Kid-isms

Gabby: When I disbehave [sic], you're a mean Mama, 'cause you don' [sic] know any better.

Kate: I found fabric I want for my wedding dress. It is shiny and white, but it has little holes all in it, so I will have to wear leggings and a shirt under it, because it would be inappropriate. Or we can sew little purple dots on all the holes! We better get started now so it will be finished when I'm 21.

Nate (almost every night when he is asked what he is thankful for) doe [door].

A Room Fit for a Princess

(or Two)

When we started talking about moving (again), Kate was very reticent. She was content in her room and in the house we had. We told her we'd have more room and she balked. We told her we would have a better library: she was unimpressed. We told her we would be settled, and she couldn't have cared less. We told her we would hang things on the wall and make her room like a princess's and she was sold.

From the start I knew I didn't want Disney princesses everywhere. Kate is nearly six already, so I'm not sure how long this phase will last, so I wanted more a room fit for a princess that they could grow in for awhile. So, while I didn't decorate their room the way I would do it if I got to make all the choices, I did lead them a tiny bit.

We started with a bed. Gabriella's was one that my mother found and cleaned up to use for herself as she was growing up. My sister, our exchange student, Kate, and I have all slept in that bed. I did some searching on Craig's List, but my parents found one that is as close as we were going to find in their town.


I had a quilt that Kate got when she got her 'big girl bed,' when we first moved to Kansas. She said she'd like to keep using it, so I made Gabriella one to match.


The girls chose a flower decoration from Hobby Lobby when it was half off.


They also wanted butterflies. I found these at Target and put them up for them.


Next up, the girls both had letters for their names, but they were plain white. We must not have plain white in the princess room, right? So they each chose a color of paint--Gabby picked a light pink and Kate chose a vibrant purple. Neither one a surprise! I painted their letters and then topped them with stickers: ladybugs for Gabby and butterflies for Katie.


I Modge Podged over these to help them stay. FYI: don't stack modge podged projects, not that I know anything about that...

Justin put up shelves to hold their trinkets. This was especially important since they gave up their large dresser for a smaller chest of drawers.

The biggest surprise for the girls was probably the least expensive. I bought some tulle and made it into a canopy for their beds using a little sewing hoop and some ribbon.


Justin painted the hoops white for me.


I made a running stitch to gather the tulle and placed it between the two hoops.


I wrapped ribbon around the outside of the larger/outer hoop, and I tied a bow at the top to gather the fabric. Then I made a little loop from thread to hang it from the hooks over their beds.

A room for our little princesses!

Dish Washin'

We bought this house nearly a month ago, knowing that the dishwasher wasn't usable. We opted to wait to order one until after closing, since there had been a few bumps along the way and we didn't want to have a dishwasher show up and not be able to get inside to hook it up. Besides, we weren't moving in for a week, and I could wash dishes by hand for a few days if it came to that.

Then the dishwasher wasn't immediately available, as we were ordering directly from the manufacturer. When it was to be available, our order had to be delayed due to Kate's camp, since I couldn't be available the entire day while I was with her in the mornings. Since then it has been delayed three more times. In the course the the past month we've used disposable plates a grand total of once (when we had company over for pizza and I was expecting to have 19 of us). That's a whole bunch of dishes we've been washing for a family of five!

Then today the delivery company I set a day and time with yesterday called and said, oh yeah, we don't install. I already paid for installation! And while I consider myself moderately good at doing things around the house that don't require heavy lifting, I don't know how to install a dishwasher.

I asked why the manufacturer picked them (out of all the available delivery companies in the world) and why, oh why, did they accept the order. Well, it seems that the fellow who set it up on the delivery company's end didn't know they don't install dishwashers (How did that happen?) and the manufacturer assumed that they did install. You know, since he didn't tell them otherwise. So now what do we do...

Since we ordered through Justin's dad, who worked for the manufacturer from which we ordered (we get the family discount...which truly is a good price), we have to go through him. We're asking him to see what can be done if anything to remedy this. So one of these days I'll get my nice shiny dishwasher, and one of these days we'll have it hooked up so that it works, but I'm not precisely sure which of these days that will be.

So if you need me,

I'll be here.

Camp

Kate had a first this past week--she went to summer camp. It was a mornings only thing that was closer to our old house. We made a nice little haul very day, since I signed her up before we knew we were moving in June instead of mid-July. She really enjoyed it though.

"Camp was good. I could go fishing. It was good I could cook. It was good I could eat a pig of a cupcake." -Kate

She went fishing with a net. She fell in...twice. She really is my daughter. She had the opportunity to cook. They made crafts, read books, and she made a friend.


One day as the smaller kiddos and I were playing in the main part of the museum where she was at camp, her class came through and I got a picture of her with the group. (She's in the middle--purple and yellow tie die and black skirt.)

The rest of the pictures are of the reception they had the last day:


A life sized self portrait


A table full of her crafts


Incognito

As you can see, she is still going by Katie Beth. We still don't call her that at home...not sure I'll ever be able to switch that one over in my head, but I do sign her up for things as that, since that is what she prefers.

The Kitchen

To continue the tour of our casa, here is the kitchen.


It is nothing horribly fancy, but is nice sized and very functional. Everything is in pretty easy reach, other than things up high. The cabinets go to the ceiling, which is very nice for storing all those things you use once a year. I currently have some cleaners stored atop the fridge, but that should clear out as I finish putting the rest of the house in order soon. In case you are wondering, the fridge is curently working fine with the tape that is holding the vent open the correct amount, so we can order a fridge more at our leisure.


When the kids are a little older, and less likely to fall, we will probably put in some bar stools here at the counter, but for now it houses some of my Meadow Lane pieces (a discontinued Pfaltzgraff pattern that coordinates with my Filigree dishes) and a napkin tray that was sent to me as a gift from Denmark.


This might be the most important part of the kitchen... Justin thinks so because of the coffee pots, I think so because of the calendar/organizer, and the kids think so because of the paper towels.


The dishwasher has been broken since before we purchased the house, but there have been some delays in getting a new one, so the dish rack has been getting good use. The sink and I have been spending some quality time together three or four times a day, so I am thankful for the new faucet that Justin and my Daddy installed (the old one only let through a trickle) and the water pressure that Justin turned up for me!

Don't let the child proofing fool you. Nate is able to remove it--I just can't get it clicked tight enough, but I can hear him remove it and intervene. It is my alarm system. For now I don't have anything that he could hurt himself with down there, just in case...hence stuff on the fridge! Speaking of child proofing--this house has very little. There are no gates. Nate learned to use the stairs the day we were here for the home inspection. He can't quite reach door knobs yet, so we don't need door knob covers. There are some outlet protectors in and we have a safety latch on one drawer (the one I keep all things sharp, flammable, and permanent (think makers) in). It seems odd not to have everything 'child proofed', but I suppose we're moving out of that phase of life.


Here is the range with the nifty over the range microwave that my Daddy put in for me last week, as my parent's food warming house warming gift to us.


Of course this is the eat in portion of the kitchen, with a table that was my grand parents. This is used for breakfast and lunch on week days, since Justin is at work and we only need room to seat three or four of us then. The nice sized pantry is just behind it.

Previously:
Nate's Room
Curio

Holiday Weekend

(fruit pizza)

I spent yesterday running errands so I didn't tell you about our 4th!


We had a wonderful time with friends coming in on the 2nd. We went to the zoo with our seven daughters (all but the youngest gal pictured here)


and Nate (here he is with the young gal--in her mama's arms). If he has trouble getting a date in a few years, it won't be for lack of options, so long as he likes older women and traveling a few hours! We're leaning toward arranging a marriage for him with the youngest little miss--she's 5 months older and already turned 2. Maybe we'll talk it over with her parents.

Sunday, was a day of rest, with church and all.


Then we spent the Fourth eating berries with real whipped cream


(Nate approved),


The kids playing in the fun pool we got for them,


Making home made ice cream,

Oh and Justin put in a new ceiling fan, set in the sump pump, and hung some shelves in the girls rooms this weekend too!

Fourth

Happy 4th of July from my little fire crackers!