Sunday, April 30, 2006

Some people love shoes....

I love organizers. I heard about this "Apprentice" organizer on the internet late last night and I was at the store getting it this afternoon. We met some friends for lunch today and what do you know...there was a Staples store nearby. ;0)

Our school papers and books were spread all over the place. Some in the livingroom, the bookshelves, files, and drawers. Now they are all in one place!! It turns completely around and holds pens, pencils, twistables (fancy crayons) and scissors. The handles on the sides will allow me to move it from one room to the other, depending on where we want to work.




Organizer
Originally uploaded by pwinn.


Organizer
Originally uploaded by pwinn.





Here are some more pictures of our schoolroom. Most of the things in the first picture have been either moved or put into the new organizer.


School table
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Schoolroom
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Sunday Morning Breakfast


French Toast
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
Today seemed like a good day to make french toast for breakfast. Phillip spent all day at a Jazz Festival and got back very late so he is catching up on sleep this morning. I used Challah bread and topped it with real maple syrup, strawberries, and powdered sugar.

Here is the recipe:

Easy French Toast

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
5 1-inch thick slices French or Challah bread or 6 slices white sandwich bread

In a shallow bowl beat together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Dip bread into egg mixture, coating both sides. If using french or challah, let soak about 30 seconds each side.

In a skillet cook bread on both sides in a small amount of butter over medium heat until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup and powdered sugar.


Don't worry if you've already missed breakfast, this is yummy any time of day!

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Cleaning Schedules


Housekeeping box
Originally uploaded by pwinn.


Cleaning supplies
Originally uploaded by pwinn.


I have had a cleaning dilemma off and on for years. Should I pick a day and deep clean the whole house or should I spread it over several days or even clean one room a day. My house is usually tidy. (Don't hate me.) I'm talking about deep cleaning- dusting, organizing, vacuuming, scrubbing, mopping floors etc. My house isn't that large...about 1800 square feet so it shouldn't take that long, but it seems to take a good 6 hours. This often includes laundry too. I'm not even going to pretend I'm always caught up on laundry though. Both of my sisters, who have lived with me for months at a time read my blog and know about my laundry issues. :0)

Friday works nicely for me because it is a light school day, our weekends are more relaxing and I can wake up Monday morning and not have dust bunnies looking up at me!

But this Friday, we met some friends at a park which was fun so the cleaning didn't get done. Phillip went to an all-day jazz festival so I cleaned this evening but this wouldn't have worked if he had been home today. I guess there is a 3rd option....get a cleaning lady! ;0)

Any advice from you cleaning experts out there?

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Summer Meals

It is time to put away the fall/winter dishes and get out the summer ones. At least here in Texas anyways. It was 90F while I was out grocery shopping this afternoon! My freezer, fridge and pantry are nice and full. I have a master grocery list that I print out when I go shopping. It has everything that I ever buy and I check off the ones I happen to need that particular week based on my recipes.
We went to the Farmer's Market this morning. It was opening week and I was expecting to see tables full of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. It was disappointing to see green onions and that is about it. But I got to thinking, if I can't grow those things in my garden yet, they can't either! I did get some organic eggs and local honey. We had peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. :0) We'll go back in about a month and hopefully there will be a bigger selection.

Our local nature preserve was celebrating Arbor day today. Grace, Emily and Benjamin all got pony rides! Afterwards, Benjamin said he was a little scared but decided to be brave! They all had big smiles on their faces and waved to us in between petting the pony.

I worked on my menu last night and wrote down around 15 recipes that I plan on recycling through over the next few months. Here is the list. Please let me know if you would like any of the recipes.

-Sauteed vegetables and feta over pasta

-Mushroom Stroganoff

-Choose-a-flavor quiche

-Turkey burgers with cranberry sauce. Served on English muffins.

-Spinach salad with feta

-Southwest summer salad

-Orzo summer salad

-Broccoli salad

-Cucumber salad

-Spinach and strawberry salad

-Deviled New potatoes

-Assorted sandwiches including, egg salad, tomato and cucumber, turkey and swiss

As you can see, lots of salads, Phillip will most likely grill chicken breasts or turkey sausages to go along with them.

For Sunday dinner tomorrow we are having the turkey/cranberry burgers, corn on the cob, salad, cheese and crackers and a strawberry and blackberry crisp for dessert.

Peter Rabbit Dinner


DCP04901
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
Earlier in the week I decided to make a quiche. The spinach, green onions and parsley are from our garden. I must say that Peter Rabbit had very good taste! I added red pepper and swiss cheese to the quiche and it was so yummy I'm going to make another one this week.


Dinner
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Happy Arbor Day

Dear little tree that we plant today,
What will you be when we're old and grey?"

"The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse,
For robin and wren, an apartment house.
The dressing-room of the butterfly's ball,
The locust's and katydid's concert hall.
The schoolboy's ladder in pleasant June,
The schoolgirl's tent in the July noon.
And my leaves shall whisper them merrily
A tale of the children, who planted me."

Anonymous

Friday, April 21, 2006

Benjamin lost his first tooth!!


Tooth
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
I have one very clever boy. A few nighs ago Benjamin had to go to bed early for trying to lock the cat up in his dresser drawer (that wasn't the clever part..hehee) His bottom tooth has been loose for several months and the new tooth was already halfway up. He said it hurt to wiggle it and it would have to stay in forever. He really doesn't like going to bed early and came up with a way to get back up. He pulled his tooth out!!! We were all excited and got the tooth fairy candle out. Can you see his tooth in her little hand? Speaking of the tooth fairy...she had to make an unexpected trip to Target for a new lego set. We have a very nice toothfairy. She leaves a present for the very first tooth. ;0)

The next day, Benjamin pulled out his other loose tooth. Some things are just worth the pain. LOL


Fairy Candle
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Benjamin
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Our New Bathroom


Bathroom
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
It was well worth the wait for our new tile. I love it!! I took down the yellow wallpaper, painted everything white and got new lavender accessories. We have a few minor things still planned. Phillip is going to replace the faucet and I'm going to get a lavendar wreath for right above the hand towel rack and 2 small pictures for either side of the bath towel rack. I'm still getting used to having the toliet paper holder actually attached to the wall. It fell down 4 years ago and I didn't want to put it back up until I had painted. I should have known it would take me this long to get it painted. :0)


Towel rack
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Sink area
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Easter morning

We had a wonderful Easter morning. Grace and Emily wore their flowergirl dresses from last year. Benjamin wore a new pair of shorts and button up shirt.
Grace sang in the junior chior at church. She did a great job and didn't look nervous at all! The egg hunt was fun and it was a beautiful day. Last year was rainy and we had to have it indoors. We decided to go on a family Easter picnic instead of a big ham dinner. Remember Uncle Nathaniel's dessert plate?? Think that, times 3 days. We were sick of eating!! We did have ham sandwiches though. ;0)

We went to the evening church service and watched Narnia afterwards. It was a great Easter movie!



Grace
Originally uploaded by pwinn.


Emily
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Benjamin
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Cross
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Benjamin
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Grace
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Emily
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



G,E and B
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Uncle Nathaniel


Uncle Nathaniel
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
Last week, we went to a party to celebrate Uncle Josh and Aunt Gina's visit. Here is a picture of another great uncle....Uncle Nathaniel. I threatened to put this picture up on my blog and I'm keeping my word. ;0)
He couldnt' decide which dessert to have so he had them all!! There was strawberry shortcake, 2 kinds of brownies, a hot cross bun and a lemon bar. It took him about an hour to finish but he did!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Easter Preparations


Grace's eggs
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
Sorry for the lack of postings. We had family in town last week and it is taking me awhile to get back into the swing of things. Uncle Josh and Aunt Gina came for a visit and we all had so much fun. We decorated eggs for the Easter bunny....ours had a marbleized effect. The bunny must have liked them because the next morning everyone found a full Easter basket! ;0)


Emily's eggs
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Benjamin's eggs
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Baskets
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Decorating Tidbit of the day

Two different brands of white trim and door paint aren't necessarily the SAME SHADE OF WHITE!

I thought I would do a little paint touch-up on the bedroom doors and now have to paint the entire fronts of them. Fortunately, I am ahead of schedule. It is 8:20 and all the paper is off, the cupboards and trim are painted. I'm going to put on a coat of wall paint and while that is drying, paint the doors.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Decorating Tidbit of the day

20 year old floor to ceiling wallpaper takes MORE time to remove than 5 year old wallpaper border. It's 11:20pm. I'm going to bed and will finish tomorrow.

Mouring Dove Update


Baby Mourning Dove
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We saw the Mourning Dove babies for the first time last Wednesday. By Friday, they had left the nest! Here is one of them hanging out in our front yard. They are pretty tame if you "coo" softly at them. They sure grow up fast.

"Before" bathroom pictures


Bathroom
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We are getting new tile put in our main bathroom this coming Friday. The cabinets and door need a new coat of paint and then I noticed the wallpaper is peeling in quite a few spots. Even though my favorite color is yellow, I'm painting the walls white and going with a lavender theme. You may not see the "after" pictures until next month. I am out of my piano lesson money until May. I am going to attempt to sell a few things on craigslist.com so hopefully that will be successful. I am so excited about the new tile...we have had the cement floor since November! But I will say that cement is better than 20 year old carpet in a bathroom. LOL


Bathroom
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Bathroom floor
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Our weekend


Benjamin
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
I know it is already Tuesday but I got some pictures off of Phillip's camera from this past weekend. His camera is so much better than mine, plus he takes better pictures. :0)

On Saturday, Phillip took Benjamin to a woodworking activity. On the first weekend of every month, there is something new to make. This was Benjamin's first time and he made a birdfeeder! They also gave away aprons with 2 workshop buttons on them. While they were in the store a customer asked Benjamin for assitance so now he is quick to tell people that he "works at Home Depot!"


Grace
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We planted some flowers and Grace picked out a flower we call a pom-pom. She gets one every spring...they are her favorite flower.


Emily
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We put our hammock up. It is nice to relax and read a book in it.


Grace
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Fairy house
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



Columbine
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Exploring the creek


Benjamin
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We went to a local nature preserve 2 weeks ago and here are a few pictures. Benjamin was hoping to find some fish to look at but I think they were hiding from the crowds. It was such a nice day, it seemed the whole city was there!



Grace and Emily
Originally uploaded by pwinn.




Creek
Originally uploaded by pwinn.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Easter Baskets


Outside
Originally uploaded by pwinn.
We started our living Easter baskets today. We lined the baskets with saran wrap, filled them with dirt, sprinkled wheat grass seeds, covered with dirt and watered. In a week, the basket will be lined with grass if all goes well.

We also put up our first ever load of laundry to dry on our clothesline. I think it needs to be a little higher though. I had to prop the middle up with a garden spade so the clothes wouldn't touch the grass. :0)

It is hard to believe Easter is only 2 weeks away. We are taking next week off from school and I will post our craft and activity plans soon.