Is pretty plywood an oxymoron?

Today's projects is one that definitely falls into the category of "little updates" - and also "things I've been meaning to do for a LONG TIME!"

Here's the back of the house when we bought it:

Here's an updated shot I took on Saturday (note in particular the new roof & new fence, neither of which I can claim any part of, save a tiny bit of "project management."):  I did, however, paint the plywood door (to the basement stairwell) a dark gray-blue.  I finished that last August, and my mom helped by spray painting all of the hardware (I stayed far away to help make sure Anna didn't come out with extra arms or legs!)

Saturday, I finally put the finishing touch on the door.  

I easily spent 100 times as long thinking about wanting to do this project than I actually did doing it!  I think it took...10 minutes?  Perhaps a little longer, if you count stirring the paint, making sure Anna wasn't eating grass, and going back to add some curliques (the stencil as-is was a bit smaller than I would have liked, so I filled it out by selecting small sections of it and stenciling those parts where the wreath needed to grow).

The stencil is by Martha Stewart and I got it at Michaels.  

This is one of those tiny little updates that makes me smile and makes the house look a little more loved.  I saw a quote on a mouse pad at Target recently that said "Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful."  I would like to think I fall into the second category....that is, if pretty plywood isn't an oxymoron!

Wisdom Wednesday

My excitement from completing several projects on Saturday has yet to translate to blog posts (about projects), so in the meantime I have another quote of home inspiration to share.  As I wrote before, I've been collecting these quotes and adding them to my "Home inspiration" page.  I've enjoyed this recent addition to the blog, and have decided to post new quotes when I find them - for "Wisdom Wednesday."  (We'll all hope this doesn't cause the same stress as past self-imposed blog parameters!)

Anyway, I had thought of this last week (and decided on Wednesday for the nice alliteration), and conveniently found a new quote this evening.  Wham - the first Wisdom Wednesday.

"It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home." - Kathleen Norris

I think this speaks to the vocation of marriage and family - to provide a safe physical house for the bodies of our family, and to provide a nurturing and loving home for the souls.  It speaks to the constant balance beam we walk as mothers - can't neglect the children for the laundry, but totally neglecting the laundry would be neglecting the child as well.  We could have the perfect (decorated, clean, organized) physical home, but without love, it would be empty and pointless!

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of building the house...and next Wednesday for Wisdom Wednesday 2 about building the home :)

A spring in your step

Spring came to Ithaca with a glorious, sunny emergence this weekend.  We took full advantage of the warmer temperatures and the sunshine and spent as much time as possible outside.

Saturday, we took a family hike (with Anna riding in the baby backpack on Justin's back), followed by some time outside to work on some projects and try to eat grass (you can imagine which members of the family fell into each of those two categories).  Sunday afternoon, we just sat together on a blanket in the backyard, experiencing the simple joys of a warm day, being together, eating popcorn, blowing bubbles.  We capped off the weekend with our first al fresco meal of the season.  I'm of the opinion that everything tastes better outside (and we also learned clean-up for dropped bananas is also easier outside!)

On Monday, as I was switching our flannel sheets to regular sheets and enjoying the breeze that was blowing in the open window, I was thinking about the amazing happiness that comes on that first warm day.  It's like an unspoken holiday, as everyone collectively tosses open windows, dons garden gloves, and ties running shoes.  This year, the timing of Easter and the warm weather lined up extremely well (the first day I was comfortably without a coat was Holy Saturday), and that made me think all the more about the springtime that comes to our soul.  With Easter, we break out of the dark and intentionally dull period of Lent, and rejoice in the beauty of flowers, water - new life!  Like that first warm day, Jesus' resurrection breaks us free - from being cold and alone, from being sinful and sorrowful.  What joy we can find in this "Son-shine!" (and in this spring sunshine, too!)

No longer shall your sun go down, or your moon withdraw, 

For the LORD will be your light forever, 

and the days of your mourning shall be at an end.

Isaiah 60:20

Check back later this week for the projects completed by those of us who weren't eating grass on Saturday!

7 Quick takes: Edition 1

1. Remember last week I posted "Quick takes: trial run?"  This week, I'm participating for real, and will link my post to Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary.  For family readers, this basically just means that I'm connecting my blog to another one with a link, so that more people can come check out my ramblings :)

2. While we're on the topic of Jen and her fabulous blog, you should all take a minute and offer a prayer for her.  She is dealing with some complicated medical issues (blood clotting disorder + pregnancy), culminated with some procedures & her scheduled induction in the next few days.  She has a remarkable story of conversion from atheism to Catholicism, and shares some amazing insights on her blog, so I guess that is to say that her health affects not only her personal & family life, but her ability to share the faith with thousands of people online.  Say a prayer!

3. It was (finally) a sunny, warm(ish?) day here in New York yesterday, so I packed up Anna in her stroller and did all of the walking errands that I could think of doing.  We walked by my old office, so I stopped in to say hello.  Needless to say, everyone was really excited to see Anna, and at least pretended like they were glad I was there too.  In light of my recent job title crisis, it was reassuring that being in the office did not make me wish I were there instead of home with Anna.  There were a lot of personnel issues around the time that I left (related to me in that they caused me a lot of stress, but not specifically involving me), and it was really nice to see that they have been resolved, and there was a peace and camaraderie among the staff that definitely did not exist previously.  Even so, don't want to go back :)

4. Despite #3, I'm still working out the kinks of this new position.  Perhaps other stay-at-home moms can relate - I find that many days I am simultaneously bored, yet daunted by my to-do list (and I don't just mean to-do's that I dread....things that I genuinely am excited to work on).  Justin calls it "stagflation" due to some {very loose} similarities to the economic theory of the same name.  I'm thinking it is might be the fact that there's no specific timeline on anything I do and no direct consequences of putting things off another day.  I'm  thinking schedules & goals will be the ticket to kicking this feeling completely.  (I can't help it, the strategic planning part of my brain requires action plans to solve even the smallest of issues.).

5. The post I wanted to put up yesterday (before the dead camera battery issue) relates to my latest plan to finally tackle the projects that have been put off for way too long.  More coming soon on that - but there's definitely been a lot of the "now why didn't I do this sooner?" feelings around here.

photo credit Liz & Ryan

6. In terms of things I put off, hanging things on the walls seems to be top of my list.  Sometimes I have significant decision paralysis.  Other times, I just.....don't do things?  Case in point, for more than two years, I have known that I wanted to print the above wedding photo for a certain spot in the living room.  I think it was part of the decision process in painting this room green.  I'm going to try to get on that sooner rather than later.

7. It's another sunny day, which brings with it more inspiration to work on projects - Justin says I'm solar powered.  The camera is charging, so check back soon for the results :)  Until then, hop over to Jen's blog to check out some other great Quick Takes.

When in doubt, look at Anna :)

I had a blog post in mind for this evening, but when I went to grab my camera, the battery was dead (too many Easter shots!)

So, I decided...when in doubt, look at Anna :)  I figured that you won't mind another picture of her in her Easter dress, and I think this one is my favorite yet (thanks to my brother & his photography skills!)  It would probably be in the best interest of everyone if I just left my camera battery dead and relied on his photography!  Too bad he's 4 hours away :(

Anyway, writing this post reminded me that I have a constant delicate balance of focusing on our family & on our home.  The family needs a safe, comfortable place to live and play - but those things alone will not make for nice family life!  You may have heard the adage..."Good moms have sticky floors, messy ovens...and happy kids," and I don't ever want to lose sight of that in the midst of my home beautification kicks.  So, I guess - once again - when in doubt, look at Anna!  Although, I do have to admit, with her exploratory licking of all surfaces, watching her does inspire me {to try} to keep the floors clean.  Win-win, right?

Home inspiration

As I was washing the dinner dishes this evening, I looked up at the little magazine clipping my mom once mailed to me.  I found it so fitting that I taped it up above the sink - as a reminder of how I'd like to make our home.

It reads

The true nature of home...is a place of peace...so far as the anxieties of the outer life penetrate into it...it ceases to be home; it is then only a part of the outer world which you have roofed over & lighted fire in. - John Ruskin

This is just one way of defining the ideal home I seek to create.  As I work on my list (mentioned last week) of home characteristics, I thought it would be nice to have a compilation of inspiring quotes, thoughts, etc.  Since I never really used the "Blog Archives" section at the top of the blog, I took that away and replaced it with a "Home inspiration" page, where I'll be storing quotes as I find them.  I hope it will serve as an inspiration for all of us as we seek to create "home."

Please check it out, and as always, your suggestions and comments are most welcome :)

What I wore Sunday: The Easter dresses are done!

Part of my recent interest in returning to blogging has been to more actively participate in the online community of bloggers.  I've been reading a lot, but feel like it's a one-sided relationship.  To that end, I'm linking my post to Linen & Purple's What I Wore Sunday, which is a round-up of Catholic women in their Sunday best.

Anyway, you know I wanted to show you these dresses anyway!  They (thankfully) came a long way from the stack of fabric you saw last Tuesday!  I finished the last bit of the stitching on Anna's dress in the car on the first leg of our tour-de-Pennsylvania Saturday morning :)

I realized in retrospect that everyone taking pictures was far more interested in Anna than in Anna's dress, but this one at least shows the detail at the top (there are also embroidered flowers at the hem).  My mom (remember her talent from the Baptismal gown made from my wedding dress?) made Anna's bonnet to match her dress.  The lady behind us at Mass said she looked like a porcelain doll, and in my 100% biased opinion, I have to agree.  (Except that porcelain dolls don't let out such happy (loud) squeals or squirm around the entire time!)

It was neat to take a family picture with Anna in the same spot we first became a family 2 1/2 years ago.

Here we are at my parents' house with my awesome family.  It's the best shot I have of my dress, and -incidentally - since we don't own a full-length mirror, my first good look at the whole thing.

I will also note that the blog is to thank for me creating the dress - I was reading the archives, and found this old post where I mentioned using the green fabric for a tablecloth for Justin's birthday dinner.  I had forgotten I had this fabric (originally purchased, as I mentioned in the other post, at least 8 years ago for a never-realized Easter outfit) until I saw the "tablecloth."  I had just picked up the pattern on a whim at Jo-Anns (they're clearancing everything to get ready for the new, bigger store), and it ended up being a great pairing.  I found the belt at Target.

I was really wishing I was cool enough to wear a hat like this.  Also that places like Target sold them.....for maybe 1/10th of that price.

Phase Eight hair accessory

I satisfied my hat desire (at least for this year) with two satin flowers from A.C. Moore that I attached to bobby pins.

My excitement at our finished dresses was just a tiny fraction of my Easter joy.  We had a great trip: safe travels, (mostly) great weather, a beautiful Easter morning Mass at my home church, delicious food, and lots of fun with family (and not just the great folks shown above!)  Among others, Anna got to see all 4 grandparents, 6 of her great-grandparents, and she met her great-great-grandmother (age 101) for the first time.  Here's a 5 generation photo:

Generation 1: Great-great-grandmother Florence
Generation 2: Great-grandfather Gerald
Generation 3: Grandfather Steve
Generation 4: Father Justin
Generation 5: Anna!

Anna spread lots of Easter joy (and kisses, as demonstrated here with my beautiful sister)

She was spoiled with Easter baskets:

And, true to form, she rolled past her numerous Easter goodies to check out the furniture.

HAPPY EASTER!