halloween weekend

Some pumpkin carving...

a hike to the Potomac...




with its spoils...now back to the grind.

wash day

I made my own laundry soap. It was fun and I am doing a little research to figure out ways to make my recipe cheaper. I used Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap which costs close to $4 a bar; a little expensive but it smells great, especially for this time of year. A lot of website say you can use any bar soap and suggest Ivory, Zote or Fels Naptha. Some sites also suggest using essential oils for fragrance.

Peppermint Laundry Soap:
1 bar soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax

Finely grate soap, mix together all ingredients and store in a jar. Use 1/8 cup per load. (To grate soap you can use a cute little mouse cheese grater or, like me, realize halfway through the operation that you own a food processor which is much quicker.)
Now for show-and-tell. I found this little wooden school desk at an antique store and the chair was a $2 thrift store find. Don't you love the color? I live in antique and thrift store heaven!
Chris brought back this little owl family from Peru.
Happy Halloween! Our little family is planning to carve pumpkins this afternoon and Maren keeps telling my she wants to carve hers like a kitty with eyes, nose and feet.

Do what you can...

Today, I was inspired by this quote from Theodore Roosevelt:
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

So many times I find myself wishing for another set of circumstances ("life will be perfect when..."). When I take a step back, I realize life is wonderful right now. I tend to go through the same cycle: make life too complicated, get frustrated and yearn for something simpler, make necessary changes, slowly slip back into my old habits, repeat. Well, as I am starting to yearn for more simplicity I have taken a little inspiration from a few books I am reading, including Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule. It is filled with simple, thrifty ideas for the home. I have already planned a few Christmas gifts for Chris and Maren. Along these same lines, I came across a new consignment shop today and found this little wool jumper with a matching coat for Maren. I am pretty excited! I have been on the search for a new winter dress but haven't found anything I like or that I feel is affordable.


I also found this little vest for a few dollars and thought it would be perfect for the fall.

sewing shirts, petting animals, painting toes

Last night I stayed up a little too late attempting to sew this lap neck tee shirt for Maren. I came across some instructions at this site and thought it was a cute idea. Well, as you can see from the photo there are some obvious problems. For the first time in my life I was wishing I has a serger. I haven't given up yet. I am considering these two Oliver + S patterns and I'm also on the lookout for a "real" lapneck tee shirt pattern (I think the style is really cute and I do actually like the colors I picked).

Maren and I also visited the Animal Park/Pumpkinville this afternoon...



And I promised Maren yesterday that I would paint her toenails. When I asked her what color polish we should buy, she kept suggesting blue, green and brown. I convinced her that pink was a better option.

I was raised in front of the TV and I turned out TV.

Today I started a self-imposed "NO TV Week" which, so far, has turned out to be "Less TV Week." I've been having a lot of mom guilt over how much I put Maren in front of the box and last week I was sick so I feel it is getting a little out of control. We did really great until this evening (my weak point since I am at my laziest that time of day) and I caved and let Maren watch Wow, Wow Wubbzy. Tomorrow will be better. To quote Homer Simpson again:
"You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on."
In other news, Maren and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast of button soup with a side of rock cookies. Yum! Of of her favorite past times is making "soup" with whatever small trinkets she can get her hands on.
As most of you know, Maren's 2nd birthday is sneaking up on us so I have been starting to think a little about potty training. I stopped by Target to pick up a few things and saw a pack of training underwear so I bought them. While we were playing on the deck today, she got water everywhere and wanted to strip down so I decided to put her in the new undies. Besides their too-large size, she seemed to like them until...
she realized how easy they are to take off. P.S. Thank you Gma and Gpa for the cute hula ensemble. Maren especially loves the "beads." (And mom especially loves the chocolates.) When we saw the package on the porch I said, "Oh, Maren! The mailman brought us a surprise! To which she responded, "A kitty?!"

Little Black Kitten

Our ward's trunk-or-treat was last night. I explained Halloween last week to Maren and she seemed to catch on to the idea pretty well. Our conversations would go something like this:

Mom: What are you going to be for Halloween?
Maren: Kitty!
Mom: What do you say when you go to someone's door?
Maren: Trick or treat!
Mom: What do people give you?
Maren: Candy! (she says this while putting her fingers in her mouth)

We practiced trick-or-treating around the house and she was set.


Of course, Maren loved the party and after bedtime Chris and I ate most of the candy.

Life in the East

I almost forgot you existed, Mr. Blog. We have been so busy moving our life to the East and working hard to get settled that blogging has been my last priority. We are finally starting to feel straightened out and I am beginning to think I can find my way around. Christian is busy with work and travels Monday through Thursday or Friday. I don't think I will ever get used to the idea and he isn't fond of being away so much, but is learning oodles about the business. And on the plus side, he is getting crazy sky miles. He was pestering me the other day to start blogging again so he can stay a little more updated during the week. (Which will explain my sudden surge in future postings.) Maren is almost two!!! YIKES! She had her first haircut last week and sat perfectly still the whole time. She is a little energizer bunny and spends her days wearing me out. It is a cute age and she is really fun to hang out with. It is a blessing to stay home with her.