Nesting For This One

I love it when Travis gets a cleaning notion in his head. He always does a thorough job. This weekend it was cleaning the pots.Some Bar Keepers Friend and Heavy Duty Degreaser (plus some scrubbing pads) were what did the trick. Then, a cycle in the dishwasher and voila! Presto chango! New pans (or new-er).
And, going along with the nesting theme, I have this little "Brittany bump" that keeps getting bigger. Time Magazine did a cover story called, "Inside the Womb," in 2002 and I loved this quote:

"Imagine yourself as the world's tallest skyscraper, built in nine months and germinating from a single brick. As that brick divides, it gives rise to every other type of material needed to construct and operate the finished tower — a million tons of steel, concrete, mortar, insulation, tile, wood, granite, solvents, carpet, cable, pipe and glass as well as all furniture, phone systems, heating and cooling units, plumbing, electrical wiring, artwork and computer networks, including software."

---Tsiaras and Werth

The fetal growth process is amazing. I feel "it" kicking alot lately. Will it be a boy or a girl? I will let you know next Tuesday, for that is when we have "the ultrasound."

What do you think it will be?

Deeee-licious and De-light-ful!

Item of business No. 1: Beef Taco (courtesy Stacey)

It is delicious and easy to make. Here's the recipe:

1 pound hamburger, browned

1 cup salsa

1 cup minute rice

1 can kidney beans

3/4 cup water

Mix all together. Boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Serve with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Item of Business No. 2: The sunroom has lighting!

I got these sconces at Home Depot. They were supposed to be "hard-wire only" but thanks to Travis and his handy-ness, he put cords with switches on them. Let there be light!

Emissions and Lighting Tuesday

Just thinking about yesterday's wild goose chase around Cleveland makes me sick to my stomach. We spent 3 1/2 hours running around from one place to another, getting an emissions test, getting a physical inspection, getting license paperwork, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. We were trying to register the van and change the plates from Illinois to Ohio. Turns out, after all that work, we still have to wait a whole month before we can get it registered. Fooey on youey, I say to Ohio! Onto a more pleasant note, I'm looking for lighting for....
...this sun room. I'm thinking sconces. I hope it wouldn't look funny to have sconces on the panels between the windows. That's where the only plug-ins are the the whole room.

The sconces I like and can afford are at Ikea, which is almost 2 hours away. I can't afford to drive there, however. I need an Ikea in Cleveland!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We went to dinner Saturday to celebrate my birthday. This was my hair after I took it out of the barrettes. Travis said I looked like Annie with a mullet. I had to go back to the powder room and concoct another hair-do. I've never been very good at doing hair.
This was the cake I made for a family dinner of a senior missionary couple who had a fatal car accident a week ago. The wife died and the husband is in critical condition. What do you make for the bereaved family? Italian Cream Cake was what I came up with.
This is Finn after church-play in the backyard. He wasn't very happy about the whole picture taking thing.
Weekend yard sale find: a 1972 Fisher Price playhouse with little people and stroller included. Finn loves it. I got it for $8 and I looked online and they're selling for between $40 and $60. Good deal.
And, last, but not least, this is the pretty white cake Travis made me for my birthday. The frosting is a cream cheese/powdered sugar/whipped cream mixture and he put strawberries in the middle too. It was dreamy. Made for the perfect birthday!

Birthday Joys

I've already had a good birthday so far because:

01. Travis and I went for our morning run.

02. It's overcast but not raining---my favorite weather!
03. The bike store man inflated my stroller tires for FREE!

04. Finn and I found a great children's book sale at the library. We got a box full of hardbound, library-plastic-wrapped books for 50 cents a piece. What a deal!

{Here's Finn reading one selection.}

05. And, I got the sunroom-window-scraping project DONE yesterday! This alone calls for celebration! I can actually see out of my windows now without years of smudge marks, dog splatters and runny paint blocking the view.

And, here's a picture for my mom. I just wanted to show how her pruning job from last Fall is looking in the Spring. Not bad, eh? I love my yard right now. Thanks, Mom!

I'm turning 28 today. I'm pushing 30 and I guess that's not so bad. It doesn't seem possible. In my mind I'm still that little pig-tailed toehead running around on the playground at Livingston Elementary....

...or that girl who sat in her basement room at her desk drawing house plans, even making out lists of what every room in her English manor-type house would contain...

...or that nervous, insecure college grad about to perform a Patty Griffin song on guitar onstage at Club Passim...

...or, I'm just a housewife who lives day-by-day and enjoys family life and most things domestic(most of the time).

Join Us For Our Morning Run

We're out the door around 9 o'clock usually and the two Bobsy Twins are happy to be out.
The turnaround point is Shaker Lakes. Today we threw leftover hot dog buns to the geese and ducks on the bridge.
Sometimes we take this running path along the lake.
We always go by this house (mansion) which is in the Fairmount Historic District.
And homes like these are on several of the streets we run on.

I like looking at the homes, Finn likes looking for sticks to hold, and Lucy starts panting and screeching when we get within 50 feet of any animal, let it be dog, squirrel or robin.

The Grand Finale

Finn has been in a pre-school co-op since the Fall. Every week we swapped for a two-hour, in-home glorified play-date with four boys and one girl. Today was the last day and we had a party. First, we pinned the nose on the goofy clown.
Then, we got out the popping balloons and the kids loved them. They were in the dollar aisle at Target and they were a hit.
Even the youngins' liked them.

Good-bye preschool of 2007-2008! It was good while it lasted. We have many fond memories and some not-so-fond, but we will miss you nonetheless!

Catching Up

This was taken on Mothers Day. I didn't really like the picture, but it was the only one we got.
And this is Miss Lucy Toots in the bath, with necklace. What elegant lady doesn't bathe with her necklaces on?

And, I didn't take my camera on our recent trip to Boise, so if you want to see the pictures, you can go here or here or here or here.

Happy Paint Scraping, oh wait, that's to me!

Getting 'Er Done

I enlisted the help of Finn this morning at 8 o'clock to help me scrape the paint off the windows in the sunroom. (Only I didn't tell him his scraper didn't have a blade on it).
We've got alot of windows to do (both sides) and at 15 minutes a side, it's gonna take several days.
See the little blobs of paint on the glass close to the panes?

This is why I've put this job off for almost a year now.

And, if you're wondering what I look like at almost 17 weeks, here's a picture.

It's rainy, I dreamed vividly last night and I feel like staying home and working.

I love days like this.

After all, Mondays are my favorite day of the week.

Mother Hen and Why I Like That Role

I like being a mother because:

01. I love hearing, "Mama," first thing when Lucy gets up in the morning.

02. I enjoy reading to my kids. It not only entertains me (nose-picking and all) but they like it as well.
03. Motherhood has taught me more than I ever thought was possible to learn, in the ways of patience, humility, patience and did I say patience?
04. It was what I was born to do. I feel a sense of accomplishment and gratitude that I can grow and learn from this all-encompassing aspect of my life.

Being a mother is the most challenging, and most fulfilling thing I've done (it doesn't compare to even marathon running).

I have this quote hand-written in my book of favorites:

Like those "noble and great" women who came before us, we cannot be ordinary women. We cannot be women who seem too much like women of the world. We must speak up for righteousness without apology. We, like Mary, Eve, Sarah, and Emma, are unique. We have ripples to make and water to share. Given our eternal heritage, we must remember how powerfully our simple, righteous actions can ripple through the hearts and homes of those around us. We have such a great opportunity to do so much good, and, most important, we know where and how to "draw water out of the wells of salvation."

---Virginia U. Jensen

A Happy Mother's Day (on Sunday) to all the Mothers and Future Mothers!

I hope you enjoy the celebration of Motherhood!

Hey, Hey, Good Lookin'

My sister Erin sent me this cookbook and it is awesome! It is published by the American Institute for Cancer Research. So, don't go looking for recipes with ground beef because there aren't any...I tried! It uses vegetables in most of the dishes combined with meat and/or other ingredients in intriguing ways. I can't wait to begin my experience with this book tonight by making Black Bean, Corn and Chicken Salad.

I'm also excited about these Inside Out Carrot Cakes. Thanks Kendra from Running Amuck!

I've needed the extra inspiration lately because I've completely drained my personal "me-time" reservoir. I haven't done something creative or for myself lately, so it's time to get the fires burning!

What do you do when your reservoir is sapped and you need something to fuel you?

The Eating of the Cones

I'd like to think that I'm a pretty laid-back mom and that this ice-cream-cone-eating-thing doesn't make me want to hose down the kids....but, I'm not and it does. They had fun, so it was worth it, right? You have to know that they went straight to the bath after this though. That's how un-fun and mess-freak-ish I am.

(And, yes, that is a bike helmet slung around Finn's neck. It's of his own doing. I have no idea why he did that).

Feeding These Bodies: Large and Small

On any given day of the week, the Schuller family weighs about 380 pounds collectively. (That number is going up each week as the smallest little member of our family grows inside his/her mama's belly.) As I mentioned in a previous post, I am consumed with food lately. I like to eat and I need to eat. And, since I found I was with child, I haven't really been able to get into crafty projects. Plus, my house fixing up budget is already spent, so I have turned to food for interest and focus. (This may change tomorrow or in an hour, but right now it's lunchtime and food is on the mind).
I've read some articles on organic food and it doesn't really make sense to me why I would need to buy organic. (I know there are some readers who are thinking, "Boy, she is way off in her thinking.") I'm open to any comments you have on the matter.

So, today for lunch I made roasted red pepper hummus wraps, with cottage cheese, cucumbers, lettuce and red peppers. I have been eating alot of fast food lately and I need a detox.

I think now that I've outed that I'm obsessed with food, I probably won't need to post on it so much. But, please, tell me what you're thinking about in the food category lately.

As I've said before, food really interests me!

Toasting S'Mores

We had a little s'more party in the kitchen last night with Travis' new propane single-burner stove.
Lucy ate microwave kettle corn and tangerines.
I ate two s'mores and Travis ate too many to count.
Finn thought he was conducting a symphony.
And this is Lucy today, poor Miss Lucy. If you look closely, you'll notice two strips of tape holding on cotton balls on both her arms. She had to get two draws of blood today to test for lead and iron. She was a trooper. We celebrated by eating in the Atrium Cafe, a little lunch cafeteria in the medical building where her Doctor's office is. She is a sweetie, asleep upstairs.

I better take Mr. Finn Bob and join her in dreamland while I've got the chance!