Dear Summer, I Love You

Two weeks into summer and we have already sipped homemade lemonade from stripey straws, developed tan lines, run in the sprinkler, eaten Popsicles for brunch, run around in our bare feet, been caught with Watermelon juice dripping off our chins, stayed up past our bedtimes, lounged by the pool and have even caught a few lightning bugs. What have you all been up to? I hope you are loving summer too!

Hibernating

I have been hibernating this winter and in so doing have been neglecting this poor blog. Know that we are still alive and still anxiously awaiting spring! I am a little bummed because March has been a major let down so far but I am still so happy February is OVER! Anyway, over the past month or so I have been trying to keep my mind off the weather with several projects including a homemade chambray skirt (I'll post pictures when the weather is actually warm enough to wear it), refinishing my kitchen table, celebrating Jared's 33rd birthday, making lots of strawberry jam (I know it's a little early but strawberries were on sale for 79 cents a quart!) and watching Caroline grow like a weed. Speaking of the littlest one, she has finally sprouted some hair on top and her newest trick is sitting up. We're hoping the rain will stop and the mercury will rise so we can get outside and play sooner rather than later. Seriously, spring is welcome anytime now!

(Caroline 8 months)

In Good Company

Two more weeks until my due date-so I'm almost there! I seem to have forgotten how exhausting the last month of pregnancy can be! Seriously. I sort of want to sit down and put my feet up and/or take a nap all of the time. However, I am in good company because my good friend Nicole is due exactly three weeks after me and and is also having a girl!

(Nicole looks cute and stylish, as always, but you'll have to excuse my tired/sweaty/disheveled look. I had come straight from photographing an outdoor wedding on a very hot and muggy evening.)

ROY G. BIV (In Cake Form)

The Mister's birthday is this week but due to a very full calendar, we decided to celebrate with family over the weekend. I made a rainbow cake which ended up being a big hit with the adults and the kids. When I said I brought a rainbow cake, everyone assumed in was a "Funfetti" cake and so were pleasantly surprised when we cut into it to reveal 8 layers of food coloring over dose!

I was sort of guessing as I went along and it seemed to turn out okay. Here is how I did it, for those of you who are curious: I used two white cake mixes and made them according to the package directions. Once the cake mix was made, I put one heaping cup full of batter into a bowl and added the appropriate food coloring. (It is important to measure the batter so all the layers end up being the same thickness. Also, I used Wilton's gel food coloring you find in the cake decorating section at Michael's. I think it is more concentrated than the liquid kind.) Since I only have two round cake pans, I baked two colors at a time, 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and then washed out the pans and reused them. I was totally guessing with the amount of batter for each layer and I ended up with one cup left over. Hence the pink layer in my Roy G. Biv cake. I frosted the cake with Swiss Buttercream. It's not as sweet as regular buttercream and I think it is easier to work with. You can find a recipe for it here. (Note: I used the recipe for a 9 inch cake and I had enough frosting for the whole thing. However, I only used a scant amount between each layer. If you like a lot of frosting, you might consider doubling the frosting recipe.)
Have fun!

(Inspiration for the rainbow cake from here.)

Books

So far I'm doing really well with my resolution to read more books. I'm nearly finished with the top two in the picture and I have a small stack of others waiting in the wings. In the past, finding/making the time to read was somewhat problematic. However, since Jared is gone late studying most nights, I have a couple of hours to myself after the boys go to bed and I now find myself looking forward to cozying up with my cup of hot chocolate and a good book!

It's Autumn Time

We have been having the most beautiful fall weather here this week. Pretty sunny skies, warm temperatures and beautiful foliage. (This is a very welcome change after the string of cruddy, winter-like weather we were having last week.) Hooray for fall! And Indian corn. And colorful leaves falling all around. Oh, and glittery pumpkins.

Apple Picking

I went apple picking with the boys at a local orchard today. I think Spencer ate an apple that was roughly half the size of his head. No joke. But I can't blame him. Fresh picked apples are absolutely delicious and, as I discovered today, very pretty to look at as well.

Family Reunion

What happens when two grandparents, six of their children plus their six spouses and 20+ grandchildren descend on a small farm in Marietta, Ohio? Craziness ensues. Recently, Jared and I had the pleasure of attending a three-day family reunion with his parents, siblings, spouses and many of our nieces and nephews. The weekend's non-stop events included friendly competitions of skill and wit, four wheeling, scavenger hunting, popsicle eating, swimming, earth-oven-pizza-cooking, water-balloon throwing, barrel rolling (with people inside), homemade icecream making and of course lots of laughing. It's a wonder someone wasn't injured throughout the course of events but surprisingly everyone left in one piece- healthy, happy and looking forward to the next reunion.

(Jared showing off on his new toy.)

(My brave sister-in-law getting ready to roll down the hill.)

(Another brave soul, my 10 year old neice, getting ready to roll.)

(Grandpa

(My niece dodging a water balloon.)






(Prepping the Earth oven.)


(Mitchell's first sparkler.)




THE END.

Flea Market Weekend

Last weekend my friend Nicole introduced me to some new Marietta favorites: The River City Farmer's Market which was full of fresh flowers, crafts, baked goods and lots of fresh, local produce and Rinks, an old dept store turned flea market. I snagged these cute owl salt and pepper shakers at Rinks and since I was in the thrifting mood, I decided to take the boys up the highway to an outdoor flea market called Valley View Trade Days. The Trade Days had a little bit of everything from antique furniture and farm stuff to toy cars, guns and even puppies for sale. The boys loved the dealer with the metal Tonka trucks and the booth with a dune buggy and a mini four wheeler. In fact, they loved it so much that Spencer had a total melt down when it was time to take him off. Needless to say, we left shortly after but not before I snagged an old mirror that will be perfect for a chalkboard project I've had in mind for awhile. Score! I do love me some good flea market shopping.

Stuck in the Middle

Right now I'm between...

houses (we're renting)
hairstyles (trying to grow my hair out-argh!)
seasons (is it fall yet?)
kids (taking a little break from the baby having)
careers (Jared says he's in his new career.
I say, until he's making money at it, we're between.)

Too many betweens. Wishing I were on one side or the other, especially in the hairstyle dept. Seriously, of all the betweens, I think growing my hair out is currently the most grueling.

Flowers

I love that the house we are renting has a variety of flowers that are perfect for cut arrangements. Fresh flowers make for one happy chica.

I Have No Business Being on the Road

As I mentioned in my previous post, I hit a parked car going about 30-40 mph on Thursday night. I'm not sure what happened. I was in full auto pilot, watching the green light ahead of me, but NOT paying attention to the four cars in front of it that weren't moving. (Oops!) Everyone involved was physically okay, the only damage to me was to my ego. (Who hits a parked car in broad day light? I wasn't even talking on the phone. Just driving along and BOOM!) However, since I hit the girl in front of me going so fast, she hit the car in front of her, who then hit the car in front of him, who then hit the car in front of him! It was a complete domino and in the end there were three other cars involved. It was a mess and I'm glad it's over. The funny thing is, this is the first car I've ever owned that has been manufactured in the current decade and I've had to file not one but TWO insurance claims within the past month. I'm thinking I should stink to vehicles from the late 80s to mid-90s...I have had much better luck with those.

Crazy with a Capital "C"

(This post might get sort of long. If you have a short attention span, here is the abreviated version: we moved, I've basically been driving all over the state of Ohio while simulteaneously negotiating a real estate contract and it's making me grumpy. If you want to stop here, you've got the main idea.)

The move went well. I actually really liked the surprise element: no big build up, no long goodbyes and no time to worry about how in the world I was going to pack up all our belongings. It was nice. We just put our stuff on the truck and left. We arrived in Marietta at about midnight Wednesday and crashed on the floor of the home we are now renting. I spent Thursday unpacking with Spencer, while Jared and Mitch drove the moving truck back to Columbus. Here is the rundown of the past week. Stay with me if you can, this gets a little crazy:
Wednesday: We packed up the house in Columbus and drove to Marietta
Thursday and Friday were both spent in Marietta
Friday night: I drove back to Columbus
Saturday: I spent the entire day shooting a wedding in Columbus
Saturday night: I drove back to Marietta
Sunday: I went to church and took a much needed nap
Monday: I woke up at 2:00 AM to drive to Cincinnati for a dental seminar (note: Cincinnati is 4 hours away and you have to drive through Columbus to get to it.)
Monday night: Drove back from Cincinnati, through Columbus, arrived in Marietta and had a minor nervous breakdown.
It didn't help that all during this time, we were trying to negotiate the sale of our house with no internet access or fax machine- very tricky. But the good news is our house is finally in contract and today I didn't have to drive anywhere! I'm enjoying a little break from my driving tour of the state of Ohio but don't worry, it starts up again this weekend when we head up to Lake Erie to visit my family for Memorial Day! More on our house and our new town in another post...

Surprise!

We're moving. Today. We're moving, like, right now. Consider yourselves in the know because even I didn't know we were moving until about 30 minutes ago when Jared said he was leaving to go pick up the moving truck. We have both been working in Marietta (our new city) for several weeks, sleeping at the home of family members who already live there and driving back and forth. Although we found a house to rent and it will be nice to have one home base instead of two, I'm still feeling anxious about the spontaneity of the decision. Aren't moving days supposed to be more methodical or at the very least, planned? Oh well, no time to think about that now. I have to go start throwing stuff in boxes or something. Ready or not Marietta, here we come!

Adios Amigos

I'm off to New Mexico to have an "enchanting" weekend with some of my favorite girl friends. See you next week!

Weekend Project

I have been somewhat lacking in the motivation/inspiration department. Hence the reason for my scarce appearance in the blogging world. Lately, I just haven't been feeling so much "hot diggity!"as I have "ho-hum" if you know what I mean. However, I'm happy to report that things are beginning to look up! The first day of spring is this Friday so I thought I'd celebrate early with a little spring project. I finally got my hands on some chalkboard paint and decided that my first project would be these windowsill spice pots. I'm hoping they will actually grow, if not, at least I have some cute containers to admire in my kitchen. :)

Photo Wall Inspiration

I'm thinking about tackling number 27 (create a family photo wall) on my 28 Things list. I think I want an eclectic wall like the one above with a variety of frame sizes and colors. I also like the idea of adding some art in among the pictures. Thoughts?

(via Real Simple, Oct. 2008.)

Photo Booth Valentine

Remember the photo booth I blogged about awhile back? I got the great idea from my friend Stephanie to use it to make a Valentine for Jared. I had actually handwritten several different sentiments on the white paper but it wasn't really readable when the pics were developed so I ended up scanning it into Photoshop and added the text/shapes that way. I hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day!

Warm Thoughts

It has been really, really cold here lately but I'm trying to preoccupy myself with warm thoughts, this spinach dip , small sewing projects, Photoshop tutorials (I'm taking a class) and entertaining two very bored kiddos. How about you?

(P.S. I snagged the green/white, extra wide grosgrain ribbon at Pottery Barn of all places. Only $4 for 10 yards! There are some serious deals to be had this time of year. Perhaps the only redeemable thing about the month of January...)

Later Gators

I'm hopping on a plane to Philadelphia as we speak. One of my best friends from high school is getting married this weekend and I'm taking all the pictures! Hopefully I'll have some fun images to share when I get back. Have a good weekend everyone!