Hope's New Bed

I found this antique bed through Craigslist last month. It is perfect for Hope's bedroom update (since she is a young lady now and not a little girl. The kitchen set has been moved out - sigh- and a double bed and armoire- also from Craigslist- are moving in).

Since the bed is old, it has an "old" smell to it, so Brian wiped the frame down with mineral spirits to see if we could help it smell better. It's not terribly stinky, but when it is in her room, we would probably notice it.

The mineral spirits did take off some of the oil finish. If we can de-stink the bed, we will refinish it. If not, we will need to paint it to seal in all the "old" stuff. I think the bed will look nice with off-white paint, although I would miss the nice stained finish, too.

AWANA Grand Prix

Hope's car.

Jacob's car- shaped by him, painted by Abby.

Lots of creative cars this year!

Brian sent the cars down the track. We are happy to report that Hope did *not* come in the very last of all the cars again this year.

I made Taco Soup for the chili cook-off. I didn't' win any prizes, but a lot was eaten by the end :).

For Christy

Men in Ties

Since Jacob wore his new tie to church, he insisted that Brian wear one, too.

I think they were the only men at church with ties on.

Maybe what Kate Middleton is doing for nylons, Brian and Jacob can do for men's neckwear?

Blue Skies

And So The Winter Of Lotsa Snow Continues...

Around 3AM this morning, a major windstorm woke us up, hoping that the house would hold together.

By 4:30AM, we were snowed in. So grateful for a snowblower!

A Little Bit of Spring

Hard to believe that Abby is wearing 3" high heels and Jacob is *still* taller. Every morning he wakes up he is a bit taller. It's time to get that boy new pants! With most of them now, he looks like he's going wading :(.

Abby and Jacob went to a banquet for the church youth group last night. It was at a fancy home of one of the families from church and the youth group leaders were the waiters.

They had an elegant dinner complete with candles and flowers and chocolate eclairs (spelling?) for dessert.

In other news, Spring decorations have been up for a couple of weeks now.

But last week I bought a few new potted flowers to make it feel even more "springy" inside.

Maybe I'll get brave and plant the little roses outside when the weather warms up.

We have had snow on the ground almost continuously since the week of Christmas. I don't think I've ever seen that as long as I've been here (25 years). It was snowing this morning, too. Global warming?

I won't mind not going outside as much when the inside is so cheery.

At Anna's House, by Hannah

Anna's Horses, Photos by Hannah

Afternoon at the Museum of Nature and Science

It was a free day at the museum, so Brian took the day off of work and we made it a field trip for everyone but Hannah, who had on-site classes today.

We spent around two and a half hours at the space exhibit (no surprise there). It was the main thing we came for and we were not disappointed.

A popular game was "dock the space shuttle" using controls. There was an elderly gentleman who spent quite some time trying to dock his ship and he wasn't successful. So, I guess the kids who were less careful and refined in their skills shouldn't feel too bad that they couldn't do it, either.

Those tricky space shuttles.

There was a little time left to dash through two other exhibits- one on animals.

Outside the museum.

His license plate says "Mr. Bones".

And the last exhibit on the human body. This game uses brain waves to move a ball on some sort of grey strip. I guess the one with the stronger, more determined waves pushes the ball through the weaker one's goal. Wild.

Paper Flowers and One Thing Crossed Off My Bucket List

Top photo: Mom, center, in Kentucky cemetery on Decoration Day.
Bottom photo: Relatives on Decoration Day with better view of the paper flowers.

Growing up, I was always puzzled why my mother had so many photos of herself and others taken at the cemetery with people smiling. Obviously this was not a funeral, so why were they there? She told me that this was "Decoration Day", something not observed in California, when people made paper flowers to decorate the graves of their departed loved ones. I was fascinated by this and thought that one day, I'd like to make paper flowers, too (but I'll skip the grave decorating part).

Earlier this month while looking for crafting tools for Hannah, I came across this paper flowers kit. I made up two bouquets of flowers and now I can say I have made this craft from the past!

Going to Astronomy Club

Even though this club is all adults (and mostly men!), Hope enjoyed herself and was able to get some good advice on beginner telescopes. She came home with a page of notes and new ideas. Ah, my child who reads Astronomy textbooks from the library for fun.

What I Do When I'm Under The Weather...

Thanks, Pinterest, for helping me to waste hours and hours of my life. I now have all family weddings and home projects planned for the next fifty years.

I've Been Under The Weather This Week

Spent some time looking through "All Posters" for Jacob and came across this old advertisement.

I wonder what Baldwin puts in his pills, exactly. Opium?

Maybe it's better not to know.

I pinned this on my pinterest page, but thought I'd put it here also, just in case I needed another reminder.

More Pictures (from friends)

Dress Malfunction at the Dance

This was the first time. All those lovely gathers began to come out after the first dance. Hannah resewed a few right there on the dance floor. Within half an hour, *all* those lovely gathers had come out. Thankfully, a couple of wonderful moms saved the day by giving us their spare safety pins and I pinned up Abby's dress with those ugly silver safety pins on the outside of her dress (because she didn't want to waste any dancing time for me to do them from the underside). Result? Strange looking skirt, happy Abby dancing the rest of the time without worrying about her dress.

It makes me laugh at how we were so careful not to put any stray holes in the satin to keep the skirt all nice and pretty and here in the middle of the dance I am just stabbing those safety pins through the fabric as fast and as furious as I could! Ah, life. Gotta love it.