All dressed up

Every once in a while, we clean up good!

Pickin' and Grinnin'

(Ignore the laundry baskets in the background.  We'll get around to that when the strumming is done!)

Finally done with orange....

I finally finished painting the kitchen orange.  It took a lot more coats than I had hoped, because the stenciling at the top was very hard to cover.  But it is done, and I am thrilled.  Now I need to get artwork for the little bit of wall next to Lydia.

The boys made these jellyfish back in August at our friends' house, and they have been on display in the kitchen  ever since.  I think I will move them to the hall bathroom (which actually has an underwater theme) but for now, they are still in the kitchen.  And yes, I realize that the snowman picture looks a bit odd on orange, but I really don't much care.  This summer, I hope to paint the cabinets white, but that will wait until warmer weather for sure!

...And a Happy New Year

Christmas morning at my parents'.

Well, it's 2011.  Whew.  No, I didn't stay up til midnight.  I honestly am not sure when the last time I rang in the new year at midnight was!  But it's still 2011 in the morning, so I'm fine with that.  We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and are trying to get our house back together from the presents/laundry explosion that always occurs when we get back home.  I also am putting the finishing touches on the orange in the kitchen (a long project, I know).  And I've been busy sewing for a big custom order of doll sleeping bags.  Right now I hear zhu zhu pets whirring around my kitchen, and Lydia is calling "me too" to be included in something.  Nathaniel has been off for two weeks, and that has been so nice.  It will be hard to get back to normal this week, especially since he's heading to Canada for a couple of days. 

And because everyone loves cutie pictures:



My beautiful niece on Christmas morning




I don't know why they are both covering their mouths!




I just love babies!




The big boys hanging out




Just look at those curls!




Loving on Mickey Mouse

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and here's hoping for a blessed new year for all!

Nicki's Diapers: Babysitters and Cloth Diapers

I have a guest post at Nicki's Diapers: Babysitters and Cloth Diapers: "When I first started cloth diapering my daughter over a year ago, I thought that I might be the only person willing to change her diapers. ..."

'Tis the Season...

It's been busy around here.  I've been finishing up a few gifts that I'm making for Christmas.  The kids are helping me bake cookies.  They love wearing the aprons Mamaw made.  Lydia wore hers for days straight, actually.  It is really cute; it reminds me of an old-fashioned pinafore.  Nathaniel is off until the new year, so we've been enjoying his company.  Unfortunately, he's had to spend quite a bit of time dealing with our heater.  It's broken.  We hope the repairmen call back tomorrow to set up the appointment to fix it.  In the meantime, we do have heat, but it's not functioning right and will cost a lot more on our electric bill.  All of this is pretty minor, though, when I've been thinking about a dear friend whose son has a heart condition.  It's one of those things that you wish you could just fix for them.  So we're just hoping and praying that his heart and lungs don't get any worse.  

Ranch Potato Salad

This is so yummy!  My parents have been talking about this different potato salad that they get at the lake, made with bacon and sour cream and some ranch flavors instead of mayo.  Well, I decided to try and make some, and it was a huge hit with Nathaniel and me.  Here's what I did:
6-8 pieces of bacon, cooked and diced
4 baked potatoes, cubed (I took about 1/2 of the skins off, but left half on)
1/2 c cheddar cheese (plus another 1/2 c, optional)
1 recipe of my garlic ranch dressing (see http://barefootkentuckymama.blogspot.com/2010/07/garlic-ranch-dressing.html)

Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart baking dish.  Now it is great just cold like that.  But then you can add the additional 1/2 c or so of cheese to the top and stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes.  And then it's really heavenly.