camping, sorta (and flooring info, and tooth-loosingness)

(I am at Panera. We still can’t find anyone to provide us with phone or internet service. And my cell phone doesn’t work out there, either!)
Well, we’re officially camping outside of our new house. That is, if you call sleeping in a camper “camping.” My in-laws, who were here all last week while the kids [...]

Read Full Post »

coolest thing ever

Small victories are keeping me going right now. Here’s one I had to share with you:
You can go to this website to find out how old your kitchen/home appliance is. Enter the brand, model number, and serial number, and VOILA, out comes a date. (Our dishwasher was manufactured the 14th week of 1996 or 2006. [...]

Read Full Post »

house update

Too many balls in the air!

All blue carpet and icky padding has been removed from the house, save the bits glued down to the concrete floor (which will get removed soon).
Baseboards have been removed from two bedrooms
Wall scrubbing has commenced
One bedroom ceiling has been painted
Kitchen vent fan installed
Bathroom vent fan work has begun
Laundry room reno [...]

Read Full Post »

book life

We are housesitting for some friends (M & J) who had their first baby (C) nearly a year ago. I love looking at C’s bookshelf in her room as I nurse Asher. It’s such a first child bookshelf. The books are crisp and new-smelling. At least half the books have unturned pages with still-sharp corners [...]

Read Full Post »

Okay. I Get It.

It took three years away from this area for me to realize that yes, indeed, there *is* a Michigan accent. Not just that, but a specific regional dialect in West Michigan.
I may even be ready to admit that I have a little bit of one.
I mean, I knew it before, but I always thought of [...]

Read Full Post »

trash

In calling around for residential weekly trash pickup rates, it astounds me how little difference there is in the cost of the largest curb container vs. the smallest. After calling three waste management businesses, the average difference in the quarterly rate between the 95 gallon container and the 32 gallon container is only a few [...]

Read Full Post »

Barn House + Studio

This barn house? Is perfection. I love it. Check out the whole set.

Read Full Post »

limbo

We’re here! And, we own a house again! Very exciting stuff.
We’re sleeping at M & J’s while they are on vacation. After living for weeks in a semi-packed house in various states of disarray, living in someone else’s completely maintained, furnished, and un-packed-up house is like a little vacation of its own.
Jason gets started ripping [...]

Read Full Post »

One Down, One Left

Aren’t the kids so cute? That’s Maya and Elly with the neighbor kids. They totally lined up that way all by themselves, and the neighbor mom thought to snap a pic with her cell phone. I love it.
Tonight was our first of two planned move nights. With God’s grace, much more work was accomplished than [...]

Read Full Post »

Succession Planting

Good article on succession planting over at The Cutting Edge (the e-newsletter put out by organic seed company Seeds of Change).
As we look forward to a mid-summer move (next week!), we know that things will be a little nuts with renovations, unpacking, and settling in. But we hope to try some easy late summer plantings, [...]

Read Full Post »