BamBam's Crib Bedding: In the Works

BamBam's crib comforter is complete.

All the panels for the crib skirt have been cut, but still need to be sewed. 

Here's a sneak peak of more burnt orange goodness to come...

I recently used a painter's canvas drop cloth from Lowe's to sew a set of pleated curtains for BamBam's closet opening. They create a nice, neutral expanse in a room with a lot of pattern and color going on. I love the calm combo of the white door, cream trim, canvas curtains, and light grey walls.

(Phone pic.)

Also in the works are loveys to match Baby Girl and BamBam's comforters.

(We're hoping matching loveys will keep this round of kiddos from insisting on taking the entire comforter out of the crib, like Kolt does. :)

One by one, this mama-to-be continues checking to-do's off her lists. :)

Baby Girl's Crib Bedding: Conquered

 My Grandma and I have been hard at work sewing baby bedding and I'm happy to report that my self-imposed deadline has been met. (Niece)Baby Girl's bedding is complete...and darling as ever. (If we do say so ourselves, huh, Grandma?!)

I love the chubby Bohemian elephants!

And the sweet ruffled edge. 

We used Kolt's crib comforter, which he considers an over-sized lovey that must go everywhere he goes, as our inspiration. If Baby Girl is anything like her big brother, Kolter, she's going to adore her comforter.

Oops, Grandma wasn't quite looking at the camera, but the point of the pic was to show off our then nearly finished creations. The ruffled crib skirt turned out pretty cute too. :)

Grandma Jane is the reason this project is complete. She has SKILLS, let me tell you. 

Grandma, thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience and time with me. Thank you for teaching me to sew as a girl and always being willing to guide me through my projects as well as the roadblocks along the way. ;) And thanks for being a night owl! Every time I run into a problem or question and think to myself, 'What time is it? Maybe it's too late to call...' I quickly remember it's you we're talking about and I get right on the phone knowing that no matter how late I stay up, you will have outlasted me. :) Lastly, but very importantly, thank you for our heating pad breaks throughout the process. This pregnant lady can only imagine how much more painful Sciatica would have been without those toasty recliner sits.

I think you're great and I'll love you forever, Grandma. :)

Soul Friend Sam

Not everyone finds a soul friend. I lot of people find a soul mate and many soul mates get to enjoy the absolute pleasure of cultivating a soul friendship. But I'm not talking about soul mate friendships, I'm talking about my experience of a girl [me] stumbling upon another girl [Sam] and eventually realizing we had both been given rich ingredients which, when combined, could become a deep meaningful friendship. Soon after, we decided we were soul friends. [Back up a bit.] Just over two years ago when Brian and I moved to the greater Portland area it was clear that I was going to require something special in order to be able to remain there with any happiness. As always it was worthless to waste time wondering, 'Why, God, did you plop me here?' As always, God had a plan. He knew just what I needed. The answer was Soul Friend Sam. After more than a month of seeking a transfer I found Jantzen Beach: what would become my 3rd/4th (depending on how you look at it) Starbucks home. I began working there and met Sam, a fellow barista. Our shifts were quite opposite. Sam was working mid-closing shifts whereas I worked mostly opens. But when our co-worker Lisa had Baby Suther, Sam and I collaborated over our love for food and Lisa and brand new babies and decided to bring her a meal. And that's how it all began. :)
Anyway, now that I have moved to the greater Seattle area our soul friendship has had to go long distance. Despite the miles, our friendship remains and our visits are sweeter than ripe fruit eaten outside on a sunny, summer day.

Whew! Now that our history has been explained I can get to the point of the post. 

My Soul Friend came to visit!

Sam and I were beyond busy throughout her stay.

We spent a morning up north seeing friends and family. I used to belong to this hilarious little group of girls called The Bloomer Babes. It's a silly story for another day but it's what bonded my friend, Jen, and myself to one another. Jen and her husband spent the last year in New Zealand but they were back for a short time so we planned to meet for coffee. We decided to try Rustic Coffee & Wine Bar in Fairhaven. (Thank you, Jazz, for the suggestion.) We loved it! The environment was cozy, calm, and classy. The girls working were fun and made incredible drinks. Jen brought with her Nicole, Kristen, and Deborah. Nicole is Jen's sister, Kristen is a college friend, and Deborah lived with Jen's family for a year while attending high school as an International student from Mexico. I got to know Deborah through being in musicals together and writing for the high school newspaper. When our deadlines had been met (or when we were avoiding meeting our deadlines ;) Jen, Deborah and I used to go to Lynden's Cup of Tea and pick up scones and lemon curd. Oh my, they were delicious! It had been five years since I'd seen Deborah and I had forgotten how funny she is. It makes me laugh to think that Jen and I intending to catch up, turned into 6 girls, several who had never met, spending a couple of hours together talking about life, travel, diversity, God, and how confusing taking a pregnancy test can be!
(Who knew?! I'm not the only one that has been confused!)

Jen and I, happily reunited, bursting at the seams with stories. :)

Following our coffee date Sam and I went to Boulevard Park for a picnic with my mom, Tess, all four kids, and Tessa's sis-in-law and bro-in-law, Sharla and Thomas. Thomas and Sharla had just flown in from South Dakota for a visit. It was good to see Sharla again and great to finally meet Thomas. I recently hired Thomas, a web designer, to built a Mustard Tree website for my photography.
(I hope to launch the site soon, so stay tuned!)

We enjoyed playing in the park and on the beach.

From the park, Sam and I headed to downtown Bellingham. 

We popped into [sis-in-law]Amy's beautiful salon, Plum, to say hello.

I love their sign.

After dropping by Plum, Sam and I hit up Railroad Ave for a quick bit of shopping. Sticker shock chased us back to the car. :) We returned home to our pups. The rest of Sam's time here was a lovely blur of delicious, creative, and relaxing moments.

We tackled several sewing projects, some old and some new.

My laundry curtain from back in Vancouver was never quite right. Sam whipped it into shape for me.

It now hangs happily in my laundry closet.

We hemmed one curtain and sewed a couple of new ones too.

I plan to hang curtain panels in the closet opening instead of closet doors in BamBam's nursery. We used a cheap linen drop cloth from Lowe's. I'll post a pic once the ruffles are in tact and it is hung. 

(I can't wait for it to cover the current disorganization. :)

We also developed a definite plan for BamBam's mobile. It's going to have a Daddy Birdie, a Mama birdie, and a BamBam birdie. It's going to be so cute!

We also baked. This lemon berry yogurt loaf was discovered on Pinterest.

Here's the recipe. Go indulge, and don't feel bad.

 It is worth every last calorie.

On Sam's last day we went to the South Seattle ReStore. Sam's pup aka Finn's girlfriend, Chloe, came too. :) We didn't make out all too well, but it was fun and we did leave with a few simple treasures.

I'm always surprised when she leaves and I have so few pictures of the two of us together. The same thing happened last time she came to visit, but it's because we're just so ding dong busy when we're together. :) It's a fabulous problem to have.

Oh Soul Friend, thank you for coming to visit and brightening our little life.
You are a blessing and we miss you!

Painting and Patio Progress

I'm sure everyone remembers that wild day back in January when my mr. came crashing through the ceiling. Well, the hole has been patched and painted for months but as you can see, it just wasn't quite right.

In an original attempt to remedy our big problem I had brought a sample piece of ceiling into the local hardware store to have them match the color. I love to paint but painting ceilings is a horrid task, one I avoid at all costs. Therefore, I stressed over and over to the woman working that it needed to be a perfect match. (I was determined to only paint the patched area.) She acted annoyed, so I very reluctantly let up. I then went home and painted and of course, it didn't match. The color was right but the existing finish was satin and she had sold me an entire gallon of flat paint. SO FRUSTRATING. I spent months in denial, struggling to convince myself that no one would notice. Because I had made our 'situation' so public, people had a tendency to walk through my front door, point, and giggle. I could no longer deny that it was bad when my mom said she'd come down to fix it for me. 

We tackled the project together but her endurance put me to shame. 

She even did an extra room.

(She's crazy-cool that way.)

While we painted, Brian and Dad set the forms for our new patio. The weather was far from cooperative. Here they sit in the garage, taking a quick break during an especially terrific downpour.

Dad leveling the forms...

[Bro-in-law]Brian, Tess, and Kiddos came to help too.

We recently turned a panel of fence on the far side of the house into a gate so we needed to reinforce the posts while we had a truckload of concrete at our dispense.

Sidewalk forms.

Patio Forms.

The guys worked quickly leaving us with time for a quick lunch before the truck arrived.

Polish Sausages, Cheetos, and Grapes it was! I had just bought a huge container of green grapes at Costco. Take a look at this happy guy and you can guess who bought the other lunch ingredients. It wasn't our most nutritious lunch but the kids sure thought it was great. :) 

Shortly after lunch the truck arrived. Sydni and Kolt were allowed to postpone their naps in order to observe the action. This was their reaction. I love their concerned expressions and clutched hands. So cute.

And so it began...

Little Boss Lady Sydni.

Sydni was itching to "accidentally" get dirty.

One foot deep tracks through my yard. No big deal.

Removing the forms that hugged the side of the house in order to finish floating and troweling...

In order for the truck to fit in our backyard we had to cut down one apple tree (too big to transplant) and remove several panels of fence. 

Oh Tess, our Brians and their gooberish faces...so entertaining!

Setting the posts for the new gates.

Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later (because Finn is seriously missing his freedom), there will be a walk-through gate over the sidewalk as well as a big double gate into the backyard. This one will be wide enough for a truck or RV to fit through.

Scrubbing the patio furniture...

Before:

Way too many large growth trees planted too close to the fence and to one another. 

 The patio in the process of being dug.

 Brian going to town breaking up the concrete pad outside our sliding glass door.

He released a lot of aggression that day. (The facial expressions were quite something!)

After:

(There's still a lot to do.)

Lots of debris clean-up...

Although I've been plugging away on removing trees, there's more to be dug...more grass to plant too.

Windows and doors need washing and a new step needs to be built.

Dirt needs to be filled in along the concrete and grass needs to be planted.

And while my sweet peas have yet to realize that it's no longer June...

...my recently transplanted rhubarb plants are happy as can be! I can hardly wait for my first crop! This rhubarb plant has been growing strong since it belonged to my Great, Great Grandpa Oltman. (My Grandma Jane's grandpa.) He was an avid gardener and had passed a start from his plant onto my Grandpa Al and Grandma Jane, who later gave a start to my parents, who have now given me two starts. Not only delicious, but sentimental too. :)

The patio now looks like this. 

It still lacks a lot of cuteness but I have every intention of loving on it when we return from camping.

A very random collaboration.

My new sidewalk! Things are going to be so much less messy now.

We're looking forward to good times to come in our ever-improving backyard. :)