tis' the season. . .for BABIES

We have 3 ladies in our church that are due any day. One of them is due October 5 and the other two are due October 7. Two of the babies have come and we got to meet them both this evening.

Our friends Adam & Anna welcomed their first child into the world on Sunday evening. A sweet baby girl, Kinley Grace - 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches long. I forgot to take a close up of Kinley, but here is Jake "holding" her - don't ask.

Our friends Dave & Jenny welcomed their third child on Monday morning. A sweet baby girl, Ailie Grace - 8 pounds 13 ounces and 22 inches long. Below are her proud big brother & big sister.

birthday party

Jake & I are taking care of Micah a Laci for a few days this week. Their Mom is having a baby on Monday. We took Micah & Laci tonight after church. It is Micah's 8th birthday, so we had a little party!

Happy 8th Birthday, Micah! We're so glad you got to share your birthday with us.

No Sew Window Treatment

My next project, on the house, really needs to be the window treatments. We have 2" white "wood" blinds in all the windows but I need that finishing touch. I have been dragging my feet a little with this project because it will be hours of sewing. I am planning on doing drapes for the living room (3 windows) & dining room (1 large window). I also need window treatments for both spare bedrooms (2 windows total). I have drapes up in our master bedroom, but I am not really in love with the fabric. They were given to me & they match our bedding so they are up for now.

Today I made a no sew (board mounted) window treatment for the grey bedroom. I have these tea towels from Anthropologie that I LOVE. You may recognize them from here. I used my trusty staple gun & another one of our extra pickets, from the fence, for the board.

Now on to the next room . . .but first I need to find fabric.

Happenings Around the House

#1 - Cleaning the North Side of the House
Our house was pressure-washed in July, but the North side of the house did not come too clean. There was still mildew & mold on the siding. Saturday morning we sprayed the side of the house with water & bleach. We ended up using a deck brush as well & TAaa-DaaAaa - it's WHITE . . .not grey.

#2 - Growing Grass

We've been working on growing grass in the bare spots in our back yard. Since Jake took those trees out, we now get sunlight on more of the backyard. Jake seeded the yard & then we've been watering it daily. It's lookin' good.

find of the week

I have seen these numbered & lettered porcelain balls in magazines & online stores. I LOVE them, but they are usually way overpriced. Today I found them at New River Pottery for only 99 cents each!
The lettered balls were very picked over.
I ended up getting our anniversary & an F.

I put them in an empty glass jar that is on top of the buffet. LOVE IT!

Carmel Apple Pie

This a Flaming family favorite! I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Jen. I just pulled this out of the oven this afternoon. Can't wait to have some tonight.

• One 9" pie crust
• 6 cups apples, peeled & sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup butter
• Carmel

Put pie crust in 9" pie plate. Mix apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon & salt. Put in pie shell. Mix up topping in bowl (brown sugar, flour, oats & butter). Bake pie at 375 for 25 minutes with foil covering the crust & then another 25 minutes without foil. Drizzle carmel on top of pie as soon as you pull it out of the oven.

Around the House on a Saturday

Jake & I are staying in town this holiday weekend. We still have a list of little things to get done around the house and yard. We do realize that this list will be never ending. . .welcome to home ownership!
Jake got up & started edging the sidewalk on the north side of our house. I ran to the store to get some grocery's and then started painting this tile-top table. It was a pastel green. I taped it off & started painting.
Done. I painted it the blue we had in our main bathroom at the condo (Martha Stewart - Summer Cottage). Love it!

While I was working inside, Jake & Adam were working outside. They took out at least 5 trees in our yard.

Trip #2 with the branches & clippings.

Jake & I stacked up the wood from the trees that were cut down. Now we have wood in our fireplace & a woodpile out back. Can't wait for a fire this winter.