Grounded

We stayed home today and did nothing.  It sounds completely uneventful, but it really helped us ground ourselves by just being home for the day, something we rarely do.  Patrick has been having a difficult time lately, and maybe we are just moving too fast for him..I think I learned that today.  He was a pleasure to be around.  That kid amazes me sometimes.  We "did letters" today, which is looking at letter flashcards.  I can't believe how many he knows so well...lowercase too!  Now if only I could get him to write them more often.  I know it will come in time.  

I'm making stuffed shells for dinner tonight.  They aren't your usual run of the mill.  They are pesto chicken stuffed shells and they are amazing!  I highly recommend them.  Joe and I are quite looking forward to it.

In the meantime, while I wait for them to cook, Patrick and I will continue playing with trains and thwarting off Maura from our creation.

The Couch ( and the pillows to go with it! )

I hated our couch...really, I did...I despised it so much that I banished the pillow on it to the other room and opted to make pillow covers for the throw pillows in it's place...so last week, that's just what I did!



And then...over the weekend...we got a new couch! And those pillows just so happen to go perfectly with it!

The Bench by the Door

Every summer, I attempt to find interesting projects around the house to take up my time. Of course, this year, it's getting harder with a toddler who only naps once a day. Last summer, I reboarded our deck. A few years back, I tiled the bathroom floor and put up wainscotting..some years, it's been painting..and although the projects are a bit smaller now than they used to be, I still look forward to them. The agenda for this year hopefully includes:

- powerwashing and staining the deck (because we couldn't do it last year, the wood needed to dry!)

- painting the bench on my front sidewalk

- making curtains for the bedroom

- perhaps tiling the backsplash in the kitchen with Armstrongs Metalaire tiles (have you seen these? They look like TIN! So very cool!)

- painting the bench in the kitchen

- glueing everything in need with carpenter's glue to repair...


I started with painting the bench in the kitchen. It's really just a nice garbage find. It holds all of our coats through the year and bags and stuff.



We store all our hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves inside, along with a few extraneous things, like Joe's life preserver for kayaking....but since I literally hauled it down the street several years ago on a skateboard, it has been in disrepair in one spot, a piece of the side was broken off (and I kept it all this time!) and I always felt that it would look much nicer black rather than the honey color it came to us as.



Of course, picking one of the most humid days of summer was not exactly a smart choice, but I did it! I used Martha Stewart's Francesca black from the Home Depot. It came out looking spectacular! Unfortunately, the humidity was not on my side, and a few places chipped..I suspect I'll be doing some touchups to this piece in the future. But at least for now, I'm really happy with how it came out!

Rain Rain, Go Away....

...come back another day!




It's been doing lots of raining this weekend, and a certain little someone is just recovering from a weekend illness of cuddling and sleeping! It's been rough here in the trenches, but things are finally starting to get back to normal! I thought it might never stop raining! Today, the sun finally broke through, things are starting to dry up, and things are looking up too!

We were all geared up for Halloween this year. After all, last year, Mr P was just a little too small to remotely appreciate it. Then, on Thursday night, he decided on his own that he'd rather be a seal for Halloween. Oh yes, a SEAL! Over the baby monitor came an unfamiliar barking....CROUP! Our poor little guy was sick. Of course, this kept me home on Friday, missing the festivities after working so hard on costumes for everyone on my team. The doctors confirmed our suspicion. We were sent home with a nebulizer and dismal thoughts of the nights ahead. The weekend didn't prove to get any better either.

We tried to go out on Halloween with him for a little bit. But it was chilly and damp, so we headed home. Not minutes after getting him in bed did the rain start, just as I was about to head back out to photograph the shenanigans! I managed to get a few worthy shots documenting Thompson Street's festivities before heading in for the evening at least!

Later that night, a little upset man kept me up almost all night. We still aren't sure what caused it, but he had the fiercest diaper rash ever! My child..you know...the one who wears cloth diapers and has NEVER EVER had diaper rash? Yes, that one! It could have possibly been a rinse issue or a reaction to his meds..none the less, we are still on the mend...

Now if only those incisor teeth would push through and leave us alone! I miss my bed! The futon isn't all it's cracked up to be..

Awaiting a chair



The table has comfortably settled into our dining room as you can see. Unfortunately, when we ordered our chairs, one of them came defective! We are awaiting shipment of the new one which should be here Tuesday. I'm sorry I didn't post a glorious shot before! We had no chairs!

The Table

It seems like years that I've been hunting for the precise table to fit into our dining room. It really has been years actually. I've scoured Craigslist, stopped at yard sales and barn sales, winced in jealousy when others mentioned their farmhouse table scores. But my turn has finally come. I'd come across a gentleman in Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania who handcrafts his tables. His advertisement had come up several times on Craigslist. It was time to call him. The price was right, but was the table?



After all, I'd really looked at quite a few tables, and none of them were just quite right. Who's to say this would be the one? Joe and I decided to head out on Wednesday to meet with the guy and see the table.



As we walked into his house, and we wandered past his kitchen, it came into view. There it was. It was instantly that I knew. This was my table...the table I'd been looking for all this time. The one I wouldn't settle for anything less...I'd finally found it! There was no discussion to be had. I think Joe knew just by looking at me that I'd found what I'd been looking for all this time! Reclaimed barnwood, knicks and knots, carefully polished..dents, natural variation..rough hue...



We couldn't haul it home in Joe's wagon, but we knew we could arrange for my Father In Law to help. Of course, he was more than willing to oblige. This morning, Joe got up early to head out to Pennsylvania. I could hardly wait! It was coming home! It seemed like forever, but finally, they burst through the door, table in truck!



As they brought in our new table, I could hardly wait to just sit near it. Patrick was due for lunch, so I knew my chance was coming.



I've spent the better part of the day sitting near it, imagining its future. I can see Patrick doing his homework at it, playing many games, crafts, you name it! It's the heart of all family gatherings we have here. I imagine how amazing it will look at Christmas all decorated. It's part of our lives now and I can't wait to see it weather and host many great things!

It's up!




So I took the time over the weekend to sand the corners of my towel tree and get it into the bathroom. It wedges nicely between the floor and ceiling, but I still find myself moving it around to different places to make it just right. Perhaps it needs a centimeter off the top, but I feel like I'm going to ruin it if I take off anymore. None the less, it's currently doing a better job than the old coat tree, and it's just what I wanted! I'm so glad I did it!

Tree Branch Towels

Last June, Martha Stewart featured an article on using wood in the house for a rustic appeal. One of the pictures had a bathroom where they showed a shelf made of driftwood and a towel rack made out of an old tree branch.



I got so excited, but of course, I was a gazillion months pregnant, and couldn't be bothered searching for the perfect piece of wood. My neighbors cut down an old white birch last week. Being the ecological type, they had no intention of just ditching the wood. So when I asked for a piece of it, they were happy to oblige. I picked up this piece with the intention of turning it into a floor to ceiling towel tree in my bathroom. I still need to coat it in shellac before I can even consider moving it upstairs. But we are on our way!

Keeping Busy...

I know you are all wondering what keeps me busy outside of this little being that has taken over household Conroy. Honestly, I do indeed miss work. I miss the daily human interactions. On the same behalf, I can't even fathom going back to work right now. He's so fragile, so precious, and he needs ME. He does nap. He naps in the morning, and occassionally if I'm lucky, I'll get something besides a handful of cat naps in the afternoon.

We've taken to watching Lost. Unfortunately, after season 1 ended on Friday on G4, they did away with the 4:00pm showing. That's OK, I can just watch it with Joe at night. I was never into the whole Lost thing, but it grabbed me, and wow, I look forward to it daily!



We've also been doing some baking and cooking. Homemade applesauce, scones, and today? We braved bread! Angry Chicken posted that she made this bread and it was fantastic! I was enticed by the jelly toast.

Lastly, I decided that I really need to learn to Knit. Knitting has never been my forte. For that matter, nothing with yarn really has. the constant movement of my hands is just something that doesn't grab me. I love the look of knitted things, but I hardly have the patience for it. I'm trying though. A friend posted a great headband on another site and I really would like to make it someday. This is my goal, for now. In the meantime, I'm practicing my knit/purl.

I'm also finding that I'm applying my nesting to the house the same way I do in my classroom. The wash needs to be folded, the dishes put away, things in order, etc. I never realized that I do this. I honestly just thought I was keeping things organized! It's amazing what you learn about your habits when put in a different scenario!

Growing

So I've got this belief that I never have enough time during the week to get what I want done. I mean, sure, I've got time after school. But I honestly believe that there is an absolute need to wind down after school before dinner, and then before you know it, it's bedtime! This week, it seems particularly worse so. I think the baby is having a growth spurt this week. I'm sure you are wondering why exactly do I believe this. Well, I'm generally more hungry, I'm more tired, and I'm more crampy to be honest!! Hopefully it will get better soon!

Quietly Alone

When I was a kid, I always hated being alone in my house. It wasn't that I believed it was haunted. Perhaps, I always felt like someone or..something..was waiting in the shadows for me.

Joe's been away for the past week...leaving me alone in the house..

I bet you wouldn't imagine that I'm still that scared little girl afraid of being alone in the house, but really, it's all still there. Each night, as I creep up the stairs, and I get just past the point where my feet are in reach of the first floor, I make a quick little jump up the rest of the stairs. I know..seems silly..but I have this image of a hand coming out of nowhere and grabbing me by the ankle! Perhaps this is the reason that i always leave Joe to turn the last light off downstairs when he is around!

When I *do* make it upstairs, it's a series of light switching. For instance, if I am coming up the back stairwell, I can turn that light on. When I get to the top, I walk across the library and turn on the other stairwell before walking back to the first to turn it off. I then go into the bedroom to turn on my bedside light before turning off the hall light. Does it really make a difference? I'm sure it doesn't. Oddly, when I get into the bed, I feel totally safe with all the lights off!

Joe will be home tomorrow. Tonight is my last lonely night. I'll leave the light flicking to him from now on ;)