers not to do dog things. she's much better than that.

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soaking up the sun

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and, you guessed it, more stroller testing.

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unfortunately, she preferred to head this direction. you know, towards the "minefield" as us dog owners call it.

Monday, February 15, 2010

a hershey kiss holiday

mary adelyn had her very first valentine's day party at her school last week. so in celebration of her first hallmark holiday, i decided to make a little outfit for her. with the pure intention that homegirl was going to swoon every heart in the building. whoops, did i just say that out loud?

what started out as this...

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later turned into this...

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due to a few stubborn snaps in the crotch that just wouldn't stay....well, snapped.

and then i made a bunch of these...

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inspired from this oh so wonderful baking blog. (warning: if you have a sweet addiction, this blog might not be the best place for you)

and decided to package them like this...

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i'll give you two guesses where i got that idea from :) ahem, thanks mimi :)

and off we went to the girlie's first valentine's day party. she was super cute. and no i didn't get any pictures, because i forgot that i even had my camera with me. whoops. but to make up for it, here's a not so great photo that i took of her before she left that morning...

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we were told that they paraded her around into each classroom to show off her outfit, while she walked on her tippy toes. too funny. i was just glad to see that she was still wearing it when we arrived for the afternoon party.

her valentine's were made from the fabric scraps of the dress. it was a pretty neat idea that i'm sure i stumbled upon in the blogosphere somewhere. i just cut them out in the shape of a hershey kiss and sewed them to cardstock. the original idea was for mary adelyn to draw on the back of each one, but she decided she'd rather eat the crayon. maybe next year.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

the life and times of a snow bunny

wake up, bright and early, once more to snow on the ground.

wonder what in the world we are going to be able to do inside all day...again...for what seems like the 4th weekend in a row.

read a book with daddy.

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learn how to chase bubbles inside

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read more books with daddy

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expend some energy at the grocery store.

(sorry, no pictures here due to chasing a 15 month old around and hoping she didn't get run over by a grocery cart)

and pose for the dreaded snow picture

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nope, it still hasn't gotten old yet. i think it's the kid in me. i LOVE the snow. and, i LOVE to take pictures of my girlie in the snow. whether she likes it or not :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

blizzard warning

this is our current weather forecast. luckily, our house sits right on top of a hill and faces directly north. oh wait, that's only a good thing for potential flooding, not so much for blizzards. hopefully, our almost 100 year old single pane windows will be able to withstand the wind gusts. man, i really need to get past my inability of deciding which curtains to buy. our windows could use a little extra layer this winter.

layla will definitely be sleeping under her covers tonight. yes, our dog prefers to be tucked in each night. yes, we know she is spoiled. but she's an old lady. hopefully, someone (ahem, mary adelyn) will spoil me when i'm old and gray as well.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

don't move...

IMPROVE!

well, this is what we hope to do. for those that are not in the know, we took our house off the market about a month after putting the sign in the yard. did i ever mention how much we love our house? well, if not. we really love our house. and deciding to sell was very much a blessing in disguise. as we didn't realize that we really, really love our house. so i guess the fact that i cried the entire day that we put the for sale sign in the yard was a pretty good sign that selling might not be the best choice. well that, and the fact that we were canceling showings in fear that the house might actually sell. so, after a little convincing on my part, the dreaded sign was taken out of the yard. woo-hoo! considered that victory #1.

now onto, victory #2--convincing byron that our dream improvements are in our budget. 3 contractors , 1 architect and 1 possible pulled muscle later(from doing the 'yea, i told you so dance' after each of the before mentioned professionals left our house), we are one step closer to adding some square footage. whoot-whoot! yes, these are the sounds of joy that byron is now subjected too, pretty much on a daily basis.

before i get to the specifics of our dream improvements, i feel like i should list a little disclaimer that i am my father's daughter. and that my father just so happens to be a contractor. just a minor detail, in my book. but a detail that byron likes to remind me of quite often. specifically, when i've tried to talk him into doing some diy projects around the house. you see, byron and i have two completely different ways of thinking about home projects and diy. while he'd rather pay someone an outrageous amount of money to do it, i'd rather try it for much less and have the satisfaction of mastering something. and i tried to explain to him that diy does not refer to any project that you do around the house. i mean, if you are working on something that you wouldn't think to call in a professional for (i.e. changing screws in a door frame), then you're not diying, you're maintaining. i'm sure byron would explain these differences in another light, but hey, i don't see him writing on this blog any, so i guess you lucked out with my point of view.

while i'm sure byron would much rather all house of alday projects be referred to as diya (do-it-yourself-amy), i'm certain that i'll be able to rope him into some projects. i mean, surely he won't leave me to tile the entire kitchen backsplash myself, right? and i have just so happened to come across a handful of great blogs here, here, and here that have only increased my propensity to try some diy at our own little abode.

now, onto the dream improvements. approximately a 150ish square foot addition directly off the back of our house, which will house the following:

1. master bath addition--not really in the sense that most people think of a master bath. just happens to be referred to as that because it will be connected to our 'master' bedroom. including a laundry closet.

2. kitchen nook--we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and would love to have an area for mary adelyn to work on her coloring skills, while still being able to cook and interact with her.

now, obviously, the above projects will not be diy. but, they will lead to other diy projects that i, err i mean, we hope to accomplish at some point before mary adelyn graduates high school. you know, easy things, like removing a small portion of the kitchen entry way to promote a better flow, painting the kitchen cabinets, installing a new backsplash, building a bench seat (oh yea, byron, forgot to mention that one to you in person, whoops), and well, i should probably stop there before an executive halt in placed on the project.

and just so you'll have an idea of what i, dangit i mean, we are thinking, here's a few inspirational photos...

wouldn't this be a great way to get clean every morning?

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or maybe this...
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photo: bhg

i don't think we'd know what to do with more than one sink.

and here's the vision for the kitchen nook.

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pretty self-explanatory.

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and new kitchen colors (cabinets, countertops, etc...)

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so, if any of you that actually read this blog, have any insight in home renovation, please feel free to share. i'm sure we'd appreciate all the info, and of course advice, that you might have.

and you better bet that we'll have some before and after photos, as this is my new favorite thing to look at on home improvement blogs, if this dream project actually does get off the ground. stay tuned. i promise, i'll update this time :)