Dining Room Pinterest Project

Yes, I know.  I obviously spend far too much of my time on Pinterest.  Some people read; I Pinterest.  Others watch porn; I scroll through pages and pages of household ideas.  Okay.  It's housewife porn.  Don't judge.

Here's my most recent creation for the dining room: fabric in embroidery hoops.  It was really inexpensive, and I think it is a smashing success (besides the one hoop the cat chewed to bits, not pictured, of course).  The yarn wreath with the mustaches on it was a little more expensive and a lot more time consuming, but these wreaths are still an easy project.

I really enjoy doing all the projects that strike my fancy as I scroll through Pinterest.  They aren't always successful, especially some of the recipes, but I always learn something. 

Yard Update

The arrival of our chickens is quickly approaching.  I drive to Palmer to get them this week, and I can hardly wait!  Colby and the boys have done such a great job on the coop and run, and it is now about 95% complete; all that's missing is the siding.

Since the coop and run takes up so much of the garden, our plan for this weekend is to rent a sod cutter to cut away some sod (duh) to make the garden area bigger.  We are going to try a few new things in our garden this year: potatoes planted in towers and corn planted in the dog run.  We are also hanging old rain gutters on one side of the chicken run.  In the rain gutters we will plant spinach, lettuce, and radishes.  Another space saver for our small urban garden. 

I've already got some flowers planted, and the girls went crazy planting seeds in any container they could find.  We'll see what decides to sprout. 

A robin has decided to try its hand at making a nest on our deck.  It's a really interesting process, but I also think it's a pretty risky venture.  Time will tell.

The catnip is really small right now, but it always ends up taking over the whole herb garden.  The girls have already started giving catnip to the cats, and they love it like crazy.

I planted some more lavender because it seemed to flourish despite last year's heat and a good trampling by the siding installers. 

Oh, and look at the sweet little ducklings our neighbors have...

Yep.  We're officially a street of urban farmers.  And I love it!

Spring Concert 2013

In an effort to be a well-rounded boy, Brody chose to play the viola this year in the orchestra and sing in the choir.  While being a well-rounded kid is great, it makes for a lot of running around from here to there, especially with our large Vescapades clan.  Luckily, our elementary school still offers lots of great extracurricular activities, and it only takes me about five minutes to get there.  I don't need any convincing that if public schools are able to offer affordable (and free) programs for kids, kids can be very successful and have a ton of fun.  Lincoln has amazing opportunities for its elementary school kids, and I am very grateful for that.

Moving on to my handsome boy and his viola...

I know.  He's a lady killer.  He gets his good looks from these two:

 

Spring Sports, Nebraska Style

Spring in Nebraska, and Nebraska weather in general, can be tricky sometimes.  When two of the kids decided they wanted to play Spring sports I was excited.  I hate summer sports, mostly because I am a princess and can't tolerate the heat.  One would think that having the kids play Spring sports would be a safe bet.

And one would have thought wrong.

We've already had snow cancellations for both soccer and football.  The fields are sopped from rain falling on top of melted snow.  And the sun? I think I may have forgotten what the sun looks like.  I have been so ravenously hungry lately, and I honestly believe it is my body thinking it needs to store up food for winter.  Seriously, I need some sun.  Sixty degrees wouldn't be so bad, either.

Despite the weather, the games must go on as best they can.  Evelyn is playing soccer for the first time.  Colby is coaching soccer for the first time.  I honestly thought Evelyn wouldn't want to play and that she would want to chill out on the sidelines and watch the other girls run.  She proved me wrong yet again.  All six of the girls on the team are full of excitement and energy, which makes watching and coaching them such a joy.

Brody is playing organized flag football for the first time.  Colby is also coaching Brody's team.  Colby coached Dade's flag football team five years ago, but Dade never really got into sports.  Brody loves, loves, loves to play backyard football with the neighborhood boys, but he has never played on an organized team before.  Like his mama, he doesn't like to play games if there is a chance he won't win.  

Colby has a great time coaching the boys.  He always worries that parents will be upset at how he coaches or mad that they lose games, but I know that he spends so much time drawing up plays and thinking of practice drills.  Any coach that devotes this much time to a team is a great coach!  

Here are a few photos from Brody's most recent game.  His team lost, but they had a great time.  Mama and the sisters had a lovely time cheering on the team. 

Here's to hoping that Spring weather shows up for Spring sports season.  Either way, I guess we'll keep braving the elements to cheer on our teams.

Just One More Little Girl Scout Thing...

In my previous Girl Scout update, I forgot to mention that my Brownie troop collected money through a penny drive, and they used their money to buy some supplies for the after school programs at the elementary school.  Here are some of the girls with the after school program coordinator, Dayna:

The girls got to vote on where their money would go, and they chose the after school program.  Just one more way for them to see themselves as an important part of our neighborhood community.

Birthday #34

The world has now been graced with my presence for a whopping 34 years.  Wow.  :-)

On my big day, I had lunch with a few friends; one friend I've had for over 10 years and one friend I've only made in the last year.  It really made me think about all the changes of the last 10 years and what brought me to where I am today.  Again, wow.

One thing that never changes, no matter how many birthdays I have, is the love I get from this guy (even if he can never look decent in a photo!):

While my family has grown a lot in the last 10 years, within the next 10 years they will all be in high school or college.  Hell, I could be a grandma in the next 10 years.  Good.god.

We enjoyed a birthday supper at Lazlo's.  Yum Yum! 

So here's to another 34 years!  For what has been, thank you. To what will be, yes.

Happy Easter 2013!

For me, Easter signifies the official beginning of Spring.  Oh, how I love Spring in Nebraska.  It's a break from winter's harsh windchill.  It's time to plant a garden.  It's time to get ready for the chickens!!

The coop is about half built.as I type this.  Colby has done a great job of letting the kids help out with the coop.  He even let Brody use the drill.

So, before I give the update on our Easter festivities, I want to show you want the yard looked like before the coop...

I got an egg basket...

And we got some really cool old stuff for our coop from a family farm, including these nests:

Okay, now on to our Easter festivities!!  The Easter Bunny brought the kids each a little bunny habitat in a jar along with another goody.  Dade was not hip to having his photo taken so early in the morning, so I just got photos of the littler three.

We did get some family photos outside in the front yard before we headed to my parents' house:

And, of course, Grandma had Easter eggs hidden for the kids.  And, of course, they were filled with candy!

Happy Spring from the Cornhusker state! Let's just hope that the Spring weather sticks around and that Old Man Winter has retired until November.