V Day

Daniel and I typically don't do gifts for Valentine's Day, but this year he got me a gift and I LOVE IT! 

That's right!  I finally got a kitchen compost container!  Now, what amounts to basically a garbage can for your kitchen counter may not excite most of you, but it does me!  We've had a compost pile going in the yard for quite a while now, so I'm super excited to have a large, attractive, smell-proof container to hold my food scraps before Daniel takes it to dump on the compost pile.  You would be amazed how much smaller your trash gets when you don't throw out those wonderful veggie scraps and coffee grounds!  Veggies gone bad in the fridge?  Just toss 'em in here!  Hopefully, all this wonderful 'trash' is going to work wonders on my veggie garden this year!  Woohoo!  Enjoy your roses ladies, I'll take rotting fruit! :)

On the Sullivan/food front, I've had a few wins this week!  He enjoyed an avocado pocketbook for dinner the other night, ate maybe a bite of pot roast, lots of baked sweet potato fries.  I'll take my wins where I can get them. 

On a side note, is my family the only family in America that calls a 'foldover' sandwich a pocketbook?  You know, one piece of bread folded in half with stuff in side.  While on our recent trip to the cabin with friends and their kids, I asked the children if they would like a peanut butter and jelly pocketbook and they thought I was nuts!  Oh well...to each their own.  I'm sticking with pocketbook!

15 months old and house projects

Sullivan is 15 months old today!  The photo above was taken at bedtime, so his eyes look about half closed.  He doesn't sit still for photos, so it took quite a few tries to get him head on! He is still learning new things/words/actions every day!  He is definitely getting some attitude and lets you know if he doesn't like something.  He complains terribly when you change his diaper or change his clothes, so keeping him distracted during those times is mission critical these days!  He still won't eat much of anything!  He refuses to try most things I make for him, so it's a constant battle.  He basically survives on fresh fruit, peanut butter on waffles, bagels, toast, yogurt, milk, watered down white grape juice, whole wheat baby cereal mixed with pureed fruit, carrots, mac and cheese, and bacon.  Not exactly a well rounded variety.  I'm going to buy some veggies blend juices today (like green goodness) and see if I can sneak some veggies in that way.  Fingers crossed!  His habit of eating anything he finds on the floor or otherwise seems to be lessening.  He can be trusted to wander a bit more around the house since he is less likely to eat any  piece of leaf, dog hair, etc he finds on the floor.  He loves to run from us...yeah..super fun.  He's pretty much a constant wiggle worm and impossible to contain these days!  He's also the cutest, sweetest thing ever!  Love him! He's great at pointing out his and your body parts, loves the cat and dog and turning lights and fans off and on.  He has recently become attached to 'froggy' that he got for Christmas from the Hernando Rogers clan.  When we get ready for bed, I turn on his music in his crib and ask him where Froggy is and he'll lean right over, get into the crib, hug Froggy, and my job is done!  Bed time is a breeze these days!  He's still sleeping great, although, I believe he has more teeth coming in on the bottom, so that may quickly change.  He currently  has 2 teeth on the bottom and 4 on the top.  He is really sporting a mullet look these days, so the first haircut is fast approaching.  I'll be sure to document! 

On to house project news, Daniel and I got several small house projects tackled over the weekend.  The first was the changing of the cabinet hardware in the kitchen.  I didn't want to spend a ton on it, but the hardware that came with the house has always irked me, so we made a simple and inexpensive switch!  I'm much happier with the new!  You can see the new and old in the pic below.  (old is the white, new is the all metal)

'We' also finally made a decision on the problem area behind our bar stools.  Because the kitchen paint is flat, when anyone would sit on our bar stools, their pants, shoes, etc would scuff the mess out of the wall.  We talked about different options, including just a tougher coat of paint, but decided to go with something a little more exciting!  I think it turned out really well, and I'm excited!  This project was quick and easy (especially for me since I spent that time on the couch watching tv)!  We bought these faux pressed tin panels from home depot that are typically used for back splash areas. 

Before:

After:

After with bar stools:

We've got several other projects currently under way, so I'll update on those when they have been completed!  We are expecting to get several inches of snow tomorrow, so maybe we'll be able to tackle some projects while working from home!

Help Save Anton

Please share the links below in case you might know some one who can help Anton! 

http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com/2011/02/please-help-save-anton.html

http://helpanton.com/

A post and it's not even the 8th of the month!

Shocking I know, but I'm actually posting even though it's not a Sullivan 'birthday'!  I would really like to get better about my posting because I find it very hard to sum up large segments of time, but I don't want to leave anything out! 

I've been lately working on "decorating" some parts of the house.  I use this term very loosely, as I have no decorator gene in my body.  I've recently purchased a cupboard and area rug for my dining room, and am now looking for paintings, etc to work with this area.  You can see the new rug and cupboard in the photo below.  The tall Walter Anderson used to be hanging where the cupboard is now, so we need to find a new home for it.  The ceilings in the dining room are 17 feet I think, so i really need another large piece of art above cupboard to help fill some of that space.  wish I had the art gene and could just make myself one!  Obviously, the photo below was taken before the dining room table was moved back in...just fyi.

In addition to the dining room changes, I'm working on our bedroom.  I've bought a white mattelasse coverlet for our bed, but am still looking for a throw or comforter for the end of the bed (and to pull up on cold nights), coordinating pillows, curtains eventually, and fabric to recover the overstuffed chair in the reading nook of our bedroom.  A daunting task to be sure, but I'm hopeful it will come together eventually.  Our bedroom is a soothing 'McCarty green' and I would like the rest of the room to have the same soothing, spa-like vibe.  I'll post photos if I ever get this close to finished.

We are also looking at new kitchen table, possibly re-doing a small storage cart thing in the kitchen, new hardware for cabinets, another chair for my living room...my lists could and do go on and on! One thing at a time, but I'm tired of just ignoring the things I want to do. 

I also have a list of to-do's for outside!  I'm so ready for another warm weekend to get the veggie bed ready for spring planting, do some transplanting, etc.  I've got to find a solution to our water issues with the veggie bed.  I HATE A GARDEN HOSE.  The dragging, connecting, etc drives me insane!  Of course every time Daniel has to mow, we have to  move the hoses out of the way.  We have a giant culvert that we were given in hopes of making a rain barrel, but that hasn't happened yet.  Maybe this year.  My biggest dilemma is how to get enough rain water to drain into the rain barrel to use in the back of the yard.  Also, I've read you aren't supposed to use rain water to water vegetable gardens...can someone explain this to me?  How do veggies in the wild get watered?  RAIN!?  Any who.  I have grand plans for the veggie garden this year (as usual), but really hope I'll get to implement them successfully since Sullivan is now old enough and mobile enough to play in the yard while we work. 

Book club is officially back in session!  We have our first review meeting next Thursday to discuss Water for Elephants.  This book was a great, entertaining, quick read.  For the first time in the history of this book club, I think every member will have actually finished, and possibly even enjoyed, the book selection!  May wonders never cease!  :) 

And now, because it just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't, I leave you with some photos of the recent snow!