This week

Still no pictures... sorry guys!

I am at my parent's house while Nick works on the bathroom at our house in the mountains. I feel like I am missing most of myself while he is there and I have retreated to knitting and watching Amelie to keep myself entertained. I was falling in love with our home... and had just re-introduced myself to my old dishes and I just got a text that Nick could hear our creek. We have our own Creek!!! I always wanted a creek.

Speaking of Amelie, I love that movie. I wish it didn't have the insanely risqué parts or it would be one of my favorites. I had forgotten how whimsical and imaginative and just plain beautiful it is. But I warn you... there are very, very bad scenes. Definitely don't watch it with someone you are dating like Nick and I did... very embarrassing. That is probably why I couldn't remember how much I liked it. Silly French people. (I can say this as I am part French Canadian).

How would you spend a savings bond worth around $100 from your grandparents? I have one of these and I am trying to come up with something meaningful to give to my kids as like a gift from them. Both of my grandparents were 100% Czech so I originally thought something from the Czech Republic would be very fitting. But something for kids too. I found some goofy toys but nothing that I feel would be truly loved and played with and then passed on to my grandchildren. So I was thinking of buying a wooden farm play set by Plan Toys to represent my family of Czech farmers that came to and live here in the US. But for all the items it would be well over $100!! Though it would probably last FOREVER. Their products are awesome. My other idea was to buy a Plan doll house. As a kid I LOVED doll houses... and assume every girl did and it was something I always wished for. At the age of 12 I finally got a nice rickety wooden doll house from a garage sale. But who knows if my kids would really want one? I thought it would be neat to buy furniture for at holidays until it is completely full... a true heirloom to love. Doll houses never go out of style. Any other cool ideas would be nice. :)

I put mayonnaise in my hair to see if it will really make it shiny and smoother. My hair has been so dry! It seems not to have recovered from nursing still... and it has been like 5 months! I better go shower and get rid of the odor. I hate mayonaise. It better work.

Update

Hello all my favorite blog readers!!! We finally have our little house which has been a TON of work for us. We are thrilled though, overall with our purchase. Our neighbors are very nice, the town of Front Royal is really laid back, we have mountains everywhere, the prices on groceries are cheaper, Anastasia is thrilled with her new room and home, and besides the lack of running water and plumbing, our house is really becoming the perfect home for us.

I LOVE having my own kitchen!!! And a nice town farmer's market and lots of local farms. I have been cooking like CRAZY! Well, I grilled a lot until we got a new stove. I love living in a small town in the country! I was worried I would be starved for more culture but DC is only a little over an hour away. Winchester is only 20 minutes away and a beautiful drive from our home. So I have access to culture without having to be bothered by it on a daily basis. Coming back to Stafford makes me HATE Northern Virginia with a greater passion. I think I have adopted a small-town mentality. Everyone passes me in rage because I am used to driving 25 mph. All I have to say is I will take the rednecks and hillbillies any day over the northern Virginia yuppie-snobs!

So as I announced last night, we are having another baby! I think it will be a boy, but I am not as sure as I was with Anastasia being a girl. At first the thought of another baby was somewhat overwhelming, especially as Anastasia's strong-will has been even stronger and harder to deal with now that she has this new independence as a toddler. I have become more and more excited though, and less freaked out as I think of how much fun the two will have together being so close in age. I also think it will be easier to home school them, and just do anything with them as they reach milestones together around the same time. They will be able to learn so much from each other. I also felt a bit guilty like I was robbing Anastasia of this special time of her being "the only child" so soon, but it will probably be a better adjustment now rather than a year or two later. As we are finally settling into our own life, I am becoming more and more EXCITED about #2!!!!

I think I am about 3 1/2 months along-ish. That means an October baby!! The first trimester was AWFUL! Way worse than with Anastasia but the second trimester has been way easier, I often forget that I am pregnant until I look at my big tummy (which as they say it will be, is bigger than it was at this stage with A). It has been like night and day. I have been craving greasy foods... especially Mexican. I am very happy to say that the kid's room is almost finished... and super cute. I will post pictures as soon as I am back at home and have my camera port.

So that is the most recent news. Anastasia and Leia are best friends now that they have more time together in the new house. Leia spent the night in Anastasia's bed (a glorified mattress on the floor) the other night and Anastasia loves reading her books to Leia. The other day I was in the kitchen and heard Leia growl really loudly from Anastasia's room and I freaked out thinking Anastasia was torturing her and getting bitten for it. If anyone knows Leia, she growls about everything... when playing, when getting pet, when happy as a clam and like a normal dog- as a warning. I ran in to find Anastasia giggling and throwing toys for Leia to fetch. Then Leia would growl as Anastasia would take them back to throw. It was so hilarious watching them and they did this all day yesterday. So cute.

the Pioneer life

I have been without running water and internet for nearly two weeks! Yikes! The toilet finally broke so Anastasia and I are back at my parents until Nick fixes things. I had a nice shower, read my overflowing emails and tried to catch up on my favorite blogs... but now I must sleep. I feel like a pioneer who fell into the future. I love the future!

Oh, and I wanted to officially announce to blogland that I am pregnant again! Hooray! More on that soon....

Little Update

For those who didn't read it first at Nick's blog, we closed on our house yesterday! Hooray! It has been a long time coming... and now we are officially homeowners!!! We have been working non-stop thus far... I am currently covered in paint and waiting for Nick to finish his shower.

I had to share a few of my favorite things: My new house, its front porch, and the bird laying on her eggs outside our bedroom window!!! What a nice little surprise. I also have to say I love Clorox Green Works products (they smell good without any yucky chemicals) and Sherwin Williams Harmony Paint (again chemical free). I usually get lots of headaches when I clean or paint, and I didn't! These things are better than the normal stuff you buy with bleach and ammonia, etc... which makes me wonder... why aren't all cleaning products green?

P.S.-My camera is officially broken. Which means no pictures until I get a new one (maybe this weekend?) Be glad I didn't disgust you with pictures of the bathroom Nick is ripping apart! I have never seen anything so gross!!!

Resourceful Mom: Mother's Day Ideas

So I wanted to start doing a "resourceful mom" section of my blog once a week... or however often I am inspired. Some might call me cheap, thrifty, crunchy or just plain Hippie... but I call it being resourceful! So I will offer ideas (and hopefully get even more ideas) for creative, greener, and healthier living on a budget. Let me know what you think.

I decided to start with ideas for mothers day. I always struggle to find the perfect gift for my mom who has too much already. She has at least 8 bars of soap, 2 gallons of bubble bath and smelly lotions, drawers of pretty candles, etc. So I try to find her items that are useful, unique, special and crafty. These ideas could be for your mom, step mom, aunt, cousin or a friend who just needs a reminder that she is an excellent mom. :) I also tried to pick things kids can help with as well.


For Anyone:

Sachets. Sew a little pillow stuffed with lavender or something else nice smelling. You can even make them refillable to be tossed in the dryer in place of a dryer sheet or buy a small organza bag and fill with some store-bought or homemade potpourri.

Family Fun has a really cute pattern for kids to make beauty masks... but you could easily sew one up as well and it is still incredibly thoughtful. I am going to make me one for mothers day! Family Fun also has a whole list of kid-friendly mothers day crafts to check out.

Tissue cozies are always a nice and useful gift. Michael's has cute decorative tissue packs for $1 each or check the trial section of department stores.

These mother/daughter Lip Conditioners are so great! You have to check out all her adorable lip conditioner flavors. My favorite is the mom-to-be ice cream and pickles! I have to try it... just out of pure curiosity! Burt's Bees makes some really nice lotions and hand creams in trial sizes (perfect for a purse) and can be found at most department and drug stores!

Here is a Youtube video on making a flower arrangement in a teacup! You can generally find a teacup at a thrift store or antique shop for less than $10. You could pair it with a bag/box of tea, some local honey and some homemade bath tea. You could have kids help by picking the flowers, arranging, picking out the perfect cup, mixing bath tea ingredients.

If you have basic embroidery skills you can have your child draw on a tea towel or napkin with an erasable fabric pen. Embroider over their design in their specified colors for lasting artwork.

Framing some of your child's art is always special or have them paint/decorate a frame and put their picture in it.

Buy some reusable napkins and have kids decorate a cut-up paper towel or toilet paper roll, or glue buttons/beads onto ribbon and sew/glue gun the end for some creative napkin holders.

With even the most basic quilting skills, these quilted coasters at the purl bee would be a lovely gift. Add some lavender, rose petals or cloves to the inside that will release the scent when you set a hot mug on top.

Thrift stores generally have pretty vases/jars for sale and adding kid-picked wildflowers make a perfect gift!

For the Gardener:

Martha Stewart's Gardener's Apron is a very easy sewing craft that requires a minimal amount of fabric.


This gardening bucket requires more effort in the sewing department but is well worth it. I made it last year and it turned out great! I didn't do it with the embroidery though.

A no-sew project could be these natural plant markers (pictured right) also from Martha Stewart. You could have older kids paint them, make baby fingerprint flowers. With a big enough rock you could do an entire hand as a garden decoration. The hard part would be to find a kid-friendly, weather resistant paint.


Last year I painted some of my mom's pots for her plants and made pictures out of Anastasia's hand and finger prints and added nature quotes. Add a nice sunny perennial and you have a perfect gift!


Kids could sculpt little things out of polymer clay and glue to a stake or Popsicle stick to add to a potted plant or pair with painted rocks, and seeds.


For the least crafty individual, you could fill an already decorated flower pot with gardening tools and add some seed packets and a homemade, store-bought or kid-crafted card.

Gardening tools and seeds can be found cheaply at dollar stores, department stores and craft stores.

Handmade Gift Wrap Ideas

Sew a simple draw-string bag
Wrap the gift in a towel tied at the corners with a pretty ribbon
Put groups of items in a basket or have kids decorate a paper bag
Use an paper bag with hand prints or have a young child walk across it with inked feet for a special touch.

It took me forever to compile all these, hopefully this will make it easier for others to find that perfect gift! Let me know of any other great ideas you might have!

Hot Chocolate in April

It is Sunday and I am enjoying a cup of hot chocolate as I write this little update. We spent the morning and early afternoon in old town Alexandria. We enjoyed walking around to all the boutiques and upscale furniture stores... and of course my favorite kiddie store, "Why Not?" Would you believe I already started planning out my Christmas gifts? We also stopped at Whole Foods to stock up on inexpensive, organic and gourmet foods. This is the one thing I miss the most about Glover Park... living around the corner from a Whole Foods Market. The weirdest thing is, their organic food and local produce is less expensive than what I pay at Giant or Bloom! I also picked up some of their delightful cannolis and the cashier asked me what cannolis taste like. I don't know? They taste like cannolis silly.

Despite all the chaos of the week and the week to come, I was able to make my Emmaline Apron. I recieved the pattern Tuesday, cut and began sewing Wednsday and finished it up on Thursday. I love it! It will match my new house and will be good to clean in once we get the key!!
I don't really know what this photo is all about... but it makes me die laughing when I see it.
Here we are celebrating Earth Day with a little nature walk. We picked up rocks, blew some dandilions seeds about (and Anastasia kissed a dandilion) and learned about sticky balls that stick to your clothes! Speaking of Earth Day, did anyone else get really mad at Walmarts stupid earth-friendly commercials? They basically tell you how great it would be to buy Silk soy milk, Sun Chips, and organic cotton pants at Walmart because those products help the environment (and they really do). The thing that gets me is all the waste that Walmart and their products puts out every day, and the gas/emissions to ship them, and the chemicals they use to preserve them. Not to mention that 98% of their products are designed to break or go out of style within a year so you have to toss the old one and buy a new one. On top of that, the commercials do not even speak of what Walmart itself does to better our world or environment except to sell cheap crap to people while leaving the mom and pop out on the street. I guess the point is that Walmart out of the kindness of its heart to our earth, provides us with organic stuff in order to put more money in its pocket. Its nice to know that Sam cares about us and the world our kids have to live in.

I have also been spending the small amount of free time I have discovering new blogs and some I just HAVE to share. Like Softies Central. I think when I have a craft room and a life of my own, I will make some little softies... and a little world for them. All for Anastasia of course. Not because I am addicted to cute and crafty things great and small. ;)

I don't know when I will have a chance to post again with a busy week ahead of us, but until then, I hope everybody has a great week!

"Gray Rainy Day... Down in the Mud For Us...."

So today was "one of those days." I try not to give this title to any day to early, because I feel labeling a day automatically condemns it. So when I woke up to an unhappy tummy and a sink of dirty dishes and headed out the door into the rain, I assumed it was an okay day for running my errands. At Borders I ran in to get some coffee... and ran into an old acquaintance that I purposefully avoid at all costs. I tried to turn around and run, but was definitely not fast enough (and far from being sneaky enough.) Then after purchasing my iced coffee, adding my milk and hint of sugar, I set it on the Jeep while I put Anastasia in the car seat. I didn't think about the coffee again until I was heading into Target wondering where my coffee went. It must have gone SPLAT right off the Jeep. Still, I was not having a bad day... just a few unfortunate events.

All went well at Target. Anastasia played with my cell phone and ended up dropping it in the bottom of the cart while I was checking out and I made a mental note to grab it when I loaded the bags into the car. Well I remembered to grab it when I was in the back corner of Michael's. Ugh. So I ran to the check out and ran to the Jeep and sped back to Target praying for my cell phone. The cart-guy who is very friendly and entertains Anastasia to no end had thankfully not brought the carts in yet!!! there it was in the bottom of the cart. So once I grabbed it, and got back in the Jeep it started pouring. It was one of those moments that it seemed God was holding off the rain until I got my cell phone. phew. By the time I got home late in the afternoon, the dishes were amazingly still there. Anastasia had fallen asleep so I tried to lay her in the crib where she woke up. As I put my groceries away on the tiny bit of shelf space I have (thanks to my dad's obsession with Sam's club) a huge pile of cans fell off the shelf, into the basket of clothes (that I hope were dirty) tipping all the clothes onto the floor. What a mess!!!

Two hours later I finally finished washing every last dish and took out all the collecting bags of trash. I then tried finishing up this felt book I was sewing for Anastasia's church bag (which worked brilliantly mind you) and broke 2 needles trying to make button holes!!! I was so mad I just went and made dinner. After dinner my day vastly improved. Anastasia took a little cat nap and was in a good mood, and we all went to Joann's where I found my needles, some fabric for my apron (I got my pattern today!!!) and some pink felt.

All was not lost... but it was still one of those days. I was so happy to find Anastasia loves dried fruit and she ate her green beans (and even some tomatoes and zucchini) at dinner. Getting her to eat healthy things always makes me happy! I love it when people say, "I can't believe your daughter eats that!!" I am always so proud. But she goes through phases so one day she might eat leafy greens, bananas and oatmeal, and the next day she just wants bread. I am also so happy to have my apron pattern!!! Hopefully between all the packing this week, I can finish it (and the other 5 projects and 3 books I am reading). *sigh*

Oh, I also updated all "My favorites"... I added Ben and Anna (who are in Italy and haven't really posted much lately, though I am dying to see pictures of Gravagna and their beautiful kiddies!!!) and Annie (Ben's sister whose blog I am addicted to even though I have never met her... and who posts tons of pictures of her adorable baby girl!) :) and I added links to Montessori by Hand (a fellow crafter/Montessori teacher who has really lovely patterns... especially the Emmaline apron) and lastly I added the Crafty Crow (the most awesome kids craft site EVER!!!). So check 'em out and let me know if you are a stalker with an awesome blog for me to add!