The Chair

Although we haven't been doing any big projects on the house over the summer, Bryce did have a big project of his own. My sister-in-law's father-in-law died several years ago. Before he died he was building her a rocking chair so that she could rock her babies to sleep. But he got too sick and was never able to finish it. This is the father-in-law that Bryce inherited his wood shop from. With the wood shop came the parts and the instructions to this chair. So for my sister-in-law's 30th birthday, Bryce finished the chair:

Look at that beautiful wood on the arms!

Bryce had never done a project like this before and he did an amazing job. I'm so impressed that I am pretty sure he can do anything, which has made him a very long list of projects :) Bryce's parents had the seat upholstered at a place here in town where we found the beautiful leafy fabric. Bryce spent all of his spare time (which granted is not a whole lot when you have an 18 month old, a pregnant wife, and the PE exam coming up), for the last three months to finish this chair. It is so beautiful, and he was really proud of himself and I think he still can't believe he was able to do it. He has a natural talent for wood working that he never knew he possessed until he inherited the wood shop from this man.

Now onto my kitchen desk, closet organizer, scrapbook/sewing area, and built-in dresser. You have time for all that right honey? :)

Catch up!

I haven't posted anything in months! We've been busy having tons of fun but really haven't worked on the house much lately...so before winter hits, and with it all our winter house projects (my favorite thing about winter!) I figured I would get you all updated on what has been happening around here.

Fourth of July, played in the pond at Box Canyon Dam:
Went camping in Kettle Falls, Dietrich helped Daddy with the fire:Kayaking on Lake Roosevelt:
Holy Moly! My 10 year class reunion:
Lounging on the Pend Orielle River during Down River Days:
Aunt Dianne came for a visit and told Dietrich all about tractors:
And she brought Uncle Paul's horse, such fun!
Then the cousin's came to visit:
and we played outside every day!
Finally, camping at Sullivan Lake!
Dietrich loved the water!
and the beach is always good for a nap:
Then we spent a bunch of time lounging around because, uh-oh, mommy is pregnant again!
Happy Birthday to Bryce!
And my three best friends from Carroll came to visit over Labor Day weekend.
This is Dietrich's future wife. But even if they don't let us force, I mean even if they don't choose each other we hope they will be great friends!
Camping with the Fletcher's this is D's buddy Corbin.
We went to the Spokane Fair, Dietrich loved seeing all the animals.
Happy Birthday to me!
Apple picking with our mommy and me friends at Green Bluff:
So as you can see we have been busy little bees, just mostly maintaining life rather than starting any new projects. But you know us, there is always something planned! So hopefully I can keep up with the blogging now that I can get myself off the couch (yay for the second trimester) and maybe start some fun stuff around the house!

Camping!

We are going camping this weekend! I love camping! I love being outside and sitting around a fire and swimming and hiking and making food outside. I love how cold it is in the tent at night and how you have to get out of it early because it gets too hot. I love making s'mores, I always try to make the perfect golden marshmallow, my Dad taught me how. I like building fires and setting up tents. I like riding my bike around the campground. I love washing dishes in such a nontraditional way (actually it's probably MORE traditional considering it's a little more old-fashioned than the sink way of washing). I love getting out all our great camping gear. If I drank coffee I am sure I would love campfire coffee. I love how everything smells like campfire when you get home. I love using our awesome roasting sticks with our names on them. I love how it smells, how it feels, and all the memories that it brings back and all the memories that it makes. I sure hope Dietrich loves it too :)

Cleaning the Fridge

You know how your just going along and all of sudden you reach in the fridge for a cuppa milk and notice that, ew, the fridge needs cleaned? Usually the collection of dog hairs is how I know it's time, (did I just admit that there were dog hairs in my fridge? GA-ROSS). Anyway, my Grandma is coming to visit this weekend and although she has been to my house once before she has never stayed with me and I am so excited for her to stay! So clearly the fridge must be cleaned because I'm sure my 87 year old grandma is going to be judging me by the cleanliness of my fridge. In fact, I doubt she will even get in my fridge the whole time she is here. But IF she does, it will be dog hair free and ready to impress! You know what makes a clean fridge even better? Filling it full of groceries! I despise grocery shopping, thankfully Dietrich loves it. If he's in a bad mood I load him up and we go grocery shopping. He loves the people the "ights" I'm pretty sure he loves anything but staring at me all dang day.

But I hate it, I hate spending money, I hate taking the time, I hate seeing really heavy people buy disgusting food (I realize that was kind of mean, but seriously, it bothers me a lot), I hate trying to remember if I should buy this one item for that one meal I like to make or if I still have it at home, and I HATE spending the money, did I mention that? I always have to remind myself, and Bryce, that although ALL our money seems to go toward food that is the one thing we literally cannot live without. We can ditch the cable, internet (what!? GASP!), even a car, but we cannot live without the food. Why oh why does the food have to cost so much money!?

So in summary, this week we are focused on the fridge, which is happily cleaned, inside and out, and full of food (that will disappear by next week, blah).

New front steps

The front steps to our house are dangerous. Bryce has broken the front off of two of them. The handrail is too low to hold onto and it wobbles dangerously. The grandma's who visit HATE these stairs...so it was time to replace them. Here is the before picture, Bryce is getting ready to tear them apart:

Almost gone:
I really wanted to order a pizza and then sit in the house and see what the pizza guy would do. I never tried it, but I did have friends come by and they were able to knock on the bottom of the door...I let them in through the garage so they didn't have to climb the ladder.
Starting the new steps!
We went with a wide step at the bottom that turns to make the stairs more inviting and the front of the house a little more interesting. It's also a good place to put plants and stuff! Look, Dietrich is a good helper!

Here they are all done and painted!

Bryce still plans to add a handrail to the inside of the stairs so that there is a rail on both sides. The stairs feel safe and are much prettier than before too!

Flowers and Plants and a Garden too!

This year our BIG projects for the summer are going to be the yard and the front steps. After last year where I apparently spent the entire summer indoors with my sweet new baby, I have been spending a lot of time outside! Remember this? The lovely lava rock that lined our driveway when we moved in:

Well now it looks like this! (Oh my gosh, how much better does our lawn look!!?)
This is the corner, I have slowly been making plans for it. So far it has this cute plum tree that we planted on Dietrich's 1st Birthday and the day lily that my in-laws gave me for mother's day.
And this spot that just looks like dirt (oh, wait, because it is) is where I just planted a whole bunch of seeds for some pretty flowers. Hopefully in the next month or so I will have pictures of actual flowers here!
And now I will show you a picture of every single flower that I have planted this year:


Look a tomato plant, with tomatoes on it!


And now...da da da DAAA, my GARDEN! This is where the dog kennel was when we moved in, there was no grass here so we decided it was a good place to start a garden.
We have some lettuce, peppers and onions, carrots, and strawberries. At the back you can see my little raspberry bushes, and apparently my clothes on the line too, NICE.
This is the best our yard has looked since we moved in, the lawn is green and filling in and the flowers are adding some nice color. We really enjoy looking outside and seeing all the fun changes this year!

Where have I been?

I cannot believe that I haven't posted anything in MONTHS!!! I haven't done that since I started this blog and we bought this house. I blame it on an extremely long and depressing winter/spring and the fact that this kiddo has become so much fun that I just want to spend all my time playing with him, teaching him new things, and you know, sleeping!

So I am going to do my best over the next few days to share pictures and news of our new front steps, garden, and many flowers and plants that we have been planting to add to the landscape around this place. I am sitting in the backyard enjoying the SUN SUN SUN and finally feeling ready to blog again. Sorry it's been so long and I hope you enjoy the work we have been doing on Our House!