jon, jennie & hultz

Bassinet for Baby

2008-10-07T09:55:00.005-05:00

The latest conundrum we've had was where Baby Girl Hubbard would sleep after she arrived. We are not co-sleepers. I didn't like the idea of having her share Hultz's room in the very beginning because of all the night feedings. Plus, the bedrooms in our house are small. The idea of cramming a cradle into our room would mean rearranging several rooms to make it all work. We decided that we'd try the bassinet in our room until Baby Girl Hubbard sleeps better at night. After that, she'll be sharing a room with her brother. Easy enough.

So, I bought a bassinet at a semi-annual consignment sale they have here: http://www.rhealana.com/.

Well, the bassinet I found was ugly, to say the least but for $12, I wasn't going to leave it there. However, I figured it wouldn't be too hard to make a new cover for it. And it really wasn't. What was hard was remembering how everything went back together. I ripped all the seams out of the original cover to use as a pattern. With a few alterations, I was able to make the new one fit.

It took me forever to find fabric I liked. I checked every fabric store here (which weren't many) and several online. I thought I wanted something modern, like some of Amy Butler's stuff. I could never decide though. Plus, to get enough fabric for the new cover would cost 3 times as much as I paid for the darn thing; seemed counter intuitive.

So, I dug around in the depths of my fabric trunks and drawers and found some very sweet, girly fabric I was saving for something. It was perfect. I added some batting and quilted it. It took some alterations but I finally got it all to fit back together. I like the finished product. I still have several projects left before Baby Girl Hubbard arrives, but thankfully I have plenty of time.

Fruits of My Labors

2008-10-03T08:54:00.003-05:00

Since I've been limited in the amount of physical activity I can do with this pregnancy, I've dug into the depths of my fabric trunks & bins and found several projects to keep me busy.

Over a year ago, my friend Lara & I were going to make Book of Mormon quilts. A friend gave her a couple of copies of a pattern. One of the local fabric stores was going out of business and we bought all of the supplies to make ourselves two each. Then her middle son got very ill. Everything was put on hold. I don't have a good reason as to the delay in getting mine done.

Well, my friend managed to help her son get better, pack up and move to start residency, and still made two quilts. I have just finished my first and doubt there will ever be a second.

This was a applique quilt which was very time consuming. It's not for the perfectionist and I really have struggled with it- the fact that everything isn't even and straight, despite my best efforts. Jon insists it gives the quilt character and that our kids will love to gather on it for Family Home Evening. I'll just close my eyes when we sit on it. :)

Each block tells a story from the scriptures- Nephi building a boat, Ammon, Samuel, King Benjamin. These are some of my favorites:

I did make one change. The pattern had Book of Mormon Stories around the edge in large fabric letters that were appliqued to the side. I didn't really like that. Instead, I just embroidered a scripture at the bottom: "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

It feels good to have such a large project done. Now I'm going to be recovering a bassinet & making a blessing dress from my Grandmother's wedding dress. There really is no end in sight.

Boy, not Baby

2008-09-30T11:27:00.002-05:00

After Hultz was dressed for church on Sunday, I realized that he's a boy, not a baby. It kind of made me sad.

He's pretty handsome, though.

Fort Hubbard

2008-09-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

This summer I bought Hultz a cute inside tent from Target- mostly because it was on sale and also because his friend Henzley had one that he really liked. Since then, he's been in love with the thing. Yesterday, he insisted on having his snack in the tent.

Today, his friend Olive came over for a little while. He was so excited that he sat in his bean bag chair in front of the door watching for her for 30 minutes (which is quite the feat for a 2-year-old). We all had lots of fun together, but the highlight for us all was the super fort I build in the play room. It was pretty hilarious to watch me crawl around 5 months pregnant but it was worth it. Those two giggled, read books, built towers, played with stuffed animals and wrestled within the fort.

Hultz loved Olives bracelet & wore it most of the morning. They're very good playmates. They feed off of each other's energy. Hultz tried to feed Olive his snack today. I reassured him that there would be plenty of time when he was older to try such moves on girls.

I've gotten several emails questioning my physique during this pregnancy. Here's the skinny- I'm not. I've gotten so big so quickly this time, it's crazy. I'm as big at 5 months as I was at 6 1/2 months with Hultz. I have not gained as much weight though, which feels pretty good- I guess it's all baby right now. I should be able to resume regular physical activities next week, so hopefully that will help too. So, here's an awful picture with bad lighting and a goofy smile to prove that Baby Girl Hubbard truly will be here in less than 4 months.

Allsopp Park

2008-09-23T07:13:00.005-05:00

Last night we went to Allsopp Park, just down the hill from us. It's a small, quiet park with plenty of room for Hultz to be 2 years old. It was also nice to spend time as a family. Jon's been so busy that we savored every minute. There was lots of chasing and climbing and sliding to be done. I did lots of watching and let the boys be boys.

There was another little girl at the park with her mom. Hultz tried to show her how the slides worked and constantly said 'come here' to her. Thankfully she was a good sport about it all.

We also took Hultz's trike along for him to play on. He's big enough now to reach the peddles and started to figure out how it all worked. I think my Dad will enjoy this video clip the most...

Hard Bed Wanted

2008-09-19T14:16:00.004-05:00

For the past few weeks nap time has been quite the struggle. Hultz hasn't wanted it and I have. I really look forward to a few hours of quiet. I sike myself up to take on the remainder of the day. On a less selfish note, going without a nap makes Hultz very fussy in the evenings. So the fact that Hultz hasn't really wanted to nap has been frustrating.

Hultz napped really well while we were in Idaho. Jon and I figured it's because he was doing so much during the day that his body needed rest and maybe we just needed to do more here. Well, I tried that today. We went to the store, we cleaned out the Nursery at church, we ate at Chik-fil-A and played in the play place there, we watered the plants when we got home and he helped unload the dishwasher. I was tired and thought for sure he would be.

We did the usual nap time routine...and when I checked on him 10 minutes later, I found him in his closet trying on socks. 20 minutes later, he was hiding under the baby's crib. 40 minutes later he was rocking in his chair, singing to tigger. An hour later, I found this: Apparently the nice bed we have for him is too soft and he prefers a hardwood floor for resting. What a strange child.And rather than resting myself, I'm sitting here writing about this. Silly me.

Music, Muffins & Firetrucks

2008-09-14T09:33:00.005-05:00

We had a very full, very fun weekend.

Jon & I went to see the opening of Les Miserables at our local theater, The Rep. It was amazing. We didn't really know the storyline very well but were familiar with the music. I was hesitant to attend something with a name this big at a local theater. I expected a disastrous or a mediocre performance. I was very wrong. It was simply incredible. By the end of the performance, I was ready to join a revolution and was crying at the love and impact of Jean Valjean. We're friends with the manager of The Rep & his wife. They showed us some of the 'behind the scenes' stuff, like that the orchestra plays on the Mezz floor, above the stage. Weird.

I have good friends who share addictions with me. These range from fabric, recipes, and where to get good deals on kids clothing. One of them is a blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/. I thought I'd check it out but believed I was above being addicted to a blog. All I needed was one look around and I am in love with this site. If you're convinced that you won't fall for such a lowly hook, read her story of meeting her husband... I found a really yummy recipe for blueberry muffins and since I had lots of fresh blueberries, I tried them out. Holy smokes, they were yummy.

Our Stake hosted an Emergency Preparedness fair on Saturday. It was huge! The gym was filled with booths of all kinds of preparation ideas. There were people from the local hospitals, cooperative extension services, animal shelters, blood drives and some members who are experts on food storage ideas. Outside there were firetrucks, tornado shelters, an emergency smoke house. It was quite the fair! The highlight for us though, was taking Hultz to see the firetrucks. He couldn't get enough of them.

Jon has been working on editing his dissertation all weekend. It's been hard to have him around but so incredibly busy. He's making progress though.

Because of the storms we've had spawned by Ike, our church building has no electricity. That means there's no church today. So my sharing time & Jon's talk are both on hold until next week. We're all back in pajamas and enjoying a day together.

Baby Hubbard

2008-09-11T10:00:00.002-05:00

This morning was the big ultrasound. We decided to make a it a family affair. I imagined a sweet moment with the three of us looking at the monitor as we got the first glimpses of our miracle baby.

Well- it was almost like that. Hultz was really excited to see what we've termed "Mommy's Baby" on the monitor. The tech would freeze the image and do the measuring. Hultz would ask to see 'more baby'. We tried to help him see the baby's body parts as they would show up. He did a great job for about 7 minutes. Then it was dull and so we broke out the books and firetrucks.

But I digress... You're probably wondering what the big ultrasound revealed would be the gender of the next Baby Hubbard...
It's a GIRL!!

We feel so blessed and thrilled to have a healthy baby to join our little family. I'm still considered high risk and have to keep my activity level pretty low. Thankfully I have lots of sewing projects and Hultz is really good at playing outside by himself.

Stolen Green Thumb

2008-09-08T08:18:00.007-05:00

This morning I woke up to find my yard looking especially green. That has prompted a rambly post about greenery.

My mom has the greatest garden in her front yard. I think it should be on the front of Better Homes & Gardens. Each Saturday growing up, we were all on yard duty: raking tons (literally) of leaves, mowing, weeding and trimming. I didn't like it; I hated sweating and would rather have dusted and vacuumed the house. Now though, I'm grateful for the things that I was forced to learn about beautifying the outdoors.

We moved into our house 3 years ago. The people we bought it from were neither handy inside or outside so there was a lot of work to be done. We've done a few things inside. Outside though, I've stolen some one's green thumb.

2 owners ago planted all kinds of things in the backyard. With a little weeding and mulching, it looks great. My mom brings me flowers that are 'no maintenance' so they actually survive. Jon is in charge of the vegetable garden. All of these things work together to beautify our yard.

Clematis that my mom brought down after we moved in. Since then, they've taken off and are really beautiful in our driveway. Our monstrous rosemary bush. I trim it back every winter and it comes back even more full in the spring. Another gift from a previous homeowner. The canas that line the side fence in our yard. There's some lemon grass in the garden too.Ivy lines the other fence. I love ivy.So thanks to other people, I can look out in my yard and see a bounty of green. I love it. I'll work on the few potted flowers on my front porch and hope they survive.

Jon's Moving Along...

2008-09-04T07:09:00.006-05:00

Jon has turned in the first draft of his dissertation and started his 3rd year of Medical School this week! Though there's to be lots of revisions to the dissertation and a defence later on, this is quite exciting and evidence of a lot of hard work.

Jon is doing surgery sub specialties (orthopedics, urology, anesthesiology, and ENT) as his first rotation. This is a shorter rotation- only 4 weeks. The longer ones like surgery and OB/GYN are 8 weeks.

We're all excited to be moving along in this path of education. Thankfully, his hours this rotation are not any worse than what he was keeping as he worked at the lab on his PhD (12-15 hrs.) so it's not much of an adjustment for either of us, time wise.

Here's a picture of Hultz very excited to see Dad after his first day.

Labor Day Festivities

2008-09-02T08:41:00.003-05:00

There's an equation that proved flawless this weekend- How to have a Happy Two-Year-Old and Therefore a Happy Weekend. All you need is water and some ice cream. I'll explain.

We were lucky enough to have my family come visit over Labor Day weekend. This was quite the accomplishment since we're all adults and either in school and/or working.

Hultz was thrilled to have more playmates. He's been feeling deprived after all the time we spent with family this summer. He was chased and then chased his aunts and uncles all over the house.

So back to the equation. We set up our little pool in the backyard and had a couple of sprinklers going. Hultz had such a great time with Grandpa and Uncle Andrew chasing him through the sprinkler, tossing him in the pool and swinging him through the sprinkler. He even mangaged to spray Grandma with water a few times that got a pretty great reaction.

Hultz also got a yummy ice cream cone for lunch. Uncle Ephraim tried to help him get some sprinkles but wasn't quite quick enough to let Hultz get anything less than a handful.

So next time you need a happy toddler for the weekend, I suggest breaking out the pool & some ice cream.

Living Big in a Small Town...

2008-08-27T10:00:00.006-05:00

We took a quick trip up to Idaho to visit Jon's family before life really gets busy with Jon's rotations in medical school. We decided to be brave and drive there. Hultz was a great sport, despite the long hours in the car.

Jon's family moved to a really small town in south-east Idaho 4 years ago to take over Jon's dad's farm. Most everyone in that valley is a Hubbard so it's like a family vacation each time we visit.

Jon & I love visiting big cities. We love all the life that's there, the symphonies & theaters, the food, the walking. But there's something wonderful to spending time in a small farming town in with not much to do. Everyone should spend a week in a town like Grace, Idaho where you drive down dirt roads to get anywhere, there are 2 small grocery stores (Wal-Mart is 45 minutes away), there are no stop-lights in town, you seriously know all your neighbors, and the fields are the most beautiful site to see. It was a relaxing week to have limited options on how to spend your time- almost like a de-tox. :)

There's a lot to do when you visit a farm. Mostly you work and get dirty. Hultz loved doing both, especially with his Grandpa & Uncles.

Baling hay with Grandpa:

Relaxing with Uncle Sam:
Getting ready for more work with Grandpa (notice the stylish hats on both heads):
Dirty after some hard work:

We took a break one day and went swimming over in Lava Hot Springs. Hultz had a really great time with his Aunts and got really good at the slide...

Driving up the mountains behind Grandpa's farm:
On our way up the mountain:

3 farm boys at the top:

Hultz got really tired on the way down the mountain. The next day he rode up on the 4-wheeler with Jon to check on the cows and actually fell asleep on the way down, even though it was really bumpy...Helping Uncle Dan move pipe (this actually meant that Hultz jumped around in the mud):

Jon's parents took Jon & I over to Jackson Hole for a dinner & country show at Bar J Ranch. It was a really great night and a beautiful drive over:

Hultz is ready to go!
Hultz's attire while living on a farm:Feeding calves:Gathering eggs (well, he's actually terrorizing the chickens and then chucked an egg at them...)A family photo after church on Sunday. It was a lot of work to not let everyone go home right away. These are Jon's youngest 4 siblings, Anna, Sam, Dan and sweet Kristen.

Hultz was really glad we had a hotel with a pool on our drive home. He loved jumping in!

We loved spending time with our family. Hultz had such a great time with his aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Big Brother Hultz

2008-08-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. We held our breath until now because if we could make it to this point, my doctor felt confident that everything would be fine. I'm pregnant! I'm exactly 14 weeks today.

I've been on medicine and bed rest which were both hard but totally worth it. It's been a very emotional, hard year for us but the joy and gratitude we feel now was worth it.

So, Hultz will be a big brother around February 11 (though I'm hoping for more like February 4).

We find out what we're having on September 11. We'll pass along the news when we know.

Traveling, traveling, traveling

2008-08-08T16:28:00.004-05:00

It's been almost a month since I posted. It's been a very busy summer!

Jon & I had very busy weeks, but they were spent on separate sides of the country, for most of it. Jon was awarded a travel award because of an awesome poster and presentation on his latest research. He used it to fly out to an MD/PhD conference outside of Denver. He was really glad he went because he made several really great connection with other people that might help him down the road when he has to choose a residency and post-doctorate.

The day Jon left for Colorado, Hultz & I drove to up-state New York with my family to visit my Grandma for a couple of weeks. It was so great to be surrounded by family and so many memories. I spent my summers growing up in New York- on the beach of Lake Ontario, in Palmyra, in the neighborhoods my parents grew up in, cooler weather... It was really great to be there again.

At the end of Jon's conference in Colorado, Jon flew to Rochester, NY to meet up with us and also to present his research to some people at Bausch & Lomb. One of the people on his dissertation committee is there at B&L and invited him to come out and meet with them. Since they were paying and a great way to make more connections, he did it. It was a great experience too. Plus, he was able to stay a few days to hang out with us.

I don't have any pictures to post right now from our trip but I will soon. Suffice it to say, we had a really great vacation!

Pictures

2008-07-12T11:23:00.003-05:00

We had Hultz's pictures taken just before he turned 2. There's a lady at JCPenny's who does every one's kids at church and does an excellent job. I figured it was time that she really earn her salary and spend some time with my wild little guy.

I had my sister there to help but it was still a big job for 3 adults to keep Hultz entertained. I learned a few things from the experience. 1. Go in the morning, not in the afternoon after nap time. 2. Bring snacks and juice to bribe good behavior 3. Dad will always be present at these session from now on! :)

I do like how they turned out, especially when I think of how much work it took to get them!

Hultz Turns 2!

2008-07-07T13:34:00.005-05:00

Hultz turned 2 years old on July 5. I can't believe time has gone by so quickly!

Hultz with Dad, 1 day old:

Hultz's 1st birthday, celebrated in New York; He was very sick:

This year, we were lucky enough to have some of my family down to help celebrate. We kept the celebration very simple. We made homemade pizza and each did our own slice. It was fun to see how different all of our tastes were.

Grandma & Grandpa Smith got Hultz this cute dog card that barks when it opens. I don't know how long it will stay in our house but he really loves it.
Trying out his hat & shades with Dad. He's giving a thumbs up so he must like them!
This is the cake we got because they lost the parts to make the first one I ordered. Hultz loved it and didn't seem to mind that the first one never came.
Hultz got lots of presents from his family and friends. He got lots of books and clothes and train stuff but one of his favorites was this train set.
A birthday message from Hultz.

A Yummy Breakfast

2008-06-30T09:23:00.005-05:00

Hultz has not had a bowl of cereal for breakfast before this morning. I'm sure that makes me sound like a whimp. However, Hultz can make a mess out of anything and it just seemed crazy to me to give a toddler a bowl of milk and cereal and say 'eat'.

This morning though, I got up the courage and figured if Hultz is turning 2 in 5 days, it's about time I gave him a chance.
He loved the Honey Nut Cherrios and loved that I was eating the same thing. He did a good job keeping the mess under control too.

(This is how Hultz gives a thumbs-up)

This breakfast was so much easier than what I had been doing, I may be a full convert!

The Perfect Cut

2008-06-26T18:58:00.004-05:00

There are lots of challenges when you move to another city. Finding the best doctor, dentist, and hair dresser are some of the most dreaded.

We really love our dentist in Fayetteville so we still use him. Thankfully, we have friends here who recommended a great doctor and we love her.

I just happen to have the best hairdresser- a friend from church. She was cutting hair at a salon when we moved here and I happened upon her just by chance. Since then, she's opened a place right out of her home, just 5 minutes away. She does a great job too. I can be picky and she doesn't mind.

I've been trying to grow my hair out. Jon really likes my long hair and I kept telling myself it was fun to have my hair up in a ponytail... Well, I couldn't take it any more. My hair got to that point where nothing worked & nothing I did in the morning made it look any better.

I got the cut exactly as I wanted and I'm really happy with the results. I hate posting pictures of myself, but here's the new do...

Summer Fun

2008-06-25T09:55:00.004-05:00

Here are some highlights of our week:

Hultz lines things up...alot. I try to see it as a talent, possibly the beginning of an architect or engineer and not the beginnings of OCD like his Mom. We got a new kitchen table! When we got married we lived in married-student housing which is just code for really-small-and-very-cramped-but-cheap-living-area. It was the perfect size for us while we lived in apartments. I'd been looking for a larger table for awhile but we couldn't afford what I wanted...until I looked on Craigslist. A doctor was selling his table because he had to move to a small apartment in a bigger city. Score for us! I love it!

Hultz loved the chairs:

Here it is in our little kitchen. We can finally feed the Elders without stacking food on top of laps and always bumping elbows!
We also hit the Dollar Theater in North Little Rock to see Horton Hears a Who. Hultz loved it. Hultz pointed out each animal, laughed through the whole thing and talked about it on the drive home. Really- the elephant, the monkey, the flower- he noticed and loved it all!

My sister came down for a week to hang out (well, really just to kill time while her boyfriend was on vacation...) and was a big help. The big project was to paint our front bedroom. That room and the computer room were the rooms needing the most work since we moved it but it was really easy to put it off. The computer room was done and I was on a roll so we tackled the bedroom. Moving everything out was a big project and painting the walls, trim, windows and ceiling was a lot of work but it was worth it. The room looks great!

Now that all of these projects are done I think I'll just lounge on the couch and eat some ice cream...at least until I think of the next project to take on.

Shirt & Sweet

2008-06-16T08:12:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Father's Day last weekend with my family. But, we had another celebration last night. It was really short because Jon had a lot to do in the lab and I had a child's baptism to go to. We were together long enough to have dinner, enjoy some yummy cake and take a few pictures.

Hultz didn't like the cake (so I'm still not sure if he has any of my genes) but he had a few chocolate chips and loved those!

I've Retired

2008-06-13T17:26:00.002-05:00

That's right. Today was my last day with the U of A Cooperative Extension Office.

I took the position knowing that I would quit when Jon started 3rd year of Med School. Well, he's almost there (hallelujah!) but has so much work to finish his PhD. He has 3 papers to finish & publish, a dissertation to write and defend and still finish up experiments. We were lucky that Jon came home each afternoon to watch Hultz. We weren't going to put Hultz in daycare. My working allowed us to not take out so many student loans to live on.

I'm a bit apprehensive about the transition to staying at home all the time. For the past 10 years I've worked and been in school. Life has calmed down a bit since graduating but I've kept working. I looked forward to it as a break each day and also allowing me to keep up my education and use my degree.

The Marriage, Parenting and Family Life Team:

I've had great opportunities and experiences since working with Extension. I've been a real professional. I've really enjoyed the research and the publications I got to work on. I made some really great friends. I loved having a secretary. I also really enjoyed getting dressed up. Heals with dress pants and suits...

Staying home has its perks and I know that this is ultimately what I wanted to do with my life. So, I'm packing up my suits and dress pants and trading them in for sweats and flip flops. It will be nice not to feel like the day is constricted by needing to be home in time to get ready for work. I'm looking forward to naps in the afternoon and having more time to sew. But I may hire a secretary...

Bright White

2008-06-12T07:24:00.008-05:00

I did it. I painted Hultz's crib. So what's the big deal? A freshly painted crib

Paint a crib?! I saw it as something very intimidating. I was afraid that it would chip off the first time a baby slept in it. I thought for sure that it would be covered in drips from painting. I wondered if a new coat of paint would hide all of the scratches and nicks left by the previous owners.

Once again, I owe my success to the encouragement of my friend Jen. She painted her daughter's crib and it looked wonderful. I knew mine needed some work but since it was given to us by friends, I wasn't going to complain too much. So after consulting the expert, I purchased 9 cans of Bright White Satin spray paint. It took 8 1/2 cans to finish the crib and a few coats of polyurethane and it was worth all of the effort. From off-white and scratched to bright white and fresh.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. I was working on the side rails last week. I had the backdoor cracked open so I could hear Hultz who was watching Thomas the Train, a recent addiction. He came to the door to check on me and then closed the door. I really didn't think anything of it. He's always closing doors. However, I soon realized that the reason I couldn't open the backdoor was because he had locked it. Yep. With me outside.

I pounded on the door and heard Hultz coming. I asked him to unlock the door, explained how to do it, bribed and then threatened. All this time he just knocked on the door back at me.

Thankfully I had a screwdriver to pop the screen out of the window next to the door. I couldn't remember if the window was locked or not but this was the only choice. Thankfully I was able to climb through. I asked Hultz to bring me a chair to help in getting out of the window frame. He just stood watching his mom do something strange and laughed at me.

Well, at least the crib is finished and I guess it was pretty funny to see me try to climb through a window.

Our BLUE Weekend

2008-06-09T15:31:00.004-05:00

We spent the weekend with my family in Fayetteville. We celebrated Father's Day early because of Jon's hectic schedule. It was really great to be with family all weekend. Hultz especially loved all of the attention & playmates.

We stopped at our favorite blueberry picking farm on our way into town early Saturday morning. Jon & I went on one of our first dates there and it was fun to go back.

The weather was perfect for picking! We picked 4 1/2 gallons of blueberries, gave the owner 1 1/2 gallons and got to keep the rest. Hultz had a blast running up and down the rows of bushes. He also loved helping us pick the berries. He would eat one and then put one into our buckets.

My Dad came to help. He picked the best berries.

Now I just need to clean and freeze the blueberries.

We had a great time with my whole family together over the weekend. Next time though, I'll win Phase Ten and Ephraim will definitely be skipped. :)

Two Great Things...

2008-06-04T16:17:00.007-05:00

I've found two really great things over the past few months & I wanted to share!

We've tried cloth diapers off and on since Hultz was born. It was usually for my lack of dedication that we stopped. Well, we're on again- for the most part.

I've found gDiapers and absolutely love them! They're part cloth and part disposable. The difference with these is that the disposable part breaks down in 50 days verses 500 days of regular disposables. The outside is a cloth cover and is oh so cute. There's a plastic liner that holds the disposable pad-type-thing. The pad can be flushed down the toilet, thrown away with the trash or composted. Our local Whole Foods Store actually had them on sale so I scored several pairs. They're just one more way that we can be a bit more earth-friendly. The second really great thing that I've found is The Grocery Game. It's a website you join to have them match up the weekly sale adds of your local grocery stores with the coupons you can get in the Sunday papers & online so you can get the best possible price.

I've signed up with Walgreens & Krogers. Last week I spent about $50 at both stores and saved $36. That means that I actually got $86 worth of stuff! I'm stocking up on stuff from Walgreens like toothpaste & shampoo for our family storage. Anyway, you can join for a trial period of 6 weeks for $1. If you do it, be so kind to put my email (blondie1741@hotmail.com) in as the reference. It's worth the small fee to save some money!

Computer Room with Color

2008-06-03T14:45:00.003-05:00

When we moved in to our house 3 summers ago I knew that I would be painting most of the rooms. I've been in school and working since then so it's come about pretty slowly.

I've finally finished the computer room (which also houses all of Jon's books, the laundry area, and our pantry). This was the room that needed it the most too. It was dark, dreary and the last owner's let their dog scratch up the walls. Here's how it looked right after we closed on the house.

I picked a light blue to really lighten the room up. The trim & ceiling got painted country white. I really like how it turned out. We just have to add our new backdoor (which is in the garage waiting to be hung & painted) and put all of Jon's books back on the shelves. The pantry & laundry area:The white ceiling that makes such a difference.