Barn Raisin'

On Saturday Chris invited all the local menfolk he could think of to come help him put a roof on the log cabin. They started on the back with large sheets of OSB then covered that with roof liner. Sounds simple enough but it took all day!

We set out a bit of a feast for lunch - you can see part of the party in the background. 

The boys had a blast with three little girls who came over to join in the fun. 

We were very grateful for the help!

My dad was out of town and it took 6 or 7 men to take his place. :)

In my best picture of the roof wrap, one of my brother-in-laws, who shall remain nameless, is topless, so you will have to settle for a picture (taken from the tree house) of our friendly neighbor instead. He is in the center of the picture, peeking over the ivy-covered wall. He likes to watch and chat and loan important tools at key moments. 

Steel Wool

The boys and I were in the mood to create some art last weekend. I had seen a cool new picture hanging in the bedroom of a friend of the boys', so I decided to recreate it. 

Our friend's picture was from Hobby Lobby, so I looked up a similar image on hobbylobby.com. I sketched it with a pencil first on a wooden board that I happened to have, then went over it with a paint pen. 

Chris had made a concoction of 0000 steel wool dissolved in vinegar for his own projects, and a few swipes of that made a cool finish.

 I told the boys to get scraps of wood from the fire pit for their own creations. I was expecting little pieces a few inches long. They each found monster boards. Caleb drew "Persons Diving in a Pool with Belly Buttons."  Their art is currently decorating the tree house!

Peas Porridge Hot

Today we found ourselves at the library for Story Hour once again.

This time, learning about owls. 

Crafty cousins. They got to use big pins to poke holes in their Owls' bellies. 

We have lots of friends at the library these days. So different than when we first moved here and Josiah was a baby and I told Chris, "I don't think those librarians even like to read!"  (That is my ridiculous form of an insult.)

Anyways, those days are over and we are now good buddies with the librarians.

 

That is an owl lantern, if it is not perfectly obvious, with the form of a zebra in pin pricks on its belly. Caleb takes crafting so seriously, we are usually some of the last people left working. Jenn works hard on Lydia's craft too, so we are in good company. Ha!

Yesterday at Moms4Moms we learned that it is high time to have your peas in the ground. Who knew?  Apparently you are supposed to plant them on Valentine's Day, even if you have to dig through the snow to do so. Well.  You didn't have to tell Caleb and me that twice, especially on a warm(ish) day like today!  And especially when we had a pair of pea packets in our pantry.

Caleb said, "You can't show people these pictures!  You can see my...chest!  And...armpits!"

My mother says that you are not allowed to be friends with your children until they are adults, but I have to admit, for now at least, Caleb and I might just be BFF's. 

We are trying a new method of weed control this year. The idea is to put cardboard between the rows of veggies and then put some sort of mulch over that and just like that, all your trials and tribulations are over. On the weed front anyways. I'll keep you posted. 

Fashion Show

My faithful readers may remember the time that I took a 

wonky, striped, hand-me-down dress 

and turned it into a thing of beauty. 

That was quite possibly my favorite post ever. 

I'm sorry to say that this post shall not surpass the other in terms of humor, 

but I hope it will still be a jolly good time.

Once again, I found myself in possession of some cast-off clothes, destined for the Give-Away bin.

 They were all too short.

 The maxi dresses had shrunk up.

 The sundresses were much too skimpy for a motherly mother of three.

Even the p.j. pants were too short.

I decided to turn to Pinterest for some P-inspiration, 

found some fun ideas,

then used my trusty sewing machine to whip up some new creations.

(And I used Jennifer's #1 sewing tip for great speed -

Use white thread for every project and then color it with a Sharpie when necessary. 

Ha!)

So here we go.  

An inspiration photo...

Jennifer was also my photographer.  

Please note that she was nursing while trying to take some of these pictures with her left hand.

I tried to get Jenny to help me make me a cool floppy hat like the girl in the picture,

but she was all excited about her girls' naptime that was coming up,

and so she was doing a bit of rushing.

~

I really wore this skirt to the grocery store afterwards - 

most of these outfits will probably never actually see the light of day!

~

Now this was a fun one to photograph.   

We crack ourselves up sometimes.

~

I asked for some pink lipstick to look like this girl and Jennifer gave me a pink Crayola marker -

 it worked surprisingly well.  

Ha!

~

Can I just say that modeling is not my forte.

I was hoping Heather would come help do half of these, 

but it somehow never worked out.

~

Here's one I was really needing Heather to model.

Eleonora's getting in on the fun with a little fake yawn.

~

And for the grand finale,

my true favorite, 

which didn't even have an inspiration photo.

The End

High Chair

The boys wore out our high chair's tray, 

and I was excited to re-do it for our baby girl.

 I took it to camp this summer and got lots of free sanding help from staff and campers who finished their crafts early.  

 At the time, Eleonora was not yet ready for high chairs.

So I painted it pink and sprayed a clear coat on it.

So far, it looks great and it's holding up just fine.

Eleonora Through the Ages