Back to Sewing!

We are finally settled enough in our new house that I can get back to sewing and crafting. It's been awhile! Remember the really cute fabric I showed you a couple of days ago? Well . . . I haven't even touched it yet. I got a little side tracked when my mom called me yesterday from the fabric store. She told me she found the exact fabric I had been looking for. So, I went there yesterday and it was indeed just what I had wanted. And today I made these:

Curtains for Madeline's room

I think they make her room look pretty cute!

And as for her old valance . . . well it just so happened to fit perfectly as a runner on her dresser. Almost like I planned it!

Next project . . . that cute fabric . . . well, maybe . . .

April Recipe

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus

Martha Stewart Everyday Food

2 bunches asparagus (two pounds total), tough ends removed
4 TBLS butter, cut into small pieces
12 ounces cavatappi or other short pasta
1 small log soft goat cheese (5 ounces), crumbled
2-3 TBLS fresh chives, for garnish
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Place asparagus on a large rimmed baking sheet’ dot with 1 TBLS butter, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, tossing occasionally, 10-15 minutes; cut into 2-inch lengths.

While asparagus is roasting, generously salt boiling water. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Set aside 1½ cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, remaining 3 TBLS butter, and ½ cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add goat cheese mixture and asparagus to pasta; toss to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary for sauce to coat pasta. Serve pasta garnished with chives.

PS- Happy Birthday to my very dear sister, Raelynn! I love you so much! You're my greatest friend. I can't wait to see you next month!

Ten Things

My sister-in-law Emmy Mom, always does a post on her blog at the end of each month called "ten things to smile about this month". I have always wanted to do the same, but never have. Until now! She challenged everyone to give it a try, so here goes:

Ten Things to Smile about this Month

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1. We moved into our new house!

2. We no longer have Qwest! Now we can call any long distance number that we want on our Vonage phone. And the best part is we kept the same phone number!
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3. My kids have their own park in our backyard 4. The radon levels in our house are now below 3 (they were around 13 when we moved in), so now we won't all get lung cancer.
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5. I bought this fabric . . . can't wait to use it
6. Ethan has a friend
7. Flower are blooming
8. I was able to get Ethan signed up for a wonderful Montessori Preschool for the fall.


9. We only have four boxes in the entire house left to unpack. And we already have lots of the pictures hung up!


10. I discovered today that we now live only 10 minutes from IKEA!

Ethan's Drawings

Ethan has been busy at work, drawing and drawing and drawing. For days he would only color in coloring books. He started with the first picture in the book and would color every picture in order until the book was complete. Then, he used an entire ream of paper writing the alphabet. But just in the last few days, he's turned to drawing pictures. And I just think they are so cute:

Butterfly
Cat and Mouse

Giraffe

Lion

Penguin

Sheep

And of course . . . Thomas the Tank Engine!

My Daughter Babysits

We found out that there are 22 Beehives in our ward. That is the name for the girls from church who are 12 and 13 years old. 22!

Now I know why almost every woman who introduced herself to me said, "Hi, I'm so and so, and my daughter babysits."

Too many sitters in the area and not enough babies. Hmmm, maybe they can start paying me to tend my kids . . .

Gardening and Friendship

Today I worked in the garden for two hours. The weather was perfect and the ground soft. It was fun to discover what plants are growing in my new gardens and I enjoyed pulling the weeds while they were still small. I gardened until my shovel decided it had had a full life:
Perhaps I should invest in one worth more than $1 this next time around. Though this one sure treated me well.

And all the time I gardened, Ethan played with his new friend. This is the second day in a row that Ethan has played with the little boy who lives three houses down. This might not seem like a big deal, but when the doorbell rang yesterday and a little face smiled and asked if Ethan could play, it was the first time that that had ever happened in Ethan’s whole life. Sure, Ethan has played with kids before, but always at mommy groups or play dates. Never has he had a friend who came to our house without his mom to play with Ethan. Ethan was his first choice. And my heart has never felt so happy.

Madeline followed them around and laughed at the funny things they did. She couldn’t really keep up, but they were kind to her and she had as wonderful a time as the two boys did. Just last week I wondered how I would ever get all my gardening taken care of with my two kids needing my attention so much. Now I know how. . . friendship makes all the difference.

Update

We moved while it was pouring rain. It turned to sleet and snow and back to rain. My leather couches had a nice shower and after toweled off looked good as new. Thank you Mom for helping me tape down thick paper to the entire wood floor prior to the wet messy move! And thank you to everyone who helped. We couldn't have done it without you!

Both my kids have been sick but are now recovering. The day before the move and the day of, Madeline had a fever. Ethan’s came later. Along with runny noses and horrible coughs. All are well today!

For days, Madeline had no appetite, we finally were able to convince her to eat Popsicles

We’ve unpacked the entire upstairs and even have some of the pictures hung!

The downstairs is still full of boxes, partly due to the fact that we don’t have enough book shelves for all the books in the boxes.

I LOVE the skylight in the upstairs hall bathroom. I’m surprised how much I love it. It makes the windowless room as cheery as the rest of the house.

We have a park in our backyard that came with the house. The kids are in heaven, and so am I!

This big slide is also hooked to a bar with two normal and one baby swing!

This fun slide came with the house too!

Our radon detector detected the level of radon in our house last night to be close to 13. A safe level is less than 4. Not. Good. We will be taking care of that shortly. Too bad not cheaply. You should get a radon test in your house if you never have.

I love my new house. Even if you remind me of all the stuff I still need to do . . .

The end.