Projects Getting Done!

Today Erik burned the old shed! Yeah! It was really fun to tear it apart and watch it burn and now I can see my huge backyard. He also made a large composting box and cut down a few "stumps". I call them stumps even though they were 20 feet tall because the tops had broken off in the last wind storm and then I'm not admitting that we were cutting down trees in our wetlands. My pantry shelves are also half way done. I keep hoping that my helping with these projects will get the contractions going... they start but still go away when I get sleep. Ahhh...I have no patience.

Really Sad Day

My sewing machine is officially not working. A few months ago my sewing machine wasn't working very well...it had trouble getting going and then eventually stopped working, thankfully I was up at my mom's house and we took it to the repair guy up there. Turns out the brushes (?) or something like that were getting stuck in the motor and it cost me just under $11 to get it fixed. Well, two days ago my machine started to do the same thing, so I decided to just take a look and see if there was anything I could do...HA! (and double HA!) All I could do was break it even more. I looked in the motor and nothing made sense so I went to put it back together and something fell out and I don't know where it goes, so alas I am without my favorite little machine. (I have a pfaff I could dig out of the closet but it kind of scares me still...) I called Creative Fabrics this morning to see if they knew where to take it for repair and I was given a few numbers to call. Hopefully I won't have to be without my sewing machine for too long, of course with a new baby soon I don't know that I'll get to sew all that often...oh wait, it's me we're talking about, I always find time to sew.

Work Weekend

This last weekend without the kiddos wasn't quite as productive as I wanted but I still got a lot done. Friday night Erik and I went out to dinner and then went to Home Depot (all dressed up from dinner) to get things we needed for our projects. Saturday it was really hard to get going in the morning, I just wanted to sit around and enjoy some free time, but I eventually got to it and painted the fireplace wall, swept and mopped the floors, helped Erik run some wire to wire the shed and got all the dishes done. I also made it to the coffee for Karen at church and stayed about an hour longer than I meant to. Erik got the shed mostly wired. Most importantly though, he got the freezer out there wired and transferred food from the house freezer to the shed freezer then our friend Brian helped Erik move the house freezer out of the house so Erik can start on my pantry. Yeah for a pantry! Alas, I'm still not in labor...

Mindy

My sister Mindy is quite talented. This post is to encourage you to check out her blog "Now Once, I Speak" and check out her really cool painting "Gipsy Girl" and while you're there check out her post "Life Burrito".
That's all, thanks.

Reaching...

I suppose if you reach hard enough you can blame the economy on everything, apparently even shark attacks or the lack thereof. In 2007 there were 50 shark attacks, in 2008 there were only 41. According to one expert because of the poor economy fewer people went to the beach for vacation and therefore there where fewer people in the water to be attacked by sharks. At least there's an upside to the bad economy...

USPS vs. UPS

I've decided that though I love getting packages in the mail, I officially hate filling out the shipping information when I buy something online. I especially hate when companies do not specify who they ship through. We do not receive any mail at our home street address because we do not have a mail box, we never put one up because we have a PO Box in Manzanita. And thus it gets confusing. I ordered something a few weeks ago and it was shipped UPS but UPS transferred it to the USPS, I was able to catch this and the Nehalem Post Office kindly held it at the Post Office for me to pick up. I've also had the nice UPS man call me and ask my street address when someone tried to send something UPS to my PO Box. I wasn't so lucky this time. I had the tracking number for my package and knew that it was being delivered USPS but other things went wrong. The company I ordered from asked that if you have a PO Box to put your street address in the comments section, well, I just discovered I did it backwards. I put my delivery address as the street address but I did put my PO Box in the comments section and also put "if this is shipped by the USPS I cannot receive it at my home address." Guess I should have specified "street" instead of "home". It still got shipped to my street address and I caught it too late, the Nehalem Post Office has already sent it back. I think we might have to put up a mailbox. It sounds easy enough and it would save me a lot of headache, even if we still keep our PO Box.
The really "no-fun" part is that I think I might have to pay for shipping again on this package because technically it's my fault that it got sent to the wrong address.

Cloth Diapers

So we've decided to try cloth diapers. A few days ago I ordered some covers and all-in-one cloth diapers to try out on Clayton and Ivan and we'll see which brand and style we like the best before we outlay all the money to get a good collection of cloth and covers. I also have been researching patterns online to maybe make my own, but as I don't have the waterproof fabric I more than likely will just end up purchasing cloth diapers. It seems a little expensive to start but when you really look at it it will be cheaper in the long run. Right now we are buying a box of diapers and a box of wipes every month and a half which is about $60 give or take a few dollars. We are soon to add another bundle of joy which also adds another box of diapers every month and a half; another $40. For a little extra washing I could cut down this "bill" drastically. I'm on my way now to raid my flannel to make flannel wipes to use with the cloth diapers, no sense in buying those when I have the flannel and a serger to finish the edges.
This is one of my projects to work on this weekend while my in-laws have the kiddos but I'm going to try and get a head start.

Car Troubles (But not mine.)

Last night was crazy. I was up waiting for my sister Beth to arrive when she called and said that her car was having trouble. She called back about 15 minutes later saying that it had completely died on the side of the road just after she left Warrenton. So I jumped in the suburban to go pick her up. On my way my mom and dad called and asked me to call Trevor in Cannon Beach and see if he and a friend could go up with me to make sure her car was completely off the road ('cause what could I do about it if it wasn't?). So I picked up Trevor and Ryan and they grabbed a tow rope from a friend and we headed up to find my sister. She was stuck on the side of the road right near the Reed Hertig buildings. The guys hooked her car up to my suburban, which Ryan drove and Trevor steered and braked Beth's car and we towed it to Cannon Beach where it is still sitting today. We got Trevor and Ryan back to Ecola just in time for curfew and Beth and I made it home by 12:30am. Today we dropped the keys off at Scovel's and they are going to tow it down here and fix it. Maybe Beth will get to stay longer two days!

Craigslist Addict

I'll admit it with pride. I am a Craigslist addict. Yesterday I found a $170 carseat for $45 on craigslist and today my wonderful father-in-law went and picked it up for me for $40. (Yes, I have awesome in-laws!) We discovered in cleaning out our shed that our previous infant carseat was covered in mold and personally no matter how much you clean it I really don't want to stick a newborn in something like that. Carseats have definently one up in price since we bought our last one and I was determined not to buy the cheap-o one we bought last time that worked but was a hassle to hook into the base. So for the last few weeks I have been scouring craigslist looking for a carseat. I found one a few weeks ago but it had sold by the time I called. This time, it was my turn.

Laundry Room

I finally found my laundry room yesterday. It was kind of like Columbus discovering the new world, after a long while of struggling through uncharted waters I stumbled upon this amazing little room that beheld strange machines that wash and dry your clothing. Okay, I knew it was there somewhere but it's been awhile since I've been able to get to it without moving tons of stuff and pulling out my climbing gear to get over other stuff. The laundry room has become the "catch-all" for cardboard boxes to recycle and other things to get rid of and boxes of tools and stuff to go out to the shed once we get the doors on etc. It required monumental moving of various things to switch clothes from the washer to the dryer and heaven help you if you dare try to empty the lint trap...
But it will all soon be a happy memory, I decided yesterday that enough was enough. The kiddos helped me load up all of our recycling and when Erik got home for lunch I took it all to Cart'm. Of course I can't go to Cart'm without looking for treasures and I found a beauty yesterday. A bifold door the perfect size for the "door" between the laundry room and the breakfast nook. So $3 for the door and $13 for the hardware (from the local hardware store) and my laundry room is once again hidden but in the best sort of ways. My plan was to get the door up before Erik got home from work to see how long it took him to notice, but Clayton went down for a nap before I could get to the hardware store so while I was waiting for him to wake up I decided the doors needed some artistic embellishments and I wasn't done painting when Erik got home from work. Also the battery was dead on the drill he had left at home and in the end I was really glad for his expert help in hanging the door. It still surprised him when he walked in the door to see my doors laid out on a couple chairs and me leaning over it painting, but he really really likes the finished project and I can't tell you how much it thrills me to have that doorway covered! Ahh, the small things in life. I still have to finish cleaning and move stuff out to the shed but I can see the floor and walk through without wading through junk and banging my shins on every imaginable thing. Who knew a laundry room could inspire such a long blog?

Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

We've started memorizing Bible verses with the kiddos at night. I think total right now Hannah can say a total of 5 short ones from our "Little Visits with God" book. Sometimes she remembers them better than we do. Tonight when we were saying them all this was my favorite:
"The very heads of your hair are all numbered." Matthew 10:30
Either way I'm glad God knows me well.

Addicted

Yesterday morning the power blinked off, long enough to turn the computer off and throw our internet into chaos. Okay, maybe not chaos, but it turned it off. We get our internet from our neighbors and they have this huge system set up in their house that if the power goes off you have to reset. They are in Nevada and Erik was at work all day and I don't know how to reset it. So yesterday I was without internet all day and it made me realize that I truly am addicted to the online world. Checking e-mail, facebook, my blog, searching on craigslist, I love to do these things. I didn't get any more done yesterday or solve any more problems or anything which helps me in knowing that my addiction does not yet control my life. And maybe to prove this to myself even more I did not run to the computer the minute it was back on...I waited at least an hour...actually Erik got to it first!

Due Date?

So I'm confused. You think I would have figured out this whole due date thing by now but apparently I haven't. I looked it up tonight. If you calculate your due date from your LMP (last known menstrual period) you count 280 days or 40 weeks, but if you calculate your due date based on date of conception you should only count 266 days or 38 weeks. Any body know if this is actually correct? 'Cause if it is I think my due date could be March 4 instead of March 17. I'm pretty sure I counted from guesstimated date of conception instead of LMP but I've still counted 40 weeks on my calendar. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but it would be nice if I were closer to being done!

Projects, Projects and More Projects!

Yesterday I basted a quilt and put the binding part way on. Today I finished painting the kiddos room. Well, I'm almost done, I got it all rolled this morning and now I have to wait for it to dry to see if I missed any spots. Who knew that dry semi-gloss paint and wet satin paint (in the same color) look the same on the wall, it was almost impossible to tell where I had already painted. Once the paint is dry I can move the stuff from the guest room that belongs in the kids room back and start working on cleaning the guest room. Then I can take down my Christmas houses and have all of my Christmas stuff put away. And hopefully in the process of doing all this I can pare down our junk and take it to Goodwill. Maybe "nesting" has hit, either that or it's spring fever or a combination of both, it's been so sunny and warm lately that it's crazy to think it's only Feb. My daffodils are coming up and I'm praying they don't get frostbitten...it's still frozen in the morning. Erik's parents are going to take the kiddos for the weekend in a few weeks and then I can really get to cleaning! I can't believe I'm excited about cleaning but I am.
ONLY 6 WEEKS OR SO TILL BABY COMES!