Mowing with Daddy

Footprints

With the snowstorm we had the other week, Alma's new favorite word is "footprint".  To celebrate the cooler weather (and the freezing tile floor in our kitchen), we all invested in some new slippers. 

Simon decided to get in on the footprint action by walking around the freshly painted bedroom and then walking across our new cream-colored carpet.  Shockingly, I did not kill him immediately.  Wait, I mean I didn't kill him ... yet.

October Storm

After a freak snow storm (~6.5 inches) last Friday night, we spent Saturday celebrating the first snow and the lack of damage to our our house ... until later in the day. The casualties, apart from the power which went out on Saturday and didn't come back on until Tuesday night, were that our tree that was splintered from Hurricane Irene last month took a beating and lost another massive branch, blocking the road and just missing a neighbor’s truck. Scary! Evidentally, since the trees still had most of their leaves and the sap had not yet drained to the roots, there were more tree limbs that fell during this storm.  Even now, a week later, the town looks like a tornado ran through it and some roads are still closed.  In our case, we were lucky that the tree didn't take out the power line like last time,  however one of the cables (phone or TV, who knows?) did fall due to the weight of the snow.  The fire department came out and simply cut it. Lastly, a branch from a backyard tree broke-off -- again, no added casualties just less shade in the summer.  On Monday, Alma and I headed a day early for a planned trip to visit our friends Pat, Carrie and their little baby in Virginia. Joshua had to stick around due to work.

We are hoping that this was not the beginning of a very long winter.

Eating the snow

Fallen Tree

Crafting in a chilly house on Sunday

Rain Damage

 While all the rain we received during (and especially after) Hurricane Irene was great for walks with Alma's beloved yard sale-find umbrella, it was hard on our house.  Our roof has some serious issues and we've been busy with getting quotes from roofers.  Below is Alma reading a book to herself on our front porch as another roofer climbs his ladder to take a look at the damage.

Reason #23,876 Why We Moved Out of South Philadelphia

This butterfly (or an impressive imposter) visits our backyard and says hello to us every day. 

House Projects Update

 We finally painted the kitchen nook a few weeks ago.  We went from this (APPLE JAIL!) to a great shade of green, which honestly isn't showing up in this photo very well, but that makes the area feel clean and bright and perfectly wonderful.  Somehow, it even makes looking out the back window so much nicer.  Can you tell I'm happy with the color choice?!

Alma and I also tore up the carpet in the "monkey room" and installed some closet organizers in what is fast becoming an exceedingly large walk-in closet.  More current photos will be posted shortly.

Preparing the Garden

Last weekend we started prepping our garden, which is located along the alley behind our garage.  Luckily we didn't plant anything (aside from a few cheap flower seeds) because it snowed twice this past week.  Oh Smarsh the wonderful month when the weather is unpredictable.

Alma and I had already spent several weekday afternoons moving pavers to set up a walk way along the garage wall and a separate flower bed by the sidewalk (so the local dogs who are out on walks don't pee on our vegetables).  So Joshua and I spent the day picking not only rocks (of which there were few) but bricks and entire cinder blocks (of which there were a surprising number) out of the soil and tilling the entire thing. 

As you can see in these photos, Alma's contribution to garden work is to lounge on her mini Adirondack chair, eat snacks and point out birds that fly by.  Oh, and she also makes a mean pile of shriveled up tomatoes from last year's missed harvest. 

Yes, the paint is chipping horribly from the side of the garage.  Any suggestions for hiding it?  The idea of fixing the problem with paint doesn't sound as fun as elaborate plans to build a huge structure to hide it.  Planters that hang down from the side of the garage?  Huge planters that sit on the pavers?  A flying dragon that distracts you from noticing the chipping paint?  To me, all of these sound like more fun that actually fixing the problem.  

Joshua also moved some extra pavers so that we don't have to walk through a huge pile of mud to get out the back gate.  Hooray!  Now we just need to talk to his mom about how to make our thriving lilac bushes into multiple lilac bushes for the yard....

Snow then Ice

It's important to keep an eye on Daddy as he shovels

Snow Horse!

The New House: The Bay Window

An "older" photo of Alma in front of my favorite place in the house -- the bay window in the kitchen that looks out onto the backyard.  We are in the midst of planning a proper booth seat in front of the window so that we can spend even more time there. 

This window is great for bird watching.  Here are some photos we took of a hawk snacking on a bird in our backyard.  Alma is happily doing the sign for bird (index finger and thumb come together like a bird's beak).

Another (the same?) hawk came back a few days later during another snow storm.  Don't mind my circling!

The New House: Guest Bedroom

 The guest bedroom before photos:

Mid-project:

While I know it doesn't look like much (it isn't!), I love the color and think that a queen-sized bed will make the space feel finished.  I have to give "huge ups" to Joshua for scrapping an incredible amount of paint off of the ceiling.  While I'm taking credit for the design of this room, he has put in the lion's share of the man hours. 

The New House: Kitchen

Unable to resist a fixer-upper, our new house is the second house we are hoping to transform ... as much as our limited budget can transform a place.  With the help of my father and lots of hard work, we were able to really change the look and feel of our last house and we are just starting to dig into plans for this house. 

While I kept promising Joshua that I won't go crazy right off the bat, it is hard not to want to change the essentials which -- in theory, at least -- seem like they will be quick projects. I've started making a girly guest room on the third floor while Joshua has been busy scrapping off the wallpaper in the kitchen.  Soon we won't have to give up our bed when guests stay over (or have them endure the sofa) or deal with "apples on parade"/ "the apple jail" while we cook!

The kitchen breakfast nook before photo:

Mid-way through the project: 

Tomorrow I'll share photos of the guest bedroom's progress.

The New House: Joshua's Space

I realized recently that we have posted very few photos of our new house.  Since I'm so in love with this space, I want to start sharing.  This week I'll be posting photos (most of which I snapped when we first moved into the house) of our favorite spaces and the projects we have started.

Here is Joshua's garage.  It is a detacted garage that is solely for Joshua's workout equipment (weights, bench, long bag, etc), garden tools, a stereo and a space heater.  Everything a growing man needs ... so that he grow up, not out!

How We Spend Our Days

Alma is such an active little one these days.  Our days are full of fun, occasional meltdowns and rather random activities.  Here are -- as captured by my crummy phone camera -- some of the things that occupy our days.

 Crawling through the shoe bin.  (This has recently been remedied with a proper shoe rack from Ikea.)

Sitting in the cart part of the walker and reading books.

Playing in the snow with her new sand and water table.

While I do some rehabbing work in the attic, Alma visits with the napping puppy. 

Riding on the horse in the backyard

Playing ball with the dog

New Dining Room Light

I've been lusting after this lamp from Crate and Barrel.  But at $1,199 it just wasn't going to happen.  Until I happened to see a similar lamp on sale at Lowes.  Hooray for our new lamp!  Or more specifically, hooray for a $70 version of the lamp!

Garden Pepper

While playing in the backyard, Alma and I often end up in the garden looking for ripe veggies.  We usually take a long time to nibble on our findings as we sit among the plants.  I'm looking forward to teaching Alma where food originates.  I think the lessons have already begun, which makes me unbelievable happy. 

This photo was snapped once we came inside and she wanted to continue eating a green pepper.

Picnics

Living in South Philadelphia, we spent a lot of time in a local park with the baby and the dog.  Every night we would get everyone geared up, walk the half mile to the park and then hang out there on a blanket for an hour or so. 

Nowadays, the "park" is our backyard and we can easily visit it multiple times a day.  I know that we keep harping on this and it may sound like a little thing to most folks, but it seems revolutionary to us after we have been a full four years without a proper grassy spot to call our own. 

Here are some fun photos of Alma enjoying a picnic dinner on our back patio ...

APPLES!

Our kitchen was decorated by narissistic apples ...

(two types of apple wallpaper -- a different style is in the kitchen bathroom

... yes, kitchen bathroom -- with a shower, an oddity on its own!)

apple coat rack (one of the million apple items in the kitchen, most of which have now been removed)

apple tile backspace

apples over the oven

ahh, that's better