The Happyish Homestead

Friday, January 28, 2011

Pretend You Are All Priests



and what I say in this post as far as confessions goes no further than me and all of you.




I haven't been completely honest with all of you. It's true. I hold back some things. Mostly things that I'm embarrassed or ashamed about. Things that I think will prevent people from thinking I'm awesome - which I am only some of the time.




As you read through this post it will explain why this is not a typical Friday post.




Here it goes:




  • I didn't finish a single project this week. I got some closer to being finished, but nothing to show off. By closer, I mean I got two of 9 panels of curtains hung.


  • Lots of times I wait until a project is completely done before I post about it.


  • Nothing makes me more cranky and out of sorts than kids waking up when it's still too dark to see what time it is.


  • We had maggots. Gross, I know. Apparently some unsuspecting fly laid her eggs in between our floor boards. I thought at first that it was rice. I feel more than violated. They're under control now, as in dead, as in smothered in bleach in my front yard.


  • I don't dress Meg till about 9am.


  • Remember that one post where I said our shower was leaking? That was a lie. It was like a torrential flood into our basement. We had to get the bathroom completely re coated, it looks really great now and....no flooding.


  • Some months I buy too much fabric and we have no money left over for food by the end of the month. We have food, it's just nothing terribly exciting.


  • Elizabeth rides the bus home from school. The bus stop is about three houses down from ours. I leave the other girls home taking naps while I go pick her up. I'm gone for about seven minutes. Please don't call the CPS.


  • Our neighbor has some sort of large 'indoor' lap pool. I really hope he invites us over to go swimming some time.


  • We have a large back hoe sitting in our front yard. We have mounds of random dirt scattered throughout our yard. Some things just take heavy machinery to accomplish.


  • I lost some pillows. The logical conclusion is that they're in the basement somewhere in one of the 25 boxes still unpacked. I hope it's true.


  • I try to get Adeline to play babies so I can be the kid and take a nap. Barbies are not so conducive to napping.


  • Bryce and I have not agreed on a single boy name.


  • I don't really like bananas or cooked carrots.


I think that's it. Feel free to leave a confession, I promise to read it, sympathize with you, and then erase it from my memory, which is kind of what I'm hoping you'll do for me.



Katie

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Writers Block

Am I really considered a writer?

Regardless of the answer to that question, I've been stumped lately about what to post. Here's the thing, when things are going smoothly, I have a lot, I mean a lot, less to say. So if you're wondering how life is going, it's going smoothly. And I'm tired. What am I tired of? Being awake.

In order to jump start some creativity, I googled writing prompts.

Here's the one I picked: What are your first thoughts when you wake up in the morning?



  • I have to pee.

  • Did that baby ever go to sleep?

  • Why is Adeline crying already?

  • I hope she didn't pee the bed.

  • Maybe Bryce picked up some donuts so I don't have to make breakfast.

  • I really need to get those curtains made that have been sitting pinned by my dining room table for over a week.

  • Today I like the name Booker.

  • I wonder if reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before I went to sleep is why I had that weird dream.

  • Why must Elizabeth close the bathroom door so noisily at 6:40am in the morning?

  • I hope she isn't cranky today because she woke up so early.

  • I hope Meg is still dressed and hasn't figured out how to undo her safety pin.

  • Is today the day that I shave or did I shave yesterday?

  • I wonder if I can hold off going to the bathroom until I've made the bed.

  • (As I look over to Bryce's side of the bed) Well that would explain why I was so cold, he had all of the covers and his pillow was on my side of the bed.

  • If those girls aren't good this morning they're getting oatmeal for breakfast, without sugar.

What are your first thoughts?


Katie

Friday, January 21, 2011

Here's the Thing...

Why do pictures turn up sideways when they go in right side up????
You can't see it, but we've been putting a safety pin on Meg's pjs to keep her modest, thanks for the suggestion. See that stuff coming in the window? That's light from the sun! I love that stuff.

One corner of the house that is finished.



With crafts, I feel there's a fine line between cute and creative and ghetto and cheap. These are some 'airplanes' that I made for baby boy's mobile.



Please share brutally honest thoughts about this project, even if they will make me cry, although, I'm 8 months pregnant, it's not really that hard to do...


Two things: we got a new oven/stove! and it's gas! and it's awesome! everyone should get one! and we bought stuff to cover the mess. Here's the thing, there's a hole, well the hole is covered. But the room right above the kitchen is Elizabeth and Adeline's room. When ever they run and jump and play and sneeze, stuff falls from the ceiling, onto? the stove. We haven't had anyone over for dinner, don't worry. So hopefully this Saturday the mess will be covered and falling 'dust' will be gone.


I made baby boy some receiving blankets. The elephant one is my favorite.


I bought fabric for curtains in baby boy's room and for in our room.


The antique sign found a new home. It was the first thing I hung up. Bryce said that was pretty telling. However, it's one of the easiest things to hang up because you just nail it into the wall. The best thing about this house is there are no studs because there is no sheet rock because their is no insulation because there are no 2 by 4s. All the walls are like the girl room upstairs, and then they sheet rocked over the top and then they wall papered and then they painted. I don't really know who 'they' is.


We bought a couch. It was a new experience, buying a piece of furniture, new, from an actual retail store.


Joyous Weekend!


Katie



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I'd Rather Be....



Many a morning rolls around, the birds are chirping, the sun is shinning, Bryce picked up some donuts for breakfast, the kids slept in and some little woodland creatures secretly landscaped our yard while we were sleeping.




There are some rare occasions when none of the above happens, not even one single concept.




On those days I'd Rather Be:




  • sunbathing on a deserted, unknown island with monkeys that bring me fresh pineapples.


  • taking a cross continent trip with exorbitance amounts of money for antiquing.


  • on a cruise. The boat wouldn't even need to have a destination.


  • perusing books at Barnes and Noble with a hot chocolate and no screaming kids at the back of the store with no escape route besides the front of the store.


  • being interviewed for any sort of anything: a-hard-working-young-mother-of-three-fashionista, the next big HGTV series, an amazing blogger award, nothing to do with living with rats....


  • on a weekend get away with Bryce on someone else's tab.


  • in the audience of The Price is Right.


  • at the Smithsonian Museum.


  • at a restaurant where I didn't cook the food, no one asked me to get anything, no one comments about how yucky everything is, my food is warm, I may or may not be eating by myself while reading a great novel, title unknown, written by a famous relative who put me in their will.


What would you rather be doing?



Katie

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Winner Is....

based on random.org

is Emily and Joe Darowski!

I'll need your new address, just send it to my email.

I really loved reading all of the comments, thanks to all of those that participated.

Wednesday I will resume my normal posting schedule.

Katie

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Quickie



Yes, I know that this is a title with a multitude of meanings....but it's my blog and I could use a laugh.




This is a brief post


  • to remind you to make sure to enter the give-away by this evening


  • to tell you that yes I did watch TV last night, and no it was not the National Geographic episode about an indigenous people who were threatened by a multitude of rats that ate their rice crops


  • to say that if you stop by to ask for free stuff from my pile of junk outside the front of my house, I don't really need to hear your back story or what your plans are for said junk


  • to mention that our shower is fixed and I've felt cleaner today than I have in weeks


  • to tell Bryce that I'm going to a couple of fabric stores this morning just to 'look' at baby boy fabric


  • and to say for all of you Meg fans, that she's sneaky. She lures me into a false sense of security by not undressing for days in a row while in her crib and then one night, she's completely 'niked'.


Merry Friday and Good Luck!



Katie



P.S. Word to the wise, don't bothering entering the giveaway if you don't like me or my style of decorating or getting free stuff or receiving a package in the mail ....

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Some Success












I'm going to be honest with you, sometimes Wednesday rolls around and I have no idea what to post. I worry that Adeline, potty, complaining, nagging or decorating posts are going to get old. Sometimes I try too hard to be liked and stew about whether or not my post will be a success. I know, poor me.


In an effort to give myself some motivation and a goal, I'm doing a give away.

I'm calling it, Katie-In-A-Box. I will put together some things that I've collected from garage sales and estate sales over the years and perhaps some things of my own creation that represent me and put them together in what I am positive will be a really cute package to send off to one of you. I realize this won't appeal to as many as you as a free quilt did.....but you never know (because not even I know) what will be in the package.


You have till Friday evening to enter, 7pm my time (Pacific). I'll announce the winner on Monday, and have the package sent off later that week.

Leave a comment telling me....your favorite boy name. =) Preferably one you haven't already used....


This sounds like one of those dollar store grab bags, but trust me, it'll be much cooler.


Katie

Monday, January 10, 2011

A Complaint Poll

Our oven died.

Surprising?

Not Really.

Have you read the rest of the posts about home ownership...?

We have this really cool, old, disassembled gas range in the basement.

Is it worth having someone come out and look at it?

It'll cost $40-$60.

We don't currently have a gas range.

We think it'd be pretty easy to have a plumber come out and hook it up for us since we already have gas in the house. Gas, like for the furnace, not like the other kind. In case you were wondering.

We're thinking about switching to gas regardless of the gas range in the basement.

So the question....

Is gas worth the switch?

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Girl Room



Reminder of what the before looked like. That little square in the middle used to be hole. That's how the upstairs used to get heat, just holes in the floor for the heat to rise through. The downstairs now has a vent system, but still no direct heat upstairs. It actually stays pretty temperate up there. We have to keep all the doors open though.



The After, I've already rearranged it once.



These curtains we had at the old house. I just added a panel of white muslin at the bottom and honed my hot glue gun skills and attached some vintage yo-yos and scrap circles to make polka dots. Some times I am so lazy, and I'll probably regret not sewing the darn things on, but today is not that day. The little table with the blue top on the left side we made for Elizabeth years ago.



It used to be an old TV end table, you know the ones that have a little half shelf? We pulled off that part and painted it.




The white cupboard on the other side is an old metal pantry which we also picked up at an estate sale. I spray painted it white and the shelves inside black and it makes for a nice little book shelf.


Adeline's side.





I picked up the dresser from a thrift store for $40. Bryce painted it and we put hardware on. That thing is a beast. And just in that nook you see three pieces of enamel ware. When I was unpacking I even astounded myself by how much enamel I had accumulated. Bryce was less surprised.



Elizabeth's side, with cute little Meg. We found that little wooden iron and ironing board at an estate sale.




We still need to put trim up and paint the existing trim. I think I'm going to Modge Podge the walls to seal the old newspaper/wallpaper. We read one of the articles that talked about malaria and what it's caused by. Let's just say it sounded like it was written 136 years ago, but interesting none-the-less. And I have their little fabric triangle garland that I'm going to iron and hang up.




Oh yes, and lights. There's a architectural salvage yard here that has some matching old school house-esq lights I think would be perfect for here. I'm saving my money.




And I wasn't lying, we really are having a boy. I'm open to suggestions for decorating ideas. I'm not a sports-theme-person, just thought I'd put that out there.


Happy Weekend,




Katie

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Monday, January 3, 2011

Why I'm Tired...

This is the before picture, the after coming shortly.



  • I had a nightmare that our house caught on fire. Just before I went to bed, it dawned on me that we haven't put smoke detectors throughout our house. I am definitely going to be buying some today.


  • Elizabeth's side hurt all night. I had nightmares that she was having appendicitis. I had one, when I was 17. Are those things hereditary?


  • I had visions of my sun room. Let's just say it's going to be sporting paint on the floor and a day bed by a wall, and pretty great curtains.


  • Christmas vacation is ex-hausting.


  • It's laundry day, I am pregnant and have three kids.

Katie


Sorry, I know this post is lame, it's Monday and freezing outside.