planning a trip

grandopening, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

AT only 2 hours away- this is one trip I do plan on making this year... it'll be the closest IKEA to us... next closest being wither PA or Georgia...

The sweetest thing I just heard

"daddy... pay tractor me, oh-tay?"

playing tractor, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

our *new* kitchen

through the door, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

as you walk through the door of our kitchen, you'll now be greeted by a bright color!! Thanks to many of our friends, our kitchen was treated with a fresh coat of Birmingham Cream this past weekend. The cabinets had a trim added to them, and all new hardware. It's amazing what a difference it makes!

kitchen, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

here's another view of the kitchen cabinets. As you can see, the cabinets are only a few shades lighter than the walls, I love it. I think that the kitchen can be called "finished" for now- but not yet complete. We still have to figure out some of the little additions to make it even more welcoming... curtains, 'artwork', small area rugs?? So many possibilities still.

a corner of the kitchen, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

this message board was a new addition to the mix- a nice little place to display some of the photos, notes and artwork from our little friends. This once all covered the refrigerator, but now finds a home here.
We still haven't re-hung the under the cabinet can opener... and I think I might like it that way... maybe a little laziness here and there isn't such a bad thing, it helps you find new happiness.

Thanks again to Frances and Lee, Mary and Bernie, Bob and Mary Jo, Stephen and Lillian and to Sara, who jumped in to help after a previous appointment fell through (or maybe it's just that she was trying to keep up with someone else...?)

Bengal's baby blanket

Bengal's baby blanket, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sent to a little friend of ours far away- Can't wait to meet you in person Thomas, you're really cute in the pictures we see!

his and her's kleenex boxes

his and hers Kleenex boxes, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Just what we needed this weekend.
Erik and I both suffered from terrible colds that left us achy, cold, stuffed up and coughing. Luckily Erik's parents were in to entertain Matthew while we tried to sleep it off, unluckily, we'd planned a work weekend on our kitchen and enlisted friends helping hands to get the job done. We'd already torn up the kitchen to prepare, so there was not much of an option of turning back.

From all of our great helpers comes a great looking kitchen, sadly not picked up enough yet for a good photograph... it's hard to keep things looking nice when you don't want to move a muscle.

a great big thanks to all of our helpers- we REALLY could not have done it with out you!

AN ICE STORM???

Looks like I was missing the snow a little too much... now they're calling for an ice storm! What we've seen so far is nothing like a few years ago, but still keeping me indoors! Glad I went to the grocery on Tuesday- we're all set for the weekend.
-thanks mom for picking up my persceiption while you were out- IOU $10.

looks like there's a change in lunch for Saturday- Chicken salad sandwiches, some kind of beef, and maybe mashed potatoes... I'll still be making the potato soup though... I'm wanting it something fierce now... :P

missing the snow

snow baby, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

With this freezing weather, I'm wishing there were still snow on the ground... it'd at least seem worth it then, all the darn cold... and there'd be something nice to look at while watching matthew play outside. With the cold air, and such fearce winds, we're not braving the great outdoors much these days...