Ben

So Ben has been just great these past weeks. He has been working evenings and spending his days getting the babies room ready, the paint job looks awesome, check out the other blog. He has been motivating me to walk and this photo was taken with our brand new wonderful camera in Busey Woods yesterday. I used the watercolor filter in the editing phase, and just love the picture, in his new holiday sweater.

So many reasons to love him.

So I had some great friday night fun and Saturday-day making and decorating cookies in attempts to get in the holiday spirit. I don't know if it was the warm weather, the fact that I was "on call" for work or what, but i really had a tough time this year. I was way behind on presents and struggled a bit at the last minute. Perhaps it is can also be blamed on pregnancy and the fact that my head is more focused on getting things ready for the babies and this life altering experience rather than gifts, holiday parties and what not.

Regardless, the cookies turned out yummy! And they look beautiful, plus ben helped out a lot with the decorating.

Hope everyone that celebrates had a merry christmas.

K

Solstice Party

So we had a great celebration with friends on Sunday night, unfortunately no fire on the driveway due to rain- yes lots of rain on December 17! But some things, paper things, a bit of polyester and some cotton were burned in the wood stove.

Being the third night of Chanukah we made latkes and everyone brought over toppings and beverages and of course their holiday spirit. We had a great understory of kiddos this year entertaining all. And for those willing to stay up a little later we had some chase the ace and texas hold em.

Lots of cookies consumed and we had vegetarian (veggie oil) and meat (schmaltz) latkes to make everyone happy. We have such an amazing group of people that fill our home with love here in Urbana and are so happy to have this family tier in our lives. Thanks to you all for being so wonderful.

Kate

The New Craft Room

So here are some photos of the new upstairs room. We are still debating the whole bed futon thing. It is really hard to justify having a bedroom for guests when we really rarely have any overnight guests. We are still contemplating the futon, just need one that is not too huge.

I love the color. Ben really did a lot of work on the walls and I think it looks great. I have a good little sewing niche, the ironing board fits well in the closet nearby so I am able to sit and sew and get things done quickly. The space feels crafty and inspires creativity, the only drawback is the temperature. We typically use this room for our root cellar in the winter, we don't let heat up and stuff, so if I plan on working i and it is a cold day I really need to make sure to open the door for about an hour ahead of time so that I don't freeze up there.

The closet looks like hell with the lighting of this picture, really it is not that harsh. I will hopefully be spending most of my next days off in this room finishing up holiday gifts. If you want a peek at craftiness for the baby visit Little Bud's Blog, I know not all of my readers had the link.

Oh and the quilt is almost done there. I don't know why I stopped working on it last year. I have 75% of the quilting done, so it is on the list of projects to finish before baby.

Coffee Table Completion

So Ben finished our coffee table this morning with a layer of wax to preserve it. we scored this piece of cypress almost two years ago and finally it is a piece of furniture in our house. We used it for awhile as a plant table, and for cards and drinking table, propped up on a crate or two, but now it is beautiful and centered in our "new" family room, completing the coziness of the room. Ben started sanding away at it upon our return from
New Zealand when we were on our making shelves kick and staining and woodworking. The summer came along with all of it's business, so it sat in the garage. When we rearranged, Ben was re-inspired and voila, 9 days later here it sits! I love the completion of long awaited projects!
Sun is finally shining here after a couple days of rain.

The Great Pumpkin

So back in October, Ben and I went to the great pumpkin patch in Arthur. We each picked out our favorites and I chose this gorgeous pumpking called Fairy Tale. It was beautiful, blueish and orange together with a silvery hue, just phenomenal. I was hoping that we would be able to grow it soon. I don't know if Ben was a smitten with it as I was but when he starting cutting it open on Sunday it was true love. The color was amazing, so we took some pictures, we had some amazing sun coming into the house on Sunday, such a beautiful day, frightfully cold, but clear, sunny and beautiful, I can handle as many days like this as winter wants to throw me.
Then roasted, the flavor was incredible! And then the next day the flavor was evenbetter. Ben made a dessert out of it and I am pretty sure that this sealed Fairy Tales fate and it will be on the seed list for next season. I only hope we are able to grow such a gorgeous pumpkin.
l

Home Adjustments

So it has been a while in the making but we finally switched the dining and living rooms. this will be great with the babies arrival as we can cuddle near the wood stove and not have to sit on a colapsing dining room chair attempting to be comfortable.

Watching the wood stove is fabulous, and being able to lay on the couch while doing that is even better. We have a crafty space and the cypress tree cookie will re-enter the house as Ben finishes sanding and oiling it. We will finally have our dream coffee table.

The new dining room is very spacious, we still have a few things to work out, but for now we are loving the change. It just feels really good to do something different. Almost makes you feel like you moved and are someplace fresh, with good energy. And now we are eating breakfast at our Lambertville table in front of the stove, so nice to be using that again.

The Amish Rule!

So we went down to Artur again yesterday to look at furniture. While our real goal was a dresser for the kid, our side adventure was a new dining room set for us. We have decided to purchase a new table and chairs, as the spindles are falling off the chair and my weight isn't decreasing at the moment, the other day I really felt as though one was going to split as I sat down and it gave that wood creak, a little bit deeper and longer than the average I just sat down creak, more of a I am going to break and make you fall on your ass type of noise. Although I survived, we have come to the conclusion that new chairs are necessary.

Our pictures aren't great, the color is different, and we are upgrading the wood to the quarter sawn white oak, which is stunning. The stain is darker, which I love and it has a great elegance about it. The chairs look short compared to this table, but that is because it is extra tall for arm chairs. As not extra tall people we will be opting for the lower version and may get two arm chairs for the end, or may not. The table is 72 inche with 2 self storing 12 inch leaves, so lots of space for all of our dining. It should be great and hopefully here before the baby.

Kate