I did a little more work on the sidebar here, added a few more fun links, deleted and modified some links on the blog list, and Martin changed my privacy settings so that should take care of all those ridiculous spam comments.
I am all about repurposing these days. Old clothes from the Goodwill box become clothes for Anja's baby dolls. Scraps of fabric become ruffles on out-grown pajamas whose feet have been cut off. An ugly dress in a pretty floral print becomes a shirt and denim overall cuffs! I LOVE REPURPOSING. I have always been a sucker for fabric, and now I am doing so much more than quilting. I love it. Love, love, love. And I have so many plans in place for matching dresses for the girls this summer..... I am giddy. !!!!
This has been a most lovely weekend, which is a huge deal, since last weekend was a giant letdown. Last weekend was the first weekend in many that we had two full days together as a little family that were completely free of all obligation. Unfortunately, both the girls were HUGE GRUMPS. ALL WEEKEND. Uuuughhhh.. It was pretty miserable. Lots of "terrible two" incidents, teething-ish Greta (though I'm sure she's not teething... she's got four teeth, I don't think she's due to get any more for awhile, right?) Anyway, this weekend has been nothing but delightful. And this morning, we went to the 9:30 mass hoping for coffee and donuts in the gym afterward, but there were none, so Martin suggested we go to the Trails and spend our free meal giftcard we got in the fall. Yay! And on the way there, I was talking about something and Martin said, "Please don't take this as being mean, but could you stop talking for awhile so I can think about my strategy?" This guy plans out the way he'll eat his meal at the Trails. What a nut. And I told him I wouldn't take offense as long as I could blog about it and it was a deal.
We had such a nice time! Greta slept most of the time, then woke up to eat some carrots. Anja was absolutely perfect and I think she had a lot of fun. We sat at a table back in the corner and it was really peaceful and happy and nice.
And at church we sat behind my sister and her hubbywubby and our goddaughter, Rah-Rah who doesn't hate me anymore! Just like her big sister, I knew she'd grow out of it and eventually love her Nana. Yay!
I am glad that the kids all like to play with my Woodland Folk dolls because nobody wants to buy them from Etsy, so at least I have some kind of reassurance that they are nice toys. In fact, nobody on Etsy wants to buy any of my stuff! That's okay though... Martin says to give it time and he reminds me that we are in The Great Recession.
I have given up caffeine after twelve o'clock, and for three nights in a row Greta slept awesomely. Then last night she did that really annoying thing where she wakes up in the wee hours and won't go back to sleep for hours. Uuugh. I'm still going to stick with my no-coffee-after-noon limit though. Just in case.
Anja is so amazingly hilarious. Her drawing is really good! She makes circles! And she draws cats as circles with looooong lines for tails. And she draws hair on people! A person is a circle with scribbles on top (hair) except for Daddy, who is a circle and scribbles all over (beard.) She will sit at the table and draw and draw for as long as we let her. Except right now she's shut herself in her bedroom and is playing with her dolls. She is the funniest little girl. I have more to say about her and her quirkiness but it'll have to wait for a warmer day. But I'm really glad we have Greta because otherwise I don't think I ever would've realized how special Anja is. Obviously I'm glad to have Greta for many other reasons too.... like TAX RETURNS! Thanks, G! We knew we loved you, we just didn't know why.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
My Blog is Dying
Okaaaay. This blog might as well not exist. I even lost a follower. And check out all those spamilicious comments. I kind of regret the free makeover I gave it.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
I can't help myself
Martin has started making fun of me because I've been embroidering owls on EVERYTHING.
And here's a snail! These are Anja's big girl underpants!
This was once a shirt of Martin's, now it is Anja's paint smock! I cut it up a little bit and put thick trim along the bottom and on the sleeves. I love it!
And up until this afternoon, these pants were a pillowcase! (sorry the picture is yellowy... bad light.)And I'm adding things to my Etsy store!!! Did I mention I've gotten my sewing machine set up at last?! IT'S AMAZING!!!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Busy Keeping Busy
Here is a taste of our lazy life lately, in pictures.
Anja has been spending a lot of time on the ledge in the hallway that connects the front of the house (the old part) to the back of the house (the new part, which we think was built in the 50's.) Where she's sitting now is directly across from the laundry room. Anyway, she sits up there with my button tin and plays with the buttons. FOR HOURS. She loves them. She studies each and every button and tells me about it. "Gooooo. Gahr." (Blue heart.) There are mama buttons and baby buttons, broken buttons and buttons of all different colors. If she starts getting a little out of control at any time during the day, all I have to say is, "would you like to sort your buttons?" and that solves all problems. It's amazing.
This is just a picture of the girls playing together and being cute. They've really started playing together instead of just around each other. Anja has always been good at interacting with Greta and being patient with her babyness (in other words, the fact that she doesn't really do much) but Greta is finally getting it. They wrestle, laugh, make weird noises in each others faces, and fight--just like real siblings!
And they share bananas too! A banana is actually the perfect snack--they each get half and while much of Greta's ends up on the floor, both girls can finish half a banana.
Anja has only been wearing dresses lately in order to make potty training easier. She's also been choosing her outfits for the past couple of weeks (and sometimes Greta's too) which makes for some interesting combinations. This one isn't so bad though.
This is a picture of one of Anja's drawings. She often fills a page with tons of tiny spots. Translated, this is a picture of dogs, cats, and all of her favorite family members.
We spent some time in the bedroom today.
Greta ADORES Theodore.
Anja plays upstairs by herself sometimes and I can hear her through the monitor. Yesterday I went up to put Greta down for a nap, and Anja was looking out the window with her doll. I ran downstairs to get my camera but when I got back she noticed me and moved. This is not-as-good recreation of the moment.
Anja has been spending a lot of time on the ledge in the hallway that connects the front of the house (the old part) to the back of the house (the new part, which we think was built in the 50's.) Where she's sitting now is directly across from the laundry room. Anyway, she sits up there with my button tin and plays with the buttons. FOR HOURS. She loves them. She studies each and every button and tells me about it. "Gooooo. Gahr." (Blue heart.) There are mama buttons and baby buttons, broken buttons and buttons of all different colors. If she starts getting a little out of control at any time during the day, all I have to say is, "would you like to sort your buttons?" and that solves all problems. It's amazing. 
This is just a picture of the girls playing together and being cute. They've really started playing together instead of just around each other. Anja has always been good at interacting with Greta and being patient with her babyness (in other words, the fact that she doesn't really do much) but Greta is finally getting it. They wrestle, laugh, make weird noises in each others faces, and fight--just like real siblings!
And they share bananas too! A banana is actually the perfect snack--they each get half and while much of Greta's ends up on the floor, both girls can finish half a banana. 
Anja has only been wearing dresses lately in order to make potty training easier. She's also been choosing her outfits for the past couple of weeks (and sometimes Greta's too) which makes for some interesting combinations. This one isn't so bad though.
This is a picture of one of Anja's drawings. She often fills a page with tons of tiny spots. Translated, this is a picture of dogs, cats, and all of her favorite family members.
We spent some time in the bedroom today.
Greta ADORES Theodore.
Anja plays upstairs by herself sometimes and I can hear her through the monitor. Yesterday I went up to put Greta down for a nap, and Anja was looking out the window with her doll. I ran downstairs to get my camera but when I got back she noticed me and moved. This is not-as-good recreation of the moment.
And that's pretty much it. I've FINALLY set up my sewing machine and have begun making things.... lots of things... and I have a growing list of creations to make and add to my Etsy store. I am very excited! I still feel like I am not completely in control when I use a machine, but I can't help liking the speed of it! I can start and finish a project in one evening! Woohoo!
Happy Weekend!
Monday, January 25, 2010
What I Shouldn't Be Doing
Blogging is definitely NOT the way I should be spending my time right now. I should be cleaning up the kitchen so that the first thing I see when I come downstairs in the morning won't be a pile of dirty dishes glaring at me. I want to up in the warm part of the house reading "The Handmade Home," which Martin so thoughtfully brought home to me from the library today. But those are things that technically can be done while the girls are around, and since both girls are sleeping and Martin is returning my dad's truck to my parents' house, I thought I'd take the chance to jump on the computer and update you all on my extremely boring life. Yesterday Martin drove up north and brought home a truckload of firewood and our newest family member: 
I don't think it has a name yet but Martin's got hearts in his eyes as he wears it around on his belt. Silly boys. His cowboy gun left us and this was the replacement. Funnily, having a gun was something I never really thought of, even when I lived by myself downtown, until Martin had one. And then the short time he was without one left me really wanting one. I hope that doesn't make me sound violent... it's just that I worry about him when he walks down to the VP at night to buy us our winning lottery tickets. 
Potty training is going remarkably well. The only trick is, the "big girl underpants" (that I might or might not have embroidered with owls and snails) aren't much motivation. They must feel too much like diapers because the only accidents we've had are when she's wearing them, otherwise she ALWAYS goes on the potty. She's going on the potty so often now that she's stopped expecting stickers after every time! What a big girl. And can I just say that toddler training underpants are the cutest things IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am floored by their cuteness, especially when worn on my beautiful Anja's little rumpus.
I don't think it has a name yet but Martin's got hearts in his eyes as he wears it around on his belt. Silly boys. His cowboy gun left us and this was the replacement. Funnily, having a gun was something I never really thought of, even when I lived by myself downtown, until Martin had one. And then the short time he was without one left me really wanting one. I hope that doesn't make me sound violent... it's just that I worry about him when he walks down to the VP at night to buy us our winning lottery tickets. Potty training is going remarkably well. The only trick is, the "big girl underpants" (that I might or might not have embroidered with owls and snails) aren't much motivation. They must feel too much like diapers because the only accidents we've had are when she's wearing them, otherwise she ALWAYS goes on the potty. She's going on the potty so often now that she's stopped expecting stickers after every time! What a big girl. And can I just say that toddler training underpants are the cutest things IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am floored by their cuteness, especially when worn on my beautiful Anja's little rumpus. I updated Greta there on my sidebar and behind her you can see the little curtain I made to hide the CD player in the front room. It was a cute skirt, but it makes a cuter shelf-hider.
And here is the apron I made from a little girls size 4 dress. I wish the print showed up more clearly because it is MOST adorable:
Ok, actually you can't see it at all. Well, trust me, it's really cute, with these funny little men on it and these funny little hot air ballooons. I really should've done a close-up. I used the buttons down the back as a waistband and it looks really cute! Unfortunately, it is extremely unflattering. I try not to think about that though when I'm wearing it.
We're getting lots of snow. Good night for hygge!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Garden Planning
We came to my parents' house for dinner--yummy pasta. You can probably guess the quality of the meal by its name.
One other thing we've been doing with our time lately is planning our garden. With a chunk of our tax return money we are planning to finance our summer vegetables and flowers. In the fall when our new neighbor Kelsey moved in, her dad told us we could have her vegetable boxes, which the Cooks built, because she wasn't going to use them and he would just be throwing them out. This makes me EXTREEEEMELY excited. Not only does it extend our garden by two or three times what it was, but the soil will be better than what we have, and we won't have to worry about that Black Walnut tree poisoning our produce. So we're hoping for a better year in the tomato department.
One box will be devoted to peppers and tomatoes. Another will be carrots and onions. We're going to have a couple or few cabbages and try our hand at making saurkraut. We're turning our original garden plot into a canteloupe patch, our pumpkin went back to the trash pile by the driveway, I threw some potatoes out into the Jungle with high hopes, and we're also (in the normal garden) going to have zucchini and lettuce. I've decided to extend my herb box by hanging some boxes along the fence so along with basil (in its own pot), thyme, oregano and cilantro (what I had last year in my herb box) I will have chives, parsley and dill. I am SO EXCITED. I'm also excited to work in my garden this year because I have a good feeling about it this year. I am not PLANNING on being pregnant this summer, I won't have a newborn, and my girls will be old enough to play outside happily for long amounts of time. And if our Easter plans of fixed-up tricycles turns out well, they will have a summer full of trike riding to keep them busy while I work. Our backyard is mostly sidewalk paths (except for a small grassy area and the areas that are the garden) so it's the PERFECT place for tricycle riding. We have vowed to make our yard great this year (finally.) So here's hoping! I'm really excited! We drove down to Crawfordsville awhile back
One other thing we've been doing with our time lately is planning our garden. With a chunk of our tax return money we are planning to finance our summer vegetables and flowers. In the fall when our new neighbor Kelsey moved in, her dad told us we could have her vegetable boxes, which the Cooks built, because she wasn't going to use them and he would just be throwing them out. This makes me EXTREEEEMELY excited. Not only does it extend our garden by two or three times what it was, but the soil will be better than what we have, and we won't have to worry about that Black Walnut tree poisoning our produce. So we're hoping for a better year in the tomato department.
One box will be devoted to peppers and tomatoes. Another will be carrots and onions. We're going to have a couple or few cabbages and try our hand at making saurkraut. We're turning our original garden plot into a canteloupe patch, our pumpkin went back to the trash pile by the driveway, I threw some potatoes out into the Jungle with high hopes, and we're also (in the normal garden) going to have zucchini and lettuce. I've decided to extend my herb box by hanging some boxes along the fence so along with basil (in its own pot), thyme, oregano and cilantro (what I had last year in my herb box) I will have chives, parsley and dill. I am SO EXCITED. I'm also excited to work in my garden this year because I have a good feeling about it this year. I am not PLANNING on being pregnant this summer, I won't have a newborn, and my girls will be old enough to play outside happily for long amounts of time. And if our Easter plans of fixed-up tricycles turns out well, they will have a summer full of trike riding to keep them busy while I work. Our backyard is mostly sidewalk paths (except for a small grassy area and the areas that are the garden) so it's the PERFECT place for tricycle riding. We have vowed to make our yard great this year (finally.) So here's hoping! I'm really excited! We drove down to Crawfordsville awhile back
Break Time
One really fun thing about Anja being a toddler is taking her out on errands alone, with either Martin or me. Right now she's out with Martin going to the bank and to Rural King. She was excited to go, and since Greta went down for a nap as they were heading out the door, I have a little mid-morning break! I realize it's coming up on noon, but that is another thing that makes this day amazing: we all slept in until almost 9:00! Considering we all got to bed at midnight, that doesn't make it SO amazing, but still.... it was a rare treat. Greta and I woke up first and started making pumpkin bread for breakfast... Anja woke up shortly after and came to help. She loves to help me bake! I saved back some of the pumpkin to give to Greta and she liked it but it was EVERYWHERE by the time she was finished with it and while I was wiping her down I said, "Greta, you may need a bath after this breakfast!" Moments later I heard some racket coming from the bathroom and it was Anja getting Greta's baby tub out and putting it in the bathtub! Then she proceeded to take all of her clothes off and climb in. She wanted to take a bath with Greta! It was very cute. She likes to have the faucet dripping during her bath so she can drink from it and fill up her cups. This morning she would get water on her hand and shove it into Greta's mouth to feed it to her. Luckily, Greta was just as amused.
Last night we ate dinner as soon as Martin got home and then planned to go to the grocery, but Anja wanted to go to bed instead, so she did and after awhile Greta and I went to the grocery alone. Greta was very happy and awake when I got there, but I pulled into a parking place and reached for my purse--and realized it wasn't there. Whoops! Back home we went. I received a text from Martin on my way that Anja was awake and he was getting her back to sleep. I got my purse and headed back to the grocery. I pulled in this time and saw that Greta had fallen asleep. Hmmm... it was a little early for her to go to bed for the night, but a little late to have a nap. I got a text from Martin saying Anja wasn't going back to sleep and I texted back questioning if we should come back and get them. He took a long time to respond, so I just risked it and woke Greta up and took her into the store. I got her situated in a cart and was buckling her in when I heard back from Martin: Yes. So I unloaded Greta from the cart, put her back into her carseat (screaming) and headed back home AGAIN! I wasn't too upset though because I much prefer to go grocery shopping as a family. Since we kind of live under a rock, our weekly grocery run is about the extent of our social outings. So it was a good night. Anja got some stickers. When we got home, she told us she had to go pee-pee, and she did it! So she got to put some stickers in her sticker book. That was by far one of the best gifts we've ever given her. She LOVES it. And she keeps it in her own special place on top of her crayon box. When she's finished, she puts it away herself. So fun!
And that's about all the news from here.
Last night we ate dinner as soon as Martin got home and then planned to go to the grocery, but Anja wanted to go to bed instead, so she did and after awhile Greta and I went to the grocery alone. Greta was very happy and awake when I got there, but I pulled into a parking place and reached for my purse--and realized it wasn't there. Whoops! Back home we went. I received a text from Martin on my way that Anja was awake and he was getting her back to sleep. I got my purse and headed back to the grocery. I pulled in this time and saw that Greta had fallen asleep. Hmmm... it was a little early for her to go to bed for the night, but a little late to have a nap. I got a text from Martin saying Anja wasn't going back to sleep and I texted back questioning if we should come back and get them. He took a long time to respond, so I just risked it and woke Greta up and took her into the store. I got her situated in a cart and was buckling her in when I heard back from Martin: Yes. So I unloaded Greta from the cart, put her back into her carseat (screaming) and headed back home AGAIN! I wasn't too upset though because I much prefer to go grocery shopping as a family. Since we kind of live under a rock, our weekly grocery run is about the extent of our social outings. So it was a good night. Anja got some stickers. When we got home, she told us she had to go pee-pee, and she did it! So she got to put some stickers in her sticker book. That was by far one of the best gifts we've ever given her. She LOVES it. And she keeps it in her own special place on top of her crayon box. When she's finished, she puts it away herself. So fun!
And that's about all the news from here.
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