Stella...our little helper

Stella has been drying dishes for simply ages now. That's Reeve and Kyle's main dish job...drying. I know air drying is better, but we go through so many dishes in one day that towel drying is a necessity around here. Stella picked up on that right away, and she actually does a very enthusiastic and good job. Seriously!

 The other night she started to climb up on the stool that Kyle sits on to dry dishes...Tommy was washing dishes and decided to let her help him.

 Well a sink full of hot (solar heated!!) soapy water was too much fun for our enthusiastic Stella to miss! BTW, what do you all think of Tommy's 'spenders?? He loves them, he says he's never been so comfortable in his jeans before...but bright orange?? They were on sale...hunter's special...he wears them everyday :)

 Stella: "Yeah, Papa lets me wash the dishes...you got somethin' to say about that Mama?!" Stella sports some tough looks!

 She really likes to get all in when she goes to work.

 All done...time to let the water out.

Knitted Clogs for Reeve

Truth be told I have been knitting these clogs for Reeve for well over a year. They were supposed to be a Christmas present for him last year. I had a huge learning curve and had to start over MANY times. Now I think they are simply EASY to knit. Anyone want a pair of warm, comfy/cozy, clogs??? Just send me your shoe size and possible color preferences :)

 Above and below: These clogs are felted clogs, meaning I had to agitate the heck out of them in the washer. The little bits of blue fluff are from cut-off jeans. They tell you to agitate the clogs with a pair of jeans to get more agitation...well I used a pair of cut-offs and that didn't work so well because they fluffed off and got "stuck" all over the clogs.

 The best way to fit them is to wear them wet for about 15-20 minutes while they are wet, then stuff them with plastic bags so they hold their shape while they dry.

 After about 2 whole days they were finally dry. Reeve says they are super duper comfy! I had to find out for myself...I tried on his clogs and guess what? They fit me perfectly! Reeve and I now wear the same size shoe (gasp!). THEY ARE super duper comfy. I can hardly wait to knit myself a pair. Right now I'm about done with the first of Kyle's clogs...then Stella...then Tommy...then ANYONE???WANT SOME???...then me :)

Quickly Reeve discovered how much fun they are to slide in...

Kyle had to join in the fun!

Stella Juicing

It's a little early for really good citrus, but we're starting to see more of it. One of our favorite things to do is buy loads and loads of citrus and then JUICE them.

 Stella...whenever she sees that camera she just wants it!

 She's ready to get juicing!

 Hard to take a good picture of the absolute yumminess, but trust me the juice was divinely delicious!

 Stella in action!

 She's a good juicer!

Front Entry Project and Halloween 2010

In order to sell our home we decided that we need a better front entry. Currently we have a front door to the lower level, but you have to walk around and down a steep hill to the southside of the home. There is a door to the upper level, but you have to walk up some stairs, over the garage, and then down some stairs (13 steps total) just to get into the upper level.

 We also decided to eliminate the chimney...what with our awesome 10 panel solar hot water system there really is minimal need for a chimney at this point. We will take out the chimney and this dormer window and create a nice Front Entryway into the house.

 Foundation work always takes so much time!

 This year was the first year I let the kids carve their pumpkins ALL. ON. THEIR. OWN. Absolutely no help from me (or Tommy!).

 The laid down newspaper and went to the other side of the house and set to work with their new pumpkin carving kits.

 Reeve carved the bat and Kyle carved the other two. The one on the end he did for Stella.

It was a fun night! We had our traditional dinner of PUMPKIN PIE! YUMMY!!

Getting Caught Up! More Handwork photos!

I tell you, it is a lot of work to back track and organize your pictures after you've neglected them for months on end! Tommy and I both have a camera, both are not the greatest, and with 2 cameras clicking, having different download days, well...it was IS confusing :)

Reeve made this lego ship simply ages ago...before he started school!

Sad thing is that he hasn't had time to play with his legos since starting school.

Some friends of ours gave us a Ukranian Egg Coloring kit. It's called Pysanka, and it is really fun!

You use a tool called a kistka that you put a dab of beeswax into, then you heat the kistka over a candle flame and the wax is runny. You use the kistka and the hot wax to "draw" on your egg. The first layer will be the color of the egg.

We pencil drew on the egg first. After you've applied the first layer of wax you die the egg yellow. Now you apply your second layer of wax everywhere you want to be yellow.

You keep adding wax and die (progressively getting darker...yellow, orange, green (applied with a q-tip to certain areas), finishing with blue or red. Once all the wax and colors have been applied you heat the egg over the candle flame and wipe off the wax. A brilliantly colored egg appears, and you can apply a thin layer of shelac to it. Sadly I do not have finished picutres! It was a several day undertaking for us, and I'd love to do it again when we are settled somewhere!

These are the before pictures of Kyle making the doll from my previous post.