Ohhh, so long ,,,

Life just gets in the way and blogging goes on the back burner, but here I am trying to get back at it!

My hubby works in the RV industry and the shop is closed over Christmas and New Years, so I am just beginning a wonderful 10 days with him at home. Today, I plan to get into my much neglected sewing room and have some fun! Fleece pants for hubby, a tooth fairy pillow for Aryanna (her first loose tooth), a pj bag for Noelle and some sweaters for Jasmin. See how long it's been, you haven't even met Jasmin our Mini Dachshund puppy. She is almost 4 months old and a complete goof ball. 

 While I head off to create, I will leave you with a photo of the newest addition. 

Have a fantastic Boxing Day and I will see you soon!

All kinds of busy!

Last night, for the first time in years, I was able to spend some time crafting without children. What a luxury! I made this Easter topiary for my Mom, I spontaneously decided to make it one day when I was in the city shopping ... without a supplies list ... so, the pot is too small and it kept tipping over. I 
 compensated by stealing the base tray from a plant in the house and turning it over. I love it and I know she will too!

Now that crafting fun is done I get to move on to renovation fun. This weekend is our first big renovation of 2010 and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Last year we cut a hole in our floor, built new stairs to the basement and  put up a temporary pony wall for a railing. Last week we chose a paint color, the second from the left is Nutria from CIL and handy hubby built a platform to put over the stairwell hole. 

Then for a change of pace he decided to bust open the wall we thought might be hiding an original (1903) pocket door frame. BINGO! I am excited to get to that project soon

Last night, after the girls went to bed, the pony wall came off and the platform went down. Today I am repairing the wall along the left of the stairs, taking down some painted over wallpaper border, priming and maybe getting some Nurtia on the wall tomorrow morning. Then I leave and am taking the girls with me! Handy hubby will be installing the new/repurposed railing and it will be easier with curious and daring 3 and 5 years olds out of the way. We are going to spend Easter with my parents at their retirement house at the lake!

Getting ready to party!

About a year ago I became involved in my first Ultimate Blog Party and loved it. The party opened up a whole new world of blogging for me and I can't wait for the next one. If you haven't heard about it yet, wander on over to 5 minutes for Mom and look around, mark the date and get ready to meet some new people and maybe win a prize!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring on the Canadian Prairies ...

 

Join in the Wordless Wednesday fun at Miller Racing Family

Lovin Pawparazzi pets!

Last week my girls were playing with some friends who have Pawparazzi pets and they just fell in love with them. I am on the lookout for some, but until then ... here are a couple of givaways that I have entered and if you have young girls who love their pets you should enter too!

Organic Girl

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls

Where do I even begin?

It's one of those Mondays where I don't even know where to begin! It's a dirty Spring day outside so I am unmotivated inside. 

Nothing got done on the weekend because we were in the city all day on Saturday. Sunday I woke up with a migraine so we didn't go in to Church ... have you ever wondered about getting struck with lightening if you didn't go to church? Ah well, I came close yesterday. 

 I was sitting at my computer in my wonderful sewing/craft room when I heard some creaking then suddenly the shelf, that I have stacked with tubs of fabric, came crashing down on top of, and around, me! Months ago Handyman Hubby assured me that the shelf was secure, so I began stacking it with 9 tubs of fabric - ouch! I was able to postpone housework though, while I doctored my sore shoulders and back.

After a bit I was feeling better so we all went for a walk. On the way home I wiped out in some mud and sliced up my knee really good. Once I rested for a bit I got up and cleaned the bathroom, in the process my knee started bleeding again. Ouch!

So, here I am Monday morning with a weekend of chores piled up and all I want to do is paint. We live in a house, built in 1903, that needs a lot of work and we are doing it on one income and a very tight budget. We have a large yard and two years ago we built a new basement, moved the house over and demolished the old basement that was caving in. I love having a bright, big and new basement but there is so much work to do! Little by little I have been working through rooms repairing the cracks from the move and painting. The kitchen is done, including new paint on the cupboards. The sewing/craft room WAS done. The bathroom is done, although we want to change it again.
The plan for Easter weekend is the wall at the new basement stairwell. The old stairs did not meet code so last Spring we braced the floor, framed it, cut a big hole, built new stairs and put up an ugly temporary wall around the hole... without thinking that I would not be able to access the wall once the hole was cut. It's all being fixed Easter weekend ... wall repaired, paint and new railing. Actually, the new/reclaimed railing is right there propped up against the wall that is going to get done. I am still deciding if I want to leave it oak or paint it white... Until then, we have decided on a paint color for the wall, but today I want to paint a bit test area, so that over the next 10 days we can be really sure it's THE color we want for most of the main floor.

Hmmmm, where to start?