I made a new Pinterest board called Mexican Decor. Go have a browse if you're interested.
In my studio, the sewing room will be Catholic Kitsch themed--yay! I can't wait. I've been saving stuff for years. People have given me some great Mexican-themed stuff, too.
I've been trying to finish redecorating Violet's room before the baby arrives. I decided to paint her a family portrait including the new addition.
"A Walk in the Spring Rain"
Violet loves to walk in the rain under her frog umbrella and splash through puddles.
Yes, I painted myself not-pregnant. Adam (at great danger to himself) pointed out that I am much bigger right now. I wanted to have this in Violet's room for a while, and I will only be pregnant a little while longer, so----I painted me post-pregnant.
We're all kind of cartoony and not very realistic. I wanted a loose, colorful, folk-arty-type painting.
Oh! I'm excited to get the baby carriage back out again. We restored the pram Adam's parents used for him and his brother when they were babies. I didn't get enough of it last time around.
I adore all things 'moon'.....you?
"A Carnvial Evening" by Henri Rousseau.
Fun idea----I don't know where this came from. I'll be happy to credit it if you know.
From Apartment Therapy. I think one would be enough, don't you? It seems to lose the moon-ish impact with more than one.
I'm crazy about old paper moon studio props. I will make one for my studio when the building is finished. Get ready, everyone who knows me---when you visit, you will be required to take a moon photo.
This is a great idea from House to Home.
You don't really need a tutorial. Here's a quick guide:
I sat down to do....something. Then, I piddled away an hour on Pinterest making a board called "Cold Outside, Cozy Inside".
I guess that's where my heart is right now. I need to unload the dishwasher, fold laundry, and do paperwork. I want to just curl up and feel cozy.
Cozy may win.
I love watching the sun rise. It's amazing to me how many different mornings you can witness. There's just our meadow, the sun, and weather, but it can change so much.
I like looking at fog. At first, everything is a big blur, then the scene slowly starts taking shape.
Adam tried to teach Violet to play dominoes this weekend. She's not ready yet. They're red...can you even see them on the table? I found several red vintage sets for Adam for Christmas.
Tilapia with garlic butter sauce and parsley, tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet potato fries with Srirachi mayo. (Just mix Srirachi hot sauce into mayo to taste)
Adam took the last week off work to get some things done in the studio. The poor guy spent days cutting up nasty insulation. Fiberglass is so itchy and gross...it gets everywhere, no matter how careful you are. He had to cut all those strips by hand using a machete. People usually use box cutters, but this stuff is super thick, so he found that a sharp machete made it go quicker.
This is looking into the guest room/bedroom. Adam did all the stud work himself, too. (Insert stud jokes here.)
See the beams? In this room, I stained all of them by hand with a mix of stains to give them a distressed, Mexican-type of look. We've started hanging drywall, and I am smushing joint compound into all the screw holes and seams. It's tedious, but I'm glad we're making progress.
We're having a cozy day reading in front of the fire.
I'm so happy Violet likes books. If she hadn't been a reader, I'd have chewed my nails for years. I can't wait until we can start on chapter books. I want to put together a Mother Daughter Book Club. I think it would be fun to choose a different book every month, then take turns hosting. We could do appropriate activities to go along with the books. A croquet game for Alice in Wonderland, Halloween costume party for Harry Potter, etc.
My little girl turned three over the holidays! Poor kid...her birthday is smack dab in between Christmas and New Year's. She even helped make her own birthday cake.
She asked (the morning of her birthday) for a frog cake. She wanted it to look like her new frog umbrella she got for Christmas.
I hope she got her wish.
I did my best on short notice, but it's a bit 'homemade' looking. We made a buttermilk cake with green buttercream frosting. I made two cupcakes for the eyes, then added dove chocolates for eyes and a licorice whip for a mouth.
Someone sent a card with a crown.
One of the things we got her was Candyland. It was her very first time to play a board game.
She won! Really. No one cheated...she really won.
The umbrella frog made a special appearance.
Courtesy of Daddy, that is.
Happy third birthday, my little girl!
Every holiday needs a reading of "The Night Before Christmas", don't you think?
Violet was very excited about leaving carrots out for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. And cookies and milk for Santa, of course.
Santa ate every last crumb, but the reindeer made a real mess. Santa left tracks, and the reindeer left chewed up carrots in front of the fireplace.
Violet had fun pretending to saw everything up with her new toy chainsaw.
We eat like piglets at Christmastime. Adam and I took turns refilling the monstrous snack tray.
Yum....snacky snacks.
We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of smoked salmon with cream cheese and bagels. (and super thin red onion and capers). And Adam makes great over-easy eggs. Coffee, mimosas, and a variety of juices. And Violet requires a big fresh fruit platter. I told you.....Christmas pigs!
Then, our bodies shut down from food-induced comas. We all take a long Christmas afternoon nap. We decided to move a bed into the room with the fireplace. It doesn't quite look right, but we're more interested in a super cozy napping bed. Maybe I should re-do it into a sort of day bed. The snap of the fire puts me to sleep every time. Prime napping, I tell you.
Hmm.....Adam did an interesting job wrapping this one. What could it possibly be? A large rice-paddy-style hat and a single numchuck? A tiny satellite dish and a mini rolling pin?
Violet wrapped Mooskies up in her blanket and read him lots of books.
Mooskies also suffered through a new Christmas sweater. We got a matching one for the cat, but he was having no part of it.
Adam gave me a whole wheel of Baby Swiss......mmmmm, cheeeeeese!
We said goodbye to Maybe the Elf. He had to go back to the North Pole to stay with Santa after Christmas.
I'm a little behind, but I had over 750 photos to deal with. I take oodles on my digital camera, then dread uploading them. I love having the photos, but really dislike processing them.
I hope you all had a nice holiday. We did. It was peaceful and pretty quiet, just the three of us. As quiet as things can be with an almost-three-year-old, anyway.
Our friend Charlotte sent some adorable aprons.
They're a matching Mommy-Daughter pair. Aren't those great details? I'm a sucker for pom-poms.
We did some pretend baking...
...and lots of real baking. We made our traditional sausage rolls. They're like giant pigs in blankets, but we use Elgin sausage and homemade dough. I also made a big pan of chocolate covered toffee. I experimented with a variety of toppings....walnuts (yum), crushed candy canes (pretty but not my favorite combination), and chopped dried apricots and cherries (meh). I like just plain old toffee best, I think.
I like the moment before you smash the whole tray into bits.
The sun is shining and I'd rather be outside than in here on the computer. I'll finish this later.
I got up in the early hours with Adam this morning. He wakes up when it's cold and dark.
Hours later, the sun peeked through the window. My friend Charlotte has been on my mind this morning. I'm guessing there's a 99% chance she has a cup of coffee in her hands. Hello to you, out there in Washington!
To take the chill and gloom off those early pre-sun hours, I like to light candles.
I made Adam some sausage, egg, and cheese bagels. That man eats like a horse. I would love to eat breakfast with him every day, but he's a solitary sort in the morning. Not unfriendly, he just likes mornings to be quiet and efficient. I've been told by multiple people I might be a bit on the chatty side.
Here is this year's Advent Calendar. Each day has a little square box you flip over to reveal a nice winter village scene. I write our day's activity on a slip of paper. They range from family cocoa and read a special holiday book together to go look at Christmas lights to take a winter walk. I've noticed that when we ask Violet to count to twenty at random times, she sometimes 'forgets' the order of the numbers. However, when we're counting the Advent Calendar days, she is very, very accurate.
I have two of these pyramid/whirligig/thingamabobs, a small one and a large one. The heat from the candles makes the propeller on top turn, which makes the central plate turn. I'm sure there is a much more scientific explanation for that (Adam went into a great deal of detail about air currents or some such thing) but we'll just say the candles make it go.
Adam's step-brother sent us this one while he and his family were stationed in Germany.
The big one has three levels. Unfortunately, Baby Jesus is missing his parents. He just has the wise men to keep him company. Maybe I'll add some sheep to keep him company. Or dinosaurs.
Violet likes to watch them while she eats.
Some mornings, I have early coffee with Adam, then breakfast with Violet. I had one jar of jam left over from last Christmas. I made orange rosemary and orange cinnamon anise jam. The anise really permeated the jam the longer it sat on the shelf.
As a joke, I ask Violet if she wants coffee every morning. Usually, she says, "No, Mama. I'll just have milk, please." Today, though, she said, "OK-I'll try some coffee."
I made her a small cup of decaf that was mainly sugar and milk. She thought about it a while, then nodded and went back to her berries.
We're doing 'Elf on the Shelf' this year. Adam is very good at finding a new place for him every day.
I made our elf. I sculpted his face from polymer clay and made his body from wire, batting, and felt.
I love this old tarnished ball. I like a nice grody patina on things. Some people are into the moldy look, some aren't. It's not really moldy, but you know what I mean.
Here is my little tribute to Bronte this year. Someone gave this to me a long time ago-it's a dachshund made from goat hair. How wrong is that? It still smelled goaty, because Bronte took a bite out of its backside when I first got it.
Adam..."Mama, could you see if there's something in my ear?"
Violet...."Wassit Mama? Wassin Daddy's ear?"
Me...."Oh, no. I'm afraid Daddy has a case of Santa Ear." Tsk tsk. Daddy..."I'd better start using my q-tips again."
I'm wanting to make a Christmas cake that isn't too sweet. I've had my fill of chocolate for a while. I want coconut, but Adam wanted something less sweet. I was thinking something along the lines of carrot cake or Italian cream cake. I'd like a mild to medium spiced cake with a not-too-overpowering icing. Any ideas?
