kirstencan

Again with the random...

Overheard:  Aaron to Monkey - "If you try some pie, I'll give you a carrot."

Doesn't that sound wrong?  He is quite the opposite of his sister... who also wouldn't try the pie (because it was blackberry).  Our kids are weird.

The girl went to her first ballet audition this weekend - a low pressure one for a small production of Coppelia - she thought it was SO fun.  Hooray for a positive first audition experience!

I'm feeling much better than last week - but still not feeling quite 100% - why?  I don't think it's H1N1 because I haven't had a fever, but it's seemed rather flu-ish and whatever it is has kicked my butt.  Still, I'm grateful, as it could have been worse.

Excedrin is my friend this week.  Also Takeout. Check this awesome Papa Murphy's coupon we used.

The kids were going nuts at the end of last week, since their routines were off (I had no energy for school) and I didn't feel well enough to take them outside to play.  On the plus side they haven't caught whatever it is that I had - so that's good - and kinda surprising.  I'm trying to get us back to  normal today - but still feeling super tired and foggy-brained.  Hence this jumble of a post today.

Thanks to my little sister for hooking me up with season 4 of The Office while I crashed pitifully on my mom's couch on Friday.  Also thanks to my mom for making us all breakfast when I showed up saying whining something like this:  "I think I need some protein - could you make me some eggs?  Oh, and Monkey forgot to eat his pancakes at our house - could you feed him?  Oh, and Thomas only had bananas because we're out of all other gluten-free breakfast foods for him - could you feed him, too?"  Yeah, I was pathetic and my mom was awesome - as always.

Thomas's current favorite movie is the 4th disc (bonus features) of Star Wars.  He's gotten such a kick out of 'the making of'.  And now all his playmobil people are filming movies (Action!  Cut!).

We opened a jar of the peaches that we canned - yummy!

Last night we ate pumpkin pie for dinner - from one of our pumpkins - also yummy.

Overheard: Princess to Thomas- 'I'm not a towel!"

Way to go, Real Salt Lake!  Woo!

Must vacuum before visiting teachers arrive.

The N is stuck on my keyboard - so annoying and making my H act weird, too.

How is next week December?  Seriously?  Better get an advent list ready for Pip.

We aren't doing the Lucia program this year - it was scheduled for the same night as the girl's Nutcracker performance.   Darn it - but at the same time it's kinda nice to have a lighter schedule this time of year.

Must. Reclaim. Laundry room.

That is all.

Letterpress Workshop

This weekend I headed up to the Sycamore Street Press letterpress studio (run by the unstoppable duo that is Kirk and Eva (my little bro and sister-in-law)) for a holiday card workshop.

I've been wanting to see the whole process of letterpress, so that was really fascinating.

 

We got to use the press to print our Christmas cards (Eva's design) and line envelopes with pretty Paper Source papers.

And just look around their studio - which is never boring!

 

And now I have my cards signed, stuffed, and almost all addressed!  Yes!  Feels good.

More pictures in my flickr set (seriously, their studio is so cool).

Here's the Sycamore Street Press website, etsy shop, and blog.  Eva has some beautiful posters and calendars that would make amazing Christmas presents!

(Thanks, Angie, for going with me!)

Playroom update

A big deal in our house recently:

We finally got around to doing a project we've wanted to do since we moved in (isn't that a great feeling?): We replaced the ugly mauve* carpet in the playroom!

Goodbye and good riddance...

By the end of the first night we had a bare concrete floor.  Even concrete looked better than mauve*.

Thomas thought he was in charge.

 

Soon we were seeing progress:

And after 3 trips (and approximately $57 million spent - just kidding) at Ikea, several trips to Lowes, 1 tetanus shot, 1 kid's sleeping arrangements temporarily changed, discovering that Princess had a ton of books stashed under her bed, 5 rugs bought, and 1 loft bed built eventually everything was moved back in:

And I'm loving it!

The mobile was pulled down and tangled ... but I still have it and will fix it one of these days!

I like our playroom and had such fun decorating it - but that old carpet was holding it back, y'know?  And the kids are loving the new red shag rug - a great rug to read on.

Ahh, much better!

Our collection of Star Wars ships... which you know will be growing at Christmas.

*Well, most people would call the old carpet 'mauve', but Aaron declared it 'The color of a sick rat's eye'.

Yep, it was  lovely.

Thanks, Aaron for working so hard last weekend!

(Before photos here).

I'm on Ohdeedoh today!

Hi to anyone coming over from Ohdeedoh today - they featured my vintage storybook mobile from the playroom.

If you would like to see the playroom that that mobile is in, check out this and this.  I also made a similar mobile recently for a swap.

And by the way, we just redid some of that room, so updates coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stickers

Do you ever peel off all of the sale stickers individually to see all the markdowns?  Am I the only one that does this?  Here's what this tag says:

.97

2.99

4.99

8.99

14.50

I bought this sweater for Monkey last spring on clearance at Old Navy and was happy to pull it out for him to wear now that it's fall.

97 cents rocks.

Annual Train Ride

It's that time of year again - time for the annual ride on our historic railroad.  This year was a little chilly, but not as bad as two years ago - all in all it was a perfect afternoon.

 

There are few things cooler than that HUGE steam engine.  At least in our boys' book anyway.

I love how the passenger cars look - but riding in them makes me motion sick pretty quickly.

We stick to the open cars - and love the wind and the views.

Because really?  You definitely wouldn't see this view as well from inside.

 

Dinner at 'The Train Restaurant' afterwards with Kirk and Eva was a fun treat - and then we stopped by their studio to check it out (so cool!  And I forgot to take any pictures!).  BTW, they are offering a letterpress holiday card workshop next month - I am seriously considering it!

Anyway, it made for an excellent Saturday.  Even the long drive there was great because driving through the canyons filled with red and orange leaves was amazingly gorgeous.

Here's our 2008 and 2007 rides as well.

Fall Shoes

Thanks for the crochet comments - who knew so many of us are Yarn Challenged!  Should we form a club?  Or at least have matching t-shirts? 

I don't know what it is about Autumn's arrival, but it always makes me want new shoes...

A few weeks ago I wandered onto the Crocs website - I've never worn these before  but they were having a 2-for-1 sale, so the girl and I have matching Mary Jane crocs now.

Oh, so comfy!

(The above was taken when we were still having summer weather - before the overnight 40 degree drop last week!)

Here are my 'real' fall shoes - after much research and deliberation:

I really wanted the purple ones, but was practical and ordered* the black.  Practical in the sense that they will match my stripy knee socks.

Also, I may have done the Mary Jane thing to death - but I'm okay with that.

I think we're about ready for fall/winter now - the clothes are out, kids are wearing socks.... except Thomas needs snow boots, and so do I.  I was thinking about picking up some of those Kirkland brand Ugg-type boots at Costco.  Does anyone have those?  Love them?  Hate them?  Good in snow?

.

Question:  Why is it that when my husband orders from Zappos his shoes get here amazingly fast - like free upgraded shipping get here in 12 hours fast - while mine arrive EIGHT DAYS later?  Hmm?

Answer:  Does it matter?  Next time use his login, though!

End of Summer Random

I have a bunch of random rumblings in my head today - bear with me as I purge.

**At Old Navy recently, I spied a rack of STIRRUP PANTS.  Black ones.  Just like the ones I begged my mom (and Santa) for when I was 10.  It was the 80's and I was 10 - that is my excuse.  Anyone who buys them now has NO excuse.  Seriously??

**I found new stainless steel water bottles at Costco - loving them.  They are Contigo brand, BPA free, dishwasher safe and they were a great price.

(The ones in the back are the kids' Thermos Funtainer ones.  They've been in constant use for 2 years.  I finally called Thermos to order new straws.  I may still buy some new ones for them, too - Mom spied some kids' Contigo ones at Costco, too).

**Yard sale season is coming to a close - and I have a couple more finds to hunt for - most importantly some kind of wardrobe/armoire for the girl's room.   She could really use a place to hang up her clothes.

**I found a pretty good natural deodorant.  I've been a fan of the JASON deodorants (in the background - notice I try to pick them up at Target on clearance) but I picked up this Arm & Hammer one a few months ago at the grocery store and like it even better.  Just get the unscented.  Trust me.

I switched to natural (aluminum free) deodorant a couple of years ago - and they're pretty hard to find!  But worth it, I think.  Once when I wore regular antiperspirant for a day after switching - I broke out in hives!  That sold me.  Plus, doesn't it seem weird to stop your body from sweating?  Anyway.

**We saw Ponyo in the theater afew weeks back - fabulous.  The kids LOVED it.  It was more fun to watch the kids watching it than keep my eyes on the screen.  They are big Miyasaki fans, so seeing a Studio Ghibli film in the theater was a real treat.  And it was really good.  Very charming.  If you have a chance to catch it in the theater - go for it!  It's probably my second favorite after Totoro.

**We also saw The Fox and the Child this week (checked it out from the library) and that was very charming as well.  It's a beautiful French film that the kids really loved - and so we are studying foxes this week in biology.  I highly recommend both movies.

**I've been reading quite a bit - and while I might not make it through 'American Gods' (sorry Aaron - he's been trying to get me to read this for years) I have a few notable books that I've really loved.

Love, Aubrey was one of my daughter's library books that I just picked up - and then couldn't put down.  I really enjoyed it.  It's a juvenile fiction and so worth reading.

Also recently read The Hunger Games and its sequel Catching Fire.  Both are fantastic and so exciting - Princess thought so as well.

**I'm so sick of my kids' 'internet names'.  I don't regret using them, I just regret the ones I chose.  But it's been 3+ years, so it feels too late to change them.

**I am still taking photos for 365 - but have lost count and haven't uploaded for a while - I need to go sort that all out!

Okay, that's all for now - I think my head feels lighter.

What's random with you?

Preserving Peaches

Straight from our garden:  a beautiful, perfect, golden peach.

It's finally peach season.

With a wet spring and surprisingly cool summer, we were worried about our peach crop.  It's our favorite thing to grow in the garden (or eat from the garden).  Last year we got so many perfect peaches - remember the peach sock things?  We used them again.

(A couple of pears on top!)

Last year we froze a lot of our peaches - some as pie filling, some for smoothies, some whole.  This year I wanted to learn how to can them.  I was totally intimidated by that idea, actually, having never canned before.

But we had all these peaches just waiting, and my friends and neighbors were so willing to share advice and tips (and extra canning supplies!).  So Saturday was designated as Canning Day.

Princess was in charge of the sugar/water solution.

(Her name's not Sophia - that apron is a story for another day!)

The process was made easier by our peaches that peeled so easily without being blanched - thus saving us a step (and a pot!).

Aaron peeled and pitted, Princess sliced (Monkey played video games and Thomas was at Grandma's).

I peeled and then finished the filled jars. 

For several hours, this big pot was boiling on the stove.

The finished product:  28 quarts!  It truly was rewarding seeing all those golden jars lined up on the counter!

I kinda loved this - and I'm very surprised at that.  It was not nearly as hard or as messy as I was expecting.  I highly recommend it.

I cannot stress how much my daughter loved this.  She was a big help.  I'm pretty sure she was pretending she was in the Great Depression the whole day.  And when we were done, she counted her allowance money and paid me to order the canning kit* for her dolls.

And then she got some small jars and filled them with small pom pom 'preserves'.

*I saw this set in the catalog and thought: What girl is going to pick a canning set for their doll when they could get fancy outfits, salon chairs, etc.?  Turns out it's my girl.  That's pretty cool, actually.

13 years later...

Dear Aaron,

I'm still SO glad I married you.

And that you asked me.

I love you forever and ever,

Kirsten